Canada Falcons: All but those hatched in Rochester

[ezsha]

Tucked out of view
May 15, 2011 - Toronto - King Street
Linda Woods Reports:

More rain today, cold blustery winds. King St peregrines have tucked the little ones in the corner under the view of the camera. I’ll try again tomorrow for status update.

Last viewing, two hatches, two eggs.

[ezsha]

!!! Yahoo, we have a hatch!!!!
May 16, 2011 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:

Well, the waiting is over, Dennis and I definitely saw at least one chick yesterday afternoon on the nest site. Voltaire was on the nest site while Freddie was sitting on the ledge, in seconds Voltaire flew off the nest and back again with food and started to feed a chick. We were there for about two hours, after Voltaire was done feeding the chick, she took out the garbage while Freddie stayed on the nest ledge. Thank you to Mark from CPF for being so happy for us in Windsor knowing that we finally have a hatch. Now we wait for a banding day date. Gwen & Dennis
Posted on May 16, 2011 6:48 am
Observation for Windsor - Ambassador Bridge

[Donna]

!!! More good news
May 16, 2011 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:

We just got a confirmation that we have two chicks and still one egg yet to be hatched.
Gwen & Dennis. 

[Donna]

A Mother’s Bliss at Canada Square
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Tracy Simpson Reports:

I was at the Canada Square Building site today in the hopes of seeing whether all three eggs have hatched as of yet.  If it were at all possible, our resident mother falcon would have had a “Do Not Disturbâ€� sign hung on the outside of the ledge as she enjoyed a deep sleep with her precious young tucked beneath her.  In the 2 hours that I was there, she didn’t raise up once and allow me to see what she has hidden beneath her feathers but I was able to confirm two little white rear ends sticking out from underneath Mom.  On a cold and damp day such as today, I can’t blame the chicks for snuggling into the female parent as tightly as space would allow.  I will be back on-site on Thursday as the temperature will be warmer and the skies a little sunnier which should allow me to confirm whether all three have indeed hatched.  Once again, a huge congratulations to the floks at the Canada Square Building and an equally enormous thank you to Neil Armstrong and the staff at Northern Realty Advisors Ltd. for being such incredible hosts of this pair of falcons!!

[Donna]

!!! 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.

[Bobbie Ireland]

A big round of applause to MNR and CPF!
 

[Donna]

!!! 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!

[Donna]

Oh, What A Surprise!!!
May 24, 2011 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:

Bill and I spent some time at the Bridge this afternoon.  All was quiet.  Both Mom and Dad had full crops and there was no sign of the little ones.  I guess they had been fed and were sleeping.  Mom was sitting on the edge of the nest box and Dad was sitting on the old nest ledge.  A poor Turkey Vulture flew though and he had no know what hit him.  Dad took chase and screaming behind him cleared him right out of town.  He returned to the wires and continued to vocalize and look up.  Finally I spotted a Red Tailed Hawk passing in the other direction.  I could barely see him with the binoculars, but Dad was making sure he kept on going.  Dad continued with some maneuvers over and around the bridge.  A freighter came in and Dad landed on the top railing of the bridge.  I got the scope on him and to my surprise, I found it was no longer Sir Adam Beck (Band Black 01/V) it was McKenzie (Band Black 29/Y) born in 2009 at the Etobicoke – Sun Life Centre.  We have no idea when the change took place.  We just know that as of August 27, 2010, this little guy was hanging out with an unbanded female at a Hydro Tower/Apartment Building at the end of our street in downtown Burlington.  We thought they had just migrated.  I guess he only migrated about 3/4 miles south to the Lift Bridge.  Wow, we thought we better get a look at the female bands, but today was not to be the day.  She was sitting snoozing the whole time we were there.

[carly]

"McKenzie (Band Black 29/Y) born in 2009 at the Etobicoke – Sun Life Centre"

From my site, my special boy - I had so many adventures with him and at times thought he would never make it but look at him now    I will have to take a trip out there and visit him - I wonder if he'll remember me standing in the backyard flapping my wings arms to try to show him how to get out of the tree he was trapped in. 

He is an offspring of Jack (yes that Jack  ) and Angel. 

[BIGFRANK]

Boy it seems its been a busy year so far,here at CPF in Toronto and the bandings and fledge watches are yet to come. Staff has been all over checking nest sites for eggs,trying to effect work on cameras,investigating new nests,trying to confirm who the resident adults are(with great success),making rescues and picking up unfortunate victims who succumb to injury. Our hearts have soared and fell many times. As late as banding day at the Sheraton,we were relieved that a dead bird reported to be a Peregrine at our MEC site,was a pigeon but later got word of a definite dead Peregrine eleswhere(stay tuned for that posting,once all of the info is gathered,it was one we knew but hadnt ID'd we believe). We feel we should report the sad news as well as the good. The great stories of successes make it all worthwhile.The people I work with are all incredible friends of the falcon. Its an honour to work with them,learn from  them,even just to know them. They are a ragtag group,I think alot of us if you saw us on the street,you'd look at strange and keep walking,but you wont find more loyal,dedicated or caring people.
I know that there are folks like us all over the continent,sites like this are great to share our stories and feelings with others who are as committed and compassionate. Thanks to everyone who does what they can to help. I encourage anyone who has ever thought of volunteering to do it!  Some cant I know,but submissions from webcammeras can often be very valuable information. (wasnt it viewers who noticed the fishing line on  the Bald Eagle chick recently?)

