It’s not every day you get the chance to watch peregrine falcons up close, unless you live in an aviary full of them. For those of us that reside in actual people habitats, the FalconCam Project run by Charles Sturt University, which provides live feeds of a peregrine nest, is as good as it gets.
As the project website explains, the nest, complete with cameras to observe the birds, was set up in 2007 after university goers “noticed that a pair of peregrine falcons, relatively rare around the Central West of New South Wales, were interested in using Charles Sturt University’s Orange campus as a hunting ground”.
Right now it’s fairly active, with a fresh “breeding pair” (“Diamond” and “Bula”) having moved in not long ago. The current setup uses an Axis 3344-VE for the nest cam and an Axis P3384 to keep watch on the ledge. The streams themselves are served using VLC and presented via embedded Flash players.
If you think it’s going to be one of those streams where nothing much happens, you’re in for a surprise. Here’s the view I had when I checked in this morning:
Earlier this year, the falcons had a visit from a particularly aggressive cockatoo, though it was eventually sent on its way… but not without a few comical snaps from the ledge camera:
That’s a look of regret if I’ve ever seen it:
Keen bird watchers can find both streams over on the Charles Sturt University website.
Photos: FalconCam Project