U of Alberta - 2008 / Damon & Radisson

[maggieblue]

It is wonderful to see the girls flying together    Thank you so much Bev!

[carly]

Great pictures and update Bev, thanks especially for the flying shots - we would never get to see those otherwise.  Our girl is all grown up now 

[bev.]

now some flying pictures/ If I could ever quit getting so excited i could take more shots. I am so excited for these 2. May God stay with them



Hope flies to suite hotel

Cassie flies over to suite hotel

Cassie

Hope and Cassie having rune(they do touch talons and fly all over

Dad flies off to lower right after making food drop(They had to chase him first) The juveniles in upper left

Juveniles over power building after food drop

Juveniles after food drop

[bev.]

These are just from tonight. The morning will be later.

Remember I just had my small camera and you really cannot see much but I wanted you to Petr an ides of what I saw.  Cassie is still round and beautiful(she is more brown on the chest).Hope is bigger and is blacker on the chest. They are just magnificent.  I could really see their markings when I was on the power building.
Cassie on upper left and Hope on the right

Cassie

Hope

Hope before she flew off when I was in Hortons

Hope on power building

Cassie flew over to newton apartments(she likes it here )

CAssie and Hope on Power building(Cassie on left and Hope higher up on right(Cassie is rounder and smaller)

Hope ,higher up and cassie lower down

Hope flies to the right and Cassie remains in place

Hope before she flies to suite hotel

[bev.]

I am so excited right now.  The weather is cool and miserable but I persevered tonight and WoW!!!!

I was there from 4:30 pm to 7:30pm

When I got there I had to looked for a bit and then saw one juvenile on the corner of the heart building.  I believe this was  Hope.  Then Cassie came into view but only for a bit and she flew a bit further in on the roof.

I am going to have to make notes again becasue sometimes so much happens and I do not want to get things out of sequence.  

Peter was not dressed for the weather and so he waited in a glass enclosure.(took the camera so I missed a shot of Cassie flying)

We went to Horton's for Coffee as we could see the corner of the Heart building from the shop . all of a sudden Hope flew off above the shop and I ran out and lost track of her. we quickly finished our coffee and went outside and we saw one juvenile on the power building across from The suite Hotel.  this is further down from the new apartment building(Newton Place). And then out of no where another juvenile flew onto the top right  of the Newton place . I believe this was Hope and the other juvenile on the power building was Cassie .Can't bee 100 percent but...

We walked back to the parkade and I went up top and watched for awhile.  The juvenile on the Newton Place apartments was giving me quite a laugh.  she went from the rail of one balcony and landed right on a back of a chair on another balcony.  The pigeons scattered everywhere.

I looked behind on moms building and saw an adult perched on the top corner of the building . Not sure who but maybe dad.

I looked away and the adult was gone and then Cassie took off to the power building.

I took off down the street and  Hope did not move but Cassie moved further in on the roof out of sight.

so I decided to call it a night and looked back and now an adult was perched on the corner of dads building .

When we were driving away I asked Peter to pull in the parking lot by the power building and that is when the fun started.  I wish I had my son-in  laws camera because I could see the faces of the juveniles so clearly.  Cassie is smaller than Hope. they look so cute together.

Hope then flew a bit further down and then she flew to the top of the Suite Hotel.  she had trouble staying on the antennae (that is moms trick)

Then CAssie flew over to Hope and they started playing in the air.  They touched talons and just flew back and forth and around . and then further down the street out of site.   I did not  expect them to fly so far. I held my breath at first  and then saw how strong they were.
We got in the car to follow them and they were just flying further down and having a great time.  Peter turned the car around and parked in another parking lot for me.
 All of sudden there they were, the pigeons were scattering or they were chasing them .
then there is  is dad flying with prey and the 2 are flying after him. It was so awesome to see.   No flying upside yet like downtown but they are doing more than I expected so soon. 

I wish you could see the whole area because where they were doing this flying is wide open and so safe.

they are flying so good.  I think Hope is bit stronger but she is older .  Dad dropped the food on a building roof . I did not see where but I think on the power building roof.

When we left Dad was sitting on a building across from the power building and the 2 juveniles were not in sight but I am sure they were eating

I got too excited so did not get good shots of the the kids chasing dad but I did get some flight shots. Remember , this is my small camera..

I wish you could all be here with me.  I was thinking of all of you as I was watching.  It is so nice for the two juveniles to have someone to play with.

