Radisson - 2010 / Ivy & Princess

[des]

Saw Princess(I assume it's Princess from other postings) on the J at 2:10 today.  What a treat to actually see her back.  Thanks for all the postings and especially for your postings recently TPC.  Looking so forward to this season.

[allikat]

I still have a feeling....

[The Peregrine Chick]

1420 hrs - Princess looks to still be on the J of the JR sign at Portage & Main, no sign of any other birds downtown and she's not fidgeting or calling ....

[Kinderchick]

Very interesting questions/observations from carly and observations/relections from TPC. Especially like the "ant analogy". Made for interesting reading... I guess we just have to wait and see if/when Trey shows up. Sure hope he is safe and sound and will arrive soon.

[The Peregrine Chick]

1250 hrs - Princess still alone on the JR sign, other bird not within the cam-zone ....
Wind is picking up downtown, shaking the webcam a fair bit but I have managed to get a few photos, will load them up in the photo gallery this afternoon!

[ballywing]

Woo Hoo, saw Princess on the 'J' too!!! - Got out my binocs and everything!  Be patient Princess, your Prince will come!! 

[The Peregrine Chick]

1140 hrs - and now a note on the birds themselves ... Princess is on the J of the JR Sign, other bird is out of my sightline if he's even around.  She's mostly been absent for the cam-zone this morning but I'm still not seeing the usual "come-hither" I usually see at this time of the year when she's "dating".

[The Peregrine Chick]

For those worried about Trey, adult survival rates after year 2 are about 80% last time I looked so though he is older, he still has a good chance of coming home - and he looked good last year so I can't say he's showing his age any.

If you check out the Alberta/Edmonton/Weber Building board, Bev is reporting that the Alberta females with transmitters haven't even started moving north yet - I believe they are in the mid-US waiting out the storms (if they are still there) but they aren't pushing yet, so Trey may not be either. 

And finally, was talking with BCBird and I did a little date check, today we are 4 days after Trey's return in 2009 (which was early-ish for him) and we still have 4 days until the date he return in 2008 (the 31st).  And we have had birds come back later than that and had perfect nests so don't panic yet folks, we aren't there yet!!

[carly]

Lol...good way to keep a perspective on things!  TPC, since you are here, can i run something else by you?  I'll go to my Etobicoke thread to ask you as it's related.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Nothing wrong with being emotional about your peregrines and your site (despite what lots of biologists say), but one needs to keep an eye on the fact that the peregrines have absolutely no awareness or sentiment about you.  Sounds wierd, but if you realize that you don't register on their awareness as anything other than say, an ant, then it can make it easier to take a step back when you have to find solutions or possible explanations without having to give up on your attachment for the individual birds and their lives.  If you are an ant, how exactly do they see the world?  In a way that we can't even comprehend.  Notice I don't say imagine, because we can imagine all sorts of things, but while we may be imagine flying, it would be the equivalent of a peregrine imagining it was a person snowshoeing.  You can imagine a human flying, but not a peregrine.  But more importantly, we can't comprehend a flying peregrine, how it does it, why it does it, where or when or what is involved, what it sees, hears, tastes or feels like.  And we can't comprehend what the peregrine experiences doing all of these things - and that's the point at which you realize that you are an ant to a peregrine, totally out of its comprehension and unlike us, it doesn't care that it can't figure us out.

Okay, thay may not be as clear as you would like but hey, comprehending the TPC may be as difficult as a flying peregrine 

[carly]

Good explanation TPC, I like running things by you not only because you know so much but because you see things much more clearly than I do.  Even though I'm always learning, I find my emotions about my own site tend to cloud my judgement alot.  I tend to miss things that are quite obvious to an impartial observer.

I'm not sure if new guy ever migrated but that makes sense, maybe she thought he had left her or he was late in coming back.  Lara and Rocky did successfully raise and fledge 2 females and 2 males last year but one of the females died in traffic at some point I believe.  Rocky is a very good tiercel, he's the same age as her and a very good provider.  Not sure how old the other male is.     

[The Peregrine Chick]

Then you have Lara, his offspring from a few years ago that was nesting successfully on a bridge with her mate.  He migrates and she goes shopping, a young female is found dead at a really good nearby site - similar to the one she was born at - yet she refuses to mate with the established male there.  She goes back to her old nest site and her mate is back so she mates with him but went back and forth between sites - mating only with her established mate.  I wonder did she expect him to follow her and challenge the male for the better site?  Or would she eventially have left him?  Three other females also competed for the site and eventually the male drove Lara off they think and has chosen another female.  And Lara is back where she should be with her mate as of last report anyway.

