Author Topic: Out-n-About in Manitoba - 2020  (Read 41568 times)

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Offline Alison

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #43 on: November 15, 2015, 20:52 »

Not sure where her falcon video was taken however, from what I've seen from the cam riggings on the polar bear cams, I haven't seen one like the one in her "visitor" video - makes me wonder if it is at another site - not the Churchill Northern Studies Centre either, so far as I know, since their expansion, they don't have a metal dome ... Allikat, have you seen this superstructure on any of the other cams you have visited?  Or has anyone else?

I know nothing about Churchill, but I think the cam actually is located at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. I am going to take a guess that it may be on top of a communications tower which is very close to the buildings.

I may be totally wrong, but the pic on the right below shows the top of the tower. There are two circular structures at the top, and the colours seem right also; orange and grey. What do you think?

 


Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #42 on: November 15, 2015, 17:44 »
Saw this one too!
I tried to capture an image, but it didn't work for me.  Thank goodness someone got a video.
Beautiful bird!

https://youtu.be/L6JqkCXbOwE

Holy cats that is one beautiful bird!!! Thanks for posting this Alli!

Offline allikat

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #41 on: November 15, 2015, 12:09 »
Here is the link to the Northern Lights cam in Churchill... :)

http://explore.org/live-cams/player/northern-lights-cam

Offline allikat

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #40 on: November 15, 2015, 12:08 »
Saw this one too!
I tried to capture an image, but it didn't work for me.  Thank goodness someone got a video.
Beautiful bird!

https://youtu.be/L6JqkCXbOwE
« Last Edit: November 15, 2015, 12:11 by allikat »

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #39 on: November 11, 2015, 13:21 »
Found this on an absolutely amazing site to watch:  www.explore.org
So many webcams to watch....even, Manitoba Polar Bears!!!
Highly recommend to check it out!

hope this link works... it's from a webcam in Churchill!  
https://youtu.be/sg_Em-KW21U

Ms Roper has captured a whack of great videos from live cams in Churchill and other northern locations including Alaska.  Not sure where her falcon video was taken however, from what I've seen from the cam riggings on the polar bear cams, I haven't seen one like the one in her "visitor" video - makes me wonder if it is at another site - not the Churchill Northern Studies Centre either, so far as I know, since their expansion, they don't have a metal dome ... Allikat, have you seen this superstructure on any of the other cams you have visited?  Or has anyone else?

Back to the bird, with all due respect to Ms Roper, her bird looks to me to be a dark morph Gyrfalcon not a peregrine.  Gyrfalcons can range in colour from white to black, so it is an easy assumption to make.  This bird looks to me to be one of the dark morphs, a brown morph in this case.  Why?  There are a few things that stick out for me:
  • On the bird's head, the back of the nape is light-coloured which peregrines aren't, the light coloured crown though seen on some juvenile peregrines (we have a bunch of those in recent years) is more common on brown morph gyrs.  There is a visible malar stripe but it isn't distinct like on peregrines and gyrs can have stripes that go from narrow & distinct to totally indistinct on both white and dark morph.
  • The tail is longer than the wings whereas peregrine wings are noticeably longer than the tail - this bird's wings cross and the tips of the wings don't reach the end of its tail (I had to watch it a few time to confirm it) whereas peregrine wings cross and still the tips of their wings extend past the end of their wings. 
  • On the body, the back is more heavily speckled which is not the same as the colour on juvenile peregrines - the edges of the feathers are a lighter colour on the peregrines - on gyrs they have this speckling/edge markings are distinct on most morphs throughout their life.  Having said that, remember that these birds have a wide range in colours so the basic patterns can range from distinct to indistinct as well.
  • The bird overall is bigger (check out her other "visitor" video, that is a white morph gyrfalcon) and stockier than a peregrine.  Use the square at the peak of the superstructure as a visual guide on the two videos.  Peregrines are 14-19 inches in size - Gyrfalcons are 19 to 25 inches - given that the white bird is a Gyrfalcon and the brown bird is the same or almost the same size, it really is too large to be a peregrine.
  • Can't tell if it is male or female though females (as I recall) are more often dark morphs than males.  I can however say with more confidence that it is not a juvenile bird - juvenile gyrs have grey feet and cere.  After a year, they are yellow.  Peregrine chicks have the same thing but it changes from grey to yellow faster - it is related to what they eat.  Falconry birds or birds in captivity can often have grey feet because of their diet which is one of the reasons rehabbers/falconers try to include a variety, particularly of more "wild" species.  Its like flamingos - their pink feathers are due to the pigments in the organisms they eat - flamingos in captivity can got much paler so they get a special diet with carotenoid pigments to help them keep their feathers the colour they should be.

