Niagara FallsArchives 1999 |
Wednesday November 10, 1999
Russ Chantler reports: On Monday November 1, on a window sill atop the
Canada Trust building in London, I read the colour band of a Peregrine that turned out to
be Cascade from the Niagara Falls nest in 1998. I read the same band again on November 4
and again on November 10. Interestingly, the Canada Trust buildings are the same place
where her mother, Amelia, was hatched in 1996.
Tuesday November 9
Marcel Gahbauer reports: It seems that after the sudden burst of
activity in early July, Amelia and family managed to largely disappear from sight again
(if anyone has seen them since that time, I would be very interested in a brief report). Recently at least one adult
peregrine has been spotted in the area of the Horseshoe Falls, so perhaps Amelia at least
is staying around, but this has not been confirmed.
Friday July 16
Nadine Litwin reports: Yesterday evening Cathy Giancarlo and I went
together to check out the Peregrines. We went around 6:30 and watched 'til 8:00, and
were joined for awhile by Deb
Migneault.
We saw only one juvenile doing a lot of gliding, soaring, diving at gulls. At one point in
time it flew past us with something in its talons ... we thought it was a kill. But
it turned out to be some paper it was playing with! By the way, I didn't know they
could glide along and poke with their bill at whatever they're carrying *at the same
time*. This juvenile was doing very well.
We did see what we believed to be the other 3 juveniles briefly. Two landed on the
Marriot Hotel rooftop, the other was soaring around the Sheraton Hotel just down the
street from the Marriot.
We also saw Amelia come in for awhile, checking up on her juvenile I suppose, because she
came straight over to it. It, of course, pursued her with that flutter-glide the
juveniles do while calling out with one of their "feed me, feed me now!" calls.
They actually flew together for a while before disappearing into the trees on the
Canadian side, immediately across from the American Falls.
Thursday July 15
Marcel Gahbauer and Natalie Helferty reports:
Yesterday night we visited Niagara Falls, and spent an enjoyable two and a half hours
watching Amelia and her four young perching and flying in the gorge below the falls. After
having spent the past several weeks watching peregrines in the urban landscapes of
Etobicoke and Richmond Hill, it was a pleasant change to see them soaring over water and
rocky cliffs.
We started our search at the brink of the falls, and headed downriver from there, scanning
the cliffs on both the Canadian and American side as we went. All of a sudden, we spotted
a juvenile perched on an elevated part of the roof of the old power plant at the base of
the Canadian side of the gorge. Suddenly a second one flew from a perch just a couple of
metres below the handrail - we must have walked right past it without seeing it! Amelia
then came into view (instantly recognizable by her missing primary on her left wing)
carrying some prey in her talons. Two juvenile females (including the one that had just
taken flight from near us) pursued her, and one of them tried to take the food from her,
but was unsuccessful. Amelia headed inland on the Canadian side, disappearing between the
Marriott Hotel and the Minolta Tower. One of the young females followed closely for a
while, then vanished between the Marriott and the Sheraton Hotel.
Meanwhile, there was still activity in the gorge. The first juvenile we had spotted was
still where it had been, and by its size we also identified it as a female, bringing us to
a total of three. As we watched her, a smaller peregrine flew in a straight line over her,
and disappeared around the corner of the gorge. We soon rediscovered this bird on the
river-side corner of the power plant building, and
recognized it as a male by its much smaller size.
As we watched these two, the other two females came back into view, once again in pursuit
of Amelia near the Horseshoe Falls. This time one of the females made an effortless roll
onto her back to grab the prey from Amelia's talons in midair. Immediately her sister gave
chase, and the two of them dove at high speed toward the Maid of the Mist docks, where we
lost them from view, and they presumably landed to eat. Amelia, on the other hand, went to
perch high on the rock face near the middle of Goat Island. There was a lot of whitewash
beneath this particular perch, suggesting that it may be a site she frequents quite a lot.
