One of the baby falcons that recently hatched outside Aurora City Hall
More Top Picks Best Tunnel Toys For Sensory Play
was rescued from the Fox River and reunited with its mother last week, according to the city.Ed Bernal was visiting downtown Aurora for a haircut last Thursday, according to the city, when he noticed a number of people looking down at the Fox River as he rode his bike on the Downer Place bridge.
Stopping, Bernal joined the crowd and saw one of the baby falcons that had recently hatched outside City Hall, Hope, stuck in the river and being pushed by the current toward a wall, the city said in a news release.
A bystander had a bucket and a towel, and Bernal climbed down the wall to rescue Hope, per the city. He used the towel to take hold of her and place her, unharmed, into the bucket, and then waded downstream to a set of stairs to climb out of the river.
Afterwards, a group of community members drove the falcon to the DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center for a medical evaluation, the city news release said, and she was then taken back to Aurora.
The baby falcon stayed perched on the south side of City Hall for hours, according to the city, as passersby attempted to guide her back to the nest and her mother. Eventually, Quentin Johnson, an animal control officer with the city, was able to lure Hope off her perch, capture her and then transport her back to her mother and nest on the opposite side of City Hall.
The four baby falcons hatched in early May, laid by a five-year-old falcon named Vixen, who began nesting in a crevice on the second floor of the exterior of Aurora City Hall in early April. Vixen met an adult male peregrine named Dave, who was fledged from a nest in Chicago in 2020, and went on to lay four eggs that would hatch into the baby falcons.
Information about the two falcons comes from The Field Museum in Chicago, which has them tagged and tracked.
The city of Aurora then initiated an open call for nominations and a voting period to name the baby falcons. After nearly 400 nominations and over 500 votes, the names Aurora, Sky, Hope and Vern rose to the top.
The city’s Information Technology Department and Video Production Division also set up a 24-hour live stream so residents can view the falcon family. The “Falcon Cam” can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/live/ROktrjV-eWs.
On Tuesday, following the rescue, Aurora Mayor John Laesch honored the efforts of Bernal and Johnson at a City Council Committee of the Whole meeting.
Laesch himself said he recalled walking out of his office and seeing a group of people with a big box coming down from the roof. He asked what was going on, and learned about the baby falcon’s rescue.
“A little bit of excitement as the … life of the Aurora falcons continues,” Laesch said at the meeting.
Referred to as “Hope’s heroes” by the city’s spokesperson, the two individuals received a round of applause and were presented with awards by the mayor at the Tuesday meeting.
More Top Picks Sprinkler
Bernal, in light of the recent rescue, encouraged the public to “take the time to see animals and … be with animals.”
“Not that I’m looking for these animals,” Bernal said Tuesday at the meeting. “I just was lucky that I saw the bird, and I was lucky and fortunate to help it out.”