Re: ALCOA FALCONS: March-October, 2010

catwoman · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:15 am

PLEASE CONTINUE YOUR 2010 ALCOA POSTS HERE!

PruJoy · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:29 am

thanks for opening the March thread CW :waveht:

yes it really is 1st of March for me right now & oh yes, the cam is still FROZEN

PruJoy · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:34 am

I just received this reply to an email I sent to Alcoa way back on November 11th!!!
It is pretty interesting ...

dear pru,

thank you for your email.
apologies it has taken some time to reply.

unfortunately whilst we have seen an reduced amount of swooping/striking incidents this year, there has been a sufficient number for site personnel to nominate that we relocate the nest box again.
we have an ongoing relationship with the Victorian Peregrine Project, who will advise us of a suitable location for both the peregrine falcons and the safety of personnel.
thank you again for your interest. hopefully we will be back online again this breeding season.

Peregrine Falcon Webcam
Anglesea Power Station

Alcoa of Australia

t +61 3 5263 4270 f +61 3 5263 4203 m +61 (0) 404 800 345

Coalmine Road/ Camp Road, Anglesea, Victoria 3230
http://www.alcoa.com.au
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-----Original Message-----
From: 081@live.com.au [mailto:081@live.com.au]
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 14:56
To: ANG Falcons (Shared)
Subject: Alcoa.com contact email

Inquiry Type:Peregrine Falcon Webcam
First Name:Pru
Last Name:Bergemann
Email Address:081@live.com.au
Phone Number:0260234556
Country:Australia
Subject:New nest site
Message:Hi,

A few of us Sheila & Havoc cam watchers on the BCAW forum were wondering how the new nest site worked out for you this year.

You posted at the start of this season that you moved the box so as to reduce the amount of "bombing" that the staff experienced in the previous season.

Sheila & Havoc seem very happy with the new site. We also wonder if the two fledgling brothers have kept more to the treed area than the machinery?

Many thanks for yr generosity in maintaining this webcam & nest,

Pru
on behalf of BCAW

kittenface · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:39 am

Thank you for sharing this with us pru I was starting to wonder if they were going to get back to you
Wow this sounds like they may not have camera next season also
what a bunch of wimps can't the take a little divebombing from the Falcons :lol:

PruJoy · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:45 am

Mmmm ... yes indeed KF - aren't they supposed to wear hardhats anyway in such an industrial area???

Oh phooey - another box change & maybe webcam, maybe not next season

PLUS a new female on the scene as well & right now the cam is frozen ... be interesting to see how long it takes for them to restore it ...

catwoman · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:37 am

Thanks for posting that email answer, Pru! I'm a little puzzled. We were told that it was Sheila who was divebombing plant personnel, so does that mean she is still around? I wonder if they have had any instances of this happening lately. Hopefully, somebody will pay attention to ljames' email & check it out...

SusanE · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:06 am

Very nice letter you sent, Pru, and what an "interesting" reply. I sure hope they can figure out a spot for the nest box where they can reinstall the camera. I have a bad feeling that the cam may now be down until next season. :cry:

kittenface :hahah

bev. · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:24 am

thanks for posting your reply you got Pru. Now let us hope we get an answer to the other messages sent about what is happening presently.

Maybe they do not want us to see anymore so we will stop asking questions

(and thus turned the cam off)

I am still positive that Sheila is around. With this being a refresh camera, that stance in the nest box may not have been one of bowing but a standoff or a warning.

I guess we can surmise anything without knowing.

I cannot believe they would relocate nest box because of the workers. Around here , we wold have no sites at all if they did that.

but as was stated earlier, what will be , will be.

catwoman · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:02 am

I have seen a lot of ideas posted here that make a lot of sense. Just don't know if we are being taken seriously by the people who make the decisions. I sure hope Sheila is still around, but if she isn't, there is no point in them moving the nestbox.

PruJoy · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:08 pm

catwoman wrote:

I have seen a lot of ideas posted here that make a lot of sense. Just don't know if we are being taken seriously by the people who make the decisions. I sure hope Sheila is still around, but if she isn't, there is no point in them moving the nestbox.

