Beauty Laid Her 2nd at 10:47 pm! (3/29/15)
March 29th, 2015We are happy to announce the arrival of Beauty and Dot.ca’s 2nd egg, which arrived at 10:47 pm!
Earth Hour
March 28th, 2015
Please join us tonight in the observance of Earth Hour.
Rfalconcam will turn off the cameras in the nest box for one hour starting at 8:30 PM EDT.
1st Egg Has Arrived! 3/27/15
March 27th, 2015At approximately 2:46 pm this afternoon, Beauty laid her first egg of 2015 in the nest box on top of the Times Square Bldg. in Rochester, NY.
Peregrines usually lay their eggs 48 to 72 hours apart, so sometime on Sunday or Monday we should see egg #2.
Last year Beauty laid a total of four eggs. We’re expecting about the same number this year, but who knows. There could be five! Dot.ca has proven himself to be an apt provider for his family so we have no doubt that if we get a clutch of 5 eyases, (falcon hatchlings), they’ll be well fed and taken care of.
So, if you want to keep an eye out for the next egg, here are some signs that Beauty may be getting ready to lay the next one. She’ll spend a lot of time in the nest box, sitting over the bowl-like scrape that she and Dot.ca have dug into the gravel. She may look tired and disheveled, and have a heavy, gravid appearance. She can be in that condition for as little as a couple of hours before laying, to as much as a day. Then, when she’s actually delivering the egg, she’ll be restless, changing her position frequently.
The actual moment at which the egg is deposited can be hard to spot, but thanks to our live video streams you should have an unparalleled opportunity to share in the excitement. And of course, we’ll keep our eyes open too, and announce the happy news as soon as it happens!
Diamante Seen Hunting at Gallagher Beach, Buffalo, NY! 1/7/15
January 9th, 2015Well, you know we love to hear news about our Rochester falcons, especially when awesome pictures are available!
Jerry Anderson posted a picture of a Peregrine Falcon he had watched hunting at Gallagher Beach (Buffalo, NY) on the Buffalo-Niagara Rare Bird Alert. He reported the following:
“This is one of the Peregrine Falcons I regularly photograph at Gallagher beach. There is usually a pair.”
Gallagher Beach is not that far from Central Terminal, where Diamante and Gleig nest. It would be interesting to know if Gleig is the 2nd falcon that Jerry has been seeing.
Jerry kindly gave us permission to post his pictures of Diamante. We knew you would all love to see him!
Ringing in the New Year on Rfalconcam
December 30th, 2014
Join us December 31st at 10 PM ET on streaming video Channels 1 and 2 to watch the fireworks over downtown Rochester from a bird’s eye view!
We’ll be meeting again later at the Forum Chat & Ustream Social Stream to ring in the New Year together!
And let’s not forget the Watcher’s Toast New Year’s Day at 12 noon, which will be covered live on Rfalconcam streaming video Channel 3!
Look forward to seeing everyone there!
Quest is Transmitter Free! and She Has a New Suitor!
December 22nd, 2014We have received some very good news from our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. Quest no longer has her transmitter. Rfalconcam Forum member Donna Cook was able to capture some pictures of Quest taken by the Harlequin falcon cameras. She immediately noticed that something was missing. The transmitter antenna we were so used to seeing on her back was gone. She shared the pictures with other members of the forum and members of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation (CPF).
– Picture of Quest from the Harlequin Falconcam
Many thanks to Donna and CPF Member, Bruce Massey, who positively identified that it was Quest at the Don Mills nest site and that she no longer had her transmitter! Here is Bruce’s report.
Quest Has Shed Her Transmitter and On Site with a Potential New Suitor
December 21, 2014 – Toronto – Don Mills
Bruce Massey Reports:
With the nest camera back online and showing us views of the adult peregrines active around the site, I decided to venture out to do a quick check in. One of the most conspicuous things about Quest these days is that in the camera shots taken of her at the box, the antenna of her transmitter could not be seen at all. I set out to try and confirm whether the female was Quest and if she was now backpack free.
I found her in and around the nest box soaking up the sun and with my scope was able to get excellent looks at her back. I can say without doubt that the backpack harness and transmitter she has been wearing for the past several years is no longer there. Quest was looking quite fabulous, all her feathers sitting neatly preened across her back and chest. I was also able to confirm her recovery band number as Black 96 over Green V as she sat sunbathing. The male was also quite active in the area and the two met at the box a number of times bowing and vocalizing together. I set the scope on the male and turned my attention to the task of confirming his identity.
He spent a great deal of time up on the Harlequin building sitting in the sun and I waited for him to do some stretching and reveal the look I was seeking. At first glance I was able to only see the USFW band and it was covered in blue tape. This was not consistent with Skye, the male that was with Quest this past nest season. I continued to watch and finally got the look that I was waiting for. The band number that I could clearly see was a solid Black Y over 72 with blue tape which turns out to be a bird hatched in 2013 at the Amexon nest site named Lucky.
We are unsure when this change took place and where Skye is currently. We will have to wait until spring to clearly understand whether Lucky or Skye will be Quest’s mate for the 2015 nesting season.
Posted on December 21, 2014 10:53 pm
Here are some images of a young Quest with her transmitter in 2008. She did a lot of wandering her first year and made lots of friends, especially in Nantucket and Cape Cod.
2014 Rfalconcam Ornaments Available at Our Zazzle Store!
December 12th, 2014For the holidays, we are offering four new Rfalconcam ornaments. Each ornament features two images of our young falcons hatched this year in 2014; Nettie, Tesh, Mercury and Nor’easter.
We hope that you enjoy these ornaments. As always, we thank you for your support of Rfalconcam.
Here are the links for all four ornaments.
Nettie:
http://www.zazzle.com/2014_nettie_ornament-175645792723121663
Tesh:
http://www.zazzle.com/2014_tesh_ornament-175122884672431314
Mercury:
http://www.zazzle.com/2014_mercury_ornament-175940804421380264
Nor’easter:
http://www.zazzle.com/2014_noreaster_ornament-175092420510225340
ROC the Day: Another Success
December 3rd, 2014Thanks once again to the generosity of our dedicated falcon followers, we raised nearly $2,500 yesterday, including two bonuses totaling $1,500 that were earned by carrying out our time-honored plan to donate en masse between midnight and 1 am in order to increase our chances of winning.
ROC the Day officials will send us a list of donors sometime next week and a full financial statement in February, at which point we will know who to thank individually. Until then, thank you to everyone who donated. Your contributions will be used to fund Rfalconcam operations and improvements throughout 2015.
ROC the Day Starts Tonight at Midnight
December 1st, 2014Just a reminder to join us tonight at midnight as we ROC Rfalconcam!
And, yes, we have a plan to win the $500 and $1,000 bonuses. You can read all about it at http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=13907.0.
The link to donate should be https://www.roctheday.org/rfalconcam (no confirmation yet).
ROC the Day in 6 Days!
November 26th, 2014ROC the Day is December 2!
Are you as ready to ROC as we are? Join us on Tuesday, December 2 starting at midnight to ROC the Day for Rfalconcam.
Did you know that every odd hour (1 AM, 3 AM, etc.) one lucky ROCstar (that’s you!) will be randomly chosen to give an extra $500 bonus to the charity of their choice? There are 12 chances to win!
And did you also know that on the even hours, the organization with the highest number of donors for the preceding two-hour period will get an extra $1,000?
Don’t miss it. Sign up for a reminder at http://www.roctheday.org/ and get the latest news on ROC the Day activities at our Forum.
Let’s ROC the Day together!