For those wanting to watch the cams Allikat found live, here is the link - www.explore.org

Offline allikat

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #38 on: November 05, 2015, 20:08 »
Found this on an absolutely amazing site to watch:  www.explore.org
So many webcams to watch....even, Manitoba Polar Bears!!!
Highly recommend to check it out!

hope this link works... it's from a webcam in Churchill!  
https://youtu.be/sg_Em-KW21U
« Last Edit: November 05, 2015, 20:12 by allikat »

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #37 on: September 09, 2015, 18:43 »
Any further news on Kelly and Sundance?

Not at the moment other than Kelly's transmitter stopped transmitting mid-June (just found that out).  This isn't cause for alarm, they were expected to survive for two years, and that is almost 23 months to the day.  We have tried to keep an eye on them but they have not been cooperating.  They are only 2 years old, so could nest but could just have been playing house and that is why we haven't had any luck tracking them down.  Could be that they took off to hunt elsewhere.  We haven't had any reports about them - living or dead - and no news is good news. 

We have at least one tour to make past all the sites (nest sites and otherwise) and if we see/hear anything we will be sure to let folks know.

Offline dupre501

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #36 on: September 09, 2015, 08:25 »
Any further news on Kelly and Sundance?

Offline allikat

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #35 on: May 30, 2015, 21:20 »
Wow!
That's a lot of miles to travel for a "mature" bird.
Absolutely incredible!

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #34 on: May 30, 2015, 17:02 »
She was already an adult when she was captured in Chile and had her transmitter attached.
According to the researchers, she is at least 9 years old, probably older.    So she is about Princess' age ...

Offline Kinderchick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #33 on: May 28, 2015, 23:32 »
Island Girl is amazing! About how old would she be, TPC? :-\

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #32 on: May 28, 2015, 09:38 »
As of this morning at 0700h, Island Girl was just a few kilometers south of the Manitoba-Nunavut border.  Depending on her flightpath she could already be out of the province and about to hang a right towards Baffin Island.  This is her 41st day on migration and as of 0700h she had traveled 12,873 km (7,999 mi) if she were to fly in a straight-line she would have another 1,450 km (900 mi) to go. 

Last year she flew a similar northern route and it took her 4 days to get from about where she is now to the area where she nests during which she flew 1,600 km - that's 400 km per day - the straight line distance from Winnipeg to Brandon and back.  Other years it has taken her a week to get from Manitoba to Baffin so she could be back by the end of the weekend or it could take her until the weekend after.  She seems to be on a pretty quick run this year.

Offline Kinderchick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #31 on: May 27, 2015, 22:55 »
I always love hearing about Island Girl & her migration locations.  :)

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #30 on: May 26, 2015, 22:33 »
Island Girl the tundra peregrine that usually passes through Maniroba at some point in her migration has just entered the province but much further north than usual - she icame across the Saskatchewan border close to Lynn Lake and is currently just east of Lac

And for those who ask who made the sighting (as per the thread title) I admit that this comes from the data from her satellite transmitter.  I figured folks would still be interested based on previous years.

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: Other Manitoba Sightings - 2015
« Reply #29 on: May 26, 2015, 13:00 »
Maybe they just want to play this year.  Is it possible the places they may want to nest are being disturbed and keeping them away.  

Doesn't seem to be the case, just first-timers who haven't decided a) if they are going to nest and/or b) where they want to nest.  If a) they are going to eventually choose a b) and we'll be watching   8)