June 15, 2008 01:33 am
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I like birds.
And not just those species that I can roast, grill or fry.
So I was pleased to learn that sometime early next week, a Minnesota Department of Transportation boom truck will tuck representatives from the Peregrine Project far beneath the North Star Bridge.
There, amidst the steel beams, the concrete girders, they briefly will pluck four peregrine falcon chicks from their nest, take blood samples, record their vitals and band them before returning them unharmed.
Isn’t that remarkable?
There was a time not too long ago when the future of peregrine, which truly is the Ferrari of raptors — it can reach speeds up to 200 mph as it dives and knocks its prey from the sky — was in doubt.
Over the years, thanks to concerted efforts to restore the populations, their numbers are growing. To finally have them nesting and successfully breeding in Mankato is a rare treat.
The birds that have taken up residence beneath the busy highway bridge over the last several years first successfully hatched a trio of chicks last spring.
To have a pair return again this year — same female but a different male — to nest and raise their young in our home town is special. (And wouldn’t it be wonderful if somehow, a web camera could be set up beneath the bridge so we could chart their progress?)
Similarly, earlier this year, an excited Lake Washington resident told me about the bald eagles that have been nesting for the last couple years in a tall cottonwood tree adjacent to a nearby wetland near her home.
That makes at least three nesting pairs of our national symbols that I am aware of within an hour’s drive of Mankato.
There was a time when a report into the newsroom of a bald eagle sighting sent photographers scurrying out the door armed with long lenses, all in the hope of catching a photograph of the regal birds.
Other indications of a healthier, bird-friendly environment — albeit of species we humans are less likely to embrace — include cormorants and pelicans.
Once a relatively rare sight on area lakes, they now are commonplace to the point some believe they are impacting fish populations.
And the other evening, while walking the dog, a half-dozen turkey vultures quietly rode the thermals along our route. Graceful on the wing but decidedly homely on the ground and up close, the scavengers now are a common sight.
I could go on: Giant Canada geese, wild turkeys — both species thought to be on the brink — have come back in impressive, some even would say, nuisance numbers.
Most ornithologists agree that the rebounding number of some species, raptors in particular, can be traced to the phasing out of DDT back in the 1960s.
And then, too, many birds are remarkably adaptive. As their numbers have grown, many species that avoided human disturbance now tolerate, in some cases, thrive in the vicinity of human and urban activity.
Peregrines are a case in point. Smokestacks, high-rise buildings, bridge girders that peregrines now utilize for nesting sites are far more numerous than isolated cliff ledges ever were.
Thanks to the proliferation of bluebird houses, that species once again is a common sight.
For these successes, bird lovers can lament some losses.
There are far fewer red-headed woodpeckers today than 40 years ago. The National Audubon Society estimates that species has declined by 89 percent since 1967.
Likewise, the Society estimates that the eastern and western meadowlarks have declined 68 and 95 percent respectively, during the same period.
In both instances, biologists blame dwindling habitat — wooden fenceposts, old trees, hayfields and meadows — as the main reason for the decline.
We can all enjoy watching the peregrines — Mankato’s avian royalty — ride the summer breezes above the Minnesota River this summer.
But I’d like to think there’s still room on those breezes for a meadowlark’s song, too.
John Cross is a Free Press staff writer. Contact him at 344-6376 or by e-mail at jcross@mankatofreepress.com.
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