December 27, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Frank Butson Reports:
I visited the CPF Head Office last week and Cheyenne was there for a visit too. Cheyenne is our newest feathered educator. She is about 4months old now. It was a real thrill for me to hold her for the first time.
Volunteer Frank with feathered, educator Peregrine Falcon,Cheyenne.
Cheyenne supervises some work at the CPF Head Office.
Cheyenne Posing
Flapping
Close-Up
Posted on December 27, 2010 4:15 am
December 18, 2010 - International, National and Local News
CPF Postmaster Reports:
With a big thank you to Jack Textor from Iowa, for sending us some of his shots of a white Red-tail hawk that he photographed earlier in December on one of his outings. Spotted and photographed in Des Moines, Iowa on December 18, 2010. Initially believed to be a Gyrfalcon, a closer inspection of the photos told a much different story. While not a true albino, (as his the eyes are not pink), this adult male Red-tail is never-the-less mostly all white in colour with the exceptions of a few black and brown feathers that are only visible when the bird is in flight.
What makes this bird more rarer than not, is the fact that he has survived to adulthood and so far continues to prosper. As you might imagine, being all white, living and hunting in the usual Red-tail habitats, being all white is not to your benefit, as both concealment from other larger avian and mammalian predators, and stealthy hunting would not be an easy task.
To survive to adulthood (and on wards), is quite an accomplishment. We will be interested if Jack will continue to follow this guy and send us future updates on his progress over the next months.
Posted on December 26, 2010 2:03 pm
December 24, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Frank Butson Reports:
From The Stonewall Argus & Teulon Times
Endangered life at school
Great horned owl and peregrine falcon make an appearance at Stonewall Centennial as students learn about endangered species
By Amanda Lefley
Two endangered animals entered Stonewall Centennial School on Oct. 28, as the Canadian Peregrine Foundation gave the Grades 5-8 classes an educational speech about birds of prey, specifically the great horned owl and the peregrine falcon. “It’s very important to bring them in because it gives a face to the animal,” said Kyle Holloway, an outreach programs educator with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. Holloway also explained the aspects he talks about to students, such as habitats, communities, theory of flight, and endangered species, tie into what the students learn in their curriculum.
Before Holloway brought out the two animals – Alexandra, the approximately 10-year-old great horned owl and Oscar, the nine-year-old falcon- he went over some terminology with his audience. He defined what an endangered species was, as well as an extinct and extirpated species. He also had the students list the different actions that cause species to be endangered, such as destroying habitats and pollution, and list the different actions that can now help endangered species, such as protecting the habitat, planting more trees, and creating animal rescues.
Then he brought out Oscar, a fully-grown male falcon. Holloway explained the bird’s lifestyle to the children, his diet, what he eats, about the bird’s hearing and sight. He showed the children the bird’s wingspan as well as the animal’s nictitating membrane.
After Oscar was put away Holloway brought out Alexandra, a fully-grown female great horned owl. The bird was much larger than the falcon in size, which Holloway pointed out. He explained much of the same things to his audience, what the bird liked to eat, about the bird’s sight and hearing. He also went into some detail about the nocturnal tendencies of the bird and showed off the creature’s large wingspan as well.
“They are magnificent animals and they are on the endangered species (list)… I just want kids to appreciate that they are beautiful birds,” said the school’s principal, Ken Hoglund.
When Holloway’s presentation was finished he fielded questions from his audience. However, there wasn’t enough time for him to answer them all, but he did leave the student’s teachers with a workbook from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation to incorporate into their classes.
Hoglund says the school incorporates what the presentation outlined into the classroom in many ways. He said children at the school will go on to write stories about these animals, as well as read other articles about them.
“Hopefully it will open their interest and they’ll think more about all endangered species throughout the world. So giving a global perspective of animals and how we should treat them,” said Hoglund.
The presentation from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation was free of charge to the school as TD Friends of the Environment Foundation sponsored it.
