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

After all the great news we’ve received in the past few weeks regarding Mariah’s offspring, we have the unfortunate task to report that Ranger and Hunter’s 2008 clutch of eggs has apparently failed. Mark Nash and Linda Woods latest report (brought to us by Rochester Falconcam team member Carol Phillips) states that the three eggs in their nest have disappeared. Here’s Mark’s report from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation’s Midtown Toronto page:

May 3 – We have sad news to report today, as it appears that the three eggs that Ranger and Hunter were incubating are gone. Linda and I conducted a site visit today at the request of the Four Season Hotel to take a look at the situation to give them an update on the status of the birds given all of the territorial squabbling that has been happening with two adult females that have been observed fighting at this nest site in recent days. The reports have been streaming in that there has been some squabbling with the resident adult female – (named Ranger) and another unidentified female here at the Four Season nest site. We can only speculate that increased stress as a result of these territorial battles between the two females has caused Ranger to destroy her eggs. While this is unusual for this particular pair given the long history that we have on this pair, we have documented this happening over the years at several other nest sites with other territorial nesting pairs with increased stress. Our fingers crossed that Ranger and Hunter will attempt to produce another clutch of eggs, as it is still early in the season for this to happen.

Here’s a recent picture of Ranger taken by Mark Nash. Hatched in 2001, she is the daughter of Mariah and Cabot-Sirocco. It was the last set of offspring before Kaver’s arrival, and Ranger is the only one of the 2001 clutch whose current status is known.

Since 2002 she and her mate Hunter (hatched in 2000, Columbus, Ohio USA) have nested in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Their first nest was on the Canadian Tire building (Yonge and Eglinton Streets), but earlier this year they relocated to a new nest on the Four Seasons Hotel at the corner of Bloor and Yonge Streets in midtown Toronto’s Yorkville district. Late last month CPF observers reported a second female Peregrine in the area and some indications of territorial disputes.

Sadly, Ranger and Hunter have never had a successful nest. Since 2003 Ranger has laid eggs at her nest every year– sometimes double-clutching— but none have ever hatched. The nest sites appear to be well chosen, so the reason for the repeated failure of her clutches is not clear, but Toronto is a busy site with a lot of Peregrines. Territorial struggles and the stress that accompanies them, infertility problems, or a combination of the two could be responsible.

Like Mark and our friends at CPF, we’re hopeful that she and Hunter will be able to lay another clutch of eggs this year. Thanks to everyone at CPF for keeping up with Ranger and Hunter, and thanks to Carol for reporting this news.

-Jess

For the second year, the Gallery at High Falls in partnership with the Genesee Valley Audubon Society is proud to present an exhibit of photographs and art celebrating Mariah, Kaver and the Rochester Peregrine falcons. Last year’s show was a great success, showcasing the outstanding work of area photographers and artists, many of them members of the Genesee Valley Audubon Society’s Fledge Watch.

The exhibit will run from June 28 through August 31, 2008, with a special grand opening gala on the weekend of June 27. Local artists and photographers are encouraged to submit their works featuring the Rochester Peregrines for inclusion in the exhibit. Details and an entry form are available by clicking either of the links below:

E-mail Entry Form (Microsoft Word file)

Mail-in Entry Form (Adobe PDF file)

We hope you’ll join us at the Gallery at High Falls this summer, either as a visitor to the exhibit, contributing artist, or both!

-Jess

As you know, the Rochester Falconcam is operated by the Genesee Valley Audubon Society, a not-for-profit organization as defined under section 501(c) 3 of the US Internal Revenue Service code. We operate on a limited budget and we depend upon the generosity of our fans for the majority of our funding. So you can imagine how happy we were to learn that a group of dedicated Fans of the Falconcam have pooled their talents and energies to raise money for the Rochester Falconcam!

Their imaginative program is called “Bricks for Chicks“, and here’s the story.

For as long as Peregrines have been nesting on the Kodak tower, adults and fledglings alike have used the three smokestacks at the RG&E BeeBee Station as convenient landing spots and hunting perches. On their early flights, these tall open cylinders can present hazards for the fledglings, and more than one has needed rescue over the years. Once they’ve learned to control their landings, the fledglings have found the smokestacks to be excellent places to eat, rest weary wings, or just hang out.

The recent renovations at the BeeBee Station will leave only one smoke stack standing. In commemoration of the role these industrial relics have played, our friends in the Bricks for Chicks program have obtained a limited supply of the original masonry from the center and northern smokestacks that are being demolished.

Now you too can own a little piece of Rochester Falcon history, and support the Rochester Falconcam program at the same time! Click the Bricks for Chicks link above, or click the button at the right to get your brick, and other fine commemortive photos of the Rochester Falcons. (you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the document. If you don’t have it, you can CLICK HERE to get it). Help keep the Rochester Falconcam running. Visit Bricks for Chicks!

We’re really excited about this community-centered effort, and the Rochester Falconcam extends our gratitude and heatfelt thanks to the folks at Bricks for Chicks, and to you, our generous fans, for your continuing support!

-Jess

While we wait for Mariah’s five eggs to hatch, we’d like everyone to know that we have restored the family tree to the Rochester Falconcam website for this year. Long time fans will recall that Kodak kept Mariah’s family tree updated through 2006 on the Kodak Birdcam. When the Genesee Valley Audubon Society took over the website, we missed adding the family tree, so we’re happy to be able to return it again for 2008.

You can get to the family tree by clicking the History link on the left side of the screen, then clicking Family Tree. Click the small picture to display a larger version. We’ve added some new information to the family tree, including Cabot-Sirocco’s parents, Toronto’s own Victoria and Pounce-Kingsley. We have also added color to some of the eyas’s names. These colors refer to the colored tape that covers the US Fish and Wildlife Service ID band on each falcon’s right leg. The colored tape makes it easy for our volunteer Fledge Watchers to identify each fledgling from a distance. It’s easy to spot the colored tape through binoculars even when the ID band numbers can’t be read, so the tape is a real benefit for our watchers.

We have also been working on a history of Mariah’s family, including updates on their current locations and status when that information is available to us. We’re working to add that information to the family tree too, so look for it soon!

CLICK HERE to open Mariah’s Family Tree

-Jess