Precious

MAK, you may be in Paradise but I'm sure not.

Has Archer been there at all to greet his new family? I'm losing track as I am hardly home this week. Sleeping at Dads has not been fun. Who on God's Great Earth would say.."OH, the dogs have to sleep on the bed". They have a double bed, 2 huge labs, who take up all the room. I sleep on about a 12 inch wide piece of mattress. I got rear ends in my face, tongues lapping my mouth and barking to go out in the middle of the night. I think I slept maybe 15 hours since Sat night. I tried the couch but they follow and both jump up. Can't lock them out of room or they BARK to get in. I can't wait until Sunday when I can be home in my nice comfy Waterbed. I can see spoiling your dogs but THIS IS RIDICULOUS! Ethan is a yellow lab, he was the best dog ever when my dad got him as a seeing eye reject. He never barked as he was trained not to. Then he met Josie, the choc lab and he learned to bark and bark. Josie has been through behavior training and it didn't work. When I try to get her off the bed, she growls at me. This is what I have to deal with all week. I'd rather sleep with a bear. 

The only good of this week is I'm seeing lots of birds in his yard. Yesterday while out back, early am, I heard this loud crack, it was just getting light out and I saw beyond the  cluster of forest my dad has in his backyard, a dark figure fall to the ground with a thud. I believe it was a bear in a tree and the branch gave out. Then I could hear the rustling of him taking off deeper into the woods. I wish it was lighter out. He probably fell from about 50 feet up. 

I'm going out on a limb here but given he saw the female eating the egg...it begs the question if there isn't an environmental issue going on here.  We've had so many different male/female combinations here and almost always the same result - eggs that aren't viable/destroyed/vanished.  I am beginning to wonder if the mill isn't spewing some nasty chemicals that is affecting the viability of the eggs themselves?  

If it was the same pair or say the same male or female throughout the years - you could question the fertility of one of the pair or both but every year we see either a new male or new female or both.  We've had some hatches but year after year we keep reading about destroyed/missing eggs so for sure something un-natural is going on.

The only other alternative is that someone at the Mill itself is harassing the falcons and stressing them out so much that they are destroying their own eggs.  Either way it's time the MNR stepped in and did some real investigating - given that this is still a protected species.

Wow...ya never know. It's pretty sad and i hope someone investigates this. Thanks.

What the heck is going on over there!   

I don't know but 7 eggs so far have disappeared! 

Is that a pip in 3rd egg?

A cammie hammie

Works for me!

I 3rd that! 

Nice Ei! 

!!! 4 eggs reduced to one
May 18, 2010 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Doug Garbutt Reports:

The 4 eggs that were once here (for a second time this year) are now only 1. Not sure how the 1st one went missing but I saw the female consume the 2nd one that went missing. This is way too wierd for me to comprehend, but I’m hoping she must have known that the egg she ate was not fertilized because when she ate it, the yoke & white were clearly visible. I think if it was a viable egg that there would have been an embryo or something solid in the egg. So to this point, she has 1 egg left & is on it constantly. We are hoping that this egg will eventually hatch. Never a dull moment here in Port Colborne! Mostly frustrating ones.

[That's nice Sage.]

Beauty welcoming her second hatch this afternoon!

   Rochester's happy event is featured on my Buffalo blog today!   

That's nice Sage.  

[IS ARCHER IN SHOCK!]

IS ARCHER IN SHOCK!  

CUTE!!!

[Has Archer been around at all to see his new family? I've been gone all afternoon but have been getting updates from my sis and Janet by phone. I can't believe how fast #2 came. Well.. CONGRATS all...we now have a new family. down....1 to go!]

"Where's that husband of mine"?

Has Archer been around at all to see his new family? I've been gone all afternoon but have been getting updates from my sis and Janet by phone. I can't believe how fast #2 came. Well.. CONGRATS all...we now have a new family.  down....1 to go!  

Mr & Mrs. Archer Mercury and kids! I felt like making up a last name for them. 

Oh baby baby. 

Love this pic!