Orange NSW 5:17 Diamond & Xavier

5:17 Diamond on the ledge, Xavier arrives.
5:17 Diamond leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

De Mortel 30 Dec 9:30 Man & Vrouw

playlist Slechtvalken/Falcon Peregrines De Mortel 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 11:04 Man

Man met volle krop.



playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 27 Dec 20:51 Xavier & Diamond

20:51 Xavier arrives, followed by Diamond.
20:55 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:30 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 13:31 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 12:48 Xavier plucks a tail feather

12:48 Xavier plucks a feather out of his tail.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 9:28 Luidruchtige man kort op bezoek

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:32 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 5:43 Diamond & Xavier

5:21 Diamond on the ledge.
5:21 Xavier flies by several times.
5:43 Xavier flies by.
5:43 Xavier arrives.
5:43 Diamond leaves.
5:46 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 15:37 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW Diamond snoozes through electrical storm

Diamond snoozes through electrical storm

Published 24 December, 2016 | By Cilla Kinross

We had a major storm last night. it went on and on, lightning all around for what seemed like an hour – quite a light show. Amazingly we didn’t lose power, either at home or work, but the storm seems to have damaged my internet wireless received at home (which is only 4 km as the crow flies from the uni).

Meanwhile… Diamond snoozed on oblivious, despite the campus being lit up as if at noon. And very heavy rain for an hour or so.

VIDEO 20161224 Xmas Eve lightning


Spare a thought for Xavier and the babies. There is supposed to be more today, but we seemed to have been spared the worst of it. Xavier has been in and out of the box all day, so none the worse for this.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Cilla



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 9:11 Xavier in the box

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 10:06 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:25 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 16:19 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 15:05 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

De Mortel 8:27 Valk in de kast

playlist Slechtvalken/Falcon Peregrines De Mortel 2016

Orange NSW 22 dec 21:33 Diamond arrives

21:32 Xavier on the ledge.
21:33 Diamond arrives, Xavier leaves.



Comparison with last year

Published 23 December, 2016 | By Cilla Kinross

While sorting through previous years’ notebooks to find a suitably tidy set of entries to send to Chris and Sue, I looked up last year’s post-fledging sightings around the box and found that there was a certain similarity up until mid-December.

The fledglings were Tumbler, Walga (females) and Tardy (male, always last to do anything, but actually first to leave). They fledged mid-November (16-18th, days 39-41). The pattern was similar to last year, after a week or so of chaos and missing birds, all 3 juveniles assembled in the ‘park’ opposite the roost with the parents by 25th November. After a week or so they then moved to the large dead tree on the farm, a few hundred metres away (the same one as this year). The birds were seen frequently in and around the campus. On 15th December juvenile female arrived in the box on 15th December and stayed for a few hours.

Both male and female restarted to prepare the scrape in December, although not with much vigour. Prey was occasionally stashed in the box.

On 5th January, a juvenile tried to land in the box, but Diamond chased it off. And you might be interested to know that I was still getting records of juvenile flypasts (once or twice weekly) until 13th February. The adult would pursue it, or vice versa.

In previous years I’ve also noticed that juveniles are here for 6-8 weeks after fledging, so, it is disappointing to have so few sightings of our trio this year. I’ve looked for them almost daily without any luck after such a short post-fledging period (3-4 weeks) and my spies around campus have also come up with nothing. There was a rainstorm the night before they ‘disappeared’ but I really don’t think that would have been a major problem (and not for all three at once). Anyway, I haven’t given up on finding them and will let you know as soon as do. But I’ll be away 5-15 Jan, so there’ll be fewer updates from now on.

Anyway, our couple live on doing all the normal peregrine couple things, with little prey coming into the box now, although both arrive with red tootsies or chest, obvious signs of recent kills.

Sometimes Diamond has been absent at night, or arrived very late (eg at one in the morning) and last night at 9.30 pm, suggesting gently to Xavier that he vacates the premises. They must be able to see and fly well in the pitch dark. I’ve read that they occasionally hunt at night, but I don’t have any evidence of that with our birds.

