May 9th - 2013
Another good shot just in by Armando, this time showing mom feeding her three new family members.
May 7th - 2013
I visited the Holcim plant yesterday and at first didn’t see any peregrines but when I turned around to leave I noticed that one had landed on the “nest ledge”. It stayed there for a few minutes then did a fly by around the plant and landed again on the nest ledge. It then disappeared onto the level where the nest is and went out of sight. A peregrine then appeared and did another pass around the plant and landed under the structure where the nest is. There must have been a food cache there because it picked up some food and then carried back and forth then stashed it again. I think it was the male Storm because it has bands on both legs. I don’t have a scope so did the zoom zoom on my camera and this was the best I came up with.
It was great to see him again and now I know of another place I can look for them. Definitely out of sight for the naked eye.
I will be out that way again on Friday so will check in then to see what I can see.
Marg Nelson
May 13th - 2013
A huge thank you to Armando for sending us these most recent photos of Holcim’s newest family members.
While I have been away in northern Ontario for the past 9 nine weeks, allot has been happening during my absence.
Some great shots arrived this morning that tell the story.
Armando writes:
Hi Mark,
Just a quick note to confirm (I think) from this image that we have 4 chicks. From the best that I can see in the pic looks like 4 little bodies. 
We are monitoring them daily.
Enjoy
Armando
We just received word from the great staff at Holcim that Caspian and Storm are the parents of three little ones with one to go!! This is excellent news and we look forward to the hatching of the final egg. Congratulations Holcim for another fantastic spring hatch!!!
April 30th - 2013
We have just received word from Holcim that they have confirmed that there is 4 eggs in the nest bowl! This is great news.
Congratulations Holcim!
This weekend Bruce and I decided on a check up of Storm and Caspian at Holcim Cement after the juvenile intrusion last week. When we arrived there were no peregrines in view and so we scanned about for a roosting adult. Nothing. We continued to search the plant and all of the usual perches. Nada! I sat down on the sidewalk on Avonhead Road and decided that I would relax and enjoy my coffee before we headed back to the Raptor Centre and call it a day. Just then, a bird came whipping over the top of the Holcim fence no more than 12 feet off of the ground, skimmed the top of the fence on our side of the road and then swooped along the contour of the berm to the other side. Now at first all I caught was grey and big so the first thing I am thinking, based on flight style, is that this is a Cooper’s hawk. I saw the starlings and blackbirds scatter on the other side of the berm and knew the bird was circling back. Right over the top of the fence comes the little stealth bomber… …it’s Storm!!! With a mouthful of coffee I could barely get out “peregrine” and just waved and grunted until Bruce caught sight of him. Storm went low over the Holcim fence and then coursed along the front of the small silos facing Avonhead Road and circled back into the heart of the plant. WOW!! That was cool!! Bruce started walking up the road to see if he could spot Storm hunting over the main plant area and just as he was well out of earshot, here comes Storm again! He flew down through the center of the plant, under the conveyor, barely over the top of the fence, across the road at 12 feet and back along the far side of the berm! This show of stealth, control and use of the natural contours of the land for cover was outstanding!! I waved madly at Bruce but he couldn’t hear me and so when Storm came whipping back through, I was the only one to catch sight of it. He crossed to the Holcim plant and swooped up to the nest ledge, said a quick hello to his girl and he was off to the roof of the low silos. He sat there for about 5 minutes preening before he was off again into the heart of the Holcim plant and out of view.
Incredible!! Awesome!! Not enough expletives to describe the technique we were able to witness by Storm. Bravo young man, bravo!!!!!
I had the distinct honor of attending the Holcim Cement Earth Week event on Tuesday at the plant and spent time with the employees sharing the Canadian Peregrine Foundation’s passion for raptor species at risk with them. In attendance with me was Oscar the Peregrine and Alexandra the Great Horned owl; I think they were both a hit! After the event, I headed out to the parking lot and looked up to see a peregrine flying in from the west over the parking lot. I grabbed my camera and took a couple of quick shots before this female in the air moved out of range. I watched her soaring over towards Avonhead Road and so I decided to spend some time watching the resident pair, Storm and Caspian, as they continue to incubate a clutch of eggs. When I reached my watch spot, the resident female Caspian was out of my view, presumably now on the nest ledge incubating, and Storm was not in the immediate area. It wasn’t long before Storm came racing in like a shot and swung behind the silos low and out of my view. I looked to the north end of the silos to see if he would make his way back around but what now flew towards me was a female. ??????????
