June 14, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
June 14th - 2016
We have some exciting news to report in that we have finally been able to confirm at least two eggs have hatched in the new CPF nest box atop of the peregrine nesting tower at the Beachville quarry!
Lucie has returned back from England and will down at the Beachville site tomorrow (June 16th) armed with camera in hand so stay tuned……
We look forward to some additional photos as soon as they become available.
Posted on June 15, 2016 9:11 am
May 23, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
May 23rd - 2016
Some additional photos of Joe and Virginia from Lucie that she was able to send to us from the UK where she is currently on vacation.
Have a great holiday Lucie!
It almost looks like the resident male “Joe” is trying to convince his mate “Virginia” that he did this all himself,, (build the new home and put up the tower just for her) 
While I don’t think that she’s buying it,, she has obviously approved and decided to lay her eggs in it.
Hopefully, we will be able to see just how many hatchlings the pair have produced as soon as they get large enough. .
Congratulations are in order for a successful hatch!
Stay tuned……………….
Posted on June 2, 2016 5:09 pm
May 24, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
May 23rd - 2016
Hello All
We have some great news to report with a huge thanks to Lucie for all of her efforts!! Lucie was down to the Beachville nest site again over the long weekend and has confirmed a hatch!! While we have no way of knowing how many of the eggs have hatched,, the observation report that Lucie filed over the weekend has confirmed that the Beachville resident pair are tending to a recent hatch! While they are much too small to be seen from our site lines on the ground, food was delivered by Joe, (the resident adult male) to the nest box and to the brooding adult female (Virginia) on several occasions during Lucy’s watch.
Congratulations are in order for everyone’s hard work and incredible stewardship!!!
She was also able to confirm that both residents are the same pair as last year,, with Joe Black 48 over Y and Virginia 76 over AX Good going Lucie!!!
It has been a long road so to speak, with the new nest box and a new tower nesting situation for the Carmeuse Quarries peregrines,, but the story as they say, is history now. Having successfully convinced the resident adult peregrines to utilize the new CPF nesting box atop of the new tower several hundred feet from the original nest site on the lime silos accounts for yet another successful project,, that with the support of the great folks at Carmeuse Lime & Stone quarries just outside of Beachville Ontario, its been a win - win situation for all!
A lot of planning, manpower and resources, including that of allot of “time-in” has once again paid off! The nest box was installed on the top of one of the old conveyer tower supports via crane back in November 2015 by CPF and Carmeuse employees. The nest box was manufactured earlier in October 2015 by the Canadian Peregrine Foundation at the CPF raptor centre in Vaughan and transported down to the Carmeuse quarry on the day of the install.
With funding and other important resources, (additional manpower, a lift bucket and a crane) provided Carmeuse quarries, we braved the cold and heights to install the new nest box atop of the modified tower. After properly preparing the new nest box, it was secured and bolted in place atop of the tower. This with both resident peregrines watching closely from their usual roosting spots on the old silos. We did get several fly-bys by both resident adults as they watched closely throughout the entire install.
Stay tuned for further updates…..
Posted on May 30, 2016 12:16 pm
May 23, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
May 23rd - 2016
Hi All,
Richard and I decided to spend holiday Monday at Beachville watching the Carmeuse quarries nest site.
We initially came by on Monday, May 16, and saw the female in the nest the entire time we were there. She did get up and reposition herself a couple of times. There was no other falcon around. We stayed from 4-5 and then 6-7:15. Knowing that a hatch should occur at any time, we decided to come back one week later.
So on the 23rd, we saw signs there was a hatch!
We arrived shortly before 2:00 pm. The action started almost immediately. The female was in the nest and the male flew to a nearby beam carrying food (a starling). The female flew over to him and took off with the food. He then flew to the nest and I was able to ID him as Joe (solid black, 48/Y). Around 2:15, the female came to the nest with the prepared food and it appeared like she started to feed their baby/babies. It looked like she was feeding very small morsels. Joe sat patiently beside her. Too cute! Within 10 minutes, she took off with the leftovers and landed on a nearby post. I was able to ID her as Virginia (black over green, 76/AX). Joe went to sit with the baby/babies.
Joe continued to remain in the nest box until Virginia came back around 3:25. I didn’t see her land but she must have had food. The feeding looked pretty intense so I started to wonder if there was more than one baby? Joe took off and landed on a nearby post and stayed there for quite awhile. At around 4:30, he flew over to the drop off beam and squawked. No idea what was happening here. Then he took off back to his favourite perch.
