!!! A New Female Arrives
May 26, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Frank Butson Reports:
Where to begin? How about at the beginning? On arrival at 730am, Bruce met me and explained what he had seen already Saturday morning. Janet was on the retaining wall of the roof of MEC #1(the nest building) and she had just been fed. As Janet seemed to have a crop already when Bruce arrived at 530am, he suggested she had been fed once already. Not long after my arrival, Janet dropped her meal and it came to rest just below where Sante found and ate it. From there the day becomes a blur. A new volunteer Herb joined me and by 1pm there wasn’t much different position wise than upon his arrival. Thanks for the help Herb it was much appreciated. We look forward to your invovlement at Canada Square. About 3pm things got very interesting!!
Zooming in a 3rd Peregrine joined the fray. The bird flew directly into the nestbox and Sante(the resident male) defended his box. Over the course of many hours,it was determined that the “extra” Peregrine was female. Sometimes she and Sante seemed to get along and be courting. Other times it seemed she was being a pest and she was being dealt with accordingly. There were chases where Sante struck at her,while at other times she would stay in the nestbox for hours. She was not aggressive towards the young Peregrine Janet. Towards the end of the evening Janet deliberately moved towards the new Mom looking for food. Prior to Janet being fed her evening meal, the new gal, kept harrassing Sante for food. Each time Sante flew with food,she would bug him for some. With great effort Sante would evade her keeping the meal for Janet.
A million things went through my head as to the origins of this bird. I was very tired and knew I wouldn’t remember what I had seen, so began calling my own phone and leaving me updates. My impression was that the bird was banded and it turns out she is. Tracy and I both observed a US Fish and Wildlife band and Tracy got the top colour of part of the recovery band. Tomorrows goings on will be watched very closely, with an eye to how the new female treats Janet, especially once she tries to fly again. Later in the day we will use a scope to try to figure out the full identity of new female.
The birds really made Tracy look smart. She had speculated that an intruder female may have caused the premature fledging of the other 2 chicks, leading to their deaths. While there really isn’t a way to determine this, it certainly seems plausible. Keep watching for more news.
