Rfalconcam Forum

Sad news... :(

Post on BCAW says that they believe VV has been killed in a battle.  The body is being retrieved, to identify if it is female... VV was unbanded.

Cam link: http://vwggemertslechtvalk.nl (http://vwggemertslechtvalk.nl)

There were still 2 'other'  females battling an hour ago and one of them is also unbanded as well so it could be VV.  Chad was giving me a play by play on FB and the one the box now is speckly like VV..can't see her legs though.  I'm home now and can see their cam.

Edit to add:  I just blew up the photo of the dead female and i may see an orange band which is consistent with what Ingrid said one of the intruders had on her leg so we'll see.

Thanks for the update. Sad that one died but, hopefully, it’s not VV.

Yeah I"m not sure but now Chad is showing me more video and one of the two battling still after this body was found is also banded.  Seems they are all 3 speckly.  Gees...I hope no more deaths.  The fighting seems to have ended only because it got too dark so this may continue tomorrow.

The loss of Miep

From Martin Vink this evening, a very sad update.  :crying: :crying:

Fight settled?

Martin Vink, Vogelwerkgroep Gemert | Monday, March 12, 2018

In the past two days, an invasion of strange falcons around the De Mortel tower has been observed. These intruders attempt to dislodge or even kill the current male and female. What has happened so far?

The current female V and the male M are already well advanced in their courtship; many copulations have been observed and the female is almost ready to begin laying eggs. She was more and more often seen in the nest box for a longer period of time. However, on Sunday 11 March, several peregrine falcons appeared on the battlefield and late in the afternoon Karin Groen-Dam filmed an attack/battle between two peregrine falcons. For the images, see this link:

http://youtu.be/oPX60CMYarM. (http://youtu.be/oPX60CMYarM.)

As can be seen on these images, both peregrine falcons were locked together and both fell down at the back of the tower.

From this moment on, the current female V, as far as my information goes, was no longer observed in and around the nest box. Given the strength of the attack, it is plausible that the peregrine falcon who was attacked was almost immediately killed by the intruder.

Peregrine falcons are true birds of impact; they surprise their prey by attacking them with great force. During the impact, there is so much energy transfer that it breaks the spine and the prey becomes defenseless.

They frequently attack by biting the prey/competitor in the neck, causing the neck vertebrae to break and death to occur.

But was the peregrine falcon who was attacked the current female V?

Today a strange banded female was seen several times in and around the nest box. This female has a silver-gray leg ring and a colored orange leg ring with possibly the combination YC.

Orange leg rings were used for Dutch birds until 2014. Since 2014, we use gray with three letter combinations. On the roof camera the ring code YC was clearly visible with some certainty. With this shot we also looked from above on the fourth ring for a dead/wounded peregrine falcon. As we already expected, we found a dead peregrine falcon. After zooming in, the falcon appeared to have no bands; could it be the current female V?

In order not to disturb the falcons, tonight, I carefully went up to the fourth ring after 20:00 and removed the dead falcon. The female falcon whom I found had a lot of injuries to her neck, indicating the completion of the lethal attack by the intruder. My suspicion that this is the current female V, I can confirm with some certainty despite the injuries and affected plumage.

Given the position of the attack and the location, it is plausible that the falcon who was attacked in the film is the same falcon.

What now?

As previous territorial battles in the breeding season have shown, a small chance remains that a brood can still be raised. The male M will then have to enter into a pair bond with a new female, which in view of the number of peregrine falcons around the tower and the corresponding disruptions, is still possible in the coming weeks. It is even possible that the current male M himself will also be chased/killed because a strange unbanded male has also been observed.

 :kleenex: :sorrow:

Guess I was seeing things.  I was hoping it wasn't her  :( :(  How sad.  This site has turned into a nightmare.

I think they should just take this nest down, it's now cursed and causes too many concerns! It all started with Ma & Pa. How sad for V! At least she didn't suffer. These falcons sure are brutal!!! :crying: I stopped watching most cams because of the battles reoccurring! Just can't watch.

Poor VV..fly free!  :crying:  From BCAW

  (https://s17.postimg.org/seej1stcf/E03_DE66_B-514_A-4884-851_A-_A7324_C7_AD169.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

 :crying:

Dutch Eagle Fan has posted on BCAW that “the banded female is 7/C, a granddaughter of Pa and Ma. She hatched in 2014 on a similar communication tower in Ittervoort. Her father is R/4, born in 2006 at De Mortel.”

Don't the plots always thicken???  :o

                   :yes:

Just saw on Facebook that apparently she's getting the life dive bombed out of her by another female today.

It never ends there...sad.  :'(

No and that's why I don't watch that site anymore.  It's too hard emotionally to try and remain detached so often.

Not sure if it's over yet but the female - ma and pa's grand daughter looks to have a wing injury and I saw blood on her in the last video of her seen.  The other female may have won but not definitive yet.  I'm just watching other people's observations.

That's sad to hear.  I haven't watched in a few years, because of all the turmoil, but I do read online postings...tough to watch.

Going out on a limb here..Loza, on BCAW, posted this pic. She says “no rings”.  Some are speculating that VV might be back.  I’m pretty sure I see a “VV” on the left leg band in this pic...thoughts?

