MEC Chick Off Camera But Not Off the Ledge… …Yet!!
May 06, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
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!!