20161222 night swap


All the best for Christmas and the New Year and thanks for all your very interesting comments over the breeding season.

Cilla



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:11 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 16:56 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 14:40 Man

Man in de kast, vrouw in de lucht.



playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 20:30 Diamond arrives, Xavier flies by

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20 Dec 5:18 Diamond & Xavier

5:17 Diamond on the ledge.
5:18 Xavier arrives.
5:18 Diamond leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20:41 Diamond arrives

20:41 Diamond arrives.
20:41 Xavier flies by.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

De Mortel 8:34 Valk in de kast

playlist Slechtvalken/Falcon Peregrines De Mortel 2016

Orange NSW 8:17 Xavier & Diamond

8:08 Xavier on the ledge.
8:17 Diamond arrives and leaves with leftovers.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 5:51 Xavier leaves with prey

5:04 Diamond leaves without prey.
5:16 Xavier arrives.
5:22 Xavier starts eating the prey.
5:51 Xavier leaves with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20:20 Diamond with a large prey

20:20 Xavier flies by, Diamond arrives with a large prey.
20:26 Diamond leaves without prey.
20:27 Xavier arrives.
20:28 Xavier leaves.
20:34 Diamond arrives.
20:38 Diamond starts eating the prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 15 Dec 2016 Sound video from Cilla Kinross

Bonding and scraping



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20:43 Xavier & Diamond

20:42 Xavier on the ledge.
20:43 Diamond arrives.
20:47 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 16:55 Man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 20:35 Xavier & Diamond

20:35 Xavier on the ledge, Diamond arrives.
20:38 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Cilla Kinross says:
14 December, 2016 at 5:35 pm

Apologies for lack of updates. I’ve had a busy week & week-end and am still trying to catch up and should be able to do a summary on Friday (have to go to Dubbo tomorrow to try and prevent reductions to the environmental flows of our main river, Murray Darling).

I’ve looked every day for youngsters without success, but I’m confident they are doing fine, just difficult to find! Some storms and rain showers are forecast for the next few days.

Orange NSW 8:54 Xavier & Diamond

8:53 Xavier on the ledge.
8:54 Diamond arrives.
9:00 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 14 Dec 5:13 Diamond & Xavier

5:09 Diamond on the ledge.
5:13 Xavier arrives.
5:14 Diamond leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 14 Dec 0:43 Diamond arrives

0:43 Diamond arrives, strange landing.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 7:34 Xavier with prey

5:21 Xavier arrives, Diamond was not in the box last night.
5:37 Xavier leaves.
7:34 Xavier arrives with prey.
7:42 Xavier leaves with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:10 Man & Vrouw

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:10 Man & Vrouw

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 10:15 Diamond & Xavier having good times

10:06 Diamond on the ledge.
10:15 Xavier arrives.
10:38 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 19:46 Xavier & Diamond

19:14 Xavier on the ledge.
19:23 Xavier leaves.
19:42 Xavier arrives.
19:43 Xavier leaves.
19:44 Xavier arrives.
19:45 Xavier leaves, Diamond follows him outside.
19:46 Xavier arrives, Diamond arrives.
19:49 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:08 Juveniel

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

De Mortel 8:28 Valk in de kast

playlist Slechtvalken/Falcon Peregrines De Mortel 2016

Orange NSW 19:54 Xavier & Diamond

A lot of freeze in the ledge-video.
19:14 Xavier arrives.
19:54 Diamond arrives.
19:55 Xavier leaves.
21:41 A lot of wind, Diamond goes into the box.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:15 Juveniel

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 8 Dec 5:07 Diamond & Xavier

5:06 Diamond on the ledge.
5:07 Xavier arrives.
5:09 Diamond leaves.
5:32 Xavier leaves.
5:33 Xavier arrives.
5:45 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 16:05 Cilla Kinross cleans the box

16:05 Cilla Kinross cleans the box and puts new stones in.
19:34 Xavier on the ledge, Diamond flies by.
19:51 Xavier leaves and returns.
19:53 Xavier leaves.
20:08 Diamond arrives.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW Pere juveniles 1 kestrels 2

Published 7 December, 2016 | By Cilla Kinross Pere juveniles 1 kestrels 2

On Friday evening I found a lone juvenile (probably Vim) on their dead tree; no sign of the others.


