Manitoba Peregrines > UND, Grand Forks, North Dakota
UND Tower - 2015 / Marv & Terminator
dupre501:
Since Smiley is one of Terminator's kids, and Terminator is Manitoba born, I would say that Smiley is just returning to his roots. :)
Jazzerkins:
So North Dakota has one of our Manitoba birds and we have one of theirs. Cool.
Alison:
From the Grand Forks Herald today:
Grand Forks peregrines gear up to mate
By Brad Dokken
Life atop the UND water tower is back in the spring swing with the return of a peregrine falcon pair that is getting ready to mate in a nesting box on the structure.
Grand Forks raptor expert Tim Driscoll said Marv, a 2-year-old male, returned March 9, and had been hanging out waiting for his much-older partner, Terminator, to fly into town.
Driscoll and Grand Forks birding authority Dave Lambeth both spotted the female Sunday morning. The bands on the falcons' legs confirm their identities, Driscoll said.
Terminator was hatched in 2006 in Brandon, Man., and has been nesting on Grand Forks water towers since 2008. Driscoll banded Marv in June 2013 in Fargo when the falcon was just a fledgling.
It's unusual for male falcons to mate as 1 year olds, which Marv did last year, Driscoll said, but Terminator's mate in 2013 never returned last spring, and that created an opening.
Peregrines go their separate ways during migration but tend to return to the same nesting sites every year.
"It's tough for them to pull it off that first year," Driscoll said. "They're just figuring out their way, and they've got stiff competition from older, more savvy, more experienced males, so they're looking for an opening like a death, which I think is what happened with Marv."
Named after Fargo TV anchor Marv Bossart, who died in 2013, Marv is Terminator's fourth mate. Her previous mate wasn't banded, Driscoll said, and he never returned last spring.
Early start
Driscoll said the peregrines are ahead of schedule — especially compared with last year, when Terminator didn't arrive until April 6, and Marv first made his bid for her affections April 21.
"This is great — they're early," Driscoll said. "You can tell they've both been in that tower. They're settled in. I'm thrilled with the fact. They're easily three weeks earlier than last year."
By comparison, Terminator first was sighted in Grand Forks April 9, 2008, with subsequent first sightings April 10, 2009; March 27, 2010; April 7 or 8, 2012: March 26, 2012; March 26, 2013; and April 6, 2014.
Typically, Driscoll said, peregrines begin laying eggs the first week in May and produce three young. Despite last year's late start, Driscoll said Terminator was laying eggs about May 5.
Marv and Terminator only had two chicks last year because one egg didn't hatch.
Driscoll said the peregrines were engaging in obvious courtship displays Sunday.
"He was pretty excited," Driscoll said of Marv's reaction to Terminator's arrival. "He was antsy as heck.
"Maybe they'll just hang out for a week or so; time will tell. I'd be stunned they haven't laid eggs by the first of May."
Canada connection
In related peregrine news, Driscoll said he learned last week that Smiley, a male peregrine hatched in 2009 in Grand Forks and named after the Smiley water tower torn down in 2009, has been mating in Winnipeg and last year fathered two chicks hatched atop the Radisson Hotel on Portage Avenue downtown. His mate, Princess, is four years older, and was hatched in Minneapolis.
Both birds have leg bands to confirm their identities.
According to the Midwest Peregrine Falcon Restoration Project's website, peregrines have been on the rebound since the 1980s after being decimated by pesticide use in the 1950s and 1960s. The first Midwest release was in 1982, and Grand Forks and Fargo have the only known nesting peregrines in North Dakota. Minnesota has more than 50 nesting sites across the state, the Department of Natural Resources said.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/outdoors/3711215-grand-forks-peregrines-gear-mate
The article also has a new photo of Terminator.
The Peregrine Chick:
--- Quote from: Alison on March 29, 2015, 10:20 ---Went to read the article but can't read it without a subscription to the paper. >:(
--- End quote ---
More and more newspapers are starting to do this - even our Winnipeg Free Press with some of their stories. I'm trying to get copies of stories when I can and will be saving copies as pdfs and will make the links available. I've got a call into the folks at the Grand Forks Herald about a couple of other stories from last year - will let you know how successful I am. Hate to have to spend about $10USD (with the current exchange rate) for one month access to get the stories but it may come to that.
Alison:
--- Quote from: The Peregrine Chick on March 28, 2015, 20:59 ---Apparently there will be a news story about the peregrines in Grand Forks in the next couple of weeks, so I went snooping to see what else I could find that I might have missed at the end of last year ... and I found this :)
http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/video-high-altitude-housecleaning-atop-und-water-tower
--- End quote ---
Went to read the article but can't read it without a subscription to the paper. >:(
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