Okay, name for Tot time.
Like a number of others likes the idea of naming a peregrine in Dennis' honour but there is a jinx/superstition component. If we can find a name for this or another chick that ties to Dennis (and yes I have a couple of ideas) and the chick dies in the next couple of months, do we do it again next year? After a number of years of naming chicks after people and having them die shortly thereafter, we got very superstitious and cautious with names. I think y'all have heard me say this before.
So, my inclination is hold off on naming Tot after Dennis - wouldn't like to jinx her especially as she is a solo chick and they often take more risks than they should do. So far she is being good - at 37 days old (today) she hasn't gotten out of the nestbox yet - which is much better than I thought when she started wandering out on the balcony at a younger age than previous Radisson chicks. Could be this will be the case with Hazel's and Pandemic's future chicks or maybe it is a one-off and she will the exception.
Two options to my way of thinking ....
1) We wait and see how she does before naming her - but once she leaves the nestbox we may not ever see or hear from her again. With only her parents to hang with, she may not come back to the box or the Radisson.
2) We give her an unrelated name and save giving a name in Dennis' memory to a bird that has made it through year one (5-7 out of every 10 chicks dies in year one). Tot started hatching the Summer Solstice so we could go with that theme for her - Solstice, Summer, Persephone, Litha etc - instead. We do have other chicks in the province, at least 6, none of whom I have/will be able to band safely. Chicks that have been rescued do seem to have a high rate of survivorship so its possible we could still name a 2024 chick after Dennis or we wait until the time is right.
Anywho, that's where I am at the moment with naming Tot ... comments?
