!!! Rogers centre fledgling rescued AGAIN for the second time, this time from the mechnical room at the Toronto Renaissance Hotel - at the Rogers Centre!
July 22, 2014 - Toronto - Rogers Centre
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 22rd - 2014
Well, tisssss the time of year when we have to deal with all of the goofy fledglings as they get into other kinds of other new trouble. At this stage of their development, they have now survived collisions with the windows and buildings, managed to hold their altitude and no longer need to be rescued from the ground. So, you think that their all going to be ok now, right,,, WRONG!!
A typical example of the “kids” getting into other trouble. Remembering, that the only life skills they have, is what their parents have been able to teach them so far, this in addition to the things that they themselves have experienced so far, (the things that haven’t already killed or injured them so far)! Going down ventilation shafts after food was obviously not part of the lessons. But juveniles will be juveniles, and that’s exactly what happened to little BJ.
So, the little fledgling that was named “BJ” by the Rogers centre staff after BJ the Blue Jays Birdie mascot,, - (banded by the OMNR several weeks ago after being rescued by CPF when she came to the ground below the Rogers centre nest),,,,,, - chased a pigeon across the Toronto Renaissance Hotel rooftop, (the same hotel that is attached to the Roger centre itself), and like many careless inexperienced children, slipped and fell down into a ventilation shaft, falling down several floors within the building and ended up inside the mechanical and boiler room within the hotel.
This situation is one that is not a isolated incident, as it brings up a not so distant memory of yet another juvenile fledgling peregrine falcon from the Toronto Sheraton Hotel nest site several years ago that ended up trapped in the mechanical room at the Zurich building, just south west of the Toronto Sheraton hotel. (That rescue took two entire days to capture her up and involved five CPF staff members)!
Thank goodness for the quick and caring actions of Alex, one of the hotels engineers who spotted the young peregrine high up on one of the pipes and was quick to call the CPF. Arrangements were make to accommodate the CPF, and both Mark and Marion from the CPF drove down to the Renaissance Hotel in an effort to rescue her.
Upon their arrival and being escorted to the upper mechanical room, the young juvenile peregrine was finally located (only after about 20 minutes of searching the upper pipes with a flashlight, up some 15 plus feet high up within the large mechanical area). With Alex’s assistance along with several members of engineering staff ,, and some very tall ladders, the young peregrine juvenile - “BJ”, was eventually netted and recovered safely.
After a quick examination, BJ was deemed quite healthy, un-injured and cleared for immediate release. So, over to the Rogers Centre after a quick call to Dave McCormick, the Manager of Engineering at the Rogers Centre. He made arrangements to receive Mark and Marion, and was met by Lee who took them up to the Rogers Centre roof on the walkway above the nest ledge so that BJ could be released back to her parents care. A familiar location that Mark has been earlier where BJ was released after her first rescue.
It is worth noting, that upon their arrival to the upper roof area, they were delighted to see two of the other fledglings chasing one of their adult parents for food, so we know that at least two of the other three fledglings have survived. There were four hatchlings produced at the Rogers centre nest site this season.
BJ flew strong right out of the carrier without missing a wing beat and out of their view behind one of the roof retaining walls.
Sadly, we were unable to verify an exact hatch date in time (and get the age of the hatchlings in time to arrange a banding). We were able to band little “BJ” as she was named when she ended up needing to be rescued several weeks ago.
A huge thank you to the Alex and all of his team at the Renaissance Hotel, and to the great folks at the Rogers centre who have been more than accommodating to both the nesting peregrines and the CPF in our efforts to deal with this peregrine nest site.
Another big thank you to Edna, one of the residences of the condos to the west of the Rogers Centre that overlooks the nest ledge, who supplied the photos of the nest ledge and the four hatchlings that were produced at the Rogers centre nest this season.
