June 16, 2015 - Toronto - Rogers Centre
Mark Nash Reports:
June 16th - 2015
Banding day!
Ok, just when you think that it can’t get any more hectic, trust me,, it can! Remember, its peregrine seasons!!!
Rules of engagement and supplies needed, forget your social life, family and friends,, don’t bother to waste your money to shop for food, as you’ll never be home long enough to eat it before it goes bad, bring lots of extra change of cloths, (and a pillow) because your going to be sleeping allot in the car, don’t forget to pack several rescue carriers, several nets, a couple of brooms, your fall arrest harness, banding kit, safety boots and hard hat, plenty of gas money and credit cards and Oh yes, don’t make any other plans for about eight weeks, as your going to quite busy working, sleeping, eating in the field and on the road in your car as you will be making new feathered friends along the way! 
lol
Well OK, your new feathered friends won’t actually consider you to be their friends, so don’t forget to bring lots of alcohol pads and a box of band-aids, as your going to need them!
Shortly after making arrangements with Mark Heaton from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests, (who by the way had to rush off immediately after the Ontario Power Generation Pickering banding yesterday to travel to North Bay Ontario to attend a bear training course), to get his OK to petition Anne Yagi from the Vineland office of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for her support to band the two rescued Rogers Centre fledglings.
After tracking Anne on her day off and at the golf course, she agreed to finish up earlier than planned and we arranged to meet her at her district office in Vineland Ontario so she could band the two young peregrines. It was moments after the serious of phone calls with both Anne and Mark that the phone rang again with a very familiar name and number, (from non-other than Dave, the Director of Engineering at the Toronto Rogers Centre).
Thinking the worst (that maybe his little rescued little peregrine may have developed some unforeseen medical challenges), I braced myself for the worst as I answered the phone.
Actually not really bad news, as Dave explains that the Renaissance Toronto Downtown Hotel had called to say the they had one of the adult peregrine falcons trapped in the mechanical room of the hotel and needed assistance to have it trapped and removed. He knew that it was not likely an adult, and figured that if it was a peregrine eat all, it would likely be one of the fledglings. As some may recall, Marion and I were called down to the same hotel last year, and successfully rescued one of the Rogers Centre fledglings from the same area of the hotel!
Fortunately, Dave was able to go over to the hotel and confirm his suspicions that it was in fact one of the young fledglings and not an adult.
So Marion and I were back off on a road trip to the Rogers Centre and the Toronto Renaissance Hotel to hook up with Dave and the hotel staff. Stopping quickly at the CPF storage locker to pick up yet another rescue carrier, several towels, brooms and nets, it was a race to get downtown before the traffic chocked the highways with the start of the evening rush hours traffic.
When we arrived at the hotel, Dave met us with the CPF rescue carrier containing the young juvenile fledgling that he has rescued earlier. We stowed the bird safely in the car along side its sibling that had been rescued from the Baton Rouge restaurant and we proceeded to the upper hotel mechanical room to investigate. Armed with two nets, two brooms and a flash light and another rescue carrier, we were directed to an enclosed area where the young peregrine fledgling was last observed roosting on a pipe close to the ceiling.
Yes, this area was very familiar indeed, the same place that Marion and I had in fact attended last year and rescued a young peregrine fledgling that was produced at the Rogers centre. Utilizing a tall latter, broom and two nets, Marion and I were successful in catching the young fledgling and quickly had it in safely in the rescue carrier without further incident.
Back to the car, now with all three Rogers fledglings in rescue carriers, we headed out to meet with Anne Yagi from the Ministry of Natural resources at her Vineland office. I guess we missed the opportunity to dodge the evening rush hour traffic, as the it took almost three hours to get from the Rogers centre to the MNR Vineland office!!
Meeting with Anne at the OMNR Vineland office , we were able to band the three fledgling juveniles in record time and headed back to Toronto.
So, their particulars are: 2 females and 1 male
1st- Female - 865 grams, banded K over 40, named “Striker” with Red Marker Tape
2nd- Female - 855 grams, banded K over 41, named Chopper with Yellow Marker Tape
3rd- Male - 682 grams, banded X over 02, named Pop-fly with Blue Marker Tape
A huge thank you to Mark Heaton, Anne Yagi, Dave McCormick and the Rogers centre staff, the hotel staff and Marion from the CPF for all of their efforts again in assisting and supporting both the CPF and their peregrines!
