March 24, 2013 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Bruce and I attended the Waterloo Sun Life nest site on March 24th to determine where the adults were located and whether nesting this year was on their minds. We had several reports of sightings of the pair in the area and also in downtown Kitchener hunting throughout the winter. When we arrived, we parked across from Sun Life and started our scan and walkabout. We circled the building and checked all of the known areas for activity but none was apparent. We could also see that the critical work that began in the off season that needed to be undertaken to safely upgrade the Sun Life building was almost complete and they were doing an excellent job moving that forward as quickly as possible. We checked out the nest box for signs of an incubating bird but were unable to see into the depths and so we started to wander south towards the hospital for a better view. As we walked we saw a peregrine on the communications tower at CTV, an often used perch by the resident pair, and we stopped to scan and identify male or female. It was Statler and she was not alone for long. Caster flew in from the south and mated with her; the pair being very vocal about this fact. Caster then flew off of the mating perch and made a sharp turn that ended with him landing on the south side of the tower. He was gone from view. I suspected that he had entered the communications drum that Bruce and I had noticed when we were driving in that was missing a cover. We walked up to CTV and sure enough, there was Caster on the center post inside the drum. Statler by this time had flown off of the CTV tower and was now on a low antenna on the roof of the studio. I snapped several pictures of both adults and was able to confirm their identities as the resident pair. Statler stayed on the antenna for about 15 minutes and then flew off and into the communications drum. We could see debris flying about as she was scraping out a bowl in the liner of the drum. We moved back towards the high school for a better look and not only was she scraping, she was now lying down on the liner. It was clear to us that she already had an egg she was attending to and based on the pictures I took of her, there was another on the way. As much as we didn’t want the pair to nest in this drum it was already too late. We have experienced this with many of the pairs that we work to monitor in southern Ontario in that they will have seasons in which they alter ledges on a building or sometimes a change of structure altogether but in the end they always return to what is familiar and what supports their success best and that is their nest tray, nest box or ideally suited and chosen ledge. What was absolute was that the pair has an affinity for the territory and they intend to maintain their hold upon it. As this communications tower was not an ideal nesting site and we could see the water dripping from the saturated environment, the likelihood of hatching viable eggs in the drum was scant. The only thing at this point that could be done was to wait and watch. If a hatch occurred it would be miraculous and if they were unsuccessful, a return to their nest box at Sun Life and the hopes of a re-clutch remained high in our minds. Now we wait.
Posted on May 22, 2013 9:56 am
May 20, 2013 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
CPF Volunteer Reports:
I was able to capture a few images of the MEC chicks during a feeding on Monday and their full crop ”drop and nap” afterwards.
Posted on May 22, 2013 9:23 am
May 18, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Bruce Massey Reports:
As a part of our ADM mill tour, Tracy and I decided to stop in at the Grace Anglican Church in Brantford for a check in on Skye and Rosie, our most recently discovered young pair. The day we first located them, with huge thanks to a report from an alert resident of the area, their activity was centered around the Grace church and the commercial core near the river. When we arrived we didn’t see either bird and so we retraced the path of our last visit across Wellington, down to the river and back up to the Grace church. We looked everywhere and not a talon could be seen. That’s not to say they aren’t there. The last time that we attended Brantford the pair was mating on the church, Skye fed Rosie there and we believe they could be nesting somewhere that we have yet to discover. We jokingly talked about the pair hiding somewhere and laughing at us as we scoured the area for hours looking for signs of them. They were probably hiding in plain sight! The pair certainly are very interested in the area and were quite comfortable last visit as evidenced by the bath that Skye took in the river. We expect that they are still in town and we will continue to keep an eye out for them.
