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.

Well, it’s getting close to the time when Archer and Beauty’s three eggs should begin to hatch. They’ve been doing a great job of incubating the eggs. In typical Peregrine style, Beauty has done most of the brooding, but Archer has shown him self to be a dedicated egg-sitter too. In an article last month we speculated that hatching should begin sometime between May 16-18. We’re still sticking to that estimate, so we expect this weekend to bring some excitement.

If you haven’t been keeping an eye on things, now would be an excellent time to start. Watch the falcons to see how restless they are. When hatching is near, they’ll get fidgety, changing position on the eggs frequently, in response to the noise and activity they hear from the eggs. If you don’t remember how hatching works (or if you’re new here), take a look at our article on hatching from back in 2007.

Of course, Archer and Beauty are new to us, so we can’t necessarily say if they’ll meet the 33-day incubation time. It could be a few days more, or even a couple less. Your best bet is to keep watching the Rochester Falconcam cameras so you can be sure to catch all the action. Write a comment and let us know when you think the eggs will hatch!

Today Falconcam viewers woke to find only three eggs in the nest box. Yesterday afternoon we noticed that one of Beauty’s four eggs appeared to have a dent or dimple in it. That most likely meant that the egg was non-viable. Then early this morning the cameras captured pictures of Beauty disposing of the egg, which had a large crack in it.

All birds including falcons may occasionally lay unfertilized eggs (poultry birds do it all the time; that’s where our breakfast eggs come from). Sometimes new falcon pairs don’t always get things quite right in the reproduction and egg-laying department, so this isn’t too unusual. In 2002 Mariah laid four eggs, but only two hatched. One of those was Freedom, Archer’s father. And back in 2007 one of Mariah’s eggs just disappeared during the night. So this isn’t the first time we’ve lost eggs here in Rochester, and likely it won’t be the last.

The “bad” egg was the one that was lighter in color than the others. Lighter color by itself doesn’t necessarily mean the egg is going to be non-viable though. There’s a lot of variation in the color of Peregrine eggs. They range from pale pink or brown to dark brownish or even burgundy, so don’t read too much into this coincidence.

We’ll probably never know exactly what caused this egg to fail. Sometimes birds lay empty eggs, but a close look at some of the pictures makes it clear that this one did have a yolk inside. We’ve discussed egg laying, along with the falcon reproductive cycle in previous Imprints articles (click the links to view the posts), but this is the first time we’ve had a really clear look at a non-viable egg. So even though it might be a little disturbing, it’s a good opportunity for us to observe the process of egg removal from the nest box.

Some of you are probably wondering what became of the discarded egg. At 7:35 this morning our cameras caught Beauty moving the damaged egg around. Just one minute later, the egg was no longer in the nest box, and Beauty was gone. At 7:38 Archer came in to incubate the three remaining eggs.

We’ve sent a message to our partners at the DEC to see if they can provide any other insights about the loss of this egg. We’ll bring you whatever answer we receive from them as soon as we get it. In the meantime, it looks like the falcons haven’t missed a beat, despite the cold wet snow that’s falling in Rochester right now, so we expect the brooding of the remaining eggs to continue normally. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on all the happenings at the nest box as we await hatching in mid May.

UPDATE: We’ve heard back from Barbara Loucks at the DEC. Here’s what she has to say about the situation:

Not super unusual. May or may not have had an embryo in it. Don’t be surprised if it’s pushed out, treated like the others, or even disappears (eaten or carried off). If it’s still there at banding we’ll collect it. Perhaps it got jostled suddenly during turning or an incubation exchange, or smacked against a rough edged pebble, who knows. That’s why incubation is such a delicate period.

2009 was another banner year for Peregrine falcons in New York State. Barb Loucks of the DEC sent us their latest report, which is full of good news for the falcon population. There’s a detailed account of last year’s activity here in Rochester, including Mariah’s troubles and the arrival of Beauty and Archer. They also included a nice write-up regarding Quest’s travels.

Everyone at the Rochester Falconcam is pleased to be a part of the Peregrine recovery in New York. With the help of volunteer watchers and our many fans who monitor the nest box cameras, we’re able to provide valuable information to Barb and her colleagues. If you’re reading this, you can take pride in the contributions of the Rochester Falconcam community.

Yep, you guessed it, Beauty laid her fourth egg. We got our first clear look at it at 6:43PM. She and Archer have been sitting on the eggs pretty much constantly since the third egg was laid on Monday afternoon. Four eggs is an average clutch size for peregrines, and they usually begin incubating the eggs when the next to last one has been laid, so we’re fairly certain that she’s going to stop at four.

