Peregrine Falcon Project Observation Log

Dad = Buckeye Birthplace - Rhodes Tower, Columbus Ohio Birthdate - 1996 We read on the discussion board that Buckeye has a distinctive white patch on the top of his left wing - almost like a shoulder. He is also smaller than Mom (SW), lighter gray in color, and has more white on his chest. This will help us distinguish which bird is which. Mom = SW Birthplace - Gulf Tower, Pennsylvania Birthdate - 1999 SW is larger than her mate and a much darker gray. The "black stripes" go up higher on her chest too.
3/11 – Cameras went live in AM. We noticed them up about noon. Buckeye seemed to have spent a lot of time waiting on the edge of the nest box.
	3/12 8:15 AM Both birds are hanging around the nest box but a few feet apart ... they seem to be getting used to each other again. 1:30 PM Looks like an indentation has been made in the "scrape" ~ no eggs yet.
	3/13 12 Noon OH MY! SNOW!! this is certainly no place to lay eggs! Freezing rain and light snow all morning in Cleveland. the temperatures remained in the 20s and 30s all day.
Here Buckeye has brought breakfast to the nest - YUM! He is trying to lure SW with the promise of being a good provider. We read on the discussion board that as part of the courtship behavior, the male brings food to the female and will continue to throughout the nesting, hatching, and early raising of the chicks until she can hunt for herself again.
	Over the weekend (3/15 and 3/16) the snow disappeared form the nest box as the temperature went up in to the 60s a few times. Buckeye has spent a lot of time patiently waiting at the nest for SW. SW looks very much like she is “with egg” in this picture to the left.
3/17 11:50 PM We noticed that Buckeye is spending a lot of time in the nest box this morning making an indentation in the scrape. The temperature is also dropping again - down to 49.9 degrees.
3/18 8 AM WOW! Sometime under the cover of darkness, between 6 PM 3/17 and 7 AM 3/18, SW laid her first egg. Congratulations to the proud parents. We read that the eggs are laid 2-3 days apart until a clutch of 3 - 5 eggs have been produced ~ that should make the 2nd egg arrive about 3/20.
Through the Falcon Flash Newsletter, we learned from Sara Jean Peters of the Ohio Division of Wildlife that there is a way we can practice “sampling” – we count the number of frames that show a bird present in the nest in one hour and divide by 60 to get the percentage of time they spend on the nest. 3/18 Sampling: 12-1 PM - the birds were in the nest box 98% of the hour; from 3-4 PM they were present 86% of the hour; and from 6-7 PM both birds were present 61% of the hour.
8:25 AM 3/19 - By this time the temp has gone up to 59 degrees already. (Got up to 63 degrees for 2 hours in the afternoon.) The egg is doing very well with SW keeping it warm. At this rate she might have another egg soon and Buckeye is doing well getting along with SW in the nest box. As of 6 PM when the cameras went down for the night there are no new eggs ... They usually lay an egg about every other day until they have a clutch of 3-5 eggs. 3/19 Sampling: 8-9 AM birds present 20% of the hour with the egg being sat on only 13% of the time. 12-1 PM birds present 80% of the hour and on the egg the entire time. 4-5 PM BE spent 85% of the hour standing guard. SW was gone.
6:26 AM 3/20 as the sun came up SW revealed she had been busy ~ egg #2 is in the nest 3/20 Sampling: From sunrise, between 6 and 7 to 9 AM SW has been on the eggs 100%. 9-10 AM SW was there 60% and BE 30%. 1-2 PM SW was there 100% of the hour again. 6-7 PM SW was on the nest 90% of the hour It got up to 64 degrees, then between 1 & 2 dropped to 57. There was also lightening and thunder in the area - YIKES - hope SW isn't afraid of thunder storms!
	Here is Buckeye with the eggs. He is sniffing the new egg to get its scent. We learned from the falcon Flash Newsletter that this is a typical behavior for the male.
3/21 - The first full day of spring and it rained just about all day. Because the eggs can not get wet, they were covered and protected well by SW and Buckeye. Sampling: We checked every hour between 12 Noon and 6 PM ... 12-1 One of the parents was on the nest 78% of the hour. 1-2 The eggs were covered 100% of the hour, as they were from 3:00-5:00. 2-3 96% of the hour saw the eggs being protected. 5-6 88% of the hour had birds on the eggs. We are thinking that "active incubation" (both the male and the female on the eggs) has begun ~ which we learned on the discussion board from Mr. Wright, begins after the 2nd or third egg is laid. Also, it has been raining most of the day. The chicks will not live if they get wet. The weather may be playing a factor here too.