21 thoughts

  1. It’s looking quite breezy, on and off out there today. How windy is too windy for take-off for a first-time flier? I suppose it’s getting on towards evening too – do chicks fledge at the end of the day, or do you think they know there aren’t lots of daylight hours left? How long can Tumbler delay her maiden flight? Do falcon parents give up parenting chicks who overstay? So many things I’d like to know! My whole school is now following the Tumbler saga…

  2. Dee, the galah may have winked but was that a blue ring from an ibis that was brought to the eyases earlier this week? The feet were enormous.
    Sue, the parents will not abandon their chick. Some take a longer time to fledge. Boys usually leave the nest before girls & Tumbler just needs time to feel confident.

  3. Thanks Carolyn – I find it so touching that the chicks just take off, no fanfare. In my head I have a soundtrack of things like heartbeat, breathing rate etc (based on my own experiences of stuff like having a go at skydiving, or riding a motorbike). I’d LOVE to know their ‘vital signs’ at fledging time.

  4. Another thing that’s very much on my mind is the amazing parenting load at the moment for Diamond and Bula. They’re feeding themselves as well as the chicks, and keeping track of two fledglings as well as feeding little Tumbler and trying to encourage her to take the giant leap. What amazing multi-taskers they must be. I’m in awe of these beautiful birds.

  5. Oh you’re good Sue, I was so excited to watch my first fledge that I looked at my computer time instead. (I seem to be a bit behind on the feed).

    Guess now we just have to have galah cam for a while.

  6. I didn’t quite get the time right, but that’s what it said by the time my brain actually registered it well enough to look at the clock. So excited (and relieved! Can get on with my day now, knowing she’s on her journey. Gosh, this has been exciting.

  7. I’m glad she went when she did. Selfishly I couldn’t devote any more hours to them this week. I have reports to do. My class will be a little sad today knowing there’s no more falcons to watch. Though we have had the occasional peep onto the real Galah Cam site.

  8. Good girl Tumbler! So glad you caught her fledging, Sue. It’s a site to see. This has been a wonderful year at the Concrete Hilton. Kudos to Diamond & Bula. Stay safe little ones.

  9. so Tumbler got off well then! im so happy for those who got to watch her fledge! Carolyn i agree with you- it has been a wonderful year!

  10. I sent the video to Scott to load. Looked good. I think they usually fledge in the early morning, but not always of course.

    Next week, I’ll go up the tower and retrieve the band. Probably racing pigeon, but ibis are not unknown as prey. Well spotted about the feet, but they also have huge long legs that I didn’t notice.

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