St. Mary’s Resident Adults Both Visible
May 10, 2013 - Bowmanville - St Mary's Cement
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I stopped in at the St. Mary’s Cement plant in Bowmanville on May 9th to check in on Buffy and Legacy and whether they were still attempting to nest this year. When I arrived, I checked in with Ruben and then travelled out to the silos where the pair is most often and most readily seen. When I arrived I found Legacy on the very top of the building that spans the silos preening and sleeping. I searched the silos to the west where Buffy often will roost and was unable to find her. I checked the top of the silos beneath where Legacy was perched and still no luck. This area has a ledge where Legacy and Buffy successfully raised at least two offspring last year and was their ledge of interest this season as well. With no sign of Buffy in the ledge I started to search the ladders and platforms of the silo on which Legacy sat and found her roosting the day away. She was initially tucked out of my view behind a pipe and was well concealed in her position. If I moved just a few feet to the left or right she was completely hidden. I spoke to a few of the St. Mary’s staff that indicated the pair are clearly still defending these silos as their chosen site but the presence of both adults in view meant that eggs were not being incubated at this time. I stayed and monitored for an hour and a half to see if either adult entered the ledge at the top of the silo but neither of them made a move towards it. Both resident adults preened and slept during my entire observation period and showed no interest in the ledge at all. As I was reading myself to check out, Legacy left the top of the span on a hunt to the north and out of my view. Buffy did not follow but instead remained on her perch preening and sleeping enjoying the cool breeze coming off of the lake.
Given that both resident adults were present and visible for an extended period of time, we can safely say that they are currently not seriously incubating eggs. During my visit they did not mate nor enter the ledge but still remained close to each other and near to their chosen site. As with several other sites this year, this resident pair have also had to deal with the disruption of a pestering juvenile / sub-adult in their territory that may have affected the nesting season for them. It is still not too late to re-clutch and we will continue to monitor the pair throughout the remainder of the spring. A huge thank you to St. Mary’s Cement for being such great hosts to this peregrine pair and we look forward to Buffy and Legacy’s continued progress here.