A Peregrine Falcon in Franconia Notch
Photo by Chris Martin
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More than one quarter century after the first captive-bred peregrine falcon chicks were first released in New Hampshire, these spectacular birds of prey are again soaring high at many of their traditional breeding cliffs. A record high 27 fledgling falcons took their first flights over the Granite State in 2002. It has now been more than two decades since 1981, when a nesting pair was first detected in Franconia Notch. That exciting discovery signaled an important turning point in peregrine falcon recovery efforts - the first successful reproduction at an historical nesting cliff anywhere in the eastern U.S. in nearly a quarter century. Since then, a total of 234 wild-hatched chicks have been produced by falcon pairs nesting in New Hampshire.
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