(Please note: I am typing this Monday evening. This blog was posted Monday morning as usual, but for some unknown reason, it wasn’t sent out to our subscribers. Our IT department is looking into this glitch. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.)

For the past two years, I have been been watching the Peregrine Falcon live-cam on top of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I became acquainted with their falcon program while I was giving a retreat a couple of years ago for the Franciscan Sisters in Rochester. They are the Sisters who partnered with the Mayo brothers to establish the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. I wrote a blog on their incredible story. To access that post, go to the search box on the top right and type in “Mayo Clinic.”

I’ll begin by sharing a little history of the Mayo Clinic’s Peregrine Falcon program. In 1987, the Clinic partnered with the Midwest Peregrine Society to help save the peregrine falcon from extinction. The Mayo Clinic was a good site to put a nesting box. The tall buildings mimicked the falcon’s natural cliff habitat. In addition, there was ample food in the area–mostly pigeons and small birds–to raise a falcon family. So, a nesting box was placed on the roof of a 22 story Mayo Clinic building. The current falcon parents, Hattie and Orton, have been together for 11 years. During that time they have raised over 30 chicks. In fact, the couple likes their location so much, they no longer migrate. Instead, they stay in the area even during winter to prevent other birds from taking over their nesting site. Falcons usually claim a several mile radius around their nest.

Last year Hattie and Orton raised two chicks. This year they have four. The live-cam runs 24/7 from February till about August. It features two alternating camera views: one from inside the nesting box looking out, and another from the outside of the box looking in. At three weeks, the “peregrine professionals” who operate the program, remove the chicks temporarily to assess their health, band them for future studies, and name them. This event is aired live. It takes considerable courage to remove chicks from a nest while their mother or father is screeching and swooping down on you with those razor-sharp talons. But everyone involved wears a hardhat and carries an umbrella to prevent the parents from doing them harm. The chicks are returned to the nest as quickly as possible to minimize the stress on the parents.

I enjoyed watching the banding and naming event. First, the chicks are weighed and their gender is determined. This year we have two girls and two boys. The chicks are then checked for parasites or infection. All four birds were deemed in fine health–a tribute to their hard-working parents who are providing excellent care 24/7. I enjoyed the naming ceremony too. Over 5,000 names were submitted from all over the world. This year’s names are (drum roll, please!): The two females: Vega meaning “bright star” and Belle in honor of the 100-year-old Clarrion at Mayo Clinic. The two males are: Mylo meaning “guardian” and Zephyr meaning “western wind.” The four chicks or nestlings pictured above now have many of their brown feathers.

Occasionally, I’ll visit other live-cams. I especially like the Big Bear Valley eagle cam in California. This year, the parent eagles are raising two females, Luna and Sandy. Their nest is perched 145 feet up in a tree, and the tree is on the side of a mountain overlooking Bear Lake Valley below. If you want to see a “house” with a million dollar view, just check out the information at the end of this post. Or you can also choose to watch tawny owls. There are live-cams for other animals such as beavers, fox, otters and many others.

You might be wondering, why do I devote a few minutes to watching these birds on a regular basis? Don’t I have more important things to do? I make time because the cameras allow me to get really close to wildlife–a closeness I couldn’t get in any other way. At the same time, the cameras do not interfer with the raising of the chicks. The birds get used to the cameras quickly. Watching live-cams also gives me a greater appreciation of how much time and effort it takes to raise a clutch of chicks successfully. (It also gives me a greater appreciation of the many years it takes for human parents to raise their baby homo sapiens!) And it feeds my sense of wonder just to watch the chicks go from little yellowish-white puff balls, totally dependent on their parents, to gorgeously feathered adult raptors. Then the parents have to teach them to fly and hunt for food (to make a living!) as fully independent adults ready to raise a family of their own. These life-cams unite me with a global audience too. Some sites tell you how many other people all over the world are viewing the website at the same time you are! Fascinating!

For reflection:

Did anything catch your attention in this reflection?

Do you ever watch live-cams? Or do you have a camera by your bird feeder? Or do you enjoy watching your bird feeder? If so, please share some of you experiences below.

How do you gain access to wildlife–in a park? while on vacation? in your neighborhood? in your own yard? or even outside your window?

Do you set aside regular time to connect with the natural world beyond the human world? If so, why? If not, why not?

Here’s what to google to go to the websites for Peregrine falcons, eagles, and tawny owls:

Falcons: search Mayo Clinic Falcons

Eagles: search Big Bear Valley Eagle cam

Tawny owls: search Tawny owl live-cams (Tawny owls [they’re so cute!] are found in Europe [except Ireland] Central Asia, and northern Africa. Alas, they are not found in the U.S. or Canada…)

Today’s video (5. mins.) is from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It captures ordinary backyard birds landing on bird feeders. Their landings are too fast for the naked eye to see or appreciate, so much of this video is shot in slow motion. I think you might be as amazed as I was!

I’m looking forward to your comments below about this reflection, the pictures and video, and your own experiences with observing wildlife!