FalconCam
Hi!
My name is Roosevelt and this
is my mate, Freedom. Welcome
to our new year of FalconCam!
Last year's show was such a
success that we've returned
from hiatus and are ready to
bring you another season of
falcon adventures.
You might say we're birds
of a feather - we're peregrine
falcons and we live atop the
American Electric Power office
building in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
At 26 stories high, we've got
a terrific view of the city
because we are on top of the
tallest building in town. It's
almost like being on top of
a 400-foot-high cliff. You
can always visit us by watching
AEP's FalconCam. If you're
in Fort Wayne, you can spot
us hanging around at Wayne
and Calhoun Streets Downtown. Last
year we were joined by our
four chicks. We egged them
on for several weeks before
they hatched in the spring.
If you pay close attention
to our web site, you may get
to see this year's young ones.
We're
very happy with our condo developer,
the Indiana Department of Natural
Resources. This five-walled
nest box was built by the department's
biologists in 1993, but no
tenants used it until a few
years ago when my falcon friends,
Ms. Freedom from Evansville
and Bandit from Alabama, moved
in and started having kids.
Indiana Department of Natural
Resources set up the TV camera
to instantly tend to our every
need. In '98 Bandit moved out,
as we falcons do from time-to-time,
and I joined Freedom to produce
four terrific chicks.
Indiana Department of Natural
Resources biologists and volunteers
from Soarin' Hawk and the Audubon
Society help take care of us.
They keep up the place, tickle
us once a year while they weigh
us (I've gained a little from
those pigeon dinners) and if
the kids aren't feeling well,
they take good care of them.
I've just got to say on behalf
of birds everywhere, that we
really appreciate what you
humans do for us. Indiana Department
of Natural Resources, The Ft.
Wayne Children's Zoo and the
Audubon Society Stockbridge
Chapter helped falcons like
us get started in nesting boxes
back in 1992. This stuff you
call money came from people
all over Indiana who checked
off a non-game fund contribution
when they paid their income
tax. About 20 other companies
and community groups also gave
money to help us get a claw
hold here in the city. I'm
grateful to you all.
AEP
has been a good friend to us
and my many fine feathered
friends. They've set up this
web site so everyone in Indiana
and elsewhere on the planet
can watch us.
AEP has made sure there's
a home for great blue herons
near Fairbanks, Indiana, by
setting aside about 140 acres
of swampy land for them to
use. Our cousins are much bigger
than we - about 4 feet tall
with wing spans over six feet.
They raise families at the
Prairie Creek Rookery with
help from the Indiana Department
of Natural Resources and the
Nature Conservancy. A little
bird told me there were more
than 100 families nesting in
the wetlands. The blue herons
are a lot more patient than
we are for breakfast - they
don't move a muscle or feather
while standing in the water
and then ZAP - they catch a
tasty frog or fish.
AEP has also assisted my
friends, the turkeys, by helping
the right kinds of plants grow
for them in the 18,000 miles
of transmission line rights-of-way
and 311,000 acres of land AEP
owns. The turkeys are very
happy because they won't have
to walk far for food and nesting
materials.
I've
talked to lots of other birds
and found out that AEP's Habitat
Protection and Enhancement
Programs are helping what you
call Bio Diversity. AEP has
improved habitats on its property
with the aid of the Wildlife
Habitat Council. AEP gave The
Nature Conservancy a 2,950-acre
wetland on Lake Erie's Sandusky
Bay so the bird of all birds
(in my book anyway) the Bald
Eagle, could nest comfortably.
Last week, while I was human-watching
with some parrot friends from
South America, I learned that
AEP helped protect two million
acres of tropical forest in
Bolivia and expand the Noel
Kempff Mercado National Park
to four million acres. The parrots
and all of their friends are
grateful that they'll be able
to stay in their homes.
Please check out the rest
of our web site, including
the links to other raptor conservation
organizations, and keep an
eye on our photos throughout
the day. Our exclusive FalconCam
takes a new picture of us every
thirty seconds. If we're not
there, we're probably out making
a pigeon run or looking for
some other tasty snack. TTFN!
