Ledgecam Note + Will We See Another Egg?

As of Friday morning 3/31/17 the live streaming from the ledgecam is down.  Initial troubleshooting has not resolved the problem so regrettably, it will probably be down until next week.  At least we do have the nestcam stream!

Otherwise, all is going well at the nest!  The 3 eggs are being incubated by both the male and Durand.  "Will we see another egg?" is what many are wondering!  Four is the usual number of eggs that make up a full clutch so it is likely another egg will be laid sometime this weekend.  Now that the adults are incubating it may be a little tricky to determine when the next egg is laid unless it is done so during daylight viewing.  It is very possible that we may have to wait until the birds change places on the nest to discover that there is a 4th egg.  Or, they may stop at 3! Time will tell.

Now that they are in incubation mode, the main role of the male is to bring food for the female.  He will also take his turn on the eggs while she is away eating.  I'll repeat from the other day in case it was missed that it is really difficult to tell the male and Durand apart!  I am working on some comparison photos and will post some tips soon.  In the meantime, the easiest way to tell one from the other is to look for their metal leg bands as they come and go.  The male does not have a band on his right leg.  He only has a leg band on his left leg - it is a black over red band with the code 30/Z on it.  Durand has a band on each leg - her right leg has a silver USFWS band and her left leg has an all black band with the code 32/X on it.

Egg #3 Arrives!

Egg #3 is in the nest!  Here's a video as egg #3 was being laid this afternoon (3/29/17) about 4:30 pm. 👍

3rd Egg Due

We can expect the 3rd egg any time.  Four eggs is an average clutch, although we have had 5 eggs in this nest (that was in 1995 and all 5 hatched and survived to fledge!).

Eggs are laid every 2-3 days and the falcons continue to mate during this time.  Generally, the falcons do not begin to incubate their eggs until the next to the last egg of the clutch (usually #3) is laid, but we have seen both the male and Durand taking turns covering the eggs already.  The eggs don't begin to develop until there is consistent warmth from the incubating adult.

An important role of the male is to bring food for the female.  When she leaves to eat, he will take his turn on the eggs.

It is really difficult to tell the male and Durand apart!  I am working on some comparison photos and will post some tips soon.  In the meantime, the easiest way to tell one from the other is to look for their metal leg bands as they come and go.  The male only has one leg band on his left leg - it is the black over red band with the code 30/Z on it.  Durand has a band on each leg - her right leg has a silver USFWS band and her left leg has an all black band with the code 32/X on it. 

2 Eggs!

As of first light this morning, there are now 2 eggs in the nest!  Here are both of the eggs as the sun is coming up in Columbus:

Yesterday, Durand moved the first egg into the scrape closer to the camera.  So both eggs are now more in view.

The Wait is OVER!!!

Woohoo! The first egg was laid in the nest sometime early evening 3/24/17.  Here's a video of the event captured by a fan in the Netherlands (thank you!) -- looks like the egg actually drops at 4:55 into the video. Her movements and behavior in the minutes just before are really intriguing to watch!

Interesting...Durand laid this egg in the far scrape. If I recall correctly, every other year she has laid her eggs closer to the camera. Oh well... everyone is just happy to see the first egg!!!

Eggs are laid every 2-3 days so it will probably be Monday before we see another. Hooray! 👍

Still waiting...

Unfortunately, there isn't much more, new or different to say... Durand is really keeping everyone guessing and waiting.  Wednesday she spent most of the day in the nest box in a hunched over position so we were really thinking she was close to laying an egg.  But then yesterday and this morning, she was back to spending most of the time near the box.

Wednesday's posture

As I write this she is back in the box, working on the far scrape and picking at pebbles.  I'm sure we're close, but golly!  Doesn't she know her fans are waiting?!! 👀

Anticipation...

Still no egg in the nest box but nothing to worry about.  Evidently, Durand and the new male (30/Z) are just taking a little bit of extra time to get in sync.  Everyone is certainly in anticipation mode though!!  On that note, here's a blast from the past regarding anticipation!  :-)

We are leaving the audio turned off because it was determined that it was causing the video streaming to kick off.  We have an idea of the fix but will wait until incubation begins just in case "the fix" causes the streaming to be down for longer than a few moments.  We don't want to lose the video while we are waiting for eggs.  The video isn't as exciting without the audio but at least we can see what is going on.  We appreciate everyone's patience!

Cam/Audio Notes, Egg Update

The male bringing prey to the female.

After last year's struggles with reliable streaming during nesting season we have been actively working towards a more dependable system. We made some changes last week to upgrade computers and for the most part, the changes were successful!  However, there is still a gremlin in the system somewhere!!  We now have suspicion that it may have something to do with the sound card/audio mixer. 

For now, we have the audio turned off to help with troubleshooting.  So far it seems to have made a difference as we did not lose either stream overnight as had been happening.  The audio will remain off over the weekend and next week we will pick back up trouble shooting the audio issue as it relates to the streaming.  At least for now it's better to have both streams running without sound then to keep losing a stream - especially when we're all on "egg watch!"

When can we expect an egg? Durand's biological calendar has been pretty consistent over the years.  From 2013-2015 she laid her first egg on March 19 in each of those years.  Last year, she laid her first egg on March 12.  There has been plenty of courtship and mating with the new male, 30/Z, so all seems a go.  I think it safe to say we can expect an egg any day!  There is a lot of anticipation in the air among us here at the Division of Wildlife and with all of the fans watching.  We sincerely hope that the streaming video cooperates!

Until we have an egg to celebrate, here is a video of the pair bonding in the nest box from March 8 to view in the meantime!