Canadian Peregrine Foundation -- Ottawa Archives: Jan-Mar 2002

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January - March 2002

Sunday March 31, 2002
Phil Maillard reports: 10:30 am - I believe it is Horizon sitting on the southeast corner of the Crowne Plaza, eating a catch. I wait for about 10 minutes but there was no sign of Connor.

Wednesday March 27, 2002
Gabriela Lartigue reports: Horizon was on the southeast corner of the Crowne Plaza at 9 am, facing south (must have been looking closely at the window washers on the Constitution Square!); couldn't see if Connor was around. I saw her from Bay and Slater, but couldn't follow up her moves today.

Also, and sorry for the delay, I saw her last week (I believe it was on Wednesday morning) walking on the ledge of the Crowne Plaza, from the first pillar (as looking from the southwest corner) to the southwest corner. She was flying very short distances as well, as if she was hopping.

Arlene Williams reports: 11:37 am - Horizon is perched on the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building ledge. She is directly facing my office in Tower C, Place de Ville and I am enjoying viewing her every movement and checking our her plumage. She looks somewhat tattered and has been occasionally shaking off excess feathers, all with the backdrop of window washers cleaning the windows of Tower 1 of the Constitution Square buildings. I have yet to see Connor.

Tuesday March 26, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 11:10 am - Our famous duo are flitting to and fro between Tower 2 of Constitution Square and the Crowne Plaza Hotel building. Horizon cannot make up her mind as to whether or not she is content on the northwest corner of the Crowne Plaza or roosting on one of her other favourite spots, as atop Tower 2 of the Constitution Square building. Connor is contouring the
Crowne Plaza and putting on quite the aerial display. As of 11:22 am, they have both taken off for other parts, but I now realize why they are conducting themselves in such a manner. There are two window cleaners lowering themselves from atop Tower 1 of the Constitution Square building and both Connor and Horizon must feel like they are infringing on their territory. I have yet to see any direct dives at the window cleaners, but, if they do not finish their jobs shortly, I am sure that Horizon will give them both a run for their money, from a fear factor point of view. Hopefully, the expected 20cm will not deter our famous duo from staying in the downtown area today and the rest of this week.

1:47 pm - Horizon has herself tucked up in a small bundle on the northwest side of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building, specifically between pillars 3 and 4, while the wind and snow are blowing around her. I do not know where Connor is presently, but I am sure that he has tucked himself away somewhere
in the vicinity.

Friday March 22, 2002
Jim O'Neil reports: 11:30 am - I can see both peregrines on the Crowne Plaza on this cold morning. I believe Connor is on the northeast corner and Horizon is on the southeast corner of the nest. I had not seen them all week so it was great to see them and I hope to see more of them in the coming weeks.

Wednesday March 13, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 11:58 am - Horizon and Connor were, minutes ago, putting on quite an aerial display by contouring the Crowne Plaza Hotel building a number of times and then finally resting - Connor on the northwest corner and then Horizon on the northeast corner. As of this writing, then both immediately took off in the direction of the western part of the city, but lo and behold our famous female has returned and is once again roosting on the northeast ledge area. She appears to have a small catch in talons and is enjoying a lunch break from all appearances. Needless to say that she will not be sharing with Connor. Within seconds, she has since given up on her munching and is now viewing my office, almost realizing that someone is watching her every move. Maybe, just maybe, these antics of contouring the hotel building, etc., are all in preparation of the soon and hoped to be mating process.

Tuesday March 12, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 3:45 pm - There she is, Horizon sitting on the northwest corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building viewing the western part of the city. Just minutes ago, she was perched on the northeast corner and decided to move, since the view is much better on the west side of the building. No sign of Connor at the moment.

Friday March 8, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 3:34 pm - Horizon is perched on the northwest corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building and has been off and on for the better part of the day. She seems to be very territorial to the northwest and southwest side of said building, especially today, as there were two gentlemen working on the northwest corner of the Constitution Square building, Tower 2, which is directly across the street, to the south of the hotel building and she (Horizon) seemed to be setting her boundaries with regard to the possibility of those men venturing nearer her confirmed territory. I am hoping that corner will be her nesting area if any offspring are to be cared for in the near future. No sign of Connor during the course of her watch.

