Our first hatch had his first feed that I saw at about 7:30 pm. I think I see a pip in one of the other eggs so hopefully he/she will have a sibling by tomorrow!
Today, I made my first trip down to the Hearn for this year.
Arriving at 9:15am, I spotted what I think was Angela - she appeared
to be nesting. If so, the location is different than last year’s.
She was on the top level - dead centre, of the same area as last
year’s third attempt. This is the segment just west of the old area
to the left of the stack. I was only around for 15 minutes and she
didn’t move during that time.
A Canada goose flew in low and Peter suddenly appeared. He flew
around a few times but disappeared to the roof area just east of the
stack out of view.
Looks like a hatch this time..as it’s out in the open so no optical illusions! Just in the past hour. I waited until I get a clear look at it and you can see it in the photos attached.
Bruce and I managed to get a peek at Haven who was NOT giving up the number of eggs she
was incubating, well not until Stormin arrived. The minute he landed, she was gone. He muttered
and shifted and shuffled feathers, pebbles and eggs alike and finally settled in. Canada Square
definitely has four eggs and Haven and Stormin are in serious incubation.
In 2010 we had four hatchlings, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tara and I cannot remember the fourth name.
In 2011 there were three hatchlings. This was when Stormin came in as *step dad* and helped
Haven raise Luke, Chester and Buzz
In 2012 Haven and Stormin raised three hatchlings, Simcoe, Solar and Brisk. This was Stormin’s
first year as a real dad and the scrape was in a different spot.
In 2013 three hatchlings, Ramjet, Tinia and Imagine, were raised back in the original scrape.
Lyn
***
Sunday afternoon I noticed that the chick at MEC was no longer in camera view for the entire afternoon and it got me to wondering whether this little brave one had taken its first big step off of the landing platform and onto the nest ledge itself. Yesterday morning confirmed that for me when Rogue went in to the nest box at around 7:30am with food and no one came for breakfast. She was there for about 2 mins and then left with the food off of camera view. I contacted the Watch crew and we set to work figuring out just where the little one was. Margaret and Katherine kept their eyes on the cam throughout the day, Shannon did a site check in the morning and Bruce was out in the afternoon.
When Shannon arrived yesterday, Rogue and Sante were both on site and she immediately noticed that they were calm and relaxed. Both adults were roosting and preening around the nest building and so Shannon was sure they knew where baby was and that it was safe.
Katherine and Margaret kept their eyes on the camera but the little one was not hiding anywhere in the small blind spots within the box.
When Bruce arrived he had both adults on site and active. Rogue went down into several of the window wells on the east side of the nest building just a few ledges down from the box. Both Sante and Rogue then spent the next hour dropping in and out of the window well where the nest box is located. Rogue went on several hunts and her last foray at around 4pm ended in success. She took the prey around the back of MEC 4, well out of sight of the nest ledge, and prepped it for the young one. Now Bruce watched to see just where she was going to deliver it to which would reveal the location of our little chick in hiding. Rogue came off MEC 4 and headed straight for the nest ledge, landed on the ledge briefly and then hopped down in. When she emerged from the nest ledge window well she was empty taloned and so the food stayed in the well with the chick. Mystery solved!!
The MEC watch is starting very soon for this little one. A site check this week will determine if Saturday is soon enough for the watch to begin. If you have the time to help out, we certainly would love to have you join us. We have some gaps in the schedule of coverage to fill next week on Tuesday and Friday. Contact me at tracy@peregrine-foundation.ca if you can help us out with the watch.
Thank you to Bruce, Shannon, Katherine and Margaret for helping to locate the chick yesterday, great job everyone!!
On Saturday May 3rd, Tony sighted one of the peregrines on the King Street side of the building and was able to take a few pictures showing that this was definitely the unbanded female.
Had me fooled, thought we had a hatch but it was the camera playing tricks on me! Four eggs still in tact this morning!
From down the road at the washrooms and with the scope Bill was able to confirm a hatch. At least two little white heads were seen being fed by Mom.
This morning I was able to catch a quick changeover between Jack and O’Connor and for a brief second saw all 4 eggs. When I zoomed in as best as I could, the front right egg looked like it was pipping but its pixelated so I can’t be sure. Keep an eye on the cam today for sure!!
Ljames over at BCAW managed to snag a great screen capture of our elusive little one this morning.
