1999 Summary

by Eve Ticknor

What an exciting, not to mention stressful, season we have had with our Peregrine family this year!

Again we feel “our” adult pair are the same as in the last 2 years. Peregrines tend to return to the same nest site as before if they perceive their nesting season to be successful, which means brooding eggs and raising chicks, even if these chicks didn’t hatch from these eggs!

This year we were able to follow nesting activities by way of a camera and monitors — courtesy of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation — at their Falcon Suite (air conditioned!). Thank you, Mark Nash and the CPF!

Egg-laying and brooding were evident between the last week of April and the 2nd week of May. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Natural Resources (Daryl Seip) and the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club Birds’ Committee, the Peregrine Committee started collecting volunteers ready to keep a watch over the developing chicks.

This year we were fortunate to have 2 ladies from last year’s watch to share the position of Volunteer Coordinator. Mary Ellen Arseneault and Terry Higgins made all the difference in the world! Working with a solid base set up by Bev McBride from the previous year, they were in contact with each volunteer, set up shift schedules and scrambled to change shifts for those whose work schedules or cruises were changed, who experienced illnesses or deaths in their families. All this, no specific “start” date yet, and both ladies did shifts around their own working schedules…! When we are looking at maybe 65 volunteers, thank you is not enough!!

It became evident that, in spite of diligent care, our 4 eggs were not going to hatch. The Canadian Peregrine Foundation was able to purchase 3 chicks from breeders in Ontario and Quebec! With much fanfare, these chicks — a female and 2 males — were banded, taken up to the nest ledge of the Crowne Plaza Hotel and placed on the nest in exchange for the eggs. Then we all waited with bated breath, watching the chicks and the adults on the monitors…. In minutes the adoption process was successful. We knew it was finalized when “dinner” was delivered!!

June 29th saw a packed room at the Falcon Suite for a Training Session. Daryl Seip (MNR) went over the Protocol, with the assistance of Dr Paul Gully regarding the handling of a downed chick. Eve Ticknor (Peregrine Watch Coordinator) went over pertinent information regarding the logistics and expectations of the volunteers, and all 3 were on hand to answer questions. At times Daryl seemed to take second place to the activities on the monitor!

We started our watch at 6 a.m. on July 4th, unable to gain access to our post on the roof!! Other than a few minor glitches, we covered all the daylight hours for nearly the entire month of July. Streamers were installed on the building at 240 Sparks by staff of the MNR in advance of the fledging period. The Falcon Suite, managed by Robyn Carlson for CPF, and the presence of our volunteers on the sidewalks attracted many people, including new volunteers for us!

Being a volunteer was exciting, and occasionally risky, as Bernie found out while doing “roof” duty. Diligent parents weren’t keen on his presence there and he was very glad to have borrowed a lawn chair!!

Our volunteers gave anything upwards of a few hours; many put in many hours… We have met wonderful people, and already have a list going for next year! The many observations from our volunteers, and from others working nearby, are invaluable.

Loft, our first chicklet to “fly” left the nest ledge on July 12th, followed later that evening by his brother, Preston. Their sister, Jessie, prudently waited a few days until she was ready. Unlike her brothers, she never did need rescuing.

In the summary of the 1998 Watch, Bev stated, “If we’re lucky, we will be able to apply what we’ve learned next summer when, who knows, there could be three or more fledglings to follow!” How much more right could she be? Jessie, Loft and Preston are all flying well and learning new skills from their parents.

Many “thank-yous” to:

  • All the volunteers (see list below)
  • The staff of Constitution Square who made things as easy as possible for us, especially access to their roof.
  • The staff of the Crowne Plaza Hotel who assisted us in returning chicklets to their nest ledge.
  • The staff of the Radisson Hotel who let Eve access a room to check on Loft, and made sure no one else would disturb him.
  • The staff at 240 Sparks who let us and MNR staff up to the roof to put up streamers.
  • The staff at the Wild Bird Care Centre for looking after Loft after his accident, and for being ready for just such an incident.
  • Dr Robin Roscoe of the Alta Vista Animal Hospital for her care of Loft after his accident .
  • Robyn Carlson who dropped everything to rescue Loft at the time of his accident, who helped us monitor the chicklets progress, who helped keep track of our volunteer schedule.
  • Mark Nash, of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, who let us share their Falcon Suite, who found our chicklets for us.
  • Sandy Garland of the Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club, our webmaster, who faithfully put our observations on our web page, who relayed new volunteer info and questions to Eve (especially from a British Travel Writer, Nick Roe, who will be writing us up for the Telegraph of London!).
  • Dr Paul Gully who participated in our Training session and later assisted at the banding of our 3 chicklets.

