Canada Falcons: All but those hatched in Rochester

[Donna]

 November Updates
December 01, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:

FYI , Over the last month or so I had the occasion to briefly go by Osler Hospital.  There was  at least 1 PeFa in attendance, couldn’t tell if Male or Female (Driving) and it was on the North Sign.

Have been by Yellow Pages twice ( Mid November - Female In attendance and end of November- Male in attendance).

As with the North York pair I hadn’t seen the Female in a month or so, until the end of the Month were I saw a Female just North of Finch. and the Male since the middle of November.

Finally I was at Bell Building area and had a male sitting on the Corner of the Building by the Nest Box. (Where's Linn)???


Thanx

B.E. Massey

[Donna]

!!! One Mystery Solved, and another mystery surfaces??
May 20, 2009 - Scarborough - Bell
Mark Nash Reports:

After leaving the Yellow Pages nest site, we headed off to the Bell site to check in on Linn to get an update on her status.  After more than an hour at street level scanning both the communications tower and every nook and cranny of the building, (and with absolutely no birds in sight), we decided to check in at the hack box to utilize the peep holes to see if she was home.  Not only was no one at home, there was no evidence of any activity in the hack box.  No scrape, no eggs, and no peregrines. Seconds later as we were exiting the roof, we heard vocalizing coming from the direction of the communications tower to the east of the building and before we had a chance to react, we were aggressively stooped and pursued from above as Linn seems to come from no where.  Very aggressive & protective behavior indeed! Very territorial!  No male was observed during this visit.  After arriving back at street level, we both concluded that Linn may have produced / laid eggs somewhere else on the facility, (and suspected that her mate was currently incubating).  This would explain both her protective behavior and the lack of her mate’s presence. We stayed and watched from the street level for the next hour and never saw the presence of a male, nor did Linn return to any part of the building, preferring to roost on the communication tower to the east of the building.  After returning to the CPF office, we received news about the band number of the male that Marion and Bruce had watched and recorded several days earlier when they observed this male involved in a three hour plus long courtship and 8 copulations with Linn during this time frame.  The males band number was observed and recorded by both Marin and Bruce as being a Black 43 over Green M belongs and belongs to non-other than Rueben!!  Rueben was Lawrie’s mate here at the Scarborough Bell site in 2005 & 2006.  Now the more interesting part: Rueben is currently the territorial male at the Scarborough Yellow Pages nest site with Lawrie!!   So it  appears that Rueben has two homes and is servicing two different female mates!!
Stay tuned……


!!! PM Observation. Confusing indeed! Could the same adult male be servicing two different nest sites?
May 20, 2009 - Scarborough - Bell
Mark Nash Reports:

Yet another site visit this evening to the Scarborough Bell site produced yet more confusing information.   Marion and I spent several hours this evening watching Linn hanging tight around the Bell building with no particular interest in any part of the building.  She was observed having just finished her diner and with a huge buldging crop.  No male was observed or present during this period.  Bruce called during this same time frame from the Scarborough Yellow pages nest site and did have both adults in his view at the same time.  He reports that the adult territorial male at Yellow pages may in fact be Ruben as the USFW band colour is pinkish in colour and not silver as earlier suspected.  This would confirm that Rueben is still Lawrie’s mate and the territorial male at this nest site,, AND is the same male that was observed several days ago by Marion, Bruce and Kathy at the Scarborough Bell site copulating with Linn!  It was obvious that Linn is not incubating any eggs as yet, as during this observation period she was observed roosting on a ledge well into the darkness and was not down incubating…. It might appear that we have yet another male “servicingâ€� two diferent females at two different nest sites as with Whindwhistler from the 18 King Street nest site and the Toronto Sheraton nest site.  Remembering that he was servicing both these nest site for several years and responsible for fertilizing both sets of eggs at these two nest sites for several years in a row.  Talk about double duty!

Stay tuned, as this could get very interesting indeed!!

We stayed until it was too dark to see clearly and watched Linn settle in for the night on the upper east ledges of the building.

[Dumpsterkitty]

!!! One Mystery Solved, and another mystery surfaces??
May 20, 2009 - Scarborough - Bell
Mark Nash Reports:

Stay tuned, as this could get very interesting indeed!!

We stayed until it was too dark to see clearly and watched Linn settle in for the night on the upper east ledges of the building.

I think we'll find out in the spring that she's fine.  I suspect her "nest" turned out like Archer & Beauty's-not quite enough experience to successfully deal with an unestablished site and Linn had a 2 timing mate to boot!

[Donna]

!!! One Mystery Solved, and another mystery surfaces??
May 20, 2009 - Scarborough - Bell
Mark Nash Reports:

Stay tuned, as this could get very interesting indeed!!

We stayed until it was too dark to see clearly and watched Linn settle in for the night on the upper east ledges of the building.

