I managed to snap this shot via the web cam at 5 pm. French time. My, how they have grown.
A quick visit today during a short break in the rain paid off. With a very quiet approach once we got to the roof, also paid off. Just as we arrived at the nest ledge, the clouds moved away and the sun appeared and lit up the entire building. We got really lucky indeed and the photos say it all!
Our approach was so quiet and with the sun at our backs, I managed to capture a few shots of Linn and her 3 new family members before she caught wind me. From that point onwards, our visit got progressively more interesting and intense!
It only took Linn but a second to take flight from the corner of the nest ledge where she was sunny herself with her three new hatchlings, and from that point onwards, both Paul and I spend the entire time scrambling and ducking to get to the access door and and to the safety of the concrete walls.
Linn is most certainly a Mariah offspring!! I have felt the wrath of Mariah during my visits to Rochester NY while I was atop of the Kodak tower with the DEC when we satellite tagging, and I can tell you that Linn is a full contact body hitting peregrine, just like her mother!!! Fierce and feisty! No pain, no gain type of gal!
We were asked to leave the roof area by Linn, and we obliged her,,, VERY QUICKLY!!
After spending a great morning at the Hamilton Sheraton banding, Frank and I stopped in at the Mississauga Executive Centre to check in on the resident pair and the status of the eggs that they have been incubating. It was on May 21st that I noticed that the pair had gone from incubating three eggs to only two. From initial observation of appearance of eggs on March 30th, this would indicate that we are now at day 63 of incubation. Is this a second clutch or a well past due first clutch? We will continue to monitor this site and keep you up to date on the events as they unfold.
For all of the folks that have been looking for past postings and were unable to locate them, I have reposted them to the new Brampton Courthouse page for your reading. The dates will be bolded for ease of locating them.
On Monday May 30th, I was on-site at the Brampton Courthouse to confirm my recent sighting of the peregrine pair in an change over at their selected southwest ledge. I entered the building and once I was through the security checks, I was able to meet with Ed Czuchnicki, the Senior Facility Manager Central Region Zone A for CB Richard Ellis Ltd, ORC Property and Land Management Services. I was pleasantly surprised to hear how excited the staff at the courthouse were to have a pair of peregrine falcons nesting on their building. According to Mr. Czuchnicki and his staff, this is the second year that the birds have nested at this site. I was able to gain access with Mr. Czucknicki to the window that overlooks the area in which I suspected that the birds were nesting and was rewarded with a view of Milton, the resident male, in incubation on the ledge. Milton then stood up and gave me the opportunity to view the two eggs that he was diligently caring for!! This is certainly exciting news as there has been a change in resident females since the territory was first occupied in the early spring. Initially the resident female was unbanded as can be seen in photographs taken back in March. The current resident female is Truss, a 2009 hatch from the Burlington Lift Bridge. The CPF will be working with our latest peregrine supporters at the Brampton Courthouse to make this nest site a huge success for all in 2011.
First off I would like to apologize for the lack of posts as I have been at a banding event every day and it seems in every corner of the province!! It has been wonderful to be able to celebrate these banding events as another opportunity to participate in the monitoring of this species at risk and equally exhausting!! Here is the update that we have all been anxiously awaiting.
There has certainly been much to watch at the Canada Square nest site and we have been documenting a great deal of behaviour observed between the new male and the resident female. One of the best observations came from Neil Armstrong of Northern Realty Advisors Ltd when he checked on the three chicks from the observation room on Monday May 30th. The new male was on the ledge with the chicks alone for a full five minutes and he exhibited nothing but curiosity for the young ones. Thanks to Neil we were able to get a band number and confirm that the new male on-site is none other than Stormin’, a 2009 hatch from the Toronto Sheraton Hotel. Stormin’ has been spotted several times over the past year in the Warden and Eglinton area as well as several other places throughout the east GTA. His tenacity paid off with a territory to call his own that came furnished with a female and chicks already in place!!
The next big step for this male would be to adopt the young as his own by participating in not just the defence of the site and young but food provision as well. Bruce and Lyn have been attending regularly in the hopes of witnessing such an event and their efforts were rewarded today with an observation of Stormin’ flying up to the nest ledge with food!! The resident female flew into the ledge and demanded he hand it over which he relinquished half heartedly. The female then proceeded into the ledge to feed the chicks and Stormin’ took this as his cue to leave. It is now clear that Stormin’ has accepted the role of resident male at the Canada Square nest site and is participating in the rearing of the young family. From the vacancy of the territory left by the death of Irving to the adoption of the family by the new male Stormin’, the change over came full circle in a matter of 12 days. A huge thank you goes out to Bruce, Lyn and Neil Armstrong at Northern Realty Advisors Ltd for all of their efforts in documenting this event so thoroughly.
Yesterday was banding day for our little threesome! Angel was her usual fierce self and Jack did show up a few times to cheer mom on and give her some vocal support.
All three weighed 700 grams and all were estimated to be 27 days old. Because they fell in the 650-750 range it took a bit of measuring to determine between female and male although vocalizations or lack thereof certainly added to the final verdict!
We have two girls - Skye and Hera, both of who seemed to have inherited their mother’s vocal powers! And our quiet one was deemed to be male and named Jupiter!
June 3rd 2011
I caught this picture of the eldest female (can’t quite tell between green & blue tape on cam) showing off her wings this morning. Aren’t they just magnificent!
Regards-Eileen
Today was the big day for our two peregrine hatchlings at 18 King St. East.
Here is a brief outline of today’s event with much more detailed information and photos to follow as soon as it is made available.
Mark Nash of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation emceed the event with many tenants, dedicated volunteers and The Toronto Council Fire of the Native Cultural Centre, were in attendance to see these wonderful birds.
The weather could not have been better. Clear skies, warm temps and light winds made for the perfect day.
As the swing stage made it way to the nest ledge, both peregrine adults made sure of their territory with swoops and stoops and vocalizations.
Two young ones were temporarily removed from the nesting area to be banded by Mark Heaton, Senior Biologist of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
One female and one male both received identification bands placed on the left leg.While a silver US wildlife band was placed on the right leg of both birds.
Full of white downy fluff, the two tolerated the painless banding very well with little vocalization. They were given names provided by a school children in Japan in memory of the devastating earthquake and Tsunami that occured a few months ago.
Many thanks to Sandra Celli of Avison and Young, along with Slate Properties for being long time guardians of the historical 18 King St. nest site. Special thanks to John Mederios for his unending support for the volunteers.
Photos to follow. Keep Tuned
The young hatchlings will be banded today at 2pm. The banding event will be held in the lobby of the east tower. Observation reports and photos will follow later today after the banding event.
Stay tuned……
The young hatchlings will be banded today at 10am. Observation reports and photos will follow later today after the banding event.
Stay tuned……