The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Wednesday July 31, 2002
Arlene Williams reports:  10:34 am - For about 20 minutes now, one of the juvenile peregrines has been sprawled on the northwest corner ledge area of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building.  This one is really relaxing as it is completely resting on its belly and the wing ends are protruding upward towards the sky, something like the fins of an old Cadillac of the fifties. I guess this is a well deserved break from the flying lessons and teachings from their parents in the last week or so.  No sign of the others.   It appears that there is a partial (very little remaining) kill on the northeast side of the building awaiting consumption as a luncheon or dinner snack.

11:46 am - It appears that one of the juveniles has a fresh kill and is now enjoying his/her catch between pillars three and four on the north/southwest ledge of the Crowne Plaza Hotel ledge area.   It looked like one other falcon had flown by to catch a glance at the kill, but needless to say it was not going to be shared.    Possibly it was one of the adults making sure that their offspring had a lunchtime snack and they would not need to be bothered fetching something.

11:59 am  -  Hm, hm, the meal must have been good, as it was devoured in minutes and the bird has flown the coup, so to speak.

12:04 pm - It looks to be another juvenile located on the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building ledge area.   It is stationary at the moment and is facing the east part of the city and directly facing Tower A of the Place de Ville complex.  He/she does not seem to be too interested in the partial kill still remaining to be eaten which is located to its left wing.   Maybe it is no longer a partial kill but the remains of a devoured wing from a pigeon.

12:07 - It appears that he/she has been joined by its sibling or one of its parents, as they are cozying up to each other momentarily.

1:12 pm - I am looking over to the Crowne Plaza Hotel building and on the north/southwest ledge area, I see an adult falcon, which I am assuming is Horizon at the moment, as I cannot clearly identify her.  On the northeast corner of the ledge area are both juveniles and one is plopped/sprawled on the edge of the ledge and the other is facing my office vantage point.   This juvenile is preening and checking out all the activities in the surrounding area, but the other is having a great sleep and is oblivious to its siblings goings-on.

Harry Crawford reports:  There was nothing seen between 10:10am, when I arrived until 11:00 when Horizon flew east past towers A and B of Place de Ville with prey.  She was out of view for 10 minutes and then reappeared without prey and landed on the west side of the Crowne Plaza.  She moved back, out of view a few minutes later.  At 11:46 vocalisation could be heard as Horizon with prey, followed by Swift, headed north above Lyon.  Horizon took the prey to her place on the west side of Crowne Plaza while Swift, continuing to complain, flew past and then east to land on the roof of the north most balcony on the west side of the Marriott.  Horizon was still visible when I left the area at 11:53am.  Swift's flight and landing were excellent, indicating that this bird has most likely fledged successfully.  I wish I had a chance to see Connor and Summit during this brief visit.

Tuesday July 30, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:19 a.m.)  After scanning the usual rooftop falcon haunts, I was rewarded by a brief observation.  One of our falcons was leaving its SE perch on Place de Ville, Tower C as I was reaching the Constitution Square Tower II parking lot.  It appeared to be heading north as I could not see the falcon weaving in between the labyrinth of the Place de Ville or Crowne Plaza buildings.

Eve Ticknor reports:  We have ended our Falcon Watch as of this evening!  Both Summit and Swift are doing extremely well and watching them flying and playing in the sky above us is such a joy.  They both spent much time yesterday around the antenna of Tower C, doing landings and takeoffs on various parts of the structure.

For a while Summit was chasing Swift over nearby rooftops and around buildings.  She then decided to sit it out on the radial arms of the antenna, but her brother wasn't yet ready to quit, so every time she landed, he came up and pushed her off!  Eventually she got her way...

Horizon's attempts at roosting and resting seemed only successful if she was out of sight, from us as well.  Each time she was spotted by her chicks, the pursuit was on, quite noisy at that!  And Connor was rarely seen at all by us!

At a couple of times, both chicks and both parents left in the direction of the river and weren't seen for a long time.  I can only surmise that lessons were being given.

We ended the evening on a very quiet note, with nearly no activity for the last hour and 1/2, save a short flight by a falcon around from one side of the hotel to the other.  It was too dark to tell which one it was.  And now we look forward to next year, knowing that we did our job well, and that we have 2 healthy, strong chicks in the sky. 

Monday July 29, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:10 a.m.)  One of our falcons is perched on the NW corner of the Standard Life Building on this breezy morning.  It is facing NE for the time being. I haven't been able to spot any other members of our falcon family.

Gilles Vautour reports:  At one point this morning, Horizon came in with pigeon and landed on the East side of the Crowne Plaza ledge.  Suddenly, one of the chicks came in (it was to fast to identify it), landed and tried to grab the pigeon and run (or maybe it was chased away).  As the chick left the ledge, it also dropped the newly acquired prize.  It kept going up and away.  Within an instant, Horizon came out from the ledge and dove straight down along the side of the Crowne Plaza, caught it and flew back up to the nest ledge with it.

Eve Ticknor reports:  It is a delight to be able to watch our chicks experimenting with the air currents and trying out new skills!

Our crew this morning watched some lessons given by Horizon and Connor. First there was hovering, diving, landing, takeoff and flying.  Then both adults took off with food in their talons and were chased by both chicks who were to try to grab the food away in the air.  It must have been exciting!

The next shift saw long, soaring flights and chases, sometimes with an adult.  There were great landings on the antenna of Tower C by Swift and Summit. Connor even chased away a nearby Turkey Vulture to the delight of Pauline on the roof!  I don't imagine the T.V. was happy about a little bird hammering on its back...

Unfortunately the afternoon shift had little action as the birds were mostly resting or preening, though Connor, once again, came to their defense against a poor gull passing through - a case of wrong place at the wrong time!

This evening our family came to life with flying, chasing, talon-tag and mobbing Horizon for more food, though both had food drops at times during the day!  Reminds me of teenagers - never have enough...  Tomorrow will see our last day as our job is done and we will have helped raise 2 fine flyers!

Sunday July 28, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports:  We are nearing the end of this year's Falcon Watch.  Just a few more days to ensure Swift's abilities...

Swift seems to be gaining more confidence in her flying, though certain landings need improvement!  She and Summit did some acrobatics a few times today, including Talon Tag.  Both chicks seem to land well on the nest ledge, in spite of Swift missing it briefly tonight.  She still bumps into some walls below her planned landing, but self-corrects rather well, so that is encouraging.  Summit has become the "master of the skies" now, and a couple of veteran falcon watchers feel he is the best young flier we've had, though, I'd add Freedom and Jessie to that list!

Horizon still keeps a watchful eye on her daughter, though not for calls for dinner.

This evening we had a good laugh.  Swift spied Horizon approaching with dinner and immediately flew over in her direction.  She bumped on Tower 1, tried for the northeast corner of the hotel, landing on a window ledge just below, and finally reached the southeast corner just as Horizon landed there.  Swift actually landed on her mother's back!!  Horizon backed out from under her and fled, leaving dinner behind.  Swift immediately claimed it and stopped her brother from sharing it, prompting loud wails for his mother ... to no avail.  However Connor brought him something a bit later.

Saturday July 27, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports:  Well, our Swift was much more airborne today at last!  She was found on Tower C this morning, as was Summit.  They flew around various tops and just about in the air at times, resting at others.

