Baby animals are the surest sign of spring, and the Bay Area can now add an adorable clutch of falcon hatchlings to its list of reproductive accomplishments, right after the Zoo's newest tiger cub. Starting on Sunday, the four eggs atop San Jose City Hall began the highly Easter-appropriate process of breaking through their shells and emerging, Christ-like, into the light. Three of the four eggs have now hatched, and the fourth could pop at any moment.
You can watch the proceedings live via the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group's falcon cam, which shows various views of mama falcon Clara sitting smugly atop her brood, or check out the birds receiving their lunch yesterday. Clara has been at the City Hall nest since 2007 and is now on her fourth mate, the sexy-sounding Fernando El Cohete, after dumping previous mate Esteban Colbert last year, citing irreconcilable differences.
Each new falcon hatch is cause for celebration, and not just because fluffy, clumsy falcon babies are even more effective than Valium. Conservation efforts over the last few decades have brought peregrine falcons back from the brink of disaster, and brought California's population from just two pairs to an estimated 250 pairs, many of which originate from the San Jose nest.
For more local falcon procreation in progress, you can also watch the progress of S.F.'s own falcon couple "Cher" and "Dan", who have four unhatched eggs in their nest.
