News: Canadian Peregrines

[The Peregrine Chick]

Nothing left of Inco plant now but pieces
Jim Moodie / Sudbury Star / 2 April 2019

A pair of peregrine falcons now has an unimpeded view of the sunset. Late last week the last standing sections of an old Inco plant on MR 55 outside Copper Cliff came down, while the flashy raptors looked on from a nearby roost.

“They’re safely on the stack just behind us,” said Dan Gauthier, speaking from an office at the work site. “You see them in the mornings. There’s a couple of them there that come flying and squawking around.”  Gauthier, safety coordinator with JMX, the contractor on the demo job, said the falcons like to frequent a security shack on the Vale property and from time to time can be seen chasing off ravens.  The birds once inhabited the old kiln building itself, which meant Vale was unable to dismantle it, even though it had sat vacant for years.

The falcons were reintroduced to the Sudbury area in the late 1980s — around the same time the roaster kiln building, part of the ore-recovery plant, was shuttered — and started frequenting the site in the mid-2000s.  At the time the birds were considered an endangered species, although their numbers have stabilized enough now in Ontario to earn them the somewhat more reassuring status of “special concern.”  That means the species “is not endangered or threatened, but may become threatened or endangered due to a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats,” according to the province.

Eventually the raptors were coaxed out of the abandoned plant by a protected nesting box placed on an adjacent smokestack.  “I’m glad they moved out,” said Gauthier, who worked for many years as a miner and subcontractor before joining JMX last year. “Vale wanted to bring the building down in 2005-ish, but they just got the go-ahead in 2017 when the falcons moved out. They built them a fancy box on the stack and they decided, hey, that’s a better house.” 

Planning to tear down the structure began over two years ago, with the demo itself beginning in earnest last spring.  Unlike a high rise reduced to rubble in one detonation, however, the industrial building had to be taken down in careful steps, said Gauthier.  “It’s not the old wrecking-ball days,” he said. “You can’t just blast it. This was an iron ore plant and you don’t want dust from that going in the air or the lake, so you have to do it in sections. The environmental impact could be huge, but we managed to get her down safe.”  He said about 30-40 people were working at various times on the project, with some coming from far afield.  “We have specialized workers brought in from all over Canada, and even from Africa,” said Gauthier. “We fly in guys who are specialized in this kind of demolition.”  Some workers cut steel beams with torches, while others operated excavators with a 120-foot reach. It was essential to keep all the workers safe, noted Gauthier, which also contributed to the measured pace of the project.  JMX provides demolition and remediation services across the country, and Gauthier said it has been an interesting experience to work with this company on the Vale contract.  “I’ve definitely learned a lot from them,” he said. “Me, I’m a heavy machine operator and a miner, but I’ve never taken down a building before. So just to see the process and be a part of it was great.”

In its day, the ore plant was a significant employer, as well as ahead of its time in pursuing sustainability and emissions reductions, according to Vale. The plant recovered slurry byproducts that would have otherwise lingered in tailings ponds and created new products from waste material.  Changes in milling eventually made the operation obsolete, however. “We are now able to extract compounds formerly used in the pyrrhotite (which had previously been sent to the recovery plant), leaving less to remove in subsequent processing,” Vale explained.  Gauthier said the abandoned building had been a magnet for some kids and mischief makers, so it was definitely time to remove the hazard and clean up the site.  While the structure itself is gone, work remains to make the footprint as tidy and pristine as possible.  “It’s not just knock it down and walk away,” said Gauthier. “We process all the material like steel and salvage that, and then we’re doing environmental reclamation of the site.”

