Canada Falcons: All but those hatched in Rochester

[Kris G.]

So maybe we need to move the Oshawa posts to an offspring page...maybe Rochester Grand-eyases...

Anyway...Oshawa is East of Toronto proper near Whitby & Pickering, which were 2 of Quest's haunts during her Grand Tour. I think Linn was seen in Whitby too before settling in Scarborough.

Anyway...Pictures by Tracy Simpson of Alfreda...

   

 

...and Simcoe

 

And I need to dig...I have the spelling as Alfreda, not Alfrieda...Joyce, do you know which is correct?

Going back to banding pics from 2012 on Peregrine Place, it looks like Alfreda..named after Alfred Fellheimer, one of the architects of Central Terminal building.

[Dumpsterkitty]

Salveo takes her first flights! So far, staying off the ground level!
July 21, 2014 - Oshawa - Oshawa Activity
Mark Nash Reports:

July 21st -2014
2:38pm
One of the parents just brought her a meal, (Swiss Chalet) :-) and is sitting beside her on the same ledge, the other parent is 2 stories above watching.
Thx,
Ken

1:36pm
Hi to all,
Salveo has taken her first flight, she is now sitting on a parapet ledge 2 stories below the roof where we captured her for banding.
The parents are both flying on the other side of the hospital, again they could be hunting.
Very cool.
Ken
Posted on July 21, 2014 1:55 am

[carly]

Ugh..another change over at MEC...Beth jsut alerted me to it.  We've got a falcon with Black/Red bands on cam.  

[Donna]

Ugh..another change over at MEC...Beth jsut alerted me to it.  We've got a falcon with Black/Red bands on cam.  

What is going on??? Yikes!!

[patsy6]

Where is MEC, and who are the nesting pair there?  Sorry, but it's hard to keep track of all these sites. 

[Dumpsterkitty]

Where is MEC, and who are the nesting pair there?  Sorry, but it's hard to keep track of all these sites. 

Mississauga Executive Centre. The pair is Rogue & Sante...they had one offspring this year...Mason.

A bit about Rogue from CPF site...

As far as the resident adult female (Rogue), after being more than a year in re-hab, the returning resident adult female (Rogue) seems to have settled in quite nicely and resumed where she left off two seasons ago. Remembering that she was seriously injured in a territorial dispute with another adult female two seasons ago and had to be taken into re-hab for some long term care. Rouge was eventually released back to the wild last August 2013 in the Niagara area, and as expected, was back at the MEC Mississauga territory in less than 12 hours after being released back to the wild. She was banded prior to being released back to the wild with a single Silver USFW leg band on the LEFT LEG and does not have a coloured recovery band on, so it should be very easy to identify her. Typically, the Silver USFW band is put on the right leg.

The adult female that had injured Rouge two seasons ago and took over the territory did in fact produce offspring last season at this nest site with the resident adult male - “Sante�, but she was found dead in the Square One parking lot late last July. Sante is unbanded and his original origin is unknown.

[patsy6]

Thanks, Ei.  Wow, another story of tough lives in the wild.  Wherever they are, I hope they are okay.

[MAK]

Life isn't easy for man nor beast/falcon! 

[PatriciaRose]

Interesting story about the MEC falcons, Ei - thanks for sharing!  It is amazing how many are injured in territorial disputes!

[Dumpsterkitty]

Apparently it's a very choice nest site...

 BREAKING NEWS. New Female On Camera at MEC.
July 29, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

Over the past two days there has been renewed activity in the MEC nest box that has been quite evident by the craters that the adults are now digging.  This intensity of activity is not usual for this time of year; house cleaning and rebonding for sure but this is something more serious.  Watchers of the camera at MEC were able to capture today several images of a banded female in the box currently bonding with the resident unbanded male.  The female on camera is donning a purple USFW band on her right leg and a black over red recovery band on her left.  She is definitely of American origins and we will be out at the site over the next few days working to try and get a positive identification from her bands.

While this news is somewhat sad after Rogue’s triumphant return to the wild from rehab, it is not unusual for the MEC nest site.  Over the past 6 years there has been so many FEMALE turnovers that it is hard to keep track.  Here’s what we know;

2009 breeding season begins with resident female Tessie who hatched three but at banding found dead next to the nest box.  Chicks are removed for their safety and fostered at the William Osler Hospital nest site.  New female banded black over red with a silver USFW maintains the territory.

2010 nesting season begins with new resident female banded black rotated 8 over red rotated 8 named Infinity hatched at Statler Towers in Buffalo.  She hatches four young.

2011 nesting season begins with the same resident female Infinity but failed to hatch eggs.  Territorial battles between Infinity and an unbanded female witnessed.  Infinity holds the site into the late fall to early winter.

2012 nesting season begins with new resident female now unbanded and named Rogue who hatches three young.  She is injured in a territorial battle during fledge period with another female banded black over green and is sent to rehab.  The new female maintains the territory for the rest of the year.

2013 nesting season begins with same resident female as the fall identified as Cass from Michigan who hatches two chicks successfully.  She is found dead in July.  Rogue is released from rehab in August and reclaims her territory.

2014 nesting season begins with resident female as Rogue after her release from rehab and identified by her silver USFW on her left leg.  She successfully hatches a single male chick this year.  She has just recently been displaced by a black over red banded female and her disposition is unknown.

The CPF has been monitoring the MEC site for over a decade now and from 2009 onward the control of the MEC airspace by resident females has been in dispute and the resident adult female changes regularly.  During the past 6 nesting seasons there has been 4 different females ruling the box and as of now there is a fifth.  This is probably the most hotly contested site in all of southern Ontario as this is such an incredible nesting site with all of the best aspects laying right in the path of an important north/south corridor in the west end of the GTA.   We will be out over the next few days to the MEC site as often as we can to identify the new female and look for signs of Rogue still in the area.  Given that Mason, this year’s offspring, was so early and has long since reached a good level of flight skill, it is likely that he was well out of the way during this recent exchange.  Check back regularly for updates on the status of the MEC territory and the identity of this new female on camera.  Camera captures will be posted shortly.

