Little chick has been banded - his name is Polo and he's doing very well right now. Dennis has some photos of the banding that he will be posting shortly, so you will all get to see him soon - he's cute.
At the time of banding we had to move him to another building nearby (not the 2010 site), as he has gotten bigger, it was more and more dangerous for him roaming around at the old site. It was also making Jules crazy and she was starting to take some big risks when she thought he needed defending. They made the move like pros and already the adults' behaviour has returned to the way it was last year which is more how it should be. They are still relatively quiet for peregrines, don't know if Jules picked that up from Ivy (who is making Princess quieter than she was with Trey) or whether she's quieter naturally. In any case, they are much more vocal now and much less stressed. Hadn't seen Jules and Beau hanging out together at the same place for more than a month, now they are together more often than not now, which is good for their pair bond.
Polo has a nestbox to use or to get under if he prefers as well as lots of safe space to exercise his legs and wings, and opportunity he didn't have at the old site. Didn't take him long to take the ramp down out of the nestbox and start running around, it reminded me of the Radisson chicks and their rain dances. We have cameras mounted but like every site, we can't see everywhere on the roof and at the moment, he's tucked himself down out of site. We don't have a microphone at this location either so I can't hear him though we can occasionally hear him from the ground but it depends on the wind and urban noises nearby. I'm hoping we do in fact get some rain today and the heat/humidity drops some, I'm sure he'll come out to visit with his parents, one of whom is always stitting on the roof edge.
When Jules insisted on nesting where she did in 2009, I despaired of her common sense. Watching her in 2010 I was impressed by how quick she picked up being a great mother. This year I wondered about her common senses again but watching how quick she was to move with her chick, I realized that with a good nestsite she's a star, with a poor site she has to work too darn hard. Hopefully next year she will choose from one of the two (hopefully soon three) sites we have for her in the West Winnipeg territory.
