June 16, 2013 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:
Hercules reappeared early this morning on a high ledge on the east side of the bridge. He and Gwenis had a good feeding this morning and were lazy for a while.
Lots of great flights by all 3 youngsters throughout the day. Tecumseh perked up after yesterday’s rest and did lots of beautiful, soaring flights and even did some diving. He is landing like an old pro already! Voltaire rewarded Tecumseh with a nice dinner around 6. He had flown around just before she came in with food and he landed on the sign post above the bridge. Voltaire brought it a good sized dinner and landed on the highest ledge. Tecumseh seemed to know that food was nearby so he launched again and did a great flight overhead and then circled back to land on top of the bridge. As he came in to land, he spotted Voltaire down one level from him so he readjusted and floated gracefully to ledge beside her. Once down, he ran eagerly to get some food.
All of our birds are doing very well. Hopefully within a few more days, we will be able to lighten up the watch and simply enjoy the air shows!
Thanks everyone for all your time and support! Keep watching the skies!
Marilyn
Posted on June 16, 2013 10:53 pm
June 16, 2013 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Day Two of the watch greeted Harry with heavy rain. Not a lot of activity with the damp morning. The rain broke around 12:00 noon, to discover that Felix had taken his first flight just after 11:30 am. He was found on the upper level of the Opera House. He stayed there for a long time. The adults were stooping him trying to get him to move, but no way. Rhea Mae finally gave in and brought him a small morsel of food.
Around 6:30 he took off for a second time and landed on the roof area on the south east corner of Richmond and York St. I guess he didn’t like the view from here as he took off again and went out of sight. After scouring the area numerous times, it was time to sit back and wait for him to pop his head up. By 8:30 p.m. , Hotel security was informed that the little guy was missing and please call should staff come across him. Well it wasn’t 1/2 hour after that conversation that CPF was called. Sheraton Hotel has a interloper lounging at pool side. It was Felix, confirmed by the band number and the white tape. He was fine, but a little upset that his lounge time was over and it was time to go back to the nest ledge.
He checked out fine no worse for wear and returned to the nest ledge at approximately 9:45p.m.
Many Thanks to Mitchell of Sheraton Centre Hotel Security for his assistance. His first time seeing a peregrine.
Gurdy and Welcome had a quiet day on the ledge, not a lot of flapping. Food was delivered a few times, but not sure if it was a snack or full meals.
Posted on June 16, 2013 10:47 pm
June 16, 2013 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:
Morning/Early Afternoon Report from Maureen:
Paul has taken the carrier and the Stop/Slow sign home, we talked about it and didn’t think we would have to resort to the carrier since the birds can all fly and can be “walked” out of harm’s way if they are down. Like Gwenis was today! Also, there may be times on the weekend where volunteer coverage is spotty, and we don’t need a theft.
When I got to the bridge around 10:00 all three were where they had been all morning. Gwenis took flight at around 10:30, attempted to land on a lower ledge, but couldn’t. She flew into the concrete just below Tecumseh, clung for a bit, then dropped down and took flight again, very low, and landed in the parking lot across the street. She walked on the ground for 5 minutes or so, then flew, again quite low, to the flat concrete area (where Hercules had been previously). From there she walked around and settled on the north side for a couple of hours. Then she walked to the same flat concrete area and flew north, looped around and flew south, a long way but again not super high, and I lost sight of her. Paul went looking for her in the truck. I finally found her on the north side of the street, walking along the fence. She finally flew up to where she was when you came. This was at around 1:00. She conked out for a couple of hours after that.
Tecumseh and Hercules stayed on their ledges all day, walking but not flying.
maureen
The afternoon and evening report:
Lots of excitement this afternoon. Gwenis managed to get to the top ledge after some low flights. Also perched on the handrail of the bridge for a bit. She took a decent flight around but the wind was not in her favour and she ended up landing in the parking lot next to the ledges. She used Paul’s ladder and got half way up and launched from there. She got around the bridge and is now on the east side on the highest ledge where she spent the rest of the evening. Freddie brought in a large dinner so she had a nice meal tonight.
Around 8, Hercules took off heading south along the bridge and Huron Church. He didn’t come back so Paul drove thru the area and spent a lot of time looking for him. Robert (who stopped by to check in and spent all afternoon and evening) also looked around as did I but to no avail. Hercules did not appear by nightfall so we’re all hoping he’s around the University on a nice high building enjoy some different scenery. He has been flying well so we can only hope he is safe.
Tecumseh was lazy today. I did not see him fly all afternoon or evening so tomorrow he may decide to play again in the air!
We have coverage much of Sunday but late afternoon and evening is sparse. If you can spare some time, it would be great to have more eyes watching.
Thanks to all who helped out today! We have a great team and some amazing birds again this year. It is a privilege to help keep them safe!
Posted on June 16, 2013 12:09 pm
June 12, 2013 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:
Photos compliments of Jim Nelson, Burlington, Ontario.
