Fourth Hatchling – First Look!
The fourth eyas appears to have hatched shortly before this picture was taken. The new chick is curled up with its just to the left of the empty egg shell. If you look closely you’ll see that its feathers are still matted and wet (they’ll dry out soon when Mariah or Kaver covers the hatchlings). Click the picture at the right for another look!
Now that all four eggs have hatched, the eyases will be getting fed several times throughout the day. As you can see in the pictures above, the nest box will get pretty messy as the remains of old meals are often left where they lay. Some of the debris gets carried out of the nest by Mariah and Kaver, and the wind will take care of the lighter stuff like feathers. It’s likely that Mariah will eat some of the egg shells. They’re a good source of calcium, which she lost when she laid the eggs. But for the most part Peregrines are pretty messy housekeepers, so don’t be surprised to see the garbage pile up!
May 10th, 2007 at 5:39 PM
HOORAY!!! They are all here!
Kaver really appears to be studying the new arrival very closely ;-)) (“Well, youngster, it’s about time you got here….”)
It will be a joy to watch them all grow and develop. Like the rest of the “Falcon Fans,” I spend several hours each day watching the family. Last year, I was downright lost when they eventually fledged! I kept watching the “Rochester re-runs.” LOL
Great stuff. Thank you everyone for such delightful viewing and for the impressive (and reassuring) educational Journal from my home town.
Connie (in Virginia)
May 10th, 2007 at 6:07 PM
Adorable. I hadn’t looked in a while, so I popped in and there were three eyas.
May 10th, 2007 at 6:53 PM
YIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE! It’s so good to see all looking well…including Momma Mariah. It was truly heartbreaking to watch her last year while she was injured. Just goes to show how strong their will is to survive & propogate.
In a previous post, someone mentioned wishing for a live streaming cam. My husband & I have said on several occasions that we’d be willing to make a sizable donation to help fund such an operation. He’s in the A/V industry & may be able to obtain the camera at a considerable discount. Has this option been considered?
Our hats are off to Jess & everyone behind the scenes (or screens LOL). Outstanding job!!!
May 10th, 2007 at 8:48 PM
Kind of wish we had a chat-line for all the fans! Am surely enjoying seeing our little ones! Thanks to all that bring this about…WHAT A JOY!!!
May 10th, 2007 at 11:49 PM
Dear, I’m happy to learm that the 4th egg has hatched. Now let’s see if all eyas will survived. It was so sad last year to see one of them dying and been eaten. Well, I say, it was sad, but we only witnessed what nature is all about.
I would also love, as Donna said above, to have a live feed on the main cam, and more I would like a microphone installed to let us hear the exchanges between Mariah and Kaver.
I already can recognize the cry of a peregrine falcon (we have a couple living near my place in Quebec city). I even was a witness to a trial of establishing young birds and at the moment one of the young bird was ready to fly, a male adult came flying upon the site. The man responsible for that trial, who was just beside me, said “I didn’t know that we were in an other male territory.” He was so sad.
But I wish to know their intimate exchanges while nesting.
Claire-M. from Quebec
May 11th, 2007 at 7:12 AM
i have loved every minute of watching this event unfold….thank you very much for creating this little oasis for those of us who are so inclined! i have a nephew in texas whose kindergarten class just finished the “flat stanley” book project….seems everyone in the world knew what that was but me!! i sure know now though: the book is the story of a little guy named stanley who is accidentally flattened when a bookshelf falls on him, and he decides to take advantage of what could be viewed as misfortune by mailing himself in his flat shape to go visit friends and family! sticks himself in an envelope and off he goes! so classes of little kids draw flat versions of themselves and we mail them to relatives, asking that the relatives take the flat kids on some adventures, take pictures, etc., and then mail them back. one of the places we took a picture of Flat Preston was in front of the Kodak headquarters building, since it is so representative of the Rochester area….and then i had the BRILLIANT idea to tell them all about this website!!! so you have had yet another group of eager and amazed learners of falcon-lore in austin, texas!
THANK YOU for doing this!
