New Peregrine cam in Australia

[Bobbie Ireland]

28 Sept saw another egg crushed and it appears the cuplrit has again been Beau in a clumsy attempt at helping out;

He shouldn't be able to crush a healthy egg no matter how clumsy. Something is up there...DDT use hasn't stopped world wide...

"Despite the worldwide ban, agricultural use continues in India,North Korea, and possibly elsewhere." wikipedia

Hmmm... good point, Ei. A healthy egg should survive a good bit of pressure.

[Dumpsterkitty]

Hmmm... good point, Ei. A healthy egg should survive a good bit of pressure.

Even an unhealthy egg...look how well the 2 2012 eggs held up. And the whole clutch in 2011.

[Dumpsterkitty]

That was my thought as well, Ei, although I didn't know DDT is still being used in some countries.  I guess the words to "Big Yellow Taxi" are still appropriate.

Apparently it is used indoors to combat malaria. And it is persistent in the environment as well. I have to wonder if some is being released from melting ice.

From the EPA's website:

Current Status

Since 1996, EPA has been participating in international negotiations to control the use of DDT and other persistent organic pollutants used around the world. Under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme, countries joined together and negotiated a treaty to enact global bans or restrictions on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which includes DDT, known as the Stockholm Convention on POPs. The Convention includes a limited exemption for the use of DDT to control mosquitoes which are vectors that carry malaria - a disease that still kills millions of people worldwide.

In September 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared its support for the indoor use of DDT in African countries where malaria remains a major health problem, citing that benefits of the pesticide outweigh the health and environmental risks. This is consistent with the Stockholm Convention on POPs, which bans DDT for all uses except for malaria control.

DDT is one of 12 pesticides recommended by the WHO for indoor residual spray programs. It is up to countries to decide whether or not to use DDT. EPA works with other agencies and countries to advise them on how DDT programs are developed and monitored, with the goal that DDT be used only within the context of Integrated Vector Management programs, and that it be kept out of agricultural sectors.

[Kris G.]

From the Falconcam Project website:

27th August saw the arrival of the first new egg

2nd Sept saw the completion of this season’s laying with a total of 3 eggs, and roughly the commencement of dedicated incubation by both Beau and Swift.

6th Sept unfortunately saw the destruction of the 3rd egg, which was cleaned up by Swift shortly afterwards

28 Sept saw another egg crushed and it appears the cuplrit has again been Beau in a clumsy attempt at helping out; we’re hanging on to this last egg now (figuratively!) in the hope that it hatches. Approximate incubation period for these peregrines averages between 29 and 33 days, so any time from now on we’re hoping for some good news up the tower.

Thanks for clarifying what happened to the eggs, Patsy.  All the info I had posted was from what I had read on BCAW.

[patsy6]

Glad to do it, Kris.  I'm surprised there was something on the website, as they haven't been very forthcoming with information lately. 

[Kris G.]

 


During video analysis today we located a piece of footage which appears to show a cracked third and final egg beneath Swift (video clip to go up soon…). We’re still monitoring but if this is indeed a cracked egg and not merely an early hatching then it will be the first observed season in the Project’s time frame where an entire clutch has failed.

If this is the case we will endeavour to enter the eyrie shortly and obtain any remaining samples of discarded egg  to see if we can have the shell analysed for any weaknesses, toxins etc. At this stage we cannot rule out possible calcium or structural deficiencies which may be contributing to this situation. We can at least point to several clumsy moments in entering and leaving the eyrie by Beau (in particular)! In the late 1960′s and early 1970′s peregrine falcon sub-species around the world were threatened with extinction by the use of DDT in agricultural production. Indeed sub-species in eastern USA had lost their battle, but populations in that region have returned by re-introducing cross-bred sub-species. Since those dark days the numbers of peregrines worldwide have improvedwith the ban on the use of DDT, but peregrines are not safe yet.

It is known, and has been recorded, that an early season failed clutch could possibly be followed by a second later mating attempt. All is not lost and we would love to be able to say that today’s deduction has been incorrect! We will be closely monitoring the Concrete Hilton over the next few days.

[patsy6]

Oh no!     Thanks, Kris.  I hope they can get some samples and figure out what is wrong.

[Donna]

What is going on?? This is so sad. 

[MAK]

 

[Annette]

Published 8 October, 2013

Project work is getting back on track now after various interruptions recently, most notably a campus-wide power outage on Saturday, which would’ve definitely affected our streaming feeds. All is well again now. Some viewers have noticed that the connection to either camera can take a long time to bring up – we’re putting it down at the moment to the large bandwidth we’re using for the feeds, so we may have to cut back on this to allow more efficient streaming. Testing is ongoing.

Swift and Beau are now sitting on thin air. The 3rd egg has been cleaned out and both birds have been happier sitting on top of the tower or around on the old unused microwave dish (best views in Orange!). We can now watch and hope that there will be a second mating as it’s stil early in the season. Our first observed season, resulting in eyas Migii, didn’t occur until end of November and in to December (fleding in to the new year) so we can but cross fingers that progress will be made – in terms of FalconCam Project this is uncharted territory.

If we’re able to soon we’ll head in to the box to try and extract any remaining eggshell portions to see if we can get them tested – call it a health check!

In the meantime stick with us and we’ll see where this 6th observed season goes from here.

