I hear you ballywing. I keep wondering why some kind of cage with a latch on it for easy removal can't be placed over that ledge every spring to prevent this from happening.
We've been looking at scenarios just in case, one of which is a wire system with maybe a couple of perches for them to still use the ledge but not nest on it. It will take some major renovations to install without damaging the roof of the meeting room and its not an easy location to access or work on. Also, the Hotel has changed hands three times I believe in the last 5 years and the Hotel has been great to work with and we hope to be able to take a workable proposal to them that won't be prohibitively expensive, won't damage the hotel, won't injure the birds, is safe & secure for pedestrians and vehicular traffic and won't interfere with building operations/maintenance.
We thought we'd have time to come up with an idea/solution. Trey fledged from the ledge so he always viewed it as a possible nesting location. Ivy wasn't and he has never paid much attention to the ledge. This spring he was very confused, not only with all the female attention he was getting (Jules then Joli) but because Princess wouldn't come to the nestbox - that's why we didn't know she was back, she didn't visit the nestbox at all and everytime we were on the roof (cameras, nestbox cleaning, etc) she was no where in sight. Honestly didn't think she would go back to the ledge when he was so busy and ever present at the nestbox. So why did she go to the ledge - nothing wrong with the nestbox and she has nested there for the last few years without a quibble ... one possibility is the building of the new hotel across from the MTS Centre. The year the MTS Centre was being built, the resident female Madame hung out on the nestledge and in the end didn't nest at all, who knows if that was the same for Princess this year.
Why she chose to nest on the ledge we'll never know. Time will tell if we can find a way to not interfere with the birds' habitat here at the nestsite but still find a way to discourage them from nesting there that is safe and affordable which can also be installed 14 storeys above the ground.
