Canadian Peregrine Foundation

!!! Both Adults on site

May 28, 2012 - Toronto - Mount Sinai Hospital

Linda Woods Reports:

Today at 11:15,  I stopped by the Mt.Sinai site for a quick look around. I found both adults in the area. One was on the north facing signage of Alliance Insurance building, south of the Hospital. The second adult was on the north west corner of 505 University, across the street from the Insurance building. I stayed for about 45 minutes and didn’t see any interaction with the ledges of Mt. Sinai. I think they both just getting out of the direct sunlight.

Janet Back on the Nest Ledge and the Watch Continues

May 27, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre

Tracy Simpson Reports:

The watch at the Mississauga Executive Centre continues with Janet, the remaining female juvenile, having returned to the nest ledge as of last night from the rooftop where she was released and she is now running the ledge like an expert. While she has not made an attempt to take her second flight, she travelled most of the nest building today by hopping from ledge to ledge and running the length of it while flapping most of the way. All this under the watchful eye of Sante, the resident male and Janet’s father who currently has his talons full dealing with not only the loss of his resident female who still remains in rehab (her condition unknown) but also with a new female on site as of yesterday at about 3:oopm. This is a banded female and we were able to confirm that she has a black over green band on her left leg and a purple USFW band on her right.

The adult female is attempting to court the resident male who has no interest in her given that he has a dependant juvenile on the nest ledge at this time. Whenever the male catches food for the chick, this new intruder chases him for it and he is spending an incredible amount of time attempting to dodge her and eventually deliver it to his young. When he is not hunting or dodging her as he attempts to feed, his is actively chasing and stooping her to in an effort to run her out of the territory to protect his young. This is what the male spent most of his day and certainly all of his energy doing. The strain upon this male, without the aid of his female, is enormous and he is struggling to stay on top of things. Sante did manage to feed young Janet at least three times today with the last feeding at around 7:00pm.

We will be back down on the watch tomorrow as we are very concerned about the reaction this new female will have to the fledging of the final juvenile at this site. While the juvenile remains on the ledges it would appear that she is safe as her Dad is roosting beside her (when he gets the opportunity to roost) and stayed by her side each time he was sucessful in bringing her in food.  It is quite interesting that he remains so close to her during each of the feedings.

I cannot stress enough that without the assistance of the resident female, the male is having to work that much harder to feed, defend and direct his chick. He is doing an admirable job at it but it is without doubt draining him. Check back for a more detailed update on the progress of this situation.

We would also like to welcome Suzanne to the watch team and look forward to the updates in the future that she will provide.

!!! Big, Bigger, Bigger and Biggest

May 27, 2012 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge

Dennis Patrick Reports:

All four of our wonderful chicks are present and accounted for says Ted our early morning chick Watcher. We were there last evening and they were all out of the nest box, resting at first but later all stood up except one of the bigger ones, she just looked like “I’m too hot to stand up so I’m going to lay here until it’s feeding time”. Voltaire came in with food and all three that were standing were fed first then the chick that was sleeping decided it was time for her to be fed as well. Even though we have a scope it is still hard to see the colors on their legs. As long as we see all four of them we’re happy. Thank You Ted for liking the early morning shift.

Quest and Kendal defend their territory Don Mills

May 27, 2012 - Toronto - Don Mills

Ann Brokelman Reports:

Haven Very Active

May 26, 2012 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton

Frank Butson Reports:

Canada Square report Saturday May 26 2012.

I arrived at 5:09 pm and having cleaned up a bit of the litter left by others I sat down to observe the peregrines. However, before the peregrines put in an appearance I spotted a turkey vulture flying really high from the north east to south east.

Concentrating on the turkey vulture I missed the arrival of Haven. I did see her take off from the south face of Rio-Can and circle over the building five or six times until she disappeared behind it. Five minutes later I saw Haven on the scrape ledge and then disappear to the back on the south side of that ledge. Fifteen minutes after that she left the ledge and flew to Rio-Can with the remains of a meal in her talons. She appeared undecided about what to do. She was there for a minute and then picked up the remains in her talons again and flew to the building below the mast at 2180 Yonge where she flew to the second window ledge and deposited (stashed) the food. Having ensured it was secure she flew to the fifth wall/upright on Canada Square before flying back to RC.

Ten minutes later Haven flew back to the nest and disappeared to the back, this time on the north side of the ledge. Half an hour later I was chatting to someone and missed who it was I saw fly behind RC and disappear again. Fifteen minutes after that I saw Haven fly from the south straight to RC with a food parcel. I assume she has picked up her stash from the mast building at 2180. A couple of minutes later she flew to the nest ledge and disappeared again on the north side.

Twenty minutes later Haven appeared at the edge, bit at something bloody, dropped it onto the ledge below her and flew to the RC building. Over the next few minutes she flew to the wall above the nest ledge, dropped onto the ledge and walked to the back, came to the edge again and sat there for thirty minutes at which point I left.

I did not see Stormin at all during these few hours.

