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!!! A hatch at the Carmeuse Quarries nest site!

May 23, 2016 - International, National and Local News

Mark Nash Reports:

May 23rd - 2016
Hi All,

Richard and I decided to spend holiday Monday at Beachville watching the Carmeuse quarries nest site.

We initially came by on Monday, May 16, and saw the female in the nest the entire time we were there. She did get up and reposition herself a couple of times. There was no other falcon around. We stayed from 4-5 and then 6-7:15. Knowing that a hatch should occur at any time, we decided to come back one week later.

So on the 23rd, we saw signs there was a hatch!

We arrived shortly before 2:00 pm. The action started almost immediately. The female was in the nest and the male flew to a nearby beam carrying food (a starling). The female flew over to him and took off with the food. He then flew to the nest and I was able to ID him as Joe (solid black, 48/Y). Around 2:15, the female came to the nest with the prepared food and it appeared like she started to feed their baby/babies. It looked like she was feeding very small morsels. Joe sat patiently beside her. Too cute! Within 10 minutes, she took off with the leftovers and landed on a nearby post. I was able to ID her as Virginia (black over green, 76/AX). Joe went to sit with the baby/babies.

Joe continued to remain in the nest box until Virginia came back around 3:25. I didn’t see her land but she must have had food. The feeding looked pretty intense so I started to wonder if there was more than one baby? Joe took off and landed on a nearby post and stayed there for quite awhile. At around 4:30, he flew over to the drop off beam and squawked. No idea what was happening here. Then he took off back to his favourite perch.

At around 5:45, Joe flew to the nest. I watched through the scope as they were just looking at each other. Then Joe took off and within two minutes, he came back with prepared food (I guess he had a stash) in his talon and carried it over to Virginia. He took off to his perch and she was feeding again, but she was hidden in the corner and I couldn’t see anything. Also by this time, the sun was coming in over the nest making it harder to see.

We left at 6:00.