Bird Cams Around the World

Today, Paolo Taranto posted that he'd spent several hours in the afternoon under the nest site in the Fair. He saw a pair of falcons but was unable to identify them. At one point, the male entered the nest site but came out again. He also made an offering of a good-sized pigeon to the female.

Paolo thinks that the 'voice' of the male was different - and, as I've said above, he was unable to identify him. At one point, he also thought that the female could have been paler on the breast, but that could have been the sun. We'll await developments ...

There's quite a bit of snow in Bologna yet the birds obviously feel the oncoming spring

Here's a photo of the female Paolo took today

OMG, what terrible news of the adult falcons found dead near the site. Poor little things. So, So sad. I was glad to hear, however, that there has been another pair there all winter, identification not verified. Wonder who they really are. I pray that they will not get this disease. Thanks for the information, as sad as it was. What a loss.

Here's an update from Paolo:

"I went to below the nest from 1.30 pm to 5.00 pm today. I still haven't been able to spot any distinguishing marks on the female from that distance but from the general features, etc. it 'could' be Aisha. However, I can confirm that the male, who was also seen today, is not Felix. I saw him better today and he has a classic moustache, which doesn't form a helmet like Felix; the voice is also completely different. The positive thing is that we saw this male on the nest niche yesterday and he was there again today (one of our fears was that, with a change in one or both partners the nest site could also change)."

I think this is very positive news . Let's hope that this pair (whether it's Aisha or not) really choose the nest site and continue there. I know that there's at least one nest site for PFs in Britain that has been used for centuries. Personally, I think the other good thing is that it shows there are probably more 'urban' falcons around Bologna than we realised, particularly if the female proves not to be Aisha.

Watch this space for more news ...

Here are a couple of photos of Felix from 2009 - you can see his full helmet very clearly.

While all nests and all falcons are unique, the Bologna nest has a special place in the hearts of many of us here in Italy. For some, it's where they first saw and heard a peregrine falcon in the flesh, after following the web cams for a while. When we went to Bologna last year, we'd just arrived under the nest site when Felix flew past, chattering. It was almost as though he was welcoming us and it was a magic moment.

It seems almost decided that the new male will be called Rex and we all hope that he proves to be a suitable partner for Aisha, if she is indeed the female. Our feelings won't change though if there's also a new female - we're just very thankful that we'll have peregrines to follow with the web cam again this year.

On Monday, Paolo will be going with people from the local authority to try and solve the problems with the cam. I'll keep you posted on developments!

Update: Paolo, Maria and Favazzo went to the nest site yesterday but didn't see any eggs. They're going to make another check on Monday and also have a look round the other towers to see if by any chance there are eggs elsewhere.

When they left the nest site with the cam, the pair were sitting on the tower opposite, close to each other, which Paolo said suggests recent mating. Favazzo took a picture but it's impossible to identify which falcon it is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41034347@N07/4390108216/

Thanks anyway for the pic, Favazzo.

Still no news of the cam

Sounds like good progress...sorry there are no eggs yet, but still plenty of time!

Unfortunately, the cam still isn't on the Birdcam page but you can see the nest directly through this address:
http://www.provincia.bologna.it/polizia ... 4211050704

I'm not sure whether it's on 24 hrs a day - it's connected up through the local police.

The birds have been seen at the nest regularly and Nora (http://nl.tinypic.com/player.php?v=1zx8cya&s=5 thanks ) has posted a video with bowing etc. but there are no eggs as yet - and no positive ID on the birds. As has already been said here, the delay in laying will be due to a change in one or both partners.

Let's hope that they DO nest successfully this year

I was checking the link in my post and look what I saw

Hot off the press! We have an egg! It was laid about 15 minutes ago and it looks almost as if Mariabi on our Forum was lucky enough to take the photo as it was laid.

I'll post a photo as soon as I can.

Now we should also be able to get an ID on the birds. There seems to be a strong possibility that we have a completely new pair, but I'll keep you posted

Here's the photo - the cam's blocked but at least it's on a good picture for us!



And Mariabi has confirmed she took her picture while it was being laid. Wow!