U of Alberta - 2008 / Damon & Radisson

[JL]

I can't wait to see the pix Bev.  That looks like Dad standing guard right now.  Boy that quail or whatever they threw in there sure disappeared quick.  No wonder that girl is huge!

[bev.]

I have downloaded my pictures from today but I have to crop etc, so I will post them tomorrow.

And Tracy is right.  The Eyas was never in any harm ,but once the banding started, wow.  the 2 adults buzzed us constantly. I took as many pictures as I could.  It was amazing to be so close.  the banding was fairly quick and a quick clean of the nest as they wanted to get the chick back in the box.

[The Peregrine Chick]

We are near 300 posts here, so am starting a new thread ...  this one is locked.

Enjoy!
The Peregrine Chick

[The Peregrine Chick]

Okay, we were nearing 300 posts, so new thread .... 

The Peregrine Chick

[The Peregrine Chick]

Thanks for the update Bev - I got the call from Edmonton while I was out and couldn't manage to talk myself onto a computer to post the info 

Given that I wasn't there, here are a couple of comments on today's activities ...

1.  Catching Radisson - not surprised that didn't go well, Manitoba birds with two exceptions are wickedly difficult to get near ... Trey and Madame are the only two birds I have ever managed to get within two feet of ...  And she was hatched/fledged on the nestledge so her only contact with humans has been banding whereas the vast majority of our Radisson birds are used to the sound and presence of humans on "their" rooftop as Hotel staff have work to do there daily.  They don't get near the nestbox, but the old box had lots of openings so they watched humans all the time.  Nestledge chicks are different, very miffed at human presence, much more than nestbox chicks.

2.  The Chick as Bait - I can guarantee that the chick was fine, just in unfamiliar surroundings.  And with the Edmonton staff "hiding", she wouldn't have been stressed much by their presence.  Because she could see/talk to Radisson (and vice versa) her stress level was probably no more than during banding.   

3.  The Edmonton staff - the folks in Edmonton are among the best in North America so at no time was the chick or Radisson or the adult male (he was around without a doubt) in any danger and they would have never have done anything that would have been overly stressful for any of the birds.  The fact that Radisson hung out on the front of the nestbox was/is an indication that she wasn't overly concerned.  If she were, she'd have been on the wing protecting her chick - when we band the Brandon birds, the adults are flying constantly over/at us and they don't rest until we are long gone from the roof - and we are actively doing things to their chicks - the Edmonton chick wasn't having anything "active" done to her and there were no humans visible so Radisson and her mate were probably concerned she wasn't where left her, but she is old enough to be on her own and they could certainly protect/feed her so new location but not in danger and needing protection.

4.  If they had managed to get the transmitter on Radisson, it would have been useful to be able to monitor her movements given the battles they have had over this nestsite in the last few years.  Would have been possible to know if the two females - Radisson and Homeless were in the same territory and if there was the potential for conflict ... Also helpful for tracking them down if there is a problem ...

[eagle63_1999]

omg I am so glad I wasn't home when all this was happening. Geeessshhhhhh

[ballywing]

LOLOLOL Carly!  - Like Elk River getting emails imploring them to change the camera view  - must be a few people in a few different places thinking we're all a bunch of nuts. 

[carly]

Don't feel bad Bev, it's not your fault..without you I'm sure we'd know nothing at all!  Thank you so much for all the effort you put in keep us appraised of what is going on, I hope they realize what a treasure you are 

And I'm sure the receptionist at the Student Centre thinks I'm nuts...ahem..hello, I'm calling about the baby peregrine please..she's missing and we are wondering where she is please??  hehe..she must have hung up and said this crazy old woman keeps calling from Toronto asking about birds 

[ballywing]

Hmmm - Like TPC couldn't lure Princess down to check out the foster chicks! - Like mother, like daughter!! 

[bev.]

One more thing, that is a piece of quail in the box. that is what they tried to lure the female down to chick with to feed her(but she was not buying it)
too bad as it would have been great to track her.

[bev.]

A few more pictures from just before I left.  the female looked upset then and they were not there yet.

I will tell you that I rushed out of here so quick that I left the computer on and had no gas in my car and prayed all the way there and then got stuck in traffic and got there huffing and puffing.
I knew everyone would be worried that was watching the cams but I had no way of contacting anyone. And by the way you will get very few answers form the site. that is why I try and keep it monitored.

I learned a lot today about peregrines, And no they did not name her so you can keep your name. One sight has called her angel.










Now I better do supper before I get fired.

[bcbird]

Thank you Bev, for telling us the story.
Glad to hear she is healthy. 

[bev.]

I just read all your posts.  I am so sorry that I did not let you know but I got contacted and I had to speed there to see myself. 

It has never taken this long to trap a female and they just could not.  The female could see the chick and the chick could see her all the time. 
but she was too insecure to go down there.

Everyone was hidden so she could not see us and the babe was watched the whole time.
I am sure it would be a bit traumatizing for the wee one but it at least had sight of its parents.

she is healthy and the took the remains of the egg out but there is not much.  I did notice in the last few days that the wee one was pecking at it.

A few pictures from the cam before I left this morning

[carly]

Wow...thanks for the explanation Bev, never would have guessed that in a million years.  Although I kept seeing her look down, I assumed the worst..that she may have fallen.  I'm so happy I was wrong and next time I see a mom looking down i will definitely remember it could be something like this. 

 So so happy everything ended so well and look forward to your pictures of our little girl.

Did you guys name her with a special name or can we keep the one we gave her?

Lol..jsut noticed Dad on top of the camera keeping an eye on things 

[bev.]

sorry you were all stressed out guys. I have been at the university since 10:00 Alberta time and just got home.

Here is what happened.  they did band the sweet young thing and it is a female.
You all guessed right.
but they wanted to try and trap the female as they wanted to put a transmitter on her.
In order to do this they remove the chick to the roof below and have a net contraption all set up to trap the female when she comes to feed the eyas. 

Well we all waited and waited and she would not come down.  You probably saw her looking down but she just would not go down. Even when the male went to hunt ,she would not signal him that she would feed and so he did it. 
so we all sat for 6 hours.  the baby was O.K.
I just got home late last night from holidays and then was contacted that I could come down and watch. they were going to band last week so I thought I would miss it but it got delayed. I did keep track of her while I was gone though.

anyhow I missed a thrill of a lifetime to see a transmitter put on but I got to see the babe up close and personal.  she is very cute and I have lots of pictures. 

the adults were doing a lot of flapping around and I got lots of those also.  As soon as we download them I will post them.

I have a few from the cam this morning before I left and will post as soon as i get supper.