After all the great news we’ve received in the past few weeks regarding Mariah’s offspring, we have the unfortunate task to report that Ranger and Hunter’s 2008 clutch of eggs has apparently failed. Mark Nash and Linda Woods latest report (brought to us by Rochester Falconcam team member Carol Phillips) states that the three eggs in their nest have disappeared. Here’s Mark’s report from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation’s Midtown Toronto page:

May 3 – We have sad news to report today, as it appears that the three eggs that Ranger and Hunter were incubating are gone. Linda and I conducted a site visit today at the request of the Four Season Hotel to take a look at the situation to give them an update on the status of the birds given all of the territorial squabbling that has been happening with two adult females that have been observed fighting at this nest site in recent days. The reports have been streaming in that there has been some squabbling with the resident adult female – (named Ranger) and another unidentified female here at the Four Season nest site. We can only speculate that increased stress as a result of these territorial battles between the two females has caused Ranger to destroy her eggs. While this is unusual for this particular pair given the long history that we have on this pair, we have documented this happening over the years at several other nest sites with other territorial nesting pairs with increased stress. Our fingers crossed that Ranger and Hunter will attempt to produce another clutch of eggs, as it is still early in the season for this to happen.

Here’s a recent picture of Ranger taken by Mark Nash. Hatched in 2001, she is the daughter of Mariah and Cabot-Sirocco. It was the last set of offspring before Kaver’s arrival, and Ranger is the only one of the 2001 clutch whose current status is known.

Since 2002 she and her mate Hunter (hatched in 2000, Columbus, Ohio USA) have nested in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Their first nest was on the Canadian Tire building (Yonge and Eglinton Streets), but earlier this year they relocated to a new nest on the Four Seasons Hotel at the corner of Bloor and Yonge Streets in midtown Toronto’s Yorkville district. Late last month CPF observers reported a second female Peregrine in the area and some indications of territorial disputes.

Sadly, Ranger and Hunter have never had a successful nest. Since 2003 Ranger has laid eggs at her nest every year– sometimes double-clutching— but none have ever hatched. The nest sites appear to be well chosen, so the reason for the repeated failure of her clutches is not clear, but Toronto is a busy site with a lot of Peregrines. Territorial struggles and the stress that accompanies them, infertility problems, or a combination of the two could be responsible.

Like Mark and our friends at CPF, we’re hopeful that she and Hunter will be able to lay another clutch of eggs this year. Thanks to everyone at CPF for keeping up with Ranger and Hunter, and thanks to Carol for reporting this news.

-Jess

Our good friend Doug in Port Colborne reports that Freedom and his new mate Millie are busy brooding three eggs. Though Millie is only a year old Doug reports that she’s tending the eggs just like an experienced mom. We here at the Rochester Falconcam are all very excited to see how Freedom and Millie do with their offspring this year. We’re hoping for three healthy eyases!

Doug sent along a fantastic picture that he took of Freedom on one of his typical perches. The picture was taken just a few days ago, on the 19^th of April. What an impressive Peregrine he is!

Photo courtesy of Doug Garbutt

Thanks to Rochester Falconcam team member Carol Phillips for bringing us Doug’s latest report and picture!

-Jess

We’ve received some amazing, wonderful news! Rochester Falconcam team member Carol Phillips reports that another of Mariah’s offspring has been found! Ihteram, one of the females from the 2005 brood, is nesting at the beautiful and historic St. Joseph Catholic Church in Detroit, Michigan. Here’s some of the letter that Carol received from Kariann Anderson, SE Michigan Peregrine Falcon Coordinator for the Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources:

Volunteer Barbara was visiting St. Josephs Catholic Church ( Jay Street ) recently as part of her genealogy research and heard the call of not one but two Peregrine Falcons. Tuesday, April 8th we confirmed that the Peregrines have chosen this site and are attempting to nest. The bell tower is approximately 250 feet [high] and the pair spends most of their time perched on light poles that extend near the peak of the tower. We were having difficulty determining male or female (both birds seem comparable in size through our spotting scopes down below). Barb jokingly said “We need them to mate so we can determine who our female is.” Within the next 5-minutes we witnessed copulation! We have an unbanded male paired with a banded female (black over red with a sideways 2 on the black and an R on the red)… Prior to leaving the site, we noticed the pair enter a small hole in the screen over the windows near the top of the tower. Apparently if they have started to lay eggs it will be on the inside of the church tower.

We’ve been blessed with an abundance of good fortune regarding Mariah’s offspring lately. We now have confirmed sightings of five of the Peregrines that have fledged from the Kodak tower since 2000– Ranger, Freedom, Rhea Mae, Linn, and now Ihteram! 2008 is turning out to be a special year indeed. It will be interesting to see what happens with Ihteram and her mate. It doesn’t appear that the Macomb Audubon Society has any plan to install a webcam at the church, but they post updates on their website so we hope to be able to learn more about this new branch of the Rochester Peregrine family tree!