Thursday March 7, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 3:29 pm - Horizon is perched on the northwest corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building facing south. She is enjoying the warmth of the sun as it shines down upon her. She, occasionally, flits to and fro from this area, but ultimately returns as she seems to be thoroughly enjoying the warm rays of the sun. No sign of Connor at the moment.

Wednesday March 6, 2002
Gilles Vautour reports: With the dynamic duo spending more time downtown than out here at Tunney's, view of them around the Coats building has been getting to be a luxury. As a matter of fact, I have not seen hide, nor hair (feather?) for some time. Well this morning, coming in to work, I spotted signs of a fresh kill. The was a pigeon wing lying on the ground near the north-east corner of the building. It was fresh. However, I was unable to spot either one in the area. Guess he/she had simply come over for a snack.

Tuesday March 5, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 1:30 pm - I am privileged with both Horizon and Connor occupying the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building and in full view from my vantage point. I am currently looking at the backs of both birds and when you compare Connor to Horizon there is a vast difference in their size, which is not all that apparent when you see them singularly. Both are facing the south looking directly at the Constitution Building, Tower 2. Both look so regal and I can hardly wait for the ever hopeful mating and resulting hatching of offspring this year, if they stay on that side of the building. One way or another, if they have their nest on either the northeast or northwest corner of the hotel building, I will have them in full view.

Thursday February 28, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 1:19 pm - Connor has been perched on the southeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building for the better part of the morning and it seems he is content to stay there for this afternoon, as well. No sighting of Horizon on this bright, but windy day.

Wednesday February 27, 2002
Jim O'Neil reports: 10:30 am - Horizon and Connor are both on the southeast corner of the Crowne Plaza taking in some sunshine on this bright sunny day.

Tuesday February 26, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports: We may at last know Horizon's history! Long ago, we managed to read five digits from her band. On the weekend, I looked at a photograph taken by Leslie Hunt during the banding last year, and realized that two digits were visible - and by a stroke of luck, they were different from those seen earlier. This meant that only one digit remained unknown. I forwarded this information to Bev McBride at the Canadian Bird Banding Office, who was able to rule out 18 of the 20 possible combinations. The remaining two bands were both applied to females in southern Quebec on May 24, 1996.

Tracking down the story further, I learned that these birds were banded by Dr. David Bird, and that they have a very unique history. The adults had laid eggs that year in an unsafe location on the Royal Bank Building in downtown Montreal. On May 3, the eggs were moved to a safe nest tray on a ledge of Place Victoria, and the chicks hatched just a couple of days later. They were then banded at just under three weeks of age. Thanks to Jean Masson for providing additional details on this part of the history.

What is puzzling is that this would mean Horizon was only one year old during her first nesting season in Ottawa in 1997. Presumably she would have retained her juvenile plumage until that summer, yet I do not recall any mention of Horizon being described as brown in her first year here. This leads to two possibilities - either part of the band has been read incorrectly, or the bird we now consider to be Horizon is not the same individual which was here in 1997.

So, while we have made progress, some considerable doubt remains. Ultimately, we will not be sure who Horizon is until we are able to get a better look at her entire band.

Arlene Williams reports: 11:10 am - Horizon is perched on the northwest corner of the Constitution Square building, Tower 2 and Connor is perched on the northwest corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building. I am elated to see that both have decided to come downtown and enjoy the above zero celsius temperature (+7°). Horizon certainly enjoys her stay, however long or short, on that specific corner of the Tower 2. Connor seems to flit to and fro more often and has just departed for areas unknown at the moment. I am sure that he will return shortly.

Monday February 25, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Eve Ticknor and I have both seen Horizon at or near the Crowne Plaza Hotel over the past two days. Connor may well have been present too, but was not in sight at the time. I checked the Tunney's Pasture area this morning, but did not see any peregrine activity.

Tuesday February 19, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 10:21 am - It feels like spring as both falcons are perched atop the northwest corner of Tower 2 of the Constitution Square building. Reminds me of when they used to perch there last year and bask in the warmth of the sun and enjoy a tidbit or two, although as we are all aware, Horizon does not like to share. Possibly, Connor is feeling a little frisky and we may be lucky this year to see a resulting offspring(s) a little earlier this year, than May 20th when Quest came into this world. Looking at both of them perched atop the building, I see that there is a minimal distance between the two and possibly Horizon is not going to be receptive to his advances so early in the season, if Connor is offering them at all, at this moment in time. Regardless, Horizon has just flown off to parts unknown and Connor is left viewing the southwestern part of the city.

