Author Topic: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21  (Read 34554 times)

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Offline The Peregrine Chick

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #188 on: May 04, 2012, 14:36 »
Every time I see photos of this site I have this urge to visit after the peregrines have nested and change their gravel - that stuff just looks so darn uncomfortable!

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #187 on: May 04, 2012, 14:33 »
The eggs are due to hatch anytime today.  The latest report on this site says that you can see a vertical line in one of the eggs, which means the little one is chipping its way out.  We can keep an eye on this site while CBC is working on getting its web cams back up to speed.

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #186 on: April 12, 2012, 10:58 »
Just so everyone is up-to-date, Surge and Madame X have 4 eggs, and both are busy incubating.  Madame and Surge are both very experienced, and very good parents, so all should go well here.   April 5 was the date for the last egg, so I expect that we will see hatching about May 8.  Here is the Hamilton Falcon Cam site:  http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/

Offline RCF

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #185 on: March 28, 2012, 16:31 »
So far there is one egg.  :)

 


Offline RCF

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #184 on: March 28, 2012, 16:29 »
2012 NESTING SEASON

From the Hamilton Community Peregrine Progect

CAMERAS ONLINE - FALCON IDENTITIES CONFIRMED

March 15, 2012 - Thanks to the generous support of Worldline.ca (a Fibernetics company) our Falconcams are back online for another nesting season (Oh? You noticed? *smile*). Within the first day of operation we captured images of both adults and their bands, verifying that Madame X and Surge are still our resident pair. Both have been busy in the nest scrape... We will start watching for eggs by the end of March.
« Last Edit: March 28, 2012, 16:34 by Rapidcitymbfan »

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #183 on: July 10, 2011, 13:54 »
The Hamilton Blog reports that Pigott has proved herself to be a superb flyer and lander.  Her stint in Rehab did not slow her down at all.  She and her brothers are all going farther and farther away from the Sheraton Hotel, practicing their skills, catching and exchanging food.  All is well here.

The Hamilton site is now closing down for the season.

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #182 on: July 07, 2011, 12:06 »
I am happy to report that Pigott is doing very well, as the following reports from the Hamilton site indicates:

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - Falconwatch coordinator Annika Samuelsen reports: Falconwatch volunteers enjoyed a beautiful day watching our falcon family. Pigott impressed us again. She could have easily been set back by her time away, but is flying with strength and determination. She also appears to be re-bonding quite well with her siblings, and has interacted directly with everyone now. Pigott was observed picking at a prey item one of the adults left for her late in the day, although earlier she was being fed directly by Madame X. Of course, Gore and Thomson are also doing well and are definitely giving the downtown pigeons a hard time!

Offline Doreen

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #181 on: July 06, 2011, 11:08 »
Very good report, Pigott seems like quite the girl.  ;D

Offline Saoirse

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #180 on: July 06, 2011, 10:46 »
What a great report! Lots of detail -- and entertaining, too.  :D

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #179 on: July 06, 2011, 10:39 »
More news on Pigott from the Hamilton site:

Tuesday July 5, 2011 - Falconwatch Coordinator Alexis Jordan reports: After hearing about Pigott's flying when she came back last evening, our job at Falconwatch today was to keep an eye primarily on her. As the boys might encourage her to take flight again, we watched them as well when they were heading in her direction. Our concern was whether she could fly upwards! Pigott spent most of the day on a square stone structure on the south wing of the old Royal Connaught Hotel. It was clear that she is an East Hamilton girl. She was sometimes joined by a few pigeons that landed on the corner diagonally across from her, occasionally pestered by the gulls, and even by one of the males. At one point when one of her brothers decided to join her on the Connaught she vocalized, made herself larger and charged him in an attempt to be aggressive and intimidating, or perhaps she was telling him off for because he had not brought her anything to eat! In either case, she was successful and he retreated.

Although occasionally flying, it seemed that the adults and the male youngsters were conserving energy in the mid-day sun. Later, when the sun wasn't so harsh, Pigott took off after an adult. After circling and flying around she managed to get as high as the 37th floor of the Landmark Place building. Though she didn't land there, she showed Falconwatchers that gaining height was not a problem!

Later in the evening Pigott with her empty crop and the boys with their conserved energy took to the sky to give Falconwatchers a hard time. While we have eyes all around the city centre, it is very difficult to distinguish between male and female chicks when they are in the air going at full speed. Finally we had accounted for an adult and two male chicks and the possible general direction of the other adult and Pigott. With much exploring, after the sun went down the volunteers were able to put their ears to good use and managed to hear her vocalizing. With Madame X close by, Pigott was enjoying a long delayed meal on the new Court House at Hughson and Main Streets! We'll see what tomorrow brings.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2011, 11:59 by The Peregrine Chick »

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #178 on: July 05, 2011, 16:33 »
Here is the latest news about our fledging, Pigott, since her return from Rehab:

