Defending the nest box
April 14, 2015 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Doug Garbutt Reports:
On Mar. 26th we noticed a 3rd falcon on site. There was an aerial battle which saw the resident male (I thought) kind of reluctantly chase a juvie female from the site. Since then there have been more confrontations. On Apr. 11th a juvie banded female was in the nest box for about an hour while the two resident adults dive bombed her. She was confident and stayed her ground. The male landed in the box briefly & left, the juvie stayed. However, later both adults entered the box & the juvie left immediately. They then continued the battle in air. Today again there were 3 falcons on site. Who prevails remains to be seen. If the young falcon prevails, perhaps there is still hope for some success here this year since the resident female has a penchant for eating her own eggs. Fingers crossed!