Peregrine Falcon babies on Alcatraz

May 11, 2024 9:29 AM

This is a live feed (complete with screechy babies) of the successful return of Peregrins to Alcatraz. The mom is Larry (Lawrencium) from a nest on the UC Berkeley Campanile tower in 2018.
posted by agatha_magatha (10 comments total)

Look at those cute, screechy, little fucks.
posted by Windopaene at 10:38 AM on May 11 [3 favorites]

Larry's mother, Annie, is still at the Campanile, this year producing four chicks with a new mate, Archie, who seems to be quite experienced. Leading to occasional clashes when Annie protects her prerogative to guard and feed the chicks.
posted by tavella at 11:19 AM on May 11 [4 favorites]

I've been watching a different set of falcon chicks, who're now starting to stumble around their nestbox and stretch their wings ineffectively and otherwise move beyond the piles-of-grey-fluff stage.
posted by ASF Tod und Schwerkraft at 11:45 AM on May 11 [1 favorite]

I used to work on the 6th floor of a 6 story building here in MN that had a Peregrine falcon net on the roof. We'd see them circling high above the buildings all the time.

Sometimes we'd see other birds flying around outside the windows and I was always hopeful I'd see one of the falcons streak down out of the sky and nail one of those birds.

I'm happy to see efforts similar to the ones that put the nest on that building, hopefully I'll get to see some poor bird* get whacked on an Alcatraz tour someday soon.

*Apparently most birds die from predation [shrugs]
posted by VTX at 12:30 PM on May 11

Sometimes we'd see other birds flying around outside the windows and I was always hopeful I'd see one of the falcons streak down out of the sky and nail one of those birds.

I have actually seen this! There is usually a pair of peregrines nesting at San Jose City Hall a few blocks north, and one day a few years ago when I was in the front yard there was sort of an explosion in a tree's foliage and out of it emerged a peregrine, who having missed the bird, pursued it in level flight down the block.
posted by tavella at 1:33 PM on May 11 [2 favorites]

Fuzzy!
posted by supermedusa at 1:35 PM on May 11

The web cam from the San Jose has feed 2 the Nest.
has 4 chicks getting fed and are they ever noisy
posted by yyz at 2:45 PM on May 11

Alcatraz means pelican!

I learned this fact from a podcast and I am just so v happy to have the opportunity to share.
posted by sonika at 6:10 PM on May 11 [3 favorites]

We have a Peregrine falcon cam in Seattle, too.
posted by y2karl at 1:03 PM on May 12

And OMFG! From reading at the falcon cam link that the nesting box and ssorted furniture is located just under one of the arcs just below the pyramid tippy top of the 1201 Tower (aka the Saturn 5 building once upon a time...) and a man has climbed up there every year to band the chicks. Why I Can't Even to the Nth power! It makes my skin crawl to think about it.
posted by y2karl at 1:21 PM on May 12