June 09, 2017 - International, National and Local News
Marion Nash Reports:
Thanks to all the staff at Pickering Nuclear Generating Station we had another successful banding of 4 healthy peregrine nestlings. It was wonderful to see so many staff June 9th 2017
out to be part of, watch and assist us in the banding. Not only for their help in accessing the nest with a lift truck and operator but to navigate us through all the security and safety requirements to get this work done. Thank s to everyone involved!!!
Here is the information and photos of the newest addition to the OPG PNG peregrine family.
female 940 grams at banding named Eva banded Z over 15 with Red Tape on the silver band
Male 655 grams at banding named Grey banded Y over 48 with Blue tape on the silver band
Male 670 grams at banding named Becquerel banded X over 75 with green tape on silver band
Male 715 grams at banding named Fission banded X over 76 with White tape on silver band
As the chicks are 19 to 23 days old now we expect the first to fledge in about 12 to 14 days good luck to them all!
Posted on June 11, 2017 2:26 am
June 03, 2017 - International, National and Local News
Marion Nash Reports:
Reports have come in from the staff at the quarry of 2 hatchlings in the nest box. We are working out logistics to band them next week stay tuned for information and Photos.
Posted on June 3, 2017 9:02 pm
May 25, 2017 - International, National and Local News
Marion Nash Reports:
May 16th – 2017
Hi Mark, Richard and I checked in on Joe and Virginia on our way back from Pelee. Doesn’t look like a hatch yet. We watched for an hour and she didn’t move. Joe sat nearby on a tree. We’ll check again soon and keep you posted. Cheers,
Lucie
Posted on May 25, 2017 8:35 pm
May 09, 2017 - International, National and Local News
Marion Nash Reports:
Sunday May 9th – 2017
Hi Mark!
Richard and I are in Beachville. Looks like there are eggs!
We have confirmed by their leg band numbers that it’s still the same resident adult pair Joe and Virginia!!
Lucie
Posted on May 25, 2017 6:39 pm
May 01, 2017 - International, National and Local News
Marion Nash Reports:
May 1st 2017
Banding day has been set for June 9th at 9:30 AM
Posted on May 1, 2017 4:42 pm
July 27, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Cathy Kerr Reports:
Lucie reports:
I was thrilled that Cathy Kerr wanted to accompany me to Beachville so we did a road trip on Saturday, July 2!
My contact from Woodstock had informed me that the juveniles took their first flight just a couple of days earlier!
The weather was super, just the right mix of sun and cloud. It can get hot sitting in the parking lot, so some cloud cover is refreshing. Being a long weekend, it was also pretty quiet. You could hear the humming coming from the hydrator, a sound I’ve come to consider as quite soothing.
When we arrived around 1:30 we found both juveniles chilling out on the hydrator tower where they stayed ALL afternoon.
Just the occasional wing flapping and some vocal activity.
Joe and Virginia were always close by and provided us with some entertainment as they chased after a bald eagle that was passing overhead. A bald eagle .. awesome!! The fact that it was pretty high up didn’t matter and still warranted those warning calls from the parents.
We left around 5:00 to grab some dinner and when we returned about an hour later, the kids were scampering around on the low-rise maintenance building. They stayed on the roof for pretty much the rest of the evening. More wing flapping, dinner served, a little exploring and and then a stroll along the top of the long building.
Finally! We were able to witness a take off and flight! How wonderful! And then they disappeared, landing somewhere out of our sight. We we called it a night around 7:30.
We look forward to going back soon and hopefully witnessing some hunting lessons.
Posted on July 27, 2016 10:44 pm
June 19, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
June 16th - 2016
A big thank you to Lucie for being able to get back down to the Beachville nest site this week. Her efforts paid off for some good photos of the family that were captured and observed.
Included are some of her pictures from her Thursday’s visit to Beachville. After looking very closely at Lucie’s photos of the hatchlings, it would appear that there maybe one male and one female, with the older more advanced hatchling on the right as evident of the more advanced juvenile flight feathers poking out through its white down.
Two babies, looking to be 26+ days old, ready to fledge within 2 weeks!
I arrived at 11:30am. I was hoping the rain would stop soon and it did thankfully. I was able to watch the resident adult female Virginia and the kids in the nest and got a pic when they were having a real family vocal moment.
It was pretty much quiet all day. Joe (the resident adult male) was around off and on all day, but away from the nest. When he and Virginia took a flight around the nest, it got the kids’ attention, so I was able to get a few good pictures.
I thought it was funny when a great blue heron flew quite close to the nest box. It was just the babies in it and as I watched through the scope, I saw their eyes following the heron.
Also, the beam from last visit is now gone. It was where the food prep area was.
During the afternoon, around 2:30, a Carmeuse employee came by to ask me a question, and while talking, I missed Virginia flying into the nest with a starling. When I look through my scope, I saw her plucking the bird in front of the kids! They were even trying pull the bird from her and I saw one of the chicks with a feather in its beak.
Around 5:30 I saw Joe come in and land on a nearby post. He remained there until around 7:00 when he and Virginia took off together. That’s when I packed up and departed for home.
Cheers,
Lucie
Posted on June 19, 2016 3:27 pm
June 14, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
June 14th - 2016
We have some exciting news to report in that we have finally been able to confirm at least two eggs have hatched in the new CPF nest box atop of the peregrine nesting tower at the Beachville quarry!
Lucie has returned back from England and will down at the Beachville site tomorrow (June 16th) armed with camera in hand so stay tuned……
We look forward to some additional photos as soon as they become available.
Posted on June 15, 2016 9:11 am
May 23, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
May 23rd - 2016
Some additional photos of Joe and Virginia from Lucie that she was able to send to us from the UK where she is currently on vacation.
Have a great holiday Lucie!
It almost looks like the resident male “Joe” is trying to convince his mate “Virginia” that he did this all himself,, (build the new home and put up the tower just for her) 
While I don’t think that she’s buying it,, she has obviously approved and decided to lay her eggs in it.
Hopefully, we will be able to see just how many hatchlings the pair have produced as soon as they get large enough. .
Congratulations are in order for a successful hatch!
Stay tuned……………….
Posted on June 2, 2016 5:09 pm
May 24, 2016 - International, National and Local News
Mark Nash Reports:
May 23rd - 2016
Hello All
We have some great news to report with a huge thanks to Lucie for all of her efforts!! Lucie was down to the Beachville nest site again over the long weekend and has confirmed a hatch!! While we have no way of knowing how many of the eggs have hatched,, the observation report that Lucie filed over the weekend has confirmed that the Beachville resident pair are tending to a recent hatch! While they are much too small to be seen from our site lines on the ground, food was delivered by Joe, (the resident adult male) to the nest box and to the brooding adult female (Virginia) on several occasions during Lucy’s watch.
Congratulations are in order for everyone’s hard work and incredible stewardship!!!
She was also able to confirm that both residents are the same pair as last year,, with Joe Black 48 over Y and Virginia 76 over AX Good going Lucie!!!
It has been a long road so to speak, with the new nest box and a new tower nesting situation for the Carmeuse Quarries peregrines,, but the story as they say, is history now. Having successfully convinced the resident adult peregrines to utilize the new CPF nesting box atop of the new tower several hundred feet from the original nest site on the lime silos accounts for yet another successful project,, that with the support of the great folks at Carmeuse Lime & Stone quarries just outside of Beachville Ontario, its been a win - win situation for all!
A lot of planning, manpower and resources, including that of allot of “time-in” has once again paid off! The nest box was installed on the top of one of the old conveyer tower supports via crane back in November 2015 by CPF and Carmeuse employees. The nest box was manufactured earlier in October 2015 by the Canadian Peregrine Foundation at the CPF raptor centre in Vaughan and transported down to the Carmeuse quarry on the day of the install.
With funding and other important resources, (additional manpower, a lift bucket and a crane) provided Carmeuse quarries, we braved the cold and heights to install the new nest box atop of the modified tower. After properly preparing the new nest box, it was secured and bolted in place atop of the tower. This with both resident peregrines watching closely from their usual roosting spots on the old silos. We did get several fly-bys by both resident adults as they watched closely throughout the entire install.
Stay tuned for further updates…..
Posted on May 30, 2016 12:16 pm
