bellPeter and I spent over 2.5 hours here today.
this is what we saw. When we got there , there was a falcon on ledge ( first opening southeast)
It was either cleaning talons or eating, not sure which. Peter is sure he saw black bands and we believe it was the female.
I should have written down times but am a air head these days
But I would say about an hour later, maybe more, A falcon ( smaller) flew in quickly to 2nd ledge opening. It did nto stay long and off it flew southeast, Where, we could not see because of buildings. I did walk around and try and figure out where. Saw no one on building where they went last year.
I walked around all of Bell, not a great place to be
After getting back to where Peter was, we waited. I was not leaving till i saw falcons come back. And come back they did.the male flew into ledge opening quickly. He was in there for about 10 or fifteen minutes.
but while he was in there, the female flew to top of Bell , north east corner. I just knew what was going to happen and we were prepared. ( yup , we are feeling like peeping Toms ). When the male came out he flew around quickly and got higher and higher. And yes, they canoodled.
WE have never seen one here before.
After he flew off , the female remained there for a bit. They usually do. We did not wait around as it was warm and we had the dogs and Peter needed to leave.( and yes, we had snacks with us )
So this is what we know
1.
March22we had 2 as per cams , Big red and an unbanded female . sh e stole prey from Big REd
2.
MArch24we had a black banded female, bonding with Big REd.
Prey was taken to her. We were almost sure it was E4 by appearance and movements etc.
3
.march 25 no camsvery frustrating. it said action was started but they did not put it back up.
This is when we need cams.
4.
March27Peter and I were down in area and watched for a bit.
we saw one flying by library : ?Eventually one came to ledge but only stayed 5 minutes
Then we had 2 flying to bell, one on ledge , then another. One flew off and one remained and then poof. It was either inside or flew off.
Because we do have lives we could stay no longer.
So is there a territorial issue, do we have 2 committed. No way to know without cams
5.
april3We went back down for over an hour.
one was on ledge and inside ,the whole time we were there.
-one flew onto ledge and stayed about 45 minutes
WE think they are bonded but....
6.
april 17so after today, if we have eggs , not full incubation yet. If we do not, they should be coming.
Do we still have big REd and who we think is E4. who knows but we have 2
this is why , it is so important that if cams are available, they are up before falcons come back.
I will have pciutres of today soon. Remember I do not have one of those bazooka cameras