Canada Falcons: All but those hatched in Rochester

[Donna]

 Likely Dot-Ca Sighting
December 31, 1969   ???  - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre


Over the course of the last several days,Ive been trading emails with a friend,Jen Howard who lives in the Kemphenfelt Bay area of Lake Simcoe. Jen has sent me some interesting photos,taken since mid-July,of 2 different Peregrine Falcons. A 2nd year bird,carrying what appeared in the photo to be a young Starling and a more interesting pair of photos,taken from her boat of a banded,juvenile,male Peregrine Falcon. The bird was seen about a quarter of the way down the Holland River,heading to Bradford.  On close examination and abit of manipulation of the photo,blue tape was easily seen on one “legâ€�. This is tape placed over the silver US Fish and Wildlife band,at the time the young Peregrine was banded,to keep track of it more easily during a fledge watch. The coloured alpha-numeric band is black with white letters/numbers,telling us it is Canadian. That band seems to be 2 digits which on inspection Ive made out to be 13 over Y. I made this observation before checking any of the current year’s banding records. I then checked which 2010 banded,male Peregrines the Canadian Peregrine Foundation had put the blue tape on. I found 2. Indeed the corresponding colour marker band of one was 13/Y.  This bird is Dot-Ca from a nest CPF monitors,infact it is one I site-co-ordinate the Fledgling Watch for each year and is a bird I personally rescued this season from a glass balcony on a condominium building. I am certain enough of this ID to make this posting. Dot-Ca was banded this year at Etobicoke’s Sunlife Centre,at Islington and Bloor.

      Attached are Jen Howards shots of the young Peregrine she and her son Jeff observed from their boat and a shot  of Dot-Ca,provided by Baylie Kastner moments before he was rescued. Jen is going to keep her eyes open for us and hopes to see either or both of these Peregrine Falcons again.

     Upon consultation with CPF Raptor Centre manager Tracy Simpson,we believe that Dot-Ca is quite a distance from home for such a young Peregrine,but the timeline of Kathy not observing all young at Sunlife fits and Dot-Ca was the first of the 3 brothers to hunt successfully for himself this summer. I also learned from Tracy that CPF has believed for some time that there is a Peregrine Falcon nest in the Barrie area(which is the general area of the sighting),but has been unable to confirm or find one…so far.  Peregrine Falcons are already being observed migrating along the shores of Lake Ontario. At a site I attend and count at in Scarborough,4 have already been sighted. Last season a record 73 migrating Peregrine Falcons were observed. Im hopeful that even more will be seen this season.

 http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2010/08/sightings/likely-dot-ca-sighting/  pics here

[Donna]

 OSSLER Update-August 21,2010
August 22, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:

       Arrived around 0700 Hrs. Juvenile female vocalizing on SW corner, flew around to North side lost sight of her.  Found Male Juvenile on Hydro Tower.  Noticed that he seemed to be “Croppyâ€� (Had fed this AM).  Female Juvenile flew in from NW about 1/2 hour later. She then proceeded to strafe 3 or 4 gulls on the Ground in the Emergancy Parking Lot.  It appears that she doesn’t like Gulls as she chased a single one more time during  my Observations.

     The male disappeared and the Adult Male showed up with Food, landing on the East Sign and the Juvenile Female flew over snatched the food off Dad and chased him off  “Mantlingâ€� it as he flew off. (Sounds like Callidora and Archer)

     I stayed around for about 2 Hrs. and saw 3 Peregrines, and the only one I didn’t see was the Adult Female.

[MAK]

    I'd like to see 3 peregrines again!  Thanks Donna.   

[Donna]

Edmonton's bravest caused a stir while rappelling off the High Level Bridge on Thursday to install nests for a pair of peregrine falcons.

"It's a really good training exercise," said Geoff Boulton, a technical rescue firefighter.

As the firefighters installed two wooden nest boxes on the concrete pillars, LRT trains, motorists and cyclists slowed to watch.

Peregrines favour high spots for nests, such as on bridges, cliffs and skyscrapers.

"They like their scenery," said Gordon Court, a wildlife biologist with the province.

The bridge is a good spot for hunting gulls on the North Saskatchewan River and pigeons, he said.

The pair of speedy-birds have called the steel trussed bridge their nesting ground for three years, but severe snowfalls have impacted reproduction, said Court.

In Alberta there are just 68 mating pairs of peregrines, a threatened species. Numbers declined to just one productive pair in 1970 due to the use of pesticides such as DDT.

Biologists hope the pair will find success breeding with the new nests to protect against rain and snowfall.

Peregrines are territorial creatures; as the firefighters worked one of the falcons swooped in for a peek.

It was an unexpected sight, Court said, but encouraging to see.

The male, born downtown in 2005, often sits atop the Peace Hills Trust building on 100 Avenue and 109 Street. The female was born in downtown Calgary in 2004.

"That was the icing on the cake. Now they have a place to lay eggs," he said.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2010/08/26/15154951.html#/news/edmonton/2010/08/26/pf-15154951.html  Photos here

[MAK]

   This falcon looks big and very light colored compared to ours.   

[Donna]

!!! Ossler-Labour Day Weekend Updates
September 06, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:

     Managed to make it out to Ossler 3 out of 4 Days.  First of all, Friday Morning I had the Male Adult and both Juveniles but not the Adult Female, first thing. I spent about 2 Hours Total.  On Saturday, even though I didn’t do an official check, I happened to be in the neighbourhood and drove by around 1330 Hrs. and saw a Peregrine on the East  “ Hâ€� sign, however it was too far away to identify as Adult or Juvenile.

