Canadian Peregrine Foundation

OSSLER Update-August 21,2010

August 22, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Bruce Massey Reports:

       Arrived around 0700 Hrs. Juvenile female vocalizing on SW corner, flew around to North side lost sight of her.  Found Male Juvenile on Hydro Tower.  Noticed that he seemed to be “Croppy” (Had fed this AM).  Female Juvenile flew in from NW about 1/2 hour later. She then proceeded to strafe 3 or 4 gulls on the Ground in the Emergancy Parking Lot.  It appears that she doesn’t like Gulls as she chased a single one more time during  my Observations. 

     The male disappeared and the Adult Male showed up with Food, landing on the East Sign and the Juvenile Female flew over snatched the food off Dad and chased him off  “Mantling” it as he flew off.

     I stayed around for about 2 Hrs. and saw 3 Peregrines, and the only one I didn’t see was the Adult Female.

Ex-soldier jailed for stealing rare falcon eggs

- International, National and Local News

Frank Butson Reports:

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER

LONDON — A former special forces soldier was jailed Thursday for attempting to sneak out of Britain with a stash of 14 rare peregrine falcon eggs hidden in socks strapped to his body.

Jeffrey Lendrum, 48, was trying to get to Dubai, where falconry is a national sport and such eggs can fetch 5,000 pounds ($11,000) each on the black market. He was caught when a cleaner spotted him behaving suspiciously in a business class lounge at Birmingham International Airport on May 3.

Lendrum originally told police he was carrying store-bought chicken eggs, which he said he used to treat a bad back, but he pleaded guilty Thursday at Warwick Crown Court, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of London.

He sat with his arms crossed and his head bowed for nearly the entire hearing.

Prized in falconry for their phenomenal speed — they are thought to reach up to 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour when they dive — the birds are a protected species under British law.

Judge Christopher Hodson said Lendrum’s crime hurt not only the local area “but in some measure to the planet and its future” and sentenced him to 30 months in jail.

Lendrum, an Irish citizen, has previous convictions for stealing rare eggs in Canada and Zimbabwe. A former member of the special forces of Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known before its independence, he has apparently put his military training to use — at various points either rappelling down a cliff or lowering himself from a helicopter to reach particularly remote nests.

Guy Shorrock, with The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said he believed Lendrum had been stealing eggs for years.

“It’s clearly very lucrative,” he said. “He has a very good buyer in the Middle East for these birds and he probably receives tens of thousands of pounds (dollars) for his trouble.”

Retired police officer Andy McWilliam, who worked on the case for the National Wildlife Crime Unit, said he was hoping to meet Lendrum behind bars to learn more about his tactics.

As for the eggs themselves, quick-thinking police made sure they were kept warm. Eleven out of the 14 have hatched, and most of the falcon chicks have since been returned to wild.

___

Online:

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ site on peregrine falcons: http://bit.ly/cLOK5I

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Likely Dot-Ca Sighting

December 31, 1969 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre

Frank Butson Reports:

Over the course of the last several days,Ive been trading emails with a friend,Jen Howard who lives in the Kemphenfelt Bay area of Lake Simcoe. Jen has sent me some interesting photos,taken since mid-July,of 2 different Peregrine Falcons. A 2^nd year bird,carrying what appeared in the photo to be a young Starling and a more interesting pair of photos,taken from her boat of a banded,juvenile,male Peregrine Falcon. The bird was seen about a quarter of the way down the Holland River,heading to Bradford.  On close examination and abit of manipulation of the photo,blue tape was easily seen on one “leg”. This is tape placed over the silver US Fish and Wildlife band,at the time the young Peregrine was banded,to keep track of it more easily during a fledge watch. The coloured alpha-numeric band is black with white letters/numbers,telling us it is Canadian. That band seems to be 2 digits which on inspection Ive made out to be 13 over Y. I made this observation before checking any of the current year’s banding records. I then checked which 2010 banded,male Peregrines the Canadian Peregrine Foundation had put the blue tape on. I found 2. Indeed the corresponding colour marker band of one was 13/Y.  This bird is Dot-Ca from a nest CPF monitors,infact it is one I site-co-ordinate the Fledgling Watch for each year and is a bird I personally rescued this season from a glass balcony on a condominium building. I am certain enough of this ID to make this posting. Dot-Ca was banded this year at Etobicoke’s Sunlife Centre,at Islington and Bloor.

