Screenshot from the Peregrine Wilmington Falcon Webcam

For those of you who don’t know, there is a nesting pair of peregrine falcons that live at the top of the Brandywine Building in Wilmington, Delaware. (In fact, I am lucky enough to be able to view the falcons from my office window.)

The Wilmington falcon story is lengthy, but intriguing, and I encourage all of you to read about the falcons on the Wilmington Peregrine Falcon Webcam Project Blog at http://wilmfalcons.com/index.html. Be sure to visit the Nestbox News page for recent updates.

The Wilmington Peregrine Falcon Webcam website was designed and is maintained by Kim Steininger, a superb photographer. All photographs on the site were taken by Kim Steininger and are of the Wilmington peregrines. (All materials and photos are copyrighted and may not be duplicated without direct written consent obtained from Kim Steininger.)

There are currently 5 falcons eggs in the nest that are expected to hatch around the last week of May.

Check out the live webcam of the birds at http://www.dosbirds.org/wilmfalcons.

It has been a harrowing experience, but Hurricane Irene is finally gone from the Delaware area. Since I was awake all night dealing with flooding issue, I had to use the last several hours to get some sleep. This is my final video post of Hurricane Irene as it dealt a blow to Wilmington, Delaware.

Thank you to all you emailed me and submitted comments. It is great to see that those of you concerned about your loved ones and property in Wilmington, Delaware were following HuntingTheFirstState. Traffic to huntingthefirststate.com increased by 500% during the storm. – SMK

It looks like we narrowly dodged a bullet here in northern Wilmington, Delaware. The eye of Hurricane Irene passed off the coast of New Jersey and made landfall again farther north in New Jersey, so northern Delaware was spared the full force of Irene. I slept very little, since the winds were still troubling. Likewise, it has rain for about 18 hours straight. While my basement pump worked fine, I somehow had wind-driven water coming through my attic and into a second-floor bedroom.

Here are some updates:

• More than 10 inches of rain in some pars of Delaware.
• Many roads flooded or are otherwise impassable.
• More than 50,000 homes without power.
• Emergency driving restrictions remain in effect, banning all but emergency vehicles or those evacuating from flood areas from the state’s roads.

For additional information, see the DELAWARE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY site at http://dema.delaware.gov/.

Things are getting scary here in Wilmington, Delaware during Hurricane Irene.

Right before I filmed this, a tornado warning was issued for some town several miles south of me. A few minutes after I filmed this, the warning included my area. The winds kicked up and began blowing loudly, so I headed for the basement. I still have power, so I have been watching the local news and The Weather Channel.

The Emergency Alert System activated and displayed the tornado warning on my TV. The buzzing chirp of the alert got my attention, but the computer voice describing the warning was scary.

This is not going to be a good night.

At least one tornado generated by Hurricane Irene damaged homes in the Lewes, Delaware area. Reports say that at least on confirmed tornado damaged at least 15 homes near Lewes. Five more Tornado Warnings issued on Saturday night. Tornado watch in effect until 5 AM.

Delmarva Power is reporting more than 16,000 of its customers in Delaware and Maryland have lost electric service. Numerous reports of downed trees and wires.

Eye expected to pass over Cape May, New Jersey around 4:00 AM tomorrow.

(Note: YouTube upload is slow. Video postings are delayed.)

Per the latest forecasts, Wilmington, Delaware should receive the strongest force of Hurricane Irene between 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM tomorrow morning.

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell said Delaware would stop collecting tolls on I-95 at 3 p.m.

At 4 p.m., the bridge over Indian River Inlet closed. Divers will inspect the bridge’s pilings to determine if scouring stormwater has compromised the bridge’s structure.

Gov. Jack Markell ordered driving restrictions statewide. The restrictions forbid non-emergency travel effective at 6 p.m. in Sussex County, 8 p.m. in Kent County, and 10 p.m. in New Castle County. The state Department of Transportation said three of its four bridges over the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal will close to all but emergency vehicles at 10 p.m., including the Reedy Point Bridge at Del. 9, the St. Georges Bridge, and the Roth Bridge on Del. 1. The Summit Bridge (Del. 896/U.S. 301) will remain open until sustained winds reached sustained 45 miles per hour.

It is nothing nice out there!

(Note: I keep losing my YouTube upload connection. Video posts are delayed.)