Bird Cams Around the World

This is when I first spotted her...



And this is when she started checking out the perimeter of the nest box. Surprisingly, she's still at it now!

She's been in this corner of the box for a while now.

Wow - I just got caught up on today's posts. It was wonderful to hear that Red Girl was spotted soaring with another falcon on more than one occasion today. Thanks so much, Kim and Greg, for keeping watch and letting us know what you saw. It sure sounds like Red Girl has found a potential new mate.

here is the sideshow of her working the corners

This morning I was thinking the same thing, that it looked like she was looking around for a spot to make a new scrape. I didn't say anything because I didn't think she'd really be doing that.

When I talked to Craig earlier he mentioned possibly giving her a chick from another nest but I think I'm going to suggest that maybe he just take her eggs instead. As much as I'd love to have a chick or two, I think Red Girl's mind is elsewhere!

It's all up to Craig of course!

She finally settled down on the eggs - but I'm wondering how long she'll actually stay.

this is typical, catwoman. I am surprised she stayed on eggs as long as she did.

She wants to stay with them, instinct tells her too, but she also knows she cannot do it alone

She is on eggs now. and maybe having another falcon around has rejuvenated her.( but I doubt these eggs will hatch now)

At our site last year , after male went missing, biologists collected eggs and put in dummies,
(Just in case she attracted another male.) She eventually did but too late. Red has attracted one quite quickly.
She eventually left the dummy eggs completely. I was not down there all the time but spent a lot of my time observing. Her roost was not far from the eggs. she did visit occasionally after.
the plan was that if she stayed with dummy eggs and attracted a new male they would put chicks into nest. They incubated her eggs. but she was out of that time in her cycle and it was too late.

her instinct is telling her to incubate, but I do believe she is thinking about a new scrape, from her actions earlier. A young female and I think a bit confused.

If she really has attracted a male , he may help her with a chick.

Bev - Thanks for the slide show. That really was something to watch live as she checked out every corner and side of the nest box.

one thing I have learned from our biologists is, once you think you have them figured out, they do something different.

a continual learning experience

look at Gulf nest,
the new female is incubating old eggs of resident female with her new eggs. will be eintersting to see how that plays out. They will be hatching any day now.

"Do any of you know what is typical behavior of a female who has lost her mate? I know that if a female is lost, the eggs/chicks are usually abandoned, but I can't think of any nests where the male was lost & there were eggs in the nest."

Derek Ratcliffe (The Peregrine Falcon, 1980, p. 224) notes a case Britain where the brooding female was shot; the male got a new female; the male was lost and the female remated, "so that a pair of foster-parents was left in charge of the eggs."

I think that Saturday morning without a pip is when I despair of these eggs and start hoping that there is time for the new pair to start over.

LOL!!! Bring him on Red Girl! :)

We also had in our area, a scenario where there were eggs,(old female, new male) and the returning male, came back late. He fought the new male and won. He then went on to help take care of eggs and raise the young.
Now at some sites that does not work, but it did here.
this is all documented by our biologists.
I do not jsut pull these things out of a hat.

I think we have some ground rules, when watching peregrines, but I think ,like people, they have their own way for handling things.
but our biologists here have done a lot of fostering .

This information is in answer to some questions on our blog. I thought it might be of interest. I'm bummed to see that he (Anthony Gonzon of DNREC) says it's too late for her to renest...

"If eggs are not viable, what do falcons typically do with the eggs? Although the status of the eggs for this falcon is not yet known, typically, the adults will either leave them or remove them. In many cases where nests are being closely monitored or managed, non-viable eggs may be removed by appropriate personnel with required federal and state permits for contaminant examination after it is certain that they will not hatch.

Is it too late in the season for her to start over (assuming she finds a willing mate)? It is almost certainly too late for renesting. Typically, renesting would occur if the eggs were lost within the first 14 days of incubation. In this case they have gone nearly through the entire incubation phase and, if the eggs are not viable, it would result in a failed attempt for this year.

Are there chances of her abandoning the nest entirely (perhaps to search for a new mate/location)? This is always a possibility, but unlikely given the suitable nesting location. The greatest challenge for the female will be finding a new mate. If the recently-observed “other” falcon is a male then she has likely already found a new mate. If not, Craig Koppie (USFWS biologist) has explained to me that it will be more difficult for her. However, in the unlikely event that she abandons the site, it is also likely the other falcon currently being observed near the Brandywine Building would take up residence and potentially attract a new mate this coming fall/winter."