May 11th, 2007 at 3:00 PM
Watching today I was trying to figure out what the prey was . In one frame I saw a pretty long tail. Monk Parakeet ? Do you have them in Rochester ? Blue Jay ? color wasn’t right. Mockingbird seems the closest . Grey feathers , longish tail. I imagine the birds will take whatever they can catch. What have you documented as prey?
May 11th, 2007 at 4:10 PM
Happy Mother’s Day Mariah!
May 11th, 2007 at 5:03 PM
I just tried to comment and it said it was closed so I don’t know if this will go through.. I signed in to see the most beautiful picture!!.. Mariah was feeding and all four were looking for more!! I saved it for a friend of mine that just lost her partner to cancer.. She was on her own web cam when she opened the email… She is so thankful for the site and realizes that there is still something to live for!!
Thank you so much!
Happy Mother’s Day!!
May 12th, 2007 at 9:15 AM
At this point, mostly, they look like an endearing pile of mashed potatoes, all fluffy and lumped together.
What was the cause and the extent of Mariah’s injury last year?
May 13th, 2007 at 7:01 PM
What a wonderful Mother’s Day gift, to get up and watch a truly remarkable Mother Mariah feeding her babies! This site is the BEST!
I was wondering what they usually bring them to eat..what types of birds are the most likely to be fed to the eyases. Also I was wondering what happened to Mariah last year. I couldn’t find a website to go to that kept track of them. I would watch the Bird Cam but there was no posts. I didn’t even know if that was Mariah and Kaver until this year’s great section IMPRINTS. Great job Jess for putting this all together.
May 13th, 2007 at 7:32 PM
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY Mariah! Have the falcons ever had a Mother’s Day with out chicks??
Today is the first time I’ve seen Kaver warming the chicks. He’s been hunting I guess or I’m tuning in at the wrong time.
May 16th, 2007 at 1:57 PM
Now that the eggs have hatched, Has everone quit writing ???? I was just checking in after a couple days off and I see not many have written.. I think it is still a learning experience and I plan on keeping my eye on the family until they have left the nest!!
May 16th, 2007 at 2:39 PM
I’m still here and been watching daily. Mariah has been on the babes almost all day and I haven’t really seen them eating. I hope Kaver is able to keep up, Mariah looks pretty tired. Our two babies here in Cleveland, Ohio were banded yesterday. What a treat to watch!
God Bless our little ones.
May 16th, 2007 at 4:42 PM
Based on their rate of growth, they are getting plenty of food.
May 16th, 2007 at 4:54 PM
I’m a hard-core falcon-cam addict. I see them eating often. Maria is a fabulous hunter, she’ll leave and be back within 10 minutes with a big-fat pigeon for the babies. All the heads pop up with mouths wide open. After everyone is stuffed, it’s nap time for babes and mom. Mariah is a wonderful mommie.
May 16th, 2007 at 4:59 PM
I have never seen Kaver with the babies. Does he stay with them very often, or is that Mariah’s job, with Kaver doing most of the hunting?
May 16th, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Perhaps Jess will post some pointers about feeding and care at this stage. Aren’t the babies starting to thermoregulate now? Today’s thick fog and rain probably means there’s not much prey in the skies. I wonder if the TV’s and the mystery falcon in the area have been raiding their stashes of prey? That may be why there have been less feedings today.
May 16th, 2007 at 6:59 PM
Do you think we could have more pictures of the kids. Melissa, where are you seeing the chicks getting fed?
May 16th, 2007 at 8:30 PM
AJ, I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking. I see them being fed in the nest box. Oh, maybe you’re wondering if I live near the falcons and watch them in person? Unfortunatly, no. I’d love to be there with my binoculars!
May 16th, 2007 at 10:51 PM
AJ, All of the day’s pictures (and much more) can be seen at Shaky’s Archive Viewer; http://shakymon.com/rfc-archive.html. Try “The Dailies”.
May 17th, 2007 at 5:20 PM
Chris … and other lovers of M and K… NOT to get Jess upset… Thank you so much for adding the shakymom site… I have been watching some of the videos that are set to music.. I thought I was going to have an accident!!
They are both WONDERFUL sites! Thanks for all the time you have spent on making them.