[Rogers Centre - Sadly, Little “Chopper� has now been added to the list of those that didn’t make it.Mark Nash Reports:July 9th - 2015]

More very sad news, this time from the Rogers Centre nest in Toronto.

Rogers Centre - Sadly, Little “Chopper� has now been added to the list of those that didn’t make it.

Mark Nash Reports:

July 9th - 2015

It is with great sadness that I must report that yet another one of this year's fledglings has not made it :-( .

At this time of year, there are not many of us that like to answer the phone, as it rarely ever brings us good news. Thus was the case again this morning, when we received a call, this time from Lisa at the TWC. This call, like many others that we receive at this time of year, was delivered with some sad news with regards to yet another one of this years young fledglings.

Little Chopper, one of the four fledglings that was produced at the Toronto Rogers Centre this season was admitted with severe internal injuries, in addition to a badly broken wing. It was decided after X-rays and a detailed examination, due to the extent and severity of her injuries, the only humane thing to do was to put her down. It was obvious that her broken wing had partially healed and had happened some days earlier, but her inability to regain flight obviously had her hiding somewhere where her parents couldn’t find and care for her. She was severely underweight and dehydrated.

It was only a week ago that we got a report of both Chopper and her sister “Striker� atop of the CN Tower visiting one of the human “Edge-walkers�.

Sadly, as many of you already know, the second and third week of the fledge can be the worst time. While the surviving fledglings are now able to hold their altitude and stay off the ground and out of that trouble, like kids, they get way too over-confident with their new found flight skills, they are unable to handle the incredible speed that they are able to obtain. Braking, judgment and coordination is always a challenge for these new inexperienced-flyers, and we all know, speed kills!

And I have to tell you, it has caused the death of a lot of young fledglings over the past 20 years.

Poor little Chopper; it is even worse that she was alone for some time after being injured, before she was even found. 

[Niagara Falls]

Niagara Falls

July 16, 2015 - Niagara Falls

Mark Nash Reports:

Just a quick update on the “Who’s Who� at the Niagara Falls nest site. A big thank you to Mike Veltri who has been visiting Niagara Falls and taking some incredible photos of the Niagara falls peregrines. While he has promised to send in some of his shots that we want to share with you, he has captured a great shot of the resident adult female and her leg bands that we can share with you. We can confirm via his photos that the resident adult female is still non-other than Diamond!

See here in one of Mike's photos, you can clearly see Diamond’s leg band identification - Black 42 over Red H with a Purple coloured USFW band.

We can also confirm the resident adult male is Duncan from Hamilton- Black 32 over V

Stay tuned for more photos of the family, including some incredible shots of the fledglings!

Great photo of Diamond by Mike Veltri.

I am sorry to read that Reuben has been displaced. He and Linn seemed to be a very compatible pair. I hope Reuben survived any territorial battle which might have taken place, and that he is safe somewhere.

This kind of change at the nest certainly provides a viable explanation for why there were no chicks this year.

[Skye – Lost and Found!!July 17, 2015 by Matt Perry]

Falcon Watch Utica
Calling all Watchers and Utica area fans!!!
Skye is missing - we need everyone's help to try to find him!
He was last seen heading toward the South side of the State Office Building on Wednesday morning.
If you see a falcon with a green leg band on a building or the ground in the downtown Utica area please contact us.
Falconwatch185@gmail.com
315-717-2042 (Deb)

Oh No!!!

I was very worried about Skye when I read your post. I could only hope for the best.

I was so happy to read on the site today that Skye has been found!

Skye – Lost and Found!!

July 17, 2015 by Matt Perry

Skye was absent from the usual part of the Downtown canyon for about 35 hours beginning Wednesday morning. That morning he’d initially been seen feeding on something on the Courthouse roof. After that he made a direct and somewhat labored flight over to the State Office Building where he put down on a high window ledge. Astrid, who apparently still hasn’t decided if she wants him around, hazed him with some swooping. After some close passes, Skye flew off to the south and out of view. Thankfully, Astrid didn’t persist and go after him. However, following that incident, and despite great effort on the part of our fledge watch volunteers, no one could locate him for a day and a half! Since Skye has not yet fully recovered from the accident that grounded him over 2 weeks ago, he has been depending on his brother and father to bring him food. That makes him very vulnerable, and it’s crucial that he stays in the canyon where he can be seen and tended by his family. He continues to fly, but very sparingly. When he does he usually  follows a very direct course between high building perches. It is believed that the bruising of his wing muscles will heal and his flying should gradually improve. He certainly has been getting a lot of rest!

