West Winnipeg - 2013 / Beau & Jules

[Kinderchick]

Have Princess & Ivy left town, TPC? Do you think that Beatrix could be the PF that ballywing & I have spotted on each of the Radisson nest ledges in the past few days? Or do you think it could be one of the HSC PF's? If Beatrix has possibly been seen in WW in the past few days, would she wander back to her old Radisson stomping grounds?

[The Peregrine Chick]

Meanwhile back at the diner, somebirdy on the "v", south side, this morning at about 8:10.  

Looking at some photos Dennis took on the 8th at the Diner, I would suspect that the bird you are watching these days Cooper is Beatrix.

Okay, Dennis and I have been looking a photos again and we aren't so sure it is Beatrix but the lighting and the angle is poor so we aren't sure if we had one black banded bird on the Diner on the 8th and Beatrix on the 9th.  We are sure about the 9th, it's the 8th sighting that is making us suspicious.  On the third hand, how likely is it that we would have two "new" black banded birds in the same territory within 18 hours of each other ... at this time of year, possible though maybe not likely.  Rain or no rain (rain is forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday here in Winnipeg) we are going to be keeping our eye on the WW territory in case we can catch sight of the bird(s) again before she/they bolt ...

[allikat]

How exciting!  Way to go Beatrix!  Stay safe you valuable raptor!  Great news that we hear about a 2011 bird back in it's "area"! 
Great news for our ever so precious Peregrine Falcons!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Meanwhile back at the diner, somebirdy on the "v", south side, this morning at about 8:10. 

Looking at some photos Dennis took on the 8th at the Diner, I would suspect that the bird you are watching these days Cooper is Beatrix.

[Cooper]

How exciting! Thanks for all the news TPC.
Meanwhile back at the diner, somebirdy on the "v", south side, this morning at about 8:10.

[The Peregrine Chick]

It sure would be interesting to know what she has been up to. Did she not have a transmitter, TPC? I thought she did...

No she didn't have a transmitter, she fell into the old Eaton's smokestack and the vet/rehabbers cleared her for re-release but we didn't want to take the risk that she had a minor soft tissue injury that would have been exacerbated were we to have fitted her with a transmitter.  Carson we knew took a bump from hitting the Hydro building because he did have some blood in his nares but he showed no problems while he was in care and when he was re-released with Beatrix he was raring to go, but again, not taking the chance.  McDermot was the Radisson chick that got a transmitter the next year even though he too went down but he didn't hit anything, rather he just "dribbled" down a couple of storeys onto a flat surface when he didn't make a landing on the corner of a roof.  No hit, no great height and a very soft landing.  We scooped him up and he got a transmitter and off he went.

Also, interesting to hear of her eating Great Water Bugs. Is that very unusual for a PF, TPC?

Eating insects, no, particularly if they are plentiful.  Hack release in the early 1990s in West Winnipeg there was a huge influx of grasshoppers in Winnipeg, they were on buildings, sidewalks, lawns, heck downtown on Portage Avenue in front of stores.  The chicks hacked release that year ate so many grasshoppers their pellets were green and filled with the grasshoppers carapaces - made them look almost sparkly in the sun.  As for giant water bugs, that is a new one for me, but then, unless there are remains in pellets that you can find OR someone like Dennis can catch them on film, I don't know how easy it would be to document it, so maybe it's more common than one would think.

[dupre501]

Thanks for the updates, great to hear news about our Manitoba birds!

[Kinderchick]

How wonderful to hear that Beatrix has survived the first 2 years of her life! And so great to hear of her passing through Winnipeg! It sure would be interesting to know what she has been up to. Did she not have a transmitter, TPC? I thought she did...Also, interesting to hear of her eating Great Water Bugs. Is that very unusual for a PF, TPC?

[birdbrain]

Exciting times! Thanks for all the updates.
 

[The Peregrine Chick]

La Peregrina has landed safely in southern Mexico ... her sister Andamooka is still in the central USA ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

Dennis was looking through his photos and it was bugs Beatrix was hunting so diligently - Giant Water Bug (Lethocerus americanus) in fact - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethocerus_americanus

I thought they would be kind of nasty tasting so I talked to a wetland naturalist and she too thought they would be bitter tasting.  Obviously not, or not to Beatrix at least, from Dennis' description, she was targeting the GWBs specifically and this location has lots of other food options available for her if she wanted it.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Dennis' visitor is none other than Beatrix!   She is a 2011 wild-hatch from the Radisson and the first of Ivy and Princess' kids that we know of to have survived through the whole first year.  We suspect that McDermot (2012 Radisson) might have done as well but his transmitter is faulty and we haven't had a "beep" (or a report) of him since his first winter so we can't be sure.

Beatrix's nestmates were Carson, Cade and Fyfe.  Fyfe died at fledging.  Carson got up close and personal with the Hydro building but didn't have serious injuries and Beatrix found herself at the bottom of the old Eaton's smokestack.  She was retrieved and returned to the Radisson along with her brother Carson.  Their other brother Cade was funnily enough hanging out on the wall right above the nestbox and watched their return with great interest.  After that, they managed to stay out of trouble.

Interestingly, it sounds as though she continues to be small female ... while Dennis was watching her she was snatching small birds (or perhaps even insects) out of the air with amazing skill and speed, something only smaller birds tend to be able to do.  No idea where she has been or what she has been "up" to in the last couple of years, but she looks great (and like her mother).  And yes, I'm sure that Dennis will post photos online when he has a chance.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Dennis spent this morning trailing after a "visiting" bird in the outer reaches of the WW territory ...
Male bird Dennis thinks by the size, Canadian bird (black band) but have to wait until the photos are processed to see if we can get the full band number.

Gotta love migration!!!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Bird sitting on the east side around 1730-1800h too ... very rusty breast and a very full dark cap.  We are hunting up late season photos of Jules to see if that is how she looks after the nesting season ...

[Cooper]

Oh I'm glad you spotted them, closet birder! I went by at about 8:15 and nary a soul. So I figured they may have taken off.