ME / BRI - 2009-16

[carly]

The biologist/project leader posted something interesting today with regards to the failed eggs here from the past 2 years.  They did indeed have the eggs tested - $1,000 an egg to test!!- and they were found to be high in contaminants!  No comment as to whether or not this is the same pair from the past 2 years was included with the post.

And I learned something from my nest site today that relates to the events of the past few days here.  When the intruder alert happened today at the site, not only did dad put the chicks behind him but suddenly he decided to move the egg closer to himself.  I found that interesting because the egg has been kicked around, slept on, pecked at and basically ignored and suddenly an intruder comes in and he's protecting the egg. 

Would I be correct to assume TPC - that in the event of a possible predator the egg is regarded as 'ours' and must not fall into enemy hands?  Maybe that's what the parent at this site was doing, trying to gather the eggs to protect them from predatation?

[bccs]

Crop getting bigger, oops, just ate a feather, ah, a big poop and under the adult I go, well how about a tuck-up beside, too big to anything else. Okay if I lie down I can just get my head under the breast. Ahhhh splayed and my head is safe

[allikat]

Gotta love those poop shots 

[bccs]

Feeding time!!!!!

[allikat]

He/she is so cute stretching out his/her wings...flapping away and wandering.  Okay now Sumo..see the edge of that box...that is your boundary for now until you can flap in and out! 

[bccs]

Sumo is wide awake, alone in the nest box and starting to flap his wing like a grown-up peregrine He/She is also getting around and starting to pick up stuff from the floor of the box. Looking for food or pulling a Trey?

[allikat]

I can't wait for Sumo to get banded so they can take away those eggs...Mom still wants to brood Sumo, but when he/she rejects, mom goes directly to the eggs and gathers them and starts to incubate. 

[bccs]

This just keeps getting better, now Parent has one egg under it and in the mean time Sumo is biting parents tailfeathers.

[bccs]

Now the parent is doing a Trey nest clean/adjustment and has one of the unhatched egges under its' wing.Sumo is giving it the evil eye.

[bccs]

Don't know if anyone is watching right now, but parent and chick are exchanging words. Parent wants chick to get under parent and chick is flatly refusing. Pretty funny, but we all know what happened a day or two ago.
But the chick is stronger and not taking any guff.
Kind of like the first time a teenager faces down a parent.

[carly]

8:55 am and breakfast time for little Sumo 

[bccs]

Adult and chick are both having a wonderful snooze.

[The Peregrine Chick]

One of the risks you run with a webcam is that there will always be people who think they know what should be done and they are rarely hesitant to let other people know.  They may in fact have the right idea but they rarely try to ask what is happening directly (i.e., not via the Forum) but rather post to the world.  I'm afraid, when I'm puzzling out a problem, I don't ask the Forum for suggestions, I ask my colleagues, frequently with a possible scenario already thought out because while their advice is invaluable, they aren't on-site and they don't know the history of the birds/site/weather/etc.

Frequently the webcam's value as a monitoring tool for a biologist is greater than the expected complications of having a live webcam.  Sometimes the complications are greater than expected (June 6th as an example), but hopefully that isn't often.

[allikat]

I saw that too Carly...I just chuckled and spoke to the screen.  Dad was saying"  Sorry kid, love ya and all but you're just too big so go ask your mother 

[carly]

Oh poor little sumo, think that was dad.  He wanted to tuck under him and dad looked at him like..dude you're too big and he kept trying to move away and flew off...so forlorn but in comes mom and she's happy to have sumo cuddle next to her