Bíborka fledged

In the past days, the life of the observed Saker pair came to a turning point: Bíborka, the only chicks of the pair this year, fledged. Although many people worried, experts found her alive and kicking, near the nest, perching on a pylon.

The harsh spring weather was not good for Sakers (neither for many other species), but miraculously one chick hatched and grew up in the observed nest. Fledging time came in these days. As we, humans, are very uncertain at taking our first steps as small kids, similarly, the first flying attempts of juveniles rather seem plumping and struggling than flying. Juveniles usually end up on the ground after the first attempts, as they must learn not only flying, but also perching on pylons and unstable branches – something very different from the solid ground of the nest.

Bíborka was not an exeption either, she did not start with the already mastered technique of her parents either, but rather fell out of the nest.  Parents are accelerating fledging by bringing less food directly in the nest. At some point then, they do not take the prey to the nest at all, but remaining on a well-visible place calling the juveniles: 'Fly here, if you want to eat!' Food then is quite a motivation for a young falcon. It is likely that this happend to Bíborka as well, whom experts managed to photograph on a neighbouring pylon. She was healthy and in good condition, she seemed to pass the first test without any problem. Parents are teching fledged juveniles – like Bíborka – in the nest area until they become self-supporting.

Probably, we will not see Bíborka in the nest anymore, as a pair of Hobby occupied the nest, right after Bíborka left it. The Hobbies are fiercly defending their new home, thus an inexperienced juvenile Saker does not really stand a chance to get back to the old home. Not that they do it very often anyway. Adult Sakers do visit the old nest from time to time, but Hobbies are continuously attacking them too, and Sakers will not stand that for long.

The breeding period for Sakers – at least as for the online part – is over for this year, but apparently, we will not stay without further actions: the Hobby-show has just started!