Peregrine Watch Volunteers

NOTE: * All volunteers receive a star because they are all equally important to this venture regardless of the amount of time that could or couldn’t be given!
** for those who were able to give over 20 hours and
*** for those who gave over 40 hours!

* Allison Ken
* Allison Tim
* Anderson Jennifer
***Arseneault Mary Ellen
* Birkett Pam
***Bishop Roseanne
* Bonneville Paule
* Bowen Colin
** Bowker Art
* Burgess David
* Burgess Margaret
* Carriere Stephanie
* Chalk Ray
* Daniels Doug
* Drysdale Brent
** Farkas Stephen
* German Allan
* German Carol
* Haas Claire
* Hawkins Jill
** Higgins Terry
** Hoffe Ron
** Jeffrey Ian
* Kelly Chris
** Kelly Greg
* Krywicki Kathy
** Ladouceur Bernie
** Lafleur Bob
** Lane Don
* Lavioe Nancy
* Lavoie Tony
* Lewis Chris
* Lonergan Michelle
** Maitland Phil
* Maybee Bonnie
* Maybee Dick
* McBride Bev
* McGugan Jean
***McKenna Rochon Nathaleigh
* McLean Gordon
* McLean Maxine
***Meads Bonnie
* Molano Juan
* Moore Dave
** Moreau Gib
* Murphy Mike
** O’Neil Jim
* Palmer Karen
** Peterkin Bev
* Poisson Andre
***Pope Frank
* Pruden Nick
* Rawlings Beryl
* Rimmer Chris
* Roach Bob
* Roach Hayley
* Sander-Regier Renata
* Schnupp Randy
* Selby Colin
* Simard Michel
* Sirois Langis
** Smythe Dave
** Sullivan John
* Sylvester Mary
***Ticknor Eve
* Ticknor Richard
** Tryphonas Daphne
* von Schoenberg Paul
* Wright Bruce

 

1999 Local Activity Reports

NOTE: Photos were “snapped” from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation’s webcam.

November 19 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — Horizon is still maintaining her territory around the Crowne Plaza Hotel! She even gave 2 window-washers a hard time recently until they were 3 or more floors below! It looks as if she may have decided to stay here for the winter.

Also, I have been keeping track of the 4 chicks with transmitters: 2 are in Columbia, 1 is in Panama and 1 stayed home!! If you are interested, it is a site of the CPF called Track’em.

August 13 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — Help needed! The Watch Committee needs to have a good idea of Jessie’s whereabouts over the next week or two, i.e., which buildings does she spend time at? and especially where does she eat?

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation, who supplied the foster chicks, is going to try to capture Jessie briefly to attach a transmitter harness to track where she goes during the next year. The attachment will be harmless and will only be on for 10 months or so. I plan to be present when she is captured.

It would help a lot if I can get some feedback from people who see her almost on a daily basis. Reports can be e-mailed to me or called in to me at 737-7551.

July 30 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — We have completed this year’s official watch as of last night. All is well at this point. Anyone who is downtown may still get to see or hear the chicklets for a while yet. If there are interesting sightings of them, I would appreciate a call or an e-mail. I wish to thank all who came out to help us and tell us what they’ve seen.

July 26 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — Our chicklets are doing well and, barring complications, our Street Watch will come to a conclusion Thursday evening.

Stephen and I took last shift Sunday evening, during the pouring rain, thunder and lightening! Once the storm had passed, we went up to the roof, and, although we could see black clouds and lightening strikes all around us, we managed to escape any more. We spent an enjoyable few hours with our “family” and felt privileged to do so!

Loft dined on a Meadowlark delivered atop the Standard Life building by Mom, although he lost the head to his sister. Preston never did receive any food during the time we were there. He, therefore, changed his focus to the water on the roof left by the storm. He drank from it several times, while wading around in it, clearly fascinated! He would sometimes look down as he moved around in it. Soon his sister joined in the fun, while Loft kept right on eating.

