Falcon watchers mourn lift bridge chicks (July 2009)
Peregrine falcon watchers are in mourning after losing two chicks from the troubled Burlington Lift Bridge nest. Two weeks ago, Maple, a female chick, died after eating a contaminated pigeon. Her death came weeks after another chick, Burl, disappeared during her first flight.
"It's heartbreaking," said Sue McCreadie, who monitored the nest from dawn to dusk. "It was really hard to watch."
Though she's pleased the one remaining chick, Truss, is doing well, McCreadie said the deaths have been difficult for volunteers who had hoped for a successful year.
For nearly a decade, the nest on the lift bridge failed to produce any chicks because it offers poor protection to the fragile eggs. There were only two hatchings in eight years, but no chicks survived. Two years ago a nest box was installed. The falcons adopted the new home last year, successfully producing four chicks.
A new breeding pair moved in this year -- the female killed her predecessor -- and volunteers hoped for similar results after seeing three white heads. But Burl disappeared and was presumed dead. Observers then noticed problems with Maple, who made no sound when trying to vocalize. A couple of days later she struggled to fly, landing on parked cars until she was caught. Though immediately rushed to an avian vet, she died shortly after.
Mark Nash, executive director of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, said it appears Maple had a disease commonly known as frounce. The condition, which comes from contaminated food, frequently kills young raptors.
"It hits pretty hard for even some of the veterans," he said. But Nash added the deaths aren't unexpected. There are 16 urban nests and an average of 1.67 chicks will die at each site.
That the Burlington site has started to produce any chicks at all is a major success, he notes.
