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.