Author Topic: West Winnipeg - 2009 / Ivy & Jules  (Read 50089 times)

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Offline eagle63_1999

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« Reply #22 on: April 12, 2009, 19:59 »
Well she is the goddess after all how else do you think these stories come about?

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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« Reply #21 on: April 12, 2009, 19:57 »
The birds haven't started nesting yet and there was not attempt to take over the territory, just seemed like a peregrine passing through, or perhaps even Princess being informed that the real estated had been sold so to speak.  There was alot of flying, flipping and yelling and then Ivy and the female were back no fuss.

Offline Moonstar

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« Reply #20 on: April 12, 2009, 18:23 »
Wow!  What an exicting story.  You do it so well Tracy.  It does feel like I was actually there.  Thanks.  I just hope no Peregrine gets hurt in all this.  I know it is nature but I just don't want any bird getting hurt or worse.

Offline bev.

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« Reply #19 on: April 12, 2009, 15:29 »
thanks Tracy. that was exciting.  the first female came back, right. I must have missed that.

Good thing I do not live in Winnipeg eh!!!!

And the season has begun. :) :)

Offline carly

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« Reply #18 on: April 12, 2009, 14:32 »
Excellent story!!  It felt like we were right there!  

Offline maggieblue

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« Reply #17 on: April 12, 2009, 14:31 »
OMG Tracy how wonderful is this  ;D  Looks like you might need a fledge watch this year in which case I would like to volunteer right here and now ( I live in West Winnipeg)  ;D  Looking forward to Dennis's pictures.  8)

Offline Liz

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« Reply #16 on: April 12, 2009, 14:25 »
Great story, TPC.  I can paint the picture in my head with these locations -- great idea! 

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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« Reply #15 on: April 12, 2009, 14:20 »
And yes, Dennis has photos ... 2+ GB worth of photos I think  :o

He's promised to make me a CD of them and then we can post them on our gallery and I'm sure he will be posting them on his gallery as well!  Will be sure to leave a post here when they are up and ready for viewing!

Nuts, now I actually have to MAKE a new gallery for these birds  ;D

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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« Reply #14 on: April 12, 2009, 14:15 »
So the day started with Dennis giving me a call to let me know that there was a peregrine at The Diner.  We chatted, I mentionned I was thinking of taking my spotting scope to try and read band numbers (The Dinner is high but has nice clear angles for reading bands) even though the light was very flat - makes it hard to photograph and to use scopes for detailled work.  I got ready and was about to head out the door when Dennis called again to say that in fact both birds were there and good luck since he was off to photograph Great Horned Owls. 

I arrived at The Diner about 10 minutes later and both birds were still there (not a foregone conclusion, they do have wings and know how to use them) so I parked and thought about the best location for viewing since it was quite cold and the south breeze was too brisk to be at all warm.  Suddenly both birds took off from the The Diner and headed off to The Bleachers and started some wonderful courtship flights and I just parked my butt on the hood of my car and watched them.  After a minute or two I decided to call Dennis to see what he was up to since this is exactly the kind of thing he photographs well - even though the light conditions sucked.  Dennis abandonned his owls and got back to The Diner about 4 minutes after the most picture perfect ... umm, snuggle ... took place.  I felt terrible but had to tell him if only because chances are we would get another chance to photograph it if we waited.  So the Ivy and his lady took up positions on opposite corners of The Diner and Dennis and I settled in to wait.  I was rewarded about 10 minutes later when I got a look at her feet and was able to confirm the ringband and Dennis was rewarded another 10-15 minutes later when more snuggling occurred.  Now young Ivy is a cute little bird - he has features of his Dad (Trey) and features of his Mom (Princess).  He has a fuller darker cap than he used to but I couldn't see if he still has some of the lighter coloured features (from Princess) on his crown.  He has darker banding on his breast and belly - definitely from Princess.  Nice white chest though - again Trey's, but I couldn't really see if any of Princess' speckles are still there.  I hope not, but I'm biased.  :D 

Anyway, back to the story ... Ivy is a clever little darling too, he had food stashed away and he went to his pantry on The Diner and brought back a treat for the female.  It was amazing to see them side by side because she is a large female and he looks to be on the smaller side for a male - in other words, large size difference! Lots of talking and then they both retired to their corners - she with her lunch, him with a great deal of satisfaction.  Another bout of copulation then they both took off to The Bed & Breakfast and we were just able to see there with our binoculars and spotting scope.  Were glad about that since The B&B is where the nestbox is and where the pair of them spent most of last summer. 

