Bali bolts

As predicted, Bali went first and flew amazingly well, right over the eucaltyp trees, then seems to swing over to the right over the pine shelterbelt

Bali is off – brilliant flight

              VIDEO  Bali bolts for the trees

You have to look very closely to see Bali against the eucalypt trees

There has been almost nothing to eat all day for these birds and this seems to be a deliberate ploy to encourage fledging.  There is plenty of prey around at the moment as the young starlings are out and about and very vulnerable (and probably tastier than those stringy adults.

Just an hour earlier, the two of them were interacting on the ledge in a way that gave me a feeling that something was going to happen – either a nice plump pigeon was going to arise OR one of them was going to go.

Bored and hungry

                                                                                                     VIDEO Bored peregrine eyases

and hungry

It’s funny because I have my good camera with me today and was going to try and get a snap of the two of them on the ledge…..but I had a fall on the trail at Mt. Canobolas, so came back to work early to lick my wounds, but …aha.. too late

43 thoughts

  1. Thanks for the pics Cilla. I downloaded your video but my screen is blank when it plays? I think this happened to me last year so it may be my computer or provider or whatever, lol.

  2. And about an hour later, look who arrives in the box with the nice juicy pigeon! All for Marragaay.

    Have no fear, the parents will know where Bali is, if not immediately, very soon, and will keep him fed.

  3. Claire, the video worked for me. The parent who made the delivery certainly knew something was up. It seemed like he looked around for the other hungry mouth. Now we need to wait for Marragaay’s turn.

  4. To Claire, the videos don’t work on my own laptop either, although I get sound. I’m not nerdy enough to help, I’m afraid. This ‘avi’ format seems to work for most people (better than my alternatives).

    I’ll be leaving for home in about an hour, so I’ll have a scout around. Sometimes the magpies or other birds will make a fuss when they find a raptor in their midst – otherwise it’s bit like a needle in a haystack. But at least I’m fairly sure he’s not in the car park!

    I’ll also send out an alert to staff (most students have gone) to keep an eye out for the youngsters.

  5. Haa .. sorry I got excited there for a moment.. the screen went funny and I thought she left. I checked nest cam and she wasn’t there.. but then it “caught up” and like magic she popped back onto the screen!

  6. You got me worried for a minute as I have it live and she’s still very much there, although clearly keen to go unlike one of her sisters last year, who stayed for another week from memory, after the first fledge.

    I’m trying to review a paper on swampy meadows and this is very distracting!

  7. Thanks for the video, Cilla! I missed the live event – what a beautiful fledge – no hesitation whatsoever! Nice one, Bali.

  8. I’ve given up work!. Am going to have a drive and walk around to see if I can see Bali. Night night.

    Will be in late tomorrow, so be interesting to see if anyone is left in the box.

  9. There’s something so sad about a little falcon all alone on the ledge…

    Hope you didn’t do too much damage when you fell, Cilla. Ouch!

  10. Marragaay looks as if she’s settling in for the night. Me too. Very sore ribs, hand and nose …might put paid to my guitar for a few days.

    I had a good luck around. No sign of Bali, but he really flew quite a long way, so might take a few days to find his way back. Did take some snaps of the remaining three on the ledge, which I’ll put up later if any good. Light wasn’t much chop.

  11. I thought that Marragaay had flown during a freeze, but refreshing the nestcam shows her safely tucked in a back corner, asleep probably 🙂

  12. Thank you so much Scylla, I had no problem viewing Cilla’s video in your post here. Cilla, I think it must be the “avi” format that I can’t get. What a deliberate and confident fledge!

  13. How did that happen? I haven’t left the computer, but Marragaay seems to have disappeared… or is there a blind spot in the box? 6.14 she dashed into the back right corner of the box and didn’t reappear. I switched to nest cam and couldn;t see her there either. Somehow in the lag between cameras of a minute or two, she seems to have just disappeared…… Did anybody see?

  14. 6:21 am local time, I can’t see Marragaay in the nest. Or is it the feather pile in the back corner ? Sun is just on it, hard to see if she is there.

  15. I’m the same with you Sue, I was watching most of the time while writing reports. I just managed to get the feed back and could see her. I went to brush my teeth and came back and she wasn’t there.. I thought the pile of feathers were her for the time being. She’s a sneaky spirit gone!

  16. Cilla’s software will have captured it, but I think she said she wouldn’t be in till late today, so we’ll have to wait for the mystery to be solved. Gee, Marragaay, great timing!

    Cilla – if you’re reading this – hope you’re not too stiff and sore this morning.

  17. I only just caught up with all the post/replies. Sorry to hear about your fall Cilla, hope you’re feeling better today.

  18. BTW, given that it’s unlikely we’ll see either eyas in the scrape any more, I’m switching off my recorders.

    I shall keep in touch and if Cilla posts videos that I can upload to YouTube to ease viewing, I’ll do that, if no objections 🙂

    How lucky we have been, cam problems apart, with no serious worries except for the unhatched egg. Thank you, Diamond and Xavier and the CSU team, especially Cilla for fitting us into her very crowded schedule.

  19. Scylla – thanks heaps for all your snaps and updates – they made such a difference, especially when the cams were being so uncooperative!

    *sigh* How on earth are we going to fill our days now? *grin*

  20. Aha, well there’s plenty more to do…..I have five years’ worth of images of prey remains to sort and categorise for starters.

    In less than half instances have I been able to clearly identify the species. I was going to have another go at these (I have a lot more experience in looking for key characteristics) at getting at least to family level. Plus I was thinking of getting some type of image inhancer and/or at least trying to sort the prey by size, especially if the ribcage is visible, which is often the case.

    And if SCott is not available, I’ll ask my other half if he’ll do my morning chores and come into uni early as I’m not due in town till 10. But he’s going to be hard to wake…he’s definitely not an early riser!

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