OH / Columbus - Rhodes Tower - 2008-16

[carly]

Oooh..she's a beauty 

[msdolittle]

yes ... it sure looks like she's doing something.  I'll keep watching.
As a kid I watched a chicken for a long time... waiting for it to lay an egg.

thankfully it happened after an hour. 

[maggieblue]

Scout in the nestbox tonight.  I think that we are getting close 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Mom and dad both in the nestbox this morning.  Dad found something to eat in there, but instead of eating it himself, he fed it to mom - maybe this is some kind of bonding, or mating ritual.  Anyway, mom is alone in the box now doing some housekeeping, and dad has decided to retreat to the yard, so to speak.

Yes, food sharing/feeding is part of the pair bond and courtship rituals ... its a good sign that these two are getting down to business 

[maggieblue]

Scout has been in the nestbox for some time now, rearranging pebbles etc.  I wonder if we will see an egg here soon

[maggieblue]

Wonderful to see these two together.  I wonder when we will see eggs.
I see that the mystery of the dark blob has been revealed on the blog.  Turns out it is a curved grate that covers a drain for the ledge.  Whew!  Now we don't have to worry anymore that it might be a dead bird.

[Elaine L]

Mom and dad both in the nestbox this morning.  Dad found something to eat in there, but instead of eating it himself, he fed it to mom - maybe this is some kind of bonding, or mating ritual.  Anyway, mom is alone in the box now doing some housekeeping, and dad has decided to retreat to the yard, so to speak.

[eagle63_1999]

Mom is in the nestbox touching up the nest.!

[maggieblue]

About that black thing at the back of the ledge...after the camera change I was worried about what it might be, but then I remembered that a corner of it had been visible for months with the previous camera angle.  The new camera appears to be further back.  When the woman (biologist Donna Daniels I presume) and the fellow were on the ledge the other day they would have been walking around it and therefore I am thinking it must be some permanent fixture.  The new camera views are pretty disappointing so far.  Lets hope that they can get the fine tuning done soon.

[maggieblue]

So I just checked out Columbus at sunset and there were people on the ledge and WHOOPIE they have the nestcam working!  Big cheer!  Donna Daniels, the biologist, had noted that there could be eggs as soon as mid March so there was concern that if the nest cam problems were not resolved soon we would miss the whole nest cam view for the year.

Also, I hope that some of you were watching shortly after 1 pm on Sunday.  Both Scout and Orville made a high speed landing on the ledge in front of the nestbox, ee-chupping (sp?) wildly.  They hopped into the scrape but a few seconds later Orville came out again and launched off the ledge.  Huh? I thought.  What was that all about? and then I saw this bird, could only have been Orville, making incredibly high speed passes by the ledge, up , down, around, and a loop through the ledge space for a finale. Wow!  I really envy the people who see these events live and have the whole view.  

[Loriann]

they are both still there.. lots of vocalizing.. and lots of church bells bonging in the background.. looks cold and windy there.. not unlike here in Southern Ontario,. where our tempuratures went from + 10 yesterday, to minus 15 in less than 10hours.. brrrrr..

[maggieblue]

Scout and Orville have both been on the ledge for about the last hour.  Scout in the scrape and now sitting in front of the nestbox.  Orville arrived with prey in his talons and sat in front of the ledgecam for about an hour.  Scout didn't show any interest so now he is eating. 

It must have been snowing across much of the U.S. north.  Only a few flakes in Columbus, but snow in the box in Minnesota (Elk River), New York (Rochester), and Nebraska (Woodman in Omaha). 

[Elaine L]

It must be windy in Ohio - Scout's feathers are really flying today.  She has been in front of the camera all morning, flexing her talons, glaring at birds who dare to fly by, and generally ensuring that the whole world is aware that she owns the patform.

[maggieblue]

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/dow/falcons/live_ledge_video.aspx

The last couple of days Scout and Orville appear to have changed their habits.  Scout has been spending time down at the ledgecam end of the platform giving us some great closeups of talons and feathers.  Everytime I check in at least one and usually both birds are on the ledge.  I wonder if they have the company TPC talked about and if there are some other peregrines in the area. 

[maggieblue]

Opps    The new cameras haven't actually been installed yet.  See the blog for details.