We're not sure if either had food today, but it appeared part of Horizon's strategy, as she tried to maintain some distance most of the day, but aware of their goings-on!

Our chicks seem to have developed an affinity for the Delta and Tower C, although Swift likes to perch on a balcony on an apartment building across from the Delta, which is where we left her tonight....

There was one tense moment for us this evening as Summit seemed to be struggling with something on  Tower C, that something being a coiled up rope left on the roof!!  He did free himself, though.  I went in to talk with the Commissionaires there and one said he'd get the rope, which shouldn't have been there in the first place.....  We knew when he did as Connor, who appeared to be ignoring his family suddenly came to life and went over there, screeching all the way!

As usual, our chicks like to become very active around 8:30pm, as if they know we are planning to wind up for the evening soon after that time. Inevitably we found ourselves staying just a bit longer to be sure Swift was ok.

Many people came by to get updates, and to commiserate for the death of Grisou.  It is wonderful to find so many people having such an interest in our family, especially year after year.

Friday July 26, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  Yesterday's report was much easier to write than today's ... but then it's always more pleasant to share good news than bad.

Observations over the past couple of days have consistently indicated that Grisou was experiencing some health difficulties.  The most obvious problem was his right eye, which seemed to be shut most of the time.  In addition, he was breathing heavily at times despite minimal exertion, and the development of his plumage was at least one week behind what would be expected at this age.  This situation was discussed in detail yesterday among representatives of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Ministry of Natural Resources, and the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Falcon Watch group.  All agreed that these symptoms in combination represented a serious health concern to Grisou, and that the best course of action would be to attempt to retrieve him from the nest ledge and bring him to medical attention.

This morning Leslie Hunt of MNR joined me for the rescue attempt.  We gained access to the nest ledge shortly after 8:00 am, and peeked at Grisou through the access door.  At such close range, the problem with his eye appeared even more serious than we had thought.  We spent over an hour positioning ourselves on the east ledge, very gradually approaching Grisou in the hope of eventually being able to capture him with a net.  He tolerated our movements surprisingly well - as good as it was that he was letting us get close, his lack of reaction to our presence set off yet additional alarm bells in our minds - a healthy chick would have objected vigorously to our advances.  We paused in our progress regularly, to allow Grisou time to get used to our presence; to our surprise it was in the midst of one of these breaks that he suddenly took flight without any warning at all.

Initially Grisou faired quite well, soaring over Albert Street and then turning toward Constitution Square.  He made a nice arc around Tower 2, reassuring us that he knew how to avoid obstacles.  However, volunteers on the ground then saw him bump lightly up against Tower 1 with his breast.  He began sliding down from there, but flapping as he went to slow his descent.  Jim O'Neill and Daryl Seip immediately raced up to the terrace where he had landed, expecting to face a challenge in cornering and capturing Grisou.  Unfortunately, what they found instead was Grisou lying motionless at the base of the windows.

The prognosis looked bleak, but Leslie and I rushed Grisou out to Dr. Tracey Poulton at Lynwood Animal Hospital all the same.  Sadly, there were no signs of life, and Dr. Poulton suggested that in this case even immediate medical attention at the scene would have had minimal chance of success.  We then turned our attention to his right eye, which had originally raised our concerns.  An inspection of it revealed that the eye was deeply sunken into its orbit, and far below normal size.  Effectively he was blind on one side, and would likely had immense difficulty surviving in the wild, even ifthis was his only limitation.  The condition of the eye may have been caused by injury (potentially something as innocent as a light scrape by a sibling's talons during play), or by an infection; it's also possible that an injury could have opened up a route for subsequent infections.  From this examination it was not possible to determine what caused the retarded physical development and respiratory difficulties, but it could well be that these were directly or indirectly related to the condition of the eye.  Grisou will be sent for a necropsy, and we hope that it may answer some of these lingering questions.  What remains particularly puzzling is how such a minor impact appears to have dealt Grisou a fatal blow - in recent days alone Summit has had at least a couple of impacts with Tower C more forceful than this, and has shrugged them off without a second thought.  The fact that Grisou's fate was so dramatically different reinforces the suspicion that he was gravely ill in other ways.

Needless to say, this has been a difficult day for us all.  Our thanks to Dr. Poulton for taking time out of her busy day to examine Grisou's condition in detail, to Leslie Hunt for rescheduling work to dedicate the day to Grisou's rescue, to all of the Falcon Watch volunteers who assisted with monitoring and rescue and who have had the unpleasant task of sharing this bad news with the public on the street over the course of the day, and to all who have already passed on their sympathies and support in person or via e-mail.

Thursday July 25, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:10 a.m.)  One of our falcons is perched on the SW corner of Place de Ville, Tower C on this glorious summer morning.  Despite scanning their usual rooftop haunts (from street level), I haven't spotted the other members of our falcon family.

Marcel Gahbauer reports:  It was an exciting morning on the watch.  Some observers were on the scene as early as 5:30 am, having been alerted to Swift's predicament as of last evening.  It seems that at some point during the night, she shifted over several metres, but was at least in the same general position this morning.  By the time I arrived on the scene around 6:45 am, she had shuffled still closer to Lyon Street along the narrow terrace railing, and as rush hour progressed, she got ever closer to the traffic.  We began to wonder whether this peregrine had any regard for either her own health or ours!

The first real activity came at 7:25, when Summit flew over us at Sparks & Lyon, in highly vocal pursuit of Horizon.  Swift looked up at them, but remained silent.  Horizon headed up to the west ledge of the Crowne Plaza, but Summit couldn't quite make it up there, resting for a moment on a window ledge three floors down.  He took off again, and tried to land halfway down on the west side of Tower C, but instead wound up glancing softly off the window.  Fortunately none of this seemed to bother him much, as a couple of minutes later we relocated him on the NW roof corner of Tower A, still screaming for his breakfast.

Horizon, however, had noticed Swift, and flew over her again at 8:05.  Fifteen minutes later she returned once more, this time going into a stoop over the West Memorial Building and nearly nailing a pigeon.  Having failed, she looped around to the south, flew once more over Swift, and then disappeared from view for a while.

At last Swift took flight around 8:40.  It was just a short trip, over to the Memorial Arch across Lyon, but at least she had a nice soft landing.  This was followed shortly by a flight up to the southwest corner of the East Memorial Building.  While her flight skills leave something to be desired, the landing was again good, and at this age that's at least half the battle.

Seeing that she was making positive progress, I shifted my attention to Grisou for a while, joining Tony Beck on the roof of Tower 1 to watch him through the scope.  As reported yesterday, there does appear to be a problem with Grisou's right eye - it does not appear swollen as such, but remains partly closed at all times, especially at the front.  His breathing appeared fairly good today, but it was cool while I was watching and he was completely sedentary, so yesterday's concerns are not erased.  His physical development also remains far behind (approx one week) what would be expected at this point, which also raises questions.  We can't tell from a distance what the problem is, but preferring to err on the side of caution, it has been agreed that Grisou will be taken to an avian veterinarian at the earliest opportunity for diagnosis and treatment as necessary.

