We’ve had the first hatch of 2010, just a little after 3PM Rochester time. In the picture above you can see the fresh pink skin and white hair-like feathers of the eyas which has just emerged from its egg shell. It’s damp and blind right now, and the newly hatched chick can’t regulate its own body heat, so Beauty will be covering the eyas to keep it warm and dry on this damp Rochester afternoon.

Almost 400 viewers got to watch the hatching live, as it happened. If you weren’t one of them, you still have a chance to catch the other two eggs hatching. Just tune into the Rochester Falconcam’s Live Video Stream, and you too can join the fun while we wait for the other two eggs to hatch!

Viewers watching our new Live Video Stream have seen the first hole in one of the eggs that Beauty and Archer are incubating in their nest box high atop the Times Square building in downtown Rochester. The picture above shows a small hole in the top of the egg that Beauty is cradling.

The first stage of hatching is called pipping. Pipping occurs when the falcon chick, or eyas, pokes a hole in the egg shell. Gradually the eyas will enlarge the hole, then work its way around the shell until it cuts off the top and pops out. The process can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days (if you need a refresher on hatching, take a look at this article from 2007). And thanks to our new live video feed, you can watch it as it happens. You may even get to hear a peep or two from the hatching eyas!

If you haven’t taken a look at the video feed yet, now’s a great time to join the hundreds of Rochester Falconcam fans who are already watching. Hatching should continue over the next couple of days, so stay tuned to catch all the action!

Year after year we’ve been asked why we didn’t provide a live video feed from the Rochester Falconcam. There were a variety of financial and technical issues that kept us from offering video, and frankly we’ve preferred to concentrate on offering the highest quality still images available on any nature-oriented webcam site. But thanks to recent advances in Internet technology, it’s now possible to provide live video “webcasts” at little to no cost, and without needing to maintain expensive streaming video servers and dedicated network connections.

Thanks to these improvements we’re finally able to offer live streaming video along with the high-quality still images you’ve come to expect. So just in time for hatching to begin, we’re very happy to announce the opening of the Rochester Falconcam Live Video Stream!

Simply go to the Rochester Falconcam, click Cameras at the top of the page, then choose Streaming Video. You may need to wait a few seconds for the video stream to appear. Just click the button at the bottom of the screen to start playing the live webcast.

Now you can see and hear what’s going on in the nest box day in and day out, 24/7. And if you can’t watch all the time, don’t worry. When we see something especially interesting, we’ll record it and post it on the Rochester Falconcam channel at YouTube.

We’ve also improved our Camera layout on the website. Now you can see all of the camera images on a single page. Click the Cameras link at the top of the page and you’ll find a new item on the menu called View All Cameras. The new view might not work with all Internet browsing software though, so we’ve left the Main Camera and Multi Camera pages in place.

Watching these magnificent birds in real time allows you to view a whole new side of Peregrine behavior that you may never have seen before. Go ahead and try it out! We think you’ll like what you see.

Beauty with three eggs

We get to celebrate our 400th post here at Imprints with the fantastic news that Beauty has laid egg nuimber three! It looks like the egg was delivered right around 8:45AM, but we had to wait another fifteen minutes to get a decent look at all three of the eggs. There are two on either side of her bill (the new one is on the right) and one behind her bill.

Beauty’s taking a well-deserved nap right now, covering the eggs. It’s too early to say if incubation has begun, but we’ll keep our eyes on the nest box to see if she begins to brood. If so, then we’d expect one more egg for a final clutch of four.

Check back often with the Rochester Falconcam to see what happens next with Beauty and Archer!

Rochester Falconcam team members Kenn Martinez and Jim Pisello installed a new Main camera at the Times Square nest box. It has more resolution (14 megapixels maximum) and a greater zoom range than the old camera. A more stable camera mount and improved software are a couple of other features. You can read all about the work and a couple of special visitors at Jim’s Peregrinations blog.

We’re all looking forward to a season of great pictures from the new camera!

Hot off the presses is the new book “Peregrine’s Sky” by author and naturalist Consie Powell. Ms. Powell has written and illustrated an engaging story that chronicles the life cycle of our favorite falcon species from nest selection and courtship all the way through hatching and fledging.

