About the camera - the lens has a bit of a fish-eye on it so we can see the whole box.
Have no worries, the little darlings won't be there long, soon they will be up on the "table" and then they will be running around on the rooftop (an added bonus of the roof-box, more room to exercise before fledging) and hanging out on the roof of the roof-box before long. When you see Dennis' photos, you will see that the box is not much wider/deeper than the wall-box, the walls and roof make it look so much larger. Its built that way to keep the chicks contained before they are old enough to go a-wandering. The "table" is so the adults feel comfortable flying right to the box and can sit on the box edge (inside or out) without hitting their heads or their tailfeathers. For the chicks, the "table" keeps them safe when young and provides a comfy spot under cover as they get older - like the building ledge around the 2010 West Winnipeg box - the chicks spent their last couple of weeks at the box napping/sleeping on that ledge.
We are still going to replace the wall box for next season because it is safer and more secure for the peregrines. The McKenzie Seeds Building is under renovation so when it is done, folks will have to get out on the roof for the usual kind of roof work and with the box on the wall it makes it easier for workers and the peregrines by giving them a bit of space from one another. The Radisson box has a wall between the outside and the inside and that buffer space helps the bird tolerate the daily activity on the rooftop. Even when one tries to be quiet when working on the roof, mostly the birds know you are there, so a buffer is a good thing.
Now because there are renovations going on we thought we might hedge our bets with another nestbox on the roof in case we need one, and we had one available that was designed to be taken apart and reassembled quickly on site. If work needs to be done on the wall, we have a box on the roof. And vice versa now. It also let us see how the adults would react if we had to move the chicks from one to another and it will let us see how the birds will handle fledging from the rooftop and not from the wall-box without being under the gun. If the parents hadn't come to their chicks, we would have had been able to move them back up. Now we know that when/if we have to because of the renovations, we can relocate the chicks to another box and the adults will move with them. We've never had to do it before, so it was the perfect opportunity - another box was available, the site is safe and secure this year, Hurricane and Brooklyn are experienced and protective parents, we have cameras to monitor the situation and the wall-box is still available if we have problems.
Because we weren't sure we were going to install the box until the day before, we didn't mention it. And why at the banding - saves us from having to disturb the birds again. The box took us about 10 minutes to install, the banding from retrieval to return took 35 minutes. We installed the box first and only Brooklyn was protesting overhead, Hurricane stayed on the tower. When we retrieved the chicks, Hurricane stayed on the tower and as we were just about to go inside, Brooklyn parked himself on the east side light (its above the window-cam and above the roof door) and they settled down to wait us out. While we were inside they were mostly quiet, which is pretty usual and why we take the chicks indoors to band them. When we opened the door onto the roof to return the chicks, both Hurricane and Brooklyn were on the wing and ready to demand their chicks back. Think they were a little disappointed that they weren't going to get another chance to scare Dan on the ladder! Chicks went into the roof-box and the adults circled until we left a couple of minutes later. By the time we got to the ground, they were taking out their extra adrenaline on the neighbourhood pigeons. You never really understand how fast pigeons can fly until you watch them being harassed by peregrines
When we returned to our vehicles after lunch, the pair were quiet and the chicks had settled into the back corner to nap away their first afternoon in their new digs.
Hope this helps ...
