Beauty back on Main cam...kids are chillin...all is well at the nest. I'm sure all are tired after today.

I know I'm tired, and I didn't have to endure the indignity of getting yanked out of my home, poked, prodded and fitted with metal bracelets...

When Quest was on Cape Cod/Nantucket we tried to track her down.  The gentleman who photographed her told us she was hanging out with a young male for a while.  Can't help but wonder if she sometimes has a travel companion now.  Could be a "mom's" wishful thinking, though.
Suzanne

There's nothing to say that couldn't be happening... too bad there isn't a tiny little camera on that transmitter of hers.

Hi,

I have created Banding day of the rfalconcam eyases 2010.

http://www.kodakgallery.de/ShareLanding.action?c=bozg71ut.sbco5229&x=0&y=si569s&localeid=de_DE

Sign in not required.
Enjoy!


Greetings
Annette

A very nice collection of pictures from the banding, Annette.  Danke!

The noise downtown is, frankly, frightful and I'm just hearing it via the internet. This evening, in addition to the usual cacophony I can hear music, sometimes rather loud given that the nest is well-above the street. I'm wondering if/how all this affects the poor birds. It certainly is enough to drive me nuts. Does it bother them? Does it disrupt their natural behaviors in any way?

Remember that the falcons are under no obligation to stay.  They had the whole of 2009, when they were using the nest box but not raising young, to decide if Rochester was a good place to start a family.  If they didn't like the noise they wouldn't have come back.

I received this report from Doug at Pt Colborne today (6/7/10)

He reports that he is sure he saw Quest in the nest box again at 1 pm today.  She stayed for about 1/2 hour.  Quest seemed interested in the box & checked out the scrape. He did not have his camera with him today, but will try to get a pic for us if she returns.

You'll remember that Freedom, Mariah and Kaver's first son, nested there for a few years and that this is where Archer was born.

I hope Doug is able to get pictures of Quest!

I hope so too!  This is great news. Maybe she'll finally settle down.

In keeping with her past behavior, Quest seems only to be making day trips to the Port Colborne site.  The locus of her activity these days is in the Wesleyville & Port Hope area.

Question about June 19.  On Friday night, Jim, you mentioned a meeting at the Rundel Library for those interested in being fledge watchers.  Will you be sharing additional information about time, etc.  soon? 

There will be another announcement, probably after banding day.

Re parking, the South Ave ramp garage (on the top level should provide excellent viewing) if the juvies are still by Times Square. Larry O

It is a good vantage, but we've had some issues in the past with not being allowed to watch from there.  June Summers is working with the city to see if we can iron those out, but I wouldn't count on that as a spot to watch from.  On the other hand, it's an excellent place to park if spaces on Broad Street Bridge are not available.  If they are, parking is free on the weekends.

Like so many others, I, too, am enjoying the new video with sound.  However, I'd like to take just a minute to enthuse over the new main camera.  The clarity of those images is amazing.  I enjoy both but, if I had to make a choice, I'd take the main cam.

I am curious about the focusing flexibility of both cameras for when the eyasses move out to the deck

Kapi in VT

We're also quite happy with the performance of the new Main Cam.

When the Birdcam was run by Kodak there were requests every year to get a live video stream, but Kodak wanted the focus to be on the high quality still images produced by the Main Cam.  At that time (and indeed up until this year) the Main Cam used a Kodak digital camera (DC4800) to capture its images.  Video was an option but Kodak would have had to provide the infrastructure for it (video server, lots of bandwidth).  Since we were using the same network as the top-level executives, we were always limited in how much information we could transmit at any one time, so video was basically out for that reason alone.  Plus, I don't think Kodak wanted to get into the video streaming business just for the falcons.

As far as the flexibility of the cameras is concerned, the Main Cam is on a mount that can pan (turn)  at least 270 degrees and tilt nearly 90 degrees.  It has a 5x optical zoom lens, so the Main Cam can cover quite a bit of ground.  However, its control system isn't geared for quick movements, the camera/motor combination is fairly large (as you can see from PanCam) and moving it around has the potential to startle the birds, so we're likely to use it with some caution.

The cameras inside the nest box are fixed focus models on non-movable mounts so they won't change positions or framing at all.

Camera 1 is also on a Pan/Tilt mount.  It has a 21x optical zoom and its dome housing does not move when the camera does.  It has its own built-in web server, which makes it easy to connect to the camera and control its movements.  We mounted it in such a way that it can cover the whole of the nest box area, including the walls of the alcove in which the nest box is located.  It can pan nearly 360 degrees and tilt down 90 degrees.  It's only weakness is that it can't tilt up in its current configuration, so if the falcons perch on a higher part of the building we won't be able to use Camera 1 to view them.

The guy from the Audubon Society was really nervous though.

Yeah, TV interviews really aren't my strong suit.

Thanks Jeanne.  I haven't watched it yet (it's on my DVR pending the end of the Yankees & Blue Jays game).

Channel 21, Rochester's local PBS station has a weekly show called Need To Know Rochester.  This week's episode, which airs tonight, will feature a story about the Rochester falcons.  Viewers may recognize the guest for this segment...

Airtimes are 8:30PM tonight and 12:30PM on Sunday.  The spot will also air on WXXI Radio (AM 1370) Saturday at 6:30PM (sans video, of course).  Hopefully it'll make their video podcast list too.

Pitt Peregrine Fledge Watch Update #3

Published by Kate St. John under Peregrines

...Dorothy tested him with a practice prey exchange, but he flunked and she had to re-catch the meal he nearly lost to the ground.

from Kate's blog!

We've seen that before!

Pix of the eyasses during banding were taken by Ken Nusstein, head MacKay Tower guy, who looks like a movie star! 


Saturday at UB - how cute!

In the morning the nestbox gets full sun but good mama BB shelters her babies til the sun moves away. 

Happy Memorial Day to you!

Love that shot with BB and the eyas.

Regarding the smoke seen on Cam 1:

The Cottonwood trees in Rochester are in full seed-release mode right now.  These trees release their seeds in little cotton-like puffs, and you would not believe how much they fill the air.  Some days, you would swear it was snowing, and yards can be completely filled with white fluff.

So, there's a good chance that that smoke could be a seed fluff stuck to the camera lens.

The "smoke puff" has the same general shape and position in each picture.  That leads me to believe it's probably something quite close to the camera.  My best guess: some cottonwood fluff caught in a spiderweb that gets blown into the camera frame by the prevailing wind currents.

I have a question about banding day.  I keep wanting to say "last year", but I know it was 2008;  I viewed all the banding day activities on-line.   I would love to attend the banding day since I live close by and school will be out.  Is it possible to attend, or is it limited to invitees etc. ?

Those details will be covered in our forthcoming Banding Day announcement.