October 19, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills
Tracy Simpson Reports:
This past Sunday, a great team of folks gathered together at the 220 Duncan Mill Road nest site to install a new nest box for Quest and Kendal!! As we organized our equipment and efforts, we looked for the adults on the surrounding buildings and noticed that both of them were not in the area. While Marion and Frank manned the camera in the Harlequin offices across the street, Mark, Bruce and I carried the new box over to the nest building where we joined the two awesome gentlemen from the Solar Window Washing company. A quick trip upstairs to the roof level and in no time we were tied off and ready to go!!
The removal of the old tray and installation of the new box, complete with roof, landing platform and fresh gravel, could not have gone any smoother!! For this successful event we have so many people to thank. Paul Melady at Berkley Property Management Inc., the Board of Directors of MTCC 918 and the staff that manage the building have been wonderful supporters, allowing us access to their building and roof to make the exchange. Donna Hayes, Patricia Cake and all of the amazing staff at Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. for graciously allowing us access to their suites to monitor the installation and take photographs ( they are coming very soon!! ). The two awesome gentlemen from Solar Window Washing that did what would be for me impossible; headed over the edge and down to the nest ledge for the tray / box swap out. Last but never least, the volunteers with the CPF that took the pictures, carried the gear, built the box and hauled it up the stairs; Marion, Mark, Bruce and Frank!!
It would seem that the efforts that everyone has made is beginning to now pay off. Today both Quest and Kendal attended the site and were sitting on the concrete pieces that extend from the building; Kendal above and Quest level with the nest ledge. They sat for over an hour on these perches that were one pillar to the right of the new nest box. Neither bird showed any concern about the change in scenery as they both sat preening the day away. After about an hour, one of the adults decided it was time to check this new house out and landed on the nest ledge no more than a foot or two away from their new home. We believe that it was Kendal that took this first tentative step towards “home ownership” and sat looking over the new digs!! It will be interesting to see which of the pair will enter the box first as Quest was born and raised in a box in Rochester, New York and at one time was squabbling with other females at other nest sites for THEIR box!! We have no doubt that Quest and Kendal will take on to and enjoy their new home and hopefully raise many a family in it. Congratulations Quest and Kendal on the new upgrade!!
Posted on October 19, 2011 12:17 am
October 15, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Today we had lunch with “The Girls” and as they were heading back home, they wanted to stop in and visit peregrines on their way. We gave them directions to the William Osler Hospital site and after all of the tales we’ve shared with them about this fabulous pair, they wanted to see them for themselves. They report:
When they arrived on site, both O’Connor and Hurricane were on the east facing “H” sign of the hospital, each on a corner facing one another. The two of them sat in the lee of the winds enjoying an evening roost without the kids. Carol remarked on how sweet and pretty O’Connor looked up there with her dapper male, Hurricane. Needless to say, I have insisted they come back for the 2012 Fledge Watch to see this pair in action and witness what wonderful peregrine parents they are!!
The three young have been away from the nest site for quite some time, fine tuning their skills in preparation for their great flight south. As Frank has reported to me from his hawk watch, many peregrines are on their way and I suspect that Wind, Rain and Storm have headed towards the border by now. We wish them a good journey and look forward to seeing them possibly raising families of their own someday!
Posted on October 15, 2011 7:08 pm
October 15, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
After many days and lots of long, hard looks Frank and I have now confirmed, without a doubt, the band number of the resident female at the Mississauga Executive Centre!! This female wears a Black 8 over Red 8 band on her left leg; both top and bottom digit being rotated 90 degrees to the left. Following up on our discovery, we contacted Barbara Loucks of the New York DEC and she identified her conclusively as a having hatched at the Statler Tower building in Buffalo, New York in 2008. We immediately shared the news with Connie Adams, the bander of the chicks that year in Buffalo, and found that although banded, she was not named. As we sat having lunch today with our friends from Rochester that we affectionately refer to as “the girls”, we were remarking how the horizontal 8 was just like a symbol for Infinity; and thus she was named!!
