June 10, 2016 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Marilyn Weller Reports:
Staff of the Ambassador Bridge advised our team of their recent discovery of a 2nd nest site on the bridge. Tina Borden of the Ambassador Bridge Corporation provided this phot of a female on the nest earlier this spring. Tina reports the nest has been abandoned about a month ago, but the eggs are still there. We believe this may be the female that challenged Voltaire last year for her nest. Tina will try and pinpoint the location of the “rogue” nest!
Posted on June 10, 2016 9:47 pm
June 10, 2016 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Marilyn Weller Reports:
Own of the fledglings took flight today and made a couple of nice passes by the bridge before landing on a handrail atop the bridge. The bird walked the rail until it came to a lamppost and decided to hop down onto the sidewalk running parallel to the bridge roadway and the traffic heading into the US. Workers on the bridge called down to report the fledgling was walking along next the road. One of the volunteers immediately called the Ambassador Bridge Corporation and they quickly sent a truck and picked up the other volunteer, Steve Atkins, who fortunately had his passport with him. The Ambassador Bridge staff drove Steve onto the bridge where eventually, Steve was able to safely capture the fledgling.
An exciting day for our team and certainly a great experience in the rapid response and support of our friends at the Ambassador Bridge Corporation.
This fledgling will be banded tomorrow and the team has decided to name it in memory of the great one, Gordie Howe.
The other fledgling rescued yesterday, remains in the care of Erie Wildlife and we hope to release both on Saturday. That fledgling (a male), has been given the name, Westview, in honour of a local school whose mascot is the falcon.
Our deepest thanks go out to the staff of the Ambassador Bridge Corporation who are helping us keep an eye on our young!
We also learned from staff of the bridge that they discovered a second nest tucked into a girder about midway across the bridge with 3 eggs in the nest. They reported seeing a Peregrine earlier in the spring and had assumed that Voltaire and Victor had relocated due to the recent construction. Now we wonder whether this was the female that had presumably fought with Voltaire last spring. Looks like the Ambassador Bridge is getting a reputation among Peregrines as prime real estate for new families!
Posted on June 10, 2016 9:18 pm
June 10, 2016 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Marion Nash Reports:
Snapped a shot of the chick from the web cam this morning.
Posted on June 10, 2016 11:24 am
June 10, 2016 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Toronto Sheraton Centre Morning Feed
Posted on June 10, 2016 10:24 am
June 09, 2016 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Lisa Reh Reports:
We had a great turnout tonight for our kick-off of the fledge watch on Tuesday, June 7th.!! Thank you all for coming and welcome new watchers!!! We will be diligently watching for the next 2 weeks while these young falcons learn to fly. A report from CTV on Tuesday, noted that one of the juveniles had jumped off of the nest box onto the tower platform! All 4 were in the nest box at the training session, with one hanging out on the balcony the entire time. One of the adults made an appearance too!
On June 8th, the fledge watch started at 7:00 a.m. There wasn’t much activity but all were accounted for including Caster and Mystery. One of the parents was perched on the hospital tower antenna and the other on the King’s Tower antenna. There’s a lot of activity in the nest box. The juveniles flap their wings vigourously, run back and forth, and bicker over leftover food tidbits. The adults have not always been preparing the meals, so the young ones are learning how to prepare their meals themselves. All are displaying mantling behavior when they tuck in to the food. At 3:00 p.m., one of the adults was perched on the platform above the nest box while one of the juveniles complained loudly. One of the chicks seemed to be raring to go a number of times, with lots of wing flaps. At 3:30, one of the adults was flying wide circles around the territory returning to the top platform which it did several times.
All 4 babies were accounted for on the morning watch on June 9th. The babies were much more vocal than the day before. Mystery was sitting on the antenna to the east of the CTV tower from about 6:30 to 7:00 a.m. When Caster showed up, Mystery left. Caster sat on the edge of the upper platform of the tower. A number of watchers came out between mid morning and 2:00 p.m. Mystery came in a few times with some food drops and at one point it looked like little Tenor was going to go, but he backed out.
