NSW - Charles Sturt University - 2018 / Xavier & Diamond

[Alison]

Hatching has begun:





With the very limited view, haven't seen a chick yet.

[burdi]

I’ve unfortunately had to miss quite a bit at CSU, and this is one of my favourite sites.

Hatching should soon occur as chick peeps seem to be more frequent and louder!

Is anyone following this site?  Or are most of you hanging out on chat? 

[burdi]

Any day now

Published 21 September, 2018 | By Cilla Kinross

The chicks are expected to hatch this weekend, so keep an eye on the youtube site, where there is a veritable United Nations of ‘pere watchers’ keeping an eye and ear out for the pips.   Unfortunately, Diamond and Xavier between them have managed to roll the eggs in the near corner where the webcam is slightly out of focus and the eggs are almost out of sight.   However, we will still know when they hatch and it won’t take long before the little ones are all over the box.

Our third wheel (known as VB, or Visiting Bird) is still around.  It is a male, slightly larger than Xavier, with a ‘comma’ on his neck, making him (sometimes) easy to identify.  The female, Diamond, seems to accept his presence, but I can’t speak for Xavier as I haven’t seen them together.  My guess is that he’s spitting chips ie not happy with the situation, especially as the male appears to want to actually incubate the eggs.  This is very interesting behaviour, as Xavier himself wouldn’t have anything to do with the eggs or chicks his first year (when he took over as step-father).  Anyway we shall see what we shall see.

See entire update by Cilla Kinross

Courtesy of FalconCam Project

[burdi]

I wonder whether or not Xavier and Diamond currently have a cache … because if they do, it is likely being emptied by the intruder. My guess is that Xavier won’t stash the food unless he feels it will remain there long enough for Diamond to retrieve it, but food will be needed much more often if there are chicks.

Hopefully the visitor will move along, and if not, then maybe these falcons will amaze us by finding a way to make things work!

[burdi]

By the way, Cilla has changed the name of the intruder from TG to VB (VB = Visiting Boy), but that could change again. So for now, if anyone mentions a name you don’t recognize - there’s a good chance they’re referring to a falcon they perceive to be an intruder. Remember that none of these birds are banded, and there’s many differing opinions.

[burdi]

So far, there hasn’t been any serious fighting here, however, the friendly intruder situation appears to be interfering with food delivery for Diamond, so whatever will happen if chicks are in the nest remains to be seen.

I believe Xavier brings prey to the nest only when he feels it is safe because when the intruder is sitting on the ledge or somewhere near the nest, he stays away. Also, Cilla mentioned she thinks the intruder was sitting on the roof of the water tower while she was outside the university one day.

[burdi]

Is TG a relative?

Published 14 September, 2018 | By Cilla Kinross

In-breeding appears to be not that uncommon in peregrines.  Tina Callender (one of our cam watchers) sent me some details of some studies in the UK strongly suggesting siblings helping to raise another brood, and later mating with his mother. BBC – Nature UK: Peregrines are keeping it in the family…

And in the states, it has been demonstrated that some 4% of the peregrine population are closely related.  This often leads to a problem in populations, abnormalities etc. but apparently not (at least, not yet) in peregrines.

I don’t know of any similar studies in Australia, but will endeavour to find out.  Not much in HANZAB (Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds), although I did read that fledged young have been known to reside in parental territory (less used parts) for up to nine months.  This bird intruder is clearly more than nine months’ old, however.  Juveniles get their adult plumage by the end of their second year.

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when the chicks emerge in about a week.  Will this new bird, relative or not, be helpful?  If you listen to the audio on this video (mp4), you can hear some peregrine carry-on just before TG appears and I’m wondering if this is a very early morning spat with Xavier.  It has been noticed that he has brought in less food (although today he managed what I think was a small white pigeon) and that could be a problem if he starts interfering with their routine.  Hungry mouths need more than one feed a day.

Have a lovely weekend.    Cilla

Video by Cilla:20180914-0454-Intruder-q (mp4)

Click here to go directly to entire update by Cilla Kinross.

Courtesy of FalconCam Project

[burdi]

Menage a trois?

