May 28, 2015 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Mark Nash Reports:
May 28th - 2015
Kathy Smith of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation with the support and assistance of the lads from Skyreach Window Washing did the extractions of the chicks and stayed up[ on the stage during the banding keeping the adult falcons occupied so they wouldn’t know the chicks were actually gone Job well done!
At the banding table the master bander Mark Heaton much to their delight invited special guests to come up and assist him by holding the chicks while he put their bands on. 4 healthy male chicks were banded this year and we hope the little guys fledge well.
here are the weights and band information for each.
1st 445 grams named Mel band Y over 10 with white tape on silver band
2nd 510 grams named Glider band number Y over 11 Blue tape
3rd 520 grams named Ferris band number Y over 12 Yellow tape
4th 575 grams named Ninja band number Y over 13 Red tape
We are looking for volunteers to assist us with the fledge watch when the babies take their first flights so if you are interested in coming out to spend some time in the streets with us please log into our web site and click on volunteer application and let me know you are interested in helping out with the Etobicoke Fledge Watch!
Thanks go out to CBRE property management for hosting the banding for all the wonderful support of the Etobicoke falcon family.
Posted on May 28, 2015 10:32 pm
May 27, 2015 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Marion Nash Reports:
Yesterday the swing stage was set up for tomorrows banding so do not be alarmed by the ropes you see in front of the nest. The banding will start at 10:00 Am in the lobby of the East Tower all are welcome to attend.
Posted on May 27, 2015 1:21 pm
May 27, 2015 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
We have one chick, in full view of the camera this morning. Looks healthy.
Posted on May 27, 2015 10:03 am
May 26, 2015 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Mark Nash Reports:
May 26th - 2015
Banding day!
Meet Lily-Gean , Horton and Morgan.
Lily-Gean - 680 grams, Female, 19 days old, banded Black Y over 94 - with Yellow Tape
Horton - 585 grams, Male, 24 days old, banded Black Y over 09 - with Blue Tape
Morgan - 820 grams, 23 days old, banded Black Y over 95 with Red Tape
It was a busy day for all today with the CPF out in the field again to day running from the Kitchener banding event at the Kitchener CTV studios back to Toronto to the Don Mills nest site banding.
You can see some of the video that John Millar captured with the new CPF wireless camera at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTZKmYVPdfM&feature=youtube_gdata
A big thank you to Amexon property management group for hosting the banding event today and allowing us access to their board room to do the banding, and to John Millar, our volunteer climber that once again braved the heat and humidity and the nest ledge and the resident adults as he scaled down from the upper roof elevation down the side of the building to the nest ledge to extract the young peregrine hatchlings, wait in position to distract the both of the parents until the three hatchlings were banded and then returned them safely to the nest ledge back to their parents.
Again a big thank you to Mark Heaton from the Aurora district of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests who was on hand to complete the banding in record time!
And a big thank you to Kathy, Erma and Lucie, members of the fledge watch team that were on hand and able to attend the banding today.
By the time that we got back to Toronto from the Kitchener banding, it was 30 plus degrees with a very high humid-X that was almost debilitating!! Both the resident adult peregrines were not only on site to “supervise”, but the resident adult female was waiting for us on the upper retaining wall ledge directly above the nest ledge as we came through the door to the access the upper roof area of the nest building. Kinda spooky actually, as it would appeared that she was expecting us!
Despite the extreme heat and humidity, John set up and scaled down from the upper roof of the nest building down to the nest ledge without incident and safely extracted the three young peregrine hatchlings, bagged them, and they were drawn back up to the upper roof via the duffle bag and a rope and were taken back down to the ground and the to Mark Heaton waiting in the boardroom for banding.
With Marion assisting Mark Heaton at the banding table, along with Guiomar from the Amexon Development Corporation, the three young peregrine hatchlings were sexed, examined to check out their health, and successfully banded, named and safely returned to John Millar who got them safely back to their parents without incident.
It is worth noting that during the hour long event while the three hatchlings were down in the board room being banded, as usual and planned, John remained in position on the nest ledge to distract the adult peregrines from realizing the their chicks had every been removed from the nest ledge. During this time, John notes that at one point, the resident adult female actually flew to and landed on the nest ledge, positioned herself only feet away from John and actually stayed with John for close to 20 minutes, (obviously vocalizing her objection to his presence), but completely unaware (and as planed), and totally distracted from every knowing that her babies were absent from the nest ledge.
At one point, the two were involved in an intense staring contest, where, if looks could kill, John would have been dead! 
As planned, when the three young hatchlings were returned safely back to the nest ledge, (and as John ascended back to the upper roof area), both resident adults were (at least in their own minds) left with the thoughts, that they had been successful in defending off yet another intruder and driving him away.
Just another day in a peregrine’s daily life at the nest, successfully defending and driving off all of the unwanted intruders!
