!!! Oshawa Lakeridge Hospital banding success! A very healthy young female hatchling named Salveo!
July 12, 2014 - Oshawa - Oshawa Activity
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 12th - 2014
What a great day and a successful banding! A huge thank you to all of the Lakeridge Hospital staff and their administration for hosting the banding event and making the day such a great success! A big thank you goes out to Mark Heaton from the Aurora District of the Ministry of Natural Resources who gave up yet another one of his days off to come out and band Oshawa Lakeridge Hospital’s newest resident, a young female peregrine hatchling that was produced by Oshawa’s first resident pair of peregrine falcons!
A huge thank you to the CPF team, Marion Nash, Tracy Simpson and Kathy Smith who also gave up yet another weekend of their time to pull this event together from our end to ensure that the young hatchling was extracted and returned back to her parents on the upper roof top.
Shortly after 10am, a huge crowd assembled down in the main lobby of the Lakeridge hospital, and by 10:20am, the star attraction had finally arrived from the roof. The entire outside rooftop nest ledge was viewed live from a colour GoPro camera worn by Tracy and Kathy that was displayed live-real-time on a large flat screen colour monitor that the hospital set up in the lobby beside the banding table to allow live viewing of the rooftop happenings.
Tracy and Kathy from the CPF were responsible this go-round to both safely extract the young peregrine hatchling from the upper roof elevation and to then remain on the upper oputside nest ledge elevation to distract both of the resident adult peregrine parents so that they wouldn’t realize that their young hatchling was missing during its absence for the banding. Marion from the CPF manned the banding table this banding to assist Mark Heaton from the MNR to do the banding.
Mark Nash from the CPF manned the mic and public address system to walk the audience through the banding procedure and to answer any questions throughout the banding event, and to take some of the photos to document the event.
A big thank you to Walter Raemisch who sent us some great photos of little SALVEO during her banding! Thank you Walter!
The particulars: The young hatchling was weighed, checked for its health, and successfully banded and named without incident and safely returned back it parents.
The little female hatchling, - now 28 days old,, (now identified clearly as a female, weighed 910 grams and was named “Salveo” by the hospital staff after a name the chick contest was completed). The name Salveo means “To be well, To be in good health”),, and that couldn’t have been any further from the truth, as she was a very healthy baby peregrine hatchling indeed!
She was banded with a Solid Black Canadian Recovery leg band number - Y over 90 and in typical fashion, a small piece of coloured Red tape was applied to her Silver USFW band so she can be easily identified at distance during her fledge period.
Tracy was able to confirm via photographs that she was able to take at the nest ledge level after the extraction that her two parents are in fact Simcoe and Alfrieda, confirmed via their leg band numbers.
Ernest (Earnie) Schouwerwou was on hand (the hospital staffer that first discovered the peregrines on the hospital less than a week ago) to help with the banding and was able to hold little Salveo during the banding process.
A great day indeed, with an incredible team of people that really scrambled in very short notice to make this all happen!!
The hospital has agreed to work with CPF and plans are now underway to have CPF manufacture and install a proper nest box on the hospital for their resident peregrines thus ensuring that they have more accommodating nesting conditions down the road.
As we have long since learned, with that of many of the urban nest sites, that a properly constructed nest box with the appropriate nesting sub-straight and drainage can make the difference from a total failure (or partial hatch) to a much better situation for the nesting adults, and increased production and success rate for the adults. There was also talk of a nest camera which would be a very welcomed addition to the nest, as it provides a great management tool to help with the logistics and management of the nest, in addition to being an incredible educational opportunity for all!
Stay tuned……………….
