Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Dinner at 7:11p.m.

- Toronto - Sheraton Centre

Linda Woods Reports:

Dinner is served at the Sheraton this evening.

!!! We Have A Hatch

May 08, 2012 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton

Frank Butson Reports:

May 8th - 2012
Bruce was up to check on a hatch today. See attached photo by Bruce. We can confirm that one of the 2 eggs has hatched. Congratulations to Stormin and Haven and of course surogate parents at Canada Square!

Lyn has sent along this update with more observations of todays visit.

Canada Square report 20120508

Neil, of Northam Realty and Bruce, CPF volunteer both agree that there is at least one hatchling. I saw a little bundle of white fluff and egg shells Photos by Bruce attached

Later on when I was on my usual perch I saw Haven fly around Rio-Can and Heart & Stroke. She then flew behind the Condos way south and back, high, in front of the nest on Canada Square. She flew behind Rio-Can again and then over the Police Station. Stormin left the nest and flew in her direction. As he crossed Duplex he dropped a huge feather! Five minutes later Haven flew to the nest ledge and shortly thereafter Stormin followed and disappeared from sight. A minute later Haven flew to Rio-Can perched briefly before flying to the middle of 2180 Yonge where she perched on the top window ledge. She then flew along the side of the building and disappeared from view and then back to the top of Rio-Can. She ignored the two high flying gulls, waited for them to disappear and then flew to the nest ledge with a food package. One minute later Stormin flew off the nest ledge to Rio-Can and perched seven floors down. A minute later he took off and I did not see him again for half an hour when I spotted him eating on the ledge below the nest. A minute after that he flew north of the apartment building, with a food package, circled back, all the while gaining height, and landed on the ledge on the south west corner of the building. He ate a little more then flew north, gained more height circled back over Eglinton Ave turned north yet again and disappeared from view.

I saw no more action for an hour and so I left. As I walked in front of the Rio-Can building I checked, as I always do when I have seen the peregrines perched on the building, for *food remnants* on the sidewalk. I was in luck today as I found what I believe to be the head and feathers of a blue jay.

Lyn

!!! Hatch Confirmed

May 08, 2012 - Toronto - Don Mills

Frank Butson Reports:

Bruce confirms that Quest and Kendal have a hatch. He saw the chick seeming to be napping in the half-shell. Congratulations to Quest,Kendal and their hosts.

!!! Possible Hatch!!

May 08, 2012 - Toronto - Don Mills

Frank Butson Reports:

An eagle errr falcon eyed viewer in Rochester thought she saw a hatch for Quest and Kendal. Ive been on the camera since about the same time and believe that to be true.  Quest’s fidgity behavior and posture are indications a hatch has taken place. CPF along with the followers around the world await 100% confirmation, we are watching! Look for a broken eggshell or little squirmy fuzzy.

Hatch or No?

May 07, 2012 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton

Frank Butson Reports:

Lyn Reports:
Canada Square Peregrine report 20120507
I saw Stormin fly onto the nest ledge and disappear to the back. There was a bit of vocalizing and he then flew out and up to the top of the furthest *upright/wall* south of the nest.
Ten minutes later Haven flew out and joined him. She appeared to have a quick bite to eat, flew to the middle *upright/wall* and then back to the the furthest one before turning and flying right back to the nest ledge. She was off the nest for just a minute.
When she was back on the nest ledge I heard her give her *chuk-chuk-chuk* call and disappear to the back.
A minute after that Stormin called and flew to the nest ledge. A minute later he flew off the nest ledge and landed one ledge over on the ledge below the nest height. He appeared to be eating something and called again.
There were a couple of more calls and then he flew onto the nest ledge and disappeared to the back. Three minutes later he flew off the nest ledge and onto the middle *upright/wall*. When I left an hour later he was still perched in the same spot all puffed up against the cold and the wind.
This behaviour seemed a little different from usual. I did not see food going into the nest ledge but did not have the binoculars up when they flew onto the ledge. Bruce will check on them tomorrow to see if there may be a hatchling or not.

Lyn

Restlessness at the falls and sleep depravation on both sides of the boarder!

May 07, 2012 - Niagara Falls

CPF Postmaster Reports:

Monday May 7th - 2012
Hi All,

We fell out of bed at 7, grabbed bagels and coffees at the gas station and headed to NF as rain was forecast by 10am.

The pefa in the box was again fidgetty and changing position often, as
shown in the first three pix below. No sighting of the second pefa.

Fourth pic shows actual viewing distance without benefit of zooming.

Unfortunately, we could not determine if the restlessness in the box means pre-hatch activity or an actual hatch. I know. A non-answer.
And we need more than guesswork right now. The weather forecast predicts rain through Thursday, which really hampers visibility but we’ll go back as often as we can. We’re invited to NY for Mother’s Day, but our plans are on hold, hoping to see Diamond’s Mother’s Day!

