Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Ghent Fledges!

June 07, 2014 - Burlington - Lift Bridge

Bruce Massey Reports:

0500 Hrs. Arrived @ bridge, set up and found Ghent in nest box and Mom in the Hamilton hydro tower.
0600 Hrs. After an hour of activity and then inaction Dad caught what appeared to be a starling and took it up to Ghent for breakfast.
0645 Hrs. All of a sudden Mom & Dad, especially Mom, went crazy alarm calling & stooping the harbor side of the Burlington side of the Bridge.  This action, and considering Ghent was fairly quiet, I figured needed to be checked out.  As I got over to the Burlington side of the Bridge I witnessed the female stooping what looked like a cat, (At least this the closest thing I can think it was) over on the bike path and even into the bushes.  In fact there was a unsuspecting bike rider coming over the hill as the female peregrine did a 90 degree stoop on the cat.
0705 Hrs.- For the umpteenth time, Ghent flapped wings, bobbed his head, outstretch wings,……we finally have fledge.  Without supervision and quietly Ghent did a classic flight to the top of the Hamilton Bridge.  He then spent the next hour & half or so sleeping, eating & trying out his balance on lights over the “CANADA” sign.
1100 Hrs.  In a quick happening series of events, that only got sorted out after Bill, Sue and I sat down and debriefed the incident we figured out that Mom had caught a pigeon & she used the Burlington Hydro Tower as a “Butcher Block”.  Dad and Ghent were over on the Hamilton Bridge Tower and whether intentionally or otherwise flew around the tower and towards the scaffolding. Dad aggressively pursued him and managed to have Ghent land on the top.
1200 Hrs.  Mom & Dad working collectively managed to move Ghent over to the bridge abutment, but as soon as he finished his food he went to “Play” on the scaffolding.
1230 Hrs. Ghent flew back in the direction he came, heading back to the Hamilton side of the bridge.  He maintained height but just missed landing on a horizontal beam and dropped down out of sight.  His perch must have been precarious as he came out from where he had disappeared and being lower he ended up in one of the holes in the vertical columns of the bridge.
1500 Hrs.- Ghent finally extracted himself from the above situation by flying to a horizontal beam just above the bridge traffic.  He then spent the next 2 or so hours hopping around & meeting some of his future dinners (Pigeons).
1700 Hrs.-  Ghent finally flew off and after several attempts @ landings came to ground behind an 8′ fence by one of the bridge abutments.  Both of his parents knew his location.  His next flight was over the fence (Not as easy as you think for a peregrine) and landing on the top of a shipping container.  From there it was what turned out to be his last flight of the day (Final Total-8) which was around the bridge abutment, through the scaffolding and finally perching  on it about 30′ up.  In spite of repeated fly by teasing, one amazing flight by the female into the scaffolding to beak feed Ghent one single morsel and then trying to show him the way out, that was where he remained when I closed,the watch @ 0930 Hrs.

!!! Great Photos

June 07, 2014 - Mississauga - Holcim

Marion Nash Reports:

Barb sent some more great photos from Lloyd Davidson.

Thanks Lloyd!

Marion

!!! Renewed nesting activity in question?

June 08, 2014 - Toronto - Hearn Power Station

CPF Postmaster Reports:

June 8th - 2014I visited Hearn today from 10:30 - 11:15 am. Neither bird visible in the area until after 11 when I noticed one perched on a pipe at the side of the building - not sure if it was the male or female. The only other thing of note was a pile of what I assumed were pigeon feathers on the ledge where I had observed the pair on Friday.

Lots of activity at the nearby Raven nest though - looks like the young are beginning to fledge.

-Kris Ito

Ireland Still Out of Sight. Ghent Still at Home.

June 06, 2014 - Burlington - Lift Bridge

Bruce Massey Reports:

On Friday I was out to do the closing shift at the Burlington Lift Bridge and not a lot had changed with the status of both boys.  Ireland was still not in our sights after his flight earler in the week that ended up with him in a tree on the Burlington side of the canal near to the CCIW building.  Every day watchers have been searching for him since he left the tree but without any luck seeing him.  He could very well be moving through the area and yet we haven’t been able to catch sight of him due to the thickness of the trees on that side.  Today was no different in that we continued to check around in the hopes of getting an angle on his location.

Ghent was still in the nest box when I arrived and although he was flapping up a storm he was still hanging on to his home turf.  The adults weere not as active as I am used to seeing at the bridge so they are clearly weaning him to encourage that first flight.  At dusk he was still in the box but looking really ready to get going.  I suspect that he will be taking off some time over the weekend and I will be back tomorrow to help on site.

Thank you to Bill and Sue, David and Rob, Barry and all of the other watchers that have been out and around to help out.  I think we’re in for it tomorrow!!

