Bird Cams Around the World

Dad.

he does not get too close too often.

Terzo finds it's getting more difficult to brood the baby.

Awww...so cute! Thanks, VLU!

I intentionally didn't read this before now because this stuff is too much sometimes, but now I see it's a Virginia bird. There are only a couple of falcon sites on the James River. I don't know about the superfund site, I'm sure there are a few, but I really doubt that has anything to do with this behavior. As an fyi, all falcons in VA are banded and blood is taken by pulling a feather. I'm not sure what they do with the samples but there has been plenty of testing done generally on addled eggs etc.
In Richmond it is suspected that the pigeons they feed on may have contaminants from a nearby site that was a long time ammunitions factory (lead etc). She has had several clutches with defective chicks that die at hatch. That seems more likely in Pittsburgh than her just being crazy because she was contaminated. I sent the article to Bryan Watts at CCB who has all the historical data in VA. Of course biologists would only see this behavior if they watched cams, which is what they were originally intended for, but they don't really have time and depend on us. Based on our collective experience here, it's obviously rare and only seen with males. There are some really bad parents out there that don't have natural instincts, and it could be that simple.

very cute pic cat!
I dropt this cam but I am interested in what will be DONE

Bryan Watts at CCB is excellent.
I've listened to his talks on youtube

Glad Dori's nest was found! (Gulf cam)
Thats the cam very close to this one

Bryan is evidently in regular contact with PA to keep track of VA falcons. He says this is a very unusual situation, especially with this species. Sounds like a food shortage issue, but it sounds like that was not an issue here. He said it was not a VA falcon, but I sent an article that had a photo of Dorothy, so he may have thought that was Hope. Anyway, brutal for a cam falcon no matter how you look at it. I don't think we will ever know why though.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop, Barb. If Hope is still here next season, I don't think many of us will be following this cam. We saw what happened this year to keep Hope from having many chicks, and now we suspect the reason for her not having much success during her years at another nest.

so tired of all o f this negativity


well fed chick

2 wonderful feedings so far by HOpe

I don't think what happened this year is concrete evidence of similar issues in her prior nestings under the Tarentum Bridge. Here's what we know so far:
1. Twice, she had successful nestings. Two chicks were banded & fledged both years.
2. She disappeared from the site for a year. No one knows where she went.
3. Twice, the PGC checked for signs of chicks. They found an abandoned egg both years.
4. She was paired with a juvenile one year. Not surprising that there were no eggs.

We all know that wildlife cams are nature in the raw, and nature is often unpredictable and not pretty. I'm very much in favor of taking cam breaks from time to time.

antilogical

Thank you all for expressing your opinions! As always, all opinions are valued on this forum as long as they are posted respectfully.

from yesterday

hope is doing majority of things herself. do not worry if you see chick alone. Hope is probably just on perch out of view and it is in shade . it is good not to be brooded all the time.
had a nice feed this morning.

I have not been keeping up here, just saw a very cute chick on cam today and wanted to post it's picture.

Hope left and Terzo cam in. Being a single chick with no siblings to huddle with, this chick just wants to snuggle with a parent. I recall the same situation with Zoom at Columbus. Despite the chicks size, Terzo did the best he could to brood. At first he tried to get the chick under him, but that didn't work. So, he snuggled close. Precious.

12:48 pm - Hope with her baby.


12:49 pm - Baby.


12:53 pm - Terzo came in and was on clean-up detail, checking out every corner of the nest for food scraps.


12:57 pm - Terzo tried to brood the chick, but it's too big for that. He did his best to snuggle. Very sweet.