At around 5:45, Joe flew to the nest. I watched through the scope as they were just looking at each other. Then Joe took off and within two minutes, he came back with prepared food (I guess he had a stash) in his talon and carried it over to Virginia. He took off to his perch and she was feeding again, but she was hidden in the corner and I couldn’t see anything. Also by this time, the sun was coming in over the nest making it harder to see.
We left at 6:00.
Posted on May 25, 2016 3:27 pm
April 15, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
Friday, May 6, 2016 1:37 AM
Hello All
Yes, we have been monitoring the Beachville nest site as closely as we can, given the distances and travel times involved. Lucie and friends have been monitoring the Beachville grins since we installed the nest box. The peregrines remained on territory throughout the winter months and were still being observed on the old silos in and around of the old nest site up until the demo started.
They actually used the new nest box and nest box tower as an observation spot to watch the silos being demolished.
By April 6th – (see photos of the grins on the nest box tower), both resident adults were in and out of the nest box on a regular basis. Very shortly after, by April 12th, we started to observed the pair involved in courtship behaviours and copulation between the two. Being peregrine breeding season and with hormones running high with all peregrines in our region, this was
By April 15th, we started to see only a single peregrine at any one given time – (but seeing both the male and female at various times throughout several days of observing),, although never at the same time,, which is a strong indication that they were down on egg(s) involved in full time incubation. It was NOT a foregone conclusion nor actually confirmed at this time that they were actually using the nest box, but given the pairs activity in and around of the new nest box, we highly suspect that they are utilizing it.. Remembering that it is very difficult to actually see into the nest box especially given the distances and angles involved.
By the end of April, we had been able to confirm that the pair were actually utilizing the nest box, obviously involved in full time incubation of an undisclosed amount of eggs.
Lucie was able to get back down to do some additional observations, this time with some extreme magnification and was able to snap the attached photo of the female laying down inside the nest box.
Although the timeframes and observations are “somewhat lose”, we believe that if in fact the egg(s) are in fact fertile and have been properly incubated, that a hatch is only three weeks away..
That’s what I have so far, stay tuned………….
Posted on May 24, 2016 8:24 am
August 11, 2015 - International, National and Local News
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Tuesday Aug. 11th - 2015
A big thank you to Darcy and family for getting this observation report into us, and to Pamela Boese for the photos of a pair of Peregrines that have been hanging around the Holiday Inn on Ontario Street in St. Catherine’s Ontario. While neither of the two adult peregrines in Pam’s photos showed much of their legs, it does appear that at least one of the birds might be banded.
So the challenge is on,, can anyone get a photo of either of the birds that can identify any band numbers??
Darcy writes:
There is a pair of peregrines, I’ve seen them together on two separate days. But there’s usually only one of them, and I couldn’t tell you if it was the male or the female. And when they’re both together, they’re both kind of noisy.
They seem to like the front of the Holiday Inn on Ontario Street. It’s got a nice and high vantage point, and plenty of protection, plus it’s really close to the Twelve Mile Creek for dinner, er, wildlife. You’ve got to scan the whole front of the building to find them sometimes, every nook, corner, and ledge.
I’ve also spotted them on top of the hydro tower between the old GM plant and the hotel, overlooking the Creek.
One morning last week, I watched the bird swoop down, crash into something midair, there was an enormous poof of black feathers (about triple its wingspan wide), and then it perched on a traffic light to watch its prey, well, linger. And I know that at least one of them likes it downtown too, I just got to work while a panicked swarm of pigeons was being chased.
Posted on September 1, 2015 11:33 am
July 24, 2015 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
July 24th - 2015
A very good afternoon indeed! The little mystery female fledgling was successfully banded and released back to her parents and sibling this afternoon!
Stay tuned for the full report and photos!
Posted on July 25, 2015 3:36 am
July 24, 2015 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
July 23rd - 2015
While the Scarborough Yellow pages nest site failed to produce this season, (as a result of a new adult male replacing the long standing resident adult male Ruben) there was still some good news for Scarborough this season!
Shortly after 10am this morning, the phone was again ringing with yet another report of a trapped peregrine stuck behind the glass on a 40 story condo balcony in Scarborough at Kennedy and Hwy. 401 area.