Juvenile snoozing in late afternoon sun





Nearby was a pair of Australian (=Nankeen) Kestrels, so I amused myself trying to photograph them (no sign of juveniles, alas)


Cheeky kestrels hunting near peregrine roost tree



I also got better photo of the yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora) one of Australia’s most beautiful trees (in my mind, at least) and excellent honey trees.


yellow box near roost tree



I haven’t had a chance to get back out there until today, but couldn’t find any trace of them, although Xavier is visiting regularly to the box and Diamond is there overnight. And there are occasions when they get together. Here Xavier is preparing a scrape (which is gone now as I cleaned the box today, so he might get a bit of surprise when he gets back).


Xavier getting ready for next year (a bit early!)





I’ll go out again this evening and see if I can find them. I don’t think they will have gone yet. Juveniles are usually around for a month at least. I think they have just moved to another tree, perhaps a bit further away. Diamond is away all day, so appears to be much of the supervision.

I’ll also go back up and do a better job of cleaning the cameras!

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 7 dec 5:18 Diamond & Xavier

5:12 Diamond on the ledge.
5:18 Xavier arrives, Diamond leaves.
5:21 Xavier leaves and returns.
5:34 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 19:48 Xavier & Diamond

19:43 Xavier arrives.
19:48 Diamond arrives.
19:54 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

De Mortel 8:03 Man en vrouw

playlist Slechtvalken/Falcon Peregrines De Mortel 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:00 Juveniel

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 6 dec 5:46 Diamond & Xavier

5:24 Diamond on the ledge. 5:29 Xavier flies by.
5:46 Xavier arrives, Diamond leaves.
6:29 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 10:35 Man & Juveniel

Juveniel jaagt de man uit de kast.



playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

De Mortel 8:33 Man en vrouw

playlist Slechtvalken/Falcon Peregrines De Mortel 2016

Orange NSW 5 dec 5:23 Diamond leaves

5:23 Xavier flies by, Diamond leaves.
5:23 Xavier arrives.
5:49 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 16:20 Man in beeld

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 15:39 Man in beeld

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 20:29 Xavier & Diamond

20:29 Xavier on the ledge, Diamond arrives.
20:33 Xavier leaves.
20:34 Diamond eats leftovers.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

De Mortel 8:52 Valk eet prooi

playlist Slechtvalken/Falcon Peregrines De Mortel 2016

Orange NSW 4 dec 5:10 Diamond leaves with prey

5:10 Diamond on the ledge, Xavier flies by.
5:10 Xavier arrives, Diamond leaves with the stored prey.
5:12 Xavier leaves.
5:48 Xavier arrives.
5:50 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20:38 Diamond with prey

20:38 Diamond arrives with prey.
20:41 She stores the prey in the box.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 7:18 Xavier in the box

7:02 Xavier arrives.
7:18 Xavier goes into to box.
7:20 A large bird flies by, Xavier returns to the ledge.
7:22 Xavier goes into to box.
7:29 Xavier leaves and returns.
He takes the box in his possession.
8:57 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 3 dec 5:45 Xavier with prey

5:45 Xavier arrives with prey.
6:36 Xavier leaves with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 3 dec 5:13 Diamond leaves

5:13 Diamond leaves, Xavier arrives.
5:32 Xavier leaves and arrives.
5:38 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 14:45 Man & Vrouw

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 18:21 Xavier with prey

18:21 Xavier arrives with prey.
18:55 Xavier leaves with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 5:20 Diamond leaves

