Just a week after the last of Mariah’s five eggs hatched, all of the eyases are thriving and growing like weeds! Feedings occur several times a day, as often as every 1½ to 2 hours. The two pictures below illustrate just how much they’ve grown.
 

The picture on the left was taken on May 12. The one on the right is from earlier today. You can see how much bigger the eyases have gotten. Look closer at the picture on the right and you’ll see a layer of darker heavier down feathers coming in. The young nestlings’ metabolisms are also maturing, allowing them to regulate their own body temperatures. That’s means Mariah and Kaver can leave them uncovered for relatively long periods while they both go out hunting. With both parents hunting their chances of catching food increases, and at the same time they’re able to supply more food to their rapidly growing eyases.

The chicks will continue their amazing growth rate for another five weeks or so. By the time Banding Day comes, they’ll be more than halfway to their fully grown size. When they leave the nest near the end of June, the eyases will be as big as their parents!

Speaking of Banding Day, we’ve set the date! Mark your calendars for Friday, May 30^th. Sometime around 9:30AM we’ll get started. Traditionally Banding Day is the high point of the Rochester Falconcam season. We’re still putting final details in place, but we expect to follow the winning formula we’ve used in past years, including bringing all the action to you as it happens on the Rochester Falconcam’s cameras. And how will the eyases get their names? For 2008 we have decided to invite a number of deserving groups to submit names for the hatchlings. We’ll update you with more information as the date gets closer.

In other news, this year’s falcon watchers can get a great view of the nest box and take a break from the sun! Kodak, Rochester Falconcam’s partner, has purchased a covered canopy and seats that will be installed in the Kodak parking lot at the corner of State Street and Morrie Silver Way. We’re grateful for Kodak’s generosity and their willingness to provide a comfortable spot to watch all the fledgling action this year. The canopy is due to be installed around the end of May. As soon as it’s ready we’ll bring you more news and share some pictures of our new Falconcam Watchers HQ!

We’ve recently added some new clothing and merchandise to The Scrape, Rochester Falconcam’s online store! Our Spring 2008 collection includes shirts in two new designs that feature last year’s four fabulous fledglings, Ananta, Grace, Linn and Sacajawea. New mugs and mouse pads are available in our Stuff for Home section too! Head over to The Scrape and check it out. Proceeds from all your purchases go to support the Rochester Falconcam! And here’s a sneak preview… We’re working to bring you some new and exciting merchandise choices including high quality embroidered clothing, office, travel and gift items!

-Jess

Now that Mariah’s five eggs have all hatched successfully we thought you’d like to hear the latest news regarding some of Mariah’s other progeny…

Four for Rhea Mae

Photo by Linda Woods/Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Linda Woods of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation reports that Rhea Mae’s fourth egg hatched yesterday (May 12)! It was a few days behind the other3, which hatched before the weekend. There was some speculation that the fourth egg may not have been viable– a normal occurence with new Falcon mothers. We’re pleased to report that all four eyases appear healthy and active. Way to go Rhea Mae and Tiago! A group of Falconcam team members and fans are already planning a trip to Toronto in a few weeks for an in-person look at Mariah’s extended family.

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Freedom & Millie Continue Brooding
Freedom and new mate Millie now have their own observation page on the CPF Website! It features pictures and nest site observations going back to 2005. From nest watcher Doug Garbutt comes word that a third juvenile Peregrine was recently spotted near the nest box before being driven away. Perhaps due to the additional stress from this encounter, Millie was observed eating one of her three eggs, possibly after it was damaged during the territory dispute. She and Freedom continue brooding the remaining two eggs. The estimated hatch dates for these eggs was May 10-12. They’re a little late, but it’s still possible hatching will occur.
UPDATE 14 May – One of Freedom and Millie’s eggs has hatched!

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Second Clutch for Ranger & Hunter?
Recent news from Ranger’s nest monitor Harry Crawford at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation indicates that Hunter and Ranger may be starting a second clutch of eggs at their new nest site.