     Yesterday, I arrived on site around 1700 Hrs for around 2 hours, and only saw the Adult Male not the  Juveniles.  Today, (Monday) I arrived in the earl AM, but because of the Weather only stayed an Hour or so.  Again I only observed the Adult Male and didn’t see any of the other 3.

    As only an aside, or a coincidence, over the last 3 days there have been a total of 3 Peregrines through Holiday Beach Hawk Watch, however 2 went through on Sept. 3 and 1 through Sept. 5.

[Donna]

!!! Sad news to report, Nihei from 2009 has died.
August 19, 2010 - Ottawa - Crowne Plaza
CPF Postmaster Reports:

I am sad to report that our Nihei of last season has died. She had been found badly injured in Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, Quebec last September 9th. She was brought to a wildlife clinic with multiple fractures (scapula & coracoid ) and was cared for by a vet there. Unfortunately she contracted a bacterial infection and died. At least she was with caring people when she died.
Eve

Eve Ticknor

!!! Sad news from Mississauga at the Holcim nest site.
August 11, 2010 - Mississauga - St Lawrence Cement
Mark Nash Reports:

We have received some sad news from the Holcim nest site in Mississauga as the news of yet another one of this years juveniles didn’t make it. Sadly, it appears that the little juvenile named Holcim suffered fatal injuries as a result of him coming to the ground. While sad news to report, its also nice to know that his other siblings are all doing quite well and have stayed high and out of trouble. While the urban landscape can offer a very hospitable environment, safe from the usual dangers that exist for a young peregrine in the wild, it can also be a very dangerous environment with unique challenges, and the young of the year still have much to learn.

It is nice to know that while mortality is expected at every nest site, it is much lower at the urban nest site given the human intervention that is provided by the many staff and volunteers at each nest site during the fledge watches that are on hand to offer assistance and rescue some of the birds that take a little longer to hone their flight skills in an effort to stay aloft.

A huge thank you to Armando and the great staff and management team at Holcim for their incredible foster care and stewardship of their nesting peregrines, as this nest site has been a huge success overall year afer year since the peregrines first set up house.

Each year the Holcim nest site has produced and successfully fledged offspring that have survived to adulthood and some of the know survivors are now nesting and producing their own offspring in other parts of the country (both here in Canada and the USA).

Poor babies! 

[MAK]

    Just goes to show how lucky it is that Jemison healed and is now flying free!   

[jeanne]

It breaks my heart when I see these things.  Poor babies.  So beautiful but they fly in dangerous situations.  We are so lucky that Jemison was rescued and rehabbed!

[Donna]

 Excellent Osprey action photo with fish out of water by Michael Irwin!
September 14, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:

I caught this Osprey fishing at Balsam lake a couple of weeks back…..feel free to use it.

Michael Irwin

Excellent pic!

[Donna]

!!! More sad news to report! Blackberry has been found dead.
August 25, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
CPF Postmaster Reports:

While we don’t have any details as yet of little Balckberry’s demise, we have received sad news from OMNR Guelph district of a dead juvenile peregrine falcon havaing been reported to them wearing a black band 14 over Y. After a quick check of this years banding details, the band has been confirmed belonging to Blackberry, produced this year at the Sun Life centre nest site at Bloor & Islington in Etobicoke.
We hope to get more details and will post it as the information becomes available

!!! Renewal
September 14, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:

Angel and Jack have been busy renewing their pair bond for the past week.  This is typical behaviour at the end of nesting season - a way of reaffirming their commitment to the site and to each other.  So lots of echupping and time in the nestbox  bowing and scraping when he is here, otherwise Angel is perched on her cam enjoying the cool Fall air and Jack is off at his other site.

It was very sad to hear that our little Blackberry did not make it.    Fly free little buddy!

[MAK]

Excellent Osprey action photo with fish out of water by Michael Irwin!
September 14, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:

I caught this Osprey fishing at Balsam lake a couple of weeks back…..feel free to use it.

Michael Irwin

Excellent pic!

   Wonderful photo!     Thanks Donna!

[MAK]

!!! More sad news to report! Blackberry has been found dead.
August 25, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
CPF Postmaster Reports:

While we don’t have any details as yet of little Balckberry’s demise, we have received sad news from OMNR Guelph district of a dead juvenile peregrine falcon havaing been reported to them wearing a black band 14 over Y. After a quick check of this years banding details, the band has been confirmed belonging to Blackberry, produced this year at the Sun Life centre nest site at Bloor & Islington in Etobicoke.
We hope to get more details and will post it as the information becomes available

!!! Renewal
September 14, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:

Angel and Jack have been busy renewing their pair bond for the past week.  This is typical behaviour at the end of nesting season - a way of reaffirming their commitment to the site and to each other.  So lots of echupping and time in the nestbox  bowing and scraping when he is here, otherwise Angel is perched on her cam enjoying the cool Fall air and Jack is off at his other site.

It was very sad to hear that our little Blackberry did not make it.    Fly free little buddy!

    Fly high and free!   

[jeanne]

May you fly with our other sweet falcons that we have loved and lost, little one.

[Donna]

 Both Adults On Site
October 03, 2010 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Frank Butson Reports:

An Ont Birds report on October 3rd mentioned quickly that both adults were on the bridge and looking well. Its always great to hear.