We saw many flights, starting with 2 of them flying around in the rain. When the rain stopped, they would have made a good advertisement for a “bad hair” day! We saw several aerial games of “tag” around nearby buildings, along with the practice of “combat” techniques and pretend food transfers in anticipation of the real event. As usual 1 or both parents were watching nearby.

Other watchers over the past several days have seen spectacular aerial activities, and have noticed Jessie in particular, flying further afield with her mother. They have come a long way in just a few short weeks!

July 23 [from Frank Pope, Falcon Watch volunteer] — At 1:30 p.m., Bev Peterkin and I were on top of Constitution Square tower 2. Jessie (as it turns out) was sitting on a window sill on the north face of the south Journal tower, second floor from the top. The other chicks were on the Standard Life building. An adult, the female we think, came over our heads. Jessie rose and intercepted her over Albert St. where there was an exchange of food. The adult flew off and Jessie settled on the window washing rail at the top of the Crown Plaza. In our full view, she ate the whole food parcel. It was interesting that it was a parcel, apparently boneless, and not a whole small bird. This is the first instance of an exchange of food in the air that we know of.

We were able to identify her as Jessie because, while she was on the window sill, a couple of office workers were able to read the band on her leg. They called the number in to Robyn who let us know the bird’s identity when she visited the roof.

July 19 [from Alan German, Falcon Watch volunteer] — As the evening shift commenced, our eye-in-the-sky could see all five birds, the two adults and three youngsters, each perched on top of a different building. Loft spent his time on Tower A, going between nap periods, lying down such that only his tail was visible from street level, to periods of rapid wing flapping — with the usual death-defying stance on the very edge of the building. His sister, Jessie, was much more sedate, perched on top of the Bradson Building, hardly moving a feather.

Preston was the most active of the three chicks, flying around and landing on various buildings. At 6 p.m he dropped in for dinner(served by Mom) at the Minto Suites, rested awhile, then went exploring the east side of Kent Street.

As darkness fell, the birds all decided to move around, just to make sure that the Peregrine Watchers didn’t feel redundant. Preston moved to a sloping window sill on a building on his now-favourite Kent Street, where he promptly went to sleep. Loft flew across Albert Street, across the face of the Constitution Building, and landed on a ledge in the southeast corner. Finally, Jessie, who seemed rooted to her spot, abruptly took flight to the north, tried unsuccessfully to land on a sloping metal roof at the Minto Hotel, wheeled back across the road around the back of the Bradson Building and perched on the south face — her version of a change of pace.

July 19 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — Our 3 chicklets are all airborne at last! Although Jessie and Preston have been showing us how well they are flying, Loft has been a bit more reluctant to “make the great leap.” He has had a rather strenuous week, having had to be rescued twice.

Sunday was quite a day for him, and us. When the 5 to 9 p.m. shift ended on Friday, he was perched atop a low insurance building between Albert and Queen (behind a Thai restaurant). The next morning brought no sign of him. Indeed, the whole day brought no sign of him, including no sign that his parents knew his location! Around 11 a.m. on Sunday, a woman saw him from her office window on Bank St. Our crew arrived to see him on top of a 1-storey magazine store, preening and flapping!!

At 1:20 p.m. I received a call from Robyn about scheduling and I went down to join the crew, filling in for an absent member. Little did I know what I would be in for. When I arrived, Loft had once again vanished. It was thought that he was somewhere in a space between 2 buildings. A few of us went into an alley to search. We decided to pull down a fire escape to get a better view of the area in question. One of us shinnyed up a pole (not me…) while 2 of us jumped for the end and tried to pull it down! Once we had it down, up we went, but couldn’t find him.

On went the search. He was eventually located on a balcony of the Radisson Hotel, at the 12th floor. At least he was finally moving up! I went in to that room with the Manager, Bob Rice, and peeked at Loft through the window. He was fine, but not in a situation for a rescue attempt. After being assured that the room would remain empty while Loft was there, I rejoined the others watching from a parking lot. The shift members changed, some of whom had stayed for a double shift. Thank you so much to them!

