Animal Life - Falcon Nest

 For me, on the West Coast of the United States, there is a 17 hour difference between my time of day and these Peregrine falcons in Melbourne, Australia.  They're also coming out of winter into springtime over there, so it's all flipped.

Mama has laid 4 eggs this year!  Incubation period is 29-33 days from when the last egg was laid.

Since 1991 this pair has been observed on the roof of 367 Collins Street.  It is the only known nesting site within Melbourne's city center.

There's another nest in New South Wales, set up by the FalconCam Project, "a research-based and educational study of the breeding behavior and diet of peregrine falcons in Australia."

To date, they have seven years of breeding behavior data and nine years of prey analysis.

Diamond laid her first egg yesterday morning, with a second egg expected in the next couple days.

Falcons have adapted nicely to urban areas, utilizing skyscrapers as substitutes for cliff faces and canyons.  They do not gather nesting material, they just dig their feet in to existing debris and create a depression.  This is called a scrape.  Wildlife biologists will provide a gravel-filled nest box for when the birds find a building ledge.