Posted on December 24, 2010 1:36 am
December 15, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Frank Butson Reports:
Thanks for the use of your photos Meghan and sending us your exciting sighting!
Meghan Wetmore Reports:
I wanted to send along some photos of a Peregrine Falcon I saw the other day taking a run at a Canada Goose.
I was at the Leslie St. Spit, also know as Tommy Thompson Park on Saturday December 11,2010. At 9:45am we spotted this Falcon sitting on a small outcrop near one of the small “islands” /”mudflats ? In the west side just a bit past the marina, directly opposite the boat storage area that is across the water(I have only been to the Spit once before so I am unfamiliar with the terminology of the area I was in.)
All of a sudden the Peregrine flew up and out over the water. The area was filled with ducks of all sorts. Long Tailed, Bufflehead, Mergansers, but this Falcon went straight after a Canada Goose!! It was quite a sight to see. I don’t think the Canada Goose knew what was going on, but he/she dove straight under the water to avoid the attack. I have never seen a Canada Goose dive down and completely submerge for that amount of time before After a few moments the Canada Goose emerged from under the water, looking quite upset about the whole situation. He was quite vocal and started swimming off towards a larger group of Ducks and Geese, safety in numbers,I assume. The Falcon hovered momentarily over the area and then flew off to the west and was lost to sight.I have included a few photos I took of the incident.
Posted on December 15, 2010 7:35 pm
February 09, 2010 - International, National and Local News
CPF Postmaster Reports:
With a thank you to Peter Zadorozny from Delta B.C. Canada for sending us some of his shots of a gyrfalcon that he photographed between Dec. 2009 - Feb., 2010
Posted on December 14, 2010 3:54 pm
December 13, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Frank Butson Reports:
Another season of raptor watching has come to an end.It was a record setting fall,with a final total of 6545 raptors observed. This smashed our previous record of 5844. It seemed daily at peak migration time,that record after record fell,one day,one month and species final totals. Walter and I have been asked to submit a Toronto Records Committee report for our September 9th record Osprey count of 53 in one day. This is a GTA record! Thanks to Walter for this impressive list of records set this season at Rosetta. We set 21 and tied one other record this year.
53 Opsrey were seen Sept 9th,176 were seen in the month of September,which led to our season best 211. All new records! Bald Eagles were a similar story,18 were observed on Sept 10th a new site record. September saw a new monthly record of 43 Bald Eagles and a record final tally of 73 Bald Eagles were spotted. We saw a record number of Sharpshinned Hawks in September,finishing with 2067 and a new season high of 2797. 15 Northern Goshawks in the month of October was a new record. November 1st we had a record number of Redtailed Hawks fly by with 251. Roughlegged Hawks have moved in larger numbers then normal in southern Ontario and the sightings at Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch reflect this as well. We recorded a one day record of 9 on October 31st,a high of 18 in the month of November and a season best total of 28. We set records for all 3 falcon species. On Sept 9th we saw a day record of 203,a new month record of 581 in September were counted and the final total of 719 was also a record. We tied our best one day Merlin total of 10,on Sept 8th,had a record 52 sightings in September and observed 87 in total for another record. We saw the highest number of Peregrine Falcons for any southern Ontario count site,with a new site record of 85. On October 1st we tallied our best one day total of all raptors ever with 946! September saw our highest monthly count ever too,with 3385 total birds of prey counted. Lastly we had our most ever days with over 100 raptors observed,with 20. WHAT A SEASON WOW!!!!
Final Totals
211-Osprey
1195-Turkey Vulture
73-Bald Eagle
322-Northern Harrier
2797-Sharpshinned Hawk
82-Coopers Hawk
17-Northern Goshawk
21-Redshouldered Hawk
190-Broadwinged Hawk
707-Redtailed Hawk
28-Roughlegged Hawk
11-Golden Eagle
719-American Kestrel
87-Merlin
85-Peregrine Falcon
6545-Final Total
Thanks to everyone for an amazing season.
