For those of you who may be dreading the coming  tremors and withdrawals induced by an onslaught of empty nest syndrome soon to be upon the serious watchers of the Barn Owl nest box web cam which was first posted some time back by I forget who but I have to thank you,

http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Live_Owl_Nest_Box_Cam.html

I have found a surrogate webcam to help stave off the worst of the withdrawal symptoms. 

 In Red Deer, Alberta Canada high up up on a communications tower some 312 feet in the air a nest box with live feed web cam has been taken over by a budding mama Peregrine Falcon who has subsequently laid a clutch of 5 reddish looking eggs.  The eggs are expected to begin hatching sometime around mid June, so not much activity going on there yet.  But this time you can be a part of the family right from the get go.

http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Peregrine_Nest_Box.html

 I don't know how true the color is from the web cam, but mama appears to be a fairly bright, light blue.  Photo's I've found online show Peregrine Falcons as mostly grayish in color with white underneath, but one online article says that they can be blueish in color.

They are the most common birds of prey in the world, but at one time were on the endangered species list in the United States.  They have been known to dive at speeds of 320 kph/200 mph, making them the fastest creatures on the planet. They mostly feed on other birds, but do occaisionally dine on small rodents and other critters for variety.

 Here is a National Geographic article with photo's and facts:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/peregrine-falcon.html

Red Deer is located about midway between Calgary to the South and Edmonton to the North.  There is no night lighting so you can only watch during the day time, but Peregrine Falcons aren't nocturnal birds anyway.  Sunrise for Red Deer today is at 5:22 local time.  Alberta is currently on Mountain Daylight Time, so you'll have to wait a bit from the time of this posting.  But the sun should be up there in something less than an hour.

Also in Red Deer is a new writer to OS, Mataxa Cunningham.  She is an educator and a writer, and her recent post "Rumor Has It: My Father Isn't Really Superman is a well written story of the trials and lessons of Father/Daughter relationships.  It's an excellent piece, well done and on a facet of life which we all have had to face or will one time or another, the realization of the mortality of one's parents.  Give her blog a visit.  She has a good perspective on life, and expresses it very well.  Who knows?  Maybe we can persuade her to get a photo and post it of the communications tower where mama is working hard to keep her eggs warm.