As we had only a few members this time, I called the watch on Jessie and Preston off for the evening to concentrate on Loft, still with 1 person on the roof. Suddenly Loft was off again, this time heading sort of southwest. He was rapidly located clinging (by 2 toenails) to the bottom of a window in the middle of the east side of the Crowne Plaza Hotel! He then attempted to fly to the top of the Constitution Square , but couldn’t make it, bounced off a window (unhurt) and ended up on top of Tower B! He had finally made it up where he belonged. But he wasn’t finished yet!

During all this time he had been calling for his parents, who finally spotted him and flew over him several times. He moved over to Tower A, still calling. At one point he flew up and around Tower A and landed again. Finally his mother flew in with a kill. He grabbed it, turned his back on her and mantled it. However he was calling out again instead of eating… We realized that he had no idea what to do with the food! It was the first time a meal hadn’t been prepared for him. After a while, he figured out “if I want dinner, I have to make it myself.” And he did. Soon we had a quiet and happy bird!

 

July 16 [from Alan German, Falcon Watch volunteer] — All three youngsters are now flying and, as a result, they are scattered on the tops of various buildings around the downtown area, which makes keeping track of everyone quite a challenge.

This evening, Loft had taken up residence on the roof of a building adjacent to the Thai Garden restaurant. (The “Glue Pot Kid” appears to have a penchant for food and drink!) Tonight, he spent lots of time just perching, but also was frequently observed running up and down the edge of the roof top, flapping his wings, and almost taking flight. But, every time, two feet from the end of the roof line, and the wall of the adjacent building, courage seemed to fail him and he opted to stay put.

Meanwhile, Jessie, his sister, was in residence on top of the Podium Building adjacent to Tower C. Early in the evening she took a short flight to the deck of the health club at the Crowne Plaza, then ran across the roof top, and was once again airborne to the south. One of the ground crews of falcon watchers located her on an apartment building at Lyon and Laurier, where she emulated her brother, frequently running up and down the edge of the roof, thinking about taking off, but not actually doing so.

The third youngster, Preston, was lost — well the watch crew didn’t know where he was. The adults, too, were nowhere to be seen for quite some time, until eventually they showed up wheeling around the buildings, probably checking on the location of their brood. No doubt satisfied that the family members were all accounted for, they settled down, perched in the shade, on the east face of the Minto Suites Hotel. Very patriotically, the birds perched on either side of a huge Canadian flag draped across the top face of the hotel building.

Finally, one of the watch crew located Preston. At this point, he was sitting on a ledge on the east face of the Constitution Building, 10 floors below roof level. As the roof crew moved to confirm the sighting, the young male could be seen looking up — to confirm his sighting of our watchers!

Finally, we had all birds accounted for, but this was not to last, as Preston once again took flight, heading due east to the building across the street. Here, the sloping edges proved not to be to his liking and he headed west, then north between two towers, and is believed to have gone to the Crowne Plaza’s Health Club (his favourite spot!) for the night.

July 14 [from Claire Haas, Falcon Watch volunteer] — Wednesday morning dawned clear and warm. Only two chicks were visible on the Crowne Plaza Hotel ledge. The parents were roosting on other buildings, but made at least one food drop at 6:30. This food was unceremoniously snatched by a hungry youngster. Later we could see the remains of a largish prey bird on the ledge, which the two chicks picked at throughout the early shift.

But where was chick number 3? The mystery of the morning! On inspection of the log book, we found out that one of the males had flown over to the East Tower of the Constitution Square Building and had been last seen on the parapet on the southwest corner of this tower (later we discovered this to be at the 14th Floor). We searched for him for two hours, checking all the visible rooftops and balconies, noticing that the parents were spending some time in the radio tower of the Bradson Building (across from the Minto Suites on Laurier). We were momentarily distracted into running several blocks after a kestrel, which may have been the one which crashed into a window on Tuesday and taken away from the area, unharmed, by some of the Falcon volunteers.

We later found out from an interested office worker from the 14th Floor that our lost male had spent the night on the parapet and was still there. He was just down low and close to the building.

Just before 9 a.m. he hopped up on the ledge with some difficulty, apparently, but remained visible on the ledge for the remainder of my shift. We decided to try to get his band number, and spent until 10:30 getting a good look at him from an NSERC office (to which I was generously admitted by its occupant) and a partial number which I forwarded to Eve. There was a large pellet on the ledge with him, but no sign of any remains of prey.