Hunter flew from the CIBC building in one great stoop and landed on the north-most balcony on the east side of the Four Seasons Hotel. He faced inwards and vocalized. Moments later, Ranger appeared from the floor of the balcony and Hunter took her place. NEST ANYONE!

This is behavior typical of birds that are having a brooding shift change, so it’s possible that Ranger has started a second clutch of eggs. She has done this in years past following the failure of her first clutch. Unfortunately, repeat clutches have failed to hatch as well. We’re all hoping for a change in Ranger and Hunter’s fortunes this year!

-Jess

Even though they’re only a few days old, the young falcon chicks are already proving their Peregrine heritage, “wandering” around the nest box. Mariah and Kaver are spending much of their time keeping the eyases covered, but the weather is mild in Rochester so leaving them uncovered for a few minutes at a time is OK.

Nevertheless, the adults don’t let the young ones go to far before corraling them again. Kaver’s expression in the picture at the left makes you wonder what’s going on in the nest box!

After about ten days the eyases will grow a second coat of heavier feathers, and at the same time they’ll mature enough to allow them to regulate their own body temperature. But for now they rely on Mariah and Kaver to keep them in “Baby Bear” temperate conditions– not too hot, not too cold. To do that, Mariah or Kaver gather all the eyases beneath them and lower their wings to keep the wind away and concentrate their body heat. For all their wandering, the nestlings will spend most of their time clumped together in a “Peregrine pile”, the better to keep each other warm.

In order to grow those feathers, and just to grow up, these chicks need to eat– a lot! They’re being fed every couple of hours. They even wake up in the middle of the night for an early morning snack! Here’s Mariah with some food for the always hungry eyases, caught in the instant of landing by the Rochester Falconcam’s cameras.

Now that hatching is over, look for updates on some of Mariah’s past offspring in the coming days, plus news about naming the eyases, banding day, and maybe even a little about Peregrine behavior and biology.

-Jess

Just before 2:00PM today we got a good, clear look at all five eyases as they were being fed. Five little white heads are clearly visible in the picture above, as you can see.

Yesterday after posting about the fourth and fifth hatches, we spent the rest of the day second-guessing. Many viewers of the Falconcam thought that only four had hatched, mostly because no one could see five eyases at once, and there continued to be a large intact egg shell visible among the pile of hatchlings. There is some evidence to suggest that the remaining shell was in fact a whole egg that hatched around 9:00AM today.

As good as the view is, the Falconcam cameras don’t always give us as clear an image as we’d like. We also have to work from still photos taken a minute apart, so there’s a lot of movement going on in the scrape that we can’t see. So all in all, we’re not opposed to the idea that we mis-identified the fourth hatch (and by extension, the fifth) yesterday afternoon.

One of the great joys of watching the Rochester Falconcam, even for those of us on the “inside”, is being surprised. Today we received the most pleasant and exciting kind of surprise: Proof positive of five healthy-looking eyases for Mariah and Kaver!

-Jess

It looks like sometime around 3:17 this afternoon Mariah’s fifth egg hatched! Here’s a look at the newest hatchling, being watched over by Kaver– it’s the pink object just in front of his big yellow feet. The eyas’s feathers are still matted and moist, but they’ll dry and fluff up quickly.

We at the Rochester Falconcam can’t think of a better way to celebrate Mothers Day. Congratulations to Mariah and Kaver on their outstanding family of five!

-Jess

It’s hard to see, but this is the clearest picture we’ve had yet of what looks like the fourth eyas to hatch. If you look carefully, one eyas is sleeping at the left, and there are three open beaks in the group to the right. Based on the fact that all the eyases appear to be feeding and they all have fluffy dry feathers, the fourth eyas likely hatched earlier in the morning. Most certainly it was well before the Falconcam cameras captured this shot just before 1:00 this afternoon.

Mariah’s being spending a lot of time covering the hatchlings so getting a clear look isn’t easy, but if you keep watching the Falconcam you may be able to get a good look at all of the eyases!

-Jess

As we noted, the young eyases like to be fed. Here’s the first view of all three being fed by Mariah.

Click the thumbnail at the left to see a full-sized image of the feeding courtesy of the Falconcam’s High Resolution Kodak digital camera. These are exciting times here at the Rochester Falconcam. We’ll try to bring you pictures throughout the day.

