It’s a sunny morning in Buffalo/Western NY and the second egg arrived sometime Saturday night (3/29) or Sunday morning (3/30)!

If “Lady” falcon follows her pattern of laying a third egg should arrive on Tuesday.

Short and sweet posting!

the first PeFa egg of the 2008 season for Buffalo, NY arrived around 1:30am on 3/28/08 (what is it about these birds that they like night time egg laying?)

 We can’t post a pic of the egg because of Buffalo Audubon Society’s claim of copyright.  But rest assured it is there and hopefully it will soon have some company in the scrape!

For several months now, we (the admins) have been working behind the scenes to set up a very different kind of live cam – A LIVE CAM INSIDE A CHIMNEY SWIFT TOWER.  http://www.falconsandfriends.com/?page_id=115

4 Young Chimney Swifts
on a makeshift ledge
Glenham, NY  – July 2007

We are happy to announce that we have worked on all the glitches, have the cams in place and are now waiting for the return of the Chimney Swifts to the Hudson Valley area of New York State!  Currently the main cam is active and a second cam will be activated when the birds start nesting.

And if you have been paying attention, we have included a link to the Chimney Swift Cam at the top of our page as well as a side link (look to the closest right column on this page).

We made a committment to be “Falcons and Friends” last year.  This is just one of several ways that we are following through on that committment.  The Buffalo Peregrine Falcons brought us all together, but we soon realized we have more to share.

NOW to sit back and wait for the Chimney Swifts arrival!  We are tracking their progress via this website: http://www.concentric.net/~dwa/page139.html

We would also like to send our THANKS! to the individuals at ChimneySwift.Org!  http://www.chimneyswifts.org/. 
Their website has been a wonderful source of information on these unique birds.  Their site also provided the construction plans for the Chimney Swift Tower being used to provide this cam!

AND We SEND OUT A HUGE THANK YOU to forum member “glenham” for all his hard work on this project and really making it happen.  He has gone above and beyond what we could have asked for or expected.  This project is unique in that we are hosting in Buffalo, NY, but he is the one in control (and doing the on-the-ground-work) - hundreds of miles away! 

DO IT FOR THESE PRECIOUS ONES AND FOR ALL OF THE NWR SYSTEM WILDLIFE!

MARCH 25th, 2008 DEADLINE

 I received this information and am passing it on.  I’m contacting my senators and I hope you will do the same!  Show your support for all the wonderful NWRs we have - some of them host the nests and cams we are privelaged to view!

Calls Needed for Wildlife Refuge System Budget

The Bush administration has been attempting to downsize the staff of the National Wildlife Refuge System by 20%, leading to the closure of smaller refuges, the elimination of many environmental education programs and recreational services, and the reduction of law enforcement and endangered species restoration at refuges across the country.

Senators Russ Feingold and Olympia Snowe are attempting to persuade the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies to approve a $514 million budget for the Refuge System for Fiscal Year 2009. This funding will help hold off the rest of the downsizing that Bush has planned for the System and help refuges begin to recover from the disastrous policies that have been weakening wildlife refuges over the last seven years. Continue Reading »

Oregon Zoo condors fly free
The Oregonian – OregonLive.com – Portland,OR,USA
Once each year, they open a release to the public, as they did Saturday and have since California condors were first reintroduced in Arizona in 1996.