At the moment, the roaster kiln building has been reduced to “a million pieces on the ground,” he said. “But we’re going to make it look like there wasn’t a building here when we’re all done.”  The smokestack, meanwhile, continues to provide a useful function for the mining company, and it is expected to remain for some time yet.  So the falcons shouldn’t have to move again any day soon.

source: https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/local-news/nothing-left-of-inco-plant-now-but-pieces

[carly]

Thanks TPC.  I just think it's so cool that we know where she is off-season now.  Hopefully she stays safe down there 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Radisson's continuing adventures in San Antonio have their own thread on the U of A Board
http://www.species-at-risk.mb.ca/pefa/forum/index.php/topic,4552.msg105810.html#msg105810

Apologies for not posting a notice here as well!!
TPC

Actually Radisson is back at her wintering grounds again Dennis...just posted now on Facebook!  Happy to see she made it back safely again!

https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Peregrine-falcon-from-Canada-returns-to-winter-in-13429813.php?fbclid=IwAR1dj_rg-lj0hm-ZvnF1BYCYf0D1F-6pS4ZKzvtH7u2HpdoO3tdXlPDuqb8#photo-15122119

She’s baaack!

Radisson, one of two peregrine falcons who made San Antonio their home last winter — thrilling downtown workers and tourists alike — has been spotted back in the Alamo City in recent weeks.

Attorney John Economidy had just stepped out of the Bexar County Justice Center on Nov. 9 when he heard a sharp cak-cak-cak cutting through the afternoon traffic downtown.

He stopped and scanned the gray sky until he saw the source: a familiar peregrine falcon.

The raptor circled over the River Walk and landed on the sunburst logo of the old Frost National Bank building. A minute later, the falcon was airborne again, touching down on the circular spiral tower atop the 24th floor of the Drury Plaza Hotel.

[carly]

Actually Radisson is back at her wintering grounds again Dennis...just posted now on Facebook!  Happy to see she made it back safely again!

https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Peregrine-falcon-from-Canada-returns-to-winter-in-13429813.php?fbclid=IwAR1dj_rg-lj0hm-ZvnF1BYCYf0D1F-6pS4ZKzvtH7u2HpdoO3tdXlPDuqb8#photo-15122119

She’s baaack!

Radisson, one of two peregrine falcons who made San Antonio their home last winter — thrilling downtown workers and tourists alike — has been spotted back in the Alamo City in recent weeks.

Attorney John Economidy had just stepped out of the Bexar County Justice Center on Nov. 9 when he heard a sharp cak-cak-cak cutting through the afternoon traffic downtown.

He stopped and scanned the gray sky until he saw the source: a familiar peregrine falcon.

The raptor circled over the River Walk and landed on the sunburst logo of the old Frost National Bank building. A minute later, the falcon was airborne again, touching down on the circular spiral tower atop the 24th floor of the Drury Plaza Hotel.

[photosbydennis]

Sorry, now see its old news and on a different thread.

[photosbydennis]

Seen this on Facebook and thought I would share.

    https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Peregrine-falcons-wintering-downtown-from-Canada-12647930.php

[BirdLover]

Very sad news indeed.  She was a beauty all right!

[carly]

Sad news from Windsor, Ontario today.  The resident female has been found dead, hit by a car.  Voltaire was from Ohio and many of her offspring have gone on to nest successfully in Canada and the US.  She was breathtakingly beautiful.

Erie Wildlife Rescue

It is great sadness that we inform you that Voltaire, the adult female Peregrine Falcon which nested under the Ambassador Bridge, was killed today. Presumably she was hit by a vehicle as she was found on the road.

EWR had the privilege to care for Voltaire in the spring of 2015 when she was injured during a territory dispute with a rival female. Since her release, Voltaire and her mate successfully raised 10 chicks. She was a beautiful bird, and is a true loss to the Peregrine population which is considered a species of "Special Concern".

Our sympathies to the dedicated group of volunteers from Canadian Peregrine Foundation who monitor the birds.

[The Peregrine Chick]

Richard Fyfe, whose breeding program saved falcons, dies at 85
Madeleine Cummings / Edmonton Examiner / June 27, 2017



Richard Fyfe, the Canadian Wildlife Service biologist who helped save the peregrine falcon from extinction, died on June 17 after multiple battles with pneumonia. He was 85 and lived in Fort Saskatchewan.