Published 7 September, 2018 | By Cilla Kinross

Our intruder, nick-named TG (transgender, because I was having difficulty with his gender) had been making regular appearances and, for some reason, after initial hissing and scuffling, Diamond at least seems to accept him.   I now think it’s a he based on colour of feet and eyes, lack of spots on chest, food-bringing behaviour and size (slightly bigger than Xavier, but quite a bit smaller than Diamond).

It’s speculation, of course, as none of our birds are banded (could not get animal ethics’ approval), but it’s possible that it is one of Diamond’s sons from a couple of years ago, called ‘Vim’ (short for viminalis, one of the local eucalypts).  I have no idea how an adult would recognise offspring, however, as the plumage is now quite different.  If anyone has any insight into longterm maternal behaviour, I’d love to know.

Video by Cilla: 20180904 0514 TG and Di (avi format)

TG on ledge – photo by Helios

 

TG with Diamond in the nest

 

I think that the earliest date for hatching is 19th September, but more likely 21-22 September.

Have a lovely weekend.
 

Cilla

Click here to go directly to entire update by Cilla Kinross.

Courtesy of FalconCam Project

[Alison]

Thank you so much for your updates on this nest, burdi! I hope everything has been resolved peacefully with the potential intruder? The cams are barely working from where I am, mainly running on hang-and-spin.

[burdi]

Such drama!
 
Published 31 August, 2018 | By Cilla Kinross

FIRST, there was some rather strong evidence of pair bonding, right on the ledge.

Still in love

 

THEn,  the third egg appeared at about 11 pm on 24th August.  No dramas there, but seemed a bit of a strain.  They are really quite big eggs for such a small bottom.

The male, Xavier, had no problem covering all three eggs, although he’s clearly not a very big male.  This was brought into focus when a male intruder arrived, one noticeably larger than Xavier.  At first he came and had a look and got a really frosty reception from Diamond, who ‘keened’ and screamed at him.  He then came later with prey, but she ignored him (starling is not her favourite food, so this was not a good start).. and he left.

And this morning there might been a ‘scuffle’ just outside the box.  You can just see the peregrine trying to land, but he is thwarted for some reason and there was a lot of angry noises about.

Youtube is very busy if you want to chat (especially on the nest cam).  I’ll update this weekly until hatching (three weeks), then more often.    Cilla

Click here to go directly to entire update by Cilla Kinross.

Courtesy of FalconCam Project

[burdi]

On August 30 at 5:54 am Xavier arrived without breakfast and was only allowed a 15 minute stay on the eggs; Diamond returned at 6:09 am. I don’t know if he’s stashing food but it’s becoming more likely because they do need to protect the eggs. Their routine has seemed a little strange lately, and there’s been plenty of chat about an intruder. I wonder if Cilla has any observations from outside the nest; she's mentioned there’s a possibility that past offspring could be visiting.

Last night was still quite cold in Orange, and at 6:20 am this morning the temperature was -5.4°C.

[burdi]

Xavier stopped by at 12:26 pm and certainly had something to say, but for some reason he left very quickly. Later, at 2:45 pm, he finally got another opportunity to incubate their eggs! I didn’t see any food brought in though it could have been stashed somewhere.

And now it’s over two hours later and he’s still there!

[burdi]

Diamond returned to incubate at 11:10 am.

[burdi]

Today is August 28 in Orange and they’re expecting a high of 10°C, though the nights are quite frosty again.

I was happy to see Xavier bring breakfast at 7:08 am, and he then headed straight to egg duty. There have been ins and outs since then, of course, but I haven’t been able to keep track.

Okay, here’s the latest - Xavier stopped by at 10:26 am and it appears that Diamond agreed he should take over! I hope he gets to stay awhile. 

[burdi]

I happened to notice the wrong time in my post at ”23:56” and felt I should make a correction. Yes, Diamond was on the eggs about 1:38 pm, August 27 (checked my pics), but while posting I forgot that she quickly up and left and Xavier slipped in for a bit. So it was 1:54 pm when Diamond insisted she was taking over for poor little Xavier!