From our documentation, Infinity arrived at the MEC site in spring of 2010 as nesting season was starting. The resident female, Tessie, who was the victor in the battle last year that prompted the fostering of the 3 chicks ( see MEC 2009 for the full story), and an unbanded male were deep in the throes of courtship The two adult females locked talons over several days and Infinity won the site that year. She paired with the unbanded male and produced 4 healthy young; three males and one female. This year, she continues to be the resident female at this site and has again paired with the unbanded male, easily recognized by his paler back and white chest. They were not succesful this year in producing any young from their three eggs but continue to reassert their bond with one another with next year’s nesting season in mind. As more information about this Statler Tower female who we now call Infinity comes in, we will be posting it here so check back soon for all of the details!!
Posted on October 15, 2011 6:36 pm
October 11, 2011 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Dennis and I went down to the Bridge on Saturday to check on our family of Peregrines. We saw Freddie sitting on the beam. We stayed there for a while hoping to see the other two but nothing. Freddie had a full crop. Then we went to Holiday Beach to see all of the other birds flying over and there we saw a Peregrine flying over not stopping for anything. I watched until it flew out of sight. It was so good to see another Peregrine.
Have a great week.
Heep Looking Up!!!
Gwen & Dennis, Site Co-Ordinators for CPF
Posted on October 11, 2011 10:12 am
October 10, 2011 - CPF Events
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The CPF was pleased to be in attendance this weekend at the 164th annual Woodbridge Fair in York Region and spend some time sharing our experiences with birds of prey with fairgoers. There were several highlights of the weekend, the best is always the time we get to spend with our volunteers, the public and most importantly our educational birds. Over the past three days we have introduced Cheyenne the peregrine, Nova the peregrine, Seamus the north american barn owl, Alex the great horned owl, Max the harris hawk, Kyla the kestrel and Bubo the european eagle owl to hundreds of people!! We spent our days sharing with others the struggles that these species have faced in the wild due to pesticides, loss of habitat and many other challenges that top predators such as these encounter, as well as the successes the CPF have been a part of during the ongoing recovery of the Peregrine falcon in Ontario. We had a wonderful time at the fair, connecting with adults and children alike, and introducing them to our feathered family. We look forward to seeing folks again next year!!
P.S. The maple buttered Beavertails were awesome!!!
Posted on October 10, 2011 10:12 pm
October 06, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
This afternoon, Frank and I attended the MEC site to catch up with the adult pair. Upon arrival, the female flew onto the nest ledge at MEC 1 and was calling for her mate to join her. Within 10 minutes the resident male arrived and both adults entered into the nest box and were having a very intimate and yet loud conversation about next year’s nest season. It was quite nice to see the pair cementing their bond with not only one another, but also the nest box as the location to be!! The female left a few minutes later and headed straight north until I could no longer see her. Within the next few minutes, the male left in the same direction, only to return with a small bit of food which he finished off on MEC 2, their favorite eating ledge. From my vantage point I could see where the adults have regularly stashed food on MEC 2 to be retrieved later as there was a nice, neat pile of feathers in three separate corners on the expanse of the ledge. I will be back on site next week as I continue to deliver our Project School Visit program in the area and will post further updates and pictures then.
Posted on October 10, 2011 9:37 pm
October 07, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills
Ann Brokelman Reports:
Drove past the nest site to see Quest in the nest box and Kendal on a pillar above nest. Both look healthy.
No sign of Harley.
Ann
Posted on October 9, 2011 7:24 pm
October 06, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
All is well here at the Etobicoke Sunlife nest site. Both Jack and Angel have been around alot the past few days and are in rebonding mode!
