Sunday June 15th - 2014
Stay tuned for the updated news on banding news later today for the Stoney Creek hatchlings.
Morning Shift: The Sheraton watch started this morning. There
really wasn’t much of anything. No flapping, some calling, a
couple of parent visits. One of the four boys still has a lot
of white on him. I met up with Alex, our new and welcome volunteer.
Bruce and Alex continued the watch.
During the past week Kathy has been keeping an eye on the kids at Etobicoke Sun Life as they approach fledge age. So far the greatest amount of activity has been from Pierre and Sunni, the two oldest chicks of the four. Kathy, Bruce and Jim all report that Sunni has been flapping up a storm on the ledge and is now looking quite coordinated. Pierre is not far behind her as he was just as active this past week flapping his wings, exercising and getting ready for his first flight. Tonight I was able to get a good look at the Islington and Bloor kids and see just how ready these young ones are to take to the air.
When I arrived to relieve Jim all seemed relatively quiet at that time but it didn’t stay that way for long. Both Sunni and Pierre were running and flapping the length of the ledge and were kicking up quite a fuss. I could actually hear them vocalizing over the rush hour traffic on Bloor Street. This got Skyla very excited and she wanted to join in the game. Skyla was in the middle of the ledge with Pierre on one end and Sunni on the other. All of a sudden Sunni started to run and flap towards the other end of the ledge and Pierre did the same. As they were both approaching the center of the ledge Skyla stepped forward and open her wings forcing both Sunni and Pierre to go around her. This ended with both chicks bonking into each other chest first and knocking each other backwards. This Three Stooges routine went on for a good 45 minutes with little Heaton sitting in the nest tray watching it all and managing to stay out of the way. In the meantime O’Connor was busy clearing the air space and making sure that the chicks had safe places to land should one decide to fly. She came in from the south and flew up over the Kingsway Tower in pursuit of a flock of nine geese that she felt needed to be escorted out of the area and away from potential landing places. She then took up her position on top of the Kingsway Tower watching the chicks from above. This had the chicks extremely excited as they could see her from the ledge and had yet to be fed. O’Connor flew in to the nest ledge at about 745 with a small piece of food for the four chicks and they all swarmed her down at the base of the camera. She left the ledge and returned back up to her perch on the Kingsway Tower and it wasn’t until 815 that she finally returned to the ledge and landed on top of the web camera housing. All four of the chicks came bouncing down to the base of the camera and they all decided to settle in for the night laying down in the back of the ledge. For a moment I actually thought that everybody was in bed but it wasn’t meant to be. Out of nowhere Jack decided to come in and land on the ledge amongst all four chicks and this upset O’Connor greatly. O’Connor screamed at Jack to get off the ledge and leave the chicks alone as she had just gotten them all settled down into bed and he obeyed her immediately taking off and disappearing for the rest of the evening. I closed the watch for the evening with all four chicks tucked in under the web camera and O’Connor asleep on top of the camera for the night. Tomorrow will be a very interesting day as I think we will have at least two that may take their first flights and Skyla the third is not far behind.
June 11th - 2014Hello all! I hope you are all doing well. 
Just wanted to give you an update on the Niagara Falls Peregrine nest. They have once again nested behind that pink boarded up window on the OPG building. I was at Goat Island yesterday and saw four babies in there. They look to be about 28-days old, so an estimated hatching date of about May 15.
Jacquie
The 2 boys will be 35 and 36 days old this Sunday and now are very active in this cooler weather so we are going to spot check them this Saturday but officially the watch begins this Sunday in the afternoon.
We will be on site after the banding of the falcon chicks in Stony Creek so we hope to see you there at about 1:30 please come out to help if you can and we will meet you at street level in front of 225 Duncan Mill Rd.
Thanks!
Marion
Yesterday, Windsor Peregrine Watch Volunteers and other interested members of the public watched as Mark Nash from the CPF, with the help of the Bridge Corporation, extracted 4 healthy chicks from the nest tray under the Ambassador Bridge. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Biologist, Anne Yagi and staff member Catherine Jong, weighed, measured, and then banded our 4 beautiful babies, (3 females, and 1 male).
The first female was named Shi Bi Ke Si by the folks from the Algonquin Pikwakkanagan First Nation’s Mindiwin Manido Daycare and the name means Falcon. She weighed 832 gms and was 24 days old at the time of banding. Shi Bi Ke Si has a Red Tape band for easy identification during the fledge watch.
The second female was named Maya for the late poet, Maya Angelou. Maya weighed 950 gms and was 26 days old at the time of banding. She has a Yellow Tape band for spotting.
The third female was named Sojourner, after Sojourner Truth who was an African-American slave woman who fought for her freedom and was abolitionist and feminist. Sojourner weighed 940 gms and was 26 days old at banding. She has a Blue Tape band for easy identification.
The lone male was named Lancaster by the Bridge Corporation for the Lancaster Bomber flown during WWII. Lancaster weighed 682 gms and was 25 days old. He has a White Tape band for easy spotting.
Best estimates are that fledge flights will begin within the next week or so. The Windsor Peregrine Watch Team will need volunteers to assist in watching for flights and keeping our babies safe. Team members park in the faculty and student parking under the Ambassador Bridge and keep watch on the nest site from sun-up to sun-down daily. Any blocks of available time from new or existing volunteers will help keep our Peregrines safe. To get involved, speak with any of the volunteers.
I have been observing our four chicks off & on and am anxiously awaiting the first fledge.
This post is mainly a test to make sure I can do it when all the excitement begins. As of 6 pm I was able to see four young ones on the ledge. See photos enclosed.
Baylie
Ghent is doing well. Flying high and landing pretty good. While I wasn’t able to go the Lift Bridge today, Bill was there a couple of times to check on Ghent. We have already witnessed some talon touching with Cirrus. Today, Mackenzie brought in lunch. Bill witnessed a food exchange with the first live prey that we have observed. Ghent was accurate with his catch and flew well with it. He took it to a cross beam on the Burlington Bridge tower to prepare and eat. Great Job Ghent.
Ghent is doing well. Flying high and landing pretty good. While I wasn’t able to go the Lift Bridge today, Bill was there a couple of times to check on Ghent. We have already witnessed some talon touching with Cirrus. Today, Mackenzie brought in lunch. Bill witnessed a food exchange with the first live prey that we have observed. Ghent was accurate with his catch and flew well with it. He took it to a cross beam on the Burlington Bridge tower to prepare and eat. Great Job Ghent.