March arrives
The juvenile Tiercel is still here and has made it into March, officially the longest ‘stayer’ and showing no signs of leaving given the Falcons reactions to him.
I have been watching them for 20 years and as mentioned before, this is unknown territory, a juvenile staying this long, I suspect it would not be the case if the adult Tiercel, his father, was still present.
I now cannot see breeding happening for 2019 for the Falcon, certainly not from an incestual relationship with the juvenile, if he is still present next year he will be an adult, the relationship may well alter then.
With the adult Tiercel now departed for 3 months, there is no doubt that over this period there would have been new potential single Tiercels trying to locate a mate of their own passing the Power Station, I can only presume that she is simply not accepting them due to the juveniles presence.
I may be proved wrong and a particularly strong adult Tiercel may well force his way in and replace the juvenile, if the Falcons urge to breed is stronger than her protective maternal instincts at this late stage, we will see.
Quite surprisingly she is still feeding him whenever she can so the maternal flame still burns strong it seems.
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| Falcon |
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| Victoria Tower from the Power Station |
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| The juvenile - Cranes are widely used |
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| Still insisting on feeding him whenever she can |
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| Full crop at dawn - nocturnal hunting again no doubt |
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| I remember when Nat West on the left was the highest |
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| Falcon about to go after spotting a Crow encroaching |
If the juvenile stays he will start his moult into adulthood usually around 10 months after fledging, so likely around April/May the transition will begin.
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