McKenzie Seeds - 2013 / Brooklyn & Hurricane

[The Peregrine Chick]

I had a good look when I there and the legs are much smaller than the adults peregrine legs.

Not sure what kind of falcon it is or was, but to my eye it is not a juvenile peregrine.  The legs were too dainty compared to the adult.  

Peregrines have big feet - the breast is streaked rather than spotted, so my thought is juvenile Prairie Falcon or sub-adult at least ..

[RCF]

After speaking with the young lady who was there about the display, she told us that someone had been speaking to a person from the recovery project and said they were going to visit the museum.  I would only assume that it was TPC she was talking about.

Yup.  

Actually one of their board members contacted me when they acquired the BJ Hale collection and asked if there was some way they could incorporate the fact that Brooklyn and Hurricane are right across the street.  I suggested running the webcam feed and that we would be happy to provide answers to any questions their folks or others might have!

I'm hoping to be able to get the Museum when we are down for the banding ... or sooner if I'm travelling that way ...

I have offered to donate a few photos for their display of Brooklyn and Hurricane and their chicks from past seasons.

[The Peregrine Chick]

For those who are wondering, the museum is right across 9th Street from McKenzie Seeds - it's in the Manitoba Government Telephone Building - the MTS tower that RCF has photos of the birds sitting on, is on the roof.

http://brandon.ca/council-information/bgma/museum-overview

They have Google Street View on this so you can see how close it is the McKenzie Seeds - just "cross" the street ...

[RCF]

I had a good look when I there and the legs are much smaller than the adults peregrine legs.

Not sure what kind of falcon it is or was, but to my eye it is not a juvenile peregrine.  The legs were too dainty compared to the adult.  

[The Peregrine Chick]

After speaking with the young lady who was there about the display, she told us that someone had been speaking to a person from the recovery project and said they were going to visit the museum.  I would only assume that it was TPC she was talking about.

Yup.  

Actually one of their board members contacted me when they acquired the BJ Hale collection and asked if there was some way they could incorporate the fact that Brooklyn and Hurricane are right across the street.  I suggested running the webcam feed and that we would be happy to provide answers to any questions their folks or others might have!

I'm hoping to be able to get the Museum when we are down for the banding ... or sooner if I'm travelling that way ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

Even though the display says it's a juvenile peregrine, it looks more like a merlin to me.  I had a good look when I there and the legs are much smaller than the adults peregrine legs. I thought by the time they are banded/fledged, the legs are the same size as an adult.  These taxidermy specimens are over 80 years old.

To my eye, their immature peregrine is a Prairie Falcon .... same basic size as a peregrine, we generally only see them in passing here, more common (relatively speaking) out west.



click on image to see larger size

Great prairie falcon (& others) hunting ducks video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-FZdIrKyBk
** not particularly graphic but for those who are a bit/very squeamish, but ducks do die in this video! **

[RCF]

Even though the display says it's a juvenile peregrine, it looks more like a merlin to me.  I had a good look when I there and the legs are much smaller than the adults peregrine legs. I thought by the time they are banded/fledged, the legs are the same size as an adult.  These taxidermy specimens are over 80 years old.

[RCF]

Rose and I went to the Brandon General Museum today knowing they had a display featuring Brooklyn and Hurricane and they also had a very large monitor that is streaming the CBC nest cam in Brandon.  They have two stuffed peregrines from 1926 from the Oak Lake area.  (from the B.J. Hale collection).  One looked like an adult and the other a juvenile. After speaking with the young lady who was there about the display, she told us that someone had been speaking to a person from the recovery project and said they were going to visit the museum.  I would only assume that it was TPC she was talking about.


 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Looking at the McKenzie Seeds chicks, is won't surprise me if we have 2 females and a male when it comes to banding a couple of weeks.  But it could just be the age difference between them as they are only half-way to banding age, so it will be interesting to see.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Chronology for the morning ...

pre-dawn - chicks on their own - makes sense, they are 9/10 days old and are pretty much able to thermoregulate & keep themselves warm, not that that is the real issue at the moment 
0523h - first breakfast
0729h - first wanderer thinks about wandering then returns to chickpile
0755h - wandering free-for-all and Hurricane looks absolutely harried - chickpile reforms about 0825h
0920h - second breakfast
1020h - rebel makes its way to front of nestbox to find "own" shade, Hurricane keeps other two in the shade until the roof takes over then leaves the chicks to their own devices with I daresay a sigh of relief ... she certainly looked eager to leave 


Weather for the day ....

Day - Mostly cloudy in the morning, then overcast. High of 27C. Winds from the ESE at 5 to 15 km/h.
Night - Partly cloudy. Fog overnight. Low of 14C. Breezy. Winds from the East at 15 to 20 km/h.

Currently 23C and looks like winds are E/SE <10km/h right now

[Rose]

I see we have a little wandering Willie today. He/she has been exploring the nest box and going out of camera view several times this morning.

[RCF]

   

[The Peregrine Chick]

Chronology so far this morning ...

0435h - first meal
0547h - second meal
very cute chick antics today!!  Definitely a "too cute" day at McKenzie Seeds

Weather forecast for today ...

Day - Clear in the morning, then overcast. High of 25C. Winds from the SW at 10 to 15 km/h.
Night - Partly cloudy. Low of 11C. Winds less than 5 km/h.

[The Peregrine Chick]

2141h
Chicks are a pile of white fuzz and now Hurricane has arrived to be their blanket ...

[soaring west]

That was priceless .. The 3 of them cleaning at the same time, then they stop at the same time and lean in to go to sleep again.