7/14/2011  ::   Fledgling and Video Streaming Update
The fledgling is reportedly still visiting the ledge regularly. We can assume that he is also getting advanced hunting lessons and is hunting on his own as well. Soon, he should become completely independent and begin his first year journey to places unknown.

(Live stream has ended)

[It was, as Jay Packer would later write on his blog, a "colorful monster," the green violetear.]

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/jul/14/little-bird-big-deal-tiny-hummingbird-makes-a-in/

It was, as Jay Packer would later write on his blog, a "colorful monster," the green violetear.

Duck!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-14169093

So this was today's Buzz!    I had a Robin swoop me when I went to fill my bird bath. Not the same huh!!! 

[Mark Nash]

Once criticized for emitting greenhouse gases, the Nanticoke coal-fired generating station is now at the forefront of helping to restore nature.

About a month ago, it became home to three baby peregrine falcons -- named Kay, Volt and Coalton - that are nesting in the knuckle where two giant I-beams meet on the outside of the building.

Employees are monitoring the fledglings. They pick up the birds when they fall from the nest and bring them to the plant's rooftop, where their mother continues to feed them until they learn to fly.

The plant is now part of a worldwide effort to help the peregrine, which was considered all but extinct 30 years ago, reach a healthy population.

The birds were devastated by the use of the pesticide DDT and, by 1984, their numbers were down to zero in Ontario, said Mark Nash, director of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, which is instructing Nanticoke employees on what to do.

Today, there are more than 100 peregrines in the province, thanks to restoration efforts that have had to beat some long odds, he said.

A naturalist in Wainwright, Alta., has bred 4,000 baby falcons over the past 36 years and sold them to be re-introduced to the wild.

Some of the babies are placed in existing nests where adult birds adopt and raise them. In other cases, fledglings are put into special boxes attached to their natural habitats on the side of cliffs or high-rise buildings and are fed by humans through a tube. When they get big enough, they are released from the box and fly off to their new lives.

Mortality rates, however, are high for peregrines. In the wild, 90% of babies never make it to breeding age, Nash said.

The foundation buys baby birds, places them, and then gets volunteers to monitor the nests. Young peregrines almost always fail on their first attempts at flight and fall to earth. There, they are vulnerable to predators such as larger birds or carnivores such as foxes and coyotes.

This is where volunteers, and Nanticoke employees, come in. They can rescue the fledglings and keep their survival rates up.

The birds at Nanticoke - whose coal-fired units are being shut down gradually while the government looks into switching the plant to combination of natural gas and biomass - were not placed there. They arrived on their own, another sign the bird is making a comeback.

The peregrines probably chose the generating station because it is close to their favourite food source, waterfowl, and because that area was their natural habitat decades ago, Nash said.

"Having peregrines come to OPG is exciting to us," he said.

OPG has embraced the project.

"We want to take care to make sure we don't disturb them," said OPG spokesperson Bob Osborne. "It's something different and unusual and you get the chance to see it up close."

Employees are definitely on board as well, said Nash.

"They're taking personal stewardship with the birds," he said.

"They couldn't have ended up with better foster parents."

(Jacob Clemens, right, of Ontario Power Generation (OPG) Ñ Nanticoke Generating Station, and Stephanie Chan, Ministry of Natural Resources, hold one of the three peregrine falcons)

[Foster homes for falcons?]

Re: Volunteers mourn Lady Gaga, by Sharon Hill, July 12.
Foster homes for falcons?

Re: Volunteers mourn Lady Gaga, by Sharon Hill, July 12.


The news about the peregrine falcon, Lady Gaga, being put down was sad. She could not have survived in the wild but there are other options that could have been explored - especially since she belonged to an endangered species.

To avoid such decisions in the future, information about interested foster homes could be kept. There are many people and organizations who might be interested in saving falcons.

At my grandparents' house, an eagle with one good wing had lived for about 20 years without requiring any assistance for food.

Windsor Star

Cam friendly "BUG"!

They are all having a great watch in Buffalo today. Ei saw talon-tagging at both CT and Buffalo. Way to go Ei. Good thing she came up this weekend! 

Ho hum
"So, what should I do?"

[June 26]

Toronto Don Mills - Harlequin finding Kendals food on buildings
July 15, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills
Ann Brokelman Reports:

4:30pm  at the falcon watch Harlequin was on the side of  220 building with Quest just below her. Quest flew towards the valley. Harlequin within a few minutes also flew off - she went to the front of 220 and did a circle around it landing briefly on 240.  She returned to the same spot on 220 with food.  Small package.

She took off again and went around 220 and somehow landed up on top of 250 building.  She was wandering around the top when we noticed she had a large package of food.  She tore out feathers, and ate her fill.  Crop full. She flew off again and landed on the H on the Harlequin Building.

In the distance Bruce and I saw both kendal and quest soaring together.  They were a long distance away.   When Carol and I left Harlie was sitting on the back of 250 building with Bruce watching.





Toronto - Don Mills - Little Harlie clearly seen on ledge
June 26, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills
Ann Brokelman Reports:

June 26

Stopped by today from 2:30pm to 3″45pm.
Very little activity. Little Harlie came to the front of the ledge a couple of times, see photos.
Quest was crying for Kendal
Kendal was sitting on the NE side of the building preening himself
Quest started to preen also
Little harlie took a nap.
 
What a beautiful baby.

Beautiful pictures! I love that Blue Jay! 

Me too Annette, thanks Bobbie!

You are welcome! I like that he made a very serviceable bird bath out of old bits... anyone can do it!

Mine are just disposable tins, birds don't care as long as they have a place to bathe and drink!

  Welcome!!

Beautiful pictures! I love that Blue Jay! 

Me too Annette, thanks Bobbie!

"Come on babe, Daddy's home!"
"And where were you yesterday?"

"He's talking but I ain't a listenin!"
"Listen buster, I don't want to hear no talk about no eggs!!"
"That's right, you go on that ladder but you better think about what you did!" "You know, I have spies over there at KP!"
"I need to collect myself."
" I just need someone to talk to."

Beauty at nest briefly

Wow, is all I can say!! Thanks