Posted on June 16, 2013 9:57 am
June 12, 2013 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Today at the MEC watch Sante and Cass pulled out all of the stops, used every trick in their arsenal, to get these girls to fly but today just wasn’t launch day. I arrived at around 9am after helping out at Etobicoke Sun Life through the wee hours to find the box empty and that Ashley, with her bloomer pantaloons, out on the nest ledge. What has drawn her down at this stage of the game is the antics of her sister Catherine who was currently playing Hide and Seek with her. Oh yes, Catherine has just discovered and is currently enjoying the fact that the ledge is a well that they can drop down into and explore. Fun for them, not for me when I am looking for them!! A moment later Ashley flops down into the well and disappears from view for a few minutes before popping back up. Wait a minute, that’s not Bloomer girl… …that’s Catherine. For the next hour it was up and down, under the box and up the other side, one then two then one then none. At this point I hadn’t seen any food delivered to the girls and they were very vocal about it. Marg arrived to help out and we set up camp at MEC 3. What’s so great about this watch point is that we get to engage a lot of the tenants at MEC 3 and by midday people were popping out and seeking us for updates. Cass and Sante are sooooo hard line. Not a morsel went into the ledge and by noon the kids were furiously screaming and running along the ledge. Both adults would fly in every 15 minutes or so and wind them up for a flight but they still were not taking the bait. At one point both parents landed on the window section to the right of the box and both disappeared into the well. Ashley, the less advanced girl, contemplated “jumping the gap” to the ledge where her parents had disappeared into just to see what they were doing but thankfully never made the attempt a reality. She’s a few days from ready. By lunchtime both girls gave up their attempt at screaming pigeons down out of the air and went to the box for a nap. Once they were sound asleep, Sante flew over to the nest ledge as quite as could be, crept along the ledge and then BAM, jumped up on to the nest box landing platform and scared the girls awake! He darted off as fast as he could hoping that one would follow but nope, not going to fall for that! Katherine from MEC 3 joined us and the antics continued throughout the afternoon. Still no food. Lots of teasing, fly bys, land and go tactics and perching just out of reach. Oh yeah, and lots of screaming! An Osprey dared to fly through at around 1pm and was promptly seen off by Cass and all settled again for a while. By the evening, still no food. I was quite prepared to fly up there and feed them myself if it settled them down as I could hear them howling at the parents from a block away over rush hour traffic. Sheesh. At 6pm, Cass did a fly by of the nest box at ledge level which drew Catherine out like a dart. In her fury she grabbed a fist full of feathers and debris from the nest box and as Cass passed the box, Catherine released what she had in her foot looking as if she had just flung gack at her mother in a total rage about the lack of food service. At 8pm, Cass flew over to MEC 2 and began to whine. Having watched her for a while now, Cass gets whining like that when Sante has made a kill. Food was coming. Sante arrived 10 minutes later with a medium sized package and flew directly to the nest box. Cass flew over right behind him screaming, Ashley was on the platform and met Dad screaming, Catherine was in the box screaming and when Sante landed, well all broke loose. Ashley grabbed the food from Sante and ran into the box. She ran into a brick wall named Catherine who took the food off of her and began to eat. Cass bumped Sante off of the nest box and the two adults were airborne over MEC 3 while the two girls battled over the food. Thank the stars that 5 minutes later, the entire family went to sleep.
Posted on June 16, 2013 6:04 am
June 16, 2013 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Banding Day - June 4th - 2013
On Tuesday June 4th, we had the honour of banding the three young ones produced by Rhea Mae and Tiago at the Toronto Sheraton Hotel. Normally this banding is quite an affair with lots of visitors, dignitaries and press but this year was to be different. The hotel was packed, all rooms busy and all of this concurrent with a major upgrade project going on. But still Starwood was amazing and quite excited to have their youngsters banded. The support from the Toronto Sheraton Hotel has been nothing short of outstanding and they are such amazing hosts. The three chicks were extracted and brought down to a suite for banding amongst an intimate crowd of hotel staff, OMNR Economy division staff and CPF volunteers. Mark Heaton of the Aurora District OMNR banded each chick in turn and what a feisty bunch they were!! All three take after their parents and were ferocious little things even at their tender ages and gave us all a run for our money. Apparently Felix tried to beat everyone up during extraction and Welcome and Gerty were a fistful of “Don’t do that!! Cut it out!!” Your Toronto Sheraton family this year is;
Welcome 625 gram male 24 days old W/63 Green
Gerty 890 gram female 24 days old Y/66 Yellow
Felix 655 gram male 26 days old W/64 White
The CPF was so pleased to be able to band these young at the Toronto Sheraton again this year and we heartily thank Starwood and the Toronto Sheraton Hotel for the opportunity to do so. We would also like to thank Mark Heaton of the Aurora District OMNR for banding the threesome as well as the staff from the OMNR Economy Division for attending and assisting us. This thank you would not be complete without acknowledging the hard work and dedication of the CPF volunteers who helped pull it all together and will look after these young once they reach flight age. The folks include Mark, Marion, Linda, Harry, Bruce, Rosalind, Zoe and the local community supporters. Thank you to everyone for another great banding and another successful nesting season!
