>Springfield, Mass. had a peregrine nest in a similar situation;
>video of the nest was continuously broadcast on a local-access cable
>channel. It would be cool if the same could be done here (might
>actually provide a reason to get cable...). David Wright
dwright at u.washington.edu

I wholeheartedly encourage this as a worthwhile way to bring public
attention to Seattle's peregrines. I saw Tom French of Mass. Fish &
Wildlife speak about Springfield's experiences a few years ago. He
said that surveys showed that thousands of people who were ordinarily
uninterested in birds switched to the peregrine station during ads.
When a chick experienced visible distress because of a bolus of food
caught in its throat, more than 100 people called within twenty
minutes at 6 a.m. Imagine the viewership they must get at prime
time! The cable station had to run a message across the bottom of
the screen while someone climbed down to the ledge they were on to
aid the chick because their phone lines were going crazy. I haven't
read enough about the Seattle nest to know their visibility for
cable. In Springfield, the birds nest in the windowsill of a hotel
suite. The suite is reserved for the birds and the TV camera every
year during nesting season. Cable coverage runs continuously through
all of the daylight hours and affords some beautiful views of feeding
the young. If I lived in Seattle, I'd probably be calling up a cable
TV station soon.

Aside: Boston's peregrine watchers had an interesting experience two
weeks ago when a new female peregrine invaded the territory of a
nesting pair there. The nesting pair had returned seven years in a
row and fledged more 21 chicks during that time. But this year the
invading younger female killed the old matriarch, mated with the old
matriarch's male, and took over the new territory. Tom French
(again) was quoted on the front page of the Boston Globe as saying
,"That's the way they do business." The Globe called it a "coup in
the coop."

Peter Whitlock

Raptor Research Center
Boise State University