By the time that we had finished and assembled in the parking lot, both adult peregrines were observed settled back down onto the nest ledge with their three young hatchlings. John also noted, that the resident adult female peregrine was not dawning any leg bands, (consistent to our knowledge of the resident adult female) and although the resident adult male never really came very close, we did see that he had a solid Black band, indicating that he is a Canadian produced peregrine. Sadly although, we were not able to get a clear identification of his leg band number to confirm his identity during this visit.
Stay tuned for photos. (There are allot of photos and video to edit and downsize yet before we can get them posted), so please bear with us …..
Posted on May 27, 2015 7:50 am
May 26, 2015 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Lisa Reh Reports:
Introducing Ginnie, Reggie, Chroma and Redbud!!!
Four strong and healthy chicks have been banded and named at the CTV Kitchener news station today!!! The CPF team of Mark, Marion and Rudy were present along with John Millar, volunteer climber and peregrine catcher. Members of Waterloo Region Nature and volunteers for the Kitchener Fledge Watch team waited with anticipation as the events unfolded today. John and his fellow climber went up the Bell Media tower at a little after 11:00 this morning armed with falcon cams and only a broom for protection from the parents. The young ones had just been fed and were due for an afternoon nap but were interrupted as Mystery screeched and circled the nest as the climbers approached the box. Caster did not appear to help while Mystery was swooping around. A few turkey vultures soared by to see what the fuss was about. Mystery paid them no attention as her focus was only on the young ones. A blanket was secured over the front of the nest box to keep the little ones away from the ledge and the 4 chicks were gently plucked from the nest box and lowered to the ground. Anne and her team from the Ministry of Natural Resources weighed, sexed and banded the young falcons and had the honour of introducing the 4 new superstars.
“Ginnie”– female, weighing in at 749 grams – band: black/K25 (silver US-1687-19681); marked with red tape
“Reggie” – male, weighing in at 552 grams – band: black/B12 (silver US-1156-06812); marked with green tape
“Chroma” – female, weighing in at a whopping 800 grams – band: black/K26 (silver US-1087-19682); marked with yellow tape
“Redbud” – female, weighing in at 732 grams – band: black/K27 (silver US-1687-19683); marked with white tape
The coloured tape helps the fledge watch team easily identify the birds. All 4 young falcons had full crops, especially Chroma who had an enormous crop to match her hefty size! The chicks are all healthy and full of spunk and vigour. Caster joined in the ruckus with Mystery as the superstars were returned to the nest box not quite knowing what had happened but glad to be back to their home.
The nest box is full of wings and leftover meals, everything from starlings, pigeons, grackles, doves and some gull too. The young ones were pecking and inspecting their new jewellery. In the late afternoon, Little Reggie was picking at a gull wing that was leftover from lunch. Mystery and Caster seem to be continually bringing birds to the young family as their appetites are boundless. Another feed was brought in later in the evening. They are growing by the minute!
Thanks to all the participants today especially CTV News for the use of their facilities and for the live webcam, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Waterloo Region Nature and all the volunteers. The fledge watch will start on June 9. Anyone interested in volunteering with the fledge watch team please go the volunteer section on the CPF and sign up. All helping hands and eyes are welcome!!! Good luck young falcons!!!!
http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=621898
Pbotos courtesy of Karen von Knobloch & Lisa Reh
Posted on May 27, 2015 12:36 am
May 24, 2015 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Marion Nash Reports:
Looks like we may have one unfertile egg as she is no longer incubating it.
Posted on May 24, 2015 1:43 pm
May 24, 2015 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Web Cam is back up and running.
Posted on May 24, 2015 9:29 am
May 23, 2015 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Hi All,
Yes we are aware that the Toronto Sheraton Web Cam is down. I’ve been there numerous times trying to get it back up again. Will have to wait until at least Monday for the issue to be resolved. Let’s hope it just kicks in on it’s own.
Rhea Mae and Tiago still attending.
Posted on May 23, 2015 3:14 pm
May 22, 2015 - Oshawa - Lakeridge Hospital
Mark Nash Reports:
May 22nd - 2015
Some great news to report today from Oshawa. The results of my site visit today paid off big time, as we were rewarded with a visual confirmation of the Oshawa Lake Ridge Hospitals newest family member, as the first peregrine hatchling was observed!
A big thank you to Ken and Ernie at the Oshawa Lake Ridge health care centre who were able to accommodate my visit on some rather short notice, but the end of the day visit and distraction yielded some great news and was indeed well spent.
The pictures speak for themselves, as we were able to confirm the one of the four eggs has in fact hatched. While the resident adult male was not present during our short visit, the adult female was in the nest box brooding her new hatchlings while still incubating the other three remaining eggs.
We all have our fingers crossed that the remaining eggs hatch and looking forward to banding!
Congratulations Lake Ridge!!
Stay tuned for further updates and news on a banding date.
You can see the short video I was able to shoot with the wireless camera at:
www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHlNQ5LCbkTPps432yxEaQ
Posted on May 23, 2015 2:08 am
May 22, 2015 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Morning feeding for the young. Only one can be seen in the camera view.
Posted on May 22, 2015 11:08 am
