U of Alberta - 2008 / Damon & Radisson

[carly]

8:05 am and just checking in on Cassie - yay I got to sleep in =p!  She is posing for the camera and wow she is darker this morning, she actually looks slimmer this morning..lol...lots of wing stretching.  She was finishing off something a few minutes ago and looks quite contented.

Wow again!  Big wing flap session - all I could see was a blur!!  She's going to start getting so active now - I don't want to miss anything!

[bev.]

I have corresponded with Mark Nash quite a bit in the past but this year I have only talked to him a few times. busy year for the both of us.  He does a lot of good work. I hope you get to go also. when I went to the raptor centre in Duncan it was awesome to see all the raptors.  I will post pictures soon. Delta is keeping me hopping also.

the problem at this nest is that they are feeding her too good. Pictures tomorrow as I am tired. I wrote to Lisa so see what reply I get.

Good night all.

[carly]

ACK!  She's disappeared AGAIN!  Where the heck is the maid??

I think she's on to us watching her and that's her way of hiding from us 

[carly]

I might even see the ones that went to Manitoba.

oh, oh..you lucky girl!  Please let us know how they're doing!  When I was doing fledge watch here in June, one of the volunteers asked if I would be interested in helping out at the Sportsman show this Fall if they need help - apparently CPF does a booth there and brings all the birds (Eagle, Peregrines, FoxTail, Barn Owl, etc..) so I said oh yes I'd love to!  I hope they will need me cause I'd love to see the birds close up - it would be a learning experience.  I have seen a picture of Mark Nash with the eagle and it's half the size of him!!  Which means it would be almost as big as me..lol...hope he/she doesn't decide I look like lunch =p

[Liz]

And my reply:

Hello Lisa,
Thank you for answering my question about the peregrine chick. 
I got the news of the banding from Bev who was with the biologists during the banding of the chick, and the attempted trapping for transmitter attachment of the adult female.
The webcam on this nestbox has a very large following thanks to publicity through the Canadian Peregrine Foundation.  In particular, the bunch of us from the Manitoba Peregrine Falcon Project Forum are avidly following the progress of the chick, as the mother is the offspring of the current resident pair at the Winnipeg Radisson.  We call her Radisson and have named the chick Cassie (Cassandra).

Just in case they think no one is out there!

bcbird, thanks so much for your response to her and telling her we're all out here, caring!  It's no doubt great for them to know there is a "tower" of Phanatics out there watching and appreciating what they're doing.  And really glad you told her the chicklet's name!   

[Liz]

ACK!  She's disappeared AGAIN!  Where the heck is the maid??

[Liz]

..she'll have boy peregrines fighting over her 

LOL!  Good one.  She is SO beautiful.  And really, can you imagine if there were three or four in there?  No flippin' room!  They would really have to consider an addition to that house, too!  (reference to the Flycatchers  )

[bev.]

I forgot to ask the weight Carly but I am going out to the biologists tomorrow to see all her peregrines. I might even see the ones that went to Manitoba. I f Helen has the information on  her I will ask her.

She is one feisty gal.
the leftovers you see on the outside are the prey the male brought to the fe
male. the male is used to hunting for 4 or 5 so this one will never starve.
When I saw it come in I thought , now where will this one go.  she is taking out prey but unfortunately she is not taking out the feathers.Cassie will have a feather mattress to sleep on.

[carly]

Beautiful shots Alison, thanks so much for posting them!!  I like the name Cassandra too, I just call her Cassie for short cause I"m too lazy to type it all out sometimes..hehe    She's beautiful now, I can just imagine how stunning she will look when her browns come in more..she'll have boy peregrines fighting over her 

[Alison]

This is one messy nest! Even allowing for perspective in the third pic, this chick is big! She does seem to be doing better at feeding herself. I like the name Cassandra that was suggested for her - I think it suits her.

[carly]

Backhoe more like    Hard to believe Radisson is Trey's daughter!!   

Lol...awww...maybe that gene only passes down through the male line   


I just got home and opened up cam2 and saw something hanging over the edge and I thought 'oh my god she's standing outside on the ledge' until I switched to cam 3 and realized that was dinner..lol!

And thanks Bev for explaining about Monday, I did notice she looked up alot that day and wondered if she heard something.  Also you never mentioned how much Cassie weighed when they did the banding, assuming they weighed her??  I'd guess she's around 950 kg, yes?  One of our girls here was 950+ and I thought she'd have a hard time fledging but she took to the skies like a duck to water - no troubles at all.  I see her hunting once in awhile in the early mornings here and honestly if not for her brown color, I'd swear she was her mom.

[JL]

Mom just came by with a huge prey, fed baby and left half the carcass hanging out of the nestbox...I guess there's no more room in there.    I see chickie exercising her wings.  She is getting lots of dark feathers in, shouldn't be too long before she takes off. 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Actually now is when the chicks have the coordination involved to start feeding themselves, before now it has been a case of "pat head, rub tummy".  Funny to watch but not very nourishing. 

The adults won't feed anymore, or at least not often.  School has begun.  Now they will drop if off intact and she will have to figure out how to get into it.  Know just how she feels, took me a bit of time to figure out how to dissect a quail with the least amount of gore. 

Unfortunately, you don't get to see all the neat things the adults teach the chicks on a webcam, most of it happens after they have left the nest.  Things like flying upside down to catch prey - that is something pairs do to/with each other during courting!  And remember the story of the maritime peregine - Madaleine - she loved to fly upside down ...

[JL]

Glad to see she's learning to self-feed.  I guess if food is left there, she's hungry and Mom's somewhere hiding from the biologists,  she'll eventually figure it out.     

[bev.]

Just to let you know.. they did try for several hours to trap Raddisson again to put a transmitter on but no Cigar. she is too unsure of things she does not know. the chick was not taken out this time . they went to another level of the roof and tired various tactics. they will probably not try  again.

 if you watched for a great time on Monday you will have noticed the chick looking up a lot. I am assuming the female was vocal and not having anything to do with the trapping.

Here are a few shots of our girl trying to self feed . she is getting better/ They do not expect her to fledge until between 45 and 50 days.  oops , i forgot to do thumbnails .. sorry.  her dark head feathers and some on body are coming in