Several days ago, two falcons, George & Gracie moved from their tony climes in lower Market and set up shop on the Bay Bridge where they just recently laid some eggs. This, said bird officials, is not good. The reason is pretty simple enough: it's not a great place to raise kids. We mean, the views maybe great but it's not the safest neighborhood and hasn't been a trendy place to live since the early 90's. Actually, it's not a safe place to live because it's really hard for the baby falcons to learn how to fly because the winds are too strong. So today, crack members of the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group went up a tower in the Bay Bridge and rescued the eggs.
So if you were stuck on the bridge this morning, you know whom to blame-- those damn birds.
The eggs were put in incubators and taken to the research groups HQ where they will stay until they are hatched. Once hatched, they'll be handed over to a falcon foster mother and then released in Santa Barbara. Experts hope they take up residence on the Channel Islands.
Why the Bridge? Well George apparently was hatched there and it looks like he wanted to move back home. Don't we all. In fact, he was rescued from the bridge years ago. It also looks like a good place to raise a family because it's high and kind of on cliff.
If you want to check out more about the two falcons, you can go here