MEC on Wednesday; Rescue and Release #5
June 11, 2015 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The MEC complex of buildings has been occupied for 15 years now by peregrines and you would think that with all of the rescues that we perform there, why on earth would they nest in this location? Simply because it is so incredibly ideal. Abundance of food, easily defended, water, perfect nesting location and an amazing group of caring people that own, operate and work at this location. Thank you everyone for being so incredibly supportive of these birds!!
That said, yesterday was quite a messy day. It rained, it poured, they snored, we were bored. At first. The day started with Hawkeye STILL on MEC 1 with Adrianna by her side. Again, not concerned about Hawkeye as she has been running, flapping and exercising all across and around the roof working on her muscle, coordination and courage. Ieva had fluttered down the day before to the window wells on MEC 3 and she was there hopping the gaps and checking each well for dropped bits of food. Complex schedules among watchers meant that the site would go without someone until 2pm but with the pending storm and the girls all having had some experiences in the air we hoped that they would sit tight through it and flights would be held off until the evening. Others in the complex had eyes on them and were ready to alert us to any bird in distress.
When Bruce arrived he had just missed a flight. The parents were circling and scanning the area around MEC 4 so he initially did a perimeter walk of all 4 buildings to check. During his walk he located Ieva still on the top of the window wells on MEC 3 but he had no activity on MEC 1 at all; both Adrianna and Hawkeye were not in view. Nothing was found during the perimeter check so he set up to watch both 1 and 3 for signs of the two not yet seen girls. The chance existed that they may be still on the roof of 1 out of view napping after the storm. The winds were high so Bruce watched and waited. After a while he made another wider circle of the buildings keeping the parents in view as well as Ieva who was in and out of window wells. He caught a glimpse of movement and there was a young one definitely in the air. She headed towards MEC 1 from MEC 4 area and tried for the nest ledge but fell short by about three floors. She flumped into the glass and was redirected back out over Robert Speck Pkwy. All the time she was in the air she was accompanied by the parents and they tried to get her safely up to the windows on MEC 4. She had already lost too much altitude and flumped into the windows which caused her to flutter down to the front of the building. Over Bruce went and scooped her up… …Hawkeye! Good girl, you are finally off and running. She was placed in a rescue carrier at MEC 1 and Bruce was back out to get eyes on the other two.
He still had Ieva on the window well ledge of MEC 3 jumping the gaps and dropping down in for short periods. No sign of Adrianna on the roof of MEC 1 as of yet but now the clouds were rolling in. With tornado warnings in effect, I called Bruce and told him to take cover until it passed which he did just as the storm rolled in. Horizontal rain that fell in a torrent made it almost impossible to see the other three buildings in the complex. When it was all over, he went outside and Ieva could no longer be seen on MEC 3. Ugh!! We chatted about this and decided that he would sit down and wait for the parents to show him where the girls were. A few minutes later, up pops a bird on the roof line of MEC 1! Who was it. Wait and see. Another 10 minutes goes by and the second girl pops up on the windows of MEC 3!! It would seem that Adrianna had been on the roof of 1 the entire time and was down futzing around all day while making Bruce search for her. Gee thanks. With two girls in view and one in a carrier Bruce could finally relax and take a breath. He was joined by Winston and the two gents awaited my arrival for the release.
I was on site at around 8:30pm having gotten out of work early and handed two carriers off to Bruce who was delivering them to Amexon on his way home. Too many bouncy boys out that way and extra gear was so much needed. Winston and I waited out the light with plans to release Hawkeye on the roof of MEC 3. Just as it was getting dusky, Adrianna crouched and leapt forward with wings out along the north side of the MEC 1 roof. Out of view. Seriously?!? Midnight watched her entire movements where we couldn’t see at all and given that we didn’t get any reaction at all from Midnight, we believed Adrianna to still be up there somewhere. Yup. Here she comes! Jumping the gaps of the window well all the way back to the nest ledge! It would appear that Adrianna’s little flight took her down to the window wells of the nest building and all the way home. Great job!! I then met up with security and up to 3 we went with Hawkeye. This new location will give her a new perspective and hopefully a new sense of drive to fly home. I took her up and thinking she was the more sedate of the three girls went to open the carrier door and WHAM!!… …she struck out at me with all she had!! Nasty!!! I tried to grab the edge of the towel and slowly pull her out. WHAM!! She goes at me again with ferocity. I take my rescue towel, put the end in to the box and she attacks. I slowly pull her out and she did something I so didn’t expect… …she lunged at my face!! With the end of the towel in my hand I blocked her and she jumped down onto the concrete and waddled into the corner that I wanted her in puffed out and peeved off!! Excellent. Just exactly how we want them to be to carry them through to survive. Cuddly and cute only works when you are a chick. As birds on migration or nesting in the future they need that edge to succeed and I was amused and pleased that Hawkeye has her mother’s attitude! Good luck girls! We’ll see you later today!!