NSW - Charles Sturt University - 2017 / Xavier & Diamond

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Today is Saturday, Oct. 14 in Orange, and Diamond was feeding the chicks at 0648 hrs while Xavier was on his way out. I felt sorry for Xavier as he rarely gets a chance to feed (and has to cut it short when he does)! Poor guy, how's he supposed to become an expert with so little experience?

Just thinking that perhaps falcon dads aren't required to be experts at feeding, aside from cases where they're left to raise their young on their own. Hmm, are my thoughts on the right track or not? TPC?

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Aww, the chicks were being so cute while they interacted with each other (for a least 5 minutes) but needed some rest again at 1010 hrs.

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Today is Saturday, Oct. 14 in Orange, and Diamond was feeding the chicks at 0648 hrs while Xavier was on his way out. I felt sorry for Xavier as he rarely gets a chance to feed (and has to cut it short when he does)! Poor guy, how's he supposed to become an expert with so little experience?

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Cilla added a couple of comments.

Cilla Kinross says:   
13 October, 2017 at 6:19 pm   

Working my way slowly through the last three days, a couple of things came to my notice. Xavier brought in what I’m pretty sure was a silvereye – a tiny green bird with white eye ring, which was quite visible. This was demolished in 4 minutes, whereas most feeds are lasting 10-20 minutes. So just a snack.

Also Diamond was absent for two and a half hours late on 10th October and came back, triumphantly (?) with a rosella. Supports my theory that she doesn’t really like starlings!

And, during this absence, Xavier roughly plucked and fed a starling to the youngsters in a start-stop procedure, rather than full preparation prior to commencement.

Cilla Kinross says:   
13 October, 2017 at 6:47 pm   

NAMES. What about ‘Marragaay’ (first born) for the big one and Bali (baby)?

Or ‘Mudyi’ (friend)

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Update - 11 days old. Plus news from Melbourne.

Published 13 October, 2017 | By Cilla Kinross

Such gorgeous beasties!   Actually, this is  not their most endearing phase.   But they are both putting on weight and looking healthy.   Here they are with Diamond (well, her tail) just after a feed.


Well, that wasn’t bad for a snack!

I’ve noticed that absences from the nest by adults have got longer.  We did have some rain, which might have meant longer hunting hours, although food still came in regularly.   Some starling and also some parrots.    The nights were starting to get warmer, although last night went down to 3 degrees, which is a bit chilly for the wee ones.

Have you found the website in Melbourne yet?  it’s called http://www.367collinsfalcons.com.au/ and features a pair of peregrines nesting right in the heart of the city.  Their chicks are a bit advanced on ours.    I’ll be looking into what type of research they are doing and seeing if there are opportunities for collaboration.

Source: http://www.gumtreecs.com.au/wordpress/11-days-old-plus-news-from-melbourne/

You can find a video and another cute pic in the link above.

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On October 12 - Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) - at approximately 0730 hrs the temperature was 10.3°C - with a humidity of 99%. It was a rather foggy morning (looking out from the nest box). Diamond was feeding her chicks at the time, and when she finished I suddenly noticed that the chicks no longer looked like fluffy slippers! How could they change so fast? They’re huge now!

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Earlier in the morning, on Oct.10 at 0921 hrs in Orange, NSW, Diamond was busy feeding her chicks (though I just caught the end of the feed). Unfortunately, this family was being bothered again by those large flies - or whatever they are! Perhaps Cilla will be able to identify them (as she is familiar with the area), and hopefully she’ll let us know. Diamond also spent some time picking at stones (and probably bugs) while she wandered around the nest. Both chicks were asleep at the time, and the temperature was a comfortable 16.4°C. Later, at 1003 hrs, Diamond was back with her chicks, but the cams went down soon after. It is currently 1920 hrs and they are settling in for the night.

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Xavier brought breakfast at 0613 hrs but quickly left with it -  I think he wanted Diamond to follow him? Yes, I guess he did, as Diamond was feeding the chicks at 0638 hrs. I didn’t see her come in, but the food disappeared fast - so she probably returned with the right sized piece. Nice teamwork!

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In Canada, today is Thanksgiving Day. This wonderful peregrine family in Australia still has so much to be thankful for, and so do we!

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Today is Monday, October 9 in Orange. There have been periods of fog for the past couple of days (very foggy yesterday at 1425 hrs), and today the forecast shows that a thunderstorm is possible. This morning, Diamond fed her healthy looking chicks at 0722 hrs, and the temperature at that time was 13.5°C, with an expected high of 22°C. I checked the cam again at 0742 hrs and the view was frozen with Diamond and her chicks resting comfortably. The egg is no longer with them as Diamond had removed it from the nest yesterday morning, which has now been confirmed by Cilla.

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Update - Vale egg # 3

Published 9 October, 2017 | By Cilla Kinross

I’m just back from Sydney and will take several days to catch up, but I can confirm that on 8th October at 0739 h,  Diamond picked up egg, took it the ledge, possibly opened the shell a bit more, then took it as if to feed to the chicks; thought better of it (and the chicks did not show much interest), spent a bit of time at the ledge (perhaps eating, but her back was turned), then took off with it.

I have made videos, but it doesn’t matter how short I make them, I’m informed that they are too large.   I’ll  get Scott to make a youtube when he returns.





Source: http://www.gumtreecs.com.au/wordpress/vale-egg-3/

[The Peregrine Chick]

I watched the Clumsy Xav video in the October 6 update by Cilla, and I saw Xavier stumble over the poor chicks! But I still think he’s doing a great job. He probably just became a little too excited with his opportunity to feed the chicks - and felt that he needed to hurry it up - before Diamond returned!

I wouldn't worry about "clumsy" Xav - Princess and Joli both stomped all over their chicks this year while I was watching and no body took any harm.  Keep in mind that the chicks are very small and in a hollow and the adults are big but light and it can't be easy to crouch over your chicks for hours at a time.  So it may be Xav's first year and he's just getting the hang of things but even the pros do it even after all their years of practice!!

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I watched the Clumsy Xav video in the October 6 update by Cilla, and I saw Xavier stumble over the poor chicks! But I still think he’s doing a great job. He probably just became a little too excited with his opportunity to feed the chicks - and felt that he needed to hurry it up - before Diamond returned!

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Poor little unhatched chick.

Cilla has previously mentioned the very detailed records she keeps on this nest site; however, I don't recall any mention of whether or not she managed to detect peeps from the unhatched chick. I’m thinking about those times when Diamond appeared very excited while she closely watched her remaining egg - as though she was listening to it. I assume Cilla didn’t hear anything, but if she or anyone else did hear peeps from that chick, I’m wondering when they were heard and when they trailed off? I’m not really expecting an answer, and we’ll likely never know exactly what prevented that chick from hatching, but having sound just might have helped to tell us a little bit more about the situation as it progressed.

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Well, the season isn’t over yet, so perhaps someone will provide us with a schedule of expected streaming times.