October 10, 2011 - CPF Events
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The CPF was pleased to be in attendance this weekend at the 164th annual Woodbridge Fair in York Region and spend some time sharing our experiences with birds of prey with fairgoers. There were several highlights of the weekend, the best is always the time we get to spend with our volunteers, the public and most importantly our educational birds. Over the past three days we have introduced Cheyenne the peregrine, Nova the peregrine, Seamus the north american barn owl, Alex the great horned owl, Max the harris hawk, Kyla the kestrel and Bubo the european eagle owl to hundreds of people!! We spent our days sharing with others the struggles that these species have faced in the wild due to pesticides, loss of habitat and many other challenges that top predators such as these encounter, as well as the successes the CPF have been a part of during the ongoing recovery of the Peregrine falcon in Ontario. We had a wonderful time at the fair, connecting with adults and children alike, and introducing them to our feathered family. We look forward to seeing folks again next year!!
P.S. The maple buttered Beavertails were awesome!!!
Posted on October 10, 2011 10:12 pm
October 06, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
This afternoon, Frank and I attended the MEC site to catch up with the adult pair. Upon arrival, the female flew onto the nest ledge at MEC 1 and was calling for her mate to join her. Within 10 minutes the resident male arrived and both adults entered into the nest box and were having a very intimate and yet loud conversation about next year’s nest season. It was quite nice to see the pair cementing their bond with not only one another, but also the nest box as the location to be!! The female left a few minutes later and headed straight north until I could no longer see her. Within the next few minutes, the male left in the same direction, only to return with a small bit of food which he finished off on MEC 2, their favorite eating ledge. From my vantage point I could see where the adults have regularly stashed food on MEC 2 to be retrieved later as there was a nice, neat pile of feathers in three separate corners on the expanse of the ledge. I will be back on site next week as I continue to deliver our Project School Visit program in the area and will post further updates and pictures then.
Posted on October 10, 2011 9:37 pm
October 07, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills
Ann Brokelman Reports:
Drove past the nest site to see Quest in the nest box and Kendal on a pillar above nest. Both look healthy.
No sign of Harley.
Ann
Posted on October 9, 2011 7:24 pm
October 06, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
All is well here at the Etobicoke Sunlife nest site. Both Jack and Angel have been around alot the past few days and are in rebonding mode!
Last night when I left both were on the nest ledge chupping to each other and this morning when I arrived, Angel was on her hunting perch and Jack was guarding the nest box :)
Posted on October 6, 2011 8:02 am
September 29, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
While in Mississauga this past week, I was able to spend some time at the Mississauga Executive Centre site and check in on the resident adult pair. Upon arrival, there was no immediate sign of either male or female until I circled back around the far side of building 4. This seems to be a very popular roosting site for both of these adults as I have seen them there off and on all season. The male was sitting right on the southeast corner of the building and a little further down the ledge, feathers were just a flyin’ out of the sunken section of the ledge. At first I couldn’t see what was causing the shower of feathers until the resident female finally popped up onto the edge with an enormous pigeon in her talons. It was clear that she had been eating for a while as her crop was quite full and her face quite decorated with bits of food. After a good 20 minutes of continued plucking, she left the meal and headed directly over to the nest box where she stood and called her mate. The male took up where she left off, moving into the ledge on 4 building and snacking on what remained of the pigeon. The female remained on the landing platform of the box for the next 2 hours, enjoying the rain shower that was currently falling and then preening herself once it had stopped. The resident male took up a better viewing position on building 2 and followed suit with his own preen-fest. The female then left the nest box and headed back over to building 4 to finish off any remaining scraps of food only to return to the box for a good long nap afterwards.
Although this pair diligently incubated their clutch of eggs this year, they were unsuccessful in hatching any young. This is the first time in the history of this nest site that young have not been produced and is in keeping with the lower productivity we have seen at nearly all nest sites in southern Ontario this year. This is where the vigilance of the monitoring the CPF does pays huge dividends in that we track these trends in productivity of this still recovering species year after year. The decades of experience, statistics and knowledge we now have allows us to immediately respond to negative trends and assist the Peregrine falcons breeding in southern Ontario, thus ensuring their future success in producing strong and healthy young. We look forward to seeing this pair continue to successfully breed at the MEC site next year as they did in the years past. As I currently watch this resident pair reaffirming their bond, I am very excited about seeing them with young in the next breeding season and I will continue to visit with them again next week so please check back for further updates.
Posted on October 1, 2011 9:38 pm
September 26, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
During my tours in the Etobicoke area delivering Project School Visit, I was able to drop in on the William Osler Hospital site and check in on Hurricane and O’Connor, the resident adult pair. The three juveniles, Rain, Wind and Storm, were not to be seen but the adults were both in attendance when I arrived. O’Connor, the female, was in the hydro tower keeping vigilant and Hurricane was inside the nest tray located behind the “H” sign looking like he’d lost the house keys ( or something to that effect )!! Hurricane was looking down into the tray, then around it, then back at O’Connor in the tower and finally down at his feet. He looked as though if he didn’t find what he was looking for and quick, that he’d be sleeping in the dog house tonight!! It would seem that this resident male really gets “empty nest syndrome” quite strongly and with a mate like O’Connor ( all business and tough as nails! ) he wouldn’t ever want to misplace one of the kids!! It would seem that he has forgotten that he and his mate successfully raised three young this year ( with the help of the CPF volunteer Fledge Watch team during the rescues of Wind and Storm ) and that they have already reached independence!
Almost as if to reassure him, O’Connor left the tower 5 minutes after Hurricane began his search and flew two recon flights of the hospital roof before landing on the sign above him. He greeted her with a series of ee-chups and bows at which time she joined him on the ledge where they sat together for a good ten minutes. As I left, both adults had left the ledge and were now perched opposite one another on the east facing “H” of the hospital. Both adults at this site are still regularly using the hospital as a night roost and rest spot and will continue to hold the territory long after the young have migrated. Although they won’t defend it as vigorously as a few months ago, I suspect that O’Connor and Hurricane will remain a strong presence for now. I look forward to seeing more of these two as my school program bookings continue to keep me very busy in the west end of the city. Congratulations to the William Osler Hospital for another successful year and a heartfelt thank you to all of the staff at the hospital and in security for making it possible!!
Posted on October 1, 2011 9:03 pm
September 26, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
First off, let me apologize for the late posting as I have been unable to access the internet lately. That said, I have had the distinct pleasure of delivering our Project School Visit to Etobicoke schools this past week and took the opportunity to drop in on the Sun Life family for a check in. It was later in the afternoon on Sept. 23rd and Sept. 26th when I was at the site, and as expected I wasn’t able to locate either Angel or Jack, the resident adults, nor was I able to see either of the juvenile boys, Hera and Skye. Now that we are entering high time for migration of the young birds, the adults are less defensive of the nest ledge and travel further afield then they would have a short few months ago. The window washing team that was working on the nest building were able to work away without any interference from either adult the entire few hours that I spent on site which clearly indicates that “nesting” is now complete for the year. The adults will still use the building and ledge as a night roost and rest spot but it looks like Skye and Hera have the migration jitters and will be gone south very soon. We wish them the best on their journey and look forward to seeing Jack and Angel continue to call the Sun Life building home.
Posted on October 1, 2011 8:33 pm