      Attached are Jen Howards shots of the young Peregrine she and her son Jeff observed from their boat and a shot  of Dot-Ca,provided by Baylie Kastner moments before he was rescued. Jen is going to keep her eyes open for us and hopes to see either or both of these Peregrine Falcons again.

     Upon consultation with CPF Raptor Centre manager Tracy Simpson,we believe that Dot-Ca is quite a distance from home for such a young Peregrine,but the timeline of Kathy not observing all young at Sunlife fits and Dot-Ca was the first of the 3 brothers to hunt successfully for himself this summer. I also learned from Tracy that CPF has believed for some time that there is a Peregrine Falcon nest in the Barrie area(which is the general area of the sighting),but has been unable to confirm or find one…so far.  Peregrine Falcons are already being observed migrating along the shores of Lake Ontario. At a site I attend and count at in Scarborough,4 have already been sighted. Last season a record 73 migrating Peregrine Falcons were observed. Im hopeful that even more will be seen this season.  

Still Here…Still Active

August 17, 2010 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton

Frank Butson Reports:

Lyn Reports:

Report for 20100817, Tuesday.
At 7:00pm I heard the tell tale sound of young peregrines in the area but I was too late to see anything.
At 7:12pm I heard the call again and managed to see a large youngster, so a female, in flight three streets North of Eglinton and across Yonge street. She flew behind an apartment building and came out the other side whilst pigeons flew every which way on the east side of that
building and down to lower rooftops. The peregrine looped around in the same direction as the pigeons but was not giving chase. She disappeared.
A minute or two later I heard the call above the Heart and Stroke building and saw the mom, still missing wing feathers on each wing, fly away from the building, over the Rio Can building, and a youngster followed her only to disappear. Mom flew out over the north side of the H&S building, back, out of sight over the same building and then from the H&S building she went into a stoop past the Orchardview apartment building and up Yonge street. She pulled out of that stoop and flew south along Yonge street and I lost her.
At 7:27pm I heard more calling but was too late to see any peregrine.
At 7:43 pm I heard the calls again but no sighting.
They’re still here and still active!
 
Lyn

All’s Well at Ossler

August 14, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Bruce Massey Reports:

Spot checked Ossler both in AM & PM for about 6 Hrs Total.  In the AM I got there around Dawn and even at that time the Juveniles were very vocal.  About an hour later they both went for a 10-15 minute flight and what was so amazing was the Female that was about a week behind her brother kept up so well and not being overwhelmed by him.  When I left at 0930 Hrs, Both the Parents had showed up.

In the PM, the parents weren’t visible, but both Juveniles were present.  They spent most of their time in the Hydro Tower.  They also did another 10-15 min Flight together in the vicinity of  the Hospital.

McKenzie is Hanging In

August 17, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre

Sue McCreadie Reports:

Just thought I would let you know that McKenzie is still hanging in there  He and his mate are sitting on the Hydro Tower as we speak.  They are vocalizing back and forth to one another.  I hadn’t heard them for a few days but they are very vocal this morning.

!!! Home Alone

August 16, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre

Kathy Reports:

It’s been very quiet around the Sunlife Centre the past few days.   I haven’t seen more than one juvenile in the past two weeks and none since last Monday.   It’s been such a humid, hot summer that we didn’t really get to enjoy as much of the juveniles activity as in summers past.  Like us, they aren’t crazy about this weather either!  No doubt they have moved out and are exploring the world - hopefully somewhere cooler!