So at midmorning I went home leaving five volunteer watchers, two chicks on the Crowne Plaza ledge, and the third on Constituton Square. Two males have made their first forays, and the female, Jessie, has remained in the nest.

[Editor’s note: Eve’s husband called Claire with the band numbers. She now reports that the chick on Constitution Square was Loft.]

July 13 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — At 6:10 today, Dave Smythe and I went across to the Crowne Plaza Hotel to gain access to the terrace to do a “chick pickup.” After a bit of wait to get an “ok” for this, in we went and almost immediately saw the chick — not “the Glue Pot Kid”! I picked him up and had Dave check the band number, as this chick was more developed than Loft, and sure enough, we had Preston!!

Up we went to the crawl space where our security escort had to use bolt cutters on the padlock for the access door…. He was successful (with a minor injury) and I placed Preston out on the ledge whereupon 2 screaming fighter jets (the parents) appeared within seconds! I shut the door and we left. I must say, I was rather relieved that no one decided to try another flight, at least until my shift was over at 1 p.m.!

July 12 [from Alan German, Falcon Watch volunteer] — This evening’s shift proved to be quite eventful, following a first flight this afternoon by one of the young males. Evidently, on leaving the ledge, he made a graceful downward arc to a nearby pub — well, to the roof of the pub — where he spent the afternoon.

There were lots of Peregrine Watchers on the ground as the shift changed, nobody seeming keen to leave for home. Despite all the attention, things remained quiet for some time. The adults would do a fly past every now and then, perhaps to do a head count on the nesting ledge, or maybe to encourage the other youngsters to take flight. Six o’clock rolled around and the adult female arrived at the nest with dinner for one. One of the chicks was screaming to be fed and was the recipient of the offering. The other gnawed away on what was left of a recent pigeon kill.

Eventually, the “Glue Pot Kid” couldn’t stand the solitude any longer and, once more, launched himself into the air. This time his flight was shorter and he landed on the sidewalk across the street. Eve Ticknor, our Peregrine Watch Coordinator, was on the scene immediately, just in time to witness the bird heading out into the middle of the road! Fortunately, there was no traffic at the time, and Eve was able to grab the chick and return him to the roof — rather unceremoniously — via the elevator. There was no grand reunion as the returned chick was largely ignored by his siblings, and vice versa. The newly returned chick, sat on the edge of the building for some time, no doubt gathering his thoughts on the events of the afternoon.

Eventually, all three youngsters were once again gathered at the southeast corner of the building, where they perched on the very edge, practiced standing on one leg to preen, exercised their wings ferociously, and generally tried to induce heart failure in the Peregrine Watchers below.

Of course, it had to happen. At some point the wing exercise on the very edge became a little too vigorous and the Glue Pot Kid fell off the ledge! This time, his flight was gentle, but still not too controlled, as he soared down the street, always losing height. Turning into the north face of the Constitution Square building, he appeared to be looking for a ledge to make a landing, but the sheer wall of glass offered no suitable perch. He then sailed directly across the street to the south face of Tower A where, once more, he attempted to land. This time he did manage to engage his talons on a horizontal portion of the window frame. But, here too, there was no ledge, and the “Kid” was left holding onto the window, his wings spread, looking like a large bat. Unable to sustain this pose for too long, he released his hold, and sailed down, landing in the outside deck area of the Crowne Plaza hotel.

By now, darkness was descending. Hotel staff agreed to secure access to the confined area, and the Glue Pot Kid was left to obtain a good night’s rest — or to conjure up thoughts of more adventures for the morning…

July 11 [from Claire Haas, Falcon Watch volunteer] — Falcon Watch continued at 6:00 a.m. The adults were staying away from the nest ledge this morning. We could hear them calling to the chicks from Tower B, Place de Ville.

The chicks are showing less and less down. The youngest is only wearing down “bloomers” and they all have just a bit on the head. Every time the chicks preen or shake, down goes flying like a snow storm. They are now gray on the back and barred on the front and are showing “regular” tail feathers. They are frequently found sitting on the southeast ledge, three in a row, engaging in flapping practice.

It sure looked like the parents were trying to entice the chicks to fly. They gave them a small yellow-headed bird to share this morning at 7. At 8 a.m. an adult came up to the ledge with a bird in its talons, but before the chicks could chow down, it flew off taking the prey with it. The adults are also doing fly-bys in front of the chicks. At one point, the adult female came and perched on the Constitution Square Building directly across from the chicks. She proceeded to call to them, and they to her.

