Beauty's back now.

OK, this is just crazy now. Archer's been on the eggs since 1:14am and left at 5:47am. I think he does this so he can get over to KP in the early morning. Wonder if Beauty eats during that time? Maybe cached food. This is getting so weird, their behavior.

Beauty stayed behind the Main Camera from 2:52 to 4:47. You can see her move. you're right it is a little weird

Your right ginha, I didn't even notice that! What gives?

Two juvies on a ledge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoOLB6olP0A#

Feeding 5 and tug of war! Cute

Archer left KP and headed home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHzz14JPSrA#

HIGHLAND – The staff of the New York State Bridge Authority is now the proud family of three Peregrine Falcon chicks.

These are the 39th, 40th and 41st Peregrine Falcons fledged from the nesting box in the past 15 years at the Mid-Hudson Bridge. “We are fortunate that our facilities have been so successful in helping re-establish such a beautiful and important species,� said Bridge Authority Executive Director Joseph Ruggiero. Peregrine Falcons are listed as an endangered species.

The Bridge Authority hosts nesting boxes on all of its five Hudson River bridges. The boxes were installed in the late 1980s as part of an effort to re-establish the Peregrine in the Hudson Valley.

A webcam, that is refreshed every 10 minutes can give you a bird’s eye view of the Peregrines at http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/53052.html .

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) -

A lake area rehabilitation center for animals has taken in more than a dozen ospreys rescued from flooded isolated areas near Cow Island Lake, Louisiana.

Heckhaven Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is currently caring for 13 ospreys rescued by wildlife agents earlier this week.

The group of ospreys range from newborn nestlings to almost grown birds. Suzy Heck, owner of Heckhaven, said she expected to care for the migratory birds after hearing that the Bonnet Carre Spillway had opened.

"A lot of the areas that are going to be flooded out are marshlands where ospreys are nesting," said Heck.

Heck is currently faced with the task of preparing the young ospreys for the wild. 

"We'll have to teach them how to grab a fish and eat," said Heck. "We have an adult osprey in for rehab that we're hoping will take over as a surrogate mother and take care of them until they're ready be released."

Heckhaven will care for the birds until the water near the Cow Island Lake area recedes.

"If the water stays like this, then we will try to raise up the babies here," said Heck.

The center is preparing for more rescued flood animals to come their way in the near future.

"We expect to get more of something in," said Heck. "We just hope they've rescued all of the ospreys by now."

Heckhaven is currently seeking donations from the community to help care for the rescued birds. The facility is in need of fish and meat products. Donations can be dropped off at 6927 Starboard Drive in Lake Charles.



7KPLC

[Researchers want to raise horseshoe crabs from eggs, and hopefully replenish the species]

Researchers want to raise horseshoe crabs from eggs, and hopefully replenish the species

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - Researchers are converging on the Delaware Bay this month for one of the nation's great wildlife spectacles - the annual spawning of horseshoe crabs.

The prehistoric-looking creatures, which survived the dinosaurs and evolved before the first bird took wing, spent the past year deep under the Atlantic Ocean along the continental shelf.

But each spring, some biological imperative tells the crabs to converge on the beaches of the Delaware Bay to spawn, such as on Kimbles Beach in the Dias Creek section of Middle Township, where about 30 people and tens of thousands of shorebirds were waiting for them last week.

The researchers and volunteers did not have to wait long. As the swelling lunar tide encroached on the marsh, crabs began to emerge like little sea monsters.

"Wait, there's one," Patricia Woodruff said Wednesday, picking up one of the crabs from the water. Woodruff is a marine scientist at Rutgers University, which helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service attach plastic ID tags the size of quarters to the crabs.

Woodruff works at the university's aquaculture facility in Lower Township, where the staff cultivates oysters. But they are looking to expand their scope to raise horseshoe crabs from eggs for release back into the wild to give the creatures a head-start against hungry predators.

"Everything eats them. Basically, we want to farm them - take their eggs and raise them until they are big enough to survive on their own," Woodruff said.

Such human intervention could solve a conflict between local fishermen and conservationists. New Jersey's ban on crab harvesting remains in place in a bid to build up the number of spawning crabs and their bounty of eggs, which are critical for feeding rare shorebirds such as red knots that gather on the bay to fatten up during their epic migrations from the Arctic to South America.

