I GOTCHA!!!!!
December 30, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I have been out at MEC almost once per week since this new female arrived on site. I have struggled, squinted, sweated and sworn that I would get this girl’s band number by hook or by crook. I am convinced that she knows what I am after and has been taunting me from her perch above with glimpses here and there of her band and I have repeatedly asserted that I would not give up!! Sunday was a great weather day for some spotting, so out I went.
The day was bright but brisk so I stopped off at the local used clothing store to pick up a cheap and cozy sweater ( I forgot to bring one ) and as I reached the check out, I heard a deep voice behind me say, “So, have you got that peregrine yet?”. For a split second I thought, “Are you kidding me? Has the bird now hired people to follow and taunt me?”. I turned to find the friendly and familiar face of one of our great supporters on the Garda Security team from the MEC complex. I shared with him the news regarding the recent presence of the pair but that alas, I had nothing new on the female’s identity.
Ten minutes later I was at MEC 3 and met up with Bruce Massey for some recon and we immediately found the male Sante on the roof of MEC 1 just above the nest box and the female on the south side of MEC 3 under the Dejardins sign. I grabbed the scope and headed across the street for a view of the female as her left leg, the one I needed, was facing outwards. The scope had to be angled sharply up so that I could be as close as I could and tightly zoomed in for a read. I set up and waited patiently for the look I needed.
She sat for 20 minutes without moving and then suddenly, Sante became very restless on his MEC 1 perch and alerted the female to something in the air. She turned and slowly put her left leg forward. With the sun just right and the female holding her position, I was able to see her entire band for the first time in dozens of attempts. GOTCHA!!! The right half of the lower digit was muddied with “gack” but the lines and curves were unmistakable. You have to imagine my elation at this discovery and picture the scene. Here I am braced and tipped over to look into the scope at this sharp angle and now gesticulating wildly at Bruce to get over here and confirm what I was seeing. I always like to have a second pair of eyes check and make sure I am reading this correctly. Bruce and I have confirmed the band number on the MEC female with 99% accuracy as Black S over Green D both rotated left. This female is Cass, hatched in 2009 at the Macomb County building in Mt Clemens, Michigan to Nick and Hathor. Nick is the son of Miriam, a female nesting at the Whittier Apartments in Detroit that the CPF released in 2003 as a part of Project Release and Project Track Em. Miriam and her offspring are famous for their ferocity at their nest sites and her grand daughter Cass is following well in their talon steps.
We only had a few minutes before Cass took off to the southwest and then reappeared above the roof of MEC 2 in stealth attack mode. No alarm calling, just full contact strikes on a Red Tailed that was soaring too close to her buildings. Sante had flushed it and it was Cass’s job to dispatch it. The RT hawk flew around the back of MEC 3 with Cass striking and following in hot pursuit. As I rounded the MEC 3 building, Cass was now sitting perched on the roof retaining wall and the hawk was nowhere to be seen.
After months of painstakingly watching this female, she now has a name; Cass. A great way to start 2013!!!