Other Peregrine Projects > Australian Peregrines
NSW - Charles Sturt University - 2018 / Xavier & Diamond
burdi:
Cilla explains that Diamond is getting fussy with starling in the following update. Check out the "scorned starling" video to see an example of how quickly she refuses the starling prey!
Love is in the air
Published 3 August, 2018 | By Cilla Kinross
No pere pawn visuals today, alas, but we caught them in flagrente at the top of the tower on Saturday. Sue helped out by finding a youtube of visuals with audio, so we are pretty confident that mating has happened…and it’s probably not the first time. Expect eggs in about three weeks. Enjoy.
Video by Cilla: 20180728 mating calls (mp4 format)
Video by Cilla: 20180728 q mating calls (mkv format)
We’ve also noticed that Diamond is getting distinctly fussy about accepting starling as an ‘offering’. I know she’ll eat starlings when hungry, or with a brood to feed, but it’s interesting that she’s rejecting most of them at this stage. Of course, he’s much smaller than she is, so it’s harder for him to tackle the larger, plumper birds such as pigeons and parrots, but my guess is that he needs to try and that’s the message she’s trying to give. He did bring in a magpie-lark the other day, which I’m guess would be a lot tastier than a starling, so he’s trying!
Video by Cilla: 20180731 scorned starling nest short (avi format)
Source: http://www.gumtreecs.com.au/wordpress/love-is-in-the-air/
burdi:
Cilla added a new update!
Tidy handover of prey
Published 27 July, 2018 | By Cilla Kinross
Mr Xavier has been getting quite busy over the last week or two, bringing prey to the box. Up until recently, he has either teased Diamond with it and then flown off (still with the prey), or had a short tug of war with her over it (which she wins, being Mama Muscle). But this week, he is beginning to remember that he actually has to hand over the prey to Diamond before he gets his reward…
Here he is performing very well. You see Diamond first, leaving and returning, then Xavier (male) arriving with the prey. I can’t quite see what the prey is (I need to clean the lenses, but I’ll do that on Monday as rain expected over the weekend). About the size of a starling, and dark, but with some white feathers too, I think. I’ve attached the video in two formats, MP4 and avi.
Thanks to Sue Hines, whose eagle eyes and fidelity led me to be able to record this. The recording software is still not operational, so I’m using Movavi Screen Recorder.
Video by Cilla: 20180727 Tidy handover of prey (MP4)
Source: http://www.gumtreecs.com.au/wordpress/tidy-handover-of-prey/
burdi:
Xavier has gradually become much more willing to hand prey to Diamond, without any tugging!
I haven’t kept a close watch but seem to recall a smooth handover on July 22nd at 3:08 pm (Orange time). And I believe it was about 30 minutes later when the couple enjoyed an afternoon dance.
This morning, Diamond left the box at 6:36 am and Xavier arrived 14 seconds later, but stayed only a minute. Diamond then returned at 7:29 am, and I believe she was pleased when Xavier brought in her breakfast at 7:31 am; Xavier is treating her well! :)
And just as I was about to leave the cam a short meeting took place, but this time Xavier had been waiting at the box, and Diamond arrived at 8:34 am. I hope they have a great day!
burdi:
Lately it has been unusually cold in some areas of New South Wales, including Orange.
The following ABC News story describes how some people and animals were affected by the cold in various areas of NSW, including Orange.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-15/temperatures-plummet-as-cold-snap-hits-nsw/9995858
It’s good to see the temperatures are improving.
burdi:
The 2018 breeding season at Charles Sturt University has now begun, and Cilla is providing updates again.
Every so often (during the past five months or so) I was pleasantly surprised to spot Diamond or Xavier in their nest box; more recently, I’m finding Diamond in the box every night, and Xavier tends to arrive shortly after she leaves. They meet frequently and Xavier has even brought in prey, but so far (at least from what I’ve seen), he doesn’t wish to hand it over! I find him interesting and quite comical at times.
I’m hoping for a successful and cheerful season with the peregrines and the great folks at the FalconCam Project.
Published 4 July, 2018 | By Cilla Kinross
Well, this is just to say that I have finally had my access restored to the website today, so have been able to start a new thread. The chat on the Youtube works well, but of course there is no record, it just disappears after a few hours, so you have to be there practically all the time, which isn’t possible.
The Milestone recording software is still not working, however, I can make some videos with the screen recording device. That works well, except I can’t do it 100% of the time (that means camping at the uni!), so of course will often miss important milestones until it’s operational again. The Youtube stores images for four hours only.
Anyway, this is a good start and from next week, I’ll start my weekly updates, usually on Fridays, becoming more frequent as the breeding season progresses.
Our couple, Diamond and Xavier, are busy courting and he has even brought food into the box (just once, and he didn’t actually give it to Diamond but, cheekily, flew off with it, as is his wont! But it all augus well for a good season.
I’ve recently received a generous grant, so am hoping to start the analysis of the prey remains from the last six years. I’m no longer collecting behaviural data on a regular basis (that needs the proper recording software), but could add to the prey data this season and gather general breeding information.
Many thanks for your patience and fingers crossed I don’t get ‘barred’ again!
Cilla Kinross
Source: FalconCam Project
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