Walter Fisher sent this great close-up video of the Peregrine Falcon he and I saw on Nov 21 at Humber Bay Park East in westend Toronto. http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2mo9sav&s=6
On Nov 21, Walter and I were down at Humber Bay Park East in Torontos westend. It is right at the lakeshore. The adult Peregrine flew past me as I was searching for other birds. It flew out of my lines of sight,so I thought that was pretty cool and continued my search. As I continued on some time later,I spotted the silhouette of a raptor perched in a tree. Looking into the sun,I was fairly certain it was the Peregrine,but wasnt sure. I ventured abit closer and confirmed it was a Peregrine. Walter and I began a slow approach,not wanting to spook the bird. After 2 ladies walked right under the tree oblivious to the birds presence,I moved as close as I dared. I could not see a band on the birds left leg at all,and it was well seen on at least 2 or 3 occassions. The Peregrine was likely digesting a meal,as it had a full crop. It sat for at least 10-15minutes while we watched. It watched various small ducks intently,despite appearing full.It was a great find and really made my day. Please enjoy the video I put together.
We had a great turnout for the Steel City Safari, at Mohawk College in Hamilton, this past Sunday. Our 4th year attending, the CPF one of many attendees who brought interesting animals for children and adults alike to see up close. The event was an amazing success!
Nova
Joining Marion, Tracy and Bruce at the booth were a few of our educators - Alex, a female western Great Horned Owl, Falon, a female Peregrine Falcon, and our newest and youngest educator, Nova, a male Peregrine Falcon less than a year old.
Alex
It was great to meet everyone who dropped by the booth. If you missed us at the Steel City Safari, we will be attending the Toronto Motorcycle Show, December 11 to 13. Come by the booth and meet the educators.
Falon
CPF is visiting schools all around southern Ontario with educators like Alex, Falon and Nova. Contact us if you want Project School Visit to stop at your school.
Join many who support the CPF through donations and membership.
Canadian Peregrine Foundation will be at the Steel City Safari on Sunday, November 15th at Hohawk College of Applied Art and Technology in Hamilton. I believe the doors open at 10am, and it wraps up around 5pm.
All ticket income is donated directly to the CHML Children’s Fund, so come out and support a great cause.
If you plan on attending, drop by the CPF booth to say hi. We’ll have some of our education birds out for everyone to meet.
See you Sunday!
The Canadian Peregrine Foundation sometimes recieves reports of various birds of prey,which are mistaken for Peregrine Falcons. We dont mind this,and encourage people to report possible Peregrine sightings to us,particularily if its believed the bird is in trouble/injured. We are also often sent photos to ID. It is in this context that I submit this report,to possibly aid folks in recognizing a Merlin. As it is a falcon,the confusion is understandable.
This Merlin perched in a tree at Rosetta McClain Gardens in Toronto Canada. It preened and watched as possible prey flew by it,eventually taking flight to try to catch first an American Goldfinch and then later a Northern Flicker(woodpecker family member),before disappearing. We were fortunate to watch 2 Merlins in a “dogfight” another day. They whizzed around the park at breakneck speed and came up so close to 2 observers they made them duck out of the way.
This video isnt the greatest but does show relative size and a few behaviors http://tinypic.com/r/6rhq55/3
When fledge watches end for another season and fall migration begins,I run a raptor watch. That is friends and I gather to count migrating birds of prey,including Peregrine Falcons going past Rosetta McClain Gardens in Scarborough,Ontario Canada. This August,which is the start of migration season for birds of prey,we enjoyed 10 sightings of Peregrine Falcons. This is the highest August total in 6 years of counting at this site. We record each sighting,though we cant be sure all are different individuals. I am sure at least 7 of these sightings were different birds. I will be sure to update our total sightings at the end of September or if we have an exceptional day. One day last fall,we saw 18 Peregrines,all of which were different individuals. Canadian Peregrine Foundation staff and volunteers,including Mark and Marion Nash,Bruce,Linda and Kathy will all join me at some stage during the fall season and we hope to have a banner day to report.
Justice of the Peace Ray Zuliani heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Thunder Bay, on August 5, 2009.
I meant to post this a few weeks ago. It is news about a 2006 born female named Lara at our Etobicoke Sunlife location who is now nesting at the Ohio Turnpike Bridge. I received the information from a lovely lady named Alison who runs a great site covering falcons all over the world.
It was posted on her website by two avid falconers named Chad and Chris and I encourage you to go and check out their photos of Lara and mate Rocky. Rocky is a son born to the famous Buckeye who passed away in 2007 - if you haven’t read about him, I recommend looking up his history at the link I’ve included below - he was an outstanding male falcon and much beloved by falcon fans around the world including myself.
Here is the great news about Lara and Rocky:
“Great news– looks like we have a hatch here in their second attempt this year! After about an hour we saw Rocky fly in with food and land up at the nest site. Lara came out from back in, took the food, flew to the support across from the nest to eat some, then flew to the nest and went in with the food. Here’s one shot of Lara with the food before she went up to the support…”
Here’s the link to the thread, which has great photos of Lara and Rocky:
http://www.falconcam-cmnh.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?40039
Thank you very much to Alison, and to Chad and Chris for taking such good care of our girl!
Monday, July 6th: Just received news confirming that Lara and Rocky have 4 chicks!!! If you follow the above link they even have pictures of the young!! Congratulations to the first time parents and thank you again Alison for passing the news along!!
Some bad news from Detroit Mic. USA regarding Miriam and her new family.
Karianne reports: - We have had an unfortunate turn of events at one of our nest sites here in Detroit (yes Miriams nest - banded (blk 89/H)). I went to check on the three chicks yesterday and the nest was empty, the chicks were healthy/strong and approximately 10 days old (all three disappeared at the same time). Miriam and Allegro have been successfull nesters for 5 years now, never once loosing a chick. We fear that possibly they were taken!
With many thanks to Kariann from Michigan USA, we have received an update on Miriam - banded (blk 89/H) that has been sucessfully nesting and producing for the past five years in Detroit Mich. USA. is still holding the territory at the Whittier Hotel here in Detroit , same male and same nesting balcony. She is as tough as ever, defending her nesting balcony throughout the entire winter (my volunteer and I joke and say as we approach the 14th floor of the building that Miriam already knows we are here and is ready to fight). She has 4 eggs this year, one looks a bit dented however. Her male, Allegro from Ohio , has been sharing the duties of incubation so we expect to see young mid May. She had only one chick last year, so we are hoping for a better season at her site. We discovered that one of her 2006 chicks, 30/C, is now nesting at our Mt. Clemens County Building site (he must have out competed the original male over the winter). It is funny to see the ‘tough’ gene shine through Miriam’s young - because this site is prevalent with turkey vultures and every time one gets even close to his building he attacks (the previous male Horus really didn’t bother with them).
