At around 10.30am this morning (local time) Solo finally took off from the eyrie. We went for a walk around in the trees below, having missed the exact moment (doesn’t that always happen!) but so far no sign of Solo anywhere. The grass below is very long and thick from the winter rains and if Solo has grounded herself then she’s probably staying still while we walk past, so she will be very hard to find.
Swift is maintaining an aerial vigil above us and seems to be more concerned when Cilla ventures into the trees themselves, with plenty of circuit flying and aggravation when sitting in the pine trees or up on the tower. We watched her retrieve a piece of food from the back of the eyrie at one stage and in her right claw finished it off before heading back to the trees.
We left her to it for lunch in the hope that Solo would surface or Beau would return with more food. This would normally have everyone vocal. A watch is being kept by Cilla on the trees this afternoon in the hope that Solo appears above the ground at some stage, but with the last few days of flapping and training up in the box she should be OK.
Another phase of FalconCam Project is now complete but we will continue with any and all news as things happen and will attempt as much video footage as we can outside the eyrie.
Video of Swift up in the trees, quite aggravated with us, can be found here ….
Sorry you missed Solo’s lift off and hope she is safe and sound! Please keep us posted!
Oh my goodness! We are certainly happy to hear that Solo has fledged, but of course, it is always “bitter sweet”, when we become attached to these little guys. And I too am sorry to hear that you missed seeing him fledge or even capturing his fledging on video. I know that your whole team will be keeping a watchful eye out for him. We do hope that he is safe and sound, for sure! And here’s hoping that he also returns to the nestbox for refuge from time to time!