FalconCam Project » FalconCams

Bad weather day in orange

ScottBanks — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:35:35 +0000

A quiet month up the tower with various visits by mum, dad and daughter at different times, with one sighting of all three hanging off the roof and microwave dish arm. Cold winter weather, interspersed with -8degC mornings have meant little activity and no doubt little available dinner too.

Taking shelter in the rainy weather

Scratchings

ScottBanks — Tue, 18 May 2010 04:23:11 +0000

Yesterday Mum flew up on to the ledge and seemed restless – she can spend hours up there on some days. She was very interested in scraping some gravel with her feet and trying the roost out for a seat as well. Nothing seemed to come from it though but it’s an action that normally takes place just prior to laying. This may have been a nervous or habitual action. We would also be around 3 months ahead of last year’s breeding season (which in turn was 2 months ahead of the previous year!) so it’s likely to be a one-off.

Experimental video from the ledge camera

ScottBanks — Wed, 05 May 2010 02:49:07 +0000

With winter setting in, down here in Orange, there will be less sunlight and more foul weather; this week has begun with sub +10degC temperatures, more rain for a wet end of summer, and no doubt the peregrines will spend more time sheltering up the tower.

While we wait for word on new cameras and recording system gear we tested a temporary video capability on the ledge for the first time; it’s all manual recording but better than nothing. You can see a result from this morning by clicking here … That’s mum keeping the ledge warm today!

Tower maintenance, but mum’s back

ScottBanks — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:47:38 +0000

Last week we had a tall crane on campus to get up to the tower and replace the north-facing armoured window (the other side of the tower to the roost) as it had been badly cracked from years of hailstorms and extreme heat/cold. For health and water reasons the windows has been replaced with an aluminum plate but can still be opened for ventilation (it’s a sauna up there in summer!).

Apparently mum didn’t appreciate the intrusion and spent a few minutes dive-bombing the technician who’s unenviable job it was to stick his head out the window and brave the constant attacks. Fortunately she got sick of this and left for the day.

Best news is that she’s back on the ledge this morning, seemingly oblivious to last week’s big crane, unfamiliar yellow hat and very loud grinding equipment.

Back home again

Wheeling and dealing

ScottBanks — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:20:08 +0000

This morning, in the first sunlight of the day, we were treated to a sight we haven’t seen for a few weeks – both young males flying in circles, wheeling around the tower, strafing each other and trying to land on the north-facing angled roof. They seemed quite happy to tail each other across the trees and then back up around the roost, with the odd duck and weave and attempts to perch on the concrete ridges up the steeply sloping tower.

And all this time mum sat quietly on the microwave dish arm, taking it all in and making sure no-one got out of hand.

The lonely vigil

ScottBanks — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:31:24 +0000

Mum has been spending many hours each day on the ledge surveying her lands. She seems to be very calm and reflective, at the same time as monitoring the plentiful campus goings-on. Little to report at the moment, and no comments from mum at all!

All quiet up the concrete tower

ScottBanks — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:38:44 +0000

Very little activity has been recorded for the last 2-3 weeks except for mum , who has spent plenty of every day sitting on the ledge admiring the view and watching the world. She seems to be quite calm & settled and hasn’t been phased at all by the legions of new student arrivals on campus for the new study year in the past few weeks.

More progress has been made with the new technical configuration, with some promising combinations, so hopefully soon we’ll have new capabilities on-board to provide improved recordings and pictures.

Messing around in the trees

ScottBanks — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:22:56 +0000

It’s been a (relatively speaking) quiet week or two, with plenty of sightings of the siblings around the trees, resting on the ledge, chattering, nagging and flying loops above us, with the occasional interaction between siblings and parents. Our video feed from the first new camera is proving to be very stable and we’re looking at changes to the future configuration of cameras, recording facilities and connectivity to the web for our viewers, partly due to altered requirements for connecting to the University’s network.

Taking a break on the ledge

Another summer heatwave

ScottBanks — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:34:14 +0000

Orange is going through yet another dry and very hot week, with the peregrines no doubt finding out there’s little food on the wing or foot in the heat of the day. The ledge is now occupied most of the day by one or other of the young falcons, trying to keep out of the direct sunlight around the other side of the tower but with little wind the fanning of wings is vital to keep cool.

A little maintenance was done up the tower on Wednesday to secure the current old roost for another few weeks and to realign the cameras.

Taking cover in the shade from another Orange heatwave

Activity around the tower today

ScottBanks — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:22:26 +0000

Lots of aerial movement and goings-on around the tower today with both young males harassing mum for supposed lunch. It appeared that mum had left lunch somewhere in the trees and the two young males were nagging her, circling the tower, checking the roost and then darting into the trees, while mum sat patiently on the microwave dish mount around the side of the tower watching them.

Interestingly 2 days ago we observed a peregrine looking like Rosie, the young female, being pursued right round the tower and across above the treeline by a much smaller bird who was intent on scaring the peregrine out of its territory, with plenty of “peregrinal” complaining and directional changes! Needless to say when the game finally got boring our peregrine went in to a steep climb and then fell to earth around the trees to finally shake off it’s pursuer. The game of speed and size had been won!