By the 1960s, scientists were linking sharp declines of peregrine falcon populations in North America with the use of pesticides, particularly DDT. Due to bioaccumulation, the toxic substance built up in the falcons’ bodies, causing fertility problems and inhibiting enzymes needed to develop strong eggshells. Fearing for the peregrine falcon’s future, Fyfe appealed to wildlife directors at the Federal-Provincial Wildlife Conference in 1970 for permission to start a captive-breeding program.  Since he had been studying the extent of the problem in Alberta and Saskatchewan and had successfully bred falcons in captivity in his backyard, he was well-positioned to co-ordinate the project. Fyfe and a small team collected chicks from the few nesting pairs left in the wild and kept them on his property in Fort Saskatchewan until a facility at the Canadian Forces Base in Wainwright was ready in 1973.

The recovery program was controversial at the time. Some criticized keeping birds in captivity and others doubted the young would be able to survive after being released into the wild.  Fyfe’s team experimented on species that were less at risk and came up with creative ways — such as monitoring falcons’ behaviour via closed-circuit televisions — to find compatible pairs for mating. The team became the first to see their falcons return from the wild and become parents. This success, Fyfe’s greatest accomplishment, led to the reintroduction of peregrine falcons in places where they had all but disappeared.  By the time the Wainwright facility closed in 1996, his team had raised more than 1,500 falcons for release. Peregrines were taken off the endangered species list three years later.

Fyfe was invested as a member of the Order of Canada in 2000 for his role in the peregrine falcon’s recovery, but this honour came after his retirement and after he was falsely suspected of running an international falcon-smuggling ring.  The theory that Fyfe’s program could be a front for sending endangered falcons to the middle east was based on the assumption that peregrines could not be raised in captivity. An extensive audit and investigations by his own department and law enforcement officials in Canada and the United States found no evidence to support the allegation.

“We could account for every egg,” said Geoff Holyroyd, who supervised Fyfe and took over the recovery program in 1988. Though Fyfe was vindicated and his director apologized for the strife he had endured, the accusations still stung and he sought early retirement.  Though his career with the Canadian Wildlife Service ended in the ‘80s, Fyfe kept busy by working as a consultant for power companies and preparing educational videos for schoolchildren about wildlife.

Fyfe was born in Saskatoon in 1932 but grew up in Kindersley, Sask. According to Lorraine, his wife of 60 years, he loved birds as a boy but understood as a teenager that it was more socially acceptable to play hockey or go hunting. Carrying the gun his father gave him, he would venture into the prairie to shoot gophers but end up watching birds. He picked up falconry and learned how to mimic birds’ sounds. With a gift for patience that later lent itself well to wildlife photography, he could spend hours sitting and waiting for birds to arrive.

“They would come to him, comfortable,” his wife said. “He was just a natural with birds.”  The couple met through her brother and were married in 1957.

After studying biology at the University of British Columbia, Fyfe worked as an elementary school teacher and principal in northern communities. He helped write science curriculum tied to the Arctic region before heading off to work for the Canadian Wildlife Service in Sackville, NB. He and his wife settled in Fort Saskatchewan and raised five children. Fyfe’s eldest son, Ken, remembers skipping weeks of school in June so he and his brothers could float down the South Saskatchewan and Bow Rivers with their father. Spotting falcons, scrambling up the cliffs to band them and camping out at night formed some of their most cherished memories.

Though he was soft-spoken, he was also persuasive. During the eulogy for his mentor, the provincial wildlife biologist Gordon Court explained how Fyfe used his considerable charm to advocate for conservation, adding that he was a “master of the great, slow smile.”

Phil Trefry, who was the first employee at the captive-breeding facility in Wainwright, recalled Fyfe diffusing a heated scene at a conference decades ago. Several hundred scientists were arguing about who should run a captive-breeding program and Fyfe stood up and spoke for 10 minutes about pooling resources and knowledge to work together to save the species.

“Nobody interrupted him, everybody listened, and he basically said that peregrine falcons don’t have time to bicker and fight like this,” Trefry recalled. “It changed the tone of the whole room,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

source: http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/2017/06/27/richard-fyfe-whose-breeding-program-saved-falcons-dies-at-85

We named a Radisson peregrine chick after Richard Fyfe in 2011.  Beatrix is Fyfe's sibling.  Dennis' photo of Fyfe is the profile image I use on our Twitter account.

