NSW - Charles Sturt University - 2016 / Bula & Diamond

[Alison]

When I checked the site a little while ago, I found one of the juvies in the nest, with a full crop. Poor Galah.

As I am posting this, the juvie is still in the nest.

 

 

Photobucket has been down pretty much all month so far, so posting pics is not easy right now. The site I am using in the meantime will not allow me to post two pics side by side.

[Alison]

All three chicks have now fledged. The first to fledge was one of the girls, Rubi. Second was the little male, Vim. And the last to go was the other girl, Mell. Immediately thereafter, the site was taken down for maintenance.

It has been difficult to follow the cams this year, since the site is way overloaded with traffic and the cams very rarely load. When they do, they are either already frozen or run for about 2 - 4 seconds before freezing again.

The cams are now back online.

Here is Diamond this morning; she had spent the night at the nest.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Just a note, I have not included all the photos in Cilla Kinross' posts
If you want to check them out, here's the link - http://www.falconcamproject.org/

[The Peregrine Chick]

October 16 Update

Almost two weeks old

 

Chicks are starting to sprout up and venture out, even approaching their step-dad in a vain quest for food!

Preys have been quite regular; well-sized; difficult to identify, but have included starlings, pigeons and parrots, including a galah, which took nearly half an hour to finish off!  It took me ages to work out one bird, which I finally nailed as an eastern rosella after spying a tiny glimpse of a green, then yellowish feather, which narrows it down.

Most parents stash the prey when they have an abundance, but I’ve noticed that Diamond doesn’t usually do this….probably with good reason due to our Xavier’s tendency to pinch food.  And it’s occurred to me that he perhaps is ‘handing’ over most of his prey and is consequently quite hungry.  It’s quite a job to fledge three chicks, especially under these difficult circumstances, so I think they are doing pretty well.  And I’ve also noticed that Xavier is getting better at his duties: although he hasn’t had much interaction with the chicks yet, his guarding duties have been much more extended.

Diamond is starting to interact more with the chicks, apart from just keeping them warm and feeding them.   She’s also spending most of the night either standing close to the chicks on even on the ledge, and much less time actually covering them.

I have to go to Sydney tomorrow, with no access to the software, so I’ll sign off for a couple of days.  Scott should be back today from NZ, so I’ll leave you in his tender care.   Happy watching.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 15th

Who is this thief

I’ve just got in from our tree-planting and notice a bird pinching a small lump of prey from a very relaxed Diamond, who was feeding her chicks, but this didn’t look like Xavier, or even like a male, unless my eyes are starting to play up, as he/she seems to be the same size.

This was actually on Thursday 13th at 1632 ish.    Now Xavier is taller than Bula, I admit, but this does seem to be a big bird.  When it was sitting on the ledge, I was sure it was a female!    Pity the light inside the box is so bad.   But I can’t believe she would let a strange bird near her chicks, so I must be wrong. And seems typical of X.

Did anyone else notice anything odd?

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 13th

Xavier goes fishing and has abrupt exit

Xavier has brought in a water bird chick;  not sure of the species – possibly a young coot or duckling – suggestions welcome; I’l keep searching as it is a very interesting catch – obviously way too young to be flying, but presumably it wasn’t caught actually on the water, so perhaps on or near nest or nearby land.

As you are much quicker than me, you’ve probably already you-tubed this, but never mind.  I’ll have a look at your comments later.

I’m a little bit worried about the length of time the nest is being left empty.  I’m sure that is quite unusual.  I can only assume that Xavier is not really pulling his weight yet and Diamond is still doing quite a bit of the hunting.   I hope that he gets his act together before the birds get much bigger (and hungrier).

I’m getting behind again and won’t be able to update tomorrow or Saturday, but will try and catch up on Sunday.   Goodnight!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 12th

Relationship consummated ?

I couldn’t see exactly because of the camera angle, but Xavier has certainly tried to mate with Diamond (and the ‘kicking episode’ was I think another aborted attempt) – in fact while she was covering the eyases.    This is unusual behaviour for our birds;  while the sulphur-crested cockatoos carry on as if the nest-box was a brothel, the falcons have always cemented their relationships outside (not in any demure way, I should add, as it often happens right on top of the water tower!).

Although Xavier hasn’t brought much food into the box and when he does, he is a bit shy of handing it over, I think he is hunting and handing prey over outside and probably also using a cache as Diamond often comes back with prey dressed to eat in a time period that is not possible for her to have made the kill herself.   In fact I’ve seen her chase after X when he does a fly-past (probably with prey, but I couldn’t see).

I’m not concerned about the naughtiness of Xavier in not handing over the prey.   That was common with other males, at least to start with and I think he is probably a first-time “father”.  I don’t know if behaviour is different from actual fathers…something I’ll look into when I get time, but I do think they have to learn how to raise chicks and Diamond appears to be happy to teach him.