Meanwhile Comet has been doing his flying stunts by himself or with his parents. On Tuesday night he made an incredible dive straight down from the top of the State Office Building. As he plummeted he twisted and turned and managed to up his mother from her low perch. Since the recovery from the dive took place out of view, the watchers were relieved to see Comet moments later chasing his mother through the canyon.

Photo of Skye from the site.



I hope Skye will continue to recover from his previous injuries and stay safe. Also that Astrid will stop harassing him.

[Ninja Trapped Behind a Glass Balcony and ReleasedJuly 14, 2015 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre]

From the Canadian Peregrine Foundation site:

Ninja Trapped Behind a Glass Balcony and Released

July 14, 2015 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre

Tracy Simpson Reports:

Another one of the new challenges that fledglings face is the glass balconies we see now commonly in use on condominiums.  They get in behind the glass and cannot figure out how to get out.  They try to fly through the glass and bump up against it not realizing that they need to go up and over.  So was the case with Mel last week but he managed to free himself through a small opening between the panels.  Not so for Ninja.

The CPF head office received a call that one of our juveniles was stuck behind a glass balcony at Kipling and Bloor on the 27th floor of one of the newer condos in the area.  Once the kids at the Islington Bloor Centre learn to fly, they often go and play with the pigeons at Kipling subway station so the location was not a big surprise.  Marion Nash contacted me and I was the closest so I headed out from MEC over to Viking Lane to help Ninja out.

I met the concierge and headed up to the tenants suite.  The gentleman had been away for the weekend and on Sunday night when he went out to water his plants at 9:30pm, he was driven back into his unit by an angry peregrine juvenile.  He contacted the concierge and started to make plans for contacting someone in the morning as it was late and he was sure no one was available.  He called around in the morning and was redirected a few times before reaching our head office at the end of the day yesterday.  When I arrived, Ninja was sitting in the gentleman’s tomato plant inside the circular tomato cage that helps the plant to stand up.  Great.  Can’t get a towel on that!!  So I went out to the balcony, slowly approached from behind and put my hands around his back and wings.  No problem, gotcha!!

What a nasty little attitude!!  This was one angry little man!!  I checked out his wings, his keel, his feet and his mouth.  All clear.  I hydrated him while he lashed out at me and the water bottle and he took the drinks with hiss and snap!!  I looked around the balcony and when standing at the end of it, there was a clear line of sight to the nest building.  I could see one of the parents on the ADP sign from where I stood and so could Ninja.  This was a perfect opportunity to let a completely healthy and furious juvenile go back home.  So I did.  I launched him off of the balcony and he flew straight home.

I checked out the balcony for signs of Ninja’s time there.  He had obviously been sitting initially on the small planter with jalapenos growing in it and shredded the entire thing.  Peppers all over the place, plant stems shredded and poop in a row beneath where he sat.  The droppings looked fantastic in that when he landed he had food in him and there was no sign of discoloration at all.  The poops got smaller as the bird processed his food and moved on to trash the thyme planter.  Shredded thyme leaves and stems all over the balcony where Ninja exercised his wrath on the poor unsuspecting plant.  Finally he moved to the tomatoes.  Oh dear, the poor tomatoes.  The tenant informed me that between my calling him and letting him know I was on my way, up until the time I arrived, Ninja went rip and tear crazy on the tomatoes destroying the plants completely.  I thanked the gentleman for calling and helping Ninja make his way home and headed down to the concierge.  I left the CPF head office number, my number and Bruce’s number should there ever be a problem in the future and headed off to the nest building to check on Ninja’s return.

Well, what a homecoming!  Lucky was sitting on the top of the apartment building on the Aberfoyle side looking totally confused as to where this little guy came from.  O’Connor was out on a hunt and so Lucky was left to decide how to handle this juveniles return to the nest site.  He kept calling OC but she was out of earshot.  Lucky decided to sit tight and let this play out.  Ferris on the other hand was overjoyed with the return of his brother.  I had both juveniles chasing each other around excitedly and finally landing together on the Centre tower for a rest.  They sat beside each other flipping heads and beak tapping in celebration of Ninja’s return.  Then Ninja turned his sights on Dad.  He was hungry.  Feed me now!!!  Ninja spent the next 10 minutes pursuing, harassing, knocking off and screaming at Lucky for food.  By the time I left Lucky had gone out on a hunt to try and calm Ninja down as his pursuit was relentless.