Mom spent the day on her webcam almost all day by herself enjoying the cool breezes instead of sweltering in the heat for a change.  I saw her hunting for breakfast this morning as well and she looks really good and no doubt is enjoying her time alone after months of parenting.  I did see Jack a few times last week and heard him and Angel chatting to each other a few times.

Great news about our little Mackenzie being spotted with a potential mate in Burlington!  After everything he endured last summer, it was bittersweet to hear he’s not only survived but is thriving!  I hope to pay a visit to Burlington in the coming weeks to see if I can spot him.

All 3 Young Seen..Doing Great

August 13, 2010 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton

Frank Butson Reports:

Lyn Reports:

August 13, Friday Yonge and Eglinton
Report for today primarily and for odd days over the past week working backwards.
I heard calling at around 6:30pm and went out to have a look. Searched the Heart and Stroke building found a *spot* at the top of the Northwest corner of the building and at the end of my search found a juvenile female sitting on one of the *walls* between the windows. She was responsible for the noise! So I came back inside to get my camera and the peregrine, low down, flew. However, I saw two, one of which was squawking, flying from north to south over the northeast corner of the H&S building! There was a size difference between the two! Then my little peregrine from the northwest corner flew and joined the others out of my sight. This was a larger bird. A short time later I saw two peregrines over the H&S building fluttering madly and again they disappeared from view. A minute later a small peregrine flew from somewhere southwest of the Riocan building, over the H&S at speed and was then followed by one squawking youngster which I believe to be a female. I am just a wee bit unsure whether I saw four peregrines in total or only three! I definitely saw two juvenile females - the smaller bird is the one in question - it flew like dad on a mission from the southwest but the earlier sighting of the smaller bird, when it disappeared from view on the H&S building, suggested the young male.
 
On Wednesday this week in the early afternoon I heard the peregrines calling for quite some time but did not investigate.
 
On Tuesday this week I was awoken to a real din at 6:00 AM!!!!! Wayyyyyyyyyy too early for me to get out of bed and have a look to see what was happening. I turned over and went back to sleep!
 
On Sunday I heard calling and went out to investigate. I saw one of the young females flying to and over the southwest corner of the H&S building. She seemed to be trying to entice someone off the corner and after her third or fourth try she was successful. First one youngster flew and then another joined them. The three young birds all flew together, in close proximity, and went over the apartment building on Orchardview, the Library building and continued north and then eventually northwest and out of sight.
 
They are all flying quite strongly, at times quite high and seem to have little problems landing anywhere, for example those thin walls which jut out between the windows!
 
Lyn

!!! One Juvenile Still In The Area

August 08, 2010 - Toronto - King Street

Linda Woods Reports:

Sunday evening around 8p.m. I was walking along King St opposite the nest building. I took a quick look at the east side of 18 King St. and counted 3 peregrines. Two adults were on the nest ledge level and one peregrine was on the roof of the nest building directly above the adults.  I’m hoping the second juvenile is still around. We’ll have to keep watching.

I think the juvenile that was in view was the female named , Zera.

Ossler Fledge Day 9

August 07, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Bruce Massey Reports:

      AM Report- Arrived rather late (0930 Hrs) and found everyone except 1 Adult (Male) located in the Hydro Tower.

       PM Report-  Arrived around 1800 Hrs and found Female Juvenile on Hydro Tower, and Male Juvenile on Nest Ledge.  Around 1830 hrs. the Female made a good flight over to the Hospital, buzzed her brother.  The Adult (Female) showed up with a lot of Voclalization from the Juveniles.  About 5 or so minutes I watched the Juvenile Male take off to the North and return to the ledge with a bright yellow Package in his Talons ( appeared to be the size and colour  of a goldfinch.)  About 1930 Hrs. the Female Juvenile was fed a pigeon, the Juvenile Male had a long flight with one of the Adults ending up in the Hydro Tower to the North of the Hospital.