~Buffalo Falcon News 2010~

[~Sage~]

Yes, it's quite a stretch for our available optics too.  Do you watch from HERE?

[Dumpsterkitty]

I thought Buffalo's Rochester friends would like to see this shot taken by a DEC tech!
 

No pet rock at the Statler as far as I know!

Actually, it looks like a pet rock closest to the camera 

[~Sage~]

I thought Buffalo's Rochester friends would like to see this shot taken by a DEC tech!
 

No pet rock at the Statler as far as I know!

Actually, it looks like a pet rock closest to the camera 

Yes, I do believe you are right!   

[~Sage~]

From this morning's changing of the guard.  Yankee acts very submissively to BB.

 I just posted an album of this morning's screencaps HERE

[Joyce]

From this morning's changing of the guard.  Yankee acts very submissively to BB.

I just posted an album of this morning's screencaps HERE

Actually, Yankee might have an attitude...that is the same look Kaver used to give Mariah when he didn't want to give up being on the eggs.  I think BB has an attentive partner.

Thanks for putting all those webcam shots into an album.  Pretty neat as a slideshow.

~Joyce

[Donna]

For the second consecutive year, a female peregrine falcon has laid eggs in a nesting box in the tower of MacKay Heating Plant on the east side of the South Campus.

And this year, anyone with access to the Web can watch those eggs hatch, and if all goes well, the chicks grow and mature in the nest.

Staff members from UB Facilities, with assistance from and in consultation with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Buffalo Audubon Society, installed a new Web cam in the nest the week of March 22—while the rare birds were present but before the breeding season began, says Al Gilewicz, assistant director, Utility Operations.

The UB “falcon-cam� is particularly important, members of the local bird-watching community say, because the Audubon society camera that had been observing the peregrine falcons in residence in the Statler Tower in downtown Buffalo went dark when the building was mothballed.

Local birdwatchers are certain the female peregrine at UB is BB, the same female who laid the eggs in MacKay tower last spring. But Smokey, last year’s male, has been replaced by Yankee, a bird from the Niagara Gorge nest.

Gilewicz says Smokey did return to the UB nest recently and fought with BB and Yankee—with the altercation captured by the camera. Smokey was driven off, but not before one of the three eggs in the nest was broken. A short time later, though, the camera documented that BB laid another egg, bringing the total back to three.

Gilewicz praises the work of UB IT staff, in particular Jeff Klein and Joe Mantione, in getting the Web cam to operate. “The technical people really made it come alive,� he adds.

Last spring, UB Facilities staff, working with local officials from the DEC and the Buffalo Audubon Society, built the nesting box and received permission from the state Office of Historic Preservation—the MacKay tower is a state historic landmark—to install the box near the top of the tower.

Four chicks were hatched in May and biologists from the DEC banded them in order to identify and monitor them for the rest of their lives. While biologists say chicks are unlikely to return once they leave their nest, their parents frequently return to the same nest to raise another brood.

[~Sage~]

Yes, Joyce, and she only left him in charge of the eggs for a very short time, and when she came back, he did not want to leave but her stare told him he should go. 

Thanks for posting that article, Donna!  I've been watching for it since the cam went in!

Visibility at the gorge today was zero, but we did see a pefa on the north Grand Island Bridge near the nestbox, but only after postediting of the pix to cut through all the moisture in the air. 

[Joyce]

Link to write-up Donna posted...
UB REPORTER April 7, 2010
http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/2010_04_07/falcon_cam

Additional blog write-up & pictures...
YOUR UB April 2, 2010
http://ubcommunity.blogspot.com/2010/04/falcon-update-bb-and-yankee-in-nest.html

[Donna]

BUFFALO, NY - A new University at Buffalo Web camera is letting viewers get an up close peek at a Peregrine Falcon family perched high above at the college's South Campus.

The nest was custom-made and installed by UB staff last year with help from the New York State DEC and the Buffalo Audubon Society. It's located in the tower of the college's Mackay Heating Plant. It's the second straight year a female has laid her eggs there.

The "falcon-cam" has taken on increased importance for bird lovers since a similar camera at the Statler went dark last month when the historic building was mothballed.

Local bird watchers say they're sure the momma peregrine is "BB", the same female who laid eggs in the tower last spring. However, "Smokey", last year's poppa, has been replaced by "Yankee".

Al Gilewicz, UB's assistant director of utility operations, says Smokey was driven off following a fight with BB and Yankee. That altercation resulted in one of the three eggs in the nest being broken. Shortly after though, the falcon-cam recorded BB laying another egg, bringing the total back to three.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=75929&provider=gnews

[~Sage~]

Exciting news about Beauty's 4th egg!   

After not seeing any Peregrines at the grain elevators for the last week or so, we were thrilled to find one today, happily perched on the front/east side. 





And a new young Peregrine was spotted at a 9th floor window!  How cool would that be?   



More pix and news on the blog! 

[Donna]

Great pics Sage...thanks. 

[Bird Crazy]

So have the Peregrines on the grain elevator been identified? are they banded? Every time I hear of unidentified falcons I keep hoping it will be one of "our" kids.

[~Sage~]

So have the Peregrines on the grain elevator been identified? are they banded? Every time I hear of unidentified falcons I keep hoping it will be one of "our" kids.

  Though we've seen two before, but just one yesterday, we are hoping they are a nesting pair.  We did catch bands but not numbers.   Does Rochester put colored tape on the right leg over the FWS band?

[Dumpsterkitty]

Though we've seen two before, but just one yesterday, we are hoping they are a nesting pair.  We did catch bands but not numbers.   Does Rochester put colored tape on the right leg over the FWS band?

Yes we do use colored tape on the USFWS band...the M&K family tree has the tape colors (can't find the link right now for the band mubers)

[Donna]

So have the Peregrines on the grain elevator been identified? are they banded? Every time I hear of unidentified falcons I keep hoping it will be one of "our" kids.

  Though we've seen two before, but just one yesterday, we are hoping they are a nesting pair.  We did catch bands but not numbers.   Does Rochester put colored tape on the right leg over the FWS band?

Yes they do Sage.  Silver, green, Yellow, blue, black and white.