West Winnipeg - 2015 / Ty & Beatrix

[GCG]

Thanks for this video, TPC. Yes, she was hungry! 


Thanks, dupre501 for these incredible photos. I look forward to them.

[dupre501]

We went for an evening drive and found Ty sitting on the NE corner. He moved to the NW corner and just sat there with the sun on his back. So we went for more of a drive. When we came back about an hour later, Ty was in the same place as when we left. But then there was some movement and Ty flew away. One of the chicks looked over the edge and started yelling. A moment later in flew Ty with a meal. He sort of paused above the corner, then flew away. "Come follow me". He turned around and came back to land on the corner and then give the food to the chicks.

[The Peregrine Chick]

The older of the two chicks practically knocked Ty off the nestbox when she bolted up the ramp to relieve him of the food he'd brought.  The younger chick didn't show any interest in the food and remained on the roof sitting in the sun and out of the wind.

Here's a video clip of the almost hit-n-run ... https://youtu.be/tYZnx8rsWBc   

[The Peregrine Chick]

Took me a few minutes to find them, but the girls are parked under the nestbox napping on cool rocks in the shade.  Finally found them when the breeze started blowing their feathers around!!

[GCG]

  Apparently after only one season together as a couple, Beatrix and Ty are a good match. 

[dupre501]

Checked out the site this evening and found Beatrix and Ty stationed kitty corner to each other. Beatrix was watching the north and east sides of the rooftop and Ty had the west and south. That is strategy. Watched them do this at this site  in previous years as well.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Oh oh,    older chick has figured out how to get up on the nestbox roof.  Going to have to check the recorder to see what she did ....

[bev.]

glad they are O.K.

[The Peregrine Chick]

West Winnipeg chicks were fine this morning - running up and down the ramp and playing on the roof.  No problems at all from the storm.  Beatrix was hanging out with them so they weren't itching to be anywhere but where they were.  The younger of the two chicks decided at one point that enough was enough and she just plopped herself down on the roof rocks to nap.

[Kinderchick]

Yikes! Hope the chicks didn't get too enthusiastic about peering over the edge of the building in the storm we had this evening!

[dupre501]

Checked out the area this evening before the rain storm. Did not see Beatrix or Ty. But it looks like the nest box ledge is not enough for the chicks. They were out looking at the world today. In the first picture they look a little higher than the other two pictures.

Sorry for the terrible pictures but the air quality in Winnipeg is horrible and the distance is great.

 

[dupre501]

Well that explains Beatrix's shift in perch to the camera box. She did the same last year when the chicks started moving to the nest box edge and doing a lot of flapping.

Yesterday, about 5:45 pm, Beatrix was on her new perch when she took off like a shot with a lot of yelling. She meets up with Ty and does a food exchange with him, then rushes back to deliver the food to her chicks. Ty circled once and landed on the other corner. She didn't stay with the chicks very long and was back on her perch.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Dennis just contacted me to let me know the older of the two chicks just figured out what the ramp is for - both up and down!

They grow up so fast 

[Kinderchick]

Glad to hear that the chicks are relatively safe from being blown off the roof, prior to fledging.

[The Peregrine Chick]

The girls have figured out how to get up on the box ledge but not out of the box yet.  But it won't take them long.



Because this site is our windiest, the box is as sheltered as we could make it.  The box ledge is about the height of the box edge at the Radisson but it is still below the roof ledge at the West Winnipeg site.  This means that the chicks can't get up there until they are old enough to be able to climb out and therefore old enough to sit in safety even if it is windy - and they can see out, which is usually what draws chicks up onto the edges of their buildings.  This way, the chicks can see the world when they are ready but they are still protected from getting blown off until they are ready to go.  From the box ledge (might have to find another name I guess) - the chicks can access the ramp we added on to get down onto the roof - we took the idea from the McKenzie Seeds roof box - lets the chicks climb in and out a bit earlier than if they didn't have the ramp.  Chicks like to return to the nestbox at night and this way they can start exercising their muscles running and flapping about on the rooftop at an earlier age and where they have more room and more protection from the wind before they actually fledge.  Having siblings makes it even better since they tend to chase each other around the rooftop just like they do after they fledge.  More training for the real thing.