Having reviewed Grisou's status, I returned to watch Swift for a while.  At this point she had flown back across Lyon to the West Memorial Building, and was no longer visible from the ground.  The only aerial view available was from the top level of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, where staff kindly allowed us to set up our scope for a while as they prepared the banquet room.  At 11:10, Horizon flew in from a distance bearing a whole pigeon, and to our surprise she flew right down to land beside Swift (currently 15 floors above ground).  For about a minute, Horizon plucked the pigeon, no doubt whetting Swift's appetite ... then Horizon flew off with it, leaving behind only a very angry and (finally, for the first time today) vocal Swift!  Despite all of the complaining though, Swift made no move at all to follow.

At 11:28, a daring pigeon landed on the rooftop a few feet away from Swift, drawing more than a little bit of attention.  However, the pigeon casually sauntered over to a nearby puddle for a drink, and Swift made no move toward it.  The pigeon, wisely, left soon thereafter, and another hour passed by with minimal action.  Then, without any warning Swift became very active, running back and forth along the roof ledge, and squawking loud enough to be heard clearly through the upper windows of the Crowne Plaza.  Five minutes later she flew back over to the East Memorial Building. 

Over the next half hour, Swift drew a steady stream of admirers who passed by on their lunch break and were treated to a full-screen view of her through Tony's scope.  She remained there when I left shortly after 1 pm.  Though she made relatively little progress over the course of the morning (relative to her ultimate goal of getting back up to the level of the nest), at least her flights and landings were solid, and there were no further setbacks.  Hopefully she has had further success since ... additional reports will follow.

Wednesday July 24, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:08 a.m.)  An adult is perched on the SE corner of Place de Ville, Tower C.  It is facing east as the sun bathes its striking plumage in a golden light.  This perch must boast a spectacular view of Horizon and Connor's territory as it is a prime spot for guarding and resting.  I haven't spotted the juveniles at this time but look forward to observing them in flight.

Susan Goods reports:  This morning all 3 chicks and the adults were visible in the usual location. Summit continued his flights to nearby buildings and was observed drinking from puddle on tower A and then enjoying a bit of a bath. Swift continued to exercise by running up and down the ledge, at times playing with a feather. Grisou has also been active and hanging around his siblings. He and Swift were observed preening each other - a touching sight!

Tony Beck was on the roof today and was able to observe Grisou carefully. He thought he might be having some breathing problems at times and also may be having some difficulties with his right eye. We will need to monitor him carefully now. However he continues to be active and is eating well. To
retrieve him from the nest ledge now so that he could be examined would be a very tricky endeavour.

Later this afternoon both Swift and Summit took flight and landed on the roof of the Delta Hotel. They stayed there for some time and were fed by one of the adults. Some time later in the evening Swift took a rather harrowing flight, bumping into several buildings (here my notes are hard to read about the sequence and which buildings were involved) - Tower A, the Crowne Plaza and Tower C. She eventually landed on the Delta Hotel on a window ledge about 20 feet above the north entrance on the Sparks Street side. By 9:30 our volunteers, advised by Marcel Gahbauer, determined there was little to be done and reluctantly left her for the night.

We're all crossing her fingers and hope that she will wait for us tomorrow morning before venturing off.

Tuesday July 23, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:08 a.m.) It's a cool and cloudy morning in Ottawa.  A falcon is perched on the SE corner of the Place de Ville, Tower C rooftop.  Due to the lack of light, I cannot accurately identify our falcon from this distance but I believe it's a juvenile.

(4:40 p.m.)  I'm at Bank/Albert Streets and can see a falcon perched on the SE corner of Place de Ville, Tower C.  The falcon appears large from this distance and must be an adult.

Susan Goods reports:  You will all be glad to hear that Swift had a successful flight today.  Early this morning she left the nest ledge, went for a short flight, came back and landed right on the ledge. Meanwhile Grisou is continuing to exercise his wings, and even getting a little lift. He has been seen on top of the ledge several times. It won't be long now! This afternoon all three chicks were seen sitting on the ledge.  Summit continues to entertain the falcon watchers with his flights and vocalizations.   Horizon seems to be spending more time away from the nest in the last couple of days but always returns in the evening..

Monday July 22, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:05 a.m.)  It is muggy in Ottawa today.  I'm in the parking lot beside Constitution Tower II and can see a chick perched on the SE corner of Place de Ville Tower C.  After a quick scan of their usual haunts, I cannot spot any other of our falcons.

Marcel Gahbauer reports:  It was a relatively uneventful afternoon downtown.  Between 1 and 5 pm, the only one of the youngsters to take flight was Summit.  Twice he made nearly identical sorties from the east side of the Crowne Plaza Hotel southeast over the top of Constitution Square's Tower 2, then back over Place de Ville Tower A before returning to where he started.  It was quite windy, and he wobbled a bit before the landings on each occasion, but adjusted well and made contact quite softly in the end.  Both flights were otherwise quite strong, and were characterized by screeching vocalizations pretty much from beginning to end.  Swift had been rescued again early in the morning and watched her step-brother's flights from the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza, without showing too much interest in joining him.  Grisou is still not visible from ground level.

Susan Goods reports:  The action started early today. Around 6:30 a.m. Swift decided to test her wings again. This time she flew over the Constitution Square building and landed on Slater Street. A chase soon ensued and our volunteers discovered that her running abilities had not been hampered. Eventually she ran into an open garage near St. Andrews where Steve Farkas was able to corner her and take her back up to the southeast ledge of the Crown Plaza. Well done Steve! Apparently this was enough excitement for the day and Swift remained on the ledge for the rest of the day, eating and preening.

Summit took several flights in the afternoon. His first landings were a bit wobbly but improved each time. No doubt the gusty winds today made these efforts more difficult for him.

Horizon appeared to be absent for much of the day. She was not spotted until about 3:30 p.m.  By the end of the evening the both Horizon and Connor had made food drops and all were safe on the nest ledge.

Sunday July 21, 2002
Susan Goods reports:  A quiet day in downtown Ottawa today. First let me correct my report from Saturday. Contrary to what I reported Swift had to be rescued only once on Saturday. Her mishap occurred some time between 12:30 and 1:00 when there was some overlap with the volunteer shifts. Hence the incident was reported in the log book twice, but with different times noted each time! Sorry if I caused any undue concern about poor Swift.

Swift and Grisou stayed on the nest ledge all day today. Although Swift was on the ledge for long periods of time she did not attempt any flights. Summit continued to practice his flying skills at various times. He showed off his landing skills in the afternoon by landing on the tall antennae on top of Tower C. Grisou still seems a few days away from taking his first flight. Have we ever had a watch extend into August?

Saturday July 20, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (4:00 p.m.)  Horizon is facing inward near the 3rd SE pillar of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on this glorious sunny afternoon.  I instinctively and expectantly look up towards the nest area as I hear that distinctive and familiar sound emanating from one of our falcons. Summit arrives from the west and boldly makes his presence known.  I stand transfixed verbally encouraging him to fly upwards to reach the rooftop of Place de Ville Tower B.  He successfully lands on the roof but will not remain there for long.  Horizon graces us with her presence as she smoothly tames the wind between Place de Ville Tower B and C.  She is undoubtedly a magnificent sight that never ceases to inspire complete awe for all those who have the privilege of seeing her and Connor interact with one another and their chicks.  Summit continues to vocalize and flies over to the NE rooftop section (the area above the nest where pigeons gather) and perches there for awhile until he decides to take off again. He eventually returns to the NE corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel nest area.  At this point Horizon who has been once again perched near the 3rd SE corner of the hotel takes off with a flourish towards Constitution Tower 1.  The sun rays are blinding as I try to focus on where she might be landing.  I've lost tract of her at this point.  All is quiet for the time being.  One never knows what might happen next.

