Three peregrine falcon chicks beloved by thousands of webcam viewers have fled the coop.
The chicks, named Scout, Telli and Nadira in an Advocate-sponsored contest, left the nest on top of the Telus tower mid-afternoon in Red Deer’s Highland Green neighbourhood on Tuesday.
Judy Boyd, spokeswoman for the Red Deer River Naturalists, said the three young ones and their parents should be hanging in and around the nesting box for a while longer until they fly off to South America this fall.
Since April 24, people from around the world have been logging on the webcam to watch the parents — Perry the female and WIndsong the male — as they initially protected their precious eggs.
Once they hatched in mid June, people had a front seat in the lives of this brood as they slept, ate and made a mess of their temporary home.