We also counted:
44-Great Blue Heron
20-Common Nighthawk
410-Common Loons
Oddities Seen This Season:
Cave Swallows
Sandhill Cranes
Snow Geese
American White Pelican
White-winged Crossbills
Short-eared Owl
Rusty Blackbirds
Posted on December 13, 2010 3:59 am
December 07, 2010 - International, National and Local News
CPF Postmaster Reports:
With a big thank you to Ken Hale Sr. for his observation report and the photos that he took on December 7th from Balsam Lake Ontario, that show a good view of some first, second and third year juvenile bald eagles, and the adult bald eagles. He writes: Surprised to see Bald Eagles. There were a total of 9 birds. The photo date was December 7th, 2010 taken in the south Bay of Balsam Lake Ontario. They were a long ways out on the lake and I had to use a 300mm lens without a tripod.
Feel free to use any of the pictures.
Ken Hale Sr.
Posted on December 10, 2010 1:23 pm
November 04, 2010 - International, National and Local News
CPF Postmaster Reports:
I am sorry the pic. are not very good they were taken after 5:00 pm approx. 3-4 weeks ago & I rushed to get the pics.. I saw it had what appeared to be a rather big pigeon that gave this hawk all he could do to lift it up on the roof. It was almost the same size as it’s kill. although it was a slight bit bigger. I was shocked to see this bird as I have NEVER seen a hawk in all my yrs.! It was a beauty.
I saw it sometime between the 1st & the 4th of Nov. 2010. If I had not finally taken a couple of pics. I would still think it was a dream. I was taken back by this bird on the shed roof & a bird, I believe was a pigeon & a good sized one at that ! It had the pray hanging of the roof of the shed & was trying to lift it up with one leg I have no idea how many times it tried to get it up before it succeeded. I thought it was going to fall of with it’s kill at least once!
I must say it was amazing to see this bird lift the prey up to the roof then pulling the feathers etc. I had to leave for a awhile & when I looked again the bird & it’s kill were gone! I am still awestruck by it. I am in Lr. Sackville, Nova Scotia, and the pictures were taken from in side my house. By all means you may publish the pictures if you think they are good enough.
Thanks again.
Mary
Regards,
Mary Cooke
Nova Scotia, Canada.
Posted on December 5, 2010 2:44 pm
December 02, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Frank Butson Reports:
On September 12th of 2010,Denis Gauthier spotted and photographed a Peregrine Falcon in flight,at Frenchmans Bay in Pickering,Ontario, Canada. Denis snapped a few terrific photos. He posted them recently to the Toronto and Southern Ontario Birding Board,where I saw them and could tell the bird has a Canadian band on his leg. Upon further investigation,CPF volunteer Kathy found the identity to be that of Kendal. The original posting of Kendals banding can be found here.
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/c/sightings/toronto-king-street/page/8/
June 02, 2009 - Toronto - King Street
Kendal 536grams 24days old 33/y
The significance of this sighting is that there is a female Peregrine Falcon from Rochester,New York named Quest,that is being satellite tracked,who is consistantly being placed at the Power Plant there. I know the gang in Rochester is very excited to hear this news.
Please enjoy the terrific photos which Denis Gauthier has allowed us to use. Thanks Denis!
Posted on December 2, 2010 3:45 pm
October 22, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Frank Butson Reports:
So far this fall migration season,over at Rosetta McClain Gardens in Scarborough,we have seen a total of 72 Bald Eagles. Our previous high total was 46,so this has been an amazing season. They are inflight along the Lake Ontario shoreline,where we count all raptors from late August until the end of November. Most seen are juvenile Bald Eagles…this years young. Included in this post is a video by Walter Fisher of a Bald Eagle seen October 19th. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIAWVkQF3_Y
and a great shot of a passing Bald Eagle by Mike Zidino.
Posted on October 22, 2010 4:57 am