Pictures to follow.
Rheamae stood her ground and had to be nudged off the tray in order to collect the chicks for banding but all 3 were collected By Mark Nash of the CPF and Mark Heaton from The Ministry of Natural Resources without incident.
The 3 chicks were weighed and banded and given back to mom within 30 minutes. Mom was completely calm as the first chick was placed back on the nest, made no move at all as the second was given back to her and still sat quiet as the last chick was sat in front of her then she made her move and rushed the hatch as if she knew all 3 were back and now it was time for a little pay back. Mark Nash quickly shut the hatch just in time and it was done. Mom sat there glaring at the hatch door for a few more minutes before she went back to her chicks and checked them over, satisfied all was well everything went back to normal.
Posted on June 16, 2013 5:46 am
June 15, 2013 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Harry opened Day One of the Sheraton Fledge watch early today. He was greeted by much de-construction noise adjacent to the preferred watch location. Occasional flapping and running of the ledge both through the day and evening although nothing to get too excited about. Adults were seen flying in front the nest ledge but no real “touch and go”.
It looked like a morsel of food went into the ledge around 7:30 p.m. and by 8:00p.m. they all appeared to settled down for the night. The adults had not been seen since and could not be located, so I guess they were out of sight from us and the juvies. Felix, the young male is approx. 36 days of age tomorrow. Rain expected tonight and in the early morning then clearing skies.
Posted on June 15, 2013 9:22 pm
May 30, 2013 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Lisa Reh Reports:
An exciting day had by all at the banding event at CTV! Many people were invited to be in the studio to be introduced to the young falcons, including last year’s fledge watch volunteers and students from King Edward Public School. Arnie, the youngest and smallest bird was named by the students. Big Al and Miss Fran were named after the hosts of Romper Room, a longstanding children’s show that ran until the 1990s. Female peregrine falcons are about 1/3 larger than the males. The sex of the birds is determined both by weight, and the size of their bones. After weighing, measuring and banding, the 3 young birds were safely returned to the nest site.
Posted on June 15, 2013 5:18 pm
June 15, 2013 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:
Email sent to us from Marilyn who is doing a great job with Marliese in doing the great reporting.
Lots of news from everyone today. Its this kind of day that makes all those quiet times of just watching worthwhile.
Tecumseh, the baby flies! Cathy and Mike report that around 6 this morning, Tecumseh took his first flight. He did very well and has landed under the bridge on a high cross beam. Gwenis and Hercules stayed put for the night. Waiting for breakfast delivery now but no sign of food at the moment.
Marliese picks up the story here. Its a good thing we had 3 of us this morning (Larry and Rob), we needed all eyes and 3 prs of feet. Tecumseh made another short flight and then disappeared…help…He was finally found by the sound of his screeching on a lampost near the Huron Church/University corner, where re spent the afternoon, without breakfast or lunch to celebrate. Meanwhile…..Gwenis had only done walkabouts on the north ledges, recovering from a scary evening. But suddenly she took off and flew beautifully straight up to the pipe…I guess that is where the women hang out. She screeched up there for an hour demanding food, since she had not been fed all day yesterday or today. Voltaire flew circles around her enticingly with lunch several times with no luck, until a very hungry Gwenis flew up to the nest with no trouble and finally got dinner.
Maureen reports the afternoon adventures. Tecumseh finally gave up post sitting, flew into a tree and then neatly sailed on to the 4th southern ledge. Hercules showed off his flying skills with several loops above the bridge and Gwenis rested on her laurels in the nest.
Marilyn has the evening report: Around 8 Hercules took a little flight and decided to try to land on the hydro wires across the street. He found himself hanging upside down for a minute but managed with some thrusts, to get himself upright again. Very precarious! Next, he flew back across the road and to the same ledge he was on earlier. He’s resting now. About 5 minutes ago, Gwenis took a beautiful flight and soared around, landing on the east side of the bridge next to Tecumseh. They are eating now and making some very different calls than I’ve heard before. Hoping they all stay now for the night.
More info:
Around 8:30, Hercules flew around the bridge and disappeared. Denise and I looked for him for about 30 minutes with no luck. Dennis and Gwen, Kenny G, and Paul all arrived around 9. Soon all 3 youngsters began flying practice and gave us some great air shows. All are flying very well and getting good height. They are all up on high ledges for the night. Tecumseh and Gwenis are reunited on the same ledge.
We have pretty good coverage of volunteers saturday and sunday mornings, but the afternoons and evenings are sparse. Even though all 3 are flying now, its too early to relax yet. Let us now your availability , also for next week.
We have some strong and ready Falcons this year. The excitement has only just begun! Keep your eyes peeled!
Keep looking up!
Posted on June 15, 2013 10:05 am
June 15, 2013 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Layton took her first flight yesterday and came low. Her next flight brought her to the ground where she was rescued. She was cleared for teleased and placed on the rooftop of the nest building last night.
Full story to follow shortly.
Posted on June 15, 2013 5:28 am
