Hurry up and...wait and DONATE!

Everything is going well at the nest. There were a couple of reports of a peregrine fighting with another bird downtown yesterday morning. I don't have any specific details but when this happens, it can be anything as simple as a falcon chasing a migrating turkey vulture out of its airspace to perhaps a peregrine defending against another unmated peregrine trying to move into the territory.  One report indicated that the battle went on for a few hours, so it is possible another peregrine was in the area.  Regardless--all views via the cams were normal so despite whatever happened, the defending peregrine did a great job of keeping the potential intruder at bay so that there was no undue disturbance to the nest.  Such is a typical day in the life of a peregrine and it is important for us all to remember that there is a lot more to these birds' lives then we see via the cams.

Four appears to be the final count for the eggs. From now until hatch both adults will incubate with the majority of the duty being done by Durand. When it's time for her to stretch her wings Spark eagerly takes his turn sitting on “the rocks”.  Incubation typically lasts about 33 days; when calculated out we can expect hatching to start about the last week of April.

Since everyone is in a wait and see mode now and since the tax deadline is just around the corner I would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone that if you enjoy watching the Columbus FalconCam and would like to support Division of Wildlife projects like this, Ohioans can easily donate part or all of their state income tax refund by checking the box on line 27b of the 2014 Ohio Income Tax Form or line 20b on the 2014 Ohio 1040 EZ form.  We hope that Ohioans will take advantage of this convenient way to support our programs.  We will post in the coming weeks about other ways for folks in state and out to help as well!