The more we watched the five peregrines, the more two questions began to bother us. First,
where was Henny? In the week that the peregrines have returned to this area, we have yet
to hear a report of an adult male. He very likely is still around somewhere, as Amelia
would have trouble raising four chicks on her own (especially with three of them being
large females). One possibility is that Henny is staying closer to the nest, which brings
us to the second puzzle - where was this year's nest? For the past seven days, the
juveniles have been frequenting all the same sites as last year's brood, which would
suggest that the two nests are likely not far apart. On the other hand, many people have
searched this area this spring and summer, without any sign of peregrines for most of May
and all of June. It's possible that they nested a bit further downstream (e.g. beyond the
cross-border bridge), where it is more difficult to view the Canadian side of the gorge
without crossing to the American side and looking back. There are certainly ledges all
along the gorge where they could have nested and escaped detection unless someone happened
to luck into staring right at them or seeing them land or take off.
Another possibility is that the peregrines have followed the lead of the other southern
Ontario pairs, and chose to nest on a building this year. A few times now in the
past week, Amelia and/or the juveniles have been seen flying into town, something which
was not observed last year. It could be that they nested on one of the Niagara Falls
hotels, or another tall building in town, and that nobody in the building realized that
rare birds were nesting.
While the peregrines obviously nested successfully this year, we are still very interested
in determining where the nest was. While the site was safe this year, there is no
guarantee that it will be again next spring, especially if it is on a building, where
routine maintenance could be enough to ruin a nesting attempt if poorly timed. By
locating the nest site, we hope to be able to ensure that we can protect it in the future.
If you have any idea where the nest may have been this year, please let us know.
Monday July 12
Bill Kuhun reports: On Saturday morning,
Amelia and the four juveniles were again at the Falls. Yesterday morning I saw only
the four young birds, but they were eating a pigeon which one of the adults must have
brought to them. There has still not been any sign of Henny, although he must be
around somewhere. Two of the chicks are quite large, one is slightly smaller, and
the fourth is noticeably smaller. They are probably three females and one male,
based on their size.
Friday July 9
Nadine Litwin reports: I headed for the
Falls right after work again, which, today, was 5:00pm. Right away I spotted 3 of the
juveniles on the top of the Hydro outlet building, all tucked in like little dumplings!
Then Amelia came in with a kill in her talons. Right away the 3 went up after her,
and, interestingly, she flew in close to the cliff wall nearer the Falls and the 4th
juvenile flew out. So she had all 4 in tow for a while, making one heck of a racket!
Until about 7:00pm I just watched the youngsters play .... chasing each other, soaring,
diving, turning upside down and grabbing each other's talons. They stay a lot at the
Table Rock end ... there's a bowl-like depression in the cliff, and there seems to be
someplace underneath some ledges that they go to. One of the youngsters rested on
the grass no more than 8 feet from the handrail.
Also interesting to me were the number of people who picked up on the birds. A
couple from Detroit (a city with at least one resident pair of Peregrines), a family from
Denver, and a group of scouts from Ohio, plus one couple now living in the States but
coming from England, all noticed the chicks, all got interested and excited about them,
and these were the people just around me! The kids from Ohio in particular were
thrilled with the youngster that was perched so close to them ... they knew all the
details of a Peregrine family in their own city but had not seen any Peregrine so close.
Shortly before I left at 7:00pm, an adult returned along the Parkway, but did not head for
the Falls. Instead it headed for the Marriot Hotel rooftop, which is right beside a
Sheraton Hotel with a lower roof. Suddenly from the rooftop of the
Marriot, 2
juveniles set out in hot pursuit of the adult. Briefly all three Peregrines were in
the air Falls-side of the hotel. Then one disappeared while the other 2 soared back
and forth between the two hotel rooftops.
They juveniles are looking so very good. But I maintain that they haven't been
flying for very long because it isn't just one of them that has a rough time landing ....
2 of them still have to steady out. Also, one of them is still doing a lot of soaring
without too much manoevring about. *And* I can see a *lot* of ruddering with the tail
feathers and constant flight adjustment going on. One juvenile looks very strong,
it's also to my eyes the smallest and for sure a male.
The last thing I saw before leaving this evening was one of the juveniles soaring in
almost touching the heads of the tourists at the Falls. Two gulls came in to take a
poke at it, all three dived down into the gorge .... my guess is that the young Peregrine
Falcon scared the wits out of the gulls. All the juveniles are flying with real
heart and courage!
