A couple of earlier pics I had saved of the new male:





And Cam 1 has just been replaced with a new cam which also has sound. The image quality is much improved.

[A new tiercel at the Heidelberg nest]

A new tiercel at the Heidelberg nest

After eight years as the resident male, it would appear that Perkeo has been replaced by a new male. Some time in November, it was realized that the male appeared to be different. Perkeo is unbanded, as is the new male, which made it more difficult to be sure that this was a new bird.

The new male has been coming into the nest late in the day or during the evening, and sometimes spends the night in the nest box. He has also been bringing food gifts to Palatina, which so far she has declined. I had seen a peregrine in the nest a few times in November as darkness closed in, but the bird was really only visible as a dark shape.

Palatina and Perkeo had a very successful breeding season this year, raising four beautiful chicks. Perkeo has been a wonderful mate for Palatina, and a great father to their chicks, and I am very sad to see him gone. 

The new tiercel has now been named Zephyr. He has a very full crop (almost heart shaped) in the pic below.

Some images of the hatch in progress:











And today is the start of pip watch for NE19.

Welcome to the world, sweet little NE18! So glad everything went well.

Last night there was heavy rain at the nest, but Juliet's dedication did not waver for a moment.

Posted on the site an hour ago:

We've had a wonderful amount of much-needed rain recently. This has left gardens absolutely soaking wet. Of course, garden birds have not escaped the heavy rainfall.

In this rain, Lady has sat diligently on her eggs, doing her best to keep the eggs dry and warm.

Until this morning.

After heavy rain again last night, we woke up to find Lady gone and the eggs abandoned. We're not sure if this persistently heavy rain influenced her decision or if there are other reasons.

Pappa isn't around this morning either which leads us to believe that it was a deliberate decision to abandon eggs they feel are unviable.

Of course I'll only rest well when I see them both flying around again. Will keep you posted.

I hope Lady and Pappa are both safe. Very sad that the eggs have been abandoned.

Aria:

Romeo and Juliet taking turns incubating this morning:

First confirmed pip this morning at 9:24 a.m.!

Photo from AEF:



Juliet with the eggs this morning:

[November 28, 2017]

Good news from the Jersey City nest site about a 2007 juvie!

November 28, 2017



Photo by Barbara Saunders

JC Alumni update! ~ We received news from our NJDFW colleagues that a falcon produced from this eyrie was recently re-sighted while nesting in NYC. 40/S or "Alpine", a male, was one of three young that were produced from this nest site in 2007. When we look back at the Nestbox News from that year, we also see that some human compassion helped saved his life:

"June 15, 2007

This week has been an active one for the Jersey City nest site. The male eyas, "Alpine," took his first flight on or about Tuesday, and sightings suggest he was grounded for a little while before flying off. But Wednesday, he was delivered to the Raptor Trust, having been picked up by Jersey City Animal Control staff.

The Raptor Trust staff checked him out (he was uninjured), and gave him a couple good meals, and ENSP staff placed him back on the roof of 101 Hudson on Thursday morning. We believe he was on camera late Thursday, flying in with the remains of some prey, which "Roxanne" promptly took from him! Roxanne is approximately a week behind the others developmentally, so has been limited to walking around the roof and, with growing frequency, doing flapping exercises to gain strength. "Linn," the larger female, has been exercising (running and flapping) this week and is probably nearing her first attempt at flight."



From 2007: left to right Alpine (40/S), Roxanne (93/Y), and Linn (92/Y) at banding.

He had reportedly been nesting at Chelsea Pier in 2009 and 2010 and for a least the past year, he was confirmed to be nesting at 2 Penn Plaza in NYC, which is only 3.23 miles from 101 Hudson St. We're glad to hear that a falcon from this eyrie is alive and well and nesting in the NYC/NJ metro area!

The cam was down for a while, but is now working again.

[Great falcon news!!]

Posted on the San Jose Facebook page on December 2:

Great falcon news!!

October 28, 2017, Lori Michel and myself were able to identify a falcon on Hoover Tower at Stanford campus. It was U/58, a male that came out of United hangar in 2014 who is the son of Cato (2012 Fruitvale) who is the son of Hiko (2007 San Jose) and Tremain which makes him the great grandson of Clara. Today, once again Lori contacted me and she said that she was looking at a juvie in Palo Alto. I met up with her and I was able to identify 60/P who is Finn, a 2017 San Jose bird. He had a full crop and looked great. John

Eve and Éole bonding at the nest:







So far, I have seen no sign of Spirit on cam, and I have heard no news of her. I just hope she is okay, wherever she may be.

Hamilton (banded black/red K/52) and Burr-D (banded black/red K/51) both survived the fall from the nest box, but when I was checking their band numbers, I found very sad news about Burr-D.

Burr-D was struck by a vehicle and killed on September 21, 2017 on I-90 on French Island, La Crosse, WI. Note the early fledge date [June 3, 2017]. Blackflies were a huge problem at GSB this year. They killed two falcons (confirmed by autopsy) and drove the surviving young from the nest box at a very early age.

After somehow surviving a 600-foot fall, it does not seem fair that little Burr-D had such a short life. 

He was not far from home; La Crosse is just across the Mississippi from La Crescent, where Burr-D grew up.

The new nest box looks much better now that it has been finished. The box has been painted, and a perch and a cam have now been added.

From a couple of days ago:

Aria:





Lucky: