I’m sure that most of you have noticed the strange blob that recently appeared on the right side of the nest cam’s field of view. For several days, the Peregrine Chicks have been liberally spraying “whitewash” out of their back ends and one of them scored a hit on the camera’s housing. The good new is that the chicks are eating well. The bad new is that we may loose our view of the nest. If the camera lens becomes too fogged, it may be necessary to switch to a backup camera. If this happens there will be an interruption in the streaming video while we switch lines and enable the other camera.
Matt,
I was wondering if the falcons may be keeping the unhatched egg in the nest to avoid giving their position away? Could a broken egg on the ground indicate, to other birds, there’s a nest close by putting the chicks in harms way?
Please comment.
“ready …. aim …. fire ….. —> white wash
oops I think I hit mommy (or daddy) sitting on the door threshold of our nest” (or maybe the doorway got another blast)
caught in the act by a viewer 🙂
with a nest that far off the ground, would safety be an issue for an egg to be dumped out of the nest? (how long would it actually last on the street/sidewalk during a week day without some person cleaning it up? whether a bank employee or a city worker on detail duty?)
As falcons are the predator, do they have any enemies that would want an egg? or pester the nest?
wouldn’t the parents be on the defensive protecting their young from any danger?
The egg will probably not be ejected from the nest, but only shoved into a corner. If it did fall out of the box it would present no hazard since the egg weighs so little. Peregrine Falcons have few predators in natural settings. Perhaps one would be the Golden Eagle. Raccoons and other mammals could take eggs but the remoteness and inaccessibility of their nesting situations make that a very uncommon occurrence. These falcons are believed to have virtually no problems with predators in urban settings. Also, Peregrine Falcons are very protective of the nest site. They relentlessly try to drive off anything approaching the nest.
“it is time for a promenade, two of us are by the camera (I’m the only one that can be seen) and my other sibling is in great view of the camera and closer to it (not in the far right corner). Pretty soon we will be all over our nest …exploring while we wobble (for now – once we learn how to “walk” better) ”
time: 4:30 pm (EDT)
just sited > the start of primary feathers coming in on one of the chick’s wing (as it flapped its wings after its walk away from the camera, it had been hiding in the near corner left of the camera)
“also, while walking by I decided to talk to the camera, if anyone saw me I have a nice big mouth and a cute little tongue, maybe I should have grabbed the Windex and cleaned the camera while I was that close”
“we had such an eventful wandering and one of us told Daddy about it (while he was feeding us) including that camera thingy, so now Daddy is taking a close look at it, studying it real hard and pecking at it. Daddy will tell us it is OK to look at it again” (: