affordwatches

July 24th 2020 Scarborough nest site update: Sad news!

July 24, 2020 - Scarborough - Yellow Pages

Mark Nash Reports:

Sadly, I have bad news about the status of the Scarborough nest site as of my visit this afternoon.. Again a big thank you to Petra security for spending the time with me today as we meticulously checked all eight ledges for any evidence of a hatch.
The first clutch of three eggs still remains, still abandoned, and now quite sun-bleached almost pure white and look more like white chicken eggs. And to be very clear,, there are NO chickens here!
As we walked around the entire upper elevation of the building to check each of the eight ledge pockets, there was absolutely no visible evidence or sign of any “recent” peregrine activity,, all lacking the typical body-part remains of left-over prey or any fresh blood staining on any of the upper leading retaining wall ledges or ledge pockets. This along with the fact that there was no evidence of any fresh white-wash tells a story in itself! A strong indication that there has been no “recent” peregrine activity.
As we finally worked our way around to the ledge that has the more recent “second clutch of 4 eggs”, we quite expected to be greeted by at least the resident adult female, (which has been Linn from Rochester NY all these years), who was clearly identified during my last visit via her leg bands,, but sadly did not happen. Never have I NOT been “greeted” by Linn as she is usually VERY AGRESSIVE and always “IN MY FACE” during my visits over the years. Linn is NOT shy to express her displeasure,, and over the past years has become a “FULL CONTACT” gal!!!
Unfortunately, the 4 eggs in this second clutch of eggs remain unattended and have not hatched as of this date. They now remain more than 36 days old it would appear that they too have now been abandoned.
After more than 35 minutes on-site, we did not see a single peregrine! :-(
I will return one last time next week to re-confirm my observations and conclusion.
Mark
CPF