Susan Goods reports:  Another eventful day with Swift again being the star of the show. As Eve reported earlier she was still on the ledge of the Terrace of the Crown Plaza when our volunteers arrived this morning. Around 7:30 Horizon (?) apparently thought it was time for a little motivation and came down to the terrace with a pigeon in tow. However much to Swift's distress instead of dropping off breakfast she sat with it on an elevated part of the terrace in plain view of Swift. After about 5 minutes with no attempt by Swift to join her, Horizon flew off with the pigeon. I believe the comment written in the log book was that "Swift was really pissed off" and let her feeling be known!

Around 12:30 Swift finally decided to make her move and flew off the terrace right into Tower 1 of the Constitution Square. Lorraine Montoya rescued her and returned her to the nest ledge. Some chaos followed with much flying about of the adults, Summit and Swift. Unfortunately around 1:00 Swift repeated her earlier performance and was again rescued this time by Gord McLean. Thankfully she was not hurt either time and after her second elevator ride she stayed put and was reported to have eaten very well and rested. By the evening she was up on the ledge again and caused us a couple of minutes of concern around 8:30 when appeared ready to take off again.

In the meantime, Summit is continuing to take some nice flights over the buildings. He gave our roof volunteers a nice treat when he flew about 10 feet away from them over the Constitution Square. He ended up on Tower A for the night after a small food drop from one of the adults.

Grisou is reported to be looking more and more like his siblings and continues to run and flap.

Gilles Vautour reports:  At about 8:00pm on Saturday, I was on the roof of Constitution Square with Claudette.

We were watching Summit, who was on the edge of the mechanical housing on the south side of Tower A.  We were watching because he was perched on the edge and kept opening his wings as if he was about to fly. I had seem him do this a few times in the course of the evening (it reminds me of someone about to jump off a diving board who is trying to get up the courage to go...).  After a few minutes of this, he finally flew off and was heading directly towards us.  The fly by was about ten feet to our right and about 6 feet above the roof.  So, just at about my eye level.

Not only did we get a great view, but I swear he looked directly at us while flying by.

But then, in the midst of the excitement, I suddenly realized that we had not seen either of the adults for some time.  I was thinking that if he should land on Constitution Square, Horizon and Connor would probably not allow us to stay there.  In a few seconds, the adrenaline was starting to flow. I was scanning the surrounding area for the adults, gauging how quickly we could run to hatch and open it, all while watching Summit's fly by.

Luck was with us.  Midway across the roof, Summit turned left and circled back to Tower A.  No adults were nearby. They arrived shortly afterwards with food.  We were safe!  And what a spectacular sight!

Friday July 19, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:05 a.m.)  From my vantage point at Kent/Slater Streets, I can see both Horizon and Connor in the heart of the downtown core.  Both adults are perched on the SE (facing NW and preening) and SW (facing east) corners of Place de Ville, Tower C.  It's been a long time since I've seen Horizon and Connor together.

Arlene Williams reports:  1:34 pm - Horizon is and has been perched, on and off, on the northwest corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building for approximately 2-1/2 hours now. She seems oblivious to the goings-on of Summit and Swift.   At noon, I had occasion to walk down Queen Street heading east to notice that a number of volunteers, including Marcel Gahbauer were looking at Swift who was perched on the southeast corner of the Podium Building.   She looks quite tattered as yet and hopefully she will be able to make a kill to feed herself, as I am not quite sure that Horizon wishes to ensure she is fed at this point in time.   I guess that Swift is going to have to strengthened her wings prior to a possible return to the upper ledge of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building.

1:38 pm - While Horizon is perched on the northwest upper ledge area, I look over to see that Grisou is on the lower ledge of the northeast corner of the hotel buiilding and he is still quite small in stature compared to his siblings, who have already spread their wings and flown.   Since Grisou has still a large amount of white down yet to shed, he will be awhile, I hope and pray, before he takes flight as he cannot yet bounce up to the upper ledge area that I have been able to view from this vantage point.   Momma (Horizon) is keeping an eye on this one, I am sure.    

Marcel Gahbauer reports:   I stopped by downtown this morning around 10:30, planning to just take a quick look at the positions of Swift and Summit, then continue on to other errands.  I should have known better!  When I arrived, Swift was teetering on the brink of the third floor roof of the Podium building ... so I stayed to help keep an eye on her for a while.  Sure enough, over the course of the next few hours, she ended up in increasingly precarious positions, culminating in a rush hour perch right above busy Albert Street.  I had visions of her landing on the roof of one of the passing express buses and taking a ride out to the city's west end, but fortunately Swift's imagination wasn't quite as active as mine!  Instead of taking flight even for such a short distance, she endured the numerous attacks of the local Robins and House Sparrows, and even tolerated a pigeon vaulting over her at one point.  She vocalized in protest at these intrusions, perhaps wishing that dinner would just hold still long enough for her to grab it, but really posed no threat to the smaller birds.  Swift also called loudly whenever Horizon or Connor flew overhead, but they are not likely to come down to her level - at this point it is up to her to either make the flight back up to the level of the nest or surrounding rooftops, or to come all the way to the ground where she will be rescued by volunteers on the scene.  The good news is that while Swift is no doubt frustrated by her position, she has not been hurt at all in descending to this level, and all indications are that she is in great health.  When I left in the late afternoon she had not budged from her spot on the south edge of the Crowne Plaza Hotel's lower roof in a couple of hours.

Eve Ticknor reports:  Summit has been staying up high, visiting a few building roofs in the neighborhood, ie Marriott and Tower C.  His parents are making sure he gets food and one flies with him when he does.  I saw him flying with his parents this evening and what a beautiful sight it was.......

Grisou gets equally good attention from his parents as well, though he isn't ready to join anyone yet.  He did get up on the upper ledge for a brief visit today, and was seen doing some running and flapping.  Let's hope he isn't in too much of a hurry to join the "big guys" just yet.

This day really evolved around Swift, though.  She was still on the Podium Building on Queen St this morning where she remained until after 1pm.  She was still being buzzed by  a couple of Robins!  Suddenly she flew over to the Crowne Plaza Hotel and landed on the 4th or 5th level window ledge, flapping for balance.  She then slid down and landed on the roof of the swimming pool on the Terrace.  She picked at a pigeon leg (later confirmed as such by me) which had been accidentally dropped a couple of days ago. After this she appeared on the ledge of the Terrace where she remained for
the rest of today. 

She spent her time either walking from one end to the other, resting, preening, watching sparrows and pigeons, or calling her mother whenever she saw her in the distance.  Several times she looked as if she was going to fly, but never did, so she sat there and I sat on the sidewalk across from her for hours!!!

