We had a bird in south Winnipeg for a chunk of time in May/June/July. We think she was a 2009 wild-hatch female from Grand Forks by the name of Alice. "Alice" was not particularly cooperative last year, she only ever gave us hints at her leg band despite all our best efforts. One of Alice's distinguishing features is that she is a large peregrine falcon - even for a female.
We had reports of a bird in the exact location she spent time last year about 7-10 days ago. Its not a spot that has been used by birds in the past, not even when we had a pair in the south Winnipeg territory. Shortly after that, we started getting a few reports of a bird (singular) hanging out further down Portage Avenue. We caught sight of the bird and it turned out to be Beau, not surprising given that both Beau and Jules tend to wander west and south during their courtship period.
When we got reports again late last week, we wondered if Beau was still wandering that far when we knew that Jules wasn't. So off we went on Saturday in the rain and the wind. Some would say not very good weather for bird watching and they would be right - hard to see when your field glasses or lens is covered in raindrops and the light is so poor you can't distinguish detail at a distance. It is however better weather if you are hunting down something in particular - our birds mostly don't like to fly in the rain, so they find a spot and park themselves. And that is what we were looking for.
We checked on the WW birds and they were wet and miserable and trying to stay out of the driving rain. Next we found the "bird" and our first thought was "wow, that bird is big". Sound familiar? The light was too poor to get a look at anything and bird was not going to help us in the least. We suspect that this bird is "Alice" and she is alone (we scoured the area). We suspect that since the Radisson birds are on eggs and the WW birds have started to settle in one area, and she doesn't have a mate, that she feels more comfortable hanging out at the fringes of the WW territory. Bit like Cowboy and Kate in fact. "Alice" is quiet and has chosen spots that while not hiding, don't wave a flag at the nearby, broody, resident pair.
Now that we have some days with sun on the forecast horizon we'll see what we can find out about "Alice". We will be able to rule out our suspicions very quickly by the band colour - her band colour combination is unlike all the other birds we have in Manitoba at the moment.
More news as we have it!