Monday February 4, 2002
Jim O'Neil reports: I saw Horizon today at lunchtime on the south-west corner of the Crowne Plaza preening and taking in some sun on this cold Monday.

Sunday February 3, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports: In recent weeks, a Merlin has begun to hunt fairly regularly in downtown Ottawa. On at least three occasions, it has been seen on the ground in the Bank / Sparks area, eating a freshly killed pigeon. I have received several reports of peregrines feeding on the ground downtown this winter, but having seen the photos, suspect that it has been the merlin in each case. This in itself is quite a remarkable sight to see, and we welcome any further reports of the merlin to marcel@peregrine-foundation.ca. Thanks to Norm Ramsay for providing us with a couple of great photos of the merlin in action for our Raptor Gallery.

Saturday February 2, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports: I watched both peregrines on the south face of the Coats Building this afternoon. Horizon was preening on top of one of the columns while Connor was tucked into his corner above the western-most window! The sun was shining on both of them.

Friday February 1, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 1:47 pm - Right now, downtown Ottawa is undergoing a mini blizzard and although I am not quite sure which peregrine is currently located on the west side of the ledge area of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building, the wind is blowing westward and the one lone peregrine seems somewhat protected from the elements. It appears to be Connor, but looking through the binoculars does not make it any clearer to me that I can confirm that it is definitely him. Regardless, he/she has picked a prime spot between pillars 2 and 3 during this mini blizzard to protect itself from the raging wind and accompanying snow. If it is Connor, then I can only assume that he may be rethinking his decision to remain for the winter months.

Friday January 25, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports: There were several sightings of the peregrines today. Jim O'Neil observed both Horizon and Connor on the east side of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the morning. Arlene Williams also saw them both on the southeast corner of the hotel earlier in the morning. When I arrived downtown around 1:30, Horizon was still on the east side ledge, two pillars away from the south end. She remained there until at least 3:00. Then around 3:30, Eve Ticknor saw both of the peregrines on the south face of the Coats Building at Tunney's Pasture.

Sunday January 20, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports: I went down to the Coats Building this afternoon around 2pm and both of our peregrines were there, perched up on 2 of the 3 black lamps near the top of the east side. Yesterday afternoon Phil Maillard and I went there as well as to the Crowne Plaza Hotel and couldn't find either of them.

Wednesday January 16, 2002
Arlene Williams reports: 12:09 pm - Horizon is perched on the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building enjoying her lunch - a fresh pigeon carcass - and she seems to be enjoying it immensely. Her mate - Connor - however is perched on the southeast corner of the hotel building and knows very well that he will not be welcome to join Horizon in her lunch. Therefore, he will have to venture off on his own and find his own lunch or mid-afternoon snack. It is a nice sunny day and it is extremely enjoyable for me to be able to advise that our famous duo are once again in my part of town and clearly visible to this appreciative onlooker.

Saturday January 12, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports: After not seeing much of our falcons, especially Connor, I was pleased to find them this afternoon, both at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, after my search at the Coats Building! Connor was on the northwest corner, constantly looking around, while Horizon was on the southeast corner polishing off a meal..... She then flew around the hotel and landed on the northwest corner of the Constitution Square Tower 1. A few minutes later they both flew off in a northwesterly direction and after a short wait (for me) Horizon showed up again on the same corner of Tower 1!

Monday January 7, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports: I made a brief stop at Tunney's Pasture this afternoon to check on the peregrines. I found Horizon on the northeast corner of the Coats Building around 1:50 pm. She had a very full crop, and presumably had just finished off her lunch a little while earlier. I looked on all sides of the building, but could not find Connor. Just as I was getting ready to leave, Horizon took off, and made three loops around the building, a beautiful sight against the deep blue sky. She then settled onto the south face of the Coats building - probably wanting to digest a bit more before flying any further.

Tuesday January 1, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports: Phil and I went to the Coats Building in the late afternoon today and, at first, saw only Horizon, tucked into a corner at the eastern most part of the south face. Connor was no where to be seen and we hoped he was just out hunting. I then drove around to the west side and there, in another corner, was our elusive little guy (compared to Horizon, that is)!

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