Radisson in San Antonio

[The Peregrine Chick]

Winter 2019/20

No reports of Radisson in San Antonio this winter, doesn't mean she wasn't there or nearby, just that we didn't get a report of her there.

[Alison]

Radisson, looking beautiful

Jerry Walls: Migration of the peregrine falcon

January 15 2019



Radisson, a 12 year old female peregrine falcon, prepares to leave her perch on the circular light tower atop the Drury Plaza Hotel to make a dive on a nearby pigeon on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 in San Antonio.

Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer, Staff Photographer

https://www.yourconroenews.com/neighborhood/moco/opinion/article/Jerry-Walls-Migration-of-the-peregrine-falcon-13535119.php

[The Peregrine Chick]

Guess who ...

Peregrine falcon from Canada returns to winter in San Antonio
By Vincent T. Davis  |  San Antonio Express News  |  28 Nov 2018

She’s baaack!

Radisson, one of two peregrine falcons who made San Antonio their home last winter — thrilling downtown workers and tourists alike — has been spotted back in the Alamo City in recent weeks.

Attorney John Economidy had just stepped out of the Bexar County Justice Center on Nov. 9 when he heard a sharp cak-cak-cak cutting through the afternoon traffic downtown.  He stopped and scanned the gray sky until he saw the source: a familiar peregrine falcon.

The raptor circled over the River Walk and landed on the sunburst logo of the old Frost National Bank building. A minute later, the falcon was airborne again, touching down on the circular spiral tower atop the 24th floor of the Drury Plaza Hotel.  A photograph, captured with a long lens this week, revealed the bird’s identity through its leg band.

Radisson, a female falcon from Winnipeg, Canada, and Triumph, a male falcon from Minneapolis, Minn., created quite the buzz when they made the tower their roosting place for a couple of months earlier this year.  Downtown workers and bird enthusiasts were thrilled to see the birds fly between buildings and swoop down on their prey.

“They have lot of prey here with the grackles and pigeons,” Economidy said.

There’s no sign of Triumph — yet. Bird watchers in Minneapolis say he appears to have left his home base.

“No one has seen him for the last two weeks,” said Jackie Fallon, vice president of field operations for the Midwest Peregrine Society. She banded Triumph as a fledgling. “I really don’t know with 100 percent authority (but ) my best guess is he’s gone. I’m hopeful he has a safe journey south. It’s always great for us to know where the birds are migrating to.”

January sightings

Economidy and raptor followers first saw the pair in January after Lance Aldridge, a court coordinator with the 175th District Court, alerted them to the birds’ presence.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, bird community and falcon release programs identified the falcons by bands that recovery programs have placed on their legs. Triumph reached his home in Minneapolis in mid-March.

Tracy Maconachie, with the Manitoba Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project, said Radisson arrived at her home in Edmonton around April 14 in time for the breeding season.

“This one’s back for the second year and that’s really exciting,” Aldridge said Wednesday. “Everyone is excited the falcon is back.”  The court coordinator said most of the time his co-workers don’t believe his descriptions of the falcons swooping and diving after prey. Then he passes them his binoculars and they’re amazed that they’re seeing a wild bird downtown.  “It’s a good distraction from the other sad things that might be going on at the courthouse at the time,” he said. “It’s been kind of neat. Everyone is excited that they came back to the same spot.”

Economidy said the Corpus Christi HawkWatch set a Texas record this year, with 393 peregrine falcons counted at the migration site from Aug. 1 through Nov. 5. The Florida Keys hawk watch holds the U.S. record at 4,559 spotted during the 2015 fall migration season.

For the past several weeks, Economidy and fellow bird enthusiasts have searched the sky for a sign of the birds. Some bird enthusiasts had thought the falcons might be bothered by a construction crane installed near the hotel and bypass San Antonio.  But it appears that isn’t an overriding concern. Radisson was back soaring between office buildings as she was earlier this year.

While Triumph and Radisson spent their time together here last winter, they aren’t mates.

Back home at the University of Alberta, 12-year-old Radisson joined her lifetime mate, Chase. The video blog recorded her return on April 14.  The pair hatched four chicks this year, two males and two females. The smallest one was removed and placed in an incubator after it appeared the parents were ignoring it in favor of the strongest fledglings.

From birth, the birds are monitored closely via remote camera. Both the male and female take care of the birds, feeding them and keeping them warm. All of the chicks, including the little one, lived to take first flights. Unfortunately, one of the girls crashed into a building and died.

Maconachie said the deadly crash isn’t an uncommon fledgling accident. She said five to seven of every 10 chicks will die in the first 12 months.

“We try to spend a lot of time getting them through the first 10 days,” she said. “After 60 days, they’re adventuring more and they’re more independent. When they leave they have a whole continent to explore. “It’s a little like letting your kids go to the university,” she added. “You hope they come back to visit and they’ll stay safe.”