I was so pleased to see the two boys together once again and that this story ended with a happy conclusion.  We will continue to check in on the two boys and their progress and hopefully glass balcony garden ripping is off the agenda for Ninja.  Welcome home little man.

I am very glad the little guy was rescued and made it home safely. It is lucky for Ninja that the tenant had not gone away for an extended period of time. I can just picture Ninja angrily shredding plants.

[First fledge at St-Marc]

First fledge at St-Marc

One of Éole and Ève's chicks at St-Marc's Church has fledged, probably a female. She is currently safe and sound on a balcony.

There are a couple of great photos of the fledgling on the Facebook page.

From the Raptor Education Group Inc. This is so sad; what is wrong with people?

The lone survivor: photo from REGI.



https://www.facebook.com/RaptorEducationGroupInc/photos/a.10150711343036019.456896.30180201018/10153602565531019/?type=1&theater

I think one of the reasons for no nest box is they never know which ledge Linn will choose. I'm not sure how large the ledge spaces are either.

Each side of the building has 2 small corners with gravel where I have placed the big pink arrow below...that's where she nests



I think she has used a different one several times. There is a small overhang on each one that does offer some protection...she's part way under the overhang in the pic below.



Hopefully just one more part of the very odd year it's been all over.

Thank you so much for the information and pics, Dumpsterkitty. That is very useful and much appreciated.

I wonder if the CPF knows if there is a suitable location for a nest box, and whether the building owners would be amenable to this.

Love his stories!

https://stewartfalcon.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/found-birds/

Thank you for posting that, Kris! I love his stories too, and agree with his philosophy.

I am sorry to read that Linn and Reuben had no chicks this year. I am not familiar with what the site looks like, but am wondering if there is a reason why they have never been given a nest box? The new nest boxes CPF has installed at a couple of sites this year look as if they provide good protection. How can I help with providing one for Linn and Reuben?

[Skye Takes it Slow & Comet Shines Bright!]

A new update on Skye:

Skye Takes it Slow & Comet Shines Bright!

July 13, 2015 by Matt Perry

Since his release on Friday evening, Skye has been taking it slow and easy in the Downtown canyon. He does a limited amount of flying and plenty of resting, which is pretty much what the doctor ordered. Sometimes when he flies his wing beats are shallow and he seems to tire quickly. Obviously his wing muscles need some more time to completely recover from the injuries sustained over 10 days ago.  Initially Astrid seemed to be rejecting Skye, but has now largely relaxed her objections to his presence. However, she is still not above diving at him from time to time. Ares has been only marginally protective of Skye, which is in stark contrast to the  degree of protection he afforded Orion when she came back to the fold. It’s really been Comet who has been Skye’s lifeline. Brother Comet has taken on the role of protector – not hesitating to chase Astrid away when she gets too rambunctious. Comet has also been seen bringing food to Skye. On Monday morning, Skye needed to abort a landing on the roof of the State Office Building. Visibly tired, he retreated to the top of the County Building. And then from the other side of the canyon, Comet came in with prey (it’s not clear if it was something he caught himself or found) and brought it to Skye who flapped his wings in anticipation. That is one good brother!

Skye is so lucky to have a brother like Comet. The photos with the update include a great sequence of Comet bringing food and leaving it for Skye. I wish Astrid and Ares would be more accepting of Skye.

http://uticaperegrinefalcons.com/2015/07/13/skye-takes-it-slow-comet-shines-bright/

I hope everything goes well for Marie and her adopted sisters. So far it looks as if she is being accepted, which is great.

I hope that everything will go well for Skye, and that Astrid will accept him better than she did at first.

Rhea Mae was at the nest a couple of times this morning (back views only). This afternoon, there was another back view of a peregrine, but when she changed position, I saw that it was Sandy! I was very happy to see her.







Something caught her attention outside:



And then she was gone.

[Sandy Staying in the AreaJuly 08, 2015 - Toronto - Sheraton CentreLinda Woods Reports:]

Posted this evening on the CPF site:

Sandy Staying in the Area

July 08, 2015 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre

Linda Woods Reports:

Fledgling Sandy continues to do well under the careful eyes of Rhea Mae and Tiago. She is staying close to home as the adults continue to care for her and teach her flight lessons and hunting tactics.  Earlier today all three were seen flying high over the area of the Sheraton Hotel.  This evening, Sandy was seen on another roof top. I think she must have just been fed as she had a full crop.  She will remain in the area with the adults for another month or so, until she is fully independent of the adults. In the meantime, volunteers will continue to keep track of her.