Vicki

!!! Late lunch

May 07, 2012 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre

Jan Chudy Reports:

Watching the web cam from France I managed to snap this photo at almost 3 p.m. Toronto time.  What a lovely family shot

A First Good Look at the New Family!!

May 07, 2012 - Toronto - King Street

Tracy Simpson Reports:

While in the CPF head office I had opened the King Street camera to check in on Erin and Windwhistler as we know that there has been a hatch but Erin has yet to give us a really good look at the young.  I opened the camera up to a feeding of the young ones and for a brief moment, Erin left to remove the leftover food and gave me an awesome look at their newest family members.  There are at least three chicks in this picture and these three represent Windwhistler’s 38th, 39th and 40th offspring produced in his 14 years of life.  A huge accomplishment and contribution to the recovery of his species!!  Congratulations to all!!

!!! Madame X and Surge Have 3 Chicks!

May 07, 2012 - Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel

Frank Butson Reports:

May 4th chick number one showed signs of hatching at The Hamilton Sheraton Hotel.  A broken egg shell was the evidence. On May 5th, 2 more chicks broke on through to the other side as they hatched within hours of each other. Congratulations to the Hamilton folks and of course Madame X and Surge. Keep checking for news about the 4th egg!

!!! A Wonderful Day in London Yesterday; Female Identification Made!!

May 04, 2012 - London - TD Tower

Tracy Simpson Reports:

Frank and I enjoyed a wonderful day in London yesterday sharing information on the history and happenings of the London nest site with members of the community. During the past two days we have met hundreds of inquizitive folks and we were overjoyed at the interest that everyone showed.

We set up at the site at around noon and immediately got views of the female on the edge of the nest tray.   In the scope I could clearly see that her recovery band was black over red with a 2 on the top that was rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise and the lower letter is an X. The band was covered with a small amount of debris on the lower letter and so we will be back on May 10th to reconfirm but I can say with very little doubt that the resident female is Thunder, hatched in 2005 in Syracuse, New York.  Back in 2006, Thunder was spending time in Kitchener, Ontario with a Canadian male named Dundas who was famous for surviving to hunt and breed while missing one leg.  The last sighting of her was in December of 2006 and Kitchener to London is a coffee run for a peregrine.  The London territory was taken over by a new female in 2007, right around the time that sightings of her and Dundas stopped and by a female with the same band configuration of black over red so it was likely Thunder since that time. 

It is very exciting to have found Thunder here in London and as the daughter of the famous Fancy and Groucho in Syracuse, its all the sweeter a story.  We still need to reconfirm the “X” on the bottom of the band but we are incredibly confident of it being Thunder. 

The day continued with Dougal leaving the antenna on the Dundas tower at around 1:15pm and returning shortly with a snack for Thunder who was out of our sights in the nest tray. Dougal returned to the antenna while the female took the gift of food up to the TD sign where she consumed some of it and stashed the rest. Just before 2:00pm there was a shift change between the adults and the male took over the duties of caring for whatever they had in the tray. At 3:00pm, an American Kestrel got scared out of its wits when the male left the tray in hot pursuit! By 3:50pm an adult Bald eagle was making lazy circles close to the nest under the watchful eye of the male as the female had resumed her tray duties. After all of this excitement, it was time for me to head up to meet Domenic Ripepi of the Sifton Property Management Group who takes care of 1 London Place. The meet wasn’t meant to be but his administrative assistant, Linda Machuk, contacted him for me and graciously granted me access to a higher elevation to see just what they were working on in the nest tray. As reported earlier, by the end of my time in the suite I was 100% sure that at least one egg was being incubated in the nest tray.

Back down on Wellington St., the excitement continued when a Turkey vulture soared through past the nest tray which rousted both adults. Dougal took one good stoop at it and made contact with the vulture and Thunder came in right behind him. The vulture made a hasty retreat while the adults returned to the ledge. The female then took off, cycled around the building and then landed on the southwest corner loudly whining. Dougal came out of the east and flew in for mating!! More eggs in the making!! The female then returned to incubation duties while Dougal returned to his antenna perch on the Dundas tower.

I can’t say enough how many amazing people we have had the pleasure of meeting over the last two days. It was most pleasing to see the interest of the younger generation and hear their own stories of the falcons of London. A most important thank you to Domenic Ripepi and Linda Machuk of Sifton Property Management Group for access to elevations that allowed for the confirmation of at least one egg. I will be back in London again next week for an afternoon of falcon watching and community engagement; something I love to do!! I will also be reconfirming the identity the female as Thunder so come out and join us at the Peregrine Perch ( park bench on the west side of Wellington, look for the scope!! ) on May 10th!!