What a great team of fabulous caring people!!
All three fledglings will be will be released back to the Rogers Centre and their parents tomorrow.
Stay tuned for more tomorrows release details……..
Posted on June 17, 2015 12:34 am
June 15, 2015 - Toronto - Rogers Centre
Mark Nash Reports:
June 15th - 2015
While it might appear to many to have been a more than crazzzy 18 hour day today for most, believe it or not, it was actually just a typical day for us at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. We simply just refer to it as being peregrine season.
The day started out with two scheduled banding events, one in Oshawa at the Oshawa Lake Ridge hospital at 9:30am this morning, and the second banding event out in Pickering, at the Ontario Power Generation Nuclear facility at 1pm.
Between the two banding events, we received a call from the Director of Engineering to request support and assistance, as one of the their four young fledglings had come down to the ground and was on the street level outside gate 5 and in front of one of the retail entrances obviously in need of help.
In typical peregrine form, the young fledglings often don’t do well with their maiden flights, being too heavy - (laden with baby fat), uncoordinated, unskilled, and lacking the confidence they need to fly, they end up on the ground confused as to why they simply can’t fly like their parents. It looks so easy!
You’ve got to think of them as an infant child learning to walk for their first time, where their trials and errors have them standing and falling many times before they get it all coordinated and eventually learn to actually stand upright and eventually walk.
Its not much different for many of the young peregrines, in that they too take a little longer to coordinate all of the body parts, their two wings and their tail,, loose some of the heavy baby fat that weights them down, and a hole lot of practice to be able to actually hold their altitude and stay aloft.
Landings are another story altogether!! It is one of the most difficult things for a young peregrine to learn to do, land as opposed to crash and land that many end up doing in their first dozen or more attempts!
Mastering sustained flight is a real learning experience for most large falcon young!
In any case, a quick rescue lesion 101 with Dave over the phone, and with a towel and the CPF rescue carrier on hand, Dave McCormick jumped into action and was successful in his efforts to rescue the young fledgling!! Great going Dave!!!
Given our situation, with still one banding still yet to do, and with the time lines and staff support at the Rogers centre to be able to get up to the roof to do a release, it was decided to hold the young fledgling over until the morning when the young bird could be properly examined for any traumas that it might have sustained as a result of a hard concrete grounding, and be safely and be released back to the upper roof elevation back to its parents.
By 8pm, with the two banding completed, we were finally able to get back at the CPF office, trying to weigh through all of the photos and observation notes and reports in an effort to get them posted, and then get back out to the field to the Don Mills Amexon nest site to meet with Cathy and Irma by 9pm to release their rescued fledgling that they recovered from the parking lot the night before.
Once again, our plans were somewhat foiled as the phone was ringing again with yet another downed fledgling from the Rogers nest site in downtown Toronto.
A huge thank you to the staff at the Baton Rouge restaurant, and two out of town patrons who were dining at the Baton Rouge restaurant on Front street in downtown Toronto, just a block over from the Rogers centre.
As the story is told by all, one of the young fledglings apparently dropped in for diner (obviously without a reservation) and ended up coming down into the outdoor patio area of the restaurant in the middle of all of the restaurant patrons. With the quick action of the restaurant manager and staff, they were successful in scooping up the young peregrine and getting it into a cardboard box.
At this time, two of the out of town restaurant patrons, Brianna and Katie Johns quickly jumped into action to their smart phones and Googled peregrines Toronto and found the Canadian Peregrine Foundation web site and contact telephone numbers.
After talking to the both Brianna and Katie, (and having received their video clip and e-mailed photos), it was easy to identify their un-invited, party crasher peregrine diner guest and I was back into the car on route to the Baton Rouge restaurant to pick up the bird.
With this young fledgling now secure in a rescue carrier, and having been able to examine the fledgling, it was obvious that there were no injuries and the bird was deemed releasable. On the road again to join Cathy and Irma at the Don Mills nest site, see security to arrange roof top access, and with Cathy and Irma’s help, their little downed fledgling “Lilly” from the Don Mills site was back to the roof and to her awaiting parents.
A very successful text-book towel type of release under the cover of darkness!!
So back to the rescued Rogers Centre fledgling, who will be released back to its parents tomorrow - (along with its sibling in waiting in Dave’s office that he had rescued earlier this day).