5:20 Diamond leaves.
5:21 Xavier arrives.
5:32 Xavier leaves.
5:32 Xavier arrives.
5:44 Xavier leaves.
5:44 Xavier arrives.
5:53 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20:06 Xavier with prey

15:25 Xavier arrives.
15:27 Xavier leaves.
15:31 Xavier arrives.
15:38 Xavier leaves.
17:18 Diamond arrives.
19:37 Diamond leaves.
19:38 Xavier arrives.
19:46 Xavier leaves.
20:06 Xavier arrives with prey.
20:08 Xavier leaves with prey.
20:14 Diamond arrives.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW Two weeks on the wing

Two weeks on the wing

Published 1 December, 2016 | By Cilla Kinross

At sunset tonight, I found all three juveniles in their usual area, looking sleek and well fed, with evidence of a recent galah kill on a rock near the dead tree. Here are our sisters Mell and Rubi on the same branch, after I disturbed one of them on the prey (nothing much left but feathers).







And here is Vim, the little brother, for once on a lower branch.


Vim at sunset

And looking right at me



And Diamond circling above me, ensuring I mean no harm



Interestingly there were starlings, mapgpies and willie wagtails in the same dead tree, with the willies giving Mell a hard time when she moved into a different tree for a while. I’ve never seen magpies or willies on the menu, but the starlings should watch out!

I’ve got to organise two year final parties this weekend and early next week (one musical, one landcare), so might leave them to it for a few days. Obviously, they don’t need our help any more.

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 12:24 Juveniel

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 16:03 Juveniel & man

Voor de 3e keer vandaag.



playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 15:29 Juveniel & man

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 13:11 Diamond & Xavier

13:11 Diamond on the ledge, Xavier in the box . Time of arrival unknown.
13:17 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 9:57 Juveniel & man

9:57 Mannelijke juveniel (BPU) achtervolgt de man.



playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW Trio regrouped in dead roost tree

Published 29 November, 2016 | By Cilla Kinross

After being conspicuous by their absence during CSU Green’s ‘inspection’ today, I found our family back in their dead tree this evening. I had to walk down as I didn’t have the 4WD and I was very conscious of a very cross Diamond who followed me down, so I didn’t go too close (hence not that great photos).

Nice to see Vim having a meal of his own; in fact, he took it to his sister and shared it.


Vim with prey


Vim calling


Vim sharing with his sister (Mell?)

And here is the other sister (Rubi?) looking very aloof, a little higher in the tree.


Rubi perhaps, looking very cool and aloof

And a couple of landscape shots, showing the tower and a yellow box tree near the dead roost tree (Eucalyptus melliodora after which Mell was named)


Water tower from near roost tree


Tall yellow box, probably over 300 years old

Signing off

Cilla

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20:19 Diamond & Xavier

20:14-20:19 ? Diamond arrives.
20:19 Xavier arrives.
20:25 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 7:40 Valk op het rooster

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 8:50 Xavier with prey

8:50 Xavier arrives with prey.
8:52 Diamond flies by.
8:58 Xavier leaves with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20:32 Xavier and Diamond

20:24 Xavier arrives on the ledge.
20:32 Diamond arrives.
20:35 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 14:21 Xavier with prey

14:21 Xavier arrives with prey.
14:38 Xavier leaves with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:10 Valk in de kast

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 11:35 Juveniel in de kast

Vanaf de buitencam in de kast. Laat steentje vallen op het rooster, je zal er maar net onder lopen. :)





playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 9:19 Man en vrouw

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 7:48 Man in de kast

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 6:11 Xavier with small prey

6:11 Xavier arrives with a small prey.
6:45 No Diamond, Xavier eats the prey.
6:52 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW All three together finally

All three together finally

Published 25 November, 2016 | By Cilla Kinross

Diamond and Xavier on the tower have an amazing view of the landscape. After a fruitless search of the park below the water tower, I wondered if they had decamped to the group of trees the trio last year used, and I was right! So quite a few hundred metres away, but still under paternal gaze.