“Peregrine’s Sky” is filled with beautiful illustrations of peregrine life that fans of the Rochester Falconcam will instantly recognize. The author used the Rochester Falconcam as one of the sources for both her illustrations and the information presented in her book. An especially thoughtful touch can be found in the dedication To Mariah and Kaver.

Suitable for children of all ages, “Peregrine’s Sky” is available for purchase from the Western National Parks Association.

This year the Rochester Falconcam is pleased to offer two calendars for 2010, just in time for holiday gift buying! The Peregrine Falcons of Rochester calendar features pictures of falcons new and old that have graced the Rochester skies in the past year. The Rochester Peregrine Falcon Legacy calendar includes Mariah, Kaver and their offspring.

Each month you’ll be greeted with a classic image taken by one of our talented local photographers. That’s 24 pictures in all, each accompanied by an informative caption.

Don’t wait! Click over to The Scrape and order your 2010 calendars today!

With Fall in full swing the holiday season will be upon us in no time. The Falconcam’s merchandising moguls are hard at work creating new items to adorn your homes or to give as gifts to family and friends.

First up is a collection of limited-edition holiday cards. Get into the holiday spirit with these quality 4×6 inch prints set in heavy card stock. Your order includes all ten cards and envelopes to make sending your holiday wishes easy! Plus, all the proceeds will help support the Rochester Falconcam operations.

Just download and print the convenient ORDER FORM to get your Mariah & Kaver Legacy Holiday Cards while supplies last. And look for more 2009 holiday and gift items coming soon from all of us at the Rochester Falconcam!

Despite the wonderful summer we’ve had, the Rochester Falconcam’s Merchandizing team has not been idle. Who’s the Merchandising team? They’re some of the same talented folks who brought you the popular Bricks for Chicks and M&Ms for M&K promotions as well as the custom designs available at The Scrape, RFCasuals and Zazzle stores.

Look for a potpourri of new items like the handsome RFalconcam License Plate Frame (available now at The Scrape) to land in our stores over the next few weeks. Also on offer will be some unique calendars and greeting/holiday cards, as well as other high-quality merchandise you’ve come to expect from the Rochester Falconcam and our partners at Birdorable

Shopping is easy! Just click the Stores link on the Rochester Falconcam pages. You can also see a rotation of featured items on the left side of the website’s pages. When one of them catches your eye, just click on it for more details or to place an order. Remember that all proceeds from our merchandising sales support the ongoing operations here at the Falconcam.

With Mariah apparently relocating to Kodak Park and Archer and Beauty settling in at Times Square, we have the real possibility of multiple nests in Rochester for the first time. What that will mean for us is anyone’s guess but your continued support will help to ensure that we can bring the activity at every Rochester nest site to you.

A few days ago we told you we’d be rolling out a new feature at the Rochester Falconcam. We’re pleased to announce the addition of a Forum to our site! The Rochester Falconcam Forum will allow our fans from all over the world to discuss the latest news about the Rochester falcons as well as to provide the opportunity to participate in a global community like never before. To make it easy to find we’ve added a link to the Forum on the navigation bar at the top of the Falconcam page.

At the Forum you can:

• Use a variety of CATEGORIES, BOARDS and TOPICS to find just the right place to post your thoughts. Check out the introduction to the forum for more information.
• Include pictures with built-in thumbnails, attach files to your posts, and use tons of smilies (AKA emoticons)
• View a summary of previous posts to make it easier to write replies
• See your posted messages instantly
• Easily find new discussions that have been posted since your last visit
• Upload your own picture or Avatar to identify yourself to other posters
• Use the built-in Chat feature to exchange messages with other Forum members in real time. See other members’ Chat status as soon as you logon.
• Send private messages to Forum members
• Build your posting “street cred” by progressing from Egg to Eyas, Juvie, Tiercel and finally to Falcon status!
• Flag favorite topics so that you can be notified when new posts are added
• Easily post Forum information on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites
• And much more!

Join the thousands of Rochester Falconcam fans at the Forum and check it out! Registering takes only a few minutes, and we think you’re going to appreciate how much more convenient it will be to get news and discuss the many topics of interest to our diverse community.