And then those of us near her saw a spectacle I have never seen in the 6 years I have been doing this.  Around 8pm Horizon flew down to her and delivered 1/2 a pigeon, right down on the ledge of the Terrace!  Horizon watched her chick take the meal and inhale it, giving us warning sounds, before she departed for the skies and a flight with Connor and Summit.

When we left, a very much more contented little Swift was still at her spot on that ledge overlooking Albert St, with a full crop and having seen her mother come down to her.

Thursday July 18, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:15 a.m.)  I am once again at the corner of Kent/Slater Streets on this breezy morning. Two chicks are comfortably settled on the ledge area of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  One chick can be found inches from the SE corner while the other is directly on the NE corner.  It startled me to find a chick in lieu of a parent "guarding the nest" from the NE corner vantage point.  Our young falcons are growing up as all chicks do and we are delighted to be part of their experiences.  There is never a dull moment when peregrine falcons are within our midst.

Eve Ticknor reports:  Summit took off just before 9am this morning and landed on the side of the Centertown Place Apartments, next to the Apple Tree Medical Clinic.  Jim and I stayed with him for the next 3 hours.  He became quite agitated when he found he could see through the window into the stairwell, but couldn't go there!  He¹d flap a bit about that and would slip down to the next ledge,
rest and then try again.  Eventually he ended up just over the side door.  He was quite surprised to find people using it and often stared down as if wondering where they disappeared to.

After a while I decided to try a rescue as his next move could only be the street - the intersection of Slater and Lyon!  A lady living in those apartments, Jeanine Rumac, kindly found the custodian who brought me the net used for the swimming pool!  I cornered our chick with it, and climbed on a stepladder to grab him, while Jim held the net in place.  The ungrateful Summit screamed, struggled, bit, and kicked all the way home.  I placed him carefully on his ledge and returned to ground to find he had taken off for Tower A where he spent the rest of the day and presumably the night!

Meanwhile I discovered Swift had also left her home, a fact no one had noticed.   Of course that meant that no one had any idea where she might be.  Some volunteers walked around looking while I went up to the 21st floor for a look from an office window.  No sight of her, nor of Grisou. Summit had been given part of a pigeon by his mother on his lofty perch and Connor sat  (near Grisou as I soon found out).  Going to the roof caused much anxiety for Horizon, so I left that area.  I then ended up in another office on the 21st floor.  They have great views of the ledge and roof areas.  I spotted Grisou, although just his head peeped above the ledge.  He still has much down and hasn¹t yet been onto the upper ledge.

Back on the ground, the search continued and suddenly some office workers saw her on the Podium Building on Queen St!  We were able to watch her for the rest of the afternoon and evening and she was there as we all left. She moved around on that roof, interacting with pigeons and robins who decided to dive on her for quite a while.  She didn't seem to be disturbed by that adventure.

So now, we will be a bit scattered as some of us will be with Summit and Swift while some still keep an eye on Grisou.

Wednesday July 17, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports:  The "twins" are doing more flapping and some running along the ledge, especially Summit when Connor sits on the southeast corner, although Connor leaves as soon as he gets there.

Several times we've seen 1 or 2 tails hanging over the outer edge.  A few volunteers have just realized that when I said there would be heart-stopping activity at times, I really meant it!  

By evening, both Summit and Swift were almost literally "hanging out" on the south side near the wall.  It was nice to briefly see them together in my scope!  Grisou has been moving around as well, though not yet big enough to jump on the upper ledge.  Roof watchers say he's still very fluffy white with his strange back markings.  I'll try to go up for a look at him tomorrow.

I had a great treat today. Mid-morning, Horizon caught a pigeon near the top of Tower A, took it over to Tower B, killed it, decapitated it, plucked it and delivered it to Swift, to her great delight!   At that moment, Connor, ever the opportunist, flew over to Tower B to check out the debris in hopes of leftovers!  About 20 minutes later a stuffed Swift came on to the upper ledge by a column and sat there with an extremely full crop...

Arlene Williams reports:  9:35 am - As I look over from this 20th floor vantage point to the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building, I see a chicklet below the ledge and Horizon has just arrived to ensure her baby is safe and sound.   Horizon then flies away, but must have caused Summit to think that maybe breakfast was being served so she hopped over to the northeast corner and then brazenly hopped to the upper ledge area and just sat there for a moment. She then hopped down and flapped her wings, then got back up on the upper ledge and then hopped out of view.   I have to say that she is quite brown in colour and speckled.

12:28 pm - For about 10 minutes now there have been two tattered chicks perched on the upper ledge of the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building.   One is occasionally plucking at its white down feathers and they ultimately are swirling around in the breeze.  One chick is facing east and seems to enjoying the view from that vantage point and the other is more on the north wall of the hotel building and is facing the western part of the city.   Both chicks have almost their full plumage and will most probably be flying by this weekend or early next week from all appearances.  They are such a joy to watch as they interact with one another and how they have become less dependent on their parents.

12:33 pm -  The one on the north wall has just decided to go down to the lower ledge and has decided to bounce around there for a short while. He/she is flapping its wings and looking for some attention, it appears, from its sibling who is peacefully resting on the upper ledge of the east side of the hotel building.    12:35 pm - They are side by side now. In the distance I can see the ropes of the window washing crew and earlier this morning, they were of great concern to the parents as I had been blessed with quite an aerial display just outside of my office window.

(4:35 p.m.) One lone chick (Swift or Summit) is perched on the ledge near the 3rd pillar from the SE section of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  It is muggy at street level, I sure hope that there is a soft breeze in the nest area.

Tuesday July 16, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:05 a.m.)  What a wonderful way to start the day!  I am near Kent/Slater Streets and observe in the distance, an adult perched directly on the NE corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  It is proudly facing east on this lovely morning.  One of our chicks (I assume it is Swift due to its extensive plumage) is perched near the ledge of the centre columns of the hotel.  I cannot see Summit or Grisou at this point in time.

Eve Ticknor reports:  Both Swift and Summit were spending more time on the ledge, especially towards evening.  They each were pushed back from the edge by Connor today! I'm sure they were as surprised as we were to see this.  By evening they were seen running along the edge from north to south.  The first one to do this was surprised to have its father fly off as soon as it arrived.  We weren't sure which chick it was.  Soon it was joined by the second runner.

Watchers on the roof couldn't see the whole ledge and therefore didn't see Grisou who was probably near the center.  We'll look tomorrow.

Monday July 15, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports:  We were spending much more time on the roof today, that is until around 6pm.  Window washers appeared on the roof and on the ground to set up the swing stage right next to the main entrance of tower 2.  They claim to
be very good friends with Horizon and Connor!  We'll have to move down the way tomorrow!  Needless to say, our falcon parents weren't happy about this!!

As for our chicks, more wing-flapping is being seen, and Summit seems to be right up there with Swift more than yesterday.  Those of us looking from the ground can see some of it and their wings look better feathered than a day or 2 ago.

Roof volunteers are reporting a fair bit of flapping, running, etc going on along the graveled inner ledge.  Food is being brought a bit less than before.

Sunday July 14, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports:  We are starting to see more activity from Summit and Swift at last, though not enough yet.

Summit was finally seen up on the ledge as was his sister.  For the most part, he prefers to sit near the first or second column from the south end, while Swift usually can be seen near the middle. Once in a while they seem to change places. At least they still stay back from the edge, though at one point Swift turned her back to the outside and dangled her tail over the edge briefly!

