Spartan Stadium Falcon Cam

Jake from State Farm wrote:Saw a bald eagle flying around over Old 27 just north of Centerline Road a little while ago. He or she was trying to fly west and not making any progress against the wind.
Oh, and if you decide to drive out and find it the Clinton County Sheriff is keeping a pretty good watch on that section of road

Good idea. Too many visitors too close to the nest will send the eagles packing.

Mom's in the box right now!

The Pantry wrote:Mom's in the box right now!

Let's start egging her on.

Dad's there too. Maybe we'll get to see some fornication on this fine Sunday morning.

Like this camera angle. Can sometimes see them flying in the background.

I looked around 6am and there we no signs of either.

I’ve been checking late at night for the last three days. Happy to hear they’ve found their little love nest again.

Dad was back couple hours ago, then mom showed up. She's noticeably bigger and looks knocked up.

The Pantry wrote:Dad was back couple hours ago, then mom showed up. She's noticeably bigger and looks knocked up.

No way I would have any idea if a falcon was pregnant. Sorry you didn’t get to see some raptor sex.

One of them is back. Don’t know if it’s the M or F, but it seems like it’s in an egg-laying position. Or pooping.

Mom's been at the nest a lot today.

Nest is covered by snow

Mom's been in the nest for a while.  Think she's getting ready to drop an egg.

Maybe she already has

She's definitely laid one and is chirping at it.

EDIT: not sitting on it, though.

Dad's there.  Weird she isn't sitting on it

They both left then dad came back and now he's sitting on it

The Pantry wrote:Dad's there.  Weird she isn't sitting on it

She took a quick flight, then came back and is sitting on it now.

EDIT: beaten to the punch.

The Pantry wrote:Dad's there.  Weird she isn't sitting on it

The first and second egg she will not sit on full time to delay incubation.  That way they can all hatch roughly at the same time.  When one egg hatches later (like last year) that chick has a hard time competing for food with the older ones.  She did a really good job last year of making sure they were all fed.

MSU addict wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Dad's there.  Weird she isn't sitting on it

The first and second egg she will not sit on full time to delay incubation.  That way they can all hatch roughly at the same time.  When one egg hatches later (like last year) that chick has a hard time competing for food with the older ones.  She did a really good job last year of making sure they were all fed.

Thought it might be something like that, but she dropped that egg over 8 hours ago. Seems like a long time in chilly temps. Pretty funny dad sat on it for a while before mom chased him off.

In fact, he's back on it now.

I hope the parents don’t leave the egg exposed for too long. It’s fricking freezing in EL today.

tGreenWay wrote:I hope the parents don’t leave the egg exposed for too long. It’s fricking freezing in EL today.

I think your parents made that mistake.

Mom quietly sitting on the bridge at twilight, waiting.

DWags wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:I hope the parents don’t leave the egg exposed for too long. It’s fricking freezing in EL today.

I think your parents made that mistake.

Exactly. Exactly WRONG!

I wasn’t hatched; I was pooped out and formed over a rock.

She's been standing in the same place an hour and a half. Do birds only lay eggs at night?

Thought only owls could turn their head 180°

She's out on the balcony again this evening.  So much patience.



Again, the mic add this year is great.  Sometimes hear whistles blowing from down on the field.  Sometimes hear train horns blaring in the distance.  Takes me back...

Most birds lay their eggs in the morning. Last year she laid her eggs two days apart, except for the last one which was longer. Hopefully tomorrow morning we should have egg #2.

What he is doing is guarding that egg (while not sitting on it to delay its incubation) Not so much of course on top of Spartan Stadium but many things love bird eggs - snakes, raccoons, foxes, etc.

She laid her second egg sometime between 3:00 and 3:30 this afternoon.

Wild it took almost 2½ days for the 2nd.

MSU addict wrote:She laid her second egg sometime between 3:00 and 3:30 this afternoon.

The eggs are from different fathers.