Three blobs in a tree. Vim higher up as usual


And a bit closer


Mell and Rubi, close sisters


Vim in his superior position

And I thought you might want to see what THEY see. You can just see the top of the tower over the trees.


View back to the trees and the tower

This is actually a better spot for the youngsters to learn to fly and hunt as there is less chance of accidents due to the open nature of the paddock. There are a few other trees around (live), but it’s grazing country mainly….and this is where their main prey lives.

Have a great weekend.

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW Family hunting picnic?

Published 25 November, 2016 | By Cilla Kinross

The box has been partially empty this morning, although Xavier has been dashing in and out, at one time bringing food. He sat and waited for nearly half an hour before giving up and leaving with the grisly lump.

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time searching for the youngsters, my every move watched carefully Diamond


Diamond keeping a wary eye on me

I found both our young females cruising through the woods, seeming quite at home with short, but competent flights. At one time a couple of red wattle birds (large honeyeaters) landed nearby, but she obviously doesn’t recognise them as food as yet. We also noticed a galah wing under the youngster’s roost area, but couldn’t find much else in the very long grass.


Young female, catching the wind


Other female, Rubi ?? whining

No sign of Vim yesterday, but Tiffany saw a youngster trying to land on the concrete slope just below the top of the tower this morning, so that could well have been him.

We went out and had a look just now (3 pm local time), but there was no sign of anyone, so we wondered if they had gone on a family outing, Hunting 101, perhaps. First lesson: your food is alive, bird-shaped and on the wing, not provided by Mum for much longer.

I might see them on my way home this evening.

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 18:19 Xavier & Diamond

18:17 Xavier on the ledge.
18:19 Diamond arrives.
18:25 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 7:13 Xavier with prey

7:13 Xavier arrives with prey, waiting for Diamond.
7:41 Xavier leaves with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 16:38 Vim leaves the box

16:38 Vim leaves the box.

Vim’s second departure



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 10:48 Vim still in the box

10:48 Xavier flies by.
11:38 Vim is flapping wings.
13:00 Flapping again.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 24 nov 7:34 Diamond with prey

5:47 Vim flapping wings.
7:34 Xavier flies by, Diamond arrives with prey.
8:07 Diamond leaves with leftovers.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20:15 Diamond returns

20:15 Diamond returns, starts eating leftovers.



Cilla says: 23 November, 2016 at 11:41 pm

I found both girls on my walk tonight, and they were in the same tree….in fact Mell had hardly moved.

I had a late meeting, so haven’t done the photos, but it was nice being able to get them both in the same shot, although the light wasn’t the best due to the drizzle.

I don’t think they have much to fear from predators now they are off the ground (where there certainly are both cats and foxes). None of our local owls or frogmouths are likely candidates, being quite small and taking mostly mice, moths etc. We don’t have the large owls this close to town.

Flying accidents when learning to hunt are on the cards, however, so fingers crossed. And when they are on their own, they often resort to road kill, where they are once again vulnerable.

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 17:19 Diamond with prey

17:18 Xavier flies by.
17:19 Diamond arrives with prey.
17:20 Diamond & Vim eat prey.
17:23 Diamond leaves.
17:24 Xavier arrives and leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW Sound video from Cilla Kinross

Vim, king of the box



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 8:33 Diamond with prey

8:33 Diamond arrives with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 23 nov 6:29 Vim on the ledge

6:29 Vim on the ledge.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 23 nov 5:34 Vim doing morning exercises

5:34 Vim doing morning exercises.
6:00 Shadow on the wall.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW Both girls found safe and well

Published 22 November, 2016 By Cilla Kinross

With Vim still sitting up in the box, I started driving down to where I last saw Rubi and half way there I spotted her (or Mell, I’m not going to try and tell them apart) on a fence post.


Rubi (?) on fence

As I watched, she took off and flew around the woods and into a tall pine. I left the car and found her in the pines, but my photos are poor. Then she took off again and flew back to the main wood.


Not much of a photo either, but evidence of good flight.