Lyn

I was glad to hear that Herb had dropped by to introduce himself to Lyn as he will be part of the fledge watch team at Canada Square in a few weeks when things get going there.

!!! A New Female Arrives

May 26, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre

Frank Butson Reports:

 Where to begin? How about at the beginning? On arrival at 730am, Bruce met me and explained what he had seen already Saturday morning. Janet was on the retaining wall of the roof of MEC #1(the nest building) and she had just been fed. As Janet seemed to have a crop already when Bruce arrived at 530am, he suggested she had been fed once already.  Not long after my arrival, Janet dropped her meal and it came to rest just below where Sante found and ate it. From there the day becomes a blur.  A new volunteer Herb joined me and by 1pm there wasn’t much different position wise than upon his arrival. Thanks for the help Herb it was much appreciated. We look forward to your invovlement at Canada Square.  About 3pm things got very interesting!!

     Zooming in a 3^rd  Peregrine joined the fray. The bird flew directly into the nestbox and Sante(the resident male) defended his box. Over the course of many hours,it was determined that the “extra” Peregrine was female. Sometimes she and Sante seemed to get along and be courting. Other times it seemed she was being a pest and she was being dealt with accordingly. There were chases where Sante struck at her,while at other times she would stay in the nestbox for hours.  She was not aggressive towards the young Peregrine Janet. Towards the end of the evening  Janet deliberately moved towards the new Mom looking for food. Prior to Janet being fed her evening meal, the new gal, kept harrassing Sante for food. Each time Sante flew with food,she would bug him for some. With great effort Sante would evade her keeping the meal for Janet.

     A million things went through my head as to the origins of this bird. I was very tired and knew I wouldn’t remember what I had seen, so began calling my own phone and leaving me updates.  My impression was that the bird was banded and it turns out she is. Tracy and I both observed a US Fish and Wildlife band and Tracy got the top colour of part of the recovery band.  Tomorrows goings on will be watched very closely, with an eye to how the new female treats Janet, especially once she tries to fly again. Later in the day we will use a scope to try to figure out the full identity of new female.

    The birds really made Tracy look smart. She had speculated that an intruder female may have caused the premature fledging of the other 2 chicks, leading to their deaths. While there really isn’t a way to determine this, it certainly seems plausible. Keep watching for more news.

!!! Janet Fledges And Is Rescued

May 26, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre

Frank Butson Reports:

Bruce was on site today by about 530am as we all anticipated Janet’s first flight. At about 830am as Tracy and I drove up, Bruce called and let us know she had fledged to a low roof,after a few bumps of windows. She was fine and safe. That was awesome news after whats gone on at MEC the last several days. Bruce gave me abit of orientation as to where Janet was and he was off.

  Janet was on the roof of the daycare centre at MEC. The staff was told if the Peregrine came down in the outside play area,dont be scared just move the kids away and Id be in immediately to rescue it. We didnt have to test that plan as Janet just moved around on that rooftop from 830am until after 6pm. The local American Robins,Goldfinches and even Barn Swallows kept calling and diving at poor Janet.  I got a work out going from side to side of MEC 1 as Janet was very active. It was easy to see she was suffering no ill effects from her first forray into the air(and down!!).  Around 6pm I noticed the Robins hadnt been noisy in awhile,so I thought maybe our little friend had vacated unseen off the back or the roof. I did one pass and nothin. I rechecked the roof. Nothing again. Back to behind MEC 1, now  I hear and see Robins alarm calling. Ok Janet is around somewhere, but where?

  I looked in several trees near where the Robin sounded off from. I looked in an adjoining field in the tall grass. I looked into a sunken area surrounded by cement. All were negative for a baby Peregrine. I then turned and heard a Robin sounding off again. I spotted where it had flown to and low and behold there was Janet!!  She was on a low wall again. This time only 12ft or so high and too close for comfort to Hurontario St’s busy traffic. Tracy had arrived back by now and she took up position on the Hurontario side of the wall,in hopes of trying to discourage Janet from flying towards the dangerous road. It worked! Janet decided to fly towards me. She brushed a window and fell to the ground only a few feet from me.  As I approached she took off running. She was headed for several deadends so I wasnt too worried. Tracy came running up and said she had her so I sort of  just corralled Janet towards her. Janet ran somemore before trapping herself against a wall. Tracy slowly, expertly gathered Janet up and the rescue was made! Yeah  Tracy! Janet was hissing at us immediately as we went in to contact MEC security for our rescue carrier. Josh from Garda Security, promptly got the carrier and Janet was put in. Thanks to Josh! 

Janet was held until dark when Mark Nash arrived. After giving her a once over it was clear Janet was just fine and was released to the roof. Thanks to Danial from Garda Security for helping us release Janet back to a very happy father we have named Sante.

Personally I must also thank Holly for the kindness of bringing me several waters on such a hot day. Also thanks to Jennifer from Garda Security for providing me with a chair to watch Janet from while she stayed so visible in one place. Both of you were very kind and it was greatly appreciated. Thanks also to Toivo for helping with the watch for a few hours. Extra eyes and bodies gave me a good break .

