Egg Number FOUR

The FOURTH egg was laid today at about 3:05 pm!!  A few minutes prior I noticed that Durand was no longer tight on the eggs but seemed a little restless so I started to watch closer.  Sure enough, within a few minutes--there it was...egg #4.  I know some fans were anxious to witness it since most of the other eggs this clutch were laid under the cover of darkness.  Hopefully, someone out there was able to record it.  I'll post a link if so...

Will there be a 5th egg?  It is certainly possible although 4 is the "normal" clutch.  Only time will tell...

Third Egg!

As of this morning, the egg count is up to THREE!  Even though in a previous post I explained that incubation doesn't generally begin until most or all of the eggs have been laid, yesterday's cool weather in Columbus (high only about 35F) had the adults pretty tight on the eggs most of the day.  Temps will warm a bit today and some sun is in the forecast but even so, from this point on (3 eggs) we'll mostly see an adult setting on the eggs.  Durand will take care of most of the incubation duty.  Spark's main job is to provide food for her and to take over incubation while she leaves the nest to eat.  He may spend his time when not hunting on the nest ledge or elsewhere nearby but probably won't be in view of the cameras much except for when they switch places.  
We'll post more info about what to expect during incubation and how to tell the adults from one another in the near future.  In the meantime, check out the Falcon Facts and FAQs on the Ohio Division of Wildlife's website.

Egg Number...Two!

Right on schedule (eggs are laid every 2-3 days), the 2nd egg was in the nest this morning!  The average clutch for peregrines is 4 eggs.  While the adults may cover the eggs for short periods of time at this stage, actual incubation won't begin until most of the eggs are laid (probably after the 3rd egg).  In the meantime, the eggs just stay in limbo and don't begin to develop until they are receiving uniform and consistent warmth from the incubating adult.

First Egg!!!

As she did in both 2014 and 2013, Durand laid her first egg on March 19!  Here's a pic from late this afternoon. Welcome to the 2015 nesting season!

NestboxCam Back Live!

Hooray, the nestbox view is back up!
Here's a review of the pair and what to expect as we get closer to the 2015 nesting season:
The adult female is known as "Durand" (black over black left leg band, code:  32/X;  right leg has a silver USGS band)
The male is known as "Spark" (black over red left leg band, code:  32/B; right leg has a purple USGS band)
For whatever reason, some of last season's archives of this blog have mysteriously (and unfortunately) disappeared from the list to the right. Luckily, another good source of information is at this link to the Bird Cams Around the World website, Columbus thread.  It even includes tips on how to identify the adults that I've posted on this blog previously.

If you read down far enough you'll see in the nesting history that Durand laid the first egg on March 19 in both the 2014 and 2013 seasons.  So, we can expect eggs around, or maybe even a little before that date this year.  The falcons have been reported mating for the past several weeks so it's any body's guess when that first egg will appear.  Here is a video of the pair bonding in the nestbox and working on the nest scrape (the shallow depression in the gravel in which the eggs are laid) yesterday (3/4/15).