A new dad

For Triumph, home is an office tower in Minneapolis. He was born at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., but chose Minneapolis as his home base.  According to the Mayo Clinic Peregrine Falcon project, Triumph and his mate of two years, Genie, became the parents of three chicks in June.  By September, all three chicks were self-reliant and on their own.

source: www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Peregrine-falcon-from-Canada-returns-to-winter-in-13429813.php?cmpid=gsa-mysa-result#photo-15122122

[The Peregrine Chick]

Follow-up story in the San Antonio Express News

Wintering falcons about to become parents again after their winter stay in San Antonio
By Vincent T. Davis, Staff Writer / Updated 7:22 pm, Saturday, May 5, 2018

A pair of peregrine falcons who wintered atop downtown San Antonio high rises have winged their way safely to their respective homes and are nesting once again with their lifelong mates.

Radisson, from the Canadian province of Alberta, and Triumph, a U.S. bird from Minnesota, have been spotted by representatives of their respective falcon recovery projects, who report both birds are doing well.

In early January, bird enthusiast Lance Aldridge reported seeing the duo diving for prey from the 24-story Drury Plaza Hotel in downtown San Antonio. For a few weeks, the names and homes of the falcons was a mystery for Aldridge, fellow bird watchers and downtown dwellers, who scanned the hotel’s circular spiral tower for a glimpse of the high-flying raptors.

In February, a network of birders, falcon release programs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service solved the identities of the birds of prey by means of the codes on colored metal bands around their legs.

Jacqueline Fallon of the Midwest Peregrine Society said that Triumph reached his home in Minneapolis in mid-March. She was glad the 4-year-old male falcon had reached San Antonio after worrying if he’d survive his annual migratory trip. Birds making their way home often encounter hailstorms, predatory attacks and not-always-positive encounters with humans.



“I always worry about the birds during migration,” she said. “They can get killed by other birds, hit by cars.”

Migration is essential to a falcon’s health, Fallon said, and it helps when the birds are welcome at their winter site as they were in San Antonio.

“The wintering locations are important,” Fallon said. “That’s as crucial as having a nest box in Minneapolis.”

Now, with Triumph back at the Multifoods Tower with his mate Geanie, there are reports that the pair have four eggs that are expected to start hatching some time after Monday. She said after banding Triumph, his parents, and soon Triumph’s offspring, being a part of the monitoring process is the closest thing to being a grandparent.

Fallon said Triumph and Geanie have been together for three years.

Tracy Maconachie, with the Manitoba Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project , said Radisson arrived at her home in Edmonton around April 14 in time for the breeding season.

“She got back a bit later,” Maconachie wrote in an email, “as it seems most of our peregrines across the Canadian prairies.”

Maconachie said Radisson is now settled in her nest box, with her mate, Chase, at the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2006, the 12-year-old female falcon hatched at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Winnipeg, earning her name.

While Radisson and Triumph stayed together in San Antonio, they’re not mates. But there is a connection.

“Radisson's paternal great-grandmother was Maud, the lone survivor of the first wild nest in the US Midwest at the Multifoods Tower back in 1987,” Maconachie said. “So while we haven't yet found out if Triumph is related to Radisson (and the rest of Manitoba's peregrines) they share some interesting geography — San Antonio and Minneapolis!”

For more information about the project, go to www.species-at-risk.mb.ca/peregrines



source: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Wintering-falcons-about-to-become-parents-again-12891162.php#item-85307-tbla-22

[Alison]

I have multi food up so I can try and see but no luck
thanks for info

Bev, I had raised this question elsewhere, and it has now been confirmed by Jackie Fallon that Triumph and Genie have both returned to Multifoods. I posted that info on the Multifoods thread here last night.

They are incubating four eggs.

[bev.]

I have multi food up so I can try and see but no luck
thanks for info

[Alison]

triumphs band was never given. they have 4 eggs right now at multifood. so he has returned but we have no birds in edmonton yet. maybe otday

Triumph is banded black/red 58/P. Born at the Mayo Clinic in 2013, he is the son of Bill from the Black Dog nest site in Minnesota. His mate, Genie, is banded black/red 22/X. She was born in 2012 at the Mayo Building at the University of Minnesota.

He is very probably the one who killed the former tiercel, Younger, in a territorial battle in 2016. Younger was an exceptional tiercel, raising seven or eight chicks each year for several years with two females. Before moving to Multifoods after the loss of Younger, Genie was Younger's other mate at his second nest across the street.

I don't know for sure if Triumph is the male who has returned to Multifoods. Cam resolution is too low to be able to read bands there.

Bev, I hope all your birds return very soon, especially Radisson.

[bev.]

triumphs band was never given. they have 4 eggs right now at multifood. so he has returned but we have no birds in edmonton yet. maybe otday

[bev.]

this is so cool TRacy. I watch multi food and mayo clinic . so I am really going to  look this year.

[The Peregrine Chick]

It was Trey, wasn't it, who was the father of Radisson?

Yes, Radisson is offspring of Trey and Princess.

[bcbird]

It was Trey, wasn't it, who was the father of Radisson?

[The Peregrine Chick]

so cool,I met with gord and gave him the information. he is wondering if you have Radissons fathers history

I'm a band geek so yes, I have Radisson's history right back to the original pairs in the breeding programs north and south of the border! 

[bev.]

so cool,I met with gord and gave him the information. he is wondering if you have Radissons fathers history

[The Peregrine Chick]

https://twitter.com/ExpressNews/status/966864303889494017

[soaring west]

It is great news on Radisson. I can't wait for her return to the U of A. I miss my mornings with her and Chase.