Tonight’s webcam chat was a lot of fun and very informative. Here’s a big thank you to everyone who participated, especially…
- Thank you to Traci (tld) for coordinating the whole thing from inception to reality.
- Thanks to Marianne (jetta), Jennie (mindysmom) and Donna (sno_leopard) who are in the chat every day, greeting everyone and helping with answers and news. Their contributions make the Cathedral of Learning chat a great community.
- Thank you to all of you for posting your excellent questions.
- And a special thanks to Dr. Todd Katzner for sharing his time and knowledge.
And finally, a thank you to Dorothy and E2 for showing us such a heart-warming scene of peregrine family life.
While we were chatting, both adult peregrines brought food to their five chicks for the last feeding of the day. As we watched, Dorothy and E2 fed them together (pictured above). What great parents!
(photo from the National Aviary webcam at the Cathedral of Learning)
Kate, Thanks for all you do to educate us about these magnificent birds. Dorothy & E2 put a touching finale on a wonderful evening!
What a great photo!
Kate, this has been such an enriching experience. It’s wonderful seeing these magnificent creatures up close and learning so much about them.
If ever a broadway production was planned it could not have been better. While Dr. K’s answers were so informative & all the talk among those of you I enjoy so on the chat room the team of E2 & Dorothy sure put on a show for us. Its like they were showing off for everyone. They are really great parents. It made this old lady so happy I told my invalid husband that it was like a night out on the town. Thank you all so much, Dr.K. & Kate & all those who brought this about. I am sitting here typing this message because I could not sleep & out back in our parking lot were 2 deer under the street lamps. Beautiful. Makes my heart sing.
What keeps sticking in my head, is when Dr. Katzner described standing under a tree and the sound of the vocalization of an eagle bringing food to it’s chick, sounding like a helicopter! I can’t spell the country he said he was in, but can you imagine looking up and seeing an eagle flying in with prey for it’s chick??
Can you imagine being that close to something as powerful and majestic as an Eagle? What an amazing career he must have!
The transcipt will be delivered to Kate shortly! It was a great experience and all those who particpated were awesome. I am fairly confident that he will do it again, around the time Dori’s chicks hatch. So save your questions!!
Harrisburg hatched her first egg at 14:30 this afternoon 🙂
Cam at: http://www.pacast.com/players/falcon.asp
Hi Kate,
I’m so happy you posted this photo because I wanted to ask you a question. Is Dorothy on the right? I know she is larger but I am having trouble judging size in the camera view. I was watching the chat and I really couldn’t tell who was who (and I was getting a little frustrated.)
It’s 6 pm now and I’m wondering if E2 is sitting on the chicks. I can tell that the chicks are growing but they are spilling out from whoever is warming them. more so than when I watched yesterday.
thanks,
Stephanie
Yes, Dorothy is on the right. They really are noticeably different in size!
Just wanted to add another 2 cents in. Last year I was a “newbie”to this falcon watching. Just tried to learn so much ane watch & ask questions all of which Kate answered. She is just so patient with all of us. It is so interesting to see what you ask her & I had most of those questions last year. Last but not least I got to meet Kate in July before birds fledged but they were sitting up on Cath. in little niches. Kate is a wonderful lady & so gracious & patient. It was such a pleasure to meet her even on a very unusually cool morning in July at 7 am before she went to work. The falcon programs are fortunate tohave people as dedicated as she, dr. K. & a host of others & even us watchers who spread the work to people who’s eyes glaze over when you talk too much about them. Have a goodnight everyone. I am anxious about what Dori will get out of her nest. She certainly is a faithful brooder.
Click here for the transcript of Wednesday night’s chat with Dr. Todd Katzner. Thanks to Donna, Jenny and Traci for making this possible.
My pleasure, Kate.
I just read the transcript. So interesting! Thanks to everyone who made the chat and the transcription possible.
Kate–do you know what the large piece of debris is in Dorothy’s nest?
The big piece is a robin’s wing. The smaller pieces are blue jay feathers.
These prey items probably mean E2 is still doing most of the hunting. Male peregrines are much smaller than the females so they capture smaller prey. As Dorothy gets back into hunting we’ll see more pigeons on the menu.
To confirm this: I was on the Cathedral of Learning lawn at 2:15pm when I saw E2 bring prey. He and Dorothy did an aerial food exchange. Beautiful.
What a mess, Dorothy certainly won’t be winning any good housekeeping awards any time soon. I guess the feathers won’t hurt, but won’t the wing start attracting flies? I can’t imagine having tons of flies around a piece of rotting meat would be to healthy for the babies.