Alcoa youngsters

In the Southern hemisphere it is summer. Our Alcoa youngsters are enjoying their last weeks in the company of the parents before they will leave to start their own life. Most juvs stay around for 6-8 weeks after fledging before they leave. After watching the events here in Alcoa I think one of them might just have left already. They were all very alive and kicking a few weeks ago, no vitalities.

Most juvs leave spontanously, sometimes one stays behind. If one does it is almost always the youngest one. Sometimes one can stick around untill almost 6 months after fledging. In Derby one of the youngsters even was around during courtship of his parents the next year!!

Alcoa Anglesea: 2008 Season Video

You can also download the video from my website:

http://www.falcoperegrinus.nl/films/Alcoa_2008_end.wmv

Alcoa Anglesea: bonding behaviour

After the youngsters have left the nestsite we always see the adults, especially the male come back to the scrape. He is spending many hours over there standing in the entrance, perching. He will eventually go inside and start scraping bowles.

Many people have asked me, is there gonna be a new clutch. No way! Starting a clutch has everything to do with androgens, and the production of these is being influencend by the increasing amount of daylight hours in the spring. Now that summer is blooming, the daylight hours are not increasing anymore. The androgenlevels are dropping.





This behaviour of the male is all about bonding to the site. And to his partner. After the juvies have left the nestsite is his again. This is the site he picked for his female, it is his choice, his estate in a way and he is taking it back. He leaves his footprint. He is marking it again with bowles.





The female will enter as well and they will display in courtship behaviour: head-bow-low, eechupping. This is bonding behaviour, a conformation to eachother of the bond they have. Like a renewal of the vows in a way. It may even envolve copulations when the juvi's are still around.

So no second clutches but a very special bonding behaviour: we belong together. We have raised and fledged yet another healthy couple of juveniles. And we will do that together the next time at this nestsite.





Although copulations are only with the purpose of reproduction in the avian world, here it has a second function. The one of bonding, of confirming the pairbond. We see copulations as well during territorial disputes, With the same function: I belong to you, you belong to me. You'll make me strong I will fight for you.
And that makes these exeptional beings even more special.

Alcoa Anglesea: they have fledged!

They have left! All three juveniles have finally left the nestbox. Very early this morning, even before 6 the one juv that had spent the night in the nestbox flew off. Probably to join his brothers who were calling him to join them in the air. To play talon tag and chase eachother. For the 3 juvs the fun is really starting now. They can do at last what they were born for: to fly. To get stronger, to built up there flightmuscles. To learn how to fly, how to slip the bonds of the earth. How to chase the winds, how to climb the clouds.

In the upcoming weeks they will learn all the skills they need to know to be able to manage on their own. It are wonderful weeks of play, of talontag, chasing eachother, tumbling and turning, to tease pasing birds, to scare the hell out of small preybirds. It is exciting to watch them, and formost to listen to heir extatic laughter when they are having fun. The parents will always be near, and protect and guide them. They will be fed by them for many more weeks. They are stil dependant on them. And have to learn a lot.

For our 3 juvs, life has only just begun. The time in the nestbox is just a matter of growing until they can finally stretch their wings.

Of course I will keep on autocapturing the cam images, so if one lands on the nestledge I will have him! And I will tell you more about their weeks of training ahead.

Alcoa Anglesea

All these black spots are flies!















Just one left to sleep alone




It seems like things are coming to end for us watchers. Only 2 juvs spent the night in de box, the third one has a nice place outside. In the early morning, one of th etwo jumped up the roof and was gone as well. One stayed behind, but left as wel after a while.

When the box was empty and I clicked the images real fast I noticed the enormous amount of big black flies in the box. It seemed as if the the ground was alive, it moved! I saw flies sticking to the walls, leaving,it must be one big buzzz. One can only notice when watching all the images in a movie.

Anyway in the evening only one returned to spent the night. I think our 2 boys have started their life and are doing what they are born for: fly!

Alcoa Anglesea: what a day!

What a wonderful day this has been. The 3 juvs were very active and were flying around and playing. They flew up the roof of the box, and off angain, on again, all three of them, and out of view. Reappearing on the other side. They were having a lot of fun and so did we watching them!

It is very obvious now that little Stan fell out of the box by accident more than a week ago. After he has been back he has not left again. He is now showing totally normal behaviour, branching with his brothers. He is a little survivor this one, struggling himself back alive and kicking.

The 3 brothers seem ready to leave, all grown. The primaries are fully grown, that is very well visible on the pics. The tailfeathers need a few cm, but they can fly in spite of that. Won't be long now.

Bandcodes:Midnight: Z/V
Rocket: W/A
Stan: Z/Z