[Four baby falcons, 43 storeys and an 80 per cent death rate]

Four baby falcons, 43 storeys and an 80 per cent death rate

In a chorus of squawks, four fluffy falcon chicks were introduced to the city Tuesday on the 43rd floor of the downtown Sheraton Hotel.

The newest additions to Toronto’s growing peregrine population — Sunshine, Cinnamon, William and Kate (yes, our very own Royal Couple), each a frightened bundle of white down — announced their presence with ceaseless chirping.


“They’re magnificent,� said Joyce Miller, who made the trip from Rochester, N.Y., to see the newborns.

The baby peregrine falcons, or eyasses, are the progeny of Ria (sp)-May(sp) and Tiago, the Sheraton’s rooftop couple. Ria-May was born in Rochester, while Tiago is a local boy.

The chicks, all born in the last three weeks, were “banded� — fitted with tiny anklets which allow both the U.S. and Canadian wildlife services to monitor them — by Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources, with help from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation.

“It’s like a SIN card,� said foundation director Mark Nash, adding the ankle bands do not harm or inconvenience the birds.

The newborn chicks will be entirely dependent on their parents for the next two and half months, but around their 40th day they will attempt their first flight. That’s when Nash and his devoted volunteers will carry out what he calls the foundation’s primary function: “fledge watching.�

Uncoordinated and naïve, the flutter feebly in the wind and often crash to the ground in their early attempts to fly.

So from dawn until dusk, “fledge watchers� will babysit from below. They will watch for spiralling nose-divers, attend to the wounded and generally protect the chicks from ground-level dangers until they can confidently flap and glide on their own. By doing so, they hope to reduce the birds’ 80 per cent infant mortality rate.

Thirty years ago, there was not a single peregrine falcon in Ontario, according to Nash, who said that pesticides, especially DDT, nearly wiped out the species. Ontario is now home to more than 80 of the predatory birds. More than 16 couples live in the Greater Toronto Area and its environs.

The Sheraton and its rooftop nest have played host to a number of mating falcons since the late 1990s.

While the downtown core may seem a perilous place for the birds, they in fact thrive in urban environments. A skyscraper ledge acts as a cliffside perch and unsuspecting pigeons provide ample nourishment.

Toronto’s other beloved peregrine couple — Quest and Kendal, who met, serendipitously, across from Harlequin’s North York headquarters earlier this year — could soon be parents. The couple’s first egg is expected to hatch next weekend.

Kate is one of four tiny falcon chicks that live atop the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto. The four were banded today by the Canadian Peregrine Foundation and Ministry of Natural Resources, and can be watched 24 hours a day on the Internet.

Toronto Star

http://thestar.blogs.com/photoblog/2011/05/up-close-and-personnel-with-the-chicks.html meet the chicks

!!! MEC Down to Two Eggs
May 21, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

I was on-site today to check in on the pair here and the three eggs that they have been incubating for some time.  As I reached the monitor, the resident male was incubating the eggs tightly and would not let me have a look until the female returned.  During the shift change, I had almost a full minute of viewing the nest box on the monitor and was only able to see two eggs present.  Given previous observations back in late March and early April, this pair has gone beyond the incubation period where a hatch should have occurred.  I will be back out next week to see whether the remaining eggs are still there and try and determine whether the pair might reclutch.

(Hmmm, see they are thinking possible reclutch!) One never knows!

[rochfalconflyer (Lisa McK):]

rochfalconflyer (Lisa McK): We are finally leaving Toronto.  Saw Rhea Mae  & Tiago. Quest & Kendall, plus Linn & Reuben.   Possibly Ranger .

Link:
http://twitter.com/rochfalconflyer/statuses/73142940922425345

Wouldn't that be 11...incl Kate, William, Cinnamon and Sunshine?

Wow, nice story Suzanne but poor duck. He flew off with it? Now that has to be a sight. Thanks!!