The humans in the street are gathering to watch with bated breath. At nine o’clock at shift change-over, there were at least nine of us standing around watching the chicks do their flapping-practice on the ledge. Some were there only to check things out briefly, others to take the next shift. One gentleman went to the roof to take videos. There was even a woman there at 6:30 a.m. who was not part of the “Watch”, but who came especially to find out whether they were attempting to fly yet.

It is a gorgeous, sunny Sunday. Any time now!

July 10 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — Reasonably good weather which rapidly turned very windy and cold! Rick and I were up on the roof for the 1st part of the shift, joined by Mary Ellen shortly. The parents were roosting nearby quietly while the chicklets were preening, looking around and calling out from the parapet. There were heart-stopping bouts of frenzied flapping at times!! I entertained thoughts of “oldentimes” (as my kids would say) – a scene of firemen holding a round stretcher or blanket to catch someone leaping off a tall building on fire!! We watched Dad go after a pigeon, which he caught, but lost to Mom behind Tower a (lots of screaming…). He reappeared alone without his catch, and about 5 minutes later she reappeared without the pigeon. There were a few hunting forays during our shift, but no meals were delivered. One adult landed at the south end of the parapet with a bird and the chicklets started running, but were flabbergasted to see the other adult seize the bird and leave(bet you can’t guess which adult was which…?)

Bonnie’s occasional comments about our great view (she was on the ground) convinced me to descend with Rick and let Bonnie and Don go up. Notice that Mary Ellen stayed up! I think watching the chicklets flapping near the edge from below is almost worse than from above.

Apparently the previous shift saw the adults chase away a Great Blue Heron, while they didn’t chase away the pigeon who flew right over the parapet and “stayed for dinner”…Maybe it wasbecause of the banquet going on upstairs.

Around 7:30 or so both parents became highly agitated and repeatedly buzzed our crew on the roof. I thought it might have been because there were 3 up there and called for 2 to come down. This may have helped a bit as they stopped buzzing, but one stayed on the top corner railing of our Tower 2.

Unfortunately by 8:15 I called for the last person (Don) up there to vacate the roof and lock up as the adults were still upset and buzzed him again. We spent the rest of the shift freezing on the sidewalk, with flapping and calling for food still going on. At one point both adults landed on the parapet at the same time, one took off and the other one ran part way down the parapet, dissappeared for a bit, ran back again, and looked around for a bit. When we left both adults were roosting nearby, separately.

July 9 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — The chicks are spending more time on their “new” ledge viewing parts of the world they hadn’t previously seen from their “playpen.” They are still not ready to go close to the outer edge, for which we are thankful, what with the windy weather of late.

The female chick has lost much of her down and is much browner than her brothers, especially on her breast. The parents are bringing smaller feedings, and individually to the chicks. I think Mom has decided it’s time for more exercise and a diet to slim down her family prior to flying, a good idea if you see their sizes compared to their parents!

We have had a few interesting views (at least on the roof) of minor scuffles between the adults when Dad brings a meal and Mom rapidly appears to snatch it away before the chick can eat it! Dad pursues her but we can see Mom giving him his marching orders and he takes off. At one time he only lost part of the meal to her and he quickly ran to a chick in a corner and gave it to him and beat a hasty retreat!!

July 5, 1999 [From Alan and Carol German and Bernie Ladouceur, OFNC] — According to the log book, today’s shifts were fairly eventful as the adult birds have not yet become accustomed to one of our watch team members being located on the roof of the Constitution Square Building. The birds made several low passes, buzzing the lofty volunteers, or perhaps just making sure that they were keeping close track of the birds’ whereabouts!

The evening shift was no exception to this general rule, as the female paid a visit to our eye-in-the-sky, who quickly improvised some protective measures. As Bernie said over the radio “I got a really close look — and found a new use for the lawn chair!”