Stay tuned for updated information and photos to follow…..
Posted on June 16, 2015 12:08 pm
June 09, 2015 - Toronto - Rogers Centre
Mark Nash Reports:
June 9th - 2015
A huge thank you to Linda who has trying to keep a eye on the Toronto Rogers centre peregrines. As you know, they been very difficult to get a handle on, now back to the south east ledge where they nested three years ago.
With a very deep drainage trough that runs down the centre middle length of the nest ledge it has been impossible to see what the adults have been hiding. While we know that they have been incubating an undisclosed amount of eggs, by virtue of seeing both adults, but only one at a time (and with shift changes going on at the nest ledge), it was only a matter of time before something else materialized.
Well, a week ago, Linda was down watching just at the right time, when three advanced age hatchlings were finally old enough (and actually capable to get out of the drainage trough up to the ledge where we they can actually be seen from the ground) and finally came in view!
While we were well aware of a hatch after seeing food going into the nest ledge by both parents on different occasions, we had no way of getting to view down onto the nest ledge and then down into the drainage trough to be able to see anything.
So now the best news,,, in that Linda’s visit today yielded the sight of FOUR hatchlings!! Sadly, although, three of them are ready to take flight with virtually no down, while the smallest hatchling still has about 30% down.
Oh my goodness, four ready to go ……………..
Posted on June 12, 2015 5:42 pm
June 07, 2015 - Toronto - Rogers Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Spent some time in the cheap seats for today’s game, on a bench outside the stadium.
35,000 minus one, in attendance for today’s game against Houston. Jays WIN.
All three juveniles doing well. Adults flying food past the nest with little reaction from the young.
Two feedings during my visit with the last one at 2pm. All three were fed at this time. Not a lot of pre fledge flapping today. Lots of vocalization from one of the girls when food arrives to the nest area. Gulls can be very aggressive at this site, chasing the adults when food was being delivered.
A quiet day for the most part.
Posted on June 7, 2015 6:57 pm
June 06, 2015 - Toronto - Rogers Centre
Mark Nash Reports:
Saturday June 6th - 2015
A big thank you to Linda Woods who was able to get down to the Toronto Rogers Center again this afternoon and was able to positively confirm that three hatchlings have in fact been produced at the Toronto Rogers Centre this season!
As we had suspected as a result of seeing only one adult at any given time over the past month, (and seeing both the adult male and adult female on sight), along with shift changes having been observed taking place from the original ledge that the resident peregrines nested on two years ago (south east ledge), we knew that they were involved in full time incubation activities, BUT we can now confirm that the pair have in fact been successful again this year having produced at least three young!
Based on Linda’s observations, she seeing two larger juveniles and one smaller, (believed to be two females and one male).
Now the not so good news,,, in that they are well advanced in their age, with the two larger juveniles almost fully feathered with only a very little white down. The third much smaller (and younger) juvenile still has 10% down and is likely three to five days away from fledging.
The other two juveniles are only days away from taking their first flights!!! Yikes!!!
Sadly, we didn’t get the new wireless camera in time this year to be able to get it down to the Rogers Center to do a ledge survey, but baring in mind, each of the ledges have a very deep drainage trough that runs down the center of the entire length of the ledge, and there would have been no way that we could have gotten the camera back into the depth of the ledge to see anything down into the trough itself.
It as quite apparent after spending some time with the roofers last year on their swing stage on the west side while installing the new nest tray for the resident adults that only an advanced much older hatchling could actually make it out of the drainage trough up to the ledge where they could actually be seen.
While the new wireless camera has proved to be a very useful and valuable asset for us to do high altitude ledge surveys, remember that its still only attached to a very flexible cable that must be lowered down to the ledge from the upper roof areas, and once there, it can only rest (if we’re lucky) on the outer lip of the ledge. Because the cable is flush to the outer structure wall, we have no way of getting the camera further into the ledge, (let alone of angling it to look “down” into something like this drainage trough), and as such it has its limitations if there is a lower elevation back within the ledge itself.
In any case, it appears that we will have birds fledging from the Rogers Centre within the next 2 to 5 days!!!
The photos attached were taken of the same ledge on the west side. You can see the deep drainage trough that runs along the inside length of the ledge. All of the ledges on both the west and east side are carbon copies of one another.
