April 23, 2013 - Toronto - Hearn Power Station
Bruce Massey Reports:
Peter and Angela have been working on a clutch of two eggs in the old nest ledge that was used last year and they have struggled over the past week to ensure that both eggs were under their protective care. Of the two adults, it was Angela that was having the most difficulty arranging both eggs beneath her and often the egg closest to the edge of the ledge went uncovered outside of her wing. Peter on the other hand was all over those eggs and worked for hours to finally get them both properly beneath him.
With them having a challenging time positioning their eggs, I thought it would be prudent to head down and check on their progress and so I attended the site this past Sunday April 21st. I found the nest cavity empty and both adults off site. It wasn’t long after I arrived that the adults returned but neither of them entered the ledge to continue incubation. I attempted to find the eggs with the spotting scope but the one closest to the edge was now clearly gone. The one that was further back may have been present but I was not able to confirm its presence in the ledge. What was clear without a doubt was that this clutch was not being attended to by either adult. Peter was now showing an interest in another ledge to the left of the most recent scrape and managed to entice Angela to join him for a look. He was his usual self in defence of the territory addressing two Red Tailed hawks, a Kestrel and a Cormorant. I did witness the pair mating twice throughout my observation period indicating that they may not be done for the season quite yet but the bulk of the adults time was spent roosting and preening on the roof of the main building. At the end of the day, Peter did make a spectacular attempt at a pigeon that was flying north towards the plant. He made a direct flight out towards it and snatched the bird in mid-flight without missing a wing beat. He attempted to carry his heavy load back to the main building but Angela met him out over the yard and tried for a transfer. The pigeon was dropped and disappeared from my view and I don’t believe that it was recovered by either adult.
We certainly hope that Peter and Angela are able to sort out a good nesting location this year and settle in on a clutch this season. Last year’s success has Peter rather excited to try and we will continue to monitor and update you on their progress.
Posted on April 26, 2013 9:31 am
April 23, 2013 - Niagara Falls
Tracy Simpson Reports:
After visiting the Port Colborne nest site last Saturday April 20th, Bruce and I decided to travel over to the Niagara Gorge to look for Diamond and Onyx, the resident adult pair in the gorge. Vicki and Roger, our amazing watchers south of the border, have been monitoring the gorge from Terrapin Point and have been working hard to determine if the pair are nesting again in the powerhouse where they successfully raised young last year. The mist has been strong and the light challenging to get photo confirmation from the American side of the Niagara and they have been doing a wonderful job. In the series of photos that they have taken, one of the shots potentially showed the image of an adult lying down but the mists occluded the photo enough that it was inconclusive. In another photo, the cavity looked empty. Although we cannot see into the nest cavity from the Canadian side, we hoped that we might catch the pair moving through the territory and therefore give us a clue as to what they are up to.
We headed up the parkway to Table Rock, parked and walked down to the retaining wall directly above the powerhouse. We weren’t there but a few minutes when Diamond popped up onto the edge of the roof. She came straight up from below leading us to believe that she was roosting just out of our sights on the face of the powerhouse. I had been watching over the water and did not see the male and so we decided to wait for a while to see if we were witnessing a changeover indicating that they are nesting here or if she was just lounging on a familiar perch. Diamond didn’t stay long before she took off out over the water and banked around into town. We followed her trajectory as best as we could and finally lost her low behind some trees near the Niagara Casino. We scanned all of the buildings and rooftops for signs of her but she was not in visual range.
Given that it was now after 5pm and this time of day being traditionally the “witching hour” when one of the last hunts of the day takes place, we considered the possibility that this appearance by Diamond could possibly be a changeover. We decided to walk down to the Maid of the Mist and take a look back at the powerhouse for her return. We waited for almost an hour with no sign of her before slowly making our way back to the powerhouse retaining wall. We scanned the cityscape again and found her roosting just below the rooftop on the Hilton hotel. I decided that we were staying until we could determine where she was going to settle in for the night. It wasn’t long before she took off of her perch on the Hilton and made a bee line for the gorge. She whipped through about 20 feet above our heads and was out over the water before we could turn ourselves around! She made a few circles out over the river and then swooped back up to the roof of the powerhouse once more. There she found prey remains that she picked away at but was clearly not satisfied with. She consumed what little was left on the bird and then turned her attention north along the powerhouse wall. In seconds she was off like a shot and didn’t turn out over the water or up over the gorge wall. She just simply disappeared. Three minutes later she was back and this time with fresh dinner for herself. When she was done, she roosted briefly and then made two separate flights that looped out over the water and ended with her landing back on the powerhouse roof. We believed she was signalling Onyx to get his tail feathers out of her nest so she could get back to business. Her third and final flight out over the river started off as a run at a gull she didn’t care for (why she picked that one out of the jillions that were there is beyond me) and ended with her flying north to the end of the face of the powerhouse. There she dropped out of sight, skimmed the wall heading towards us, circled out once over the water and then flew straight at the wall. Gone. One minute. Two minutes. Three… …ee-chup, ee-chupp!!! The unbanded male that Marion and I named Onyx popped straight up from below the roof edge of the powerhouse! He sat and preened for a good 10 minutes before taking off towards the falls and disappearing from our view on the cliff face.