[MAK]

 

[carly]

MEC Female Identified.
July 31, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

A big thank you to Lucie that yesterday was able to confirm what we suspected in that the female seen on camera at MEC is Midnght from the downtown Brampton nest site.

A few days ago we were watching vigorous activity in the nest box with the adults in and out regularly and doing more than simple fall bonding. The nest scrapes were being seriously excavated along with lots of bowing that looked more like courtship than housecleaning. Over the past few days we were able to confirm that there is indeed a new bird at the MEC site and that bonding of this new pairing was in high swing. Thanks to our web camera watchers we were able to confirm band colors as black over red on the left leg and purple USFW on the right of this new female. During Lucie’s visit to the site yesterday she was able to 100% clearly see through her scope the 9 on top with a 90% certainty of an 8 beside it and 100% confirm an E on the bottom. This is consistent with Midnight, hatched in 2011 in Ohio, whose band is black 98 over red E.

Midnight was identified in Ontario as a subadult in 2012 when I found her hanging around in downtown Brampton with Milton, then resident male at the Brampton Courthouse. Nothing came of that nesting season but by 2013 she was ready to give nesting a try. The spring started late for her in downtown Brampton as her mate Milton was ousted by a younger Canadian male named Striker from the Yellow Pages nest site, also hatched in 2011. The eggs laid were Milton’s but the new male attending to her had changed. Her attempt to nest on the George St. condo failed to hatch any young. By August, Midnight had come south down Hwy. 10 to the Brittania Road area chasing out a subadult female named Alfrieda (now nesting at Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa) and spent over a month courting Ossie, a subadult male hatched at the William Osler Hospital in 2012. By the winter of 2013, Midnight was back further north and Ossie was no longer around the Revenue Canada building.

This spring, Midnight was once again in downtown Brampton with Striker and they were working on hatching young on the top of the George St condo. Territorial battles with other females, intense rainfall events, lack of substrate and drainage and lingering cold most likely all played a role in her second nest failure in two years. When we heard that a black over red banded female was now in the MEC box and on camera, we immediately thought of her.

Up to this point, this territory has been held by Rogue who successfully hatched and raised one male chick this year. Where Rogue is at this time no one really knows but we will certainly be watching for her. Only time will tell who will be the breeding adult female next year at MEC as there is still a long way to go before we get there. We will be out over the long weekend to check in on Midnight and Renegade as well as head north to look for Striker and Rogue. We will keep you up to date on all the latest news regarding this site so keep checking back.

[Kris G.]

MEC Female Identified.
July 31, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

A big thank you to Lucie that yesterday was able to confirm what we suspected in that the female seen on camera at MEC is Midnght from the downtown Brampton nest site.

A few days ago we were watching vigorous activity in the nest box with the adults in and out regularly and doing more than simple fall bonding. The nest scrapes were being seriously excavated along with lots of bowing that looked more like courtship than housecleaning. Over the past few days we were able to confirm that there is indeed a new bird at the MEC site and that bonding of this new pairing was in high swing. Thanks to our web camera watchers we were able to confirm band colors as black over red on the left leg and purple USFW on the right of this new female. During Lucie’s visit to the site yesterday she was able to 100% clearly see through her scope the 9 on top with a 90% certainty of an 8 beside it and 100% confirm an E on the bottom. This is consistent with Midnight, hatched in 2011 in Ohio, whose band is black 98 over red E.

Midnight was identified in Ontario as a subadult in 2012 when I found her hanging around in downtown Brampton with Milton, then resident male at the Brampton Courthouse. Nothing came of that nesting season but by 2013 she was ready to give nesting a try. The spring started late for her in downtown Brampton as her mate Milton was ousted by a younger Canadian male named Striker from the Yellow Pages nest site, also hatched in 2011. The eggs laid were Milton’s but the new male attending to her had changed. Her attempt to nest on the George St. condo failed to hatch any young. By August, Midnight had come south down Hwy. 10 to the Brittania Road area chasing out a subadult female named Alfrieda (now nesting at Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa) and spent over a month courting Ossie, a subadult male hatched at the William Osler Hospital in 2012. By the winter of 2013, Midnight was back further north and Ossie was no longer around the Revenue Canada building.

This spring, Midnight was once again in downtown Brampton with Striker and they were working on hatching young on the top of the George St condo. Territorial battles with other females, intense rainfall events, lack of substrate and drainage and lingering cold most likely all played a role in her second nest failure in two years. When we heard that a black over red banded female was now in the MEC box and on camera, we immediately thought of her.

Up to this point, this territory has been held by Rogue who successfully hatched and raised one male chick this year. Where Rogue is at this time no one really knows but we will certainly be watching for her. Only time will tell who will be the breeding adult female next year at MEC as there is still a long way to go before we get there. We will be out over the long weekend to check in on Midnight and Renegade as well as head north to look for Striker and Rogue. We will keep you up to date on all the latest news regarding this site so keep checking back.

Wow!  I'm glad someone can remember all these stories! 

[Carol P.]

   Wow!  Glad that Tracy's on the job keeping track of what's going on at this nest site. 

[Dumpsterkitty]

MEC Female Identified.
July 31, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

The spring started late for her in downtown Brampton as her mate Milton was ousted by a younger Canadian male named Striker from the Yellow Pages nest site, also hatched in 2011.

Did we know Striker was the resident male there?