Bobbie sent me this pic this am. Pretty bird, it's a Bullfinch! Thanks Bobbie! Her hubby took this pic!

CUTE!!

Is B gonna remove that egg?

Waiting

It looks like a crack to me..how awful. 

8:50, Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The young falcon Mortier visited yesterday afternoon, not exactly look like a newly fledged juvenile. He / she looks very moth-eaten and there flies originally a spring on his left ultimately blown away. Yet I see no feathers with a gray tint on the back. I think it is half calendar falcon, probably from a northern population. They begin one month or two later with the post juvenile moult (so called moulting of juvenile dress to the first adult plumage) than their Central European counterparts. So I think it will trigger by a late-winter guest.

http://www.beleefdelente.nl/slechtvalk1st video on the right shows the Juvenile who visited the nest yesterday and Pa swooping by.

!!! GREAT NEWS FROM ADM SITE
May 23, 2011 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Doug Garbutt Reports:

After the falcons here lost a single egg Mar.24/11, they decided to lay 2 eggs on a narrow beam below their nest box. The beam would allow no chance of a successful fledge. The year before our nest box was installed we lost 3 healthy chicks @ 3 weeks of age. They fell off the same beam where this year’s resident falcons laid their 2 eggs. On May 05/11 the 1st egg hatched, the 2nd 2 days later. This weekend the MNR & CPF transferred the 2 hatchlings to the safer nest box. The adults were very upset at the ordeal but soon found the young ones & have nicely settled into their new condo with dad supplying plenty of grub for the family. The chicks were not quite old enough to band so Anne will be back again next week to do so. Many thanks to Anne, Mark & Tracy for giving the young ones a shot at survival. Also for some great shots of the day (included).

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2011/05/sightings/great-news-from-adm-site/ pics here.

Red knot shorebirds in decline NJ

“We know a lot of birds just arrived yesterday, a few hundred red knots and ruddy turnstones,� scientist Larry Niles said last week, feeling the skinny chest of a newly captured red knot, a robin-sized bird that weighed in at barely 4 ounces, around 110 grams. “He needs to get to 180 grams before he has enough fat to get to the Arctic.�

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20110522/NJNEWS/305230011/Red-knot-shorebirds-in-decline story here

MINNEAPOLIS -- A man deeply involved in the raptor project that led to the popular "eagle cam" in Decorah, Iowa, has reportedly died while helping neighbors in north Minneapolis clean up after Sunday's tornados.

A post on the Raptor Resource Project webpage Monday reported the death of Rob MacIntyre, President of the project.

"I have some bad news. Rob MacIntyre has passed away," wrote webmaster Amy Ries. "Rob was the President of the Raptor Resource Project. He was very involved in our work, rappelled with us, and established a new falcon nest last year at Riverview Towers. Rob gave me (Amy) rappel lessons at his home in North Minneapolis, using a large tree in his yard. He was a great guy, always very enthusiastic and encouraging, and he sure loved to rappel. He caught Amy when we were banding at Greysolon in 2006 and named her "Amy" (she was an unbanded adult falcon). We have many great memories of Rob and are shocked and saddened by his passing."

The RRP's Facebook page is stacked with tributes to MacIntyre and the impact he made with his life. 

So sad.

On the 18th May 2011, a flock of approximately 210 White Storks (Ciconia Ciconia) arrived in Malta. The flock was immediately greeted by gunfire, which continued during the next few days which the flock spent in Malta.

The birds had all departed Malta by the 22nd May. By this time BirdLife Malta had witnessed several birds gunned down, received shot White Storks, and seen a number of birds in flight with gunshot injuries.

Members of the public have been outraged by this incident, and shared their experience and condemnation publicly, through BirdLife Malta’s website.

Visit this page of our website to find out what happened and how you can take action against this annual illegal slaughter of protected birds.

http://www.birdlifemalta.org/Content/hunting/illegalhunting/whitestorks2011/1108/ Just plain sick!!

That's her Bobbie!