May 24, 2016 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Tracy Simpson Reports:
At first it was only a suspicion follewed by a report of something different at the bridge this year and so Bruce and I decided to take a trip down to try and confirm adult identities.
Normally the Lift Bridge is one of the earliest (if not the first) nest site in southern Ontario to hatch young, either hatching just before MEC or right in step with that site This year the clutch size of 5 eggs coupled with the continued incubation at this late stage (at least late for the bridge) raised a few eyebrows. We started making plans to check in on Cirrus and McKenzie as this was not the norm for them. A few days ago I received a report from local watchers that we’re seeing a female banded black over red, not black over green as Cirrus is. Yesterday Bruce and I set out to try and get some answers.
When we arrived at the bridge we found McKenzie on the Hamilton tower of the bridge lounging in the shade while keeping an eye on the box. Several lifts occurred while we were watching him but he didn’t make a move nor hunt. It was two hours before he took off of that ledge and at no time did he take food to the box. We are pretty confident that we have no hatch as of yet.
At around 4pm I was looking up at the nest box when out like a bullet came the female. She flew straight towards the Hamilton tower and then did a full 90 degree drop and dive at something just out of our sight. McKenzie joined her at this and when the two pulled out of their drop, he flew straight to the nest box and disappeared while she flew up to the Hamilton hydro tower. We turned our scopes on her but she didn’t stay long. It was long enough however to confirm that she is banded black over red on her left leg with a silver USFW band on her right; this was not Cirrus. We did get a partial read of the band but all we can conclude with certainty is that this is a new female.
She left the tower and flew over to the harbour side of the Burlington Skyway where we lost sight of her for over an hour. She was definitely on a hunt. The next time we saw her she was bombing up the canal and had lined up a cormorant. In an incredible show of pure nastiness, she drove the cormorant head first straight into the canal waters, skimming the surface as she banked up. Focused, determined, fearless and on fire is how I would describe her entire time in our view. She flew off and landed in the tower again looking for more things to line up and dispatch. It wasn’t long before she was once again out of our view. In all of the looks we did get of her, she appeared to be in full adult plumage with strong barring throughout her bib and chest. If she would have sat still long enough we could have had more of a view but she was clearly on a mission.
This years nesting season has certainly been one of great change. The Burlington Lift Bridge is now the fourth confirmed site with an adult changeover as young up and coming birds fight for the rights to an established nest site. We are unsure when this change took place or where Cirrus is now. We can only hope that she is safe. We will continue to work on a full identification of this new female as we await their first hatch.
Posted on May 24, 2016 8:19 am
May 23, 2016 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Lisa Reh Reports:
The youngsters are getting bigger and more active every day. They are flapping their wings a lot now and you can see their feathers are just starting to come in. They do lots of face plants and scratch their cheeks with their awkward legs. There are so many pieces of wings in the nest box that it is pretty hard for the chicks to get around without tripping over old wings and feathers.
Everyone seems to be eating well, as Mystery is seen bringing lots of meals at least 4 to 6 times a day and often brings in gull which feeds them all. On May 16th, Mystery was observed perched on the orange rails with a full crop. The littlest one, does get his portion, but is often off by himself and sometimes has to wait until after the larger ones are satisfied. He is getting better at muscling in on mealtime. On May 17th, at around 7:15 p.m., dinner was brought to the outside ledge of the nest box. Eventually three of the babies made their way outside for the first time! The littlest one stayed inside. One of the chicks brought a big piece of dinner back into the nest and the little guy stole it!
On May 18th, a small feed was observed around 8 a.m. All four are active and move around for the pickings. The chicks actively peck at the remnants of meals that are leftover in the nest box. Mystery brought in another gull at 5:45 p.m. All had a good feed and all of the chicks could be seen with nice full crops. On May 19th, at 1:30 all chicks were sprawled out around the nest box. The littlest one, could just be seen off by himself, away from his siblings that were closer to the falconcam. There was a 2:00 p.m. feed and little guy hung off to the side while his siblings rushed in for their feed. He finally got his share and all 4 were lined up for their morsels. By 3:30, there was lots of flapping wings until they passed out for another falcon nap.
Banding day is set for Tuesday May 24th!! Tune in to CTV Kitchener at noon for an up close introduction to these youngsters!!
Posted on May 23, 2016 11:06 pm
May 20, 2016 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Mark Nash Reports:
May 19th - 2016
Banding date for the Canada Square is set and booked (rain or shine) for June 6th at 11am!
Things are happening fast and furious this season with more than a dozen nest sites having hatches all within the same ten day period, we are, as usual scrambling to arrange bandings with everyone involved, two window washers companies, all of the building management groups, rock climber, press and media, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forrest, Canadian Wildlife Service and Environment Canada, and a host of other support team members and CPF volunteers needed to make it all happen!