The chicks were kept well fed throughout the day, and periods of activity were interspersed with the adults bringing and distributing food, followed by lengthy naps for the youngsters. This evening, one chick was considerably more active than the other two, insisting on moving right out and sitting on the edge of the ledge. The adult female circled around, and did a close fly-by, chasing the youngster back onto the ledge. As with all youngsters, the effect lasted for about three minutes, after which junior was back out at the edge, taking another look around

The chicks were quite camera shy this evening. One remained at long range, while two insisted on sitting under the camera until, eventually, all three moved behind the camera and hence out of view on the television monitor. Like last year, the adults seem to favour sitting on the telecommunications’ aerials on the buildings around the Crown Plaza Hotel. No doubt, these provide good vantage points from which to monitor the nesting scrape — and OFNC’s Peregrine Watchers!

July 5 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — We started our StreetWatch yesterday (Sunday) and are enjoying it, in spite of a few glitches.

The chicks are developing rapidly and are trading in their white down for brown feathers. They are as big as their parents and when they aren’t sleeping, they can be seen running up and down the inner ledge, flapping their wings and lifting off the ground from time to time. One has been seen practicing jumping onto the outer ledge!

Our volunteers have been seen on the sidewalk, which has led to people coming into the CPF Suite to see the monitor. Often, though, we carry our watch on from inside to escape the dreadful heat and humidity! Because of this we try to relieve the person stationed on the roof after 1 or 2 hours, because although there is a breeze up there, it gets pretty hot, and there are no trees to sit under…!

At least the chicks can collapse under their canopy for frequent naps!! The parents are diligent in caring for their family, keeping watch from one end of the ledge or the other, sometimes both at once, or from a nearby rooftop. After swooping around a bit on the first day, and very briefly today, they have accepted our being up there, moving around a bit, and generally ignore us while being very aware that we are there.

June 29, 1999 [From Alan German, OFNC] — Based on hatching dates, the Ottawa chicks are approximately 1 week away from their first flight and preparations are well in hand for our 1999 on-the-ground Peregrine Watch. A briefing was held this evening for watch volunteers by Eve Ticknor, OFNC’s Peregrine Watch Coordinator, and Daryl Seip of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

The meeting took place at the Falcon Watch Centre, which is operated by the Canadian Peregrine Foundation at the Constitution Square building, 350 Albert Street. The meeting place was ideal as the assembled group of volunteers attendees were able to listen to the instructional material while, at the same time, watching the Peregrine family on the television monitoring the nest. At one point the group was rather less than attentive to Daryl’s words of wisdom as the adult male arrived with a kill, and all three downy chicks gathered around for dinner. Almost immediately the adult female came into the picture, grabbed the food from the male, and took charge of the feeding session. For a brief period, the whole family was gathered around the dinner table, but the male soon realized that he was no longer needed and left — perhaps to go to pick up dessert!

Daryl is busy hanging ropes, with coloured tape streamers attached, from the roofs of The Bank of Canada and Public Works’ buildings in an attempt to break up the mirror effect of their glass surfaces. Collisions with these walls of windows have resulted in the death of a young Peregrine during the early stages of flight in each of the last 2 years.

It’s not too late to volunteer to take part in our Peregrine Watch. Volunteers will be keeping a dawn-to-dusk watch on the birds, commencing this Sunday, July 4. The intention is to try to ensure that no harm comes to the youngsters as a result of their first efforts at flight.

This is the most hazardous time for the young Peregrines since, at some point the must take that first step off the urban cliff and take wing, and it sometimes takes a few tries to master the art of flying — and landing. Should a bird land on the ground, it may be necessary to provide some assistance to ensure that it doesn’t become a traffic statistic, or to get it back to the nesting ledge for a future attempt at flight.

That’s where our Peregrine Watch volunteers come in. Volunteers work in teams of four, with instructions and equipment provided. Of course, if no emergencies occur you can just experience the thrill of watching the fastest animals on earth swoop around the Ottawa skies. If you wish to help, contact our Peregrine Watch Team.

June 24 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — Our “chicklets” are really coming along! I can see a few feathers starting to show and they are moving around more and better. Robyn (CPF’s Falcon Suite coordinator) has been sending daily updates to CPF in Toronto for posting on their Ottawa Home Page. I’ll be posting more info here next week when the OFNC watch actually gets under way.