[Donna]

BF, you ROCK, as do all at CPF. Thanks so much for keeping our flying friends safe. There would have been so many tragedies if not for you all! 

[Kris G.]

MEC Still Incubating at Least One Egg; 57 Days Incubation Today!!??
May 27, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I was on-site at the Mississauga Executive Centre today to check on the resident pair and it would appear that they are still incubating at least one egg.  At the time of my arrival, I had just missed a change over so there was no hope of a really good view as the male was in the nest box and sleeping away the afternoon.  The resident female made her way out from the nest box and landed on the dot on top of the “jâ€� in the large sign on MEC building #3.  I was able to see the male reposition himself and clearly there is still at least one egg.  From initial observations back on March 30th, that puts us at around 57 days incubation.  I will continue to check in and provide you with updates on the status of this nest.

[Kris G.]

!!! New Male at Canada Square and Weekend Tragedy for a Peregrine Named Irving; Black over Green B/44
May 25, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Tracy Simpson Reports:
We received a call at the CPF head office on Saturday May 21st from a gentleman in the Eglinton and Mount Pleasant area that he had witnessed a peregrine falcon, in a stoop, make contact with a wire and then fall to the ground dying instantaneously.  The gentleman noticed that the bird was banded, preserved it in his freezer and contacted the CPF.  We unfortunately were not able to get the call that day as we were attneding the Port Colbourne nest site and almost a dozen other nest sites over the long weekend.  We responded to the call on Tuesday and found that the bird had been retrieved by Toronto Animal Services.  We placed a call to them immediately as we had a sinking feeling that this bird was the resident male at the Canada Square nest site.  They had indeed picked the bird up from the gentleman and they were awaiting my arrival to retrieve the bird from them for identification.  My time spent at the Canada Square site to date had only given me partial glances of a band number on the male, but enough information to confirm that this was in fact the resident male from the Canada Square nest site.  The CPF then simultaneously launched an investigation into the state of the nest site at the Canada Square building and confirming the identity of the deceased bird.

The bird was a 2007 hatch from the Uptown Theatre in Chicago, Illinois and his name was Irving.  He was easily visually identified at the Canada Square nest site last year by a noticeable kink in his wing that would not allow him to fully extend it in a soar.  Looking at the records for the Uptown Theatre in Chicago during 2007, it was noted that the fledgling Black over Green B/44 was grounded after 4 weeks of post fledge experience and was taken to rehab with a broken wing.  He was later released and has gone on to produce young in 2010 and 2011 in Uptown Toronto at the Canada Square nest site.  We are happy to see that through the monitoring of fledgling peregrine falcons in streets of Chicago, as the CPF does here in southern Ontario, that Irving was found and given a second chance through rehabilitation.  We are pleased that he chose Toronto to nest in and he will be missed.

Back at the Canada Square nest site, the female was now charged with the task of taking care of not just two, but now three young chicks.  The third egg hatched on Thursday May 19 as reported by Neil Armstrong and his excellent staff at Northern Realty Advisors Ltd. that manage the Canada Square building.  Upon my arrival at the site, I met with Neil to discuss the news about the male and he was able to confirm that there was without a doubt two falcons on-site at that very moment.  It would seem that a rival for Irving’s territory had arrived and was making all attempts at interacting with the resident female.  I raced up to the observation suite to check on the young to find the three chicks on the ledge and the two adults tandem soaring over Eglinton Avenue.

I must say that where a peregrine needs us, we show up in droves!!  I was in the observation suite, Bruce and Lyn were in the streets and Mark and Marion were on the way!!  Bruce and I were on the phone communicating locations and vantage points of the adults and through our observations of their behavior we have determined that the resident female has accepted this new male into the territory but is not allowing him to the nest ledge just yet.  The resident female showed a moment of trust by allowing the new male the opportunity to defend the site from a crow that wandered through; a job that he accomplished quite quickly and I am sure in the hopes of convincing her that he would be an appropriate mate.  We have observed no aggressiveness by either the resident female or the new male in the territory towards one another and they have cooperatively participated in vanquishing a window washer from his duties.  We are now and will continue to be in the streets and on-site each day at the Canada Square nest to monitor the resident pair, attempt to identify the new male and  gather detailed observations on the progress of this change in the resident male adult.

I have included photos of Irving as well as the latest member of the Canada Square family of falcons.  There is a noticeable difference in size and age of the last chick of this brood in comparison with the first hatched.  A trend we are observing throughout southern Ontario in at least three nest sites so far.

Posted on May 27, 2011 8:08 pm
Observation for Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton

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[Donna]

How awful for him. I wonder if the new male had any part in this. Every day, something else in the Falcon world. Need a Xanax! 

[Donna]

MEC Still Incubating at Least One Egg; 57 Days Incubation Today!!??
May 27, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

I was on-site at the Mississauga Executive Centre today to check on the resident pair and it would appear that they are still incubating at least one egg.  At the time of my arrival, I had just missed a change over so there was no hope of a really good view as the male was in the nest box and sleeping away the afternoon.  The resident female made her way out from the nest box and landed on the dot on top of the “jâ€� in the large sign on MEC building #3.  I was able to see the male reposition himself and clearly there is still at least one egg.  From initial observations back on March 30th, that puts us at around 57 days incubation.  I will continue to check in and provide you with updates on the status of this nest.

She's got Beauty beat!