he left again, gone for 7 minutes.....Oh boy!

Is that blood on Unity?

  adorable...but aren't they all?

No pips that I can see. Beauty just left for a sec.

  and welcome!

Oh my, those pics probably look more brutal than they are. Seems Unity is not in full incubation yet. I guess it was inevitable this was going to happen sooner or later. 2 BIG girls at it, guess they are no match for each other. Could have been just a warning brawl, as we all know Falcons mean to hurt if they really wanted to. Glad both are OK.

Look, we have Bumper crops!!  

Oops, hey, you left one out!!!

A Mother’s Bliss at Canada Square
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Tracy Simpson Reports:

I was at the Canada Square Building site today in the hopes of seeing whether all three eggs have hatched as of yet.  If it were at all possible, our resident mother falcon would have had a “Do Not Disturbâ€� sign hung on the outside of the ledge as she enjoyed a deep sleep with her precious young tucked beneath her.  In the 2 hours that I was there, she didn’t raise up once and allow me to see what she has hidden beneath her feathers but I was able to confirm two little white rear ends sticking out from underneath Mom.  On a cold and damp day such as today, I can’t blame the chicks for snuggling into the female parent as tightly as space would allow.  I will be back on-site on Thursday as the temperature will be warmer and the skies a little sunnier which should allow me to confirm whether all three have indeed hatched.  Once again, a huge congratulations to the floks at the Canada Square Building and an equally enormous thank you to Neil Armstrong and the staff at Northern Realty Advisors Ltd. for being such incredible hosts of this pair of falcons!!

No pips this am
Archer going 200 mph into the nest!

With the first egg hopefully due to hatch this weekend things are looking very positive, with the resident female observed listening to the eggs at 00.47 this morning.  This is an excellent sign that at least one of the eggs may be viable and hatch soon

So far today the resident male, 7Y, has not brought any fish to the nest, but last night he delivered 2 large fish, one at 17.55 and another at 18.55.  Today has passed away peacefully on the nest with egg turning and regular swapping of incubation duties. 

[All of our nest box plans have gone awry this spring.Maybe the House Wrens can set things straight.Back in early winter, Cathy McCollumn and I decided we would order nest boxes to attract Black-capped Chickadees. We knew full well that the entry holes must be small enough to allow chickadees to enter, but not the invasive, nuisance House Sparrows that would otherwise take over.We ordered a couple advertised as “chickadee nest boxes� from Duncraft, and put them up, only to discover, to our dismay, that the entrance holes were too large, and the boxes were soon confiscated by House Sparrows.So we ordered another chickadee nesting box from Audubon Workshop that was just the right dimensions, only to have a Downy Woodpecker enlarge the opening, then decide not to nest there after all. And THAT box was also taken over by House Sparrows!Aaaaarrrrggghhhh]

I’m rooting for the wrens

All of our nest box plans have gone awry this spring.

Maybe the House Wrens can set things straight.

Back in early winter, Cathy McCollumn and I decided we would order nest boxes to attract Black-capped Chickadees. We knew full well that the entry holes must be small enough to allow chickadees to enter, but not the invasive, nuisance House Sparrows that would otherwise take over.

We ordered a couple advertised as “chickadee nest boxes� from Duncraft, and put them up, only to discover, to our dismay, that the entrance holes were too large, and the boxes were soon confiscated by House Sparrows.

So we ordered another chickadee nesting box from Audubon Workshop that was just the right dimensions, only to have a Downy Woodpecker enlarge the opening, then decide not to nest there after all. And THAT box was also taken over by House Sparrows!

Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!

http://php.democratandchronicle.com/blog/birds/?p=4720 story and pics! Pretty interesting.

[On May 8, 2010, a robin-sized red knot shorebird started a six-day, around-the-clock flight from Uruguay to Ocracoke, N.C., a distance of 4,970 miles.After a layover, it took off on May 19 and landed the next day along the shore of Delaware Bay.This red knot, dubbed YOY, is one of dozens that have been outfitted with geolocators -- small devices that let scientists track where the birds go and when during long-distance migrations.]

On May 8, 2010, a robin-sized red knot shorebird started a six-day, around-the-clock flight from Uruguay to Ocracoke, N.C., a distance of 4,970 miles.

After a layover, it took off on May 19 and landed the next day along the shore of Delaware Bay.

This red knot, dubbed YOY, is one of dozens that have been outfitted with geolocators -- small devices that let scientists track where the birds go and when during long-distance migrations.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110517/NEWS08/105170341/New-study-reveals-red-knots-secrets?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home story here

Oooooh! Dale's favorite whirly head bird!   

that's not a whirly. that's just weird. whoa.

Raindrops are falling on his head!

That sure is a mini eyas! So cute though, right up there with the big guns!

What's she looking at?
Hmmm, is that Archer on Main Cam? Now that I see it again, it doesn't look like Archer.  Maybe it is.
Archer showed up too.