Canada Falcons: All but those hatched in Rochester

[Bird Crazy]

I told her today that Rhea Mae at the Sheraton is already 2 eggs ahead but she seems nonplussed about it all

She's probably thinking I know Beauty doesn't have any yet either so 

[Carol P.]

Well, Rhea Mae is a Princess after all.   

I told her today that Rhea Mae at the Sheraton is already 2 eggs ahead but she seems nonplussed about it all

She's probably thinking I know Beauty doesn't have any yet either so 

[Donna]

!!! Something is Going On Up there!!
March 29, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:

 Angel has been inside the nestbox - I could see her head and she has been alternating between standing and laying down - all morning.   When she stands up in the box, I can see her head over the side of the nestbox ledge with my binoculars.  Jack has been standing guard on the cam keeping his eye on the window washer who is on the second building over from us.

Earlier this morning when I arrived, he was already on the cam and she was in the nestbox.  She has only left twice, when he brought her food.  She took it to the mating corner and he immediately stood by the nestbox until it was time.  Two lengthy mating sessions were observed, after which- both times she immediately returned to the nestbox.  He continues to stand on the cam watching over her while keeping one eye on the poor window washer.

There is no way at this time to confirm the presence of eggs however all activity and behaviour is pointing to it - things are on track at least!

Update @ 1:50 pm:  More food and another mating session.  I checked last years notes and when this much activity happened all day last year as it has today, she was in full incubation a few days later!


William Osler Winding Up…
March 27, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:

On Sunday, March 27th Bruce Massey attended the William Osler Hospital site to check on Hurricane and his lady at the nest tray.  An affirmative ID has yet to be made as to who the grey lady is, but we have confirmed that she bears a Black over Green band on the left leg and a purple USFW band on the right.  As that could be from anywhere in the midwest prior to 2008, we await a visual confirmation of the alpha numerics before we can determine who this is.

Bruce’s visit did confirm that the pair at the site definately has family rearing in mind and is actively in and out of the nest tray with much vocalization.  We will be closely watching the site for egg laying to begin.  Thanks go out to Bruce for his efforts this past weekend.

[Donna]

Incubation Has Begun
March 29, 2011 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:

Bill and I visited the Lift Bridge this afternoon and we are able to confirm that incubation has begun.  Cirrus was sitting on the wires with a very full crop and Sir Adam Beck was doing incubation duties.  When we left, Cirrus had flown to the edge of the nest box looking in to make sure that Sir was doing it correctly.  We didn’t stay long enough to see a shift change.  We were able to see into the nest box from down the road.  When we were there last week, both birds were visible so incubation has begun in the last week.  Of course, we are not able to determine the number of eggs in the nest.

[Donna]

Activity at MEC; Two Eggs and Counting
March 30, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

This afternoon I made my way out to MEC to check on our pair this year and was greeted with a tempting bit of pigeon at MEC 2 rooftop.  The tasty treat was not for me ( thank goodness, yuckers! ) but rather the unbanded male was courting and caring for his lady on the scene.  I scrambled to get the scope out and take a look as she had both legs in full view and of course, the minute I was ready, off she goes and into the nestbox.  I was able to get a glimpse of colour though and I am 99% sure that she is a Black over Red which coincides with observations last year and last week as well.  After abandoning the hope of actually getting alpha numerics off of the band, I made the climb to the control room to take a look at what she was up to.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that two eggs have already been laid and by the looks of her, all plump and dreamy, the third will be there tomorrow.  I then wandered over to MEC 3 and with the unwavering support of the security on staff, I was able to head up to the roof for another attempt at an ID on the female.  Once again, I had her in full view in the scope but to no avail as she had no intention of moving an inch and with her feathers draped around her band, I decided to leave her to her sleepiness and planned to try again in a day or so.

