June 06, 2017 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Marion Nash Reports:
June 6th 2017
2 chicks banded today 1 girl and 1 Boy.
the first chick to be banded was a female weighing in at 950 grams her band number is S over 47 with Red tape on the silver band she was named Anne after the bander Anne Yagi.
the second chick a male was 700 grams and his band number is Y over 55 with Blue tape on the silver band. His name is Bronte after Bronte Park.
Thanks for the assistance from bridge staff in helping us extract the chicks and for all the updates and photos prior to banding.
Posted on June 11, 2017 2:11 am
May 24, 2017 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Marion Nash Reports:
May 24th 2017
Just told that there are 3 chicks hatched at the Burlington lift bridge as of May 15th. Banding day is being planned stay tuned. photos to come.
Posted on May 25, 2017 3:34 pm
June 05, 2016 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Mark Nash Reports:
June 5th - 2016
It’s not looking very good at all for the resident peregrines down at the Burlington Lift bridge this season, as the latest update shows that the resident peregrines are down to one egg,, (from the five eggs that they had originally produced).
The most recent update and photos sent into us clearly shows that only one egg remains in the nest box. While both resident adults are still very much attending, they are well beyond a hatch date at this point and it would appear that the pair will not be producing any offspring this season (at least from this clutch of eggs).
A big thank you once again to the staff at the Burlington lift bridge and the PWGSC for the photos and updates!
Posted on June 7, 2016 2:05 am
May 27, 2016 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Mark Nash Reports:
May 25th - 2016
A big thank you again to the guys at the Burlington Lift bridge and PWGSC for the great photos of the resident adults. With the new female having being caught on camera tending to the two remaining eggs, clearly showing her Black 68 over Red U band.
While we are beyond a hatch, you just never know given that there five eggs laid over an extended period of time.
Stay tuned……………
Posted on May 30, 2016 11:50 am
May 29, 2016 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Tracy Simpson Reports:
A big thank you to Bruce Massey for spending the weekend chasing the identity of the new female on site. He was able to get a clear scope read today of her black over red 68/U band with a silver USFW. She is Jo from the Macomb County nest site in Michigan hatched in 2014 to Nick and Hathor. What is quite exciting is that her father, Nick, is the offspring of Miriam, a 2003 release in Richmond Hill conducted by the CPF.
Great job Bruce and we will continue to watch for a hatch.
Posted on May 29, 2016 1:35 pm
May 25, 2016 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Mark Nash Reports:
May 25th - 2016
Sorry for the late update, but we have been out of the office and on the road at bandings for the past six days and not getting much office time as a result. As you might expect,, we are back into 12 plus hour days with the many bandings.
A big thank you to the great folks down at the lift bridge and the PWGSC for being able to do some of the close monitoring for us this season,, and for the photo updates that they have been able to sent into us.
Sadly, it would appear that the pair are now down to two eggs, from the original five eggs that they originally laid. Last week, the resident adult female kicked out two more eggs and later ate them,, leaving the last two remaining eggs.
While the pair are still down into hard incubation of the two remaining eggs, it might appear that a hatch will not be a given. Only time will tell.
The attached photo, shows the resident adult male attending to the incubation duties with his Black Canadian recovery band clearly visible.
Stay tuned for more updated news as it becomes available………………………
Posted on May 27, 2016 11:10 am
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 04, 2016 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
CPF Postmaster Reports:
May 4th - 2016
A quickly update, as we have confirmed that the Burlington Lift Bridge pair have in fact laid and are currently incubating 5 eggs!
Its getting very close to a hatch,, so we’re asking everyone to keep a close eye on the pair as its getting very very close to a hatch!!
Posted on May 6, 2016 2:44 am
July 25, 2015 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 27th - 2015
Hi all,
I have continued the monitoring of the three peregrine fledglings, Wellington (red), Lucifer (blue) and Stella (silver). Stella removed her yellow tape before fledging, but it is easy to identify by her larger size, compared to her two smaller brothers.
I have seen two of them, Lucifer and Stella right up to yesterday June 25. I have not seen Wellington since June 23.
They are in hot pursuit of the pigeons but have not been successful yet in catching one on their own. They still rely on food being brought by the two adults, either by air to air food transfers or food drops. That helps them get use to carrying and flying with food.
I have attached some images that were captured this past week as examples of a food transfer from the adult female and a food drop from the adult male. The food drops are the most exciting because the juvenile must successfully try to catch the falling food item.
In the food transfer from the adult female, Cirrus, you will see the juvenile, Lucifer, closing in on her and ready to grab the food. Then Cirrus keeps an eye on the juvenile while he makes off with the food and hopefully does not drop it.
On the food drop image the adult male, MacKenzie, dropped the food for the juvenile, who catches it.
Exciting moments!
regards,
Barry Cherriere
Posted on July 2, 2015 1:23 am
June 14, 2015 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 14th - 2015
Hi all,
Yes, I was down at the Burlington lift bridge today to see how the three kids, Wellington, Stella and Lucifer were doing and hopefully not getting into any trouble. It didn’t look like there was any activity at my start at 9:45, and all were visible and accounted for.
At 10:45 I was able to catch a Canada Goose and free it from fishing line that was wrapped around both legs. That event went well and it was freed from the entanglement of the line.
Around 2:40 after the rain the three juveniles were chasing both adults around. Then the juveniles were in pursuit of one another as if playing tag your it! Then just after Paul the fishing friend and peregrine enthusiast arrived the watch got exciting. The resident adult male peregrine, MacKenzie, had a fancy for some squab from the lift bridge, and for 45 minutes he was in hot pursuit of this fancy. He was perching on the railing of the lift bridge roadway and up in the bridge girders. It was fabulous. He was dropping the squab for the juvenile to catch but it had ended up into the water which is how I got the image with the very dark background as he was attempting to retrieve it. He usually does this up at the skyway but that is mostly sectioned off for his hunting.
I managed to be ready just after he entered one of the nesting holes and came out with one of the sought after squabs. It is like nature’s version of “pigeon Macnugets”. No fuss, no work and ready to eat.
After a day that didn’t look too promising I was happy at the outcome. Never give up hope. He who stays the longest usually gets rewarded.
cheers,
Barry Cherriere
Posted on June 15, 2015 2:22 am