Daniel Hernandez, an assistant professor at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, counts crab eggs on the beach each year for his ongoing research. The Stone Harbor resident said egg counts have dropped precipitously from their historic levels.

Hernandez said his research suggests shorebirds may have less food to help them build up fat and muscle for their annual odyssey to the Arctic.

A 2009 study in the journal BioScience, which Hernandez took part in, said that in 1990 more than 100,000 crab eggs per square meter were found on Delaware Bay beaches.

"Now they have 5,000," he said.

Volunteers at the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge tagged 525 crabs Wednesday. The refuge is inviting the public to join them again May 31 and June 2 at the end of Kimbles Beach Road to resume their research.

The nonprofit Friends of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge also joined the research. Swatting gnats that swarmed the still air, member John King, of Cape May, said he has participated in the research for five years.

The Cape May refuge stretches across 11,500 patchy acres nearly the length of the county between Lower and Upper townships. Yet it is about four times smaller than the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Galloway Township.

King said the Cape refuge has much to offer.

"Cape May has so much diversity. You have the ocean beaches at Two-Mile Landing with piping plovers and good fishing," he said. "And the Great Cedar Swamp with other little spots scattered across the county."

The agency has been tagging crabs since 2001, federal biologist Heidi Hanlon said.

"To see such a huge number of animals come up on the beach is a phenomenon that's amazing," she said

PressofAtlanticCity.com

[MAGGIE VALLEY — Wildlife officials are asking for the public's help in finding the person who shot and killed a bald eagle.The full-grown but immature bird was found shot May 4 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds on Soco Road.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for killing the bird. The Humane Society is also offering a $2,500 reward.]

MAGGIE VALLEY — Wildlife officials are asking for the public's help in finding the person who shot and killed a bald eagle.

The full-grown but immature bird was found shot May 4 at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds on Soco Road.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission are offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for killing the bird. The Humane Society is also offering a $2,500 reward.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110520/NEWS/305200033/Leads-sought-bald-eagle-killing?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage Story and heart-breaking pic here. 

http://www.wvec.com/news/Support-For-Eagles-122363264.html Read here

And the donations, eagle sculptures and even pizza rolls in!!

[Pale Male, New York's world-famous Central Park hawk, appears to be back in the paternity business.After six years in which he and his then-mate Lola produced eggs every year, only to have to abandon them in early summer long after they should have hatched, Pale Male suddenly switched to classic red-tailed-hawk fathering behavior on Thursday. He brought captured Central Park prey to his new mate, Ginger, at their fabled East Side penthouse on New York's Fifth Avenue.]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/pale-male-red-tailed-hawk-yorks-avenue-father/story?id=13643583 Story, videos and pics.

Pale Male, New York's world-famous Central Park hawk, appears to be back in the paternity business.

After six years in which he and his then-mate Lola produced eggs every year, only to have to abandon them in early summer long after they should have hatched, Pale Male suddenly switched to classic red-tailed-hawk fathering behavior on Thursday. He brought captured Central Park prey to his new mate, Ginger, at their fabled East Side penthouse on New York's Fifth Avenue.

[Kathy, hope you have a great Birthday and look out for strangers with binoculars!!]

Kathy, hope you have a great Birthday and look out for strangers with binoculars!!

OH wow is right!!! Very cool video. Lucky you all to see that. Thanks so much.

OK, this is just crazy now. Archer's been on the eggs since 1:14am and left at 5:47am. I think he does this so he can get over to KP in the early morning. Wonder if Beauty eats during that time? Maybe cached food. This is getting so weird, their behavior.
  Archer left
Have fun at KP, she says.

[LOWER MAKEFIELD, Pa. — The concrete undercarriage of one of the area’s busiest bridges doesn’t exactly sound like the coziest place to settle down and raise a family.But that hasn’t stopped peregrine falcons from returning, year after year, to the Scudder Falls Bridge to nest and hatch their offspring.]

LOWER MAKEFIELD, Pa. — The concrete undercarriage of one of the area’s busiest bridges doesn’t exactly sound like the coziest place to settle down and raise a family.

But that hasn’t stopped peregrine falcons from returning, year after year, to the Scudder Falls Bridge to nest and hatch their offspring.

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/05/scudder_falls_bridge_makes_a_s.html Story and pic