Bird Cams Around the World

Good reporting this morning - sounds like the boys are coming along. Thanks, Kim and Reenie!

Thanks for sharing the article, kittenface. I thought one thing they said was kind of strange. They talk about the New River Gorge hacking project as an effort to restore pefa to its "natural range", but I am certain I read in some of the material that was linked to the forum that there is no evidence that falcons have ever nested in the area where they are hacking, or anywhere along the New River Gorge, even before they were exterminated in the east. So they are essentially trying to force them into habitat that for some reason they have always avoided. Number one: any idea why they wouldn't have nested there before?Number two: Wouldn't it disrupt the existing natural balance to introduce a new predator to the area?

Although I agree with most people posting here that it was a mistake to send the Wilmington girls to West Virginia, I expect that the New River Gorge is very much like Appalachian cliffs historically used by peregrines, even if there are no records of them there. I hope that the hacking project succeeds but that they stick to their announced procedure of using nestlings from dangerous bridge sites.

Some people would argue that your natural balance point is better made in connection with establishing peregrines on nesting platforms in coastal marshes, which certainly subjects shorebirds to intense predation they did not encounter when the falcons bred only on cliffs. I've heard some grumbling about this from people who like the shorebirds.

There are tradeoffs even in cities. The peregrines here in Wilmington catch nighthawks on migration. I doubt that you could have breeding nighthawks in a city with breeding peregrines. I'm delighted that we have the peregrines here, though.

Heard on the 6:00 News, ABC, ..... No Fireworks in Wilmington this year. That's good!


Thanks for all the reporting and comments today. Interesting, but hope it never happens again.

Passenger pigeons used to breed in numbers as far south as West Virginia. Those were the good old days.

I didn't have time to stop to check on the falcons this morning but I just looked out the window and saw one kid flying around and there's one adult, RG I think, sitting on the ledge of the nestbox. I'll try and look again later.

This is very disturbing to say the least.

Amen Kim!

Maybe not that disturbing, if the hack site keeps supplying the fledglings with quail until the fledglings elect not to return and disperse to wherever they want to go. If they're like a telemetry bird fledged from a Pittsburgh nest they could be out to the Atlantic coast in a day or two.

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/prog ... 15114.html

I read somewhere that one male hacked at New River nested there (unsuccessfully) with an unbanded female in 2009, and a female hacked there ended up breeding at a quarry at Harpers Ferry.

Does it say anywhere that they provide quail until the kids disperse? I haven't read all the documentation yet.

I thought that I saw that but can't point to anything.

This is from 6:52 this morning. It almost looks like whoever this is (RG I think) is interacting with another bird on the other side of the box but I think we'd see at least some feet if that was the case?

Interesting facts Greg. Hope they do feed at the hack site until they disperse. Kim thanks for a good catch in the nest. I keep checking, but so far no luck.

So if a bird was still coming to the box a month later, they would still be feeding it?

Thanks MA! I'll read the report over the weekend.