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I grew up in Detroit and work just outside of it. Needless to say, an urban environment can be lacking on the natural part of life and we can get pretty excited when it comes visiting.
On top of our 10-story office building a couple of peregrine falcons have decided to nest. With 3 eggs! We've had visits from falcons for over 9 years now, so we built a nest to encourage them to stay. The DNR helped us with how to do it, and the supply of pigeons in the area did the rest.
We set up a camera in the chance that they would, and we're happy to share that. And have some fun as we do so!
The eggs should hatch about the middle of May. Cheers!
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awwwwww. Working toward a level of urban druid?
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That's neat!
I've heard that hawks and falcons do rather well in developed areas, because there are fewer obstructions when seeking prey from above (as opposed to, say, a forest). Picking pigeons off the sidewalk or squirrels off of freshly mowed grass is child's play compared to what they evolved to do before humans came along and started chopping down trees.
cooool
Pigeons are too numerous in cities anyway. At least here in Krakow.
I grew up in Detroit and work just outside of it. Needless to say, an urban environment can be lacking on the natural part of life and we can get pretty excited when it comes visiting.
On top of our 10-story office building a couple of peregrine falcons have decided to nest. With 3 eggs! We've had visits from falcons for over 9 years now, so we built a nest to encourage them to stay. The DNR helped us with how to do it, and the supply of pigeons in the area did the rest.
We set up a camera in the chance that they would, and we're happy to share that. And have some fun as we do so!
The eggs should hatch about the middle of May. Cheers!
Coooooool!!
I have always been a fan of hawks and eagles and falcons.
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That's neat!
I've heard that hawks and falcons do rather well in developed areas, because there are fewer obstructions when seeking prey from above (as opposed to, say, a forest). Picking pigeons off the sidewalk or squirrels off of freshly mowed grass is child's play compared to what they evolved to do before humans came along and started chopping down trees.
We've had lots of hawks in our area. They like high trees. And they're bigger than falcons. Falcons look for the highest ground they can find. (Our bldg is the tallest for several miles.) They also prefer to nest in gravel.
Falcons love a good mid-air kill. I watched some video (since my job grants me access, hehe) of a mid-air strike but it was a rainy morning and the view was blotchy. Still, impressive as a get out. The falcons will swoop down on a pigeon in flight, latch onto its back, and snip off its head in the blink of an eye. (Yes, we have to clean up the parts we find.) Also, they won't eat at their nest, to keep bugs, etc from coming around.
Our pair will also hunt in coordinated attacks. There's another bldg across the street from ours. One falcon would perch there, screech when it spotted breakfast, breakfast would fly away from the predator it saw/heard, then the 2nd falcon would swoop in and kill the distracted snack.
Beautiful and impressive.
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You said in another thread that the two have different colored beaks. Now that it's morning, I can see something besides the Big Ball of Fire, but s/he's only showing her/his tail!
Don't they know this is their chance to grab 15 minutes of fame? Birdbrains.
EDIT: What's so Chaotic Evil about these birds, anyway? ;)
Years ago, a falcon took a rest on the windowsill of a conference room I was in. It could have cared less as people walked up to the window to admire it. The only acknowledgement was a 'What? You want a piece of me?' expression from the bird.
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FYI, our company will post video segments of cool things and add them to the site. So, you don't have to watch the live feed continuously. Treppa. hehe
And I'll be sure to post when we spot hatchlings.
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Ya know, for the right price, I might be enticed into opening the door in the background of the live cam and holding up a Paizo Golem sign...
Who am I kidding? I hate heights AND getting my face ripped to shreds. Hehe
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It's interesting that she switches direction morning and night, from what I've seen.
Not that I have the feed up in one corner of my wide screen all the time or anything.
It makes me wonder if she adjusts to face into the prevailing wind direction so her feathers don't get ruffled.
Is that a chick moving underneath there? On the right side, there appears to be some movement that can't be explained by the wind.
One of the chatters said they just saw all three eggs.
One falcon just landed with prey. As soon as it did, the other took off and left the eggs sitting in the shade. The newcomer is more interested in food than nesting.
Finally got to see them. Very pretty.
We're having a work contest to guess the date of the 1st hatching. Must consider this. 28-35 day gestation. Eggs 1st spotted on 4/17. Divide by the square root of pi. Hmmm...
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Dropped off a car last weekend and got an evil chuckle as I flushed two pigeons out from their hiding spot. I was rooting for the falcons.
Don't forget to vote for the birthdate of the 1st hatchling. No prizes, but you get bragging rights.
*waves "Death to Pigeons" flag*
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The 1st baby falcon hatched today at 5:49am!
The 1st baby falcon hatched today at 5:49am!
Cool!
Video clips posted. Expected to be warm tomorrow so I'm betting on more nest activity.
And we have a second baby falcon!
Cool videos posted. Feeding, rounding up, and bringing home the bacon.
Aww!
Got bummed/worried today. Thought the momma was feeding the babies the 3rd egg. (They'll do that with an unviable egg.)
Glad I was mistaken.
Baby Falcon banding day is June 5. There will be live feeds indoors during the banding as well as outdoors.
This place is going to be a zoo, with all the landbound people with video cameras. Should make good footage for When Pissed Off Parent Falcons Attack!
...and 3rd egg still hasn't hatched. Not looking good.
Looks like a rough time at the nest last night. The mom is sheltering one chick, but the other seems to have died.
Yep, it was really cold last night.
If you want to break your heart rewind to 7:02 am. She pulls the chick out of the nest and tries to revive it, and snuggles it for about 4 minutes. Mom looks so small and broken hearted.
Was that mom or dad that separated the dead chick?
Was that mom or dad that separated the dead chick?
Not sure. Thought it was mom, and that dad took over the brooding duties at about 7:30 but I could be wrong.
Nest is cleaned up. Sadness removed. Remaining chick is growing fast!
Have they disposed of the third egg or are they still trying to hatch it? (Can't vid from work)
Have they disposed of the third egg or are they still trying to hatch it? (Can't vid from work)
They got rid of the egg and the dead chick. Just a goofy-looking eyas now, with big feet and big belly. :)
Good info on the rarity of peregrine falcons -
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Reminder, tomorrow is the day that the DNR will be tagging the baby falcon on top of our building. Expect things to get going at 11am.
Next, on When Falcons Attack...
It's a girl!
And the naming contest is open! See the original page link.
I only have internet access from the library, and the falcon cam is banned as pornography! o_o
I only have internet access from the library, and the falcon cam is banned as pornography! o_o
No watching cute birds in the library?
It's because it's on Tumblr. Tumblr is rife with that sort of thing.
My office's filter blocks it under the same heading.