Peregrine Falcon Nest Box, San Jose City Hall Live Cam

The camera looks into the peregrine falcon nest box set on an 18th-floor ledge of the City Hall tower in downtown San Jose, California. A bed of grey gravel scattered with loose feathers fills the box, and its open side on the left faces the ledge.

San Jose City Hall opened in 2005 on East Santa Clara Street, at the eastern edge of downtown. Its slim tower, designed by Richard Meier, rises 87 metres beside a glass-domed rotunda. Peregrine falcons have nested on the tower since the mid-2000s. They lay their eggs in a shallow scrape, and the gravel lets the birds form one here.

This is the closest of the three views, aimed straight at the floor of the box, so any eggs, chicks or adults on the gravel fill most of the picture. A soft grey patch near the centre of the image comes from the lens itself.