Photo: Peregrine Falcon, Richard Deveran/Audubon Photography Awards

Rolf Gubler with a Peregrine Falcon, courtesy of Friends of Dyke Marsh

National Park Service biologist, Rolf Gubler, will give a talk on March 1, 2020, on the peregrine falcon restoration project at Shenandoah National Park.  A team brings at-risk peregrine falcon chicks from eastern Virginia bridge nest sites to Virginia’s mountains, once part of their historic range and hopes the birds will imprint on the park's cliffs and return as breeding adults. This project boosts mountain peregrine populations and aids in the survival of bridge nest peregrine chicks where fledging is often difficult due to insufficient updrafts.

Peregrine falcons were used for hunting or falconry as early as 2000 B.C. in China and Egypt and in World War II, both the British/U.S. and the German armies had a falcon corps to intercept the opponent’s homing pigeons.  Peregrines are found in rural and urban environments and on every continent except Antarctica.

This free, public meeting will be at the Mount Vernon Government Center, 2511 Parkers Lane, Alexandria, a mile from the George Washington Memorial Parkway. We will start at 1:30 with social time and the program will begin at 2:00.

Sponsors of the program are the Friends of Dyke Marsh, the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, the Virginia Society of Ornithology and the Northern Virginia Bird Club.