[March 9, 2018]

March 9, 2018

The resident female is still AF, born at Mönchengladbach in 2009. Her mate continues to be DF, born at de Mortel in 2008, a son of Pa and S2.

Last night the female spent the night in the nest for the first time, and this morning, the first egg has arrived.



Mom with her egg:



http://asml.peregrines.nl/

Yesterday morning, March 8, 2018, the first egg was visible at the nest. The female spent the night in the nest, and the egg may have been laid some time during the night.

The male here is still FT, born at de Mortel in 2009, a son of Pa and S2. His Belgian mate is still the resident female. Last year they had three chicks, and all fledged successfully.



http://eindhoven.peregrines.nl/

It is snowing in Pittsburgh, and the Monster of Pittsburgh has laid her second egg:

Beauty:

   

[March 7, 2018]

March 7, 2018

The first egg has arrived at the Cathedral of Learning nest for Terzo and his mate.

   

DC:

(movie)

This morning:

   

Later:

       

DC, then Beauty:

       

       

Making a scrape in the snow this morning:

(movie)

Stayed until 10:45 a.m.

The Richmond cam is active again, and there is an update on the birds:

Welcome to a new season of the Richmond Falcon Cam. We are pleased to share that a male and female peregrine falcon have been observed at the nest box over the last couple of weeks. They have already have made a scrape in the nest box (a scrape is a shallow bowl-shaped depression in the substrate that forms a nest). The same banded male who has bred here over the years has returned–hatched in 2000, he will be 18 years old this year! (To date, the maximum lifespan documented for a banded falcon in the wild is just shy of 20 years.) However, the female we’ve observed is not the banded female that successfully bred here in 2017; she appears to have been replaced.



Ozzie in the nest, and the new unbanded female above. Image from the site.

This year’s female is very buffy and unbanded and may be the same female that first paired with the male last season, prior to being replaced by the banded female who went on to breed. There are similarities in the plumage of the two unbanded birds, but also subtle differences, such that it is difficult to determine whether they are the same individual. Regardless of this female bird’s identity, we look forward to seeing how this breeding season unfolds!

I can hardly believe that Ozzie will be 18 years old this year; I am very glad that he is still the resident tiercel at this nest. Sorry that last year's female has apparently been replaced.

https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/falcon-cam/

     

And gone.

For the last eight years, there has been a resident falcon on the tower of the University of Texas at Austin. She has lived there alone, although on occasion there have been male peregrines passing through. She has become known as Tower Girl. She is unbanded, so it will never be known where she came from, or how old she is.

But this year, Tower Girl may perhaps have found a mate. She has been provided with a nest box, and all of a sudden there is also a webcam.



I found her visiting the nest box several times today:





https://biodiversity.utexas.edu/resources/falcon-cam

The story of Tower Girl:

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/opinion/herman-long-last-motherhood-approaching-for-falcon/J7kxYLKjxLDbFKpwuQbAPN/

DC back for another visit: