Bird Cams Around the World

Great idea! I'm sold!

Great name suggestions!

love it Bonnie!

Bonnie & I were downtown this morning from about 8:45 - 11:10 a.m. We watched from the street today, mostly from along Pearle St., 2 blocks north of 101 Hudson. Pretty sure we saw both adults, and we saw 2 of the kids hanging out next to each other on a 39th floow parapet, directly below the scrape. Their behavior was heart-warming, just sitting next to each other and occasionally beaking! We didn't spot a 3rd kid, but think it was probably there somewhere (possibly at 10 Exchange Place).

Some flying highlights: one of the adults headed NW from 101 Hudson almost straight over us. It continued NW past the Trump building, then went into a stoop! Alas, it went behind the building, but still very cool to see! Afterward, both kids on the parapet went down to the roof (there might've been a food delivery; one of the adults had been present there. They did a great job of appearing and disappearing on us, lol).

One of the kids was hopping on and off the 39th floor ledge while moving down toward it's east end. It took a short flight out to the north to go around a parapet and land still further east along the ledge. Then it took off and flew over to a parapet on the NE corner of 101 Hudson (I think it was on the same floor). It took off again a few minutes later, heading around the south side of 101 Hudson. It re-appeared to the west briefly, then circled back behind the building. As Bonnie & I were walking south on Greene towards Montgomery St., an adult appeared from behind 101 and headed around the west side of the building, with the flying kid following! The kid landed on a ledge on the west side of 101, probably around the 37th floor. The kid was still quite flappy, but the landings looked pretty good, and it's also good that it did an almost complete loop around "home base" (albeit not a continuous flight)!!

I might post a pic or 2 later today, but Bonnie will have better ones with her super lens (that got some "wow's" from the passerbys! ).

Well, after looking at the pictures we don't quite have a Jackie. I remain committed to Miss Fluff. First picture shows the two fledglings on the 39th floor as I was almost underneath them lying on my back on the sidewalk underneath my camera and lens.


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-1 by brtalluto, on Flickr

This time from 2 blocks away on the street standing up:


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-4 by brtalluto, on Flickr

We believe Six had Daddy Duty: He looked to the roof, to the kids below and at us:


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-5 by brtalluto, on Flickr

He flew to the terrace where the kids were and checked to see if we were still there. This was after his shopping trip to ShopRite via the Trump building.


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-6 by brtalluto, on Flickr

I do believe this is Miss Fluff and Dad gave her some flight lessons which she desperately needs:


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-7 by brtalluto, on Flickr


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-10 by brtalluto, on Flickr


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-12 by brtalluto, on Flickr


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-13 by brtalluto, on Flickr


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-15 by brtalluto, on Flickr


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-19 by brtalluto, on Flickr


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-20 by brtalluto, on Flickr

How my doing, Dad? At least I made it.


Jersey City Peregrines 6-16-12-21 by brtalluto, on Flickr

After this landing on the east side, Six guided her around the building and she made a floppy landing on the west side. I haven't watched often enough yet, but this group does not seem as agile as in previous years. And just a note, we can only confirm two. It seemed that Six had his eye on something on the roof or the third could have been behind the ledge on the terrace with the other two.

Beautiful pics Bonnie!!

Awesome pics Bonnie and thanks for the play by play Mike!!! Hopefully the third chick turns up. Crossing my fingers and toes for this group, sounds a little rough.

No news is good news. Bad news travels fast.

Mike is beyond ecstatic!! I can't contain him. He just went totally berserk. Athena came off 101. Barreled north on Greene in a stoop and caught a huge pigeon right over us. She could hardly carry it and circled over us before choosing the low terrace on 10 Exchange to prep it. She took it up to the scrape terrace for the kids.

LOL yep that's one way to describe my behavior!! This was the first successful Peregrine attack I've witnessed (seen many near-misses, both at JC and other areas like the Palisades & Meadowlands). Given my attachment to this site (an attachment that has many roots), I'd always hoped I'd see that first score here, and it actually worked out!!