Summit's plumage is coming along, though still a bit behind his sister's. However his claim-to-fame is his vocal aptitude!  When we hear the youngsters calling incessantly for food or whatever, I've actually seen that he is the only one doing that, each time I was on the roof.  Swift seems to ignore him and Grisou is either sleeping or concentrating on preening.  He is funny-looking with his "chevron-like" markings on his back where feathering is coming through the fluffy white down!

Saturday July 13, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports:  Swift continues to spend time on the upper part of the ledge, mostly staying at the back side where she can look out on her world.  She preens, does some wing-flapping  and watches for her mother, as do Summit and Grisou.  Every time she is seen, a clamour goes up from within the ledge which is audible from the sidewalk where the volunteer crew is stationed.

Horizon has, several times, gone over to whatever building corner where Connor is roosting and seems to knock him off, to take it over herself....

This evening we watched as he brought in prey for himself and while eating, she suddenly went over and stole part of it!  She flew around the area and settled on the northeast corner of her hotel to eat it, while he sat on Tower 2 and audibly complained at her.  The chicks joined in with him!

Friday July 12, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports:  An easier day for our intrepid parents!  The window washing seems to be done, at least for today.  The chick who has been seen on the ledge is Swift!  She even got into some wing-flapping on the ledge today, though still at the back of the ledge.

I was up on the roof around 10 for 1/2 hour, mainly to see Horizon's reaction, and wasn't disappointed!  She flew overhead, though not too close, and "told" me what she thought, but I let her know it was time to cease.  I walked around the back half of the roof for a bit and she settled down and left me alone.  I had a short look at our chicks before leaving.  Swift was on the upper ledge near the middle of the side of the hotel, while her brothers were at the south end.  Grisou was sleeping and Summit stood near him just looking around.

Thursday July 11, 2002
Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (8:10 a.m)  I am walking towards Kent and Slater Streets on this glorious summer morning.  I look up towards the Crowne Plaza Hotel and observe in the distance a distinct fluffy white chick near the centre post of the hotel.  Due to its height and size, I presume it is Summit or Swift.  I wish I had my trusted binoculars with me to get an up close and personal peek at our precious falcon family.

Arlene Williams reports:  12:03 pm - I looked over from my 20th floor vantage point in Tower C to the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel building ledge  and lo and behold I see one lone fluff ball that is mostly pepper in colour mixed in with a little white and then moments later I turn back and see another little darling next to his/her brother/sister.    Right now I am a bit afraid as I see that one of these little sweethearts has decided to get up on the upper ledge and I can only hope that it decides not to do much manoeuvering around, while his/her brother/sister looks on. 

12:07 - He/she has since jumped down and has hopped away and heading back towards the back part of the ledge area.     He/she reappears to keep his sibling company and is much more active than the one who remains stationary, just taking in the view of Tower C.    I am so excited to see them and be able to report on their activities and antics.

12:09 - The more active sibling is now playing a game of jumping up on the upper part of the ledge and jumping back down.   This one is going to be a handful, I can guess.

Eve Ticknor reports:  The window washers were busy again today and hopefully have finished the north side of Constitution Square ... Horizon and Connor were on scream-alert again!

Towards the middle of the first shift Roseanne spotted our first chick upon the outer ledge!  He or she spent some time just observing the world from its newest vantage point.  During the next shift, while I was away, that chick strolled down towards the north end and back south again. We didn't see it again for the rest of the day...

At some point someone must have been up on Tower A as the parents became agitated again over there.  That didn't seem to last too long.  Most of this day was fairly uneventful, although at times I noticed when both adults were on the same building, Connor moved over to Horizon, who promptly moved away or chased him away.  Who knows what was going on there?

Wednesday July 10, 2002
Arlene Williams reports:  10:38 am - On this bright, sunny and breezy day, I witnessed an aerial display by one of our glorious peregrines - not sure whether Horizon or Connor - as it was flying by my office window and was contouring the Crowne Plaza Building or in close proximity thereto.    I am assuming with such displays that our famous mother and dad have commenced aerial training for viewing by their three little chicks.

Eve Ticknor reports:  It was very cold and windy all day, the wind picking up speed as the day
went on.  For the first couple of hours Horizon and Connor flew back and forth chasing breakfast for their youngsters, bringing in small items at various times. Today we noticed that the food was dropped off and the adults left nearly right away, leaving the plucking and sharing to 3 hungry chicks.  Both
adults kept watch from nearby building roofs rather than on the nest ledge, although they did spend time perched on the ledge, too.

Then around 8:30 Connor, followed by Horizon suddenly seemed to go berserk, screaming and flying and generally showing signs of agitation!  Window washers were all over Tower 1!  There was much complaining from the falcons through out the rest of this day, well until around 3pm when the window crew left for the day, to continue tomorrow.

Tuesday July 9, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  For those who read the July 7 report below and found it difficult to visualize some of the things I described, the Ottawa Gallery now contains a set of photos documenting the installation of the banners over the C.D. Howe building.

Monday July 8, 2002
Eve Ticknor reports:  I went up to both rooftops of Constitution Square yesterday between 3:30 and 4:30pm for a look and all 3 chicks look healthy!

Tower 1:  As I came around the corner of the elevator housing and walked towards my "viewing" spot, 3 little fuzzy heads were lined up along the south end, all looking skyward, presumably for Horizon!  Summit and Swift are about shoulder height with the top of the lip around the edge of the ledge.  Grisou is still too short for his shoulders to get that high!  They seem to be moving around quite well, but he was the only one to do it frequently while waiting.

Tower 2:  Right after I left the first tower, I decided to go up the other one to get the parents used to our volunteers being there.  Once again, 3 faces were turned skyward!  During all this time no parents were nearby... Certainly they would have made their presence known as I wasn't hiding at all!

I sat down near the railing and waited.  Soon Horizon flew in, possibly from the river area and landed near her family who immediately started calling for food.  Somehow she spotted me and started to harass me to get off the roof, which I did! She even landed on the edge of the roof and watched to be sure I closed and locked the hatch!  I had tried leaving a crack open to see what would happen and she stared at it until I was really gone - distrustful soul?!

Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  (4:37 p.m.)  An adult is perched on the NE corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  The falcon creates a striking image as it reigns proudly atop its urban cliff.

Sunday July 7, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  On Wednesday the three Ottawa chicks were banded. Today in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, we completed an important project designed to improve their chances of survival after they take flight (as little as a week from now) - the installation of multiple sets of streamers at the C.D. Howe building to deter the fledglings from colliding with the highly reflective glass windows. The following account is long, in part because I am tired (for reasons which will soon become obvious), but also to ensure that everyone gets the credit they deserve for their role in this undertaking, which truly highlights the lengths to which many people from a wide variety of backgrounds come together for the sake of peregrines.