Prey has been difficult to identify due to it generally being well plucked and dismembered, but there have definitely been pigeons, starlings and rosellas (I think this is probably a crimson rosella), all good sized birds and I’ve noticed that Diamond is usually careful to see that all three chicks get a feed.

And yes we probably should start thinking about names.  I was reluctant before as I wasn’t confident of any chicks surviving, but I’m feeling better about this now.   What about naming them for local eucalypt species where they roost?   dives,(pronounced: DIVE-es),  melliodora, viminalis, bridgesiana, rubida, mannifera, blakelyi (perhaps suitably abbreviated:  dive, mell, vim, bridge, roob, manni, blake).   Of course, they are pretty difficult to sex or tell apart until they are a few weeks old, but one can try!

Put a post up with your three favourites and I’ll do a quick poll!

I’m busy with preparing our site for tree-planting and propagation Thursday and Friday, and the day itself is on Saturday, but will keep an eye on things and will come in on Sunday to try and catch up.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 11th

What I actually do and week old chicks

I’m still only up to last night, so I think I should explain what I’m actually doing.   Every action 24/7 and usually 52 weeks of the year (but with some gaps) is recorded in 1/2 minute intervals and is summarised hourly.  Categories include all the behaviours that you might expect such as incubation, feeding chicks, eating, interaction etc. with male, female and (eventually) juvenile behaviour recorded in separate columns.     And this is the fifth year.   I was hoping to compare the Swift/Beau pair (3 years) with Diamond/Bula (3 years, including 2017), but of course circumstances have intervened.    I also record all the prey items and store images of these and I have a huge collection of videos and stills of the prey (and of course of much of the other behaviour).   One prey item yesterday was probably a parrot by a glimpse of royal blue.

So those of you who were wondering if I needed to be sent images, notes etc. be assured that that is not necessary, though I appreciate your kind thoughts.  When one of the cameras was not linked to the recording software, I did have a problem for a week, but that’s now fixed.  The Milestone software allows me to skip periods of inactivity (but there’s not much of that at the moment!).

I’m going a bit more slowly this year, partly because so much has been happening, but also because I’m entering the hourly summaries into a spreadsheet as I go along.  In previous years, I didn’t do this and so I now have a huge backlog to enter.   If anyone feels like helping out in this respect, let me know:).

So apologies if I can’t give you instantaneous feedback, but at the moment I’m struggling to keep up.  I can’t leave the recording of the data too long as it overwrites itself when the full.  And I’m away several days next week for meetings next week (I’m on the Executive of our state Nature Conservation Council, plus up to my ears in other conservation/landcare/music groups), so it’s not going to get any better (but at least Scott will be back).  I have a major landcare-cum-music event to organise for Saturday, so it’s a busy week and I do need to go home occasionally!

And you should be aware that the research, whilst approved by the CSU Animal Ethics committee, is virtually unfunded and both Scott and I volunteer our time, so I’d like to thank you for your patience.

But everything is going really well with our new pair and their approximately week old chicks, eyes just starting to open.

Good good luck and good night.   We have someone coming tomorrow to do some recording, which will be interesting.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 10th

Male on steep learning curve

Xavier has not been bringing much food into the nest-box, but I think he’s passing prey to Diamond and/or caching it nearby.  She came in with some prey yesterday morning that had clearly been caught either the night before or by Xavier in the dark….

So I”m a bit worried about the total extent of food coming in, I’m please with the way she has accepted the new male, and is quite happy to leave him alone with the chicks.   Here is actually approaching (briefly) the young ones.



Hopefully he will realize that he can feed them too.

This has to be brief as my time is extremely limited today and tomorrow.  I’ll catch up eventually!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 8

Let’s call him Xavier

Well I’m not sure he will be the ‘saviour’, yet, but things are looking a lot more promising and, you are right, as usual, he has brought in his first prey (not sure what this is, possibly a tree-creeper by the colouring, but  a smallish passerine anyway).

The juvenile male we saw before might well be Tardy, and, if so, I’m rather glad he was not accepted as a suitor!  If this male (Xavier) is an offspring of Swift, then there is no relationship.

Earlier Diamond also brought in some prey after a short absence (14 minutes) which makes me suspect the prey has either come from Xavier, or was possibly from a stash.  She also brought in a scrap of prey at 0943 after a very short absence of 5.5 minutes and this was clearly not her kill.  So I think he is helping from the sidelines at least.

I’ve tried uploading video, but even a three second video is too large (over 50 MB).   I’ll see if there is any way that I can reduce the resolution through changing the format.

Thanks for all your comments and pictures.   Even though they can’t see or hear us, I feel that perhaps they know we are cheering them on, somehow (daft, I know).  In respect of the ‘what’s in it for him’ – the answer is that good territories are rare, especially ones with such a good nest site, so if she accepts him, he’s set for life (less of the peregrinations!).

