On Sunday 31st August, just four days after the disappearance of Xavier a very young male appeared around the tower.
He’s not even a year old yet, but clearly a strong hunter. After a nervous start he’s been bonding with Diamond in the box, but there been no matings or food-bringing yet, so I don’t really expect any offspring this year, although it’s not impossible if he gets his skates on.
We know that he is not Diamond’s son as we had no surviving fledgelings last year. He could be a distant relative of course as Diamond has had nine broods!
We’ve named him Gimbir. This came about by accident as I was looking for the Wiradjuri word for ‘spring’ as he arrived at the turn of the seasons….unfortunately, I realised later when I was checking the pronunciation, that Gimbir means the other sort of spring (water) or fountain!! We decided we liked the name anyway, so we kept it :). It’s pronounced as it’s spelt with hard ‘g’ and an ‘ir’ like the French ‘plaisir’ or ‘tier’. You can listen to the pronunciation on the Wiradjuri dictionary website.
As Diamond did not lay eggs with Xavier, which was a bit of surprise as they were still mating on the day he disappeared and she was due., I don’t know at this stage whether we will have offspring…or even if he will stay. If he doesn’t provide prey she could still reject him or he might be replaced by a more experienced male. He is old enough to reproduce and because of her long experience, offspring are a possibility if her fertile period is extend or retriggered. We shall have to wait and see. As the weeks go by, the chances will get slimmer, but there’s hope for next year of course.
Here is a video of their first, very jumpy pair-bonding session. They have had much calmer ones since: