St. Mary’s Cement Peregrines; The Nest Page is Now Up and Running!!
August 01, 2012 - Bowmanville - St Mary's Cement
Tracy Simpson Reports:
These observations were made back in the spring and were not posted until now as we did not have a nest page for St. Mary’s Cement. With the nest page now up and ready, we will be catching you up on all of the latest news regarding the pair of peregrines nesting here. All of the observations that follow were written at the time they were made and are therefore a little dated but no less important. Enjoy!!
In the early spring, I had the pleasure of delivering our Project School Visit program to children in the Bowmanville area and decided one day, on my way back, to stop in at the St. Mary’s Cement location to talk to them about their peregrines. A pair of peregrine falcons has nested at this location for at least 5 years now but they had chosen to nest in an inaccessible location that we could not monitor or approach. I stopped in to see how the pair was doing and whether they were still in that location. When I arrived, I immediately caught sight of the resident female who was roosting on a section of the plant located next to their administrative offices. I went inside to find out more!
I met with the Environmental Manager for St. Mary’s Cement, Rueben Plaza, and we had a fantastic discussion about the location and success of their peregrines. For several years they had celebrated the production of young up until last year when at least one clutch of eggs failed to hatch. They started off 2012 with a clutch of four eggs and again, a lack of success. Rueben and his staff were concerned about the birds and he remarked that just recently the pair had changed locations and were now attempting another clutch. They are currently incubating an undisclosed number of eggs and, talons crossed, the pair will indeed hatch their eggs during this second round.
We discussed the possibility of a nest box and where one might be placed that would be a perfect location for the birds. It looked as though there were two potentially good locations and Rueben was very excited about the idea of a nest box installation. Thanks go out to St. Mary’s Cement staff for doing an outstanding job looking after their peregrines to date and we look forward to helping them achieve future success at the plant!
More to come…