William Osler Has Eggs!
- Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:

Out and about this afternoon checking on the status of our nest sites, I made my way over to William Osler to take a gander at Hurricane and his female.  Our territorial male has been positively identified as Hurricane but the identity of our female this year has been more elusive.  We do know that she is a Black over Green but she has yet to give us the big reveal as to who she is and her origins.  Feeling lucky, I pulled out the scope and tripod and got it all set up as I had one of the pair on the north side sitting openly on the H with legs in full view.  It was Hurricane and not the female as I had hoped.  No matter!  I was so pleased to see Hurricane on site again this year as our resident male.  It was then off to the control room with the great support of security at the hospital and lo and behold, there she is…   â€¦our mother to be lying down on an undetermined number of eggs!!  After a brief period of observation it was clear that she had no intertion of moving an inch and revealing what, or in this case how many, lay beneath her.  If peregrines could snore she’d be rockin the house!!  I will be returning in the days that follow to attempt to positively ID our female this year  and see where she is at with eggs.  The outstanding staff in security, environmental services and the hospital have been wonderfully supportive of their peregrines and an enormous thanks go out to them.  Looks like we are well on our way to another exciting nesting season!!

!!! Wing Tips !
March 31, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:

It’s a wet, damp day out there and no sign of anyone out in the open any time I was able to check.  On my lunch break now with an umbrella and binoculars standing in the middle of the road my suspicions were confirmed.  I could see two wing tips above the lip of the nest box.  So she’s laying flat in the box this morning.

3:30 pm Update: She’s still laying in the nestbox.  Jack did come by - as he was sitting on the web cam and there was some chit chatting going on and I could see her head but she didn’t get out of the box while I was there .

[Donna]

!!! Sunday Visit
April 03, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:

Spent an hour and half at the site this morning to see if things have progressed since Friday.  Angel was in the nest box the entire time lying down, I caught her changing positions twice and moving about as if to rearrange eggs but otherwise she was not visible from the ground.

Jack came in about 5 minutes after I arrived and he circled the building three times, checked the rooftops but did not land on the ledge.  He passed the ledge at eye level twice and that was one of the times Angel’s head popped up and she did a bit of rearranging.  Jack then left and flew in the direction of his other nest site.

I think she’s started incubation however I will wait until tomorrow to call it.  I’d like to catch an actual shift change and see if she spends the entire day inside the box.  Her behaviour and Jack’s today was consistent with what I saw last year once incubation had started.

!!! Possible Peregrines at Brampton Courthouse
April 03, 2011 - International, National and Local News
Frank Butson Reports:

While activity seems to have slowed at this site,local folks are keeping their eyes peeled for a pair of Peregrine Falcons,which have been in the area for the last 2 seasons. This would be the first known nest in the Brampton area.

Please excuse the delay in posting this report,our Sportsmans Show participation and other personal issues caused the delay.

Terry Osborne a  self-described “obsessed birder living in Dundas, Ontario and have been so obsessed since the 80’s.â€� Posted about a sighting at the Brampton courthouse. I was able to contact Terry and he reported:

 
A bit of history, in early February I thought I saw a peregrine leaving the court house building.  I saw it flying away and while I wasn’t 100% sure of its ID, I immediately suspected a peregrine.  I even pointed the bird out to a colleague. This past Wednesday at around the supper hour I saw 2 peregrines flying in from the northwest (I was inside the building looking out) and they appeared to land on the northwest corner of the building. Then on Saturday I saw the birds again as noted above. Again this morning I saw the male, what I at least think is the male, perched on the same section of roof as show in the attached photos. The second bird I only heard coming from a different part of the roof.
 
This building has an ample supply of rock pigeons. While only being a 7 storey building it has a great vista of the surrounding area and there appears to be an ample supply of prey within the area. I have been contacted by at least another pair of Brampton birders who have told me they will try to monitor this site as will I as I work there.  I also hope that this pair decides to set up housekeeping on this building and provide the first nesting record of peregrine falcons in the Brampton area.
 Terry sent along a few photos. While one is alittle blurry from cropping,it shows there is no band on the leg of the Peregrine,believed to be the male.
Since this sighting Terry has said sightings have slowed,but a friend of Terry’s named Don,reported on: saw a pair of peregrines at the Rose Theatre on Saturday, March 18.
Independantly,a gentleman approached me at The Toronto Sportsmans Show and told me of a pair of Peregrine Falcons that were at the Brampton courthouse last season.
We look forward to hearing from Terry and his friends about any future developments.

Durand in Columbus,Ohio at the Rhodes State Office Towers. Durand was hatched in Hamilton at The Sheraton Hotel nestsite in 2009. The male is so far unconfirmed.