So, when will the eggs hatch? Well, provided that this is, in fact her last one, if we look back to Tuesday the 13th as the start of “hard” incubation, it ought to be 33-35 days from then. In other words, look for hatching to begin sometime around May 16-18. It usually takes a day or two for all of the eggs to hatch, but we should have some new eyases to watch by the third week of May!

Quest continued her restless movements over the past week, covering several hundred miles. She went as far east as Portland, Maine, and as far west as Toronto. She’s covered two Canadian provinces (Ontario & Quebec) and two states (Maine and Vermont) in the US.

That’s quite a road trip for our plucky Peregrine. There’s no indication that she’s about to settle down, though she has returned to the Lennox power station a few times during April. It could be that she’s on the hunt for a mate, or maybe she’s just infected with a bad case of wanderlust. Trying to understand all of her behavior based only on where she’s going (or where she’s been, depending on how you look at it), is a bit of a murky task. Still, this glimpse into her life is welcome, however limited it might be.

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!

Proving she’s no one-hit wonder, Beauty laid her second egg last evening, somewhere around 11PM. Both eggs are visible in the picture above, though it can be hard to see them. You can see one just over the lip of the nest box. The other is a little farther back, but they’re both between Beauty’s feet. We’ll get a better look when the sun rises.

Falcons try to brood, or incubate their eggs all together, so that they hatch around the same time. Usually they’ll begin brooding the eggs when the next to last egg is laid, so watch her closely. If it looks like she’s beginning to incubate, we’ll know there’s probably one more egg to come.

Speaking of incubation, one of the questions that gets asked most often has to do with the fact that falcons may leave the eggs uncovered for long periods of time. This may seem unusual, but as long as the eggs don’t get below freezing, they can survive for several days without incubation.

When incubation does begin, both Beauty and Archer will both participate. They’ll place special areas of their breasts called brood patches in contact with the eggs. The brood patches have lots of blood vessels close to the skin’s surface, and these transfer the falcon’s body heat to the eggs to sustain the incubation process. Female falcons have larger brood patches than the males do, so they’re better suited to brooding larger clutches of eggs. But the males are pretty good at it too, so you’ll probably see Archer taking his turn keeping the eggs warm.

We’re beside ourselves with glee that Beauty has laid her first ever egg! The pink ovoid appeared just before 2:40PM this afternoon. This is great news after all the ups and downs that we endured in 2009. With this egg and the others that should follow, we’re hopeful that the rich legacy begun by Mariah in 1998 will continue for 2010 and well into the future!

How many eggs will Beauty lay? It’s impossible to say right now. Average clutch sizes are around 3-4 eggs, but since Archer and Beauty are a new pair, she could lay fewer than that. Plus, not all of them may end up being viable. Mariah laid four eggs in her first year with Kaver, but two failed to hatch. Of the two that did, one was Freedom, Archer’s father. What a wonderful string of events that has brought us to this point!

Now that egg laying has commenced, keep a close eye on the Rochester Falconcam to catch all the latest action.

It looks like Archer and Beauty are getting right down to the business of courtship. Our on-the-ground watchers report seeing courtship behaviors, and a look at the cameras at Times Square confirms that both falcons have been seen at the nest box bowing to each other. Bowing is a typical courtship activity, which is usually accompanied by both birds vocalizing to each other.

Another sign of courtship is that the male will bring gifts of food to a female (kind of like a man picking up the dinner tab for a date, or bringing chocolates to his valentine!). This demonstrates his ability to provide for a family, not to mention his skill as a hunter. Courtship also allows the Peregrines to renew their pair bond after their winter separaton.

As you can see, Archer has dropped off a nice fat Woodcock at the nest box. Beauty showed up a minute after the delivery (that’s her in the picture– thanks Ashira for the catch!) but she didn’t take the bird, perhaps because she’d already eaten. After she left Archer returned, grabbed the food and took it with him around 10:37. You can follow the action in this time lapse sequence brought to you courtesy of the Rochester Falconcam Archive Viewer (click the image below to watch the movie).

There’s been more courtship observed at the nest box today, so we’re looking forward to Archer and Beauty continuing to re-establish their pair bond. And as posted by Falconcam team member Carol Phillips over at our FalconWatch blog, they’ve already moved to the next step, mating!