August 05, 2012 - Toronto - Don Mills
Bruce Massey Reports:
My last and final stop yesterday on my east end site checks was at the 220 Duncan Mill Road site to check in on Amora, Blaze and Mira and their parents, Quest and Kendal. I couldn’t see any birds upon my arrival so I decided to take a walk around the perimeter but still no luck. By this time, the heat and humidity were fairly potent and so I would imagine that the family have sought out the shadiest and most breezy spot they could find. I decided to do the same and will check back in again soon.
Posted on August 5, 2012 9:57 am
August 05, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Bruce Massey Reports:
My next stop yesterday was at the ICICI building at Don Mills and Eglinton and when I arrived I found two birds on the nest building. One of the two was the resident male and the other was one of the juveniles, Ben or Len, but I was unable to see the tape color and confirm which boy it was. The adult male had just flown in with food and the juvenile took possession right away. He was not in the mood to share and was left by Dad to mantle over his food and keep it all to himself!
Posted on August 5, 2012 9:55 am
August 04, 2012 - Toronto - Hearn Power Station
Bruce Massey Reports:
I stopped by the Hearn site yesterday to see whether the juveniles were around and the status of the new adult female on site. I was unable to see any of the young ones but the area provides lots of opportunity for them to explore and find food so I suspect they were out and about. The adults were both on the north side of the Hearn facility on the hydro towers. I pulled out the scope and watch the female for a while and when she preened, I was able to clearly see that her right leg was unbanded. I will continue my investigations to confirm this observation and hopefully catch the kids when thay are home.
Posted on August 5, 2012 9:52 am
August 04, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
These observations were made by Cathy who works in the area of the Don Valley ICICI nest site. Thank you so much to Cathy, Irma and Patty who continue to check up on the boys!!
This is a pic of Ben(on left) and Len I took last Friday! Stopped by yesterday ( Wed Aug 1 ) but missed them–Irma did see them in the morning and they were fine!
Cathy
Image soon to be posted.
Posted on August 5, 2012 9:48 am
July 22, 2012 - Mississauga - Holcim
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 21st-2012
Thanks for your reply. It was a very busy season and HOT!!! So I bet everyone needs a well deserved break in the action.
Photos taken Sunday July 22nd at approx 7AM on the eastern side of the plant. Slow start to their day.
I did a drive by on Friday the 31st and saw one in flight over the plant but when I tried to get to a better viewing point it had disappeared and I didn’t pick it up after that. I do volunteer work around the corner on Winston Churchill twice a week so will try to get more observations to you.
I’m not an expert but thought they were both the adults.
Thanks for all the updates. It’s been fascinating and I didn’t realize there were so many nesting sights.
By all means you may use my photos. Thanks!
Marg Nelson
Posted on August 3, 2012 2:46 pm
August 01, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Tonight I was back again at the MEC site to try and identify the new resident female and finally get her band number. This identification will be a hard won ID as she is very secretive and elusive when it comes to her recovery band. I swear she knows what I’m after and is purposely withholding the evidence!! But I wasn’t to be bested today!!
I found the adult female roosting and digesting a large pigeon sized crop on the east side of MEC 3 and so I grabbed scope, camera and other sundries and headed across the street to the south side of Robert Speck Parkway. I pitched camp on the grass beside the sidewalk, sat down and prepared for a good ole fashioned sit-in. She spent most of her time with her back to me and her left leg, the one I was wanting to see, was an inch or so into the ledge and so I couldn’t readily see the band… …and then she moved. Her left leg was now partially exposed and the top letter was revealed!! On her black over green recovery band, the top letter is a rotated S. I waited ever so patiently for her to turn just a little to the left but that was all she was willing to give up today. By 8pm, she decided to fly over to the nest box and instead of making a turn to launch, she just burst off of the ledge before I could read the lower digit. She flew over to the nest box and landed on the platform but again she was at least an inch or so in and that was enough to obscure my view of the bottom of the band.
I was pleased as punch to call it a day feeling rather triumphant at achieving a partial on her. I will be back to get the full monty, I WILL PREVAIL!! As soon as I get the bottom letter we will reveal the identity of this new resident female at MEC. Check back soon as I intend to keep at it until we know her name!!
Posted on August 2, 2012 1:08 am
August 02, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
As the saying goes, its not over until the fat peregrine fledges!! After visiting MEC yesterday evening, I decided to take Hurontario north to the 401 and on a whim, stopped by the Revenue Canada building at 5800 Hurontario St.
