Here are some more hand-picked video clips for our peregrine falcon eyases. They’re now about 34-35 days old and becoming extremely restless, all the time wanting to test out their strengthening wings and legs. Mischief comes in the form of anything that looks like it can be picked up and torn apart, and indeed there are some morsels hidden under the piles of loose feathers, but it doesn’t take long to clear some space. One flap and the world turns in to a feather/snow dome!
Early morning exercises for the three young chicks.
The chicks testing their wings and legs.
Bordeom (and hair-raising antics) beginning to show in the “Concrete Hilton”.
Here’s how peregrine falcon chicks chill out!
Mischievous chicks attacking anything not nailed down.
Peregrine falcon chicks at play.
It’s only 4-6 days now (and hopefully no earlier!) before these three birds attempt to make their leap of faith, from 50m up in the air, with a tile roof and a grassy lawn below them. We’re on “fledge-watch” from now on as they’re certainly testing the boundaries already in spending time flapping and walking along the outside of the ledge. When they leave we’ll decide on an individual basis whether they’ll need a helping hand. Our own “constitution” relates that there is no intervention, but if they end up in a situation where humans may become involved then we’ll probably step in.
The future
Thankyou to everyone who’s been commenting and emailing in with ideas and suggestions for the Project’s future. We have a lot to discuss now, and with the quiet season just a month or two away there’s plenty of work and research to be put in now. Amongst the topics to discuss are the likes of a banding program (politics involved here), a new external ledge design, camera angles, streaming software upgrades, local assistance to the current Project team, and generally where the Project goes from here. We’re mostly restricted by current voluntary funding, along with university and campus rules & regulations, and local animal ethics issues to get past, but now that we’re established with a set of fantastic hardware and software we can look positively to a future with Bula and Diamond and their offspring.
My year 1/2 class and I are hooked. We often have a quick look, and today we had a bit of time to spare and they asked to check in. We were literally screaming at the screen as we thought Wagal was about to knock Tardy off the ledge. Usually they play in the park near us after school but I heard one little girl say to her mum “we have to get home, they are about to fly” … and mum was like “oh let’s go!!” … I have a few converts and I’ve had to pay an extra $60 for bandwidth this month so I can get my weekend viewing. I can’t wait for them to take off.. but not before my kid can see them next Monday.
Oh gosh, 6.34pm .. I bet Sue saw it!! Tumbler appeared to drop down dead, and Wagal gave her a swift kick or two til she got up!! .. Do we have bets on who will fledge first? To me Tardy has been the most adventurous and ready to go, but Tumbler has been flapping on the edge today and really getting big. I have to say she doesn’t seem to get on the ledge very easily. This morning she backed onto it and almost fell out. We got a view of her really wide wing span today. I’m worried though that Wagal seems so clumsy that she’s just going to fall out. So while my fingers are crossed for little Tardy, my money is on Tumbler.
All three on the ledge as we speak.
I would love to see an outer deck added to this nestbox. With three eyases, there is not much room inside the nestbox to spread and test their wings. I am so afraid that one or all of them will be taken by a gust of wind like little Aspro was.
Dee, I missed it!!!!! AAaaargh! My classes have also been fascinated by the “antics in the eyrie”. The chicks really do seem to have quite distinct personalities, and the “nippy” behaviour has been really interesting to watch. I wondered how long it would be before one of the big chicks decided to get up on the ledge. If we’re laying bets, I think Tardy will be the first flier. Don’t you love the way, at certain times of the day, they all flop down and rest their little heads on the ledge? I also love how, when they spot an approaching meal, they start calling and backing away from the ledge (very sensible!) Scott, thanks for the latest videos – when the chicks have fledged and falcon cam is quiet, we can keep coming back to the videos for a falcon fix.
Hi all,
Thanks so much for your exciting comments and observations for these little critters. They have us on edge (pun intended) and every time they step over the ledge, then re-balance, it’s heart-stopping. By the looks of their feathers they’re still 2-3 days from fledging but sillier things have happened before. They’ll be watched right over the weekend and if anything eventuates we’ll be out there with capture towel and camera! Hopefully commonsense will prevail and they’ll stay up there for another couple of days to amuse us (it’s in their media contract!!) before chancing their luck. A lot depends on how much, if any, food is brought in. About this time the adults start leaving food outside in the trees to entice the youngsters to fledge…. better them than me! Keep watching…
Will people be watching the feed 24/7?? Is there some kind of contact number, etc that we can notify if we see a fledge?
Hi Dee,
We have Cilla back from this weekend onwards, and between the two of us we shouldn’t be too far away from any fledgings shortly. During the week there are lots of people around campus who have been advised by email to keep a look out for any stray peregrine chicks. If anyone sees a fledging before we do please just yell a comment on the website and we’ll pick it up pretty quickly. Thanks to all for keeping an eye on these chicks; nervous times!
The chicks seem fascinated by the movements of their parents. Are Diamond & Bula doing aerobatic displays for the benefit of the chicks? Every so often I see three little heads tracking parental movement.
I really thought Tardy was going to lift off about half an hour ago. When he does his flapping on the ledge he really seems to be feeling the way the air moves under his wings, whereas Tumbler’s flapping is more likely to be coupled with running leaps around the nest. I suppose both approaches make sense… although I hope Tardy doesn’t practise his flapping in too strong a breeze!
Wow – Tardy is pulling out all the stops to be ‘annoying little brother of 2015’ at the moment. In the past half hour he’s kicked one of his sisters in the face for pinching the bit of food he was hopping around with AND tried to pull BOTH of the bigger chicks off the ledge and back into the nest by grabbing their wings and tugging. This is GREAT viewing!