Netherlands / De Mortel - 2015 / Pa & Miep-VieVie

[The Peregrine Chick]

those weights are all a little light - bottom of the range for each gender but they will do better now.  And when they start hunting on their own they will probably make up the difference quickly enough.  And because European birds don't migrate like ours do, they won't be burning off huge reserves over the winter and will be able to find places with lots of prey and stay there until the spring juices get flowing.

Barring fledging accidents, I think these little guys will be okay. Miep-VieVie managed to get them through the really tough part.

[Alison]

The weights of the four chicks at banding are as follows:

First female: 740 grams
Second (probable) female: 675 grams
First male: 545 grams
Youngest and smallest male: 465 grams.

As of yesterday evening, the VWG images are gone again. This is the third time they have been taken down recently.

[Alison]

Thanks for posting the video RCF - two things of interest - the "large" bands are the size of our bands - and that is about 2/3 the size of the last knuckle on a woman's pinkie finger   Don't know what his bands are made of though, some early bands were made in stainless steel, not sure if any were raptor bands and I have no idea if they were used in Europe.  Ours are made of aluminium and weigh less than a penny.

The bird with two silver bands was a female from Germany. Actually, she is the second German female who has been seen at this nest in the past while. The first was a three year old from Essen.

I have read that Germany uses aluminum bands.

[Alison]

Okay, since this site needs a scorecard to keep the players straight (and so I can update the subject line if necessary), those of you who watch and translate this site, please help fill in the following blanks ..

Miep-VieVie (aka VieVie, VV) - resident female

Pa - former resident male ?  no bands?

1R - aka One Ring? - food-stealing, chick-ignoring interloper?

2O - ?? 

VM - new resident male?  food-feeding, chick-loving interloper? 


thanks for helping clear up the players 

Pa is banded; he has silver bands on both legs. As far as I know, he has not been seen recently. I hope he is still out there.

One Ring/2O is indeed a "food-stealing, chick-ignoring interloper". For instance, on April 27, Miep-VV brought in prey at least three times. The first two times, she was able to feed some to the chicks before 2O stole the prey. In the evening, she again brought in prey and took it into the nest to feed the chicks. 2O followed her and grabbed the prey, dragging Miep-VV and the prey out onto the platform. He kept tugging at the prey until he had it and flew off with it. Miep-VV and the chicks got none. 2O is also a son of Miep-VV and Pa.

VM is not a designation I had seen, but I will take a guess that it stands for "vreemde mannetje" which means "strange male" or "unknown male". I take it to mean the male known as Spikkel, for the speckled markings on his bib. He is the male currently at the nest.

Pa's bands.



Spikkel:

 

[Alison]

All four chicks have a good weight, including the littlest one. Miep-VV continues to do an outstanding job of raising these chicks without any help.

No food cache of any kind was found on the tower. The only prey remains found were of pigeons, and there was nothing left but the bones. It would seem that Spikkel is eating the food that Miep-VV brings to the nest, instead of hunting for himself.

Information from Piet on the Dutch forum.

[Alison]

Two males, one female, and the fourth chick is probably female, although she has fairly small feet.

And now they are all together in one corner, with an adult on the platform.

[Alison]

The chicks have been banded, and were returned to the nest a few minutes ago. Only two are visible on cam at the moment. I hope the other two are in the other corner, but would like to see all of them to be sure.

While the chicks were out of the nest, the leftovers and debris were removed from the nest and the camera lens was cleaned. Haven't seen Miep-VV back at the nest yet.

[burdi]

If you're able to watch, the chicks are about to be ringed any minute now.

[allikat]

Yes...After a rocky start, with several males in and out of the picture, Miep/VV has become quite a remarkable Mother.
...and VM, I think, has finally got it.  as he is bringing in prey to take care of his growing family.
It's been fun watching VM learn the ropes.

[susha]

Looks like VM is now behaving like a parent, trying to brood the growing chicks and bringing in dinner and feeding them

Things are looking up for this family!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Did a quick bit of basic math and at 14 to 16 days old, these chicks are unlikely to be in much danger now until they fledge in another 3-4 weeks.  With a more tumultuous start, they may put on a growth spurt in the last 2-3 weeks before fledging.  Won't hurt them any but you may notice they look markedly bigger each day and it may not be wishful thinking or an optical illusion.

[irenekl]

Sure would like to know what happened to Pa.

[GCG]

The chicks have recently been fed. Their crops are full and they are in faceplant positions. A little housekeeping is in order. Their nest is "well" feathered.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Thanks for posting the video RCF - two things of interest - the "large" bands are the size of our bands - and that is about 2/3 the size of the last knuckle on a woman's pinkie finger   Don't know what his bands are made of though, some early bands were made in stainless steel, not sure if any were raptor bands and I have no idea if they were used in Europe.  Ours are made of aluminium and weigh less than a penny.

Other thing of interest is how careful the bird on the ledge was once he saw the chicks - in part "where's mama so I don't get my butt kicked" and "why are these things all by themselves?"

[RCF]

A member of the Netherlands Peregrines forum and also a BCAW member posted this.

  Ton Kuipers (Kuiko) saw 4 peregrines including VV, but the dubble-banded one wasn't Pa,
but a quite old peregrine with large metallic bands.

Here is a vid from this peregrine

Here is a link to her post where you can view the video
http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?p=349726#p349726