Here’s a picture of Ihteram published at the Macomb Audubon’s website:

Photographer Barb Baldinger looks like an accomplished digiscoper! Hopefully this won’t be the last picture of Ihteram that we get to see. Many thanks go to Carol and to Juanita Woods, who tracked down the ID band information reported by Kariann and tipped off Carol to Ihteram’s presence.

-Jess

Courtesy of Rochester Falconcam team member Carol Phillips comes this dispatch from Doug, one of Freedom’s “caretakers” at his nest site in Port Colborne, Ontario Canada:

I just thought you would like to know that Freedom & his new mate [Millie] have 2 eggs in the scrape! They were laid on the 7th & 9th as best we can tell. We have our fingers crossed that they will in fact be viable. Mom & Dad are tending nicely to the eggs…..Doug

You may recall that we recently reported the news of a new mate for Freedom. It is unusual, though not impossible, for a first year female to lay viable eggs, so we’ll be eagerly awaiting further news from the Port Colborne nest site.

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Meanwhile, Linda Woods of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation sends this fantastic image of Rhea Mae as she settles down to brood her four eggs.

Thanks to Carol, Linda and Doug for the updates!

-Jess

Rhea Mae, daughter of Mariah and Kaver from 2006, has now laid a total of 3 eggs at her nest site on the Sheraton hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario Canada. Her third came over the weekend. For more information about Rhea Mae and Tiago, visit the Canadian Peregrine Foundation’s webpage.

UPDATE! (April 8)- Rhea Mae has laid her fourth egg! We received word just this morning from some of our fans who keep an eye on her nest. This is excellent news to be sure. We’re looking forward to following Rhea Mae and her mate Tiago as they raise their first family together this year.

-Jess

Rhea Mae, Mariah and Kaver’s daughter from 2006, has laid her first egg too!

Photo courtesy of Canadian Peregrine Foundation

In August of last year, Rhea Mae (on the left in the picture above) became the resident female at a nest site at the Sheraton hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario Canada. She displaced the former female, named Wind, and established herself at the nest with Tiago, the resident male.

Linda Woods at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation took this picture of Rhea Mae and Tiago shortly after their egg was laid.

This is the best kind of news for everyone working to re-establish the Peregrine population in North America. Like Mariah’s son Freedom, Rhea Mae’s offspring continue an extraordinar lineage. We at the Rochester Falconcam are looking forward to following both Mariah and Rhea Mae’s families this year. The Canadian Peregrine Foundation has a website dedicated to Rhea Mae and Tiago. It features two webcam views. Check it out!

-Jess

UPDATE! 22 March 2008- Scroll to the bottom for a picture of Freedom’s new mate!

Rochester Falconcam team member Carol Phillips has received information from Doug, one of Freedom’s caretakers at his nest site in Port Colborne, Ontario Canada. Doug writes:

I just thought you should know that Freedom appears to have a new mate. The resident female here in Port Colborne “Purity” left in the fall. We think she may have migrated (for the 1st time). I’m sure I saw her back on Feb. 19^th but have not seen her since. There is a new girl on the block here. She is a [juvenile] produced in Mississauga Ontario in 2007. Her name is Millie (same name as one of Freedom’s 1st offspring!). This bird has been here the entire winter. Freedom & Millie are exhibiting courtship behaviours. Since Millie is so young, we’re not sure if they will be able to have a clutch this year or not. We do have our fingers crossed though. If things change, I will let you guys know.

This is very surprising, unexpected news indeed! It would be unusual for an adult female to be driven away by a juvenile, unless the adult were very old or injured in some way. Since Purity is unbanded, her age is undetermined. Any guesses about why she was replaced by Millie would be pure speculation, so we’ll just wait to see what we can learn.

We’re working on getting more information about Millie (and hopefully a picture or two of her) from our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. We’ll be sure to bring all the news to you as soon as we receive it.

UPDATE! 22 March 2008
We’ve recently received this picture of Millie from Doug, one of Freedom’s caretakers at his Port Colbourne nest site!

Thanks Doug and Carol for the update!

-Jess

Mariah and Kaver seem to be hard at work preparing the nest for the laying of eggs. If Mariah sticks to her traditional schedule her first egg should come in the next 7 to 10 days. In the meantime, both birds have been busy in the nest box, excavating a bowl-shaped depression called a “scrape” in the gravel substrate. They’re enlarging the scrape that was there last year. Here are a pair of pictures that show the recent work.
     

If you look closely at these two pictures, you’ll see that the shape of the scrape has changed. The picture on the right shows new activity. The depression in the gravel from last year has been enlarged by Mariah and Kaver. They “scrape” out the material by settling into the depression and pushing the gravel out behind them with their feet.

Now you know why it’s called a scrape.