Now that's a very good point! but somehow I don't think they are going to "get it"

It's 7.07 am & the cam is still frozen from yesterday

ljames · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:22 pm

I got something today as well.

thank you for your email.

once the breeding season is over and the adult Peregrine Falcons disperse from
the nest box, we have no means of keeping a track of their whereabouts.
unless an adult is found deceased on our site by one of our personnel, we can
only assume that the falcons are out in the wide world somewhere enjoying life.
it is not until the next breeding season that we see who appears at our nest box
and know who has survived another year.

before the commencement of this breeding season we had reports of unbanded adult
Peregrine Falcons around our site.
it is unlikely that this adult Peregrine Falcon is from this nest as all of the
juveniles from previous years have been banded at our site.
Froona, is the only female born at our site who has not been banded and she
would still be exhibiting juvenile plumage.

due to ongoing issues with the swooping /striking of personnel, the nest box
will be relocated in coming weeks so unfortunately the camera will be turned off
soon.
hopefully we'll be able to reconnect in time for this year's breeding season and
find out the answer !

Peregrine Falcon Webcam
Anglesea Power Station

Alcoa of Australia

catwoman · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:24 pm

Thanks for sharing your email, ljames! At least it sounds hopeful that we will have a cam for next season.

PruJoy · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:38 pm

Great reply ljames - that answers a LOT!

skygirlblue · **Joined:** Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:18 pm **Posts:** 61899

Thanks ljames and pru for sharing your emails!!! Still very curious to me...the cam is still down OR maybe its already been turned "off" for the season...which means, we'll never really know what's going on...UNLESS...somebody receives a more informative response...I guess time will tell...but I am kind of concerned for Sheila...Territory is utmost and I just can't picture her allowing Havoc to bond with another female in their box... :shock:

ljames · **Posted:** Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:33 am

I kind of feel sorry for the new female. She was really taken with that nestbox. I hope they don't relocate it to a storage room somewhere. Not being able to see it on the cam, who knows? Maybe Sheila had an accident or something as that new falcon didn't look very big, but we won't know that until they find 'a deceased falcon on the site'. And if it was Sheila doing the attacking of the personnel, well that shouldn't be a problem anymore. And if it is, is Sheila still around? So many unanswered questions. Hard to imagine that they don't know more than they do. Not one mention of the babies.

We can only assume that the falcons are out in the wide world somewhere enjoying life.
:shock:

I hope they update the main page with additional info.

PruJoy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:24 pm

ljames wrote:

I kind of feel sorry for the new female. She was really taken with that nestbox. I hope they don't relocate it to a storage room somewhere. Not being able to see it on the cam, who knows? ...

I hope they update the main page with additional info.

That kinda made me laugh ljames - that they could "relocate the nestbox to a storage room" - yes, how convenient for them.

But there is still hope that Havoc & his new female could move over to the other nest boxes that were put up on the Alcoa property last year (as mentioned by their Barry Smith - he organized it in the hope of attracting more breeding couples - well, it does seem to have attracted new peregrines but maybe that wasn't so good for Sheila

)

And as for Alcoa "updating the website" any time soon - :lol:

I am doubley unhappy with Alcoa right now as they just signed a new contract until 2036!!! to continue using brown coal to fire their smelters

- there are a LOT of Aussies not impressed with their actions here right now.

SusanE · **Posted:** Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:46 am

ljames, thanks for sharing your response from Alcoa. At least they responded. The way I see it is that this is a huge commercial operation and the workers are busy doing their jobs creating power for their country and not too concerned about "some birds" that are around. I am so thankful that they are willing to provide the nests and cameras and bandwidth to share their peregrine falcons with us . . . even taking the time to answer some of our questions, but I do think their main focus is their business . . . not watching the skies.

p.s. I'm sorry about the brown coal, Pru.

kittenface · **Posted:** Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:51 pm

ljames · **Posted:** Tue Mar 09, 2010 4:26 pm

Thanks kittenface. So that's it huh? Oh man, too cruel.

Well that is a cute picture.

PruJoy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 09, 2010 4:30 pm

Yep - I think that really was their way of "shutting the door" on us for awhile - "goodbye dear Sheila & Havoc & all yr family & friends down around Anglesea - Good Hunting!" :waveht:

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Re: ALCOA FALCONS: March-October, 2010

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