Introducing:

May 25, 2012 - Burlington - Lift Bridge

Sue McCreadie Reports:

Port Hope, Jimmy and Carrey.

!!! Some sad news to report - AGAIN!!

May 24, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre

CPF Postmaster Reports:

May 24th-2012

Eyeball deep in bandings for the past week from Windsor to Burlington to Toronto and Mississauga it has been difficult to get caught up on all of the happenings, as our days start at 6am and we’re still going at 3am trying to collect all of the banding photos, observations notes, and answer the hundreds of e-mail and telephone calls that are coming in each day! We’re all living off our mobile phones and in our vehicles as we have all been on the road, (in the field as they say), we have not been able to get into the office now for days. But we are checking messages and doing outr best to answer them as soon as we can!

And now with overlapping fledge watches, four more bandings to attend, and several more to schedule and coordinate, its been and going to continue to be unbelievably busy!

MEC nest site update:

For the past three days now, we have also been trying to find out additional details on an unbanded adult peregrine that was injured and rescued by the City of Mississauga animal services very close to the MEC nest site on May 22nd. Had it not been for the great staff and a call from the City of Mississauga alerting us of this rescue, we would have never known about it.

We applaud the efforts and quick response of the Mississauga Animal Services and their staff for their support and cooperation with this matter. Their quick response time in the rescuing of this injured peregrine was outstanding.

Unable to make direct contact with CPF, and in an effort to seek further assistance for the injured peregrine, the Mississauga Animal services were able to reach a licenced rehabber, who eventually picked up the injured peregrine.

As the story unfolds, the injured unbanded adult female peregrine falcon was picked up from the Mississauga Animal services and taken to the Grimsby area in southern Ontario.

By the time we tracked down the bird (and identified the rehabber), the fledge watch team out in the streets at the MEC nest site had quickly realized that there was no attending female at the MEC nest site, and the adult male was obviously doing over-time and in warp drive trying to attend to his new young hatchlings in the nest box by himself.

With no support from his adult female mate, (noticeably absent from the scene), the resident adult male has been struggling to both feed himself and provide food for his young hatchlings, in addition to trying to defend both the territory, himself and his fledglings.

After our investigation of the situation, and having finally being able to make contact with the out of town rehabber, it would appear that the adult injured female peregrine in their possession has not been seriously injured, and the apparent diagnosis after examination of x-rays taken the day after she arrived at their facility, have concluded only minor non-life threatening bruising and some swelling and inflammation to her wrist - on her left wing).

We are being told that the adult peregrine is apparently eating well, and without any further problems or any complications other than those described above.

During our telephone conversation, answers to our questions regarding the birds condition were unusually guarded and then contradictory. In addition, the name of the bird’s veterinarian and their professional prognosis were left unanswered. We were left with far more questions than answers.

It was also explained to us that the bird was being given Metacam for its pain and wrist inflammation.

Meloxicam - (a.k.a. Medacame) is wildly used in the industry for all kinds of animals, (dogs, cats, and birds) and its use would be consistent with this type of described injury, a medication and treatment we know only too well.

The question remains, and begs to be answered: Why this Grimsby rehabber with knowledge that the bird was (at least at the time of pic-up from the Miss. Animal services) was clearly injured and in distress, proceeded to further risk this animals situation by neglecting or ignoring to make contact with far more local, readily available experienced medical personal in the same rehab business, (and one that is well known to them),, in an effort tto seek out triage or professional medical assistance to stabilize the patient prior to an anticipated long distance travel some distance away from its resident territory / district, and in this case, out of town?

There are many additional questions needed to be asked before this matter will be satisfactory closed.

In any case, we hope to provide you with a further update on the bird’s status, and very eager to see or have wildlife officials review or obtain a hard copy veterinarians report with proper diagnosis and prognosis in addition to proof of professional treatment,, and hope that she will not have to spend more time than is necessary in rehab, and able to be returned back to her native territory, her hatchlings and her mate.

Photos attached to this posting were taken by the City of Miss. Animal Services prior to the bird leaving their facility.

Stay tuned…….

!!! Sun Life Centre Banding Day a huge success!

May 24, 2012 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre

CPF Postmaster Reports:

May 24th - 2012 - Banding Day
The banding was a huge success this afternoon with the support of the OMNR Aurora district office, the Sun Life Centre management group, Sun life security and maintenance staff, Oxford Properties, Sky Reach, Peregrine Protection, TD Friends of the Environment and the many CPF volunteer team members and community members who were hand to assist that made the banding so successful.
Four very healthy hatchlings were sexed and banded and returned to their parents without incident in record time!

Hatchlings particulars:

– 785 gram female – 21 days old, - named Olympia, – Banded with a Black band S over 05 – with Yellow tape
– 825 gram female – 23 days old, – named regatta, – Banded with a Black band S over 07 – with Blue tape
– 775 gram female – 23 days old, - named Windward, - Banded with a Black band S over 12 – with Red tape
– 570 gram male, - 23 days old, - named Eurd, - Banded with a Black band R over 40 – with Green tape

Photos by Baylie.