So who was incubating the eggs? Before I could finish that thought, Storm came screaming in from the north and met the female in the air. This was not “happiness to see you”. The two tussled in the air for a brief moment and upon release of the talon lock, Storm flipped and grabbed her right by the chest! The female howled at this contact and tried her best to make a hasty retreat to the north with Storm now hot on her tail. ???????????
Now I’m befuddled. I have lost sight of both birds and there is clearly no love lost between them. I quickly grabbed my camera to review the pictures and you’re just not going to believe this. The female I have photos of is… …a juvenile!! I know you’ve heard me tell this same story now half a dozen times but I can only tell you what I see and can prove with certainty. I stayed on site and waited for the two to return but it was Storm who came back alone, made a brief circle flight above the nest ledge and then flew to the top of the highest peak on the main plant. There he sat, for a while, until he was once again off like a shot to the southwest. I waited again for his return and he came back alright… …chasing the juvenile female through the territory and out to the east. Again he returned alone after 15 minutes and back to the peak of the plant he went. The peace lasted all of 20 minutes and boom!!!… …off goes Storm to the north and out of view. After 10 minutes he was back again and in pursuit again of the juvenile female out over Avonhead Road. This last intrusion finally brought Caspian off the nest ledge and she was furious. I now had three falcons in the air as the two adults escorted this pesky juvenile off the edge of the territory to the south. Caspian broke away from the chase and beat a hasty retreat back onto the ledge and her eggs. This time Storm stayed away from the territory for a good 30 minutes before returning to a smack down drag em out fight with a Red Tailed hawk, the hawk quickly deciding that Storm was way too enraged to mess with. He stooped and smacked this Red Tailed a half a dozen times before trying to grab it by the face. Fury times 10!! The Red Tailed moved out as fast as it could get gone and Storm finally returned to the peak of the plant where he remained in position as I finally pulled away. Phew!!!!!!!!
I have a lot of pictures to review but I can say for certain that the story of the pesky juvenile is being told at nest sites all over southern Ontario. I will be taking a very close look to see whether this juvenile has bands and if conspicuous red tape appears on her left one as it did in Port Colborne. I will also now be pulling out all of the pictures from all of the sites that a juvenile female has been seen at this year so far (William Osler, Burlington, Port Colborne, Brampton, St. Mary’s, Hearn and now at Holcim) and checking closely to see if we have a single bird working the lower province or if these are different young girls looking to make a name and a nest for themselves. In Port Colborne, we believe based on the band configuration and colours that the juvenile is Lucky Seven from the Niagara Gorge nest last year. If it is in fact her visiting all of these sites, she better take care who she chooses to challenge. We have some pretty tough resident adult females out there and the males are taking her on as well. Today Storm made his opinion abundantly clear and she was lucky that Caspian was otherwise occupied.
Pictures soon to follow.
April 11th - 2013
A big thank you to Armando for the shot of the nest showing the resident adult female down hard on incubation duties. While we don’t know as yet how many eggs are in the nest bowl as the colder weather has had most all of the peregrines down full time on the egg(s) from the get-go.
we’ll have to wait and see for more photos as time goes on to see just how many eggs have been produced.
Also, I have included some of the photos that we were able to do a site visit back in late March when we observed the two resident adults mating.
Stay tuned…….
A huge thank you to Barb and Armando at Holcim Cement for sending us an update on their peregrines. Armando was able to get a look at the nest site the other day and confirm incubation by the pair. This is exciting news and we look forward to another great year at the Holcim site. The CPF will be celebrating Earth Day with Holcim at their plant event and we will have further updates and news on Caspian and Storm’s progress!! Thanks again to Barb and Armando!
March 24th - 2013
A quick stop in at the Holcim nest site and found both resident adults in full view involved in more courtship activities. Both residents appear to be the same birds as last year as their leg band numbers and leg band colour configuration are the same as last year.
The resident adult Male is banded with a solid Black 94 over D and does have a silver USFW band on the other leg. The resident adult female has a Black over Green band and does not have a USFW band on the other leg.
Sadly, I was not able to get a clear enough photo to read her Black over Green band.
No incubation activity observed as yet, but given the amount of copulation activity we have observed over the past week, the pair are very close to egg production.
Stay tuned………..