Thursday July 8
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Great news - Bob
Chambers just phoned to say that he has confirmed that Amelia and at least three young
peregrines are at Niagara Falls! The young birds were putting on some spectacular
aerial displays last night, playing with each other in mid-air, and already doing some
mid-air food transfers with Amelia. Based on their behaviour, Bob feels that they
have been flying for one to two weeks. The mystery remains where they nested - we
have not received any reports of a nest being spotted this spring. Bob observed them
flying over Goat Island a fair bit, so it is possible that is where they nested, but it is
impossible to tell for certain. Perhaps now that they have been rediscovered, this
family will stay around for a little while, and it may be possible to determine where they
are based.
Nadine Litwin reports: The first person to spot the
chicks was Deb Migneault, a Peregrine Falcon Watch volunteer from last year.
She was walking her dog last night (July 7) and checked the Falls as she always does for
peregrines. That's when she saw the first one. Then two others came into view.
She phoned Bob Chambers, Bob phoned me. I went down to the Falls straight
away, but didn't see them, and couldn't stay to
look. Bob went to look today, I went this evening right after work, Deb was there
this evening too but we didn't connect because neither of us could take our eyes off the
peregrines long enough to look around for other observers!
I saw for sure 4 juveniles. Deb too, although she didn't have her good binoculars,
thought it was 4 juveniles. We agreed that there are three of one size and one of
another ... she thought 3 males and one female, I thought three females and one male.
Only when 2 of them were still on the Hydro roof could I see for sure that they
were sister and brother. The other two were harder to determine because they never
stopped moving!
I watched the 4 juvenile Peregrine Falcons this evening between 6:00pm and 6:45pm.
They were using the air space between the old nest ledge and the Canadian Falls,
and all the ledges, including Table Rock, between the old nest ledge and the Falls.
They also soared up and down the Parkway. They never left the Canadian side.
At first I saw 3 juveniles, all flying. Then the 3 landed on the Hydro outlet roof.
There were the remains of a kill there. That's when I could clearly see the
size difference between two of them, one a sister, the other a brother.
Eventually a fourth peregrine flew in, a big bird, I thought an adult, but then realized
it was *another* juvenile! Two stayed on the Hydro roof, two took to the air.
They looked to me to be 3 females and 1 male.
The landings of one juvenile in particular are still pretty rough (!) but the FLYING of
all 4 birds is FANTASTIC. They turn upside down and grab at each other's talons, one
chased after a swallow, another soared and soared sometimes up and up, sometimes right up
and down just above the
Parkway, sometimes just above the cliff's edge, they swoop, chase, harass the gulls ...
you name it, they are FANTASTIC!
While Deb saw for sure 3 juveniles last night, and both she and I saw 4 juveniles
tonight, it's not too surprising that Bob Chambers saw 3 juveniles today with Amelia
because one juvenile is not manoevring with quite the skills of the others, and from what
I saw this evening, it's the same one that still has really rough landings. My guess
is that the last one out of the nest was for sure no more than a week ago and probably
less, probably more like 5 days.
The adults were not in sight. However, they can't be too far away because these
youngsters aren't hunting for themselves yet, just testing. I chatted with two
Niagara Parks Commission police, they too were watching the Peregrines. It seems
that one of them had spotted an adult end of May, beginning of June at the lip of the
Falls, then nothing again until last night, July 7.
My guess is that the nest was on the Canadian side again. The juveniles did not
cross the river last year in their early flying days, so I doubt very much that they've
crossed it this year. Also, they tend to fly the routes they've seen their parents
take which includes flyng *along* the cliff's edge.
They are also flying very close to *us*. When one of them decided to go after a
swallow this evening, it literally whistled past my left shoulder, having come from
behind, while accelerating away after the
hapless bird.
Deborah Migneault reports: Yesterday, July 8, I was walking along the Niagara River at about 6 pm. As I was approching Queen Victoria Park from Table Rock I noticed a bird in the sky and I knew it wasn't a seagull. Well as I got closer I realized it was a Falcon. I watched it for a minute or two and suddenly noticed there was two more in the sky. As I watched with amazement, it occured to me that these 3 falcons were immature. They are the 'babies' from this year! They sure gave quite a show. They were practising the aerial exchange with one another, and doing 'acrobats' in the air. It was just beautiful to watch. I was so excited to see that the chicks survived. I was quite upset with myself for not having my binoculars with me. I really didn't expect to see Falcons when I went for my walk. I knew then that I would be back again.
