A late afternoon stroll in the park today revealed no less than five peregrines within easy reach of each other. The photos are not much chop, but I’m pretty sure Tardy is the one in the tree fork bottom left. One sister is centre top and the other is bottom right, partly hidden.
I also took one a bit closer of Tardy and one of the sisters, which shows off the size difference a bit better.
And the parents were not far away, keeping a watchful eye (and noisy scold). All three youngsters took to the wing for brief flights when I was photographing them, but they (the parents) didn’t budge.
I spent today going through the tapes since the last fledge and both parents have been visiting the box regularly, cleaning up some of the debris (Diamond took the galah head…) with Diamond over-nighting most nights. She even brought in some prey recently (pigeon), which seems a bit odd, but perhaps they will visit the box again fairly soon. Previous fledgelings have used the box once they start hunting.
So I guess we are all feeling a lot better now!
I can’t tell you how relieved I am, Cilla! Thank you so much for this most wonderful update.
Oh yes .. it’s been a pretty awful week around here but we have had bits of good news here and there today … and Tardy’s return is one of them 😀
So so happy to hear the young ones are all okay, that boy had me worried. Don’t they look wonderful sitting in the tree together?
Oh Cilla, thank you so much! Whew, the sense of relief I feel is awesome.
Oh, that’s wonderful news! And the photo of the three siblings together in the tree is just lovely.
Great news! Such a relief to have all three youngsters confirmed 🙂
That’s wonderful! Thanks so much for letting us know and sharing the photos with us. It’s great to have such a successful season after the heartbreak last year. Many thanks to you and Scott 🙂
beautiful photos Cilla! i got a huge smile seeing all 3 siblings together. they all look healthy and well fed. and thank you Tardy for putting in an appearance- i know you’ve been busy observing everything LOL
I suspect he has been around all this time, but just very well camouflaged, but I’ll take another walk along the pines when I get a minute just to test Diamond and see if she still follows me even though we know for sure Tardy is safely in the park.
The mystery of Tardy is solved! Great photos of the three Musketeers. These new peregrine parents & their precocious fledglings have made this a year to remember. Thank you Cilla & Scott for all you do.
Have you had a chance to do your experiment, Cilla?
Experiment? I’m not sure what you mean….
As per your earlier comment, Cilla – was just wondering whether you’d been able to ‘test’ Diamond, walking along the pines to see whether she followed, despite Tardy being safely in the park.
Who’s that in the nest right now? Seems smaller than Diamond but not as muscular looking as Bula .. but I’m only seeing them from the behind at the moment.
I’m fairly certain the youngsters have not visited the box since their fledging (and may not). they are all flying well now, so it’s still a possibility!