The most EGGCITING news is that Durand has laid her first egg of 2011

[Donna]

!!! The Pefa’s are back!
April 05, 2011 - Niagara Falls
CPF Postmaster Reports:

One adult peregrine just cruised past my window on the 18th floor of the Niagara Falls Hilton. (Canadian side, near the gorge). Too late to snap a photo but was within ten feet of the bird and got a very good look. Time: 11:40 am April 5th. 2011.
I have been sitting here for hours with camera in hand waiting for a second chance at that photo. Will send it along if I get lucky.

Cheryl Piraino
Kingston, Ontario

!!! Shift Change & Some TV’s!
April 04, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:

Exciting day for Angel today, as if the wind and rain wasn’t enough..lots of Turkey Vulture’s around so she hauled herself out of the nest box to back up Jack when he didn’t return as quickly as she would have when they came into the territory earlier in the day.

I stayed a bit after work tonight and I thought all was calm and quiet as I couldn’t see anyone so I figured Angel was happily laying in the box.  About 10 minutes later I hear alarm calling and out of the nestbox comes Jack yelling his head off ..he stopped not too far away from me and turned around and went back to the nestbox.  I was a bit puzzled as to what he was alarming about and then a few minutes later Angel comes flying in from the south and lands on the web cam.  Some chit chatting ensued and then Jack took off to his other ‘wife’ and Angel jumped back into the nestbox and settled herself down.   I’m guessing she chased something off and perhaps he was watching her  or she took too long on her break  and he was telling her to get back to the box 

[Donna]

!!! Could There Be Eggs?
April 05, 2011 - Toronto - King Street
Linda Woods Reports:

King St. peregrines have been evasive of late, indicating that they must have eggs.

We are working on getting the live image back on the web page,til then we’ll have to continue to watch, observe and report any peregrine activities at this site.

[rynnac]

Does anyone know where "Jack", the male PeFa at Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre, makes his second home?  There are several mentions in the nest notes of him going off to his other "wife" and nest, etc, but they never mention where it is.  Do they know?  Is that site also monitored?

Nancy in UT

[carly]

Does anyone know where "Jack", the male PeFa at Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre, makes his second home?  There are several mentions in the nest notes of him going off to his other "wife" and nest, etc, but they never mention where it is.  Do they know?  Is that site also monitored?

Nancy in UT

Jack's second home is at a Private Residential nest site located in Etobicoke.  Because some of the residents are not 'keen' on having a pair of pefa's on their condo building - not to mention the people who would be there viewing with binoculars - we agree to keep the site location private at their request.  

Mathew, a falcon lover who resides at the building does update his own blog which you can find here:

http://www.asic.ca/peregrinefalcons/

Actually saying they aren't keen is an understatement - if you read through their past blogs, some people actually wished them dead..it's a sad situation.

[Donna]

Well well well, where did we leave off here?

Apologies to dedicated followers of this blog, I left you hanging for quite a while. No offense was intended by this, as I've explained to many of you in person, life went way off the rails and at the same time I didn't have any definitive falcon info to pass along.

As of now, two adults are regularly being seen around the building. There were 3 including a juvie up until sometime in September (as far as I recall), but I didn't manage to ID any of them so nothing got reported.

Within the past week I managed to capture some shots of two adults one frigid morning at the old/original nest ledge. I knew one was Mom, but had to wait quite a while for the other one to lift his leg so I could ID him. Guess who... no big surprise, it was Jack.

In the months to come, I will definitely keep you posted on any developments with the falcons, but perhaps in a less frequent way than in the past. If/when courting/mating begin, I will try to monitor and report.

At the same time, I would greatly appreciate if those who have eyes, ears, and optics, could share in the monitoring process, I don't always appreciate being the one person monitoring the birds.

Lastly, I don't know how things will work out this year, but I am hopeful that the "falcon workgroup" created last year will re-emerge and help with the tasks carried out through the nesting season. It worked out smoothly and effectively last year, hopefully this approach can be used again. We know now a lot of what to expect, and are more comfortable with the process, as usual all volunteer efforts are helpful and appreciated.

All the best in 2011 and I'll do my best to keep you posted on any developments here at the nest site.


First post of 2011

Looks like Jack is gonna be a daddy X's 2 again

Jack "caught again" He's a busy fellow!