I have to chair a full day conservation meeting in Wellington, NSW tomorrow, so am unlikely to be in, so will talk to you on Monday afternoon.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 7th

New adult male is accepted

My, this is a very interesting journey and still all three chicks are alive and well.    Early this morning another peregrine few past.  I couldn’t be sure which one this was.   I also walked in the trees this afternoon and heard a falcon calling, but couldn’t find the bird to identify the gender.

Diamond made an excellent kill this morning – apparently, a sulphur-crested cockatoo (possibly a corella), but a large prey item.  I see this as revenge for all those parties (almost orgies) that the cockies have held in the box over the years:).   She had to leave the chicks for nearly three hours, but it is much warmer today fortunately.

At noon she backed into the box calling as if she was expecting a visitor, but he didn’t materialise.

Then after a quiet afternoon, another male came into the box.  This was an adult, but I think probably younger than Bula.  Diamond tolerated his presence (I suspect they have already met outside the box), even when he cheekily took a morsel of prey before leaving.

She even left him alone with the chicks for a short time, although he didn’t approach them.   Then there was some fairly serious courtship behaviour, so this does look really hopeful (providing he minds his manners and brings food, rather than expecting hand-outs!).   Look at the chicks ….don’t they look hopeful, too!


This is looking serious

Poor Diamond is suffering a succession of suitors that haven’t quite figured out how to make themselves really welcome as long term partners!  But isn’t it interesting how many other peregrines are around.  You would never know it.  But he’ll get the message, I think.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 6th

Juvenile male and three chicks

Yes, you are right.  The third egg hatched at about 0306 h last night, so Diamond now has three mouths to feed, which she is still doing, amazingly.

At a quarter to six this evening, she brought in some prey, already prepared.   I suspect she hunted for this last prey herself as she was away over an hour, but something odd happened at lunch time today, when Diamond chased our new male out and then came back with a scrap of prey just three and a half minutes later.  I can’t work this out as it would have taken much more time than that to hunt, kill, pluck and mostly eat this prey.   Perhaps she is so desperate that she’s taken road kill.  Or perhaps he had something in a cache and gave it to her (that’s what I’m hoping).

The other male is quite young; I think only 1 year old as he still has juvenile plumage.  (I’m toying with Xavier, not because it means anything, but because it sounds like Saviour in English, but is less pompous, but he’ll need to prove himself first!).  He doesn’t seem to realise that she wants him to bring prey to the box….


Batman or Xavier?

The reaction between Diamond and ‘himself’ has been interesting.  She has basically tolerated him unless he came into the box to start courtship behaviour, and then she became aggressive.

All three chicks were still alive at time of writing and just being fed.    And our new young chap hasn’t been seen since about half-past one.

Weather forecast is good for tomorrow and the weekend.  I have landcare/conservation commitments tomorrow morning, Saturday morning and all day Sunday, so flat chat, but will do my best to keep you up-to-date, although you seem to be managing quite well without us!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 5th

Early morning feed and possible 3rd hatch & NEW FEED

Diamond appears to be rationing her one kill from yesterday and she fed the little ones (both, as far as I could tell) before dawn this morning.  She then ate the remains and is now left with nothing.

As I write the chicks and the third egg (apparently trying to hatch) are on their own. 3rd egg starts to hatch while Diamond away hunting

STOP PRESS.  Diamond has just brought in some more prey (I think another pigeon, which is good as quite a big feed).  She had a quick feed herself and then started warming up the chicks, that are probably too cold to eat.  She is certainly trying really hard.    Hopefully the little ones will get something to eat soon as they must be very hungry (as is Diamond, no doubt).  No hope for the nestlings if Mum gets too weak to hunt, so she must eat first.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Update - October 4th

Diamond struggles on

Incubated eggs can be left uncovered even in cool weather for 2 hours, and even up to six hours in one case, with a brood being successfully reared, so it seems that the disruptions last week have not had a major impact.

Two chicks have been hatched overnight.  Both appear to be healthy, although the second seemed to lack feathers, but I think it was just a bit wet.

Diamond was obviously very distressed, dithering between the need to keep the chicks warm (it is quite cold and windy here today) and the need to fetch food.

Finally at half past one, she left for a proper hunt and was successful after an hour (probably a pigeon, very pink legs).  And the chicks have received a feed (at least one has, by the blood on the beak; not sure about the other as she had her back to the camera).

No sign of Bula or alternative male, but she more she shows herself, the more likely she will be seen by a prospective mate.   I am fairly certain this nest box is a prized site, so would be well known to visiting peregrines (as well as past offspring, of course).

Apologies for no photos.  It’s the website, not the software, I think, so I’ll see if Scott can fix it.  If not, I’ll think of another solution…FAcebook perhaps.

[Alison]

Two chicks have now hatched. Diamond is extremely stressed and keeps going to the front of the nest, looking out and returning to the chicks. No food has been brought, as far as I can tell. I think Diamond is going to need supplemental food for her chicks and herself, but have no idea whether something like quail is even an option at this site.

I do not know what is happening with Bula. I have not seen him; he may have been injured, or perhaps is dealing with an ongoing intruder threat.