Bruce and I believe that when we arrived at 4:30pm we caught the first changeover that gave Diamond her break from incubating. Between 6:30-7:00pm, she returned to the eggs for the night and Onyx headed off to bed. A heartfelt and huge thank you goes out to Vicki and Roger for putting Bruce and I on the right track and monitoring from Terrapin Point; we couldn’t have done it without you. How many eggs they have is still unknown but it is great to see that they are well on their way.
Posted on April 26, 2013 9:27 am
April 25, 2013 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:
If I were a betting woman, I would put money on the fact that we have a hatch. After a couple of trips to the Lift Bridge today watching Mom’s behaviour, I would say that we have a hatch. We went down the road by the washrooms and from there, through the scope, we could see that she is no longer down flat. Her wings were spread as if mantling and she was very restless. We saw what we thought were tiny little white balls of fluff popping out from under her wing. We have not witnessed any food deliveries as yet, but may have just missed them. Dad dropped by the nest box for a short visit and then flew to the face of the Hamilton Tower.
Posted on April 25, 2013 1:44 pm
March 26, 2013 - International, National and Local News
CPF Postmaster Reports:
April 26 & 28th - 2013
A huge thank you to Jared who has only just found us after his mom brought the CPF web site to his attention. He was kind enough to send in some photos that he was able to capture in March 2013. He’s been seeing a raptor flying around since his arrival at this location and though it was just a hawk until he got a closer look and able to do a little research.
Good photos Jared, thank you much!
Jared writes:
Hello CPF,
I started working in the ICICI building in January on the 9th floor , facing the DeBeers building. I have noticed Chester flying around for a while… Thought he was just a hawk or something (not too well versed with the birds) . But I told my mom about it and she quickly forwarded me to your site. Its very cool that I get to see these birds everyday.
Anyways, some photos are attached. There’s a couple of the adult peregrine eating (he was quite a distance away so it’s a little out of focus).
And then there is a couple of shots where he is right under the camera that is on the roof.
I know these aren’t professional shots but I thought maybe you guys would be interested.
PS: I got these cause I work for a security integrator company and we have a camera on the roof to show clients.
Sincerely
Jared
Posted on April 24, 2013 9:15 pm
April 22, 2013 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Doug Garbutt and the staff at the ADM Mills have been watching their resident adult peregrines, Trillium and Buffalo Bill, rather closely since Trillium consumed both of her eggs by April 5th. What made matters more complex is that the monitor at the mill had failed and they were now blind to the activities inside the nest box. All that they could be certain about is that Trillium was seen on the monitor consuming her two eggs and that had staff at the mill very concerned about their peregrines. As if this story wasn’t complex enough, on one of Doug’s recent bike rides through the park beside the northern mill in town operated by Horizon Milling, he heard a familiar call, looked up and found a pair of peregrines on the east face of the mill. Well, who was this now. Are there two pairs in Port Colborne? Is this Buffalo Bill and Trillium? Bruce Massey and I went down this past weekend to see if we could help sort out some of the mysteries surrounding this new development.
When we arrived we met up with Doug and travelled straight to the northern mill. When we arrived, the winds were howling and so were the peregrines! Absolutely there were two peregrines on site, one in the air and one perched on a vent cover on the east face of the main building. The roosting bird took to the air and now both birds were up and flying. Both birds flew up and into a vent shaft on the east face of the mill and disappeared from our sight. We could clearly hear them vocalizing in the vent and then suddenly the male appeared and was in the air again. The female flew out shortly thereafter and the two peregrines were now circling. Then a third bird arrived! This peregrine was most definately a female and was now being addressed by the male. This intruder was not being treated with the ferocity I would have expected from an adult challenging the resident pair for their territory and for the most part, the male only circled with this second female. A couple of talon locks were attempted but there was no serious effort to drive out this intruder. Okay… A non threating yet annoying third peregrine. The adult resident male now escorted this female to the south towards the ADM Mill site and the adult resident female continued to circle above us for a few minutes before following them. This gave me a moment to review some pictures I had taken which revealed some interesting facts.
The male is definately an adult with the same band configuration as Buffalo Bill. I can almost make out the band number and I am 99% sure that it is him. Buffalo Bill has a black over green recovery band marked 68 over R with a silver USFW. The first female is an adult as well and is clearly unbanded which is consistent with the resident adult that ADM staff named Trillium. Ok. So this is the ADM Mills pair. Now onto bird number three. Ha! Juvenile coming into her subadult year! Probably the only thing that saved her from a serious battle is the juvenile plumage that she still wears as her moult has yet to begin. This now begins to make more sense.