Jake from State Farm wrote:

MSU addict wrote:She laid her second egg sometime between 3:00 and 3:30 this afternoon.

The eggs are from different fathers.

That slut.

Still only 2 eggs.  

Someone help me out.  What is the row of bright lights at the upper left and the smaller bunch of lights just below?  I'm assuming the flashing red light at the far upper left is the top of Bob's flagpole  

The Pantry wrote:Still only 2 eggs.  

Someone help me out.  What is the row of bright lights at the upper left and the smaller bunch of lights just below?  I'm assuming the flashing red light at the far upper left is the top of Bob's flagpole  

The bright lights at the top left are from the parking lot at Frandor. The lower bank of lights, if I remember correctly, are from the Brody complex. Not totally sure about Brody; I’d need to look at it on a full sized screen and I’m working with only a smartphone right now.
btw, if I recall from last year, there’s no rhyme or reason to when Frandor turns off its parking lot lights. Seems like a monumental waste of money but they frequently kept them on all night.

A third egg this morning.  Going back in the feed it happened sometime between 2:00 and 4:00 am.

Wonder if it will be only 3 this year?

This is pretty cool

Poop patrol ahead of NFL Draft: Hawk, falcon used to keep downtown Detroit clean

Read in another story the owners of ScAir Force live in the Lansing area.

The Pantry wrote:Wonder if it will be only 3 this year?

This is pretty cool

Poop patrol ahead of NFL Draft: Hawk, falcon used to keep downtown Detroit clean

Read in another story the owners of ScAir Force live in the Lansing area.

So the raptors are trained to come right back. That’s good because if they roamed free the area wouldn’t be as poopy but there’d be a lot more scattered feathers and tiny bones with the meat picked off.
There’s a Cooper’s Hawk pair nesting in our neighborhood right now. Evidence of their successful hunts are seen in a few yards near the nest.

tGreenWay wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Wonder if it will be only 3 this year?

This is pretty cool

Poop patrol ahead of NFL Draft: Hawk, falcon used to keep downtown Detroit clean

Read in another story the owners of ScAir Force live in the Lansing area.

So the raptors are trained to come right back. That’s good because if they roamed free the area wouldn’t be as poopy but there’d be a lot more scattered feathers and tiny bones with the meat picked off.
There’s a Cooper’s Hawk pair nesting in our neighborhood right now. Evidence of their successful hunts are seen in a few yards near the nest.

Saw what I think was a hawk pluck a squirrel off the back lawn on the fly years back.  Saw what I think was a hawk pluck an injured squirrel off 17 Mile years ago.  

Watching the SS peregrines last year, can't recall mom or dad ever bringing something furry back to the nest.  Was always birds.  

So, now I'm wondering if falcons only eat other birds and hawks have less discriminating palates...?

The Pantry wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:


So the raptors are trained to come right back. That’s good because if they roamed free the area wouldn’t be as poopy but there’d be a lot more scattered feathers and tiny bones with the meat picked off.
There’s a Cooper’s Hawk pair nesting in our neighborhood right now. Evidence of their successful hunts are seen in a few yards near the nest.

Saw what I think was a hawk pluck a squirrel off the back lawn on the fly years back.  Saw what I think was a hawk pluck an injured squirrel off 17 Mile years ago.  

Watching the SS peregrines last year, can't recall mom or dad ever bringing something furry back to the nest.  Was always birds.  

So, now I'm wondering if falcons only eat other birds and hawks have less discriminating palates...?

Interesting question. Hadn’t considered that. I swear there was one time over the past two seasons where whatever was being ripped apart in the nest didn’t seem like a bird. Maybe Joe can join this discussion if he has an answer.

The vast majority of a Peregrine falcon's diet is other birds.  They do occasionally eat small mammals but they are designed to hunt catching birds mid-flight.  It is what they do best.

As for hawks. it really depends on the type of of hawk.  Most hawks (like Red-tail hawks) feed on rodents and other small mammals, Cooper's hawks feed more on birds.

FWIW, eagles in general prefer fish.