The Alberta Conservation Association has once again set up four separate live cams for viewers around the world to keep tabs on three peregrine families nesting in the province’s capital. The first egg of the livestream season was laid on April 28 at 3:58 a.m. You can check in with the following critter cams day or night.
There’s the University of Alberta peregrine camera, which now has its lens trained on three eggs. Last spring, a female named Radisson and her boyfriend Chase raised 4 chicks. They are back again this year.
April 28: At 3:58 a.m., before most of us were awake, Radisson laid her first egg of the year! We’re officially on egg watch. There should be an egg about every 2 days now. She may lay up to 5 eggs, but won’t incubate the eggs until she’s closer to being done laying them so the chicks hatch at roughly the same time.
May 4: Radisson has 3 eggs now. The male has been identified as Chase from last year. He is 5 years old and unbanded, so we don’t know much about him other than he has been parnering Radisson since 2012.
This nest box is the second-most coveted location in Edmonton, after the Bell Tower.
But at the Bell Tower critter cam, there’s a territorial dispute going on over the nesting site, which is why there are no eggs yet.
Officials thought it was E4, the queen of the peregrines, and Big Red, a male captive-bred peregrine, who were getting settled last week. But now, that’s uncertain with the current fight going on.
“Big Red has been making occasional appearances. Will E4 finally lose her rank as Edmonton’s most powerful peregrine? Watch this space,” organizers note.
But there is an egg-watch underway at the Weber Centre peregrine cam. A bird known as Green girl laid her first egg here at 5:28 a.m. on April 30th and now a second has arrived.
May 4: The peregrine female nesting in the Weber Centre nest box is M26, also known as “Green girl,” who hatched in 2013 at the U of A! That means Radisson, who is nesting at the U of A this year, is her mom! The Weber Centre male is the same one as the last few years, band D01. He hatched in 2010 at the Agrium Redwater fertilizer plant.
Green girl laid her very first egg ever at 5:28 am on April 30. She has 2 eggs so far. Let’s hope her first attempt at motherhood is successful!
And, on May 5, a fourth nesting site was online. The Genesee Power Plant camera is now up and running.
“The nest site is at the top of one of the stacks at Capital Power’s Genesee Generation Station in Warburg. The female is banded 1D and has been nesting here since 2009. She hatched in downtown Edmonton at the TELUS building. The male has no bands, and has been partnering 1D since 2012. We are expecting egg number 3 today. They are a successful couple who work well together. Happy watching!”
And, as predicted. The third egg arrived.
We’ll be sure to keep track of how the chicks – and their parents – do this year.
Photos Alberta Conservation Association