I think we'll find out in the spring that she's fine.  I suspect her "nest" turned out like Archer & Beauty's-not quite enough experience to successfully deal with an unestablished site and Linn had a 2 timing mate to boot!

She sure did Ei..

[valhalla]

But was he 2-timing in the true sense of the word?  Perhaps he knew she was young and was simply "showing her the ropes"?

[Joyce]

BigBirderFrank left a message at KFalconCam (#104361) on Nov. 27, 2009 saying he posted an album of recent peregrine shots.

Sharing here...are the photos in Big Frank's "Peregrine Pics" album on Kfalconcam
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kfalconcam/photos/album/1164505336/pic/list

~Joyce

Newest Feathered Educator Nova
Abit Older Nova
Nova Now
Beauty
In Flight
Close Up
Head Turned
Perched Peregrine
Young Peregrine

[Judi]

Thanks for posting these here, Joyce!

I just    the first photo of Nova with the toys!  Sooooo cute!

 

[Donna]

 Urban Peregrines Braving the Canadian Winter
December 04, 2009 - Toronto - King Street
CPF Postmaster Reports:

Last week, Ranka noted that the peregrines in the King St location are still active, and visible on our King Street webcam feed.  With this information, Mark Nash informed us that this pair are still territorial and will be staying all winter this year, again.

toronto king st peregrines - winter

Mark explains…

Unlike the “non-urbanâ€� peregrine population in other parts of northern Ontario, the southern Ontario urban pairs have historically stayed on territory and on site throughout the winter.  This has been consistent with many of our urban pairs since 1995, both at the King Street nest site as well as the 12 other urban nest sites that we are monitoring.  These urban guys are a hardy bunch indeed!

While it is unfortunate that we are having camera problems with the MEC and Etobicoke nest sites, my recent visits of the two buildings over the last week has confirmed that the resident adults are also again staying for the winter.  Recent reports of the Burlington Lift Bridge pair have confirmed that they are also holding firm on territory and are being seen in the nest box on a daily basis.

All in all although, this is very good news for our southern Ontario peregrine population, as they still have an abundance of food and protection.  The migration south is usually a “hi-riskâ€� dispersal for many of the non-urban population and constitutes high mortality, especially for the first and second year aged juveniles.  By having adults stay the winter, they too avoid the dangers of this long dangerous roundtrip flight down south.  The peregrine wintering grounds in Central and South America are still very dangerous, many birds continue to be poisoned and shot.  This makes ups a large part of their mortality.

Sadly, when our peregrines are out of the country, especially in the far south, there is no protection for them as many of these countries have no laws to protect many of our species at risk, including the peregrine falcon.

[Donna]

!!! We’re Still Here!
December 16, 2009 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:

Angel and Jack are still on-site braving the cold weather and enjoying the sunshine when it comes.  I have not seen any juveniles since I last saw Elena on September 18th.  I suspect her departure coincided with Jack’s arrival back on the scene to renew his bond with Angel.

He was sighted daily for approximately 2 weeks at that time and I observed alot of bowing in the nest box together and heard them vocalizing to each other.   The last 2 moths I’ve seen Jack visiting the nest ledge at least 2 or 3 times a week for short periods and I’ve observed them hunting the local pigeons together some mornings.

Since Fall migration has ended it has been relatively quiet on the home front and other than humans, no one is alarming the falcons much at this time of year.  They are quite tolerant of the window washers and maintenance crews - although Angel does like to supervise the workers, which usually means hovering over them in the air and making them nervous enough so they know who’s territory they are in

I�m lucky to still see Angel on a daily basis but I suspect as the temperature drops, sightings will be less frequent based on the past two winters observations.

[Donna]

 Squirrel Tempting Fate?
December 21, 2009 - International, National and Local News
Matt MacGillivray Reports:

Jerry Rogers, of Okaloosa County, Flordia, sent us a few pictures of what we can only describe as the bravest squirrel or smartest squirrel we have ever seen.

We concluded that this is the smartest squirrel, because he was able to identify the difference between a Coopers Hawk which will occasionally eat squirrels, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk who generally hunts birds, or much smaller mammals.

This time of year, we get many reports of raptors hunting in backyards. Unfortunately, Peregrine Falcons are not a raptor that you will find in your backyard. Peregrines hunt from perches, or in flight, high above their prey and will mostly hunt other birds. This means you will generally not see them hunting in your backyard.

If you want to see a Peregrine, come out during the fledge season to one of our accessible Peregrine nesting locations, or read about it, or watch our live peregrine cameras to see lots of Peregrine activity up close!

Thanks for the photos Jerry!

[valhalla]

Cute pics, but I think Mr. Squirrel was living way on the edge!

[Carol P.]

That squirrel was NUTS!  Get it?  Nuts?   

[MAK]

     He's a little nutty too!            

[valhalla]

That squirrel was NUTS!  Get it?  Nuts?   

Got it!   

[Donna]

That squirrel was NUTS!  Get it?  Nuts?   

Got it!   

GOOD!