May 9th - 2012
Probably Diamond returning to relieve Gorge’s George. just eggs seen, likely three, no hatches.
Photos by Roger
Vicki
Taken this year in the morning on Wednesday, 09 May
Tuesday May 8th - 2012
Mark,
Once we saw the rain had moved through, off we went to the Niagara gorge. As we got closer, we saw there was still a lot of fog and mist in the area. duh… for quite a while, we could hardly see the pefa in the box. We scanned the area, the rooftops and the gorge, looking for the second pefa with no luck.
As Roger and I were walking back to the point to leave, Jacquie showed up, so we all stayed, eyes, scopes, binocs and cameras watching the box, hoping to see a hatch. Oddly, after three days of pefa restlessness, the bird was very quiet today with a minimum of movement detected.
Roger got the pic-of-the-day, below, showing the eggs. The other two pix show the misty, foggy conditions we encountered.
Roger, Jacquie and I are now betting on Thursday as the big day!
Again, rain is forecast for Wed and Thurs, and we’ll be monitoring the Intellecast radar to see when we can make a break for it.
Vicki, Roger & Jacquie at your service 
Monday May 7th - 2012
Hi All,
We fell out of bed at 7, grabbed bagels and coffees at the gas station and headed to NF as rain was forecast by 10am.
The pefa in the box was again fidgetty and changing position often, as
shown in the first three pix below. No sighting of the second pefa.
Fourth pic shows actual viewing distance without benefit of zooming.
Unfortunately, we could not determine if the restlessness in the box means pre-hatch activity or an actual hatch. I know. A non-answer.
And we need more than guesswork right now. The weather forecast predicts rain through Thursday, which really hampers visibility but we’ll go back as often as we can. We’re invited to NY for Mother’s Day, but our plans are on hold, hoping to see Diamond’s Mother’s Day!
Vicki
Saturday May 4th - 2012
More pix from this morning showing parent pefa jittery, moving around a lot, not like the usual static position seen here. Hopeful we will get lucky with Sundays visit, and get more evidence.
Photos by Roger.
Vicki
Friday May 4th - 2012
A couple of roger’s shots from this morning. The first shot shows one of the pefas high atop a building next to the casino. The second shot shows a pefa oddly at back of aerie, but something white where the eggs are. There was a lot of mist in the gorge this morning after that really heavy rain that went through Ontario and NY yesterday. This weekend is forecast to be sunny so maybe we’ll get a better look!
We ran into Jacquie at the gorge this morning!
Vicki
May 2nd - 2012
This morning we again ran up to the falls as the weather forecast predicts rain for the next couple days which will make viewing the aerie difficult.
With the lighting conditions the pix we got are not real crisp, but it sure looks as is the parent pefa is mantling! Is there a hatch being protected from the mist? Wish we had a scope with superior power! We did not see A second pefa in the gorge.
Sage
May 1st - 2012
A big thank you to both Roger and Sage for these great shots of Diamond, the resident adult female nesting in the Niagara Falls goarge.
Roger writes:
Hi All,
Sage and I were at the Niagara Gorge today to photograph the nest. Results were ordinary with one pefa on the nest. We were at the tourist coin operated binoculars for stability of the camera. She suggested we walk down river. About fifty yards down the railing, there is a small out cropping of the railing across from two bench seats. We spotted Diamond perched on a birch tree over the river no more than thirty feet from us. We photographed her for about a half an hour during which she changed position on the branch so we could get band shots. Her left leg band was 42 black over H red with purple on her right leg. Sage says to tell you her first reading of the top number was wrong due to an incomplete view on a photo.
These are the best photos I got of her. You are welcome to use them for your group as you see fit. We will check every couple of days in hopes of catching the hatching.
Good luck,
Roger
April 29th - 2012
All quiet this beautiful sunny morning at the gorge site. We will try to get there every two-three days to determine hatch date.
There is always a rainbow near the Peregrine aerie so I’m thinking “Rainbow” as a name for one of the baby Pefas.
Vicki Kadow
April 25th - 2012
A huge thank you to Sage who submitted this great photo taken from across the gorge on the US side of a shift change in an rare opportunity when the adults were caught on camera during a shift change. Despite the distances involved, the photo clearly shows the adults both in the same frame, with the tiny brown coloured eggs exposed for only just a moment during the event.
Great shot!!
Thank you much!!
April 12th - 2012
On March 30, we have pic of empty nestbox, then on April 8, 9 and 12, full time incubation. We’re guessing probable three eggs by April 8, would mean hatching likely the week of May 8-12, banding times around June 1, with fledging third week of June.
Vicki