With the help of the condo superintendent, I was escorted to a 40th floor condo unit where I was able to rescue a young “un-banded” female fledgling that was trapped behind the glass balcony front - (see rescue photos) . Given the report from the condo owner, who explained that the bird had been on her balcony now for more than 24 hours. While I was there doing the rescue, there was a second un-banded fledgling vocalizing just above me on the upper balcony overhang several feet from me!!! It took flight (a good strong flight) and landed on one of the other condo roof tops and watched as I captured its sister - (see photos).
So, we have a new Scarborough nest site - somewhere very close,,, but where???????
I spent the next hour searching the roof top with the condo super but didn’t find any evidence of a nest site, (at least on this condo roof),,, but there are three other very tall condos that are part of this property that could be the nest site!!! I will have to return at a later date to do a search of these roofs.
I spent the another hour searching the surrounding neighbourhood for any adults, but found nothing. Shortly after my departure, I spoke with Bruce on the telephone from the CPF, who was now on site, searching the surrounding leading edges of the surrounding rooftops from the ground, and he reports that he was able to locate two peregrines roosting on the leading edges on the south side of the same condo where I had earlier rescued the un-banded female fledgling, one he believed to be an adult male and one fledgling juvenile. Sadly, the sun was setting to the west and his views had the sun directly in his eyes and he was unable to clearly identify the gender of the birds that he was seeing. He’ll be back!!
I was able to contact Mark Heaton from the OMNR and made arrangements to take the rescued female fledgling up to him at the Aurora district office of the Ministry of Natural Resources tomorrow to have it banded, and I will be returning the young fledgling back to the condo roof and releasing it back to its parents and sibling.
Stay tuned for photos and additional information to follow……….
Posted on July 24, 2015 12:48 am
July 18, 2015 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
July 17th - 2015
A big thank you to Barb and the staff at their Ogden quarries for sharing these great photos of the peregrine fledglings that they were able to capture this week.
This newly established nest has kept us all in suspense and guessing, but the news just keeps getting better! Today, the most recent photos forwarded to us by Barb from the Holcim plant in Mississauga, clearly shows FOUR FLEDGLINGS, all looking very good indeed!!
Without an adult in the frame to utilize as a reference for their size, we can only speculate on the genders of the young fledglings, but all four seem to be doing just fine!!
Two of the photos also clearly shows one of the fledglings standing on the remains of a Gull kill. Mmmmmm!
Gulls beware!!!
Posted on July 18, 2015 1:39 pm
July 04, 2015 - International, National and Local News
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Saturday July 4th - 2015
A big thank you to Barb at Holcim Miss. after her Saturdays visit to their Colborne quarries,, and for sharing yet another great photo of their three newest feathered residents.
While somewhat typical of what you might expect to see in the far northern regions of Ontario where the vast majority of Ontario’s peregrines actually reside, (well at least the historical peregrine population),, this is something of a twist!
A man made cliff (but a cliff type situation with a ledge never the less), but with a stick nest base,, courtesy of the recently evicted occupants,, (the ravens), and you have a nest site that we refer to as a “near-urban“. Not quite an urban nest site under its true definition, nor a non-urban under its true definition. Unlike many of the other peregrine sub-species in Europe and Asia where some actually nest in trees, our three native / indigenous North American peregrine sub-species do not nest in trees, nor do they actually bring in sticks or any other nesting sub-straight. Historically, (and instinctually), peregrines here in North America are cliff nesters and dwellers.
That being said, a few stick on a ledge (as long as its on a cliff) is obviously not a deterrent at all. Quite a bonus I’d say! The picture tells it all!
So, like the two other quarry nests and the earlier Niagara nest site when the peregrines were nesting on the gorge ledge, the “near-urban” designation fits quite well indeed.
So back to the Holcim quarries nest site, one of the three hatchlings has fledged, (a male), with the two other hatchlings still yet to take their first flights. It might also appear that one, (if not both of the other siblings) might also be males now that we can see a good view them.. In any case, they are all looking pretty good indeed, with their “Taj Mahal” of all nest sites here in southern Ontario!!
Unfortunately, neither of the resident adults are banded so we have no idea of their history or origin - (urban, non-urban or near urban produced)? Thus will be the case with the three young produced this year, as there was simply not enough time to organize a banding within the appropriate banding age of the hatchling this season so we will never know their fate.
Next year we hope to on top of this one and looking forward to working with our new friends in Colborne!
Attached is a GREAT photo of the nest and the three young peregrines!
Photo credit to follow…
Thank you ALL for sharing this great story with us!!
Posted on July 6, 2015 12:54 pm
