Columbus Falcons

[Kris G.]

Didn't Rhea Mae have a full clutch at 2 years old?   4 eggs, all hatched?

I looked at the Family history tree and in 2008, when Rhea Mae was 2, she had Lily, Belle and Unity.  How ironic is that!?  Belle is Unity's mother's name (the Unity at KP)!

Yeah and Lily hopped a bus out of town. Why fly, when she can ride. 
[/quote]

I remember that!  There was a cute pic of her on the bus too!

[Annette]

Monday, June 06, 2011
New Male on the Scene and Update on Thunderbolt!



For the past few days a young falcon has been seen off and on at the ledge and in the nestbox. Finally, this morning he cooperated and showed his leg bands: black over red: 19/B. This is "Matrix" from the Canton, Ohio, Bank One/Chase Building 2010 nest! He and Durand have been interacting well so that would indicate that the unbanded, adult male here during this past nesting season is no longer in the territory. Let's hope this bird stays!

On another note, we received word that "Thunderbolt" a female hatched in Columbus in 2006 is now nesting at the University of Michigan! The male at that location is yet to be identified but as you can see from this photo, Thunderbolt posed rather nicely to allow a full and complete reading of her band:



The pair is currently raising 3 chicks. It is always a thrill to hear of "our" Columbus falcons doing well elsewhere in the Midwest!

[Donna]

Poor Columbus, they had so many changes over the past year. 

[carly]

Matrix - the new guy has potential!  Mick and SGB, over at BCAW have sourced out his history and turns out his dad was born at this site on 2000!!  Matrix and Scout would also be first cousins as Scout's mom and Matrix's dad are full brother and sister (from different years though)

So while it's been a tough year, they now have 2 strong falcons that come from good strong lines  on both sides.  Matrix's father Maverick is legendary in Ohio - he raised a nest full of kids on his own one year when his mate was killed.

Hopefully this little guy is a keeper and Durand has time to 'mold' him  while he's still young    He's only 1 year old so talons crossed he does well and makes it to next year.

[Donna]

We lost a lot of info here. Update:

And in Columbus....
The past several days have seen frequent ledge and nestbox visits by both the male and female. Many times Spark and Durand have been observed making a scrape in the gravel. This behavior is one way the falcons bond to the site to claim it as their territory as well as bond with each other. It doesn't necessarily mean that they may attempt to nest yet this year, it simply is a way for them to reinforce their intent that this is their chosen site. Of course it is always possible we could see another clutch of eggs this season but not probable.

Posted on the falconuts by John English

[Kris G.]

Durand laid 3 eggs this year with mate Chance but just prior to the May 6th hatching date, he disappeared.  She eventually stopped incubating the eggs, a new mate, Spark, came onto the scene and today Durand laid an egg! 

[Donna]

Durand laid 3 eggs this year with mate Chance but just prior to the May 6th hatching date, he disappeared.  She eventually stopped incubating the eggs, a new mate, Spark, came onto the scene and today Durand laid an egg! 

Holy, you know! That's crazy cool, I think! WOW!!

[carly]

That was an egg that got moved Donna, it was from her original 3 and I think some of the people got confused seeing it in a new location.  Hopefully next year Durand will finally get to be a mama. 

[Donna]

That was an egg that got moved Donna, it was from her original 3 and I think some of the people got confused seeing it in a new location.  Hopefully next year Durand will finally get to be a mama. 

Oh OK Carly, I did see that, 2 over there and 1 over here. Thanks, was going to say, that was quick and thought mating season was over, like we thought it was too late for Beauty!

[Kris G.]

That was an egg that got moved Donna, it was from her original 3 and I think some of the people got confused seeing it in a new location.  Hopefully next year Durand will finally get to be a mama. 

Oh OK Carly, I did see that, 2 over there and 1 over here. Thanks, was going to say, that was quick and thought mating season was over, like we thought it was too late for Beauty!

Whew-glad she didn't lay one now (although I thought it was way late for that)! Thanks for the clarification, Carly!

[Kris G.]

Posted on Columbus site:

Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Post Nesting Season Box Maintenance
With the 2012 nesting season in Columbus over, several post-season maintenance items were crossed off the list today.  The roosting platform directly in front of the ledge camera was removed to be refurbished as it had begun to deteriorate.  It will be replaced later this summer to aid with leg band observations when a falcon perches in front of the ledgecam.

The nestbox was also cleaned, old eggs removed and gravel topped off and smoothed over.  In a previous post I stated that 2 of the eggs looked like they were decomposing.  Actually, they were intact but had sunk down into the gravel.  They were very bleached out, while the third egg was still showing pigment.  All three eggs were determined to be infertile, i.e., no embryo had developed.  So, even if the male that was present in the territory early on hadn't disappeared we still would not have had chicks in the nest this year.  Hopefully Durand and her new mate, Spark, will have better luck next year!  More updates this summer as noteworthy events occur.
posted by Donna Daniel at 6/26/2012 03:19:00 PM

[carly]

Intruder in Columbus, Durand (Pigotts sister) defending..photo and videos at BCAW.  No sign of either bird now so hopefully she's driven the interloper out.

http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1286&start=260

[Donna]

http://youtu.be/fBXtWZTWPI8 Durand defending her nest



By SGB

[Donna]

  Hope this is Durand after the fact!

[carly]

All is well.  SGB got a positive ID on durand from her video and I got a shot of her and Spark bonding in the nest box.  She's out on the ledge now preening and keeping her eyes peeled.  Hopefully the interloper got a safe escort out of the territory