Morning Shift: At 9:15 I had all four boys in view. Three were
being fed by Rhea Mae and one was perched nearby, watching. All
four are very high up. There was no serious flying seen but just
visits to adjacent buildings. This is good as we had showers off
and on all morning.
May 15th - 2012
Hi All,
I was able to snap a few good shots of the Sheraton nest site today. One great family shot and a couple of feeding time.
Thanks
Jesse Mighton
While poking around the internet,I found this article posted at e! Science News. So all will see it,it is being posted on each of our nestsite pages. This is too important to miss.
The original article can be seen here: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/04/18/new.pollutants.detected.peregrine.falcon.eggs
Flame retardants are chemical compounds added to fabrics and plastics to keep them from burning easily, but these can be toxic. Now a team of researchers from Spain and Canada has detected some of these emerging pollutants for the first time in peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) eggs in both countries. “The presence of ‘dechlorane plus’ and other related, chlorinated compounds used as flame retardants have been detected for the first time in the European biota (flora and fauna of the region)”, explains Ethel Eljarrat, co-author of the study and scientist at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Studies (IDAEA-CSIC, Spain).
The researchers have found these substances in peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) eggs in both Spain and Canada. The flame retardants are often added to textiles, electronic circuits and other products to inhibit or resist the spread of fire, but can be transferred to the environment.
In nature these compounds are “bioaccumulating and bioconcentrating” all along the food chain, as evidenced by the research published in the Environmental Science & Technology journal. The international research team for this study was led by Begoña Jiménez of the Institute of Organic Chemistry (CSIC, Spain), and Environment Canada researchers, Kim Fernie and Mehran Alaee.
Having received the relevant permits, eggs that had failed to hatch from various active falcon nests in Canada and Spain, were collected. The collection involved 13 eggs from Spain (five in Guadalajara – a territory representative of an inland habitat of the Iberian Peninsula - and eight in Bilbao - representing a coastal environment), and 12 eggs from Canada (Great Lakes Region and Eastern provinces).
The levels of some of the measured contaminants have been found to be somewhat higher in Bilbao than in Guadalajara, and the authors believe this may be due partially to the difference in the falcons’ diet: more aquatic in the former and more terrestrial in the latter. In fact, if fish is highly contaminated, peregrines would accumulate more of the harmful substances. While peregrine falcons do not eat fish, they prey upon other birds, some of which may eat fish.
Selecting the peregrine falcon was no accident. This species was endangered in many areas of the northern hemisphere due to the use of organochlorinated pesticides, particularly DDT, though when this was prohibited in the 1970s the populations recovered. Furthermore, falcons are at the top end of the food chain and accumulate substances carried by their prey.
Highest levels in the Canadian samples
The results reveal that the concentrations of ‘dechlorane plus’ and some of the other chlorinated halogens were “significantly higher” in the Canadian falcons’ eggs than in those of Spain. The reason for this could be that the industry that has manufactured these compounds for decades (although they are now also produced in China) is located in New York State close to the area where samples were collected. In addition, the use of these compounds has generally been higher in North America than Europe.
The researcher acknowledges that the effects that these flame retardants may have on the falcons’ eggs or on their development are still unknown, “but their detection is a first step”. These are emerging pollutants, which comprise both those which have appeared more recently and those that have been used for a long time but are just lately the subject of environmental interest.
Other flame retardants, including some brominated flame retardants, have already been confirmed as toxic endocrine disruptors, and their use has been prohibited in some of the commercial mixes in Europe and America. Furthermore, they are candidates for inclusion on a list of Persistent Organic Pollutants to be eliminated, a list compiled by the Stockholm Convention which includes other pollutants such as DDT or dioxins.
This study forms part of the doctoral thesis submitted this month by the researcher Paula Guerra from IDAEA on “The analysis of emerging halogenated flame retardants and their impact on the environment and on humans”. All of the eggs were analyzed by her during her exchange studies at Environment Canada.
A research group at IDAEA led by Damià Barceló has also confirmed the presence of these compounds in sediment and fish in the rivers of the Ebro basin (Spain). Source:FECYT-Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
Over the past few days, lots of activity seen from the local Red tailed Hawks and the peregrines. As Harry has reported the peregrines frequent the condo buildings and office towers in the area of Bay/Bloor Sts. Today a single peregrine came from the north side of Bloor and Avenue Road and headed South towards Charles Street. The peregrines seen to be defending this area, as the other day a single peregrine was pushing the local Red Tailed Hawk away from the Manulife Building.
