Update on What May Have Happened to Cass and the Current State of Her Family
July 22, 2013 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I apologize for the earlier posting but I didn’t want to leave things with Ashley out of the core of the territory. By July 1st Ashley had returned home and life with the MEC family was moving forward. Katherine and Shannon who both work in MEC 3, Margaret who lives locally and the many incredible folks we met and befriended at MEC 3 have been keeping an eye on the family. From July 2nd leading up to this most recent awful heat wave lasting 6 days, Ashley has been flying well with Cass and Sante and her training has been progressing rapidly. Not only has she been back to the nest box and all over the MEC complex, she has also made flights back to Morguard, Accenture, CIBC and beyond to the west side of Square One.
Last week during the heat, Cass was found deceased in the parking lot behind the CIBC building. She was found on Tuesday July 16th and security was alerted at CIBC. During the time we spent watching Ashley on this building, we spoke regularly with security there and we educated them about the family and the species. While they did not have our numbers to contact, on Tuesday they clearly recognized what bird now lay in their parking lot and called Mississauga Animal Services. They came and retrieved Cass and took her back to their nearby location for holding. They contacted our head office and I was dispatched yesterday to pick her up.
Given that she was fatally wounded prior to the violent winds this past Friday, I was surely going to examine her to try and determine what had happened. There were wounds on the top of her feet and neck that might be consistent with a battle of some sort. Although no such fight was witnessed, she was clearly wounded. When I returned to the center and was able to look her over more closely, I checked her wings for damage and her humerus of the right wing was broken. This is an impact fracture. I believe that Cass had somehow become involved in territorial defense or was distracted during a hunt. She then lost control and made a very hard sharp contact with something that then broke her right wing. On the ground in the parking lot, she could have collided with a light pole or been accidentally hit by a car. Given that she was found away from the building, a window strike is less likely.
After picking her up I went straight to MEC to look for Sante and Ashley. I had attended on Sunday, after the storm, and located Ashley on the Morguard building. I searched for both adults and was frustrated in that I couldn’t find either of them. I believed that they couldn’t be far and intended to return to account for them as this past storm wreaked havoc and has injured another two peregrines elsewhere. When I arrived at MEC 3 yesterday evening, I found an unbanded adult male in the bottom of the S of Dejardins. He was on edge. There was no sign of Ashley as of yet but I believed that this could be Sante. To be sure, I waited to see him interact with Ashley which would assure me that this was her father. He flew to MEC 2 to the cache site that he always uses and then flew over to MEC 4 under the Jevco sign. Ashley came flying in from the Square One area and met him on the ledge. He gave her the cache which she promptly dropped in her enthusiasm off the edge of the ledge. She remained on MEC 4 screaming at Sante for more while he sat watching out to the west. He left on another hunt shortly thereafter while Ashley remained on MEC 4.
I can tell you this. This is another sad loss for MEC and one that Sante is not unfamiliar with. Last year he defended, fed and trained his last remaining offspring, Janet, alone without a supportive female. He did an outstanding job and was able to take her right through to the fall. While this is not an easy task ahead of him, he will do it again. He will give Ashley all his attention and dedication and he is a remarkable male in his ability to succeed in this. He has our unwavering support as we will continue to check in and watch these two as fall migration slowly approaches.