So today when I went for my walk, the falcons were there again! Unfortunately my good binoculars were in the other vehicle so I only had my small ones with me. When I first saw the falcons there was only 3. Tonight there was 4 of them, immature falcons. My observations tell me that there is 3 of the same, and one of the other. They appeared to be practicing their hunting skills. Flying close to the cliff wall and dropping their talons as if to grab the prey. At one time two of them were on the roof tops below feeding off of some left overs from an earlier 'dinner'. That was when I noticed the fourth falcon. Once again they gave a great show with the 'dives' and 'acrobats' . Looking forward to see them catch prey. They are such beautiful birds to watch!!!
I definitely will be keeping an eye on the falcons. I enjoy watching them and find it just amazing! Besides look at the great spot they chose to have another brood, natures wonder...Niagara Falls!
Sunday June 6
Jim and Janet Stonehouse report: During our
recent trip to Ontario we visited the Falls on 17th May. At apprximately 11:30
whilst walking east towards the visitors entre I saw a hawk drifting west to east over the
Canadian side between the gorge and observation tower, I would guess no higher than the
top of the tower. Checking throughmy binoculars that it was another red-tail, it
flipped over presenting its talons at a falcon which flashed past it. Lowering my
binoculars, I located the bird, a male peregrine gaining height and stooping again at the
hawk. This was repeated several times from various angles and heights. By
focusing on the Red-tail, we were able to see how close the falcon pressed home its
attacks. Although there never was any actual contact, each time the hawk rolled over
it lost altitude; eventually it 'power' glided to the railway bridge and took refuge.
The peregrine circled and then flew off out of view behind the ridge and the Tower.
The hawk was still perched on the bridge nearly an hour later as we passed on down
the gorge.
This action could suggest that the peregrines are nesting away from the Falls, or that the female was sitting close on eggs close by them. Wherever they are, I hope that they are successful in raising a family.
Thursday May 27
Nadine Litwin reports: Last Tuesday (May
18), Bob Chambers and I did go to Goat Island. We didn't get over until the
afternoon, nevertheless we had good looks at the Canadian side of the Falls. No
peregrines in sight at all.
We also checked out, from the Canadian side, the site of the American power plant collapse
(in the 1950's sometime) north of the bridge in Niagara Falls. There are lots of
ledges, nooks, and crannies there. But again, no go.
I'm not convinced that they're *not* nesting, so I've taken to driving to and from the
Butterfly Conservatory along the parkway from Niagara Falls. If I could spot a
peregrine once stooping at something, it would so gratifying!
I have found a red-tailed hawk doing some regular hunting along the gorge not far
from the bridge in Niagara Falls, as well as turkey vultures. Maybe they'll give us
some clues?
Monday May 10
Nadine Litwin reports: I spent half a day at Niagara Falls today
(9:00am-12:00). I only once saw a peregrine the whole time, but what a view:
it was Amelia (one primary feather missing), and she was coming *up* on the Canadian
side. I was further away from the Falls this time so I could get a better view of
the whole "bowl" of the Falls ... just the downriver side of the historical
plaque about Hennepin. She was flying close, close, close to the wall, she couldn't
have been more than 3 feet away from me. I first heard the alarms of the small birds
to my right (Falls side) while I was looking across and to my left. When I turned
my head, she was shoulder height, and rising. She soared right past me, upwards and
out over the river.
Then I lost her! She just disappeared in the sky over the river, behind gulls and
the stupid tree branches in front of me. She appeared to be heading towards the
American Falls when I lost her. And that was it. I didn't see another
peregrine stir the rest of the morning.
Wednesday April 28
D & B Cavin report: On April 28,'99, my wife, my grandson and I
had the pleasure of observing both birds. We had gone to 'the Falls' for the purpose of
trying to find the peregrines; our grandson, who is 10, has become quite interested in
hawks, especially peregrines. At about 11:30 we had arrived on the scene and began
our vigil. To our amazement and delight, not one, but eventually two birds appeared, the
first being Henny we presumed and the latter, Amelia.