Because this project was dependent on the involvement of so many people, it is appropriate to begin by thanking all who assisted with it. Many of the staff at the C.D. Howe building gave much of their time to helping us out with preparations and logistics, both in advance of the installation and while we were on site. In particular, we must acknowledge those at Brookfield LePage Johnson Controls, the building's management, for their considerable assistance: Antonietta Peccia, Bernard Coulombe and Pierre Boucher for coordinating all of our efforts, Ross Chamberlin for his help with all safety-related issues, and Jeff Burgoyne for resourcing equipment and accessing difficult to reach parts of the roof for us on our first day of work. We would also like to thank building security for their cooperation, and everyone in the maintenance department for putting up with our domination of their radio frequency on the first day as we coordinated our efforts between the roof and ground. Thanks also to Keefe Primett and Joe Malone of Tempest, the building's owners, for adjusting the roof construction schedule around our work, and to André Provost of Lundy Construction for loaning us critical safety equipment.

Equally importantly, we would like to heartily thank all of the volunteers who donated their time to helping us with the installation - a complex project like this is truly a team effort, and we are very grateful for everyone's participation. Present throughout the project were Leslie Hunt and myself - each spending 37 hours on site over four days! However, we couldn't have done it without the help of many others, who collectively contributed another 130 hours to the project. For most of the first three days, we were joined by Phil Maillard. Tuesday's crew also included Mel Radder, David Critchlow, Al Hart, Eve Ticknor, Nancy Scott, and Roseanne Bishop. On Thursday, we were assisted by Pud Hunter and his son Ross, and Mark Nash, all of whom were visiting Ottawa to assist with the banding of the chicks and kindly agreed to stay an extra day to help with installing the streamers; also helping that day were Mel Radder, Ryan Robson, Christie Curley, and Brian Bezaire. Additional help on Saturday came from Nancy Scott, Fiona Walker, and Corey Van Es. Project leader Leslie Hunt deserves special recognition for coordinating and organizing the entire process from beginning to end, and cheerfully persevering despite all of the unexpected challenges we faced, including having to sacrifice a whole weekend to get the job finished.

A brief history of this project is in order. Of the eleven chicks fledged from the Ottawa peregrine nest since 1997, three have suffered fatal collisions with the C.D. Howe building, situated one block east of the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 240 Sparks Street. This is an inordinately high rate of mortality from a single source, but is not altogether surprising - the building is covered in highly reflective glass windows, such that a young and inexperienced peregrine could easily mistake it for open sky until the last moment before impact. Recognizing the need to address this problem, a meeting was convened in the spring of 2001 to discuss the situation among representatives of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, and Brookfield LePage Johnson Controls (building managers). An agreement was reached to install a network of ropes and banners over the south and west-facing walls of the building to create a visual disruption that will alert the peregrines from a distance that they are approaching a solid object.

Using building blueprints, Leslie Hunt, Species at Risk Biologist for the Ministry of Natural Resources, designed a series of thirteen panels to be placed along the two faces of the building. Each panel consists of three or four vertical streamers of red and white triangular flags, connected with horizontal rows of Canada flags roughly halfway down the building. While it may sound like a simple enough plan, a great deal of work was required to set up these panels. In all, nearly 4 kilometres of ropes and banners were used to assemble the plans - an exercise which took several volunteers a weekend last spring to complete.

In 2001 the streamers were installed on June 16/17, and remained in place for approximately three weeks. Unfortunately, last year's two chicks took to the air prematurely and died while attempting to land after their first flights. They never even got close to the C.D. Howe building. This year, we are of course hoping for much better success on the part of the three chicks, and thus decided that we would again install the full set of streamers.

Tonight, we finally finished the 2002 installation after spending the better part of four days on the roof of the C.D. Howe building. The following are my personal recollections of what has become a most memorable experience - often frustrating, but thankfully also at times fun, and ultimately rewarding. Some photos documenting the process will be added to the Ottawa Gallery later this week.

In brief, the procedure we followed was to have a crew on the roof lowering the panels to others on the ground, who would then secure the ropes in place on the building's pillars, then adjust the position of each streamer so that it was (more or less) level compared to its neighbours. Following this, those on the roof would tie each of the streamers tightly into position. Radios were used to communicate between the ground and roof, though at both ends we were somewhat limited by not being able to picture the challenges the others faced. Thankfully this improved somewhat with practice and experience.

We began our installation early on Tuesday morning, with the support of the volunteer crew listed previously. Unfortunately, we happen to have picked the hottest day of the year for our rooftop activities - the midday temperature reached 35 degrees Celsius, with an accompanying Humidex reading of 46 degrees. Coordinating the placement of the banners between the crew on the roof and the others on the ground is challenging at the best of times. Doing so in extreme heat, combined with
periodic gusts of wind, made the situation all the more difficult. By mid-afternoon, we agreed that our progress was being seriously hampered by the weather, and that for both practical and health considerations we should stop and continue
another day.

On Thursday morning we returned, confident that with somewhat cooler weather having moved in, we could complete the project that day. However, we soon realized that we had underestimated the scope of the project once again. Working near the edge of the roof, safety is of course a great concern. Throughout the project, Leslie and I were the ones "living on the edge", and thus for fall protection had to wear full body harnesses at all times so that we could be secured to safety lines wherever we moved. Since there are no permanent safety lines on the roof, moving along the roof entailed us having to detach and reattach ourselves to a pair of wire slings every 20-30 feet, always carrying the spare sling with us to tie off to while we shifted the position of the other - an important safety precaution, but certainly very time consuming, especially when we also needed to ferry much additional equipment along the ledge with us.

In mid-afternoon, we were faced with a new challenge. Roof construction is commencing on the C.D. Howe building next week, in the same areas where we were installing our streamers. Initially, the construction supervisor had approved our plans, but after seeing them in place, his workers realized the streamers would be considerable impediments for their activities, and could pose a safety hazard in places. So, after almost 15 hours of work on the project, it was back to the drawing board for us! After two long days in the hot sun, it would have been easy to just throw in the towel - circumstances were mounting as if to indicate that this project just wasn't meant to happen this year. Happily, we were able to keep those temptations under control, and managed to work out a compromise with the construction crew to keep the ropes in place, but adjust the design by reducing by roughly 70% the number of ropes attached to the roof. Even so, working around the remaining ropes will entail additional time for the incoming construction crew, but Joe Malone kindly agreed on behalf of Tempest to cover any additional costs incurred by these delays.

With the matter settled in principle, we decided to stay away from the site on Friday, both to give ourselves a much needed mental and physical break from the project, but also to mull over the possible ways in which the design could be modified so that it maintains its appearance and function as well as possible, while minimizing interference with the construction activities.

Saturday morning we came back and began by lowering the last two of the thirteen panels of streamers, then adjusting the position of three others which had been difficult to secure properly in the strong winds on earlier days. Once again, moving slowly and deliberately along the edge of the roof with all of our safety gear took some time, and it was well into the afternoon by the time we finally got around to testing the new modifications we had devised.

By this time, the job was left entirely to Leslie and me ... no longer could additional volunteers on either the ground or the roof be of any assistance. The next step is where things got a bit nerve-wracking for me! For most of Tuesday and Thursday, I had been working on the edge of the roof, but was not bothered much by my position since there are slanting skylights extending out a couple of metres further, i.e. preventing me from looking straight down to the ground from where I was. Unfortunately, I was destined to lose that security blanket. After discussing the various options, Leslie and I agreed that the only way to eliminate most of the ropes to the roof would be to instead insert a horizontal rope just below the building's gutter, at the base of the aforementioned skylights, then tying most of the streamers to this new rope and running a connector up to the top of the roof only every 30-50 feet. What this meant was that both of us needed to descend to the gutter to do this work ... and not just once, but at least a dozen times each, as we had to keep going up and down to adjust our safety gear as we moved along the building. Leslie managed to put mind over matter much better than I - though I knew I was perfectly secure with the safety harnesses and ropes, I still found the descent over the skylights terrifying at first, and looking over the edge of the gutter (necessary for our work) also didn't do anything to help settle the butterflies in my stomach.