Dennis and I decided to follow them over there but shortly after we arrived they headed back to The Diner again.  We naturally followed, and glad we were that we did.  They were both back there and we watched another bout of gift-giving, some more copulation, then they moved over to The Bleachers again.  The landed on The Bleachers and just as Dennis & I were hopping into our vehicle to follow, I heard & saw another peregrine zip by in the opposite direction.  Just as we were on our way a merlin bombed through and though I was sure I had heard a peregrine I wondered if maybe the wind had screwed up the sound and I'd been wrong.  So we arrived at The Bleachers and both Ivy and his lady were perched out of the wind but a bit closer to the ground and I was able to confirm his band number right before he bolted back toward The Diner and that is when I spotted the third peregrine.  The female then bolted from The Bleachers to join the melee and by size we realized that the new bird was a female and the battle was on!  The two females dove and hit one another and began flying and fighting their way back toward The Bleachers with Ivy pitching in.  Gave us an opportunity to get a great look at them as they came back past us again.  We hoped that they would come around The Bleachers again, but no such luck.  It got quiet, then the female returned and was none too pleased with our presence on the ground and she was making some quiet, but seriously defensive flights about 40-60 feet over our heads.  Ivy arrived after a few more minutes and rocketed through not much higher before they both returned to The Diner and then both headed off in the direction of The B&B.  And that's when we lost them.
« Last Edit: April 12, 2009, 14:18 by The Peregrine Chick »

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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« Reply #13 on: April 12, 2009, 14:13 »
Okay, still not telling you where the birds are nesting in West Winnipeg, so in order to tell you stories, I am giving landmarks (man-made structures of all  sorts) other names which I will use consistently from here on in.  There are three in this story  - The Diner, The Bed & Breakfast (The B&B) & The Bleachers ....
                                                                                                        

Offline carly

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« Reply #12 on: April 12, 2009, 13:47 »
You know this is the second time in the past few weeks, I've read about a falcon on a nest possibly being a breeders bird.  I can't remember the other place I read about it but it was somewhere in the US and was a female as well.  I know this will sound awful but all I could think was 'yay, she escaped and she's free to soar the skies now'..!

Glad to hear about Ivy too... :D

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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« Reply #11 on: April 12, 2009, 13:36 »
And no, you guys don't get to name her.  We need to figure out her personality some before we start to narrow down our options.  If we find out she had a name we can hyphenate it later on.

Offline The Peregrine Chick

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« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2009, 13:36 »
Okey, dokey.  Today (Easter Sunday) was a banner day for the WW birds.  Its a pair, same as last year.  Male is Ivy, Trey's son from the 2005 hatch from the nestbox on the Radisson.  He has been coming back to the City every year since he hatched.  In 2006 he nested unsuccessfully with his sister Lucy in WW.  The following year he hooked up with a different female but we could never get her band number - heck we could never get close enough to either of them to be absolutely positive in 2007!  In 2008 however Ivy returned after Princess and came to visit her at the Radisson, Trey "escorted" him out when he (Trey) returned a few days later.  This morning I was able to read his band clearly and its him.  The female will be a mystery, maybe for good, maybe just for awhile.  She doesnt' have bands per se.  She has a breeder's band or ringband on her right leg and nothing on her other leg.  Saw her here last year and got a very good look at her feet today.  Unfortunately, the only way we might be able to identify her is if we get very close AND if there are some identifying numbers on her band.  Something to look forward to.


Offline The Peregrine Chick

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« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2009, 23:34 »
I don't know why our birds are back faster, but I think the fact that they didn't successfully raise chicks last year may well have something to do with it.  I'm inclined to think that they were early returners and were on this side of the bands of snowstorms that pummelled Minnesota and the Dakotas (and southern Manitoba) and that they surfed their way into town right before they hit us here.  We have seen transmittered birds stall when they hit storms so there is no way that Trey and Princess flew through them. 

I have been keeping an eye on the hawkwatch results and there have been almost no peregrine sightings report - well there have been some but there have probably been 50x more kestrels and many more merlins than peregrines.  And we know that there are peregrines nesting (in some cases lots nesting) where these hawkwatches are located.

Trey and Princess were back early - and since they haven't nested yet, it looks like they may have taken a break before getting down to the business of courting, but time will tell if that is right.  If they lay their first egg about the 18th, then they will be nesting pretty much as per the norm.  I would be getting concerned that the birds weren't going to return if we didn't see anything by early May.  We have had them nest later - and Radisson in Edmonton did nest later last year - so we are far from running out of time!

Offline Liz

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« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2009, 21:35 »
No we aren't divulging where the birds are hanging out, not because we don't want to share but because it makes it difficult for the building managers to do their jobs.  If the birds decide to nest and if the building management & occupants don't have a problem become a focus of potentially intense public attention (which includes things like increased security and safety), then I will reconsider the Project's decision.

The Peregrine Chick
Well said, T.  I, for one, will not try to figure it out.