Too bad they didn't choose this box, seems to be a bit drier in the rain this one is probably facing the elements.

I’m on the 10th floor of the Times Square Building and my office faces east, so I have a great view of their comings and goings. Yesterday I got to my office at around 9:00 and there was quite a bit of activity for the following few hours; I saw a group of watchers on the Broad Street bridge. Today they’ve been flying in and out, making quite a racket. Right now they’re sitting on Mercury, one on the head the other at the base.

When they fly to the next box they always seem to zoom right by my windows. Once in a while it looks as if they’re headed straight at me, then veer up at the last second, giving me a great show. Other times I see them carrying in a meal. Hard to believe they can fly while holding a pigeon.

Oh you lucky lucky man!! Thanks so much!

Oh I envy you your front row seat!  Thanks for the report...and welcome aboard!

2 on ledge at Columbus this am

yup janet and his white spot..

Archer his notorious spot
with his honey

That's less than 30 minutes from my house and I have searched from both sides of the river and cannot find the nestbox.  New walkway over the hudson on an old railroad trestle this year...maybe I'll finally have luck from falcon level!

I have faith in you Ei...you'll find that nest.

[OH I'm so glad Scout has found a mate. Now it's Mariah's turn, unless she already has!]

State Office Tower in Columbus, Ohio.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
New male finally shows himself!!!
The suspicion of a second bird is finally confirmed! Here's a photo courtesy of Margaret K. The male is the falcon closest to the ledge camera in this shot:

Over the past couple of days a second bird has been seen flying by and perching on the next ledge over while Scout has been very vocal and has been coming and going/in and out of the nest box. Also, Scout has been seen with prey on the nest ledge which would indicate some courtship behavior (the male catches prey for the female). But his failure to perch on the nest ledge has frustrated many watchers who have been anxious to get a good look at him! On Sunday, 3/21/10, he finally was caught on camera at the nest ledge! And the best news is he appears to be an adult bird! More information to come soon!

OH I'm so glad Scout has found a mate. Now it's Mariah's turn, unless she already has!

[Try again, Donna! laugh Believe it or not, I remember every one but Allen Shephard's first launch. What a tiny little capsule!]

Try again, Donna!   laugh  Believe it or not, I remember every one but Allen Shephard's first launch.  What a tiny little capsule! 

 

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/53052.html

love the Mercury landings.   

I just read this and realized that I (and a few others here) am old enough to remember the Mercury launches 

A few others??   LOL   !959-1963  Mercury launched....I have no recollection. 

["The new banks of lights that bathe the Terminal Tower at night certainly look beautiful," he said. "But it doesn't have to look beautiful at 3 o'clock in the morning."]

Efforts under way to douse nighttime lights on downtown Cleveland skyscrapers, saving millions of migrating songbirds

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Bird enthusiasts want Cleveland to join other big cities that douse nighttime lights on tall buildings each spring and fall to spare the lives of millions of migrating songbirds.

Over the last year, they began asking the city's downtown landlords to join Smart Lights/Safe Flights, an initiative similar to light-dimming efforts adopted in Chicago, New York and Toronto.

"If you turn your lights out you're saving energy, you're saving money and you're saving the lives of migratory birds," said Harvey Webster, director of wildlife resources at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and a Smart Light leader. "So where's the downside?"

The idea is to prevent decorative exterior lights from disorienting the night fliers -- including warblers, tanagers and thrush -- and causing them to crash into skyscrapers and towers.

Studies estimate that more than a billion birds die every year from collisions in the United States -- more than any other human-related cause except for habitat destruction.

And every morning at dawn, custodians armed with brooms and dust pans emerge from the skyscrapers in Cleveland and elsewhere to sweep up the colorful bodies.

Webster is seeking corporate partners, including the owners of Terminal Tower, and addressing members of Cleveland's Building Owners and Management Association.

He said this week that he hopes to have a citywide Smart Light agreement by the end of spring migration, which runs from mid-March to mid-June, or at least by the start of the fall migration from mid-August to mid-November.

"The new banks of lights that bathe the Terminal Tower at night certainly look beautiful," he said. "But it doesn't have to look beautiful at 3 o'clock in the morning."

The National Audubon Society has introduced a how-to guide for cities interested in dimming lights. The society recommends turning off all decorative lighting after 11 p.m. and dousing interior lights or covering windows with a film visible only to birds.

Ornithologists in Chicago estimate Audubon's Lights Out program has helped to cut that city's bird-strike mortality rate by 80 percent, saving 10,000 songbirds a year.

Scientists aren't sure why, but artificial lights confuse migrating birds that use stars and moon as navigational aids and sometimes mistake the glow from towers as celestial lights.

Downtown Cleveland poses a particularly dangerous passage for migrating birds. The city is located on a busy migratory flyway and prone to severe weather, including sudden storms, brutal lake winds and low-hanging clouds -- all factors that force birds to fly lower.

Bird-strike data is scarce for Cleveland, but what little documentation exists isn't good.

From 2002 to 2005, wildlife rehabilitation specialist Megan Tadiello collected fallen birds from the sidewalks surrounding the BP America Building, now known as 200 Public Square. She collected 679 birds of 66 different species -- the most common of which was the white-throated sparrow.

Anecdotal evidence provided by local birders indicates that the Key Tower, PNC Tower and glass-covered 55 Public Square building also take a high toll on migrating birds.

Caption: A favorite nighttime flocking site for birds is in the decorative lights that illuminate the crown of the Key Tower building on Public Square. In this shot, hundreds of gulls gathered last May to feed on insects.

and I thought they were stars

From Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Most of you have probably seen the wonderful news that Archer returned to Rochester this morning.- Many of the Watchers gathered to see Archer and Beauty renew their bonds with each other at the Times Square nest box.- It was a wonderful day.
Below is a link to some pictures I...

Boy, for the short time he was home, they covered quite a lot and did quite alot!