It's great to see him back. Too bad he can't tell us what happened yesterday.

Paul

Thanks!  You guys are the best!

And here is the male, watching us intently.

Last Sunday at 8 AM, fellow watcher Ricardo and I made our first trip of the year to our local nest site. Some of you may remember Ricardo from last year's Watcher's Weekend in Rochester.

After an hour of scanning, Ricardo spotted a female far away on the Virginia side of the Potomac. The distance was at least 600 feet/18 meters). Was the male here, too? were they incubating?

An hour later, the female took off. In seconds, she crossed the river, circled over us, and went into the nest box up on the American Legion (Cabin John) Bridge. Instantly, a male flew out. Unlike Mariah and Kaver or Beauty and Dot.ca, there is no negotiation with this pair.  Ricardo switched to burst mode, reacted quickly, and photographed the departure. One bird goes in; another immediately flies out. He passed over us, flew to the Maryland bridge abutment (checking for other intruders?), and returned to a tree about 100 feet (30 meters) away where he could watch both us and the box. After a while, he flew south down the river to hunt, I left to teach a flying lesson, and Ricardo went off in search of Belted Kingfishers.

The male had only a silver band, on the right leg. The person who banded out long-term territorial male ran out of color bands, so this is almost certainly the same tiercel who has been here since the box was installed. Now, it remains to ID the female. It seems almost certain that there are eggs this year.

National Geographic is hosting live views of a Bald Eagle family down by the Anacostia River.

Enjoy!

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/eagle-cam-live/

Paul

One more note of appreciation for "The Nesting Season." It's one of the best bird books around.

Paul

Truly fine nature writing by Chris.
(the family portrait isn't bad, either)

Thanks, Dale.

Paul

Beauty in the nestbox at night.  Egg tomorrow?



Paul

Beauty looking very much in charge as the weeks ends.

DC at nest at the time MAK had a male at BS with Pigott!

OK -- all you Rochester falcons line up for a head count, please.

Paul

I went to the cam and saw this.  Beauty looks relaxed, but ready for anything she may have to do.


Paul

Wow!

As Cathy Zummo D'Angelo once said, "you never can tell with a Peregrine Falcon."

Paul

This spring break, we stayed with our friends in Bonita Springs, Florida, again. We hadn't made it to nearby Cape Coral to see the Burrowing Owls last year, so we were determined to do it this time. A website for the owls told us that Veteran's Park was the nearest nesting location. Ah, but where? It was a big park.

An aside: When vacationing on Sandy Island, in New Hampshire, we often play bocce, an addictive bowling game dating back to the Roman Empire.  In fact, Catherine and her friend Caty were last year's woman's' doubles champions. This matters because, on one side of the park, was an enormous bocce court! "When in doubt", I said, "ask the bocce players."

It worked! One player told us to look for white wooden stakes used to mark the burrows, and pointed one out off in the distance.  Turns out his brother has adopted a burrow and cares for it, which involves white stakes, a wooden perch, and periodic trimming of the surrounding grass. We walked over to the indicated spot and soon realized we were being watched by two sets of large yellow eyes peering out from the grass. Pretty soon, two owlets popped up.  There they were -- Mom, Dad, and the two kids.

From about twenty feet away, we watched the parents continually scanning for potential danger, as only owls can, their heads turning all the way around to the back. The owlets mostly just looked amazed. All were very tolerant of our presence. Nevertheless, not wanting to stress them, we left after about a half hour.

Paul

They drop backwards out of the box and then start flying?

Wow!

Paul

Dale,

Great pictures and story!

Paul