UPDATE! The Falconcam’s high-resolution Main Camera caught this humorous picture of Kaver in the act! You can see him laying in the depression and pushing the stones out behind him. He kind of looks like a baseball player sliding for home, doesn’t he?

Here’s another picture of Kaver pushing the stones out behind him with his feet…

Sometimes the falcons’ excavation uncovers something interesting. Observant viewers will note the round, reddish brown object near the back edge of the scrape. You could be forgiven for thinking that’s an egg. We thought so too on first glance, but Mariah hasn’t exhibited any egg-laying behavior yet, such as becoming lethargic or gravid, nor has she spent long periods crouched in the scrape. When she does begin her egg laying behavior we’ll be sure to let you know.

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Linn, Mariah’s daughter from last year’s brood, has been spending her time in Scarborough, Ontario Canada, an eastern suburb of Toronto. She has found a nest box all her own there, and just needs to attract a mate. From our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation comes this report yesterday, filed by one of their volunteer watchers, Big Frank:

…A quick note about Linn… Mark and Marion Nash,as well as Bruce Massey all have reported several recent sightings of Linn, on and around the Bell Building. We’ve had just terrible weather for February and one of the snowiest Marches in Toronto history,but your girl has weathered [it] well and is doing fine. Mid-March brings spring migration to a beginning, so hopefully some passing male will notice her.

BIGFRANK

Thanks Big Frank! It’s really gratifying to see Mariah and Kaver’s offspring thriving. It’s probably too soon for Linn to lay viable eggs– that doesn’t usually happen until their second year after hatching, but if she can attract a mate and continue to defend her nest box against competitors, she’ll be in a great position to begin a family of her own in 2009. We’ll keep watching and let you know when we receive more news!

-Jess

Photos used by kind permission of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Mark Nash has sent us some new pictures of the hack box that the CPF erected on the roof of the Scarborough Bell building. It is this box, converted to a spacious artificial scrape, that Linn has taken to defending over the past couple of weeks. The CPF has high hopes that Linn will settle there permanently, as he explains in his most recent note.

We have been given permission to keep the hack box up on the roof for just this very purpose – (in an effort to
attract either Lawrie and Ruben back to the site), or another interested Pefa [shorthand for Peregrine falcon] looking for a good location.

This picture gives a good idea of the Bell building’s height and surroundings. It looks like it should make a good nesting location, and the lack of other tall buildings nearby ought to make it easier for watchers to keep an eye on Linn if she takes up permanent residence.

I have attached some photos of the hack box that we built for the orphaned Pefa chicks that we hacked out this past summer from the Bell building.

     

I have removed the bars from the hack box, added more pea gravel, and we cleaned the old debris out of the box. While it was designed to be a “hack box”, it appears that Linn is most interested in it, as she has been observed on both the porch and upper roof of the box on several occasions over the past two weeks. She has been protecting the site with some intensity!

Fingers crossed!!

Sincerely
Mark Nash
Director
The Canadian Peregrine Foundation
www.peregrine-foundation.ca

So, it looks like Linn may be the recipient of a converted nursery. We can’t think of a better use for this prime piece of raptor real estate! Like Mark, we’re keeping our fingers crossed here at the Rochester Falconcam.

 

-Jess

Photos courtesy of Jim Pisello

Our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation have delivered some terrific news. Linn, last of the 2007 offspring to fledge, has been identified by her leg band defending a possible nesting site in Scarborough, Ontario Canada! Here’s the information we just received from Mark Nash of the CPF:

Hello All,
We have finally been able to get a positive identification on one of the two Pefa’s that have been calling this neck of the woods home for the past months. On Dec. 31st/2007, one of the CPF volunteers – Bruce Massey’s efforts paid off, and he was able to positively confirm the band number of the Pefa now calling the Bell building at Pharmacy and Eglinton her turf. This is the same building that we used for this past summers hack of four orphaned peregrine chicks that came to us from Quebec.

It is confirmed that we have a juvenile female – 91 over V – holding (and protecting) this territory, and its Linn from Rochester 2007!! She still [has] her red tape over the Silver USFW band.

Linn has been exhibiting very territorial behavior – (as she has been observed defending the Bell building on three different occasions over the past two weeks) while chasing off the local red-tails as they fly over and around of the Bell building.

She can be seen regularly roosting on the Bell building, – next to the hack box, and seems to be calling the building her own – (at least for the time being). She is no longer is being observed on the Water storage tank at Warden and Eglinton, as we pass both these places daily as we go into the CPF head office.

Sadly, we have not seen the adult male that was hanging around with her when she was roosting on the Water storage tank.

Sincerely,

Mark Nash

Director

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

When last we saw Linn, she was on the move west of Rochester at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. It looks like she was just waiting to make a right hand turn for a northerly flight over Lake Ontario. We’re grateful to Mark and all the dedicated staff at CPF for their work, and we’re looking forward to hearing more about Linn in the coming months!

-Jess