U of Alberta - 2009 / Damon & Radisson

[carly]

They have been gone a bit now but have been in and out alot today..mostly out Sami.  Still refreshing for me though.

They don't seem to be incubating that lone egg at all so perhaps they're getting ready for a move? 

[sami]

Are the cams in Edmonton stuck? All I've seen over the last four hours (not that I've been looking the whole time, just intermittently) has been an empty box with one lone egg. Has Weezie left, or the picture hasn't changed 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Ditto to the happy ending part - but to get it, G&W really need to leave the nest - if they don't (and it sure looks like they won't, especially with an egg in there) - I hate to think what'll happen.   

And the more they lay (up to the point when she can't literally can't anymore this year) the less likely they are to hatch

[eagle63_1999]

I am hoping that G&W get the hint and leave but nature will be what it will be is what I meant.

[ballywing]

Ditto to the happy ending part - but to get it, G&W really need to leave the nest - if they don't (and it sure looks like they won't, especially with an egg in there) - I hate to think what'll happen. 

[allikat]

They are persistant, that's for sure.  But what will be will be.

I just wish they would get the hint and find another nest as TPC wrote. 
No more air strikes on George   
and Weezie can rest easy 
I want a happy ending for all 4 birds!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Oh, and the Cornell Ornithology Lab has a great new look for their "All about Birds" website - check it out!!

The Common Raven

[eagle63_1999]

They are persistant, that's for sure.  But what will be will be.

[The Peregrine Chick]

To through another thought among the pigeons ... incubation for ravens is 20-25 days.  First egg was laid on April 12 - so had the original nest stayed in place the peregrines would be desperate to nest (nesting approx 3-4 weeks after returning) right about the time that the eggs were due to hatch.  So George & Weezie would be desperate to keep their chicks (hatched and/or pending) and the peregrines would be just as desperate to get in the box.  If the peregrines won, George and/or Weezie could have been badly injured/killed and their chicks dead/eggs discarded before hatching.  If the peregrines were injured or killed, a loss of a nest for this year and a breeding pair (with new genes from our project) lost to the Alberta population and the Canadian population. 

George & Weezie will make great parents based on their stubborness (perhaps not so good in terms of survival instinct but that's supposition at this point), but for the sake of all the birds involved, I really do wish they would take the hint.

[carly]

Saw both Weezie and George about a half hour ago.

[bcbird]

The box is empty except for an egg!

[carly]

They were not in the box this morning for over an hour either Eli and I thought the same thing then but then they showed up together and that's when he stayed for an hour in the box with her. 


Oh.. Raven incoming!!  There we go, she's back in the box now.

[Elaine L]

The female raven has not been in the nest for the last half-hour.  Before, she was looking out and looked very agitated.  No sign of the male raven.  I suspect that an attack has taken place.  All I can do now is hope that neither the ravens or the falcons are injured, or worse, dead.  It is very worrisome not to know what has happened, and not to be able to find out right away.

[ballywing]

Very well said Carly - lots of good points all around. Nobody is being uncaring here, including the 'nest wreckers' -  -just trying to make a bad situation turn out as well as possible.

[carly]

Thanks for the report Eli and great posts by everyone, obviously everyone cares deeply for all the species involved.  

Given that both Radisson and Dad are now attacking together, I expect they are getting quite anxious to start their own family.  That may explain why George was in the nestbox so long this morning standing guard - usually he just escorts weezie back and goes back to his post but he was there for a good hour looking up and down very early this morning.

I don't believe the biologists intended any harm to the ravens at all either, they are probably like the rest of us hoping to avoid a tragedy.  This nest site is not only a home for 2 falcons, it is also used as a refuge for rescued eyases from other nest sites all over the province so I can understand it's significance and their anxiety in seeing the falcons return home.  We are looking at it from an emotional point of view and they are being scientific..both sides do have one thing in common though and that is the survival of all birds involved