|

19 January 2019: 1st mating on camera of 2019

Byadmin

Early afternoon on Saturday 19th January Charlie arrived on the ledge and after a short while decided to pancake on the wall of the ledge.  I find the following video interesting as it shows her settling, with a better angle than when she does this on top of the nest box as she tends to face the camera there.

pancaked Charlie

She pancaked for a few minutes but got up quite quickly and moved to perch on top of the nest box instead.

 

Charlie relaxing on top of the nest box with a full crop

There, she decided to pancake again and even have a bit of a snooze.

 

pancaked Charlie

pancaked sleepy Charlie

At 1.48pm, she suddenly got up and started bowing, I thought she was going to have a courtship display with Tom but no. Instead, Tom came and mated with her!  This has to be the earliest mating on camera for this pair. I had been wondering a few times a few days before if it was about to happen, from the way Charlie was presenting herself…

1st mating on camera of 2019

Similar Posts

  • 14 January 2019

    2019
    0 Comments

    Tom paid 2 visits to the nest ledge today.
    Tom

    Tom

    He spent around 5 minutes during the morning visit, here is a clip of most of it:

    In the afternoon, he was hoping Charlie would join him for a display, here is is popping his head out of the box looking at her at the other end of the ledge:

    Tom

  • Day 3 of New Girl

    2019, update
    2 Comments

    It’s day 3 for New Girl at the hospital and she spent the whole night roosting on the ledge.

    It looks like she’s set to do the same again tonight. Interestingly, she’s using the exact same spot as Charlie, against the wall.

    Tom

    New Girl

    Tom

    Tom has been trying to entice her in the nest box and only succeeded once but that was because he had a bit of food which she snatched off him and then she left 


    He brought her a feral Pigeon which she ate for about an hour before putting the rest in the larder on the ledge.


    She started to spend some time at the camera end of the ledge and she’s now used to the noise of the camera when it is moved so I have managed some close ups. I have managed to read the first 3 characters of her ring, I am now confident I should be able to get it all and then we’ll know where she comes from…

    (On Tuesday, on her first visits to the ledge, she was flying away as soon as I would move the camera, which was one indication that this was neither Tom or Charlie – it’s not taken her long…)


    They mated on the ledge for the first time at 3:30pm.

    Will there be the patter of big feet after all this year…

     


    She still has blood on the feathers on her right legs and she appears to be injured on her left bottom eyelid which gives her a bit of a funny look. Was that there before or is it a result of the fight…?
    Look wise, she looks a lot more like Tom, her chest is white like him not honey like Charlie’s and her cheek patches go a lot higher than Charlie.

  • Name…

    2019
    2 Comments

    Name…

    I have been asked a few times already about a name for New Girl. Obviously, that name is good for now but wouldn’t quite fit if she’s around for years.
    I have given it some thought over the weekend. Charlie was named Charlie as I wanted a name that could be both male and female and I based it on *Char*ing Cross Hospital. I couldn’t think of a name for her first mate and ended up calling him Mr C, which suited him very well. Tom’s name is based on the initials of The Other Male.
    I have had a suggestion of Violet (because she screams a lot) but she doesn’t feel like a Violet to me, she is a BIG girl.
    I have a habit when naming other things/pets to use deity names. Because of the breeding failure history in recent years and the hope that New Girl is bringing of success again I have been looking at deities linked to fertility. And so I am thinking of Damara, which is a British Goddess (and the initial D is after C). But there are others that could work such as Damona, Brigid, Turan…
    Or we could call her Mrs T…

    What do you think? T&D?

  • 2 Jan 2019 – courtship

    2019, courtship
    0 Comments

    A couple of attempts at courtship displays today.
    It all started early, before the cameras had switched back from night setting, with Tom landing on the nest ledge, followed by Charlie. Tom went to the nest box.
    capture_03ch_20190102080757

    capture_01ch_20190102080951

    But Charlie preferred to eat.
    capture_01ch_20190102082444
    capture_01ch_20190102084020

    capture_01ch_20190102084036
    After she’d finished eating, Charlie went to cache the remains in their usual spot on the ledge, feaked for a bit and was sitting when Tom decided to go in the nest box and tried to entice her for a display.

    But, it looks like she wasn’t interested.

    capture_01ch_20190102085541

    So he finished the remains instead.
     
    Later in the afternoon, I was walking through the cemetery, when I heard Peregrine calls and saw Tom land on the corner of the nest box. A minute later I saw Charlie arrive from the South, circle a bit and then land on the ledge at the other end. Tom immediately went into the box but Charlie took her time and by the time she got to the nest box Tom had gone on the wall.
    capture_01ch_20190102145741

    Her turn to try and entice him and fail 😉

    capture_03ch_20190102145811
    “What have I done to deserve this?”

    A great start to 2019!

  • 4 – 6 January 2019

    2019, courtship
    0 Comments

    Tom and Charlie have managed to do 2 ‘proper’ courtship displays inside the nest box since the last post. The season is properly started!
    This was on Friday 4th January

    Tom and Charlie

    And this was yesterday.

    Tom and Charlie

    No visit to the nest ledge today but I saw Charlie perched on the usual perch and, this evening, she was on one of her roosting flues, as most days.

     

One Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *