A New Pilsen Pair?
Today, I had a nice outing with Mary. We went to Pilsen, which is one of our favorite nesting sites.
Just a refresher, last year, the adult male Lyn’s mate Bryanne died before the pair’s four eggs hatched. After her death, Lyn tried to brood the eggs by himself, but eventually abandoned them. I think this is rather a mercy because it would have been very, very hard for him to raise four chicks by himself and he likely would have lost a few.
This year, we were really hoping we’d see him back in the nest box, but alas. Although our people at the site told us he was in the area, it seemed he didn’t find a mate in time for the season. Or, didn’t he?
Last week, Mary got a call from Pilsen reporting two birds in the nest box – Lyn and a new female named Amazon (b/g R/38). After we looked her up in the database, it became clear why they didn’t nest – Amazon is only a year old! Lyn, you ole’ cradle robber!
So, today Mary and I went to Pilsen to see how Lyn and Amazon were interacting. Lyn was sitting right by the nest box when we arrived. His gaze bounced between us and the sky, which is where we found Amazon. After a bit, she landed on the tall tower that festoons the very top of the Pilsen building and began to preen vigorously. Even though she was far above us, it was easy to see that she was molting from juvenile to adult plummage, which lent her a sort of dirty and mottled appearance.
Apparently, her rough transitional stage visage didn’t mean a dang thing to Lyn. He watched every move she made, calling to her now and again with squeaky door hinge "eee-chup" courting vocalizations. I was happy to see that she returned his calls, though she didn’t come down from her high perch while we were there.
When an hour had passed, Lyn took off from the nesting ledge and flew in big looping spirals upwards towards Amazon. As he neared her, he called to her. When she responded and he saw that he had her attention, he tightened his wings against his body and dove down to land on the nesting ledge, where he turned and "eeee-chupped" back up at her.
It seemed like he was saying, "Ok, here’s the ledge. It’s very nice. We have a box – with gravel!"
Although they will not nest this year, these behaviors are all very good signs for next year. Amazon seems to be very content hanging out with Lyn and he’s obviously decided she’s good mate potential, as he’s courting her vigorously.
The people at the building LOVE their peregrines, so I have my fingers crossed that Lyn and Amazon will provide them with babies to name next season!
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