It’s a baby falcon bonanza this spring for those who love fluffy little raptors, as a second peregrine falcon livestream is now up and running from a nest on Alcatraz, and the mama falcon there was actually born to Berkeley falcon Annie in 2018.  

Bay Area birders’ eyes are currently transfixed on the annual rite of the Berkeley baby falcon nest cam, with its April hatchings and fast-growing chicks’ adventures in May. But you may recall there used to be a second falcon nest cam atop the former PG&E building on Beale Street in downtown San Francisco, giving us a few years with our choice of two different falcon nest cams. Though alas, SF’s PG&E falcon webcam went dark in 2021 when PG&E moved its headquarters to Oakland.

Yet now, the Bay Area once again has the embarrassment of riches brought by two separate falcon nest cams. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy just launched a peregrine falcon nest cam on Alcatraz island, where four baby falcons have recently hatched.

The Alcatraz falcon nest cam can be seen below, and it streams 24/7.

The mother of this brood is named Larry (short for the element Lawrencium, named for UC Berkeley scientist Ernesto Lawrence). And Larry is the daughter of famed Berkeley Campanile nest cam falcon Annie, born to Annie and her then-partner Grinnell in 2018. Larry and her unnamed partner have four falcons this year, just as they also hatched four last year, but last year there was no such webcam on Alcatraz to watch it happen.

“This all started as a ‘what if’ when I was watching the CalFalcons webcam, wondering ‘how cool would it be to have a livestream of the Alcatraz falcon nest?’. I’m thrilled this became a reality thanks to all the collaborators from the NPS and the Parks Conservancy who helped see this through to the end,” Alcatraz Island biologist Lidia D’Amico said in a press release. “I hope this livestream generates appreciation for peregrine falcons and sparks viewers’ interest in the other bird life found on Alcatraz as well.”

The Alcatraz falcon webcam only has one angle, though it broadcasts in HD even after dark. According to the National Park Service, “The livestream has a 12-hour cache, allowing viewers to catch up on parts they may have missed.”

The Alcatraz falcons are a little older (by a couple weeks) than the Berkeley falcons, but their nest cam delivers every bit as much cuteness. Yet it remains to be seen if the Alcatraz cam provides as much falcon soap-opera romance drama as Annie has on the Berkeley cam, what with all of her many male partners she’s had over the last couple years.

Related: Photos: Two Baby Falcon Chicks Hatch on Berkeley Falcon Cam, and on Earth Day to Boot [SFist]

Image: via National Park Service