A Quick Check on Mason. He’s a Big Boy Now!

June 08, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre

Tracy Simpson Reports:

I received a fantastic update from Margaret and Katherine on Mason the other day that I wanted to share with everyone!  He’s doing great and has moved on to his next phase of training.  Margaret and Katherine were out on Thursday of last week and these are their observations.

So yesterday I met up with Katherine to do a site check. When I arrived I didn’t see anyone including Katherine so started doing perimeter check of MEC 3 where I did fine Kate. She said she had seen a peregrine on the J of Desjardins on the west side. Turned out to be Rogue. We decided to position ourselves at MEC2 to keep an eye on Rogue and the nest side of MEC1.
After a few minutes with nothing going on Katherine decided to do a check around MEC2. On her way back a peregrine flew across from Square 1 squawking away. Turned out to be Renegade with a food parcel which he stashed on the S of Symcor. He then made his way over to the nest ledge. All was quiet with no sign of Mason. After a while I decided to stretch my legs and do a walkabout and it was then that I spotted something across Hurontario on the Morguard building. I whipped up my binocs and sure enough it was a peregrine chowing down on some scrap of food. I think maybe Renegade dropped something off for him before stashing the rest at MEC1.

We changed our position to the back of the parking lot at MEC2 and sat waiting for some action out of Mason but instead of honing his flying skills, he decided to practice his napping skills. After about 2 hours we called it quits but we were very happy to see Mason and to know that he is doing well.

Thank you so much to Margaret and Katherine for checking in on our little man and making sure that he is progressing forward.  Great news!

June 6th 2014, banding day at Canada Square a great success.

June 06, 2014 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton

Marion Nash Reports:

Many thanks to Neil Armstrong of Northam Realty Advisors Limited for hosting the banding again this year. Thanks also go to Andrea and Ellie of Northam for their assistance as well.

Thanks once more to Solar Window Cleaning and in particular Steve who has *been out on the ledge* for the fourth year running to assist in extracting the young for banding. This year Steve and Mahesh from Solar did a great job collecting the chicks Steve has done this many times for us but this was a first for Mahesh and he did a great job ! He did take a nice shots of Haven to share with you.

Thanks, too, to Paragon Security for their help through the season so far.

As always our appreciation and thanks to the Ministry of Natural Resources and in particular Mark Heaton for banding the peregrines. Mark was ably assisted by Catherine, Aidan and Taylor.

Thanks Marion and Mark Nash for the innumerable hours you put into the protection of this species. Not just the banding but organising the fledge watches, all the liaising you do on behalf of peregrines, the education process and school visits and spreading the word about these amazing birds.

It is always interesting to note how creatures of the wild present themselves to *intruders* and what measures they take to discourage the intrusion. The African Elephant, large as it is, opens its ears wide and stands really tall to intimidate, other animals and birds have similar methods. Today we saw how a Peregrine Falcon deals with intrusion. It was wonderful to see Haven facing off with the *intruders*, at first just ruffling her feathers a bit so that they stood out. But she soon had feathers fluffed up to make her look twice her size. She also had her tail feathers spread out, fanlike. Normally she is a neat and sculpted bird. and reasonably slim, but not whilst her babies were being temporarily extracted for the banding.
Canada Square has produced three male peregrines this year.

Chinook weighed 530gms, black band W/85 and we gave him a blue *ID*
Linden weighed 570gms, Black band W/87 and he dons a yellow *ID*
Equinox weighed 620 gms, Black band Y/00 and he sports a red *ID*

The blue, yellow and red *IDs* are simply coloured tape put on the second band so that from the ground they are more easily identified. It is just impossible to see a number on a band when the peregrine is running around on the ledge or has fledged and landed somewhere and we’re trying to figure out who it is. The colours stand out and help in quick identification.

We look forward to successful fledges in a week or two.
Lyn

All four in the tray

June 06, 2014 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre

Linda Woods Reports:

All four in the nesting tray today at 11:00am. They are changing from fluffy balls of white cuteness, to the “tween” stage very quickly.  Flight feathers are developing and soon they’ll be testing their wings on the ledge, preparing for their first short fights.

!!! Banding Day at the Canada Square nest site!

June 06, 2014 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton

Mark Nash Reports:

Banding Day.
A huge success today as al three hatchlings were successfully weighed, banded, had their health checked and named,, then returned to their parents without incident. A huge thank you to Northam Realty and Neil Armstrong for hosting the banding today, the management team, security and Solar staff members Steve and Mahesh for all of their support today.. And to Mark Heaton from the Aurora district Ministry of Natural Resources for banding the three young hatchlings.