The only thing that prevented this from being 100% perfect was the overcast sky. Took a bunch of pics that are mainly silhouettes, but I'll play around with them on the computer, and might be able to pull out at least some of Athena's underside markings (they'll probably be posted tomorrow). Although, these are some very wild silhouettes!! Bonnie & I got some better flight shots of her once she headed away and had the buildings behind her, and we got great scope & 600mm lens views of her defeathering it at 10 Exchange Place. Can't wait to see Bonnie's pics of the prey delivery on the 41st floor ledge too!

We only saw 1 kid (we think the female). But we're guessing the boys are at 101 Hudson as well (there was almost always an adult near the top, and there was activity by the 37th floor area. Six delivered some food to the ledge there, Athena went over, ate some, then dropped down to the roof, and remained on the parapet on that ledge for the remainder of our visit).

So like Bonnie said, no news is good news. Until we hear otherwise, we'll have to figure the boys are there, just resting on the roof areas. Bonnie & I were talking about how every year is different, and maybe this year's clutch is active very early and very late in the day.

Got my camera and lens back from cleaning and repair. I abused my 300mm, according to the Nikon tech. I forgot to change the settings, though. And the D50 that I bought back from Mike also acted up. Even with the overcast sky and jpegs you will still get the picture.

This guy was about to get the ride of its short life.


Jersey City Peregrines 6-17-12-1 by brtalluto, on Flickr


Jersey City Peregrines 6-17-12-2 by brtalluto, on Flickr

I skipped the more gruesome picture in favor of this one:


Jersey City Peregrines 6-17-12-4 by brtalluto, on Flickr

Even though she had a bulging crop, Miss Fluff got very excited to see Athena on Exchange Place.


Jersey City Peregrines 6-17-12-6 by brtalluto, on Flickr

And what do caring, loving mommies do? Feed the kid some more, of course.


Jersey City Peregrines 6-17-12-7 by brtalluto, on Flickr

I guess this is also part of Falcon Training 101.


Jersey City Peregrines 6-17-12-8 by brtalluto, on Flickr


Jersey City Peregrines 6-17-12-9 by brtalluto, on Flickr

If anyone was watching the cam this morning, Six stayed on the box through the whole almost 2 hour process. He is reflected in the 40th floor window next to the scrape.


Jersey City Peregrines 6-17-12-10 by brtalluto, on Flickr

Oh, I knew your pics would come out sweeeeet!!!! Great job!!

I'll start fiddling around with my silhouette flight shots in the morning and see how it goes. Even if I can't pull out any markings, the silhouettes themselves are awesome, and 1 or 2 in particular would make for an interesting window decal!

Ok, after tons of editing, here's what I got. The pics of Athena when she was circling over us are still very dark, but adding any more light only revealed alot of green and red blotches that I couldn't fix. But I was able to bring out some of Athena's plumage (as well as the pigeons legs, and despite the darkness, it's clear what's happening!). Here's the link to the complete gallery on Flickr. If you view the close-ups in the larger formats, it's somewhat clearer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80696806@N06/sets/72157630181050864/

Not long before the stoop: Athena perched above Miss Fluff.


The stoop north-bound over Greene St.



Athena carrying the still-live pigeon as she circles around us:






Delivering the final bite:






Still nearly straight overhead, Athena begins heading east over Pearl:




A few shots of her searching for a spot to land before landing at 10 Exchange Place (as seen in Bonnie's pics).

WOW!!!!!!and WOW!!!!!

WOW INDEED ! ! !

Super cool Mike!! WOW!!!

Thanks all!

Forgot to post this yesterday; late afternoon visit by one of the kids. It was running around the roof & under the box checking things out. It also hopped on and off the ledge a few times. I had to step away from the computer, and so don't know what happened after. It either ran off the cam view or flew off.

Wonderful pictures mike. Thanks for sharing

Very sad news. We lost a fledgling on Friday. Just found out. I don't know which one, yet.