Any Falcons or Eagles nesting where you live?

[zanne]

We have two Peregrine Falcons who nest on a tall building every spring. There's a camera, like there is in many cities or towns, whenever they come to nest. This year, the female has laid eggs three weeks early. What a bad sign; they were on the verge of extinction for awhile and are just beginning to repopulate. Does anybody have a nesting site nearby that's in trouble?

[trackfan]

1. Two peregrine falcons land in our tree in the morning and

take twigs, but don't have a nest here. I think they are a known pair from Pasadena (CA) which is nearby.

[havocmom]

2. Yep. Turkeys, geese, cranes too

:)

[pinniped]

3. There's a pair of Peregrine falcons living on the other side of the city (SF, CA).

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/30/BAG2ROUVQF3.DTL



I've seen one flying around downtown before.

They used to live on the side of a PGE building. They just relocated to the Bay Bridge, so their eggs were snatched because they were at risk of blowing away.

[greendog]

4. I've seen Prairie Falcons, Peregrine Falcons, and Kestrels...

...and Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles.

Of all those, only the Bald Eagles are nesting in places that are easy to spot.

[zanne]

9. I would love to see a Bald Eagle nest.

You're lucky to have one in your area.

[greendog]

27. Eagles usually build their nests close to water.

There's one just a few miles south of here on US 93 next to Flathead Lake. It's visible from the road. I get to check it out several times a week. Last year, as far as I could tell, they had two fledglings.

Last weekend I drove 3 1/2 hours to check out the Snow Goose and duck migration at Freezeout Lake by Choteau, MT. While I was there I saw a Bald Eagle catch a duck.


Freezeout Lake - March, 2006

[zanne]

31. You saw it catch a DUCK?

That's a disturbing visual. I never thought of ducks as prey, but I guess they are, huh? Uh oh. Bunnies.........

[greendog]

32. Yeah, their preference is fish...

...but they'll take whatever's easy. If there's lots of ducks around, they'll go for ducks. They'll steal a fish from an osprey. In the winter it's pretty common to see them on roadkill.

[pitohui]

35. bald eagles are a big fan of american coot in southeast louisiana

however i suspect that is one fishy tasting bird -- not about to taste test coot for myself and see!

[greendog]

36. American Coots spend the coldest part of the winter...

...in large groups out on Flathead Lake. Most of the other lakes around here freeze over. It's not unheard of to see Bald Eagles diving on the coots. They're opportunists. They'll eat just about anything.

[pitohui]

38. lake ponchartrain in new orleans cannot freeze, it is brine

i have often enjoyed the site of large rafts of american coots and i know if i sit and watch for awhile then a bald eagle will come and partake of the buffet

[av8rdave]

5. I live in Dallas....we don't even have any Falcon or Eagles fans here!

[pitohui]

6. our bald eagles nest in winter, i visited their nest in february

they're no doubt all finished now, perhaps i'll see some young ones on my walk tomorrow

actually many birds of prey breed in the cooler season in southeast louisiana, i've seen baby great horned owls in february, ospreys, etc.

i think our peregrines only come for winter vacation/par-tay and do not breed in winter but i do not know why breeding "early" in the year would be harmful for them

[zanne]

10. Wow. If you ever have nest cams....

Please let me know! I can't imagine what a baby Great Horned Owl looks like.

[pitohui]

28. not aware of any southeast louisiana nest cams but ghow is not rare...

most of the nests i've seen have been near/around water, maybe too damp for cams?

my photos are pretty poor but the great horned owlets have "fluff" on them for quite awhile, even after they are out of the nest, they are cute as anything

here's a photo i borrowed off the internet of a fledgling, the inner part of the face has "real" feathers but the head is still fluffy, this is typical

[GenDem]

7. We have sightings of an Eagle in our neighborhood

I may have seen it a few weeks ago.

There is a Peregrine falcon couple at a nesting box on an office building in Rochester. There's a web cam set up and you can watch them. The female has been hanging around the box the last couple weeks.

http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/mainView.php

[zanne]

8. Thanks for the Falcon cam!

I'll watch both yours and mine. (I love this stuff). Here's the link to our Falcon cam http://www.nhaudubon.org/research/pcamframehi.htm

[bamademo]

11. We have them all over Alabama

I live in Huntsville and you can see them along the Tennessee River.

http://www.outdooralabama.com/watchable-wildlife/birding-wildlife/bald-eagles.cfm

[zanne]

12. And all those birding trails....

Alabama is going on my list of dream vacation spots.

[bamademo]

14. It's really a beautiful state.

Mountains in the north and white sandy beaches in the south. The birds along the coast are great.