[rynnac]

Jack's second home is at a Private Residential nest site located in Etobicoke.   {snip}

Mathew, a falcon lover who resides at the building does update his own blog which you can find here:

http://www.asic.ca/peregrinefalcons/

{snip}

Thanks so much for this info, it will be interesting to see if Jack can keep two families going this year.  This is fairly uncommon, isn't it, for a male to have two mates?  Whether due to lack of opportunity or due to their generally serially-monogamous (if that is what it could be called...) mating habits?

Nancy in UT

[MAK]

Jack is cute! 

[Donna]

!!! Peter 2010 At Cherry Beach Toronto
April 11, 2011 - Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel
Linda Woods Reports:

Paul Marshman and Harry were at Cherry Beach in Toronto this past Saturday and spotted an adult peregrine and a juvenile. Having a zoom lens Paul was able to capture an image of the leg bands of the juvenile and it has been I.D as a juvenile from 2010 Sheraton Hamilton nest.  The adult may be one from King St. in Toronto who has been seen there in the past.

Many Thanks to Canadian Peregrine Foundation Volunteers Paul Marshman for the photo and Harry Crawford

!!! Incubation is underway!
April 07, 2011 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
CPF Postmaster Reports:

April 7th - Again thanks to Collette, and some great photos she took of the happenings going on down at the Windsor nest site, it appears that incubation is underway. A single photo says it all. A good photo of Voltaire incubating and later on some great photos of an excited Freddie (and later again) Voltaire suggesting that he get out and protect the territory and bring in more food!

!!! Yellow Pages nest site has two eggs and full time incubation is underway!!
April 07, 2011 - Scarborough - Yellow Pages
CPF Postmaster Reports:

April 7th -
While a long time waiting indeed, it appears that the Scarborough Yellow pages peregrines have finally settled in to a ledge on the north west side and currently on 2 eggs. My visit today was filled with a kind of a bitter sweet emotion, in that the territorial pair are currently incubating two eggs. On the bitter side, it would appear that Lawrie, (the young female peregrine that was produced here in southern Ontario at the St. Lawrence Cement plant in Mississauga - (now called the Holcim nest site), and who’s father was that of Nate - (who we hacked out at the CPF Richmond Hill hack site in 1999), may no longer be the resident female at the Scarborough Yellow pages nest site.

The resident male at Yellow pages appears to be the same guy, (Named Ruben) and was produced in Ohio USA if I remember correctely. The resident male was observed dawning a Black over Green coloured leg band, but sadly, I was too busy “running and ducking� for cover in an effort to get out of his way and off of the roof area to see the digits on his Black over Green coloured leg band.

The resident adult female is very different in her attitude,, (unlike the full body contact hitter Lawrie), she bolted from the nest ledge and I never saw her again until I returned to the ground level. While I can not confirm her band colour, I believe I saw a quick flash of a solid black coloured band, but not really sure. If the resident female is in fact still Lawrie, there is something very different going on, as Lawrie has a “No Fear� attitude and has always been a “full contact hitter� in the past. I have experienced her rathe on four different occasions in previous years both at the old Scarborough Bell nest site and at the yellow pages nest site. Three of the four times, she drew MY blood. I still dawn two of the old battle scars proudly.

A big thank you to security for their assistance in helping us gather the site logistics again this year, and we look forward to seeing a hatch and young ones this year.

It will be very interesting to find out just who the current resident female is, and of course confirm the identity of the resident male?

[Donna]

Confirmation on Egg Count and Incubation
April 19, 2011 - Toronto - King Street
Tracy Simpson Reports:

As I was down at the 18 King St. E nest site today, I was able to witness a change over between the adults and we have confimation of 4 eggs that they are currently incubating.  We are feverishly working on the web camera image and will hopefully have that resolved soon. (Kendal's birth place)

!!! 2 eggs and all is well
April 19, 2011 - Toronto - Uptown Yonge and Eglinton
Tracy Simpson Reports:

On friday April 15th, Tracy and our co-op student went uptown to Yonge and Eglinton where 2 eggs were observed on a ledge at 2200 Yonge street. The pair have chosen an excellent ledge with a view of the evenings sunset. The pair look very healthy and keep their eating area on a lower floor.

The male has been busy with many scrapes located between two different floors.  There was one egg laid each in two separate scrapes and a third laying just outside of yet another scape on a lower level.  These eggs, however, were abandoned and the yet to be identified pair is focusing their attention on incubating the most recently laid clutch.