It was a pretty uneventful afternoon from 2:45 until just before 4:00 when one of the adults appeared. The adult landed and the flew back off again. Two of the juveniles remained on the balcony ledge looking out. Just before 5:00 all 4 were out on the balcony of the nest box when Mystery brought dinner. At 8:15 p.m. the adults were observed switching off and one brought in a small food drop. One of the adults flew off as the other stayed up close to the disc at the top of the tower watching over the youngsters. One of the chicks spent most of this time out on the balcony, while the others had a feed inside the nest box. All 4 were accounted for at 8:45 p.m. It won’t be long now!!!
Photos courtesy of Karen von Knobloch.
Posted on June 10, 2016 12:38 am
June 09, 2016 - Toronto - Don Mills
Cathy Kerr Reports:
Irma reports:
The day began with Achilles, Geddy, and Jet briefly together on the upper roof elevation of the nest building but then one of them (Achilles I suspect) took off east for some more flying fun. The only one who would show his band color was the ever-cooperative Jet no matter how Bob and I tried to get a glimpse. Marta remained on the ledge one level down from the nest box but she had made her way across to the east end to get closer to her brothers. She did lots of flapping and wingercising but her parents still are giving her some food so she is still to take her first flight. She sure has a lot of volume when she gets hungry!! I think Mac fed her once just to get some peace and quiet! Just before noon, Quest arrived on the roof with a large food parcel for the two boys and the third quickly flew in to get his share of lunch. This time, with the scope, I was able to get 2 out of 3 band colors, Jet with white,Geddy with blue and by default, the third had to be Achilles as Marta screamed below. Mac showed up with a morsel for her and Quest was still near her boys so I briefly had all 6 family members in sight! A rare sight I felt privileged to see at this time. Bob just missed it as he had left for a couple of hours, After an early afternoon snooze, the three boys put on a marvelous display of their flight skills, soaring high above obviously enjoying the brisk, cool wind. Jet returned to his favorite corner of the upper roof and the other two flew off to the west in a chase-the-brother game of flying prowess. We were very impressed! Cathy arrived after work and I left her and Bob about 4:30. What a great day!
Thanks Irma! After you left, Bob & I had a quiet couple of hours-a lot of snoozing going on! Mark joined us and he went on a walkabout to see if he could get a eye on the boys while we continued to watch Marta sit on the ledge–whining occasionally if she saw a parent. Then I got a call from Mark-he found all 3 boys, lined up perfectly having some lovely brother time, on the roof on the east side of the nest building!! I hurried over to get a couple of pics before they took off. Which they did, doing some lovely flying. Then Quest came in with food and proceeded to defeather and feed the boys. Mac brought more food in so they were well fed. Quest then teased Marta, who was taking, as Mark said, a peregrine hissy fit! Boy did she scream! Quest finally relented and fed her, I think to keep her quiet for the night! It was now 9pm and things quieted right down so we called it a night. Maybe tomorrow Marta?
Posted on June 9, 2016 11:08 pm
June 09, 2016 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Marilyn Weller Reports:
Yesterday morning we had a report that the first of our fledglings took a couple of nice flights and was able to return to the nest tray. Today, one of the chicks appeared to lose its footing while perched on a steel girder under the bridge. After a looping flight, the fledgling had a rough landing in a tree and then dropped to the ground. Volunteers were able to rescue the fledgling and he was later banded and identified as male. There was a slight injury to one wing, so to play it safe, the fledgling was taken to an area rehab for the night. We are hopeful that this male will be able to be released tomorrow.
Paul Gosselin sent a great shot of fledglings on the nest tray, taken this evening. Beautiful shot of the open wing!
Posted on June 9, 2016 9:09 pm
June 06, 2016 - Scarborough - Yellow Pages
Mark Nash Reports:
June 6th - 2016
We have good news on several fronts! With the discovery of the two hatchlings at the Scarborough Yellow pages nest sites, we have been able to schedule and book the banding with OMNRF and John Millar!
Banding day will be Monday June 13th, in the afternoon at 2-2:30pm.
We will be banding the 4 OPG Pickering hatchlings in the morning around 11 am, and should be finished and able to get back to the Yellow pages nest site by 2pm for set up,, with banding to take place in the lobby as in the past years,, (hopefully by 2:30 - 3:00 pm).
