April 06, 2014 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:
Good morning,
Stopped at the bridge this morning around 8:45 and Voltaire was down in the nest tray. After about 10 minutes, she moved to the edge of the tray and Freddie landed on the western uppermost ledge with a fresh kill. He cleaned the carcass and brought it in next to the nest tray. Voltaire flew out and has been perched on the pipe under the bridge ever since. Freddie stayed next to the nest for a few minutes and then flew to Voltaire and copulated. He returned to the nest and sat facing into the nest for about 10 minutes before returning to Voltaire for another round of copulation. Now is on the steeple, perhaps praying for strong offspring.
After another 10 minutes or so on the steeple, Freddie flew into the nest and sat in the tray. He was clucking a lot and Voltaire remained on the pipe. Shortly after, he flew around and returned to Voltaire for another pairing and then returned to the steeple.
Freddie flew off towards the river and Voltaire has been perched on the pipe in the sunshine. She has been facing me for a while and while I don’t know Peregrine reproductive anatomy, it sure looks like there is a couple of egg shape protuberances at the top of her breast area. Can’t seem to find anything online about where the eggs emerge from but sure looks like egg formations there.
Voltaire returned to the nest for a while again and Freddie came back with more food. He’s been a very busy bird this morning.
It’s 11:30 now and I’m going to get warmed up and on with the day.
Cheers,
Marilyn