We’re a dedicated bunch here at the Falconcam, but despite our best efforts we sometimes miss viewing all of the pictures. An invaluable tool for catching up or reviewing past images is the Falconcam Archive Viewer. Created by longtime falcon fan Shaky, you can use it not only to view pictures you might have missed, but even to share them with your friends and family. Shaky also has a wealth of Falconcam-related information on his site, so be sure to check it out. With all the hatching activity Shaky’s Archive Viewer is pretty busy today, so don’t be surprised if it takes a while to load, but give it a try!

-Jess

UPDATE! Scroll to the bottom for the most recent pictures and news!
Mariah and Kaver’s first two eyases hatched in the early hours of this morning. Mariah has been keeping the new nestlings protected from the cool damp weather we’re having in Rochester today, so it’s hard to tell exactly when the hatches occurred. The morning light and a quick brooding change gave us a clear look at these two, along with fragments of their eggs and the remaining three intact ones.

Here’s Kaver taking his turn keeping everyone under cover, and giving us another look at the two fluffy white eyases as he settles in. We’re ecstatic to welcome these two hatchlings to the Rochester Peregrine family. When will the others make their debut? We can’t say for sure, but hatching usually takes place over 2-3 days so keep your eyes glued to the Rochester Falconcam and maybe you’ll be the first to spot the latest eyas hatching!

UPDATE!

Here’s Mariah’s third eyas, which just hatched a few minutes after 8:00 this morning! It’s behind the egg shell in this picture, with its feathers still matted and wet. Mariah quickly covered this newest arrival to keep it warm along with its siblings. Keep watching to see if you can catch a glimpse!

Here’s a shot from late this morning of one of the eyases doing one of the things they do best– begging for food. When you consider that these chicks will be fully grown in only six weeks, it’s no surprise to find that they’re hungry all the time!

Here’s the other thing they do really well– sleep!

At this young age, Mariah or Kaver will keep the hatchlings covered almost full time. The baby falcons aren’t old enough to regulate their own body temperature yet. Mariah keeps them out of the wind by lowering her wings on either side of the eyases, as you can see in the picture at the right. We’re lucky to get a glimpse of them uncovered when Mariah or Kaver take a brief break. Don’t worry though. One of the parents will be back within a few minutes to take up the task of protecting their precious offspring once more. You can find more information about the early lives of Peregrines in this article from last year.

-Jess

Photo courtesy of Linda Woods/Canadian Peregrine Foundation

We at the Rochester Falconcam are delighted to receive the news that Rhea Mae and Tiago’s first eyas hatched today! Sometime around 9:00 AM the first of their four eggs hatched. Canadian Peregrine Foundation member Linda Woods rushed over to the hotel to snap this shot of one of the adults tending to their fluffy new nestling. The egg to the left of the eyas has a pip in the top of the shell, so another hatching might be happening soon.

Rhea Mae and Tiago have three more eggs in the nest. You can watch all the hatching action at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation’s Sheration Centre Nest Webcam!

UPDATE!

A second egg appears to have hatched. Here’s a picture saved from the CPF website and sent to us by Carol Phillips showing Rhea Mae with two eyases. It looks like we’re going to be busy here at Imprints keeping track not only of Mariah and Kaver’s nest, but those of their offspring too!

-Jess

Peregrines usually begin incubating their eggs when the next to last egg is laid. Mariah laid her fourth egg on April 5^th, so as of today she and Kaver have been brooding the eggs for 30 days. In last year’s article about incubation and hatching we discussed the fact that Peregrines usually incubate their eggs for 33 to 35 days. There’s also a lot of good information in that article about how the hatching process works, so if you’ve forgotten about it, now is a good time to go back and catch up!

Anyway, we should see the first hatching within the next few days, perhaps as soon as Thursday! Keep your eyes on Mariah and Kaver. They’ll move around quite a bit when they start to hear the sounds of the eyases breaking through the egg shells. Just like 2007, all the eggs should be hatched in time for Mothers Day on May 11.

-Jess