Looking for any and all support at this site to help out with a fledge watch! As usual, we’re typically over stressed for manpower and resources at this time of year to cover all of the on-going fledge watches, and this one has just come at us from left field - (no pun intended).
Help us help your peregrines!
Posted on June 6, 2015 10:32 pm
December 30, 2014 - Toronto - Rogers Centre
Mark Nash Reports:
December 30th - 2014
Just a quickly update on the roofing activity at the Rogers Centre. After four plus months of waterproofing work, the work had finally been completed and the new CPF nest tray has finally been successfully installed. Looking really good in fact! A short visit for me this morning that lasted only a couple of hours on site, I can honestly say that the install went without a catch and its looking really good! Both resident adults have been active and very much around watching the roof crew finish up the work on their nest ledge.
The green barrier mesh that was installed over top of the nest ledge worked fantastic in protecting the workmen while they were working on this elevation over the past month. While it keep the peregrines out of the nest ledge and protected the workmen, the resident peregrines were never the less observed on many of the other west elevations “supervising” the roofers activities throughout the entire four month roofing project.
The new marine poly-composite materials that we are now utilizing to build all of the new nest trays and nest boxes has really made things much easier for us in the terms of longevity and maintenance free in comparison to the older pressure treated building materials that we once used to manufacture these same nest trays and nest boxes. Admittedly, the new marine poly-composite materials are much heavier and far more expensive in comparison to the same sized wood products, they come pre-coloured, UV and water resistant, and have 25 plus year guarantees that are virtually maintenance free!! No more rotting, re-staining, or fading!! While these new materials are somewhat difficult to fasten together as they must be predrilled and you have to use special fasteners, once completed, they are incredibly solid and long lasting!
The elevated nest tray should also keep the peregrines nesting activities off the new waterproofing membrane and out off the water soaked rain gutter, ensuring a dry, safe nesting place, and will protect the new roof membrane from being scrapped and damaged by the adult peregrines.
The new Rogers nest tray is a typical example of the new style nest trays that the CPF is now building and installing, in addition to replacing most all of the original nest trays and nest boxes as money becomes available to us to replace the aging old nest boxes and nest trays at many of the other existing nest sites. Some of our first nest boxes and nest trays have been in use since we installed them back in 1997!!
Many of these original nest trays and nest boxes are in desperate need of being replaced, as they have succumb to wood rot, as they have become waterlogged and fading bad.
In any case, we are very eager to see how quickly the resident peregrine pair will take onto the new nest tray.
Stay tuned……….
Posted on January 5, 2015 8:50 pm
December 09, 2014 - Toronto - Rogers Centre
Mark Nash Reports:
December 2014 Update
Just a quickly update to let everyone know that all is going as planned with the roofing activity almost completed! As you may know, we have been working closely with the Rogers centre management and the roofing company over the past year to ensure that both the workmen and peregrines remain safe during the on-going roofing activities on the Rogers Centre.
With the final water-proofing stage almost complete, (now at the nest ledge itself), we are almost ready to install the new nest tray as soon as the new water protective membrane has been installed. We are all pretty excited about the new nest tray, as it will offer the peregrines a dry elevated nesting spot within the ledge that should provide a ideal place for the peregrines to continue their nesting and family rearing activities. It will also keep the peregrines out of the rain gutter and away from the cold barren water soaked concrete, in addition to keeping the peregrine off of the new protective roof membrane.
The new nest tray was manufactured by CPF with the sponsorship support of the Rogers Centre and was delivered by CPF to the Rogers Centre several weeks ago during my one of my many visits visit. During this time, the new green protective mesh barrier was installed to cover the nest ledge entrance and offer a protective barrier to the roofers, allowing them to safely work within the nest lest ledge itself out of sight of the resident peregrines during the final stage of the roof work. Both resident adults did NOT migrate this fall and are still very active on site!
Both resident adult peregrines have been on site throughout the past four plus months during their roofing activities, and the peregrines aggressiveness has intensified as the roofers have gotten closer to the south west corner (the actual nest ledge).
We are very pleased that both the Rogers centre and Specified Roofing has been working very closely with the CPF over the past year to ensure that both the peregrines and workmen are protected during the roofing process.
CPF will be on site again to be part of the nest tray install to ensure that it will installed correctly.
Stay tuned……………….
Posted on December 9, 2014 12:24 pm
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.
Posted on July 23, 2014 12:23 am
