First falcon babies of the season born in Brussels towers
Of the three towers in Brussels where livestream cameras are watching brooding falcon pairs, two are now home to baby chicks
Cheep, cheep!
But as of Sunday, they were not alone: The brooding pair in the St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral also said hello to two falcon chicks that morning. There are two more eggs, which may hatch as the days wear on, or they may not hatch at all.
There were four eggs in Ukkel as well, all of which hatched. A livestream of both the falcon families can be followed on the Falcons for Everyone website. The fuzzy, peeping chicks in Ukkel (pictured) are particularly cute at the moment. The Ukkel falcon couple have been brooding in the same spot in the tower for five years.
Observation post closed
Over in St Michael, the falcon couple are new. The same couple had been brooding there for 17 years, but the female was found injured on the ground last year. She healed at a wildlife rescue centre in Anderlecht, but alas cannot be released and is now at home there.
A third falcon pair in a tower in Brussels can be viewed on Falcons for Everyone: For the seventh year in a row, the pair have returned to raise their young in the clock tower of Sint-Pieters-Woluwe town hall. The female is sitting on eggs here, too, but so far no chicks have emerged.
Falcons for Everyone also contains a wealth of information – in English, French and Dutch – about the three sites and the falcon pairs who have inhabited them. Normally Brussels maintains an observation post where people can see the cathedral falcons live through binoculars, but it is closed due to the corona crisis.
