Manitoba Peregrines > Bank of the West, Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo - 2012 / Mr X & Miracle
RCF:
One well fed chick :)
http://youtu.be/eR501CSeWOY
The Peregrine Chick:
A note from the Fargo Folks ... been a tough year for them again ...
2012 is proving to be much like 2011. Lots of bad eggs, and only one baby. This year we started with four eggs. Two disappeared about 10 days ago. The hatch date for the one good egg was May 19. At this point the adults are still attempting to incubate the remaining egg, while simultaneously brooding an increasingly active and energetic youngster. However, I can only conclude that egg is also not viable.
Not sure what is happening. The female is very experienced and had a perfect record in her first three nestings. We did have hard freezes both this year and last after the first eggs were laid but before full incubation started. Suspect this is a big part of the explanation. This year we also have a new male and a very short period (about a week) between his arrival and the arrival of the first egg. Fertilization may also have been an issue.
Speaking of the male, his identity is still a mystery due to a partially faded band. It is b/r *X/?. According to the database, there are 9 possibilities, including two males who hatched here in 2008.
For the first time, we have a reliable connection to the internet. The camera has an infrared feature, so the video is streamed on a 24/7 basis. Particular thanks are due to Marshall Johnson at Audubon Dakota for making this happen. Again, the home site is dk.audubon.org.
Banding will probably be on June 8, but we are still working on the details.
The Peregrine Chick:
1300h
Shift change - Miracle has been "off" the eggs for the last couple of hours and when she came back he had a little think about letting her on the eggs. I would guess by his calm behaviour during change-over that he has done this before - but that is just my impression. But using that supposition, I would suspect he is more than three years old which could narrow the list of suspects somewhat.
The Peregrine Chick:
Today might actually be a good day for watching band numbers on this camera - there doesn't appear to be any sunshine which can reflect badly, or rather not helpfully, on bands that are scratched in the way it appears the male's is here. The trick will be to hope that he cooperates and parks his little button on one of the side rails and does some preening, that way his leg feathers will hike up and his band will be visible. Or hope that he has just had a meal and needs to clean his toes - that will bring the leg up and frequently they like to stretch at the same time.
Remember these birds have two bands - one may be entirely silver (I think Fargo uses silver instead of the anodized purple ones) but its the other one you want. I haven't heard what leg his coloured band is on I'm afraid. Best thing to do is try and get a screen capture, even if you can't clearly read the bands, it can help to narrow down the possibilities.
Good luck to everyone who decides to try ...
The Peregrine Chick:
Note from the Fargo gang ...
We now have four eggs. This should be it. Expect hatching to start in mid May.
The web camera seems to be very reliable, and our audience has been growing steadily. I understand the existing service will provide up to 500 people with simultaneous access. We have not exceeded that number yet, but the time may come when expanded service will be needed. The basic address is dk.audubon.org. A link to the falcon camera is at the bottom of the home page.
The male is proving to be hard to identify, but I have now seen enough to know he is someone new. The band used for identification purposes was originally black and red. The character in the black field is a sideways X. Unfortunately, the red dye on this band has mostly worn off. This leaves the bottom half of the band almost silver (bare aluminum). It also makes the bottom character very hard to read as there is little contrast. Until we get that deciphered, precise identification cannot be made. If anyone has better success, please let me know. The partial read matches 9 males in the database, including two who hatched here in 2008.
Anyone getting a screenshot of the male's band can send it to me and I'll pass along to my contact in Fargo ...
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version