Needless to say, the first two panels we fixed in this manner took a long time, as we were experimenting with entirely new techniques at each step of the process. As if we weren't frustrated enough, one of the streamers broke as we were attempting to secure it, and went fluttering almost all the way to the ground. Happily, it landed on top of scaffolding, and we agreed to leave it for the time being and concentrate on the task at hand in the gutter. By the time the first two panels had been secured with our new method, it was already 5 pm again, and we realized that it was inevitable we would have to come back for a fourth day. Having started Saturday morning at 7:30, we decided it would be best to quite and come back as fresh as possible on Sunday morning.

...and that brings us to today! Leslie and I reconvened in the late morning, knowing exactly what remained to be done and how we would tackle it - and after some of our earlier experiences that was a relief in itself! While I still can't say that I relish the thought of going down over the skylights, I did become more comfortable with the process over the course of the day. The bane of our existence today was the yellow rope we used as our new support structure under the gutter. It seemed that with the blink of an eye, the coils would become hopelessly tangled. No doubt there were at least a couple of 100-foot ropes which we untangled close to half a dozen times each, only to have them quickly revert to their previous state the moment we even considered moving them anywhere. We agreed that after four days of assorted stresses (extreme heat, changes in plans, painstaking safety precautions, etc), it was the ropes which consistently brought us closest to the brink of losing our patience. How we both managed to maintain our senses of humour despite all of the frustrations is a mystery to me, but I am thankful that we did, as it made the time fly much more quickly.

By the time we finally tied down the last rope around 8:00 pm, it was almost anticlimactic. As much as we should have felt like celebrating, I think we were both so physically and emotionally drained that just getting back down to terra firma (and out of the safety harnesses!) was reward enough.

Sitting here writing this summary, it's almost hard to believe we actually are finished at last! Though the job was much more difficult this year than last, I know that I can speak on behalf of Leslie in saying that we do not regret having undertaken the project again. With equal parts stubborn determination, flexibility, and creativity, we eventually succeeded in getting everything placed as we need it for the birds. While there are a few spots where the banners aren't hanging exactly how we would like them to, we are for the most part satisfied with the results of our work, and while we hope that the effect is aesthetically pleasing, the ultimate goal of course remains to keep the fledglings away -- if we are successful in that regard, then all of our efforts will have been well worth our while.

Thursday July 4, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  While working on the roof of the C.D. Howe building this afternoon, Leslie Hunt and I heard one of the peregrines overhead and looked up in time to see Horizon and Connor both taking turns attacking a Red-shouldered Hawk flying over the area of the Parliament buildings.  The hawk rolled over on its back at least once to defend itself from attack with its talons, and after having endured several stoops and near misses from the peregrines, it tilted to the north, heading across the Ottawa River.

Later in the afternoon, we again saw Horizon perched near the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  We were out on the roof to continue the work we began on Tuesday (see July 2 report below).  Due to some design alterations, we were not able to complete the work today, but hope to do so on the weekend and will present a full report here afterwards.

On a different note, the Ottawa Citizen today ran two articles about yesterday's banding of the chicks, including a firsthand account by photographer Chris Mikula of his experience on the nest ledge and an accompanying story about the foster chicks.

Wednesday July 3, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  Connor and Horizon began the day with one hungry chick to feed, as has been the case each morning for the past three weeks.  Little did they know that by early afternoon there would be three youngsters in their nest, all screaming to be fed!

Thanks to the help of Stephane Pelletier and Matthew MacNaughton, we were able to hold this year's banding event on the penthouse level of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, with a scenic view to the west to capture everyone's attention until the chicks were ready to come out.

First, the two foster chicks were brought out to be banded.  They were hatched in captivity at a breeding facility in southwestern Ontario, and had originally been destined for release through a hack release program in Richmond Hill.  When the Downtown Toronto chicks were orphaned and moved to the Richmond Hill hack box, these two chicks no longer could be sent there.  By happy coincidence they were close in age to the lone chick hatched in Ottawa, and thus the Canadian Peregrine Foundation instead purchased these two chicks for fostering into Horizon and Connor's family, much as Bailey had been last spring, and the trio of Loft, Preston, and Jessie in 1999.  This has proven to be a successful and effective way of adding young anatum peregrines to the wild population.

Today I had the privilege of banding the chicks, with the assistance of Pud Hunter and Shaun Thompson of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.  The two foster chicks were identified as an approximately 25 day old female weighing 650 grams, and a roughly 21 day old male weighing 415 grams.  

Once these two had been banded, they were placed back in the dark and quiet while the other chick was retrieved from the nest ledge.  This year it was photographer Chris Mikula from the Ottawa Citizen who agreed to be the decoy on the nest ledge for the duration of the time that the chick was inside.  As expected, Horizon did not take too kindly to his presence, ripping a hole in one of his shirt sleeves to get her point across.  After this initial attack, she settled down somewhat, and Connor also held his aggression in check.

Back inside, the chick was identified as a 624 gram male, and was banded accordingly.  The three chicks were briefly united inside before being bundled off for their return / introduction to the nest ledge.  Both Connor and Horizon were seen visiting the area within the following hour, and a quick mid-afternoon view from Constitution Square revealed that one of the chicks had a full crop indicating a recent feeding, while the other two were lying flat in the shade, trying to avoid the oppressive heat as much as possible.

Names for all of the chicks were announced by Eve Ticknor, coordinator of the local Falcon Watch on behalf of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club.  The winning selections were chosen from among many names submitted by local children.  The female will be known as Swift, her male sibling as Grisou, and the locally-hatched male chick as Summit.

Photos of the chicks and the banding will be added to the Ottawa Gallery over the next week as pictures are developed / received.

Arlene Williams reports:  12:10 - 12:15 pm - I saw someone placing the three (3) chicks into the nest area and it appears to be Horizon perched between pillars one and two of the southwest corner overlooking her increased brood.    After last year's introduction of the one new chick, then I can only assume that it will take her a few minutes before she goes over to check on her biological offspring and check out the other two.   It appears to be Connor circling the nest area and quite unsure as to the goings-on.   Hopefully, by early this afternoon, Horizon and Connor will have accepted their increased responsibilities to feed three rather than the one and all past indications are that they will.

Tuesday July 2, 2002
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  Today we began our second annual installation of flagging and streamers at 240 Sparks Street to protect the fledglings when they take to the air in a couple of weeks.  A full report will follow after we complete the project, hopefully on Thursday.  While working on the roof today, we observed Horizon on at least three occasions, twice flying to the south, and once on the northeast corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Nathaleigh McKenna Rochon reports:  It is stifling outside despite a strong breeze.  An adult is perched on the SE corner of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  It is keeping watch towards the east of the city.  I sincerely hope the air is cooler in the nest area.

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