Posted on May 22, 2013 9:10 am
May 18, 2013 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Bruce and I headed out to the Port Colborne area to check up on Buffalo Bill and Trillium who we last saw at the Robin Hood mill 4km to the north up the canal. It appeared that the pair may in fact try to reclutch in a vent on the canal side of the mill and there was much evidence of whitewash indicating they were here most often. This was all due in part to the visit by a juvenile coming into her sub adult year that we believe was Lucky Seven based on her band configuration and tape colours. When we arrived in Port Colborne, we headed to the Robin Hood mill first and all was very quite, too quite for nesting peregrines. We checked the vents and overhangs very carefully and could not locate Trillium or Buffalo Bill. We decided to head down to the ADM mill and see if we could locate the pair there. After scanning the buildings and marina, we located Buffalo Bill on the gridwork of the main building roosting. He sat for quite some time and we decided to wait him out as we were coming into the “witching hour” when peregrines look for the last food of the day. We weren’t disappointed as Bill came off of the tower and stooped low over the canal. He returned to the gridwork shortly with talons empty. After a brief rest, he was off again. This time he went out over the lake and out of our view. He returned in 5 minutes without food for the second time. Suddenly Bruce says, “Here he comes!” and he wasn’t kidding! Bill came right over our heads fairly low and on a mission. He flew past the marina towards town and went into a spectacular stoop behind some distant trees. We waited for his return but after 40 minutes he was still absent. Success!! We are sure he was chowing down somewhere and so we left for the drive hack to the Raptor Centre. With the observations of new eggs that Doug has posted, this all makes sense. Bill was onsite for an hour and a half and staying very close to the main building. Hopefully Buffalo Bill and Trillium can now enjoy a bit more privacy and we will eagerly await the potential hatch of young. A huge thank you to Doug and the ADM team for keeping a sharp eye on their pair and being such awesome hosts.
The pictures aren’t great as Bill caught me by surprise but I have added a couple of him whipping through.
Posted on May 22, 2013 8:59 am
May 21, 2013 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Doug Garbutt Reports:
I would like to report that our resident female is sitting on 3 new eggs. Hopefully all goes well this time.
Posted on May 21, 2013 8:07 pm
May 21, 2013 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:
Today was the first banding day in Ontario. Given some changes to the protocol at the Lift Bridge, things were handled a little differently today. At about 9:30 this morning Clare from the Lift Bridge accompanied Mark Nash from CPF to the nest box in the tower. The board was placed across the opening and the little ones extracted. They were brought to the garage in the parking lot for banding. Anne Yagi and her assistant Karine Beriault from the Ministry of Natural Resources did the honors. I’m really happy to report that we have 4 very healthy and VERY noisy baby peregrines. The noise in the garage was unbelievable. Cirrus and McKenzie did not take too kindly to being separated from the kids. Within minutes of the young being put back into the nest box Cirrus was there to check on them and to inspect their new jewelry.
The details are as follows:
Lancaster: Male - 702 grams - 25 days old - black band 90/Y with yellow tape
Isabelle: Female 974 grams - 25 days old - black band S/26 with red tape
Sarah: Female - 1014 grams - 26 days old - banded band S/27 with green tape
Hadfield: Female - 987 grams - 26 days old - black band S/28 with blue tape
Many thanks to Ann and Karine from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Lee Chan, Clare, John and Todd from PWGSC for their assistance today.
Photos will follow shortly.
Posted on May 21, 2013 2:01 pm
May 21, 2013 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
Sightings of Jack have been scarce the past week at both sites; perhaps he was dealing with intruders but we’ve been seeing him even less frequently than usual and that’s saying something!
Today he decided to put my mind at ease and just showed up about 20 minutes ago with food which he took to the front ledge to prepare. O’Connor was on top of the building keeping her eye on the window washer on the condo. After watching feathers fly for a few minutes, Jack flew to the nest ledge - and O’connor met him there and a food exchange was witnessed.
She started feeding the kids and Jack flew up to where O’connor had been perched to keep his eye on the condo. I was told Jack has 3 eggs at his other site, due for hatch likely next weekend. So all is well for another day!
Posted on May 21, 2013 11:16 am
May 20, 2013 - Toronto - King Street
Linda Woods Reports:
The young ones are out for a walk today, finally get to see them.
Posted on May 20, 2013 9:52 am
May 18, 2013 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:
Definitely getting bigger. Over the last couple of days Bill and I have finally been able to see the little ones. Still not sure how many.
Posted on May 18, 2013 5:31 pm
May 18, 2013 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Jan Chudy Reports:
Posted on May 18, 2013 3:15 pm