With the resident adults - Malik and Haven, his unbanded female mate on hand to supervise the event, (at least form the outside), everything went as planned. We were lucky enough to get a close up view of Haven and her hatchlings from behind the glass before the hatchlings were extracted. What a treat, as the window has a darkened film that allows us to see out, but prevents the peregrines from seeing in, thus allowing us an un-disturbed view of the peregrines with causing them any stress as a result of our presence.

At one point, Haven walked over to the hatchlings, and stopped shot of reaching them while on the nest ledge to lay down and continue to incubate the last unhatched egg. While this last egg has long since failed, it was fascinating to see her so close-up and calm she gently settled down onto the egg and close her eyes as she basked in the morning sun. Her three hatchlings only inches in front of her, she seemed so content and at piece.

The three hatchlings particulars are:

The Search Continues for Ireland. Ghent Still Home

June 06, 2014 - Burlington - Lift Bridge

Tracy Simpson Reports:

Yesterday morning there was still no sign of Ireland around the Burlington Lift Bridge.  The ground search continued for him throughout the day with Bill and Sue, David, Barry and Linda, and several others looking long and hard.  Part of the struggle to find him is the amount of dense trees on the Burlington side of the canal as well as all the out buildings and other materials around that he could be hiding in, on or under.  Meanwhile, Ghent continued to have periods of activity throughout the day but not so much as in the evening.  The parents were also not as active yesterday with very few hunts being witnessed and only two small food drops to Ghent.  They are clearly weaning him and trying to get him out and flying.

When I arrived I met up with Bill and Sue, Barry and Linda as well as Morag who were all watching and still looking for Ireland.  Ghent was now getting up and ramping up in the nest box and flapping strongly on the landing platform.  The adults were very quiet and not much activity was seen of them until around 8pm when MacKenzie went into a stoop over by the marina on the Hamilton side of the harbor.  He returned empty taloned up to the cables while Cirrus sat in the tower.  As dusk was getting really thick I checked to make sure I had all three in view.  Cirrus was on the cables near to the nest box, Ghent was now laying down on the landing platform and MacKenzie was…   …drat!  He’s done this to me several times now, disappearing out of view and going who knows where.  I waited a minute and sure enough caught view of him going low in towards the harbor and suddenly he swooped up to the rebar perch on the Skyway.  Was he watching Ireland?  Is he still near to the same tree he was last seen?  Only time and watching will tell as he will be getting quite hungry now and wanting to return home for a meal.  The parents won’t feed him if he is in an unsafe and unapproved of location.  Instead they will withhold food until he comes home.  Let’s hope that today he makes an appearance!

Thank you so much to Bill and Sue, David, Barry and Linda, Morag and all those who have come down to watch and help search.  You all have been an amazing team of watchers!!

!!! Banding day success at the downtown Toronto King Street nest site!

June 05, 2014 - Toronto - King Street

Mark Nash Reports:

June 5th - 2014
Banding Day!
A huge thank you to Dream Property Management - (previously Dundee Property management), and all of the security and engineering staff at 18 King street for all of their support and for hosting the banding event again this year. With standing room only and a record crowd of onlookers to witness the happening, the young peregrine hatchling, named was named “Theia”, (named after the Greek goddess of light), was successfully banded and returned to it parents (Windwhistler and Erin) this morning.

The young female hatchling, weighing in at 855 grams with green tape was in fine form and good health! Out on the swing stage, a huge thank you to Kathy Smith from the CPF who did the extraction again this year, along with the stage operators and continued support from the Solar Window Group. Thank you so much Solar and Kathy again this year!!

Kathy was able to do some routine maintenance and ledge,,, cleaning up on the ledge during the banding, including cleaning the camera lens itself, retrieving the two un-hatched eggs and scooping up the dark mystery object that suddenly appeared on the north end of the ledge several days ago. In addition, she was also able to get a visual of the resident adults, and although couldn’t 100% confirm that it is still Windwhistler and Arin, she was able to confirm that the resident adult female is banded with a Black over Red band (which is consistent to Erin’s band colour),, and that the resident adult male still dawns a solid black band with is also consistent to that of Windwhistlers band colour. We believe that it is still Windwhistler and Arin.

So, the mystery black object at the other end of the nest ledge, was a large female (hen) mallard duck!! See the attached photos. Aside of the all of the other species of birds that this pair have been eating, it appears the duck is still on the menu these days!! A large Mallard is a huge size pray for even a female peregrine to actually carry up to a 19 floor elevation!!

While the peregrine has come out of the medieval times with a nick-name of the “Duck Hawk”, given that is a very skilled duck hunter indeed, (and rightfully so), a large mallard duck is a very heavy prey to carry for any peregrine never the less!

Thank you again to Mark Heaton from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (Aurora District) for supporting and doing the banding again this year. We were also reminded that this is the 19th year for the peregrines nesting at the 18 King Street nest site, and Toronto first!!
A big thank you for City TV who was out again this year to film the event.