Winnipeg's peregrine falcons lose eggs, nest in rain and wind

A pair of the Radisson Hotel'smost elite guests in downtown Winnipeg have been dealt a harsh blow after thecold rain and heavy winds that chilled southern Manitoba to the bone over the weekend.

• CBC Manitoba's Falcon Cam is back for another season

Tracy Maconachie,co-ordinator of the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project, says Princess and Smiley, the pair that had produced a number of eggs and were taking care of them, survived the bad weather.

But the nest and the eggs did not.

"The rain came down too long, too hard yesterday," she told CBC'sInformation Radio Monday.

"It rained on that ledge according to a nearby weather station for 14 to 15 hours and there is a drain on that ledge. [But] it's just too much water. [It]just couldn't manage to drain it out fast enough to keep the birds from getting wet and the eggs from getting wet. And the cold weather doesn't help."

Maconachiesays it's sad butit's not the end of the world.

"This has happened before. Something similar happened in 2008. We lost chicks on that same ledge and Princess was the female then. She and her then mate ...hung around all summer and returned the next year to nest again, on that ledge."

TheFalcon Cam, a collaboration betweenCBC Manitoba and thePeregrine Falcon Recovery Project (Manitoba), givesManitobansthe chance to watch theperegrines as they nest and prepare to welcome their chicks.

This year's feedwent live on May 11, and hasdocumented thecomings and goings ofPrincess and Smiley.

For more information about Manitoba's Peregrines, please visit the Peregrine Falcon Recovery Project website.