Hope to see you all there!
Posted on June 9, 2016 11:22 am
June 08, 2016 - Toronto - Don Mills
Cathy Kerr Reports:
I froze. Irma froze. Bob froze. But the boys loved the wind! Geddy spent the night on the 2nd floor ledge of the Harlequin building and was there for a few hours in the morning. He made a nice flight to the top of the school bldg, then went back to the nest bldg and joined his brothers!! All three are flying well, tho Achilles is by far the best! The wind is serving them well and Quest and Mac have been on hand to help them out. Now Marta on the other hand, got blown down one ledge and has spent the rest of the day there! Around 2pm mom brought food for her but first gave her a lesson in how to prepare it! Lovely e-chup chuping as Quest taught her daughter and the feathers were flying!! Not sure if she got much as mom then took it with her! Now there’s a lesson lol.
The boys then got fed, and all was quiet as they snoozed. Jet and a brother hung out on the nest roof top, flying occasionally. Jet spent most of his day on the nest roof top, always flying home! The other two were off flying about much more-really enjoying their freedom. At night fall, Jet and his brother(we tried hard but he wouldn’t show us his leg for id) were on the home roof, the other brother chose another rooftop nearby and “little” Marta settled in on her ledge! More fun flying to watch tomorrow–let’s just hope for some warmer weather…and a little less wind
Posted on June 8, 2016 10:14 pm
June 07, 2016 - Toronto - Don Mills
Cathy Kerr Reports:
What a day with 3 boys!!! Started off fairly quietly-found Achilles on the roof with Mom, Marta in the nest box, Geddy one ledge down and Jet one ledge down from that! Geddy & Jet had figured out how to pass the pillars, so back and forth they went! Then Achilles took a lovely flight off the roof, over the parking lot to the south west, circled and flew back to the roof!! Way to go Achilles!! Bob & I were joined by Irma. Now, the other boys…both were blown down a ledge lower each! Very windy day! Mom stuffed Marta–she was fed a least 5 times today! The boys…not so lucky. After Achilles flight, Mum rewarded with a bite. Then fed Geddy, then Marta…but not poor Jet. Everyone settled for a wee nap, Achilles on the roof corner for abit, then jumped down on the roof out of sight. Mom came in with MORE food for Marta, causing quite a raucus with Jet & Geddy, causing Jet to fall another floor lower…yes the lowest floor! We had started to wonder about Achilles, so I was off looking for him, everyone else was waiting for Jet to fall when Geddy decided to try his first flight! Unfortunatly, he hit the 5th floor window on the east side of the Harlequin building(yes that favorite spot) and came down! Thanks to the lovely young ladies at HQ for finding him for us! Bob got the net on him and we got him in the crate and he spent the rest of the day in quiet comfort! So, now we have one in the nest box, one in the crate, one on the bottom floor and one MIA. Jet spent the next 4 hours or so on that ledge. Bob did escort some geese and their gosling to the river in the meantime lol. But still no sign of Achilles. Until I watched Quest, circle round and round, going over 240 building and HQ building. Hmmm. Watched her float above 240, so I went over and around(Bob & I swore we heard a faint squeeing) then watched Quest land on the roof. Next thing she is heading over to her corner at HQ….with Achilles in tow!! They landed on her corner, then she took off over to the nest building and Achilles followed-he was home!! Great flying!!! He didn’t stay too long and headed back to 240! Meanwhile, Mark and Marion arrived, and Geddy was checked over and released to the roof! He was up to the corner in no time! By the time Mark & Bob got down from the roof, Jet was down! He was quickly scooped up and up to the roof he went! My cue to go home!! Mark, Marion & Bob stayed behind til dark. But first Geddy had to fly again, of course! He ended up behind HQ! Jet stayed on the roof, Marta in the nest box and Achilles, well, he took a bit of a fit and flew, and flew and flew! Mark swears at least 5 minutes and he went FAR! Across Don Mills!!! Ended up on the Tridel building and there he was at dark. No worries about him-his flying is spectacular and he will be home when he is ready!! So tomorrow, its Geddy and Jet’s turn for some spectacular flying–just stay up boys!
Posted on June 7, 2016 10:38 pm