Monday, July 4, 2011 - Falconwatch coordinator Annika Samuelsen reports: At 18:00 today Pigott was returned to the roof of the Sheraton. She barely put a talon to the ground before leaping into the air. Her flight was strong and directed. Observers watched her fly from the release spot, around the north face of the Stelco tower and past Gore Park, then circle back to the CIBC towers at King and James and out of sight. After an hour of scouring the rooftops to the south and east of King and James Pigott was spotted on the Effort Trust building at Catherine and Main. She spent most of the evening on that ledge, except for a short flight to join one of her siblings in the air. She managed to get back to the rooftop afterwards, although she struggled a bit with the landing. Pigott also reacted to the adults by calling, flapping and running whenever they were nearby.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2011, 18:20 by The Peregrine Chick »

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #177 on: June 30, 2011, 13:50 »
The latest on Pigott from the Hamilton site:

Tuesday June 28, 2011 - Falconwatch Coordinator Alexis Jordan reports: Good news about Pigott. She has been responding so well to enforced inactivity that she now has a hearty appetite and has been transferred to a larger flight cage to let her start testing her wings once more. Her flights will be assessed and we hope she will be 100% recovered soon.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2011, 15:30 by The Peregrine Chick »

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #176 on: June 23, 2011, 16:16 »
And also from the Hamilton site, some older news on Piggott's adventures, and Madame X's day:

Tuesday Evening June 21, 2011 - Falconwatch Coordinator Alexis Jordan reports: After a relatively quiet day, at 19:00 this evening Pigott made her move, trying to get back to the nest ledge from the roof of the Sheraton pool. It was not to be. Part way up the east side of the building she ran out of steam and slipped back down to ground level on the Thomson building side and out of sight. After a hair-raising few minutes we found her - walking down the ramp of the garage under Jackson Square!!!! Fortunately we were able to do a quick rescue in a difficult space. Because Pigott had bumped the side of the buildings on her way down it was decided to take her for a check up. After a fast one hour car ride, a positive examination, another fast one hour car ride and an elevator trip to the top of the Sheraton, by 22:00 Pigott was out on the edge of the Sheraton squawking like crazy, letting everyone know she was back in town. Stay tuned!

Follow-up for Tuesday June 21, 2011 - Falconwatch Coordinator Alexis Jordan reports: Tuesday's events were hair raising and Falconwatchers again put in lots of extra time due to the difficult circumstances with Pigott. The team did an excellent job looking after her following her first flight and then with the rescue. There were other highlights worth mentioning as well. The male chicks spent most of their time based on the grate on top of the Stelco tower, flying around and catching thermals. They are becoming experienced fliers playing in the sky above us, a real sight to see for pedestrians passing by. The boys were vocalizing, talon touching, and chasing after each other over King Street. At one point this continued for almost five minutes! In the meantime Madame X was out hunting - right in front of our eyes on King Street!! With her skill and size she managed to capture a pigeon off the wall of Standard Life, then flew east with it. The pigeon was so big and heavy that Madame X was actually flying down King Street with it at windshield level. A volunteer and I worried for her safety and came very close to trying to stop traffic. After struggling to get out of the danger from vehicles she managed to settle on a light fixture right outside the entrance to Jackson Square. This created quite a scene for onlookers who watched as Madame X dressed the pigeon only 15 feet up. Feathers were flying everywhere! It was truly amazing for those who watched. She then delivered this meal to the boys, who flew down to meet her and enjoyed their first meal of the day on the Thomson building. Not even a half hour later Surge decided to try to hunting at street level; although a bunch of feathers went flying he just missed his meal.

One other highlight worth mentioning came around 17:30 when two gulls decided to pester Pigott on the Sheraton pool roof when the adults weren't around to chase them off. Pigott kept her eyes on the gulls diving at her and crouched and spread her wings, but stood her ground very well and didn't seem scared! Again, thanks to the volunteers and members of the public who helped make sure the birds were safe on this very busy day.

Offline Elaine L

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #175 on: June 23, 2011, 15:58 »
The latest information from Hamilton:

Thursday morning June 23, 2011 - Senior Monitor Audrey Gamble reports: At 05:00 today a call from Hamilton Animal Control advised us that a Peregrine had been found sitting on a car in a parking lot at King and Bay Streets. This time the species identification was correct. On arrival we found that the car and bird - Pigott - were in the lot across the street from, but not visible from, our normal watching location. It appears that during a major thunderstorm over downtown Hamilton around 23:00 last night she was blown off the nest ledge and eventually came to ground. Pigott has been taken for examination and care. There seemed to be some evidence of bruising. An X-ray will follow to check for wing damage. It will be a few days before she returns to the Sheraton. We will keep you posted on her progress.

I sure hope she is o.k.

Offline RCF

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Re: ON / Hamilton - Sheraton Hotel - 2008-21
« Reply #174 on: June 05, 2011, 20:16 »
Hamilton Sheraton Hotel banding today
http://youtu.be/qI5-0iJya50