They are moving all over the campus now  and I will have trouble keeping up with them but I will try. 

I will post a few pictures in a bit.

[carly]

Oh that's great news about them flying upside down and doing the food transfers..one more step closer to being independent...heh..well first they have to learn to hunt but that will come!  Sorry you missed it    On the plus side though, you've managed to recruit 2 more peregrine lovers..and that's always a good thing 

[bev.]

Thanks Carly.  i hope to set up some meetings and try and make arrangements for a fledge watch nest year and to see how we can get more updates.

We were down at the site yesterday and today

We got there a bit later yesterday. We only managed to see one juvenile and one adult.  The juvenile was hard to see as it was tucked in on a ledge of the Heart building.

But today my brother-in-law and sister-in-law wanted to visit the site before they left and we found one juvenile(I believe it was Hope ) on the top ledge of moms building facing the street.

The we saw 2 falcons further up the street .  The adult was on a tall tower  of a building and I believe it was Casie on an arm of another building across the street.   

They were still for so long and then  the 2 up the street started to fly over the new apartment builidng that the parents sit on from time to time.  they circled over the building a few times.  My brother-in-law was down there taking pictures and I was on parkade roof keeping track of Hope. 

Hope flew off and I did not notice but then realized it was her flying toward the aprtment building also.

the adult must have flown off becasue we just  had 2 juveniles now.  Cassie was on the far left on the railing of a balcony.(she was actually on the balcony floor first so I am not sure if she missed her landing or if that is where she wanted to be.) Hope was at the top of the building. I thought it was an adult at first but am 95 percent sure it was Hope. they move so fast that it is hard to keep track.

Cassie then flew to top right of building and was on the railing of a balcony there ,right at the top).  Hope had a strong flight over to moms building and soared in circles and then went to top of building but did not touch down and then flew right overhead to the far right corner of the Heart builidng .

When I left , Cassie was lying down on the balcony railing and Hope flew over to apartment building and was facing in on a ledge.  they are flying well and soar so nicely.  Cassie needs to practice  her landings a bit yet . so much in a week.

My brother -in-law will try and send me the pictures tonight. He has some great shots.

We had some rain today and expect more tonight and tomorrow but they seem to be finding the shelter so I am confident they will be fine. 
soon they will be learning to take the food from their parents talons .

I do not know if I mentioned before that Petr and Walter saw this downtown Edmonton when I had to use the facilities

the adults were flying with food in their talons and the 2 juveniles were flying upside down trying to get the food ( a food exchange in mid air).. We did not have a camera at the time.  peter said it was awesome.  Of course they kept rubbing my nose in it.    I am glad that I have sparked their interest.

[carly]

It's great to see how the parents stay with them on their first flights to ensure their safety and encourage them onwards 

ps: Meant to tell you to thank the biologists for us too, I noticed that upon your suggestion the main page is being updated more frequently now and they even mentioned that Hope is being fostered here!

[bev.]

In one of these you can see adult come in to cheer her on . the adult is always below

[bev.]

I forgot to post pictures of our Cassie the day she made her first flight to the jut of the nest building In some you can see her under the watchful eye of an adult
She goes to the left of roof of jut and then turns and goes to right

[carly]

Thanks Bev, great shots as always!  Thanks to your family too for indulging us all by accompanying you to the site.   

[bev.]

I just lost my post again.

Here goes again.
I got there later than normal yesterday so was only able to see one juvenile and one adult.

We went to ground level to get a better picture and then juvenile quickly flew over to the far corner of the heart building and was out of sight. We heard cacking when the adult flew over and out of sight and then only got a few glimpses of the head, every once in awhile.  I believe the one we saw was Hope ,by the coloring but I am not sure.
My company leaves today so I will be freer to go down when I went to but they were great to let me go when I did. I think I got my brother-in-law hooked .



I believe this is Cassie

The rest are Hope








O.K> I flew . now feed me



Here are some pictures from Hope flying last Friday. and one of each  juvenile a little closer up.

[Loriann]

we should all be so accepting.. wonderful to see them together.. and nice for each to have the company of the other.
thanks Bev for your updates, and your pictures are just fine. 

[carly]

Heh..they are just adorable standing side by side together! 

[bev.]

Here are some bad photos from yesterday. I had my little camera but I could see them clearly.  We had a brutal storm last night so I am packing up the company and down we go