Henny appeared suddenly out of the blue over the gorgeand flew directly to a perch on the 'wall' about 200 meters from the horseshoe falls, on the Canadian side, remained a scant minute, then doubled back along the wall face to disappear somewhere beneath an overhang. Seconds later, the larger bird, which we took to be Amelia appeared from the region of the Rainbow bridge, flying towards the Horseshoe falls. Immediately, Henny reappeared, "turned on the juice" and dashed up into an outcropping of rocks near the top of 'the wall' quite close to the falls and dove back down river with a small bird in his talons. It could have been one of the swallows or a house sparrow. At that point we noticed Amelia down river, heading for the Canadian side of the gorge. She swooped upwards and then disappeared into the cliff-face at a point just where trees obscure the cliff face, near the viewing over-look opposite the Victoria Gift Shop. We looked in vain with the scope all up and down the Canadian side of the gorge, but could not re-locate either bird.
It was two hours later just as we were giving up the search and were considering ourselves very priveleged to have seen what we did see, when a bird we took to be Amelia suddenly appeared, at eye level(!), not thirty feet away over the gorge, streaking towards the Horseshoe falls. She climbed into the sky quite near the falls, rocketed upwards, turned, peeled off, and buzzed the walkway, mere feet over the heads of the people, only three of whom gave any indication that they were aware of this magnificent display of hers. She returned again, repeated the performance several times, occasionally turning in the air, giving us lifetime views of a peregrine in flight. Suddenly, on one of her fly-bys, she appeared to catch a thermal, for the next thing we knew she was circling in the blue over the Horseshoe falls and eventually, over land, higher and higher. It was at this point that we noticed that Henny had joined her, and the two of them proceeded to put on an awesome display. The last time we saw anything of them, Amelia stooped and disappeared in the vicinity of the large red brick building on the American side. We had lost sight of Henny,but suddenly he reappeared, and as Amelia was streaking over Goat Island, put his wings back and he, too ended the display, mere feet above the river in the direction of the Rainbow bridge. It will be forever remembered as one of the most exciting encounters with un-tamed nature that we had ever witnessed, and as for our grandson, Joe, by now convinced that the birds had come especially for us, went home grinning broadly.
Sunday April 11
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today Cathy Giancarlo, Bill Kuhun, Bruce
Massey, and I met at Niagara Falls and spent about four hours trying to locate the local
peregrines and determine where they might be nesting.
For the first two hours, we had little success. It appears that hundreds of gulls are
colonizing the rocky cliffs and slopes of Goat Island. The lower slopes are densely packed
with Ring-billed Gulls, most of which were standing in particular spots as if defending
small territories against each other. On the upper half of the cliff face, many of the
small rocky ledges were occupied by pairs of Herring Gulls.
We were beginning to lose hope when Cathy suggested I pan across the cliff face with the
spotting scope. Sure enough, I quickly spotted Amelia, on a small rocky ledge, located
near the top of the cliff,
roughly midway between the two falls, and just below a clump of three small cedars.
Judging by the abundance of white streaks on the rocks immediately below, this is a
favourite perch.
Within a few minutes of our discovering her, Amelia flew off. Immediately, hundreds of
gulls below took to the air and milled about nervously as she passed over them. Amelia
flew over to the Horseshoe Falls, then turned around, followed the top of the Goat Island
rock face, and then perched on a tree branch near the top of the cliff, about 30 metres
(100 feet) to the right of her original perch. She remained there for well over an hour,
preening on occasion, but just surveying her surroundings most of the time. Just below
this spot and to the left we saw a short ledge partly sheltered from a rocky outcrop above
that might make a suitable nest site.
While Amelia was perched on the tree, a remarkably daring (or ignorant) gray squirrel
wandered casually down the branch to within a few feet of her, then without any apparent
sign of alarm turned down a different branch and proceeded to forage on the ground nearby.
Maybe it knew there was no danger, as Amelia didn't seem to show any interest in
the squirrel.
