SALT LAKE CITY — Peregrine falcons are nesting again in downtown Salt Lake City. And this year, you won't have to wait until June to watch them on your computer screen.
      Cameras put in place by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are up and running early this year. If you log onto the Division of Wildlife Resources' Web site, you can watch the antics of the falcons, including the female taking care of the four eggs she's laid.
     You can also travel downtown and watch the falcons in person. Their nest box is on the northeast corner of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The building is just west of State Street, between South Temple and North Temple streets.

Two cameras and a microphone!
     You can follow the antics of the falcons on your computer screen by logging onto wildlife.utah.gov/peregrine.
     "Two cameras have been positioned in the nest box this year to provide even better coverage of the action," says Bob Walters, Watchable Wildlife coordinator for the DWR.
     "One camera allows a "long view" of the interior of the box. The second camera focuses on the nest scrape where the eggs are laid. If all goes well, you'll be able to watch the falcons from the time they hatch until they learn to fly."
     You can also hear the falcons this year. Officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have placed a microphone in the nest area.

Peregrines in downtown Salt Lake City
     Peregrines have nested in downtown Salt Lake City for years.
     With the help of Walter's Salt Lake City Peregrine Falcon Watchpost Team, a total of 11 of 16 young-of-the-year falcons learned to fly in the downtown area from 1986 through 1990 and in 1995. After learning to fly, they dispersed into the wild.
     From 2004 through 2007, eight of 11 young were raised successfully at the site and departed to wilder haunts.
     From 1991 through 1993, falcons didn't nest in downtown Salt Lake City. But five of six falcon youngsters were raised successfully at an alternate nest site just north of Salt Lake City.
     For more information, call the DWR's Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.