Quite a while, I think, Carol  I have been called to the computer a number of times today by loud kakking, and sometimes an adult has been in the box.  But I have seen no food.
Kapi in VT

Since you are taking your act on the road, does that mean that you and Brian can now add "Professional Fledge Watcher" to your resumes?
Kapi in VT

Great album, Lou.  I especially liked the shots of the nestbox that put its location in such good perspective.  It is so much more exposed than the nestbox cameras show.  Kenn (?) must have VERY steady nerves to crawl into the box on his back up there!
Kapi in VT

Looking over the banding chart, I notice that Freedom was named by a first grade class.  Those children would be middle-schoolers now.  Is there any way to let their teacher (a Nancy Reid) or the school know that Freedom's son Archer is now back in Rochester?  Perhaps send the school a copy of Jim's terrific photo from today?
Kapi in VT

Kapi (and anyone else who is interested)...as I said above, I found Nancy Reid and let her know that Freedom (whom her class named) is a grandfather.  Here is her response:

Hi Patti,
What a nice surprise this morning to hear from you and to hear Freedom is a grandfather! Just checked out the site and all the news of banding day! I did not know anything about the change of buildings, etc. Wish I had known!

I retired from teaching first grade last year! Have so many great memories of the original birdcam, the wonderful people, and of course, the falcons!  Have a gorgeous framed picture of Mariah and Kaver hanging in my home. Kodak gave me a great VHS (need to transfer it to DVD) of the beginning of the Kodak birdcam which I showed to every new first grader coming to me! Those
were wonderful days of following the antics of Mariah and Kaver. Glad to get all the updates. I really appreciate your email. I will continue the saga now of following the falcons of Rochester! Someday I would like to visit and see for myself! Just saw my first graders  "fledge" from H.S. at their graduation! Wonderful!
Thanks again,
Nancy

Thank you for pursuing this, Patti.  Surely, though, the first graders who fledged from high school are not the same ones who named Freedom in 2002!     It would really be nice to track some of them down.  They would have a vested interest in becoming the next generation of fledge watchers.  Oh, well.
Kapi in VT
P.S.  Sorry I won't be seeing you in Rochester this year.

Looking over the banding chart, I notice that Freedom was named by a first grade class.  Those children would be middle-schoolers now.  Is there any way to let their teacher (a Nancy Reid) or the school know that Freedom's son Archer is now back in Rochester?  Perhaps send the school a copy of Jim's terrific photo from today?
Kapi in VT

I like the new set-up as you can now see both sides of the box.  No more hiding.  I didn't know this adjustment was possible, but thanks!
Won't make a difference for long, anyway, as they will soon be out of the box. 
Kapi in VT

What a great banding day!  I can't help feeling just a bit sad, though, that we never had such sophisticated video and audio coverage of banding (and daily life) for the Mariah and Kaver eyasses.
Kapi in VT

Nice, but the technology wasn't cheaply available back then, so we move forward.  Imagine 5 years down the road

I realize that, Janet.  Just feeling nostalgic...at my age an allowable indulgence!  As for five years down the road...I envision turning the sound off!  If two can make that much noise, just imagine what 4-5 will sound like!
Kapi in VT

What a great banding day!  I can't help feeling just a bit sad, though, that we never had such sophisticated video and audio coverage of banding (and daily life) for the Mariah and Kaver eyasses.
Kapi in VT

Can't believe no one has posted this yet

ginha

Good one, Ginha!
Do you still have your KAVER license plates?  I do.  Hope to see you in July.
Kapi in VT

I have made reservations for July 16-19 at the Super 8 in Henrietta, through Orbitz.  I got the room for $68/night.  I stayed there in 2008 and liked it well enough.  The drive into town might take longer during the week but, on the weekend, it only took me about 10 minutes.  It's pretty much a straight shot into town.  Due to some unexpected expenses (like a tree falling though the roof during a storm), I am not particularly flush this summer so the savings on the room is worth any small inconvenience. 

I hope that we can work in a visit to Dinosaur BBQ at some point.  The KAVER car is now a Honda Element but you will still know me by my license plate!

Kapi in VT

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.

Thank you for that explanation, Jim.  At the rate the Dynamic Duo is growing, it is good to know we will not completely lose sight of them in just a couple of weeks. 
Kapi in VT

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

These two are growing up WAY faster than I recall for previous broods (probably my memory)

Not even 2 weeks old & he's up on his feet!  OK, so he went directly to his face, but still...

And I'd swear I saw their tail feathers starting since this morning...

Since there are only two competing for the food, they may, in fact, be growing up faster.  But there is also the fact that we are seeing so much more with the new cameras, both still and video.  They do seem to have grown a lot today, both in size and the ability to move around.
Kapi in VT

I think there's a bit of growing faster being only 2, but I think most of it is my perception.  It just seems like the whole tiny fluffball phase lasted about 2-3 days, which it probably does with each individual eyas.  With a scrape of 5 hatched at intervals it would take almost 2 weeks for them all to get through the tiny fluffy stage.  These 2 are doing it all together-only 4 hours difference in age.

Good point about the two doing it all together as a opposed to a larger clutch developing over a week or two.  In any event, they are both quite sturdy today.
Kapi in VT

These two are growing up WAY faster than I recall for previous broods (probably my memory)

Not even 2 weeks old & he's up on his feet!  OK, so he went directly to his face, but still...

And I'd swear I saw their tail feathers starting since this morning...

Since there are only two competing for the food, they may, in fact, be growing up faster.  But there is also the fact that we are seeing so much more with the new cameras, both still and video.  They do seem to have grown a lot today, both in size and the ability to move around.
Kapi in VT

I like the name Legacy a lot and think it is quite appropriate for one of Rhea Mae's offspring.  It would work at least equally as well for one of Beauty and Archer's kids.  I looked for a synonym but couldn't find anything that worked.  "Heritage" came closest to conveying the meaning but isn't much of a name.
Kapi in VT