Henny did not put in an appearance while we watched, but given that he has been seen
recently and Amelia seemed to be staying close to a single spot, we assume he was also
somewhere not too far away. Amelia herself was extremely difficult to spot - with
binoculars alone we never would have found her. Henny, being noticeably smaller, presents
an even greater challenge, and it's possible that he was in fact within our field of view,but that we just didn't see him.
It's difficult to come to any firm conclusions based on what we saw today. However, the
fact that Amelia spent so much time at two perches so close together suggests that she
feels some territoriality toward the area. It could be that she was staying close to a
potential nest on Goat Island near these perches, or alternatively she may have simply
chosen these lookouts to gaze across the river at a nesting site along the Canadian side
of the gorge.
If Amelia and Henny stick close to the timeline they followed last year, Amelia will
likely select a nest site and start laying eggs within the next week or two. We eagerly
await observations over the next couple of weeks to determine where this year's nest will
be.
Nadine Litwin reports: I went to the Falls early this
morning - 8:00-9:30. It was cold, cold COLD with that east wind roaring through. However,
I did see a peregrine.
First I saw the gulls roused several times, once along the canyon wall like a ripple, as
if something had flown over them from the Canadian to the American falls. But I couldn't
see a peregrine.
Then, shortly before leaving, I just kept looking UP, and there he was. I say
"he" because it turns out from Bob Chambers' notes that it's Amelia who was
missing the primary feather. This PEFA was not missing a feather. It was spiralling above
me, then stooped at something close to the American Falls. I ran back to the handrailing,
and there he was, powering low over the river, upriver towards the Canadian Falls, with a
kill in his talons.
Then he cut right across to Goat Island, but continued to fly towards the falls, then
turned, and flew back a little higher, just above the gulls, and close to the wall. Then
suddenly glided up, threw up his feet and disappeared into the wall. I don't know if
Amelia was there or not, he stayed a few minutes at that spot, then flew to another one
nearby, stayed there for a few minutes, then flew again to yet a third spot also nearby. I
lost him after that ... don't know if he stayed to feed, or moved on and I just couldn't
see him anymore. He did like to spend time last summer on that side of the gorge, which is
why I'm not sure yet that Amelia herself has chosen a nest site there. Among other
factors, there's no morning sun - in fact I'm not sure when the sun starts to warm that
side of the river.
I was really looking for that invisible wall that the peregrines put up around their territory, since I couldn't actually see the peregrines themselves much of the time. It's there, that "no-trespassing" sign, but it wasn't the gulls that gave it away, it was the crows ... we need to watch that a whole lot more before being able to conclude that there is probably a nest site there on Goat Island.
Saturday April 10
Marcel Gahbauer reports: I spoke to Bob Chambers today at Raptorfest
'99 in Vineland, and learned that in recent days he has seen both Amelia and Henny on Goat
Island (the island separating the American Falls from the Horseshoe Falls). He has
confirmed Amelia's identity by looking at her leg bands, and is certain that the male is
Henny based on his distinctive head markings. He feels that they have not yet chosen a
nesting site for this year, but that they may opt to stay on Goat Island this year, rather
than on the Canadian side.
Thursday March 25
Cathy Giancarlo reports: Yesterday afternoon I watched for about an
hour as an unbanded adult male perched on one of the pegs coming out of the wall, about 15
feet from last year's nest site. He certainly looked like Henny.
After about an hour, a female (presumably Amelia) came flying up the gorge. Henny joined her, and together they flew over to the American side of the river, pursuing a flock of pigeons. Eventually they both landed near the pigeon colony on Goat Island, and I could not see them anymore.
Nadine Litwin reports: I dropped by the Falls yesterday morning for a brief look around. Cathy Giancarlo and Bill Kuhun were there. It was about 9:00am and we saw one peregrine on the Minolta Tower. Then it came over to the River, glided by the nest ledge, crossed the River and harassed the gulls a bit. It was missing one wing feather, and Bob Chambers recalls that Henny was missing one last fall, so that was probably Henny we were watching.
Tuesday March 23
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Cathy Giancarlo called this afternoon to
report that around 4:30 pm, two adult peregrines were seen flying around and perching on
the Minolta Tower. Presumably these were Amelia and Henny. Hopefully in the
coming days there will be more sightings and their identity will be confirmed.
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