FalconWatch

Have you noticed those water spots on the glass?

This morning as I was watching the falcons swap spots in the box, one of those water spots lined up over an egg in the box and I thought it was another broken egg. I was glad to find out it was only the dirty glass. And speaking of dirty glass, this glass will get a lot dirtier before it gets cleaned. This large pane of glass is cleaned a few weeks after the last chick is hatched and when the chicks are collected for banding. Our window washers always have to keep one eye on the sky when washing the windows. The falcons don't like the window washers; much like the postman and dog relationship.

Zeus & Hera remain on nest in spite of losing one egg.

This week we discovered (as you may have also noticed) that one of the eggs is missing from the nest. In order for the eyases to develop properly, the eggs have to be turned regularly. Occasionally this can break one of the eggs. It's not unusual for one of the parents to consume the contents of the broken egg. This prevents attracting predators, as well as keeping the nest clean and healthy for the new brood. Here is the peek we got at the eggs yesterday morning, during a shift change. (Embedded image moved to file: pic17158.gif) The happier news is that we're nearing hatch date- and both parents are diligently taking turns on the nest. Have any of you started thinking of names for the new falcons?

Hey, there's also a falcon in the outside shot.

He/she is located on the ledge three columns to the left of the box.

1700 Farnam Street, Floor 28, Northeast Corner, Omaha, Nebraska

I thought I'd share an outside look of the falcon box where Zeus and Hera are currently nesting. This shot is taken from ground level looking up at the 28th floor. The box is located on the northeast corner of the Woodmen Tower under the N in Woodmen. Originally the box was built without a roof. The roof was added later after chicks were lost due to the direct exposure to the intense heat from the sun that season.

We're up to 5 eggs!

Hera has laid her fifth egg and both parents are taking their turn on the eggs. They have a routine switch time around 8:30 a.m. Zeus is usually the one on the eggs at that time. Pictured below is Zeus on the left and Hera on the right.

And then there were four!

At last count we have four falcon eggs in the east box. Both Zeus and Hera are sharing in the incubating. Our time line seems to be the following: first egg arrived March 28; followed by the second egg on March 31. The third egg arrived on April 2 and this fourth egg arrived sometime over the weekend, let's just say on Sunday, April 5. If we count ahead 33 days to May 8 we might start seeing some hatching going on. However, everything hinges on when the last egg will be laid and of course Mother Nature.

Drama in the box

I've just been watching Zeus and Hera. What a hoot! Zeus is on the eggs and Hera is on the edge of the box. She obviously wants back on, but Zeus is tired and doesn't want to get up. She paces and paces and occasionally squawks at him. Finally she bops him with her wing. But he remains on the eggs.

When they finally make the switch, I can see that there are now three eggs. Check out these photos of the drama. You can see her scar on her left wing.

Check out the photo gallery for more images.