A British travel writer, Nick Roe, who contacted us several months ago, arrived Tuesday evening. He’s very interested in our birds, and started his interview as we left the airport! Today I introduced him to Robyn (Falcon Suite coordinator) and to Mark Nash (of CPF), who was leaving this evening. Friday morning I will take him up to the roof for a “bird’s-eye view,” then on to meet Elizabeth LeGeyt, before he has to leave Ottawa. He’ll send me his article when it’s printed.

June 21 [from Eve Ticknor, Falcon Watch Committee chair] — Our adult Peregrines have successfully adopted 3 chick(lets): 1 female and 2 males!

No names yet. The Sun will be running a contest for children to name the chicks. As well, The managers of the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Constitution Square are being asked to name the adults! We thought that might enhance the relationship!!

Things seem to be going well, now. There will be a Training Session at the Falcon Suite at 350 Albert St at 7 p.m. on Tuesday the 29 for all our volunteers. We still want volunteers, especially now that we are “in business”! I want to start the Watch on Sunday, June 27, with a skeleton crew for a few days. The expected date of the first flight may be July 4 or 5.

[To volunteer, e-mail us. ]

June 18 [from Eve Ticknor] &151; We have finally arrived at the point where we will be placing 3 foster chicks with our adult pair this Saturday afternoon, as long as there is no hatching by then. Paul Gully will be banding them around 2:30 p.m. and we’ll be placing them out, starting around 3:00 p.m. Anyone interested is welcome to come to the CPF’s Falcon Suite at 350 Albert St.

June 15 [from Glen Gower] &151; I just wanted to let you know that we’ve made the peregrine watch one of our “top stories” on OttawaStart this week. It’s at http://ottawastart.com

May 29 &151; The video camera installed on the Crowne Plaza Hotel several months ago by the Canadian Peregrine Foundation is now on the Net. Click here to see live images from the Ottawa nest. More news on Monday. [See story in The Ottawa Citizen last week]

May 13 [from Daryl Seip, MNR] — The good news is that the falcons have established a nest and there are 3 eggs in it, but the not so good news is that they are nesting on the NE corner of the ledge, out of sight of the camera and much more inaccessible in terms retrieving the young for banding. Maintenance activity at the hotel may be responsible for the falcons choosing this new quieter location.

March 19, 1999 [from the OFNC Bird Status Line] — Two Peregrines, a male and the female, were reported back on the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

February 27, 1999 [from the OFNC Bird Status Line] — A Peregrine Falcon was again spotted downtown near the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

February 26, 1999 [from Mark Nash, Canadian Peregrine Foundation] — A quick update to let you all know that the Ottawa camera installation is complete and went very smoothly. The camera is producing a great colour image/signal and I’m very envious as this is a very expensive camera and equipment and I now know why. Its producing a much better image than our Etobicoke, Hamilton, and Toronto cameras (I thought they were great images). This new one is once again state of the art equipment. We were on the ledge about 30 minutes, and spent the balance of the 7 hours inside to set up and connect all of the electronics. The camera was tested several times for image quality, movement, and focus and zooming and everything functioned well. Our next step for the nest site is to add the computer (PC), hook up the telephone lines and find a Internet (ISP) connection, and add a small TV monitor so that the hotel can monitor the nest ledge and watch for peregrine activity.

No PeFas were observed during the time there yesterday. The nest ledge was cleaned of most of the debris, although it was mostly wind blown cleaned upon arrival, and no new/fresh kills were observed on the ledge.

February 19, 1999 [from the Bird Status Line] — The Peregrine Falcon was seen on the Crowne Plaza Hotel (formerly the Citadel Hotel).

February 13, 1999 [from the Bird Status Line] — Today the Peregrine Falcon was seen downtown in the Lyons Street area. That same bird was seen on the 9 February at 440 Laurier.

February 12, 1999 [e-mail report from Sarah and Emily Renaud] — We have had a peregrine falcon in our backyard for the past week on Duvernay Drive in Orleans, ON. Today it was in the tree in our backyard with a small bird in it’s mouth. It has also landed on our roof a couple of times. It’s a very beautiful bird and fun to watch.

February 4, 1999 [from the Bird Status Line] — A Peregrine Falcon was seen right in the main downtown part of Ottawa near Bank Street. While these birds nested here last year, there have been very few reports of Peregrines over the course of the winter.

December 30, 1998 [from Tara Campbell] — I spotted a peregrine falcon feeding in my backyard on Maitland Ave at 10 a.m.