As you may recall, this past spring we had a pair of peregrines hanging out and mating on this building and their final choice in nest site was never truly discovered. We certainly suspected that it was to the south towards MEC but as you can imagine, the pair were very secretive about where they were going. At one point, after witnessing copulation several times, things dramatically changed and only one bird was seen at a time leading us to further believe that the pair had a nest somewhere. This nest was not successful as the area was watched very closely and there were no fledglings to be found.
Last night, when I arrived at Brittania and Hurontario the last rays of the day were fading but there was more than enough light to clearly see a male peregrine perched on the northwest corner of 5800 Hurontario St. This was one of the typical spots that the male was spotted using in the spring as a night roost. I was unable to get an ID on the bird last night but back in the spring, we confirmed that he has a solid black recovery band on his left leg; a Canadian boy. The female he was keeping with had a black over green recovery band on her left leg and a purple USFW on her right. I will be keeping a close eye on this site and work to determine the identity of the male that roosts here and see if it is in fact the same male as this spring. I will also try and determine if he has a female that is accompanying him and just where on earth they are going!!
Posted on August 2, 2012 12:52 am
August 01, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Yesterday I attended the Mississauga Executive Centre nest site to confirm the resident adults identities. When I arrived, I found the adult female on the northeast corner of MEC 2 digesting a rather large crop. I was able to confirm right away that this female has a purple USFW band on her right leg and a black over green recovery band on her left. She is the new resident female at the MEC site and this is her domain. My next challenge was to try and read her recovery band and put a name to a face. I left MEC 2 for a higher elevation and sat watching her for several hours. She remained on her perch at MEC 2 and Sante, the unbanded resident male, spent the entire time over at the nest building to the side of the nest box. Periodically, she would look my way to see what I was up to but was undisturbed that I had gained some altitude. Occasionally she would whine at Sante but stayed unmoved from her perch. I stayed until I felt like I’d blown a retina staring at her through the scope but not once did she give me even a hint of who she is. Every time she stretched her recovery band forward, she would immediately bend down to preen her leg feathers and obscure the view. By 8:45pm, I left the resident adults to their evening preen and headed off north on Hurontario to see if I could catch a glimpse of the adult female hanging around at the Eglinton condo complex. I was able to confirm the other day that she is in fact a different female with a black over red recovery band on her left leg. I took a quick swing by the condos for a fast look but was unable to find her in the maze of ledges that each building contains.
From there I headed further north to Brittania Rd and Hurontario…. …but that’s another story!!!
Posted on August 2, 2012 12:39 am
August 01, 2012 - Bowmanville - St Mary's Cement
Tracy Simpson Reports:
These observations were made back in the spring and were not posted until now as we did not have a nest page for St. Mary’s Cement. With the nest page now up and ready, we will be catching you up on all of the latest news regarding the pair of peregrines nesting here. All of the observations that follow were written at the time they were made and are therefore a little dated but no less important. Enjoy!!
In the early spring, I had the pleasure of delivering our Project School Visit program to children in the Bowmanville area and decided one day, on my way back, to stop in at the St. Mary’s Cement location to talk to them about their peregrines. A pair of peregrine falcons has nested at this location for at least 5 years now but they had chosen to nest in an inaccessible location that we could not monitor or approach. I stopped in to see how the pair was doing and whether they were still in that location. When I arrived, I immediately caught sight of the resident female who was roosting on a section of the plant located next to their administrative offices. I went inside to find out more!
I met with the Environmental Manager for St. Mary’s Cement, Rueben Plaza, and we had a fantastic discussion about the location and success of their peregrines. For several years they had celebrated the production of young up until last year when at least one clutch of eggs failed to hatch. They started off 2012 with a clutch of four eggs and again, a lack of success. Rueben and his staff were concerned about the birds and he remarked that just recently the pair had changed locations and were now attempting another clutch. They are currently incubating an undisclosed number of eggs and, talons crossed, the pair will indeed hatch their eggs during this second round.
We discussed the possibility of a nest box and where one might be placed that would be a perfect location for the birds. It looked as though there were two potentially good locations and Rueben was very excited about the idea of a nest box installation. Thanks go out to St. Mary’s Cement staff for doing an outstanding job looking after their peregrines to date and we look forward to helping them achieve future success at the plant!
More to come…
Posted on August 1, 2012 5:37 pm