[BarenakedLady]

13. Yup in Rochester atop the Kodak building.

http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/multiView.php

You can watch the falcons there. Photos get updated every few mins.

eta: I see Gendem beat me too it. lol

[GenDem]

21. My friend just turned me onto this site

So this will be my first season watching.

I think that she must be sitting on eggs, as I haven't seen her move. Last week she was just kind of hanging our around her box -- maybe looking for her mate. :shrug:

[zanne]

23. Wait till dad goes hunting for the family...

And brings back a lovely dead mouse. I watched from egg-hatching to first flight last year and the antics of the parents can be pretty funny. If the male is gone too long, the female makes a ruckus. And when he comes bsck, he'd better have something in his claws. The chicks are adorable until they start to molt; then they're about as ugly as you can imagine. (Peregrine Falcons mate for life).

[GenDem]

22. She just stood up and stretched

and yes, there are two eggs. :woohoo: I'm going to be loving this!

[Orsino]

15. Not where I live NOW...

...but where I'm gonna live one day, yes. Heck, that's almost a requirement.

[chieftain]

16. We are surrounded by marsh so have abundant bird life

all around us. No falcons but eagles, osprey, herons of many varieties, limpkins, ibis, roseate spoonbills etc. It is such a great experience to take it all in every morning.

[zanne]

26. Do you live near the Everglades?

Forget Disneyworld; the Everglades are the best! I've never seen such huge birds. I thought the Turkey Vultures were pretty interesting.

[chieftain]

29. We're near Sarasota. Funny that you mention turkey vultures.

There is a rookery with scores of them near us, so we have flocks of them hanging out at our property a lot. They are really interesting birds. They are very social; quite amusing to watch as they hop about together.

[trof]

17. Ospreys and bald eagles.

Coastal Alabama.
Big osprey nest a few blocks from me.

[Random_Australian]

18. There are wedgetail eagles around, but you don't find much birdlife here in the city.

(Sydney)

Well, not large birds anyway.... wedgetails are NOT small!

[zanne]

24. I'd give my eyeteeth to see the Australian wildlife....

Especially the birds. Wow.

[Random_Australian]

33. It's true, the line "our land abounds in nature's gifts, of beauty rich and rare" is in our national

anthem for very good reason. :)

[xchrom]

19. coopers hawks not a block from my front door.

and i live in very urban area.

[Maestro]

20. The only falcons I know of are Kestrels, but I can't find

any nests. However, there are a ton of Red Tailed Hawks. This guy lives about three miles from my house.

[zanne]

25. He's gorgeous.

Do you know what their wing span is?

[Maestro]

41. Somewhere between

42-52 inches. If you like this type of hawk, you can see many more of my pics here: http://Maestros.smugmug.com/gallery/2507626/1/131648423 :hi:

[zanne]

43. Your photos are wonderful.

It must take alot of skill and patience to photograph birds.

[Maestro]

44. Mostly patience and luck for me

With digital cameras now and the large capacity cards one can take tons of pictures without having to incur developing costs like film. If a picture doesn't turn out, it only hurts your ego. :) The law of averages though dictates that if you take enough pictures some will turn out alright. That is my philosophy. ;) Thanks for the kind words.

[SPKrazy]

30. Eagles and Hawks

don't know about any falcons.

mostly out in the country around here, i've seen bald eagles sitting on a fence just east of here.

:shrug:

[Kajsa]

39. That is so cool!

We have some hawks from the hillsides and canyons.

But I've only heard an eagle once in Cleveland National Forest.
I couldn't see him.

I love those birds, they are beautiful.

:hi:

[SPKrazy]

40. We've lots of hawks around

the eagles are rarer, but i've seen them and they are beautiful...

:hi:

[achtung_circus]

34. Toronto webcams

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm

[zanne]

42. Thanks, achtung!

I bookmarked it. That makes three Peregrine Falcon nest cams so far. It should be interesting to compare them as they hatch and grow.

[idgiehkt]

37. I've almost hidden this thread like five times.

Every time I see it I think it's a sports thread. :)


I wish there were something exotic like that around here; we have some hawks but I don't know where they live, you know.

[grannylib]

45. Not any in trouble, as far as I know...we live right on a river in Minnesota and

have many nesting hawks, falcons, eagles, vultures and heaven only knows what all, but to the best of my knowledge, they are all doing well and not in any danger.

[LuLu550]

46. Peregrines nesting, Bald eagles, too

Just south of Albany, NY on the Hudson River.

the peregrines are in a nesting box on the underside of a high bridge, the eagles nest where ever they want to in the trees along the river. we used to have a peregrine breeding program that used the highest building in Albany for their nesting boxes.