Subject: [Tweeters] snofalls peregrine update
Date: Mar 22 17:33:27 2011
From: dave templeton - crazydave65 at gmail.com


hi:

my notes from this afternoon:

stopped by the falls this afternoon shortly after 1300. falcon was brooding
very tightly. never got off eggs to look at them. 1445 female becomes
agitated and leaves scrape. three eggs revealed, perhaps four, but three
for certain. falcon perches on branch near scrape. 1455 -1500 falcon
remains on perch. at about 1500 hen leaves perch and pursues tiercel to pt
near falcon point observation area (puget sound energy terminology). food
transfer appears to be made. hen lands on branch and bends over something
as if feeding. follow flight of male presuming he will go to scrape, but he
lands on perch at or near place hen previously was. after a couple minutes
finally locate falcon who is perching on another branch further away. does
not appear to be eating. after about 5 minutes lose sight of both birds.
female finally returns to scrape a few minutes before 1600. off eggs for a
bit over an hour. hen immediately resumes brooding.

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i don't know if it's common for an egg-laying bird to brood tight and then
leave the nest for over an hour in cool weather. in other years this bird
often left the eggs when there were only two or three, but once she got to
four and started sitting she did so with only short breaks, ten or fifteen
minutes max. also, in past years, the male was always desperate to brood
eggs, but this year, at least this early in process, he was totally
uninterested in the eggs and left for other places when the female did.

don't know what any of this means for the future of the clutch, but for what
it's worth, there it is.

regards,

t

--
dave templeton
fall city, wa

crazydave65atgmaildaughtcom

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today; it's already tomorrow
in Australia." Charles Schultz
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