Females don't abandon successful nestsites the way the males can, or at least that has been my experience and from my readings.  Doesn't mean they don't try to take over new sites, but it is some combination of quality of nestsite + quality of new male vs quality of past successful nestsite + quality of current male.  Included in quality might be his age, food acquisition abilities, timing upon return or whether he overwinters.  Quality of nestsite could be purely the types of perches et al plus the type of nestbox, the orientation of the nestsite (north/south/east/west - they do have preferences), proximity to large water - 1 km vs 1.5 km - that kind of thing.  As for why she is fllitting, how successful has she been with her current mate?  Do both the males migrate or overwinter?  Those would be my first two questions given she is moving between two sites rather than having abandonned the first entirely ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

On this topic TPC, it makes me wonder why some males chose to run two nest sites as opposed to one who would abandon his mate for a new site?  Like in my case at Etobcioke- we know now from a reliable eye witness that Jack did indeed engage with another tiercel who came in and there was also another pair looking for a home as well.  Even though his original site at Sun Life is better - lots of wooded areas, a creek running behind the building with plenty of ducks and wildlife, much closer to Lake Ontario and no airport so you'd think that he'd say okay I'll stay where I am.  Or is it just because he can?  Or as in your case, is the fact that they were born there a determining factor somehow?

First, this is all supposition because I can't "see" your Etobicoke site ... the trees, not a selling point for peregrines, the airport however probably is.  Remember, high speed hunting specialists, obstacles not appreciated.  The actual nestsite also has more to do with the nest site than the territory - need a variety of different perches/spaces for a variety of activities - hunting, roosting, site defence, pair bonding, etc.  The site Jack keeps "leaving" may not have as desireable site dimensions as the site he keeps "going" for.  As for two nests, overactive protective and wonky reproductive hormones I figure - not good survival ones that is for sure!  Supporting two nests is not a healthy thing for the male or the young, just enough of Jack to go around securely.  He has to defend twice the territory, twice the incursions, feed more than twice the number of birds and he runs the risk of losing one family if one of his "wives" decides she's had enough of his catting-around on her - the sites have to be geographically close or he wouldn't be able to pull it off, and that means it i is probably too close for good female relations in any case.  The extra stresses can't be good for him either - too much energy expendided does not make for a long life for predators which in turn means leass likelihood that his genes will be successfully (his kids have kids) passed along.

[carly]

On this topic TPC, it makes me wonder why some males chose to run two nest sites as opposed to one who would abandon his mate for a new site?  Like in my case at Etobcioke- we know now from a reliable eye witness that Jack did indeed engage with another tiercel who came in and there was also another pair looking for a home as well.  Even though his original site at Sun Life is better - lots of wooded areas, a creek running behind the building with plenty of ducks and wildlife, much closer to Lake Ontario and no airport so you'd think that he'd say okay I'll stay where I am.  Or is it just because he can?  Or as in your case, is the fact that they were born there a determining factor somehow?

Then you have Lara, his offspring from a few years ago that was nesting successfully on a bridge with her mate.  He migrates and she goes shopping, a young female is found dead at a really good nearby site - similar to the one she was born at - yet she refuses to mate with the established male there.  She goes back to her old nest site and her mate is back so she mates with him but went back and forth between sites - mating only with her established mate.  I wonder did she expect him to follow her and challenge the male for the better site?  Or would she eventially have left him?  Three other females also competed for the site and eventually the male drove Lara off they think and has chosen another female.  And Lara is back where she should be with her mate as of last report anyway.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Question for TPC: Does the peregrine falcon have an excellent memory?  Is it instinct or memory?  I ask/question this because I'm wondering why Ivy didn't immediately go to his territory. Is this spot/location just too good to pass up?  

Two answers to this ... Ivy hasn't forgotten where his territory is, but he was hatched from the Radisson so he may have a preference for that location if he can get it.  The fact that he has a ready, willing and able female out in West Winnipeg and Princess is rebuffing him here would mean that if this is Ivy, he isn't hanging around downtown because he's got the hots for the female here (his Mom).  If he doesn't have a preference, and this is more likely the case, the Radisson is the primary territory in this city and if there is an opening, any resident birds will move in.  T-Rex (Trey's Dad & Ivy's Granddad) abandonned his mate of 2 or 3 years to take over the Radison territory, Trey hung around the periphery of downtown (and not nesting) for 2 years until he could take over the territory so it could just be that boys want to be at this location if they can get it!

As a bit of an aside, when T-Rex took over the territory from his Dad, it was in mid-incubation (with Madame) when his dad suddenly disappeared from the site - so an ascension to the throne if you like.  The next male on the territory was Simba, a cousin from Brandon who was unrelated to Madame.  Trey hung around on the edges of the territory not causing trouble for two years while Simba held the territory, then when Simba failed to return (a bit like Trey's not home yet) Trey moved in despite being Madame's son - makes me wonder if Madame would have rebuffed Trey had he tried to take over the territoryright after T-Rex - like Princess is doing iwth Ivy now.  Hopefully we find out who this maile is  soon and then we can watch to see what Princess does if Trey (knock on wood it doesn't happen) does not terutn this spring ()