We piled into our vehicles and headed down to ADM Mills to see if we could find the three peregrines and what exactly they were up to. When we arrived, the pigeons on site were wheeling madly around so we knew that they were here. It was hard to determine what exactly all three were doing as they were whipping around the mill at Mach 10 and at times were only 20 feet or so over our heads. What I got out of the observations is that the juvenile is being a serious pest. At times we had all three in the air and it was a much more serious situation. Both resident adults were now clearly frustrated and defending their site with talon locks, dives and escorts. This female juvenile was just not getting the message. We walked to the pier side and looked up at the nest box to see if we could find a roosting bird for further confirmation of identity. Just then Trillium burst out of the nest box and whipped through the mill after the juvenile. Back on the other side the dives and madness continued as now the pigeons, gulls and peregrines were all wheeling around in the screaming winds and all we could do was watch. Trillium and Buffalo Bill had finally left our view for over 5 minutes and the juvenile was nowhere to be found. Back to Horizon Mill.
Upon our return, we found Trillium on a vent cover near the top of the mill. There she roosted and preened for quite some time on her own. We suspected that Buffalo Bill was in the area as he had just circled around the back side of the mill when we arrived. After roosting for a while, Trillium flew off of the vent cover, passed Buffalo Bill who was now in the air above the canal and swooped up entering a lower vent shaft. There she stayed and Buffalo Bill took up position near the top of the mill. Bruce was able to get a view of her in the scope and Trillium was now lying down in the vent shaft and gravel picking. We suspect that she either has an egg already or is in the process of producing eggs as we speak.
The stress that this juvenile has put on Trillium is most likely the cause for her destruction of the first two eggs in the box at ADM Mills. With the monitor now replaced, the staff at ADM will be watching to see if any peregrines enter the box and just who is in there. The nest box at ADM will not stay empty for long as this location has been fought over almost each and every year. The food is so abundant, the site provides suitable nesting habitat and the location is perfect… …almost too perfect. Doug will be watching the other mill for signs of nesting by Trillium and Buffalo Bill as well as watching the activity at the ADM box. Bruce and I will be making another trip to help out as well.
The question that I can hear rattling around in your minds is who is the juvenile female???!!! Is she banded? Yes, she is. I have yet to go through all of the pictures but I can tell you that she is an Ontario hatched bird with red tape on her USFW band and we strongly believe that this is Lucky Seven hatched at the Niagara Gorge nest site last year. When I am able to confirm this for certain, you will be the first to know!!
More pictures to come!
Posted on April 23, 2013 11:20 pm
April 23, 2013 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
It’s been a quiet few weeks here now that incubation is in full swing. I do check in from the ground to ensure all is well and have seen both Jack and O’Connor out on a break or having a quick lunch while the other is taking over incubation duties.
Some great news from Rochester to share. DotCa (born here in 2010) is back for his second year there and his mate Beauty laid her fourth egg today. We are hopeful for a very successful nesting season this year for this pair!
Posted on April 23, 2013 6:35 pm
April 12, 2013 - Mississauga - Holcim
CPF Postmaster Reports:
April 11th - 2013
A big thank you to Armando for the shot of the nest showing the resident adult female down hard on incubation duties. While we don’t know as yet how many eggs are in the nest bowl as the colder weather has had most all of the peregrines down full time on the egg(s) from the get-go.
we’ll have to wait and see for more photos as time goes on to see just how many eggs have been produced.
Also, I have included some of the photos that we were able to do a site visit back in late March when we observed the two resident adults mating.
Stay tuned…….
Posted on April 23, 2013 3:00 pm
April 14, 2013 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:
Sunday April 14th - 2013
We thought we would let you know what we were down to the bridge on Sunday, April 14th around 6:30 P.M., Voltaire was sitting on the Church Steeple and Freddy was in the nest box. 7:25 P.M. Voltaire flew off the Steeple and into the nest box while Freddie then flew onto the beam. At 7:45 P.M. Freddie flew back onto the Church Steeple, things seemed to quiet down so we left. No sign of food from either of the parents. When Freddie and Voltaire were in the nest box they were lying very flat. Eggs? I hope so.
Gwen & Dennis
Posted on April 23, 2013 2:00 pm
April 23, 2013 - Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel
Kathy Reports:
Congratulations on Egg 3!! Captured by Beth over at BCAW at 9:03 am this morning!
Posted on April 23, 2013 10:10 am
April 19, 2013 - London - TD Tower
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Last week I attended the London TD Tower nest site to check in on Thunder and Dougal and the progress they are making towards nesting this year. At first when I arrived on Wellington, I couldn’t see a bird anywhere. After just a few minutes, in comes Dougal to the south corner of the ledge where I often found him last year. He roosted and preened for a while and kept looking into the nest tray. Finally, with one last look, he took to the air and was off like a shot to the west over my head. Out of the tray comes Thunder and she is on a mission in the same direction as well. Thunder circled back towards the nest building and disappeared behind the building to the east. I caught her swoop up so she must of landed there and Dougal was now above me circling. All of a sudden he is joined by a third falcon, a male, and the two boys get into an aerial brawl. It didn’t last long and Dougal returned to the territory looking for his girl. He found her on the east side of the building and the pair did some tandem flying before Thunder flew back up and into the nest tray.
I will be back this week on my way home from Sarnia to check in on the pair and attempt to discern whether they have eggs this year. Thanks to the London City Centre for once again being such a great host!
Posted on April 22, 2013 7:40 am