So I walked through the wood and found a female juvenile half-way up a eucalypt on a branch. I suspected Mell as I thought Rubi had flown further towards the box.



So I got myself into a spot where I could see both Mell and Vim and waited. About half an hour later, I heard a third juvenile calling and finally found Rubi again, even higher in a tree.


Female no. 2 found at last



So at one time I could see four peregrines in one sweeping glance. Only one missing was Xavier, presumably chasing those pesky galahs. Hopefully I’ll see a feed another time.

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 10:28 Man in de kast

playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 15:46 Vim meets Xavier

15:06 Xavier flies by.
15:46 Vim meets Xavier.
18:26 Vim eats leftovers.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 22 nov 8:18 Diamond with prey

8:18 Diamond arrives with prey, she eats leftovers.
8:25 Diamond leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 22 nov 7:55 Vim flapping wings

7:55 Vim is flapping wings.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 22 nov 5:22 Vim wakes up

5:22 Vim wakes up.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 19:59 Tug of war

19:59 Xavier wants tot take the prey from Vim, but he is defending it.



Vim returns home



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 10:10 Vim gets prey in the box

10:10 Vim returns in the nestbox for the first time!
10:13 Diamond arrives with prey.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 10:10 Juvie in the box

10:10 One of the juveniles returns in the nestbox for the first time!
10:13 Diamond arrives with prey.

Video will follow later.

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW Pictures from Cilla Kinross

Two out of three
Published 21 November, 2016 | By Cilla Kinross

On the weekend, a friend and I had a good look around the campus for newly fledged young.

The female that I placed in the tree (which I think is Mell) was still there, having moved a little along the branch.


Juvenile female in roost tree

And after much searching, we eventually found Vim high up in a very tall eucalpt (a viminalis, no less) deep in the foliage.


Vim in the trees

He looks a lot darker, almost hobby-like, but it might be a trick of the light as I didn’t notice anything while in the box.

Diamond was on the tower and gave us several warnings to leave the area by doing fly-overs and she clearly knew where both babies were. Xavier was in the box.

We tried in vain to find Rubi, without luck. But I wouldn’t be concerned. One year, one chick went missing for nine days before finally turning up. Who knows what they get up to? I’m confident the parents know, however.

The forecast storms on Saturday and Sunday evening have not materialised, but there is a chance of rain today, which will be a surprise for them, having been mollycoddled in their box all their short lives.

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 9:33 Xavier in the box

9:33 Xavier arrives.
9:50 Xavier leaves.
10:37 Xavier arrives.
10:44 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 20 nov 5:28 Diamond leaves

5:27 Xavier flies by.
5:28 Diamond leaves.
5:28 Xavier arrives.
5:40 Xavier leaves.
5:55 Xavier arrives.
6:00 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Alphen aan de Rijn 8:23 Man in de kast

8:23 Op het rooster.
9:17 In de kast.



playlist Slechtvalken Alphen aan de Rijn 2016

Orange NSW 19:25 Xavier & Diamond

19:15 Xavier arrives.
19:25 Diamond arrives.
19:39 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 19 nov 8:44 Xavier in the box

8:44 Xavier arrives.
8:48 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 19 nov 7:39 Xavier & Diamond

7:39 Xavier arrives.
7:40 Xavier leaves.
7:40 Xavier arrives.
7:43 Diamond arrives with prey, she starts eating it.
7:44 Xavier leaves.
7:47 Diamond leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW 19 nov 5:28 Xavier in the box

5:28 Xavier arrives.
5:30 Xavier leaves.
5:36 Xavier arrives.
5:38 Xavier leaves.
5:43 Xavier arrives and leaves.
5:43 Xavier arrives.
5:44 Xavier leaves.
5:45 Xavier arrives.
5:47 Xavier leaves.



playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016

Orange NSW Pictures of Cilla Kinross

There are people who can't access the site of the FalconCam Project, so I've copied the images to my server.

playlist Falcon Peregrines Orange NSW 2016