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And they’re off! UC Berkeley’s young falcons are flying

It's a time of fits and starts and first flights for Eclipse, Sol, Aurora and Nox at 2024 Fledge Watch.

By Gretchen Kell

Eclipse, one of the young male falcons that hatched on the Campanile this spring, flies with wings outstretched in the blue sky over campus. This was his second flight, ever.
At about 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, Eclipse becomes the first of Annie and Archie's four young falcons to fly off the Campanile.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Young falcon Eclipse is perched on the edge of Birge Hall, gathering strength before returning to the Campanile on the first day he ever flew, June 1. His wings are outstretched.
Later, at Birge Hall, Eclipse rests, gathering strength for his return to the bell tower to grab a meal.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Sol, one of the two young female falcons, looks out from a ledge on the Campanile, not yet ready to try flying. Her feathers are flecked with shades of brown.
That same morning, Sol, one of the two female chicks, peeks out from the fleur de lis border of the Campanile, but doesn't join Eclipse in the sky.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Nox, the youngest of the 2024 falcon quadruplets, is perched on a narrow ledge of the Campanile, looking as if he's afraid to try to fly for the first time.
Nox, the youngest of the quadruplets, perches on the so-called "fledge ledge" on the tower, but also chooses not to take off.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Eclipse, one of the male falcons of 2024, sits on a narrow ledge of the Campanile and looks downward, as if pondering whether he should fly off the tower for a second day in the skies.
On Sunday morning, June 2, Eclipse appears to be pondering where to fly next.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Archie, the father of the four young falcons on campus, sits near the top of the Campanile with his head cocked, as he watches his offspring sitting together below.
Falcon father Archie sits on the tower's lantern on Sunday evening and spies his four offspring, all sitting on the fledge ledge just below.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Eclipse, one of the two male falcons of 2024, attempts a tricky landing on the marble rooftop of the Campanile.
Eclipse attempts a vertical landing on Monday morning, June 3, on the Alaskan marble rooftop of the Campanile. Cal Falcons' Sean Peterson says it takes the fledglings time "to figure out what they can and can't land on."

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Eclipse, one of the young male falcons, chases his mom, Annie, trying to get a free meal.
He also chases his mom, Annie (left), that afternoon. At this age, says Peterson, the youngsters pursue their parents, "trying to find a free meal whenever they can."

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Sol, one of the two young female falcons, flies for the first time on Tuesday, June 4, past the observation deck of the Campanile.
Eclipse's three siblings all fly for the first time on Tuesday, June 4. The first is Sol, who flies off the tower at 8:30 a.m., accompanied by her mother, Annie. The flight in this photo is one she takes around 1:30 p.m.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Aurora, one of the two young female falcons on campus this spring, perches on the corner of the Campanile's observation deck, the carillon bells in view.
At 9 a.m., shortly after her sister left the tower for the first time, Aurora perches on a corner of the observation deck, the Campanile's bells in view.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Aurora, one of the two female falcons on campus this spring, spreads her wings and gets ready to fly off a corner of the Campanile.
About 11:15, she spreads her wings and flies to Evans Hall, where her sister Sol awaits.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Nox, the youngest and smallest of the four new falcons on campus, flies for the first time on Tuesday, June 4.
Nox, offspring of parents Annie and Archie, hatched on Berkeley's Campanile on April 24. He took his first flight off the tower on June 4. He was found at the marina on July 3 and taken by Bay Raptor Rescue to WildCare in San Rafael before being moved to UC Davis two days later.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Nox, the smallest and youngest of the new falcons on campus, flies past the observation deck level of the Campanile.
The next morning, around 8:30, Nox shows off his flying skills as he soars past the tower.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Aurora flies with outspread wings past decorative architectural elements on the Campanile.
Aurora's feathers and the Campanile's architecture complement each other.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Aurora, one of the two female falcons that hatched this year in April, practices flying on Wednesday morning, June 5.
Look closely and you can see the green tape on Aurora's left leg that distinguishes her from her siblings.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Nox, the smallest and youngest falcon, tries a tricky landing on the Campanile. One of his wings is pressed against a wall and his feet are askew.
Nox has a trial and error experience late Wednesday afternoon.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Falcon siblings Aurora and her brother Nox sit atop a campus building and are seemingly talking to each other.
A few minutes later, he meets up with his sister, Aurora (left), perhaps for some advice.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley
Aurora, one of the young female falcons of 2024, flies past a decorative wall on the Campanile.
Aurora and her siblings will keep practicing their takeoffs, flights and landings and also learn to hunt in the next month or two. After that, they’ll leave home to find their own territories.

Bridget Ahern for UC Berkeley

June 6, 2024

Berkeley’s annual Fledge Watch is off to a flying start. All four peregrine falcons that hatched on the Campanile in April are now in the air.

Since the event began last weekend, up to 200 onlookers have stopped by campus to cheer the fledglings on and shoot photos and video. Cal Falcons volunteers are on site, ready to assist Eclipse, Sol, Aurora and Nox if they get stranded or hurt.

Wildlife advisory signage posted on campus during Fledge Watch led to the rescue on Tuesday night near Hertz Hall of an adult barn owl with a broken wing.

Bridget Ahern, a wildlife photographer, took the above photos of Annie and Archie’s offspring. She began photographing Berkeley’s falcons while Annie, the campus’s longtime female falcon, and her mate Grinnell, who died in March 2022, were a pair.

This May 2024 video by Jessica Wheelock, director of multimedia for the UC Office of the President, tells the story of Berkeley’s falcons.

Ahern said it’s a yearly challenge to learn which fledgling is which and where each likes to hang out. So far, she added, brothers Eclipse and Nox “seem to be pretty loud and have slightly different variations in their calls.”

Mary Malec, a Cal Falcons raptor expert, described Nox as “really tiny,” compared to his brother. “He is also much lighter brown on the chest, head and back.”

The two sisters, close in size, “are hard to tell apart,” said Malec, “but Aurora is darker on the chest than Sol.” The yellow tape on one of Sol’s legs is easy to spot, she added, but the green tape on Aurora can look similar to the blue tape on Nox. Eclipse has no colored tape.

Malec said Fledge Watch will end soon, after Cal Falcons is certain each raptor has had four or five safe landings.

For three to eight weeks after fledging, young peregrines typically still need their parents, explained Sean Peterson, a Cal Falcons ecologist, in a livestreamed Q&A yesterday about Fledge Watch. “After that, they’re kind of gently encouraged to go off on their own and start exploring.”