Last night when I left both were on the nest ledge chupping to each other and this morning when I arrived, Angel was on her hunting perch and Jack was guarding the nest box :)
Posted on October 6, 2011 8:02 am
September 29, 2011 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
While in Mississauga this past week, I was able to spend some time at the Mississauga Executive Centre site and check in on the resident adult pair. Upon arrival, there was no immediate sign of either male or female until I circled back around the far side of building 4. This seems to be a very popular roosting site for both of these adults as I have seen them there off and on all season. The male was sitting right on the southeast corner of the building and a little further down the ledge, feathers were just a flyin’ out of the sunken section of the ledge. At first I couldn’t see what was causing the shower of feathers until the resident female finally popped up onto the edge with an enormous pigeon in her talons. It was clear that she had been eating for a while as her crop was quite full and her face quite decorated with bits of food. After a good 20 minutes of continued plucking, she left the meal and headed directly over to the nest box where she stood and called her mate. The male took up where she left off, moving into the ledge on 4 building and snacking on what remained of the pigeon. The female remained on the landing platform of the box for the next 2 hours, enjoying the rain shower that was currently falling and then preening herself once it had stopped. The resident male took up a better viewing position on building 2 and followed suit with his own preen-fest. The female then left the nest box and headed back over to building 4 to finish off any remaining scraps of food only to return to the box for a good long nap afterwards.
Although this pair diligently incubated their clutch of eggs this year, they were unsuccessful in hatching any young. This is the first time in the history of this nest site that young have not been produced and is in keeping with the lower productivity we have seen at nearly all nest sites in southern Ontario this year. This is where the vigilance of the monitoring the CPF does pays huge dividends in that we track these trends in productivity of this still recovering species year after year. The decades of experience, statistics and knowledge we now have allows us to immediately respond to negative trends and assist the Peregrine falcons breeding in southern Ontario, thus ensuring their future success in producing strong and healthy young. We look forward to seeing this pair continue to successfully breed at the MEC site next year as they did in the years past. As I currently watch this resident pair reaffirming their bond, I am very excited about seeing them with young in the next breeding season and I will continue to visit with them again next week so please check back for further updates.
Posted on October 1, 2011 9:38 pm
September 26, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
During my tours in the Etobicoke area delivering Project School Visit, I was able to drop in on the William Osler Hospital site and check in on Hurricane and O’Connor, the resident adult pair. The three juveniles, Rain, Wind and Storm, were not to be seen but the adults were both in attendance when I arrived. O’Connor, the female, was in the hydro tower keeping vigilant and Hurricane was inside the nest tray located behind the “H” sign looking like he’d lost the house keys ( or something to that effect )!! Hurricane was looking down into the tray, then around it, then back at O’Connor in the tower and finally down at his feet. He looked as though if he didn’t find what he was looking for and quick, that he’d be sleeping in the dog house tonight!! It would seem that this resident male really gets “empty nest syndrome” quite strongly and with a mate like O’Connor ( all business and tough as nails! ) he wouldn’t ever want to misplace one of the kids!! It would seem that he has forgotten that he and his mate successfully raised three young this year ( with the help of the CPF volunteer Fledge Watch team during the rescues of Wind and Storm ) and that they have already reached independence!
Almost as if to reassure him, O’Connor left the tower 5 minutes after Hurricane began his search and flew two recon flights of the hospital roof before landing on the sign above him. He greeted her with a series of ee-chups and bows at which time she joined him on the ledge where they sat together for a good ten minutes. As I left, both adults had left the ledge and were now perched opposite one another on the east facing “H” of the hospital. Both adults at this site are still regularly using the hospital as a night roost and rest spot and will continue to hold the territory long after the young have migrated. Although they won’t defend it as vigorously as a few months ago, I suspect that O’Connor and Hurricane will remain a strong presence for now. I look forward to seeing more of these two as my school program bookings continue to keep me very busy in the west end of the city. Congratulations to the William Osler Hospital for another successful year and a heartfelt thank you to all of the staff at the hospital and in security for making it possible!!
Posted on October 1, 2011 9:03 pm
