Bird Cams Around the World

March 25 2024

I will provide exact note, when at computer , but Val and Canyon are back and nesting again. They are on eggs, which are expected to hatch in late April
The owners of building have not given permission to disclose where they are nesting , but allow Dr Zeka , to monitor

Miss the cam, but exciting to be kept in loop

Thank, Bev. Yes, I miss this cam too--it was one of my favorites!

this is from Denise who is part of thi ssite
Hello,



It's been a while since we have updated everyone about the Downtown San Francisco Peregrine Falcons, and we have great news!


Val and Canyon continue to be a strong pair and have a nest again this year! They are incubating eggs which are expected to hatch approximately in the middle of April.




This is the eighth year that Val has nested in San Francisco (the first five years were at the former PG&E building), and this is Canyon's fifth year with Val. Val and Canyon are doing a great job taking turns at incubating the eggs.




Dr. Zeka Glucs (UCSC Predatory Bird Research Group) continues to monitor the progress of the nest. The owners of the building have not provided clearance for promoting the location of the building and the nest. As such, there will not be a webcam again this year. If anything were to change for future seasons, an update will be provided.




Further updates will be provided as new information becomes available.




Congratulations to this longtime San Francisco pair that we have grown to love so much!

Thanks, Bev!

3 healthy chicks for Val and Canyon

compliments of BArbara

As Denise posted, Val and Canyon have three young this year. It looks as though they are all males (although one is what Zeka called a "tweener" and could be a small female or a large male). The band numbers and the tape colors are listed below. Male #1, Red was given the larger band size. The young will be 42 days old on May 26, but because they are males fledge-watch will start early on May 23 (39 days).

Male #1
Left - 18/BC
Right - RED tape

Male #2
Left - 54/BA
Right - BLUE

Male #3
Left - YELLOW
Right - 57/BA

Also, I think it was mentioned previously but there is a nesting pair of peregrine falcons on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The nest area is on a very crumbly looking rocky cliff. The area is not accessible so the young are not banded but the female is one of the University of California birds (2018) who was named Lawrencium (Larry). Staff on the island have been able to set up a camera to view the nest. It looks to be an unattended, black and white, with night vision and sound, fixed view of the scrape with 4 young. The nest has been active for at least the past three years and each year the adults guided the young to San Francisco soon after they fledged. This is about a 1 mile flight to the Fort Mason area and then another mile to the Comfort Inn where they spent a few weeks honing their hunting skills with their parents. This is also the general direction that Val and Cany's young migrated toward as they became more proficient fliers and left San Francisco. Just search for "Alcatraz falcon cam" and the Golden Gate Nature Parks Conservancy website will come up.

Barbara
_._,_._,_

Bev, we have a topic for the Alcatraz Nest. Scroll WAY... down to the end of the California topics. I will copy your post to the Alcatraz topic!

Yellow is the first fledge of the season.

Sunday 10MAY2024 - First Fledge


Saturday evening Val brought in a huge prey that took over 45 minutes to feed to the young. Well fed they all retired for the night. This morning close to 8:30am, Val brought in a small meal that she dropped off in the nest area. It was soon after this that Yellow decided to fly. According to the watchers he took a strong diagonal flight across the street and one block over to land on the roof of 201 California. I didn't arrive until a little after noon and at that time he was still perched on top of 201. He spent most of the afternoon and early evening walking the roof ledge with his parents sitting on various perches around the neighborhood. 201 is a flat top building, good for fledging but not for roosting so close to 7:30pm Yellow decided to find a night perch and flew back toward the nest building but lost altitude and flew around the building landing on the Old Federal Reserve Building. This is an old six story building with big deep window ledges so if he just tucks in for the night he has a great spot to spend the night. Next door is the Le Meridian hotel (new name ?) and it has a lot of great balconies; last years fledges really liked it.

Blue and Red spent their day variously on the ledge and in the nest area. There was some flapping and lots of looking. We are anticipating Blue to be next.