A reminder for anyone posting comments that you can leave messages on these news posts by opening up the post itself via the heading and then posting notes at the bottom. Thanks again for all your support and comments. It makes for better, more interesting reading!


Idle time on the ledge, in HD

P.S. For anyone using our correct domain name to access this website – falconcamproject.org – we apologise on behalf of Google for messing you around still. The website is indeed 100% clean and is currently being monitored a few times every day to ensure we stay that way. Google have finally cleared the website for general consumption but for some reason will not clear from their own blacklist the preferred domain name which appears on our advertising and inserts. Apologies to everyone who’s still receiving warnings from Google – we’re good to go and will speak personally to Google when they finally show themselves!!

[Kris G.]

Published 8 October, 2013

Project work is getting back on track now after various interruptions recently, most notably a campus-wide power outage on Saturday, which would’ve definitely affected our streaming feeds. All is well again now. Some viewers have noticed that the connection to either camera can take a long time to bring up – we’re putting it down at the moment to the large bandwidth we’re using for the feeds, so we may have to cut back on this to allow more efficient streaming. Testing is ongoing.

Swift and Beau are now sitting on thin air. The 3rd egg has been cleaned out and both birds have been happier sitting on top of the tower or around on the old unused microwave dish (best views in Orange!). We can now watch and hope that there will be a second mating as it’s stil early in the season. Our first observed season, resulting in eyas Migii, didn’t occur until end of November and in to December (fleding in to the new year) so we can but cross fingers that progress will be made – in terms of FalconCam Project this is uncharted territory.

If we’re able to soon we’ll head in to the box to try and extract any remaining eggshell portions to see if we can get them tested – call it a health check!

In the meantime stick with us and we’ll see where this 6th observed season goes from here.

A reminder for anyone posting comments that you can leave messages on these news posts by opening up the post itself via the heading and then posting notes at the bottom. Thanks again for all your support and comments. It makes for better, more interesting reading!


Idle time on the ledge, in HD

P.S. For anyone using our correct domain name to access this website – falconcamproject.org – we apologise on behalf of Google for messing you around still. The website is indeed 100% clean and is currently being monitored a few times every day to ensure we stay that way. Google have finally cleared the website for general consumption but for some reason will not clear from their own blacklist the preferred domain name which appears on our advertising and inserts. Apologies to everyone who’s still receiving warnings from Google – we’re good to go and will speak personally to Google when they finally show themselves!!

Thanks for the update, Annette!

[Annette]

The waiting game

Little to report up the Concrete Hilton just at the moment. We’re in that phase of waiting to see if Beau and Swift are interested in mating again this season. Certainly, as viewers have noticed, Swift is spending plenty of time resting in the eyrie – today of all days it may well be a way to remove herself from the extreme weather conditions. Currently there is a Total Fire Ban across most of New South Wales, with very high winds and a large number of bushfires blazing further east. We are anticipating a weather change soon which should cool temperatures and give the firefighters a break, but for the peregrines it will merely mean a more comfortable existence.

Some of our early-morning Banjo’s Bistro staff on campus noticed some aerial and very verbal frolicking this morning. With some luck this is all part of the initial courtship routine. We can but hope for now…

For those still having problems in accessing the website and receiving malware warnings from Google, please be assured we’re clean. The preferred domain name – www.falconcamproject.org – is still blacklisted which amuses us as the website itself isn’t…. c’mon Google – catch up with the real world!

This week we hope to convert the old ledge camera recording server feed to the brand new HD ledge camera feed on our Milestone Surveillance Server. We will be up for a much larger hard drive to store as much footage as possible for this new camera too. Currently we use a single 2TB external WD HDD for the nest camera, and will do same for the ledge camera as well. The task at hand now is to upgrade this old but very reliable surveillance server computer itself to something of more modern vintage, to handle the anticipated much heavier workload. In normal circumstances this 2 TB drive is offering us around 30 days continual/motion-sensor archives for a single camera, which in itself in invaluable.


Getting friendly in the eyrie

Some very promising signs in the eyrie this afternoon. With one or both peregrines hanging around the tower all day there seems to be a growing interest in each other right now. Caught just a few minutes ago the pair bowing in the scrape! Video clips will be going back up soon…


Beau and Swift bowing

[MAK]

 

[Annette]

Published 31 October, 2013

We’re still watching and waiting for any signs of another laying. Both birds can be animated at times, Swift is spending plenty of time on the scrape, with Beau spotted bringing her food every so often, some verbal conferences down in the trees and in flight above the tower, but to this end no further signs of another laying just yet.

Swift flexing and stretching

[Annette]

Published 1 November, 2013

After months of background work, good networking and some in-depth inquiries, we’ve finally had our domain name cleared from all malware listings, months after the website itself was actually cleared and secured. Rest assured now that the name, falconcamproject.org is good to go again and we can continue the Project in the knowledge that news, photos and information we bring to the worldwide community of peregrine falcon research will continue to contribute to the international effort in understanding and protecting this incredible bird species. In studying these birds we also hope to contribute to a better understanding of all species endangered by human encroachment across the globe.

We received an email today from another really interesting peregrine falcon monitoring group in Ontario, Canada. The link to the Hamilton Community Peregrine Project has been added to the links on the right hand side. Thanks for your email, Christina; always good to compare notes from around the world!

Thanks to all our supporters and viewers for sticking with us! Now we await more news from Swift and Beau, in the hope of a second breeding cycle this season – fingers crossed…