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Day 4 of New Girl

She roosted on the ledge and spent pretty much the whole day there too, she is definitely seeing it as home now I think.
Tom has tried again without success to entice her for a courtship display inside the box. The only time he managed was by taking prey inside with him. Very cunning! But all she did was come in and grab…


He’s managed to mate with her more than once today today as they did it 4 times on the ledge…
One thing I have noticed is that New Girl appears to be a bit messy, Charlie would never have left remains of prey all over the ledge wall…      

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  • Days 5 and 6 of New Girl

    #atitlikeperegrines a hashtag we used for Tom and Charlie a few times over the years, and one that could be used for Tom and New Girl on Saturday: 7 times they did it on the ledge that day, including 3 within one hour (6.32, 6.49 and 7.09am)… ‘Only’ 4 times on Sunday 😉

    Tom finally got his wish on Saturday when she joined him for a courtship display inside the nest box 🙂 He was so excited, bouncing all over the nest box, as she appeared on the wall by the nest box before jumping inside the box 🙂 She usually stays put where she is and doesn’t really join in.

    Tom paid one of his night visits on Saturday, arriving and going inside the nest box at 3.38am and staying there until 4.51am.

    Talking of night time, New Girl has been roosting on the ledge both nights but she gets fidgety at times and moves around a bit. She even spent a bit of time on top of the nest box.

    She has been staying on the nest box a bit during the day as well.  I spent a couple of hours on Saturday watching her and Tom. She disappeared from sight and we were wondering where she’d gone. Turns out she’d gone onto the nest box and we couldn’t see her from the old FledgeWatch spot.

    Another distinguishing feature is some rather prominent ‘whiskers’.

    Tom has kept her very well fed with a good stream of Feral Pigeons.

    New Girl quickly figured out the location of the ledge cache.

       

    Just a few random shots…

  • Name…

    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

    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
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    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.
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    Her turn to try and entice him and fail 😉

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    “What have I done to deserve this?”

    A great start to 2019!

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