(https://s17.postimg.org/du6qfaypb/8_C71_FAFD-7727-4_C95-_A30_D-0_E20611_C64_C9.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

Hard to tell, when you blow it up it gets distorted.  I did see Loza's video and in that one she wasn't banded - of course with all the females coming through here it could be yet another one.  I didn't watch much the past few years so I couldn't say if it's still the female VV but to me on first blush this new one looks younger and she has that white above her cere which VV didn't seem to have.  But like I said, I didn't watch enough to really be an expert on making a determination and they do have some similarities.  It's so hard to tell with unbanded falcons - the same bird can look so different at times.  For all we know they could be sisters from different years as both are unbanded.

I just hope the site settles down and that this female, whoever she is, is strong enough to end the carnage and hold the site.

The more I studied the legs, I think there’s no bands.  Thanks for looking though!

Looks like it's confirmed that it was VV that was killed - the necropsy results confirm she was carrying an egg so it was definitely her as she was about to lay when the fighting started.

https://www.vogelbescherming.nl/beleefdelente/blog/lezen/nieuwe-vrouw-nv-in-de-mortel (https://www.vogelbescherming.nl/beleefdelente/blog/lezen/nieuwe-vrouw-nv-in-de-mortel)

Oh, poor VV and VV's egg!  :(

I saw that this morning..so very sad.  What a great mom she was.  :(

I'm heartbroken!!  :crying:

Another fight in the nest!!!!

As Neagan would say:

Shut it down!!!!! :(


http://youtu.be/7yHPCEnEf4k (http://youtu.be/7yHPCEnEf4k)

 :paperbag: :( :paperbag:

There is an egg in the nest. Most recently I have been seeing two unbanded birds at the nest.  :(

(https://picload.org/image/daplalpw/de-mortel-apr-3-1a.jpg)

The unbanded girl laid it Alison but she is/was in the middle of battling a female with two bands.  That new female entered the nest box last night but this morning the unbanded showed up ready to defend again.  She just laid that egg yesterday morning in between the fighting.  From checking the web site over in NL, looks like she's holding her own for today at least and looked calm this evening (their time).

Let’s hope things settle down soon.

By: Falco P Dagsamenvatting 22 April
** trouble in the mortar, figuratively and later literally **. The mortar will remain calm for some longer time. At First, the day seemed to start again like the last few days. NV stays in "Standing-sleep" in the closet. If she gets woken up by 06.00, she'll leave right away. What about m? Yeah, it's gonna be on his egg again! Then all of a sudden, around 07.20, the mortar starts in the mortar. Strange because this storm wasn't predicted until late afternoon. Yet again high voltage around the tower by a 3th Falcon. Attacks over and over. Around 10.40, it looks as if nv is going to see this strange intruder out and return the rest. The day will expire as it has been in the last few days. Quiet, calm, no registered mating, a prooioverdrachtje and 2 group conversations from nv and m by the closet. In the chat, you will be aware of a memorable moment. " Lambert is going to film at the tower this afternoon." today exactly 11 years ago it turns out that one of the most historic territoriumgevechten has taken place with the necessary consequences. Mhhh, I think, what was going on here. It's a good time to dive into vwg's archives. And see here; for the initiates perhaps a " oh yes-moment " and for the new among us maybe a " oh yes?- a moment ". that tower in the mortar was ready in 1990 In the winter of 2004-2005, members of the vwg around the tower saw some peregrines floating and a hive was quickly placed in 2005 The legendary pa and ma became the first residents and in March 2005 the first 2 Kuuks were a fact. Also in 2006, pa and ma chicks raised big, but preferably 4. Than in 2007, the known s2 is coming into the picture after which ma will eventually be defeated by this superior s2. PA continues only breed but SV also hijacks all the food away Which causes the youngest chick to die. However, to everyone's surprise, s2 finally takes care of the care and leaves 2 Kuuks. In 2008-2009 and 2010, this couple is running like clockwork, finally, 4, 4 AND 3 boy from the nest. In 2011 everything seems to be going well, and at the end of the breeding season there are 3 chicks again. Just after the breeding season, s2 is shot by an unknown. Operations to regret and optimal care, in the following year, s2 dies. In 2012, dad must be looking for a new partner. At first it seems to be 2 OR IT ALSO LAYS 3 Eggs, but even then there are territorial battles during breeding and the hilt is taken over by vv (a strange ongeringd female) Unfortunately, all of this has taken its toll. Demanded and for the first time no chicks in the world in the mortar. 2013 is awesome too. Pa starts the season with vv, after which the death of 2 or again appears and the fight concerns vv. This one picks "eggs" for her money and leaves. You'd think! A week later, maybe at training camp, she's back there and she knows how to drive 2 or out. At the end of the season, 2 Young Falcons come out. Bizarre news in may is that the dead 2 or is found on one of the rings of the tower. In 2014 everything is quiet and pa and vv are a total of 4 boy. The Year 2015 is then another one with obstacles. Both pa and vv have to take the necessary battles with male and female invaders. Result pa delft the defeat and this has never been heard again. Vv eventually continues with a ongeringd male (VM) which leads to 4 chicks. In 2016 and last year 2017, vv and vm were always together, after which 4 AND 2 chicks were born respectively. As of 2005, a total of 38 boy peregrines were born in the mortar. Class anyway?! And 2018.....? seems to be going to be like 2012, a year without chicks. It is nice to be able to consult such information and realize that this science is thanks to all the volunteers of vwg, experience spring and our own falconisten. When I shut down, the trouble is over, literally now. The predicted thunderstorms in the evening in the mortar have fortunately been omitted. He's back on his feet. A dagsamenvatting of actually nothing or maybe it is; great beautiful knowledge.

They are cursed!  :(

Quite a history for this site..lots of happy days and much sadness, as the battles continue.  :'(