Falcons lay eggs in South Bend nest with Flash. Maltese still missing.

Joseph Dits, South Bend Tribune
·2 min read
A peregrine falcon is seen with an egg in the nest on top of South Bend's County-City Building on Monday, March 20, 2023.
A peregrine falcon is seen with an egg in the nest on top of South Bend's County-City Building on Monday, March 20, 2023.

SOUTH BEND — Four eggs have been laid in the peregrine falcon nest atop the County-City Building in downtown South Bend.

It's apparently the work of Flash, a new male that appeared and mated last year with the long-reigning female, Maltese. But the female here is an unbanded bird. Maltese went missing last spring from the nest and apparently hasn’t appeared in the nest this year.

Last year, Flash and Maltese produced four eggs, none of which proved viable. The season was hampered by an “intruder” female, part of a soap opera that unfolded in the camera’s view.

June 2022:No chicks this year for South Bend falcon nest. Sad turns in this soap opera.

There still is time yet for the falcons to lay yet another egg, though the falcon nest in downtown Fort Wayne already has a full clutch, according to Indiana Audubon Director Brad Bumgardner, who’s been watching both nests.

The Tribune first noticed the egg in the South Bend nest Monday afternoon, and it apparently was laid sometime since Saturday. The camera’s video feed was down earlier Monday. The video apparently also had been down starting Saturday evening, according to falcon camera watchers with Bird Cams Around the World, but there clearly wasn’t an egg there on Saturday.

The second egg was laid at about 1:40 a.m. on Wednesday, March 22, according to camera watcher Jean Galloway. The third egg was laid Friday morning. The fourth came sometime over the weekend, at least by Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, there’s still no egg so far in the American bald eagle nest at St. Patrick’s County Park in South Bend, as seen through the University of Notre Dame’s eagle cam. A pair of eagles has been tending the nest, but the resident female of the past few years has been missing since mid-February, as The Tribune reported. A new female apparently took her place.

February 2023:Female missing in eagle nest. New one appears. And it's time to lay eggs.

Find Outdoor Adventures columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Falcons lay egg in South Bend nest with Flash but no Maltese