Barbara

Thank for posting Bev! I miss Val and her yearly family.

monday may27

Now to today: The day started early with Yellow wanting to get back to the nest (probably for food). He was spotted on the old Federal Reserve building where he evidently spent the night, but soon disappeared from sight. Both Blue and Red were spotted still on the nest ledge. Yellow decided to attempt a return to the nest and flew from the vicinity of the Fed Reserve up and just short of the nest ledge, managing to cling to the side of the building. He pushed off and tried again only to find himself attached to another part of the building. He did not slide and pushed off again this time flying along Battery St. to land on a 275 Battery window ledge (22nd floor) He spent some hours sitting on the window ledge until a little after 1:00pm when he decided to fly. At about the same time Blue decided to fledge. Fledge watchers were going in all directions looking for two fledges. We decided to concentrate on Yellow and after an hour or so of hunting a call came through that a concerned citizen had spotted him on one of the pedestrian bridges that connects the condos and buildings of the Embarcadero. After much searching he was found on the ground, boxed up and sent for evaluation by a wildlife rehab group (the latest report has him eating well). While this was going on I had walked back toward California Street checking rooftops and found Blue sitting on top of 255 California, next door to 201 California, where Yellow had fledged. This building has a roof overhang and a wide gutter under the overhang, that encircles the building. Blue was on the roof. The gutter is often used by the adults as a place to pluck prey. Blue spent the afternoon touring the roof and we could often see his tail as he moved along. Meanwhile we strained to find any sign of Red on the nest ledge. The realization began to set in that he was not any longer on the nest ledge and that he also had probably fledged close to the time Blue fledged. It wasn't until 6:00pm when both Val and Canyon brought food in, that Blue (who had managed to get from the roof to the gutter) and Red who had been on the roof of 201 California all the time, both popped up to be fed. So now we had three fledges and one rescue.
Barbara

Thanks, Bev!

forgot to post yessterday
may28

This is going to be a very short report. Last night we left Blue in the gutter of 255 California and today he spent the entire day in the gutter. He was fed for almost an hour by one of the parents and even they spent a considerable amount of time in and around the gutter. it was a very quiet day.

Yellow and Red are still with WildCare in San Rafael. While neither has suffered any physical injury, they have both been diagnosed with a parasitic infection. They will be treated over the next 3-4 days with an anti-parasitic medication and when they are ready they will be released back into their home territory.

Barbara

may29

Yellow and Red continue to receive treatment for their infection.



Today Blue decided it was time to do a little flying. When the first watchers arrived he was found out of the gutter on 255 Calif. and on the roof of 201 Calif. He spent most of the morning there until about noon when he decided to try for the gutter. Flying off of 201 he missed the gutter, turned right and flew along Battery landing on a 15th floor balcony; Val often sits on the 30th floor roof of this building. He stayed there for another 4 hours until Val landed on the gutter with a very large prey. Seeing dinner, Blue flew back to 255 and landed on the roof above the gutter where Val was plucking.



Earlier in the day we had seen Val and Canyon copulating and after she finished plucking, instead of feeding Blue she took the prey and flew behind one of the tall buildings meeting up with Canyon. Canyon came around with the prey and they both flew to the nest ledge to have a shared meal. Val then took the leftovers to Blue on the roof and fed him a good sized portion.



Close to 7pm Blue decided to fly again. We saw him come off of 255, cross Battery and make a circle back to 255 (probably an attempt to get back to the gutter to roost for the night). Unfortunately we were not able to find him among the tall buildings in this area. He may have come down in a courtyard but we could not get access to search for him. We hope he just settled down for the night, and will be searching for him in the morning.



Barbara

Thank you, Bev and Barbara!

When we left off last night there was no sighting of Blue. This morning after much searching he was found on top of 201 Calif on the large mechanical room that sits in the middle of the roof. Only a small portion is visible from the ground but the watchers were able to get high enough to see him sitting up and taking in the sights. When we lost him behind the 201 and 255 Calif he must have caught a thermal updraft which took him up and over to the mechanical room. Most of the high rises in the area sit back from each other forming these alleys between the buildings where there is often ventilation ducts that create updrafts. We saw this yesterday when he came off the building on Battery, literally fell two floors and then caught an updraft that took him up to the roof of 201.

Sometime in the morning he decided to fly off the mechanical room and Canyon caught up with him and they flew in tandem around the area. He again attempted to return to the nest area but fell short and returned to 201. Canyon flew off and we didn't see him the rest of the day. Around 1:00pm, Blue did a dedicated short flight from the roof of 201 to the gutter of 255. He remained there for the rest of the day with Val on a window ledge of 201, watching him. Val went off on a hunt a couple of times but came back with nothing and really didn't seem interested in doing much other than sitting.

Around 6:00pm when the watchers had to change their perch, Blue gave us the slip again. He is flying well and may have flown back to 201 or perhaps he just laid down in the gutter to snooze. It was a very warm day with little wind and not much action.

Barbara

Sound like things are going good there. Thank heavens, the other two got prompt attention for their infections.

Sometimes, good comes from bad( meaning getting grounded)