West Winnipeg - 2015 / Ty & Beatrix

[dupre501]

Since multiple birds have been spotted downtown, I have started checking this area. I haven't spotted any birdies yet.

TPC, will there be a nestbox put up on the B&B again?

[GCG]

I have also been checking the area and the old location as well. Any chance they might return to the old "neighborhood?

[The Peregrine Chick]

Not so much as a peep in West Winnipeg - today's snow just proved there have been no visitors - it remained pristine all day.

Last year Beatrix was the first to return here and she didn't arrive until March 27th.  (Princess was the first home on the 23rd in 2014).
So no one is late yet ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

TPC, will there be a nestbox put up on the B&B again?

Unlikely but we ask each year nonetheless.
Having said that, the new site has worked very well so far and, knock-on-wood, it will continue to do so.

[dupre501]

Thanks for the update TPC.

Just curious. It was definitely easier to watch the chicks at the new nest site.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Nothing this morning at this site then as Dennis and I were chatting we were wondering if the south winds would blow more birds into town and then we both logged onto the camera at West Winnipeg in time to see a bird, then another bird then a third bird.  Wind is blowing like stink but there are two females have a tiff over the nestbox.  Too windy for a real fight, we have seen all the birds get blown right off the building - without any help from their opponent.  So figure it will be mostly aerial flights and some careful sparring in the box.

We can see that both the females have bands, we think they are black but can't tell for sure, the light sucks as it is overcast.

More news as we have it ....

[The Peregrine Chick]

Went back to check the recorder and first sign of a bird was at 1402h today.  There must have been at least two because the bird on-camera was yapping at someone in the air above.  That bird had a black band on its left leg - same as Beatrix.  The second bird also has a dark band on its left leg but couldn't say for sure if it was all black or black and something else.  Wind is brutal at the moment, too much for the birds (they were getting blown right off their feet and off the box/building) and for cameras - both the webcams and Dennis and the Wowzers.  Next few days look to be pretty much the same (windy) so may take us a bit longer than usual to ID new arrivals at this site.  But these birds are back pretty much bang on time so we have 3-4 weeks before they begin nesting.

[The Peregrine Chick]

1858h

Bird is back - can't say if it is female 1 or female 2 - think female 1 though ...  another bird sped around the building a few minutes ago, no idea who it was though ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

1914h CDT

It has started to rain in West Winnipeg and the female at the box has decided to make it hard for anyone to get into her box.  She's moved out of the rain and into the box - another bird still flying past at semi-regular intervals ...

[The Peregrine Chick]

The West Winnipeg pair (identities not confirmed yet) are back again today and making themselves very comfortable at the nestsite.  Still haven't gotten a look at their bands but I'm checking the cams and Dennis is wandering around with Wowzer.  This way we can keep an eye on all the nestsites and help to determine if we are looking at the same birds or different ones.  In any case, the light is better (partly sunny here) and though the wind is up still, we are having a bit better luck getting a look at the birds both from the ground and via the web.

More news as we have it!

[Kinderchick]

Here's hoping the female PF is Beatrix. 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Here's hoping the female PF is Beatrix. 

The WW female has speckles on her breast like Princess but the speckles on the sides of her breast (think shoulder area on a person) are noticeable - haven't noticed shoulder speckles on Princess particularly but the WW female's ones seem more pronounced.  I was looking at photos and it seems that Beatrix's were like that - but it could be common among Princess' female offspring - Hurricane is the only one we see regularly and she's Princess/Trey, not Princess/Ivy.  We'll just have to see but this female seems pretty comfortable here and with the male here so there is at least a decent chance.  They have only been home for a couple of days, we'll see what the next week of observations brings!

[The Peregrine Chick]

Bird, not quite sure who was on the corner of the roof at the nestbox from 0642h to 1152h this morning.  We are going to have to clean off the cover on the camera, just enough build-up to make it tough to tell if there are speckles on a bird's breast !!  By size, I think it was the female, not a big female but looked too bulky to be a male, particularly if the male is Beau who is larger than our Manitoba males usually are.

[dupre501]

I missed seeing them this weekend. So after reading TPC's descriptions of the goings on, I raced out to see what I could find after work. Took my new lens, wanting to play with it.

Found one peregrine on the Diner. Discovered if I moved around a little I could get both the peregrine and moon in my shot. So I was out there merrily clicking away, trying to get artistic, when the peregrine decided to do a little shifting. 1) Here, look at my right leg it has a silver band on it. 2) & 3) Shift and stretch left leg down, oh look, see my nice black leg band. I'll show you the rivet attachment and maybe a "4". 4) I moved a little closer, but by now she has settled back into position and just looks at me over her shoulder. Still learning how much moving around a little changes the light in the pictures.

[dupre501]

Let's see if we can do a close-up