Peregrine Falcons Over the Hudson River

This is a fabulous story of a species on the verg of extintion thanks to pesticides used in the 60s triumphant return thanks to the help of the DEC! (and the outlawing of those chemicals) 

Outtakes of the Article:

Officials said there is now one nesting pair of falcons on every bridge from New York City to Troy.

Biologists like Nadareski are tagging newborn falcons to track their survival and travel patterns.

Peregrine falcons had disappeared from New York in the 1960s, killed mostly by commercial pesticides that passed through the food chain.

Many of those pesticides have since been outlawed, and a statewide program to rejuvenate the population has brought more than 60 breeding pairs of falcons back to their native Hudson Valley and Adirondacks.

That includes three pairs recently spotted in the Shawangunk Ridge — an encouraging sign for biologists because most falcons had nested on man-made structures rather than natural cliffs.

The nesting box at the Mid-Hudson Bridge is holding three newborn falcons. Forty-one falcons have hatched there over the past 15 years. Evidence, including some decapitated blue jays, suggest the newborns are eating well. The chicks are expected to take their first leap — and hopefully flight — in three weeks. Chances are only one of the three will survive in the long run.

Read More:  http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110525/NEWS/105250365

Pictures: Photo Gallery