If you have photos of any of the CPF monitored nest sites, birds or fledglings in this exciting time, we would love to see them! If you have older photos or videos from CPF events, like the 2009 Sportsman show, we would love to see those too.
We’ve got a flickr group that you can upload photos and short videos to. If you have longer videos, upload them to youtube and tag them with cpf and peregrine and I will find them.
Example shot from the Sheraton Banding in the Flickr Pool -
We might include some of the videos or photos in our updates, or around the site. You could be famous!
Matt.
At 5:03pm, two peregrines flew past my living room window heading
west. The female was carrying a pigeon and the male was along for
the ride. She landed on the north-east corner of the roof of 1057
Bay, directly above the Tim Horton’s and proceeded to prepare her
meal. The male disappeared. This is the first time I’ve seen a
peregrine in this location. Usually, they prefer the taller
building next door, 77 Bloor West. Peregrines continue to be seen
in the area but not as frequently as in the past.
With a huge thank you to Kariann in Michigan USA, we have received some great news about Miriam and Tonga, two Canadian produced peregrines that have not only beat the mortality odds of survival, but have continued to go on and produce their own families in the USA.
Miriam (blk 89/H) successfully hatched three male peregrines last season in 2008 and is still paired with the same male (Allegro) at the Whittier Apartments in Detroit Michigan. She is currently incubating. Tonga (blk 85/H) successfully hatched three peregrines last season in 2008 (2 male and 1 female) and is still paired with an unbanded male at the Blue Water Bridge site in Port Huron Michigan. We have a new Peregrine nesting at our DTE Monroe Powerplant, we are yet to hear any origin information (blk 8/K).
Kariann, SE Michigan Peregrine Falcon Coordinator DNR.
Miriam was hacked-out and released to the wild from the CPF’s Richmond Hill Hack site in 2003, see CPF Project Track-Em and Project Release sections on the CPF web site at - http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/programs/trackem/track2003.html All 3 hacked birds survived and fledged and were closely monitored by the hack site attendants until they were finally hunting on their own and later disappeared by mid October of that year. Miriam was also involved in the CPF’s Project Track-Em and was tracked by satellite up and until she got into trouble in Detroit Mich. USA. Miriam was later found and rescued the following winter of 2003-2004 in Michigan USA during a bad winter storm of freezing rain and snow having been frozen by her tail to a concrete ledge of a office tower. She was rescued and spent a number of weeks in rehabilitation, and was later released back to the wild.
Tonga was produced at the Mississauga Ontario MEC nest site in 2003 and was one of the best fliers of the bunch. He has obviously survived the test of time and both of these birds continue to remind us all of the importance of banding for many reasons, in particular for the purpose of monitoring the species, and a reminder that the urban produced birds do in fact contribute to the restoration and recovery of the species - North American wide!
We wish both Miriam and Tonga continued success, and extremely pleased that they have chosen a home where they are so appreciated and so lovingly cared for by the great folks in Michigan USA.
I went searching for peregrine activity in the Yorkville area this
morning and found a male on the north-west corner of the roof of
the CIBC building at 10:14am. He was standing on the track that
supports the swing stage equipment. He was gone by 10:57am at which
time workers were on the roof of the nearby Marriott. At the same
time, I spotted the female. She was on the maroon strip of the west
CIBC logo. With binoculars, the body and head looked normal but
the breast colouring was off. I then dusted off my scope and took
it to street level. She is a sub-adult, likely one of last year’s
chicks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see if she was banded. She slept
most of the time and finally disappeared from view at 12:35pm.
Clearly, these birds are not Ranger and Hunter from last year. They
also take up different locations from the previous birds. I still
need to find out where they normally hang out.
At 8:07am, two peregrines appeared to come off the roof of 44
Charles West and headed to the north side of the CIBC building. A
couple of minutes later, one of them was circling just north of that
building. I checked the area just before 9am but couldn’t find
anything.
An adult male peregrine was on the west side of the CIBC building at
3:22pm and was feeding. No activity has been seen for several days
but food leftovers have been seen on both the west and south sides
of the CIBC building.