[The Peregrine Chick]

so an unbanded bird from Alberta can be banded by them, and when it returns here what kind of  a band would we looking for. The biologists try and band as many birds as we can , But it is impossible to get to all nests .

Any peregrine banded in North, South or Central America is supposed to get one of the USFWS aluminium bands at the very least.  If they band with something else, there would be no way to track without a central database of all the bands - and that applies to other species as well.  They could also put a coloured band on - they are considered a secondary marker, like wing tags (large raptors like condors) or neck bands (large waterfowl - swans and the like).  If they have used the USFWS bands, then they would report both the USFWS band and whatever other markers they have used - coloured leg bands, wing tags, neck bands, even transmitters.  From one or another of these markers a bird can be identified by who banded them, when, where and why and then the bander can provide more details.

[bev.]

so an unbanded bird from Alberta can be banded by them, and when it returns here what kind of  a band would we looking for. The biologists try and band as many birds as we can , But it is impossible to get to all nests .

[Kinderchick]

Thank you for this information, Alison & TPC. Very interesting to view the FB link. I had no idea about the Padre Island Falcon Survey. Lots of new learning for me, all the time. 

[The Peregrine Chick]

Some of this will be a repeat of Alison's last post but hopefully with a bit of new info as well 

Peregrines are caught on their wintering grounds on beaches - Padre Island is a giant beach that is a common stop over or final stop for shorebirds and raptors - including peregrines.  Same thing happens in Chile where the tundra birds like Island Girl overwinter. 

When songbirds are caught up here using mist nets, depending on the time oft heyday you will capture unbranded birds (that will then get banded) or you will catch birds hat have already been banded - this is known as a recapture.  For peregrines it isn't mist nets that are used on beaches rather net traps that are remotely launched/activated. There is also a kind of snare trap but I'm not sure they use those in such locations.  The net traps are good on beaches because like snow there is little to get caught on so the trap works the way it is designed which minimizes the risk to the birds.  I should make it clear that the folks that use these nets are very experienced, it is closely regulated by the government - you have to be an experienced permitted bander before you can get a federal or state/provincial permit to capture wildlife and your reason to capture the birds has to be approved by the same agencies and renewed annually.

So back to the peregrines in South Padre, the trapping goes on during migration (don't know how much or how often or if it is just during migration or all through the winter) - migrating birds that are caught on migration are called as "passage birds". In some jurisdictions passage birds are when wild birds can be taken from the wild for falconry purposes - as opposed to raid nests for nestlings.  So unbranded birds that are captured on migration are banded and that is the case in the story Alison posted. If a bird is banded then the bird is considered a recapture and the band information is submitted to the banding agency so the person who banded the bird knows where the bird was when it was recaptured.  This is the same way that songbird population movements are obtained. Easier/faster to catch songbirds than peregrines of course.

[Alison]

What is meant by the statement that this falcon was "captured & banded during her 1st passage south" & then "recaptured"? How does one "capture" a peregrine falcon & for what reason? Do you think hey meant to say "rescued"? Alison or TPC?

The Padre Island Peregrine Falcon Survey is a project which has been ongoing for many years. Padre Island, off the coast of Texas, is a stopover for many species of birds during migration, including a number of peregrines. During the spring and fall migrations, peregrines are captured, banded and then released to continue on their way. Sometimes the same birds are recaptured in future migrations and the information recorded.

The project "maintains a unique archive of peregrine samples to help assess the evolution and progression of emerging threats to numerous wildlife species and habitats." according to their website.

I first read about the Padre Island survey years ago in Alan Tennant's book "On the Wing: To the Edge of the Earth with the Peregrine Falcon".

If you take a look at their main website, you can see what the area looks like, and see some of the peregrines they capture and band.

https://www.facebook.com/PadreIslandPeregrines

I don't know how or why this peregrine was recaptured in Clairmont, Alberta. I had never even heard of Clairmont.

[Kinderchick]

What is meant by the statement that this falcon was "captured & banded during her 1st passage south" & then "recaptured"? How does one "capture" a peregrine falcon & for what reason? Do you think hey meant to say "rescued"? Alison or TPC?