Wednesday, August 10, 2011
July 22nd
A feeding frenzy at the nest. Boy they all got very excited for this meal. Some were at the nest and the others flew back when Mom arrived with a small sparrow. She now brings the food whole. And the eyas must figure out how to prepare it for eating. This was pretty amazing to watch. And they seem to master it well. Another lesson learned by these young merlins.
July 22nd
Arrival at 8am.
A lot going on today. A lot of chattering calling for food and flitting about in the nest tree and beyond. The young were doing lots of practice flights today. And the oldest( first hatched) was really going abroad. As I was watching them and listening to their calls. I heard the familiar merlin call on the street over from me. And saw 2 merlins,vocalizing like crazy meet in the air. But what happened after that exchange lead me to believe our first babe ( eyas ) just had her first experience with catching food from Mom. She did very well. But almost dropped it as she approached the big pine. She retrieved it well though. You felt the intense moment for her when she fumbled it and it started to fall from her talons. But she was close to the tree and caught it. The landing with food was a little rough. But again. She mastered it. A job well done. The photos are a distance away. But this is a document of what happened. Not all shots are great or close. But they show the job well done. These photos can be found at the beginning of this blog. She then took the food and flew off vocalizing to her Mom close by. Like she was showing her Mom she did it. Look at me.!! The rest of the eyas were doing short flights from tree to tree and branch to branch. And doing very well. Appears we have 2 females and 2 males in this clutch. And a proud and very tired Mom & Dad.
A few shots of the eyas in and around the nest. One of a plane way off in the sky and the nest way up in the tall pine tree caught my eye. What beautiful and oh so important trees they are.
A lot going on today. A lot of chattering calling for food and flitting about in the nest tree and beyond. The young were doing lots of practice flights today. And the oldest( first hatched) was really going abroad. As I was watching them and listening to their calls. I heard the familiar merlin call on the street over from me. And saw 2 merlins,vocalizing like crazy meet in the air. But what happened after that exchange lead me to believe our first babe ( eyas ) just had her first experience with catching food from Mom. She did very well. But almost dropped it as she approached the big pine. She retrieved it well though. You felt the intense moment for her when she fumbled it and it started to fall from her talons. But she was close to the tree and caught it. The landing with food was a little rough. But again. She mastered it. A job well done. The photos are a distance away. But this is a document of what happened. Not all shots are great or close. But they show the job well done. These photos can be found at the beginning of this blog. She then took the food and flew off vocalizing to her Mom close by. Like she was showing her Mom she did it. Look at me.!! The rest of the eyas were doing short flights from tree to tree and branch to branch. And doing very well. Appears we have 2 females and 2 males in this clutch. And a proud and very tired Mom & Dad.
A few shots of the eyas in and around the nest. One of a plane way off in the sky and the nest way up in the tall pine tree caught my eye. What beautiful and oh so important trees they are.
July 27th
Mom just gave the food to the young eyas. It is in the crook of the tree manteling over it's meal while mom calls out. This photo was taken on July the 22nd.
I arrived at 12 noon today. No birds in sight. Or heard. It has been 5 days since I was able to get back. And they were ready to leave on that date. July 22nd. So in the 5 days a lot has happened. I was unable to reach the neighbours for an update. But success was in the air from what I had observed 5 days ago. This has been an amazing event for my summer nest watch this year. I thank Mary who was having that conversation at the farmers market on May 7th. Who thought she had a pair of peregrins. Of coarse that got my attention and I was invited to go up and ID the birds.And they co-operated gracefully 100%.A beautiful pair of merlins.
I arrived at 12 noon today. No birds in sight. Or heard. It has been 5 days since I was able to get back. And they were ready to leave on that date. July 22nd. So in the 5 days a lot has happened. I was unable to reach the neighbours for an update. But success was in the air from what I had observed 5 days ago. This has been an amazing event for my summer nest watch this year. I thank Mary who was having that conversation at the farmers market on May 7th. Who thought she had a pair of peregrins. Of coarse that got my attention and I was invited to go up and ID the birds.And they co-operated gracefully 100%.A beautiful pair of merlins.
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