With a very short window of opportunity to actually safely extract and band the hatchlings (between 18 days and 28 days old),, the very short ten day window of opportunity to band all of these nest sites when their hatch days are so close, is a daunting task to say the least!!!
That being said, the various banding dates are being booked, changed, rescheduled and then re-booked and confirmed again as all of the pieces eventually come together to meet everyone’s schedules, which of course all surrounds the hatch days and ages of the hatchlings!
Banding date for the Canada Square is set and booked (rain or shine) for June 6th at 11am!
With so many banding dates to meet, we will be banding several nest sites on the same day in some cases and the dates are being booked as usual, with very short notice. Welcome to working with wildlife that have their own schedule!! 
We will be out in Mississauga in the afternoon on June 6th doing yet another banding at 3pm!!
Posted on May 20, 2016 11:52 pm
May 20, 2016 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Marion Nash Reports:
May 20th 2016
Another successful banding at Bloor and Islington Center. Although O’Conner was back to original self the terror or Etobicoke ,Cathy Smith from CPF and the brave young men from Skyreach Window Washing
took the lick-en from her in stride as they extracted the chicks from the nest for banding. Thanks so much to you all for a job well done!
This year there are 3 girls and 1 boy and all were very healthy and feisty like their mom.
We had a great turn out of viewers from the local community, building tenants and a group of students from Spruce Court Public School.
Mark Heaton and Tina Hassannia from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests weighed and banded the chicks and had 2 young helpers from Spruce Court school who gave each chick a drink of water and placed coloured tape on the silver band. The coloured tape will help the falcon watch team identify at distance each bird during the fledge watch.
The students from spruce Court School got to name 3 of the chicks this year and came up with Sprucer, Oakley and Cheemung and the 4th was named Maverick by Mark Heaton’s assistant Tina. Below is the band information and weights.
745 grams female named Maverick S over 50 with White Tape
535 grams male named Sprucer Y over 21 with Blue Tape
720 grams female named Oakley with Red Tape
720 grams female named Cheemung with Yellow Tape
Once again we would like to thank Building Management CBRE Canada and the wonderful security staff for all their support and as always Mark Heaton of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests for being there for the birds and the community.
Posted on May 20, 2016 11:47 pm
May 20, 2016 - Mississauga - Holcim
Mark Nash Reports:
MAY 20th - 2016
We are delighted to report that we have been able to book and confirm the banding date for the CRH Canada Group in Mississauga for June 6th at 3pm.
Stay tuned for the banding update and news!!
Posted on May 20, 2016 11:21 pm
May 20, 2016 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Marion Nash Reports:
Banding Day at Mississauga Executive Centre went very well. There are 2 very healthy boys this year. Mark and Vern from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests weighed and banded the chicks and had 2 helpers Joseph and Sally who gave each chick a little drink of water and put coloured tape on the silver band to help the falcon watchers easily identify each bird during the fledge watch. below are the band numbers, weights and names for each,
635 grams Y over 23 with blue tape named Josally-for Joseph and Sally
635 grams Y over 24 with Red Tape named Olimar- for Olivia and Maria
Thanks go out to Colliers and MEC Security for all their support and to Mark and Vern from The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests for their valued commitment to the protection of this species.
Posted on May 20, 2016 10:50 pm
May 19, 2016 - Toronto - King Street
Marion Nash Reports:
Phil from Solar Window Washing has reported that his washers saw peregrine eggs on a new ledge on 18 king St. they have moved to a ledge further north out of site of the web camera. We hope they will be successful in hatching their eggs this year and will keep you posted so look for further updates.
Posted on May 19, 2016 2:51 pm
- All Reports
Marion Nash Reports:
Phil from Solar Window Washing has reported that his washers saw peregrine eggs on a new ledge on 18 king St. they have moved to a ledge further north out of site of the web camera. We hope they will be successful in hatching their eggs this year and will keep you posted so look for further updates.
Posted on May 19, 2016 2:47 pm
May 19, 2016 - Mississauga - Holcim
Marion Nash Reports:
First chick hatched at CRH Canada Group Mississauga plant on May 17th. keep watching for up coming information and banding date.
Posted on May 19, 2016 2:00 pm
May 19, 2016 - Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel
Marion Nash Reports:
Only 1 chick produced at the Hamilton nest this year. The little one will be banded on May 25th and you can watch the climber extract the chick on the Hamilton Nest web camera at.
http://www.falconshamiltonnature.org/
We will post photos and information from the banding on the 25th.
Posted on May 19, 2016 1:57 pm
