ON / Burlington - Lift Bridge - 2009-13

[carly]

Not sure allikat, he was involved in a nasty territorial fight that summer duriing which he was badly wounded and unable to hunt for awhile.  His mate actually stepped in and drove off the other male, otherwise he probably would not have made it.  She then fed both Pete and their young until he was back on his feet so to speak.  Watchers could see he was flying lower than normal but was expected after that chest wound - you could see it in the photos at the time but he seemed to recover.  When he was found months later - no one knew why, did he fight again?  Or did he fly into something?   I did read up a bit last night and it is possible that a cranial blow will cause a lesion inside their brain which can cause seizures.  I will keep reading to find out more, it was quite interesting.

[allikat]

Great story about this young male...I was so touched when I read about his mate bringing him food!  Only 3 1/2 years old and he has seizures...I wonder why?  I know that these raptors are meant to fly in the skies and show off their flying skills and speeds and this is fun for them, but at least he's alive and well.  Hope that vets can figure out a way to help out with his seizures.

He is one handsome falcon!!! 

[carly]

Great minds think alike Lori, that thought crossed my mind too.  I would like to go see him sometime.  I don't drive but I have friends that could take me.

I wonder if the seizure thing is from when he was hit and it damaged his nerves somehow?   I am no scientist but it would be interesting to know if they do any kind of testing or medical research into that type of thing on birds as they do in humans?  I will have to look that up.

Edit to add: Wow apparently they do, just did a search on it and got thousands of hits!  Lots to read up on!

[Loriann]

we could go visit him Carly... this park/raptor centre is only about 40 minutes from us.......  last time i went they were re-habbing a snowy owl and i was just struck by the sheer size of him and how gorgeous he was.  we went here when i was iin school.  amazing place, gorgeous parks and an amazing nature trail.

http://www.conservationhalton.on.ca/ShowCategory.cfm?subCatID=1416

[carly]

I know, poor little guy.  Hard to believe he's only 3.5 years old, his life of freedom was so short but at least he had a chance to raise one family. 

I wonder if they will ever find out what causes seizures in birds and perhaps find a way to treat it - then perhaps he and others could be freed someday.

[sami]

Good for him! It's nice to know he will be looked after from here on - he certainly hasn't had the best time of it so far.

[carly]

Pittsburgh has a new home!!

http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2009/11/01/pittsburgh-pete-has-a-home/

And here are his new owners announcing his arrival!

http://mountsbergraptorcentre.blogspot.com/2009/10/pittsburgh-pete.html

[The Peregrine Chick]

Well Great Horned are certainly considered predators of peregrines, not so much as a food though, not enough peregrines for that.  Competition certainly.

[carly]

I suppose because they like to eat my peregrines - I never look at them as raptors...   But I guess that's what the cages are for 

[The Peregrine Chick]

As for the residential male, all I know is that he was taken to an 'Owl' centre.  We don't have a 'raptor' rehabilitation centre here I was told.  Not one that specializes in them anyway so they tend to get sent somewhere else to be cared for. 

Owls are raptors too so don't fret much ... and I think I know which "owl" centre you are talking of - if that is the one, you don't have much to fear, they are very very good at their jobs!

[carly]

I wonder why they haven't posted it then and I hope they let the people down there know - if indeed it was him.  

As for the residential male, all I know is that he was taken to an 'Owl' centre.  We don't have a 'raptor' rehabilitation centre here I was told.  Not one that specializes in them anyway so they tend to get sent somewhere else to be cared for.  

[Alison]

Perry from Toledo

I was just going through posts on the Rochester board, and found this post from Frank Butson on August 21.

Re: Tornadoes reported across southern Ontario 08-20-2009

I just spoke with Mark Nash the Canadian Peregrine Foundation boss(well his wife  lets him think so at least) and we have had one badly injured Peregrine which  MNR has told us of. We are trying to find out its identity it is black over  green c over 51. From what I can ascertain,he could be a bird from Toledo  Ohio,from 2007 named Perry from the Commodore Perry Motor Inn.If anyone knows  for sure if their birds were black/green let me know. Im abit unclear on that.  Our barns where we keep our educational birds at Kortright Centre at the  Canadian Peregrine Foundation Raptor Centre,is very near the area that was badly  hit by the tornados. Fortunately,Tracy Simpson,our 'Raptor Mom" was there  through the whole event. She was well prepared to evacuate the birds,but it was  not necessary. All birds were moved to outdoor pens,incase the roof of the  indoor area was torn off,our fear was the birds would get sucked up with it.  Tracy said the roof "breathed abit" but it held strong,so thankfully all of our birds,the barns and oh ya Tracy are fine.

This is the band number I had mentioned yesterday, so this is indeed Perry from the Commodore Perry Inn, born 2007.  

[Alison]

No they haven't published the news on Perry that I know of, Frank told me.  It was the MNR that picked him up and they don't give much away - we still can't find out how the residential male is doing either.   Had it been CPF they would have posted it.  Sorry Alison, I will try to find out for you. 

Angel's talon seemed okay today from what I could see. 

Thanks, Carly. I'd really like to know what happened to Perry. Do we know where the residential male is - is he at a clinic or a rehab centre? If so, we could always call them and ask how he is doing.

It does sound as if Angel has an injury to her talon. I'm glad she seems to be doing better. The falcons shouldn't have to put up with planes flying so close to their nest.

[carly]

No they haven't published the news on Perry that I know of, Frank told me.  It was the MNR that picked him up and they don't give much away - we still can't find out how the residential male is doing either.   Had it been CPF they would have posted it.  Sorry Alison, I will try to find out for you. 

And yes I think it was Jack I saw..unfortunately I couldnt see if he had bands or not, both of them had their backs to me and their heads were going back and forth as the jets went by.  I have never seen adult falcons afraid before. 

You honestly had to have heard and seen the planes ...they came right over the nest ... people were actually calling our security department because they didn't announce this was happening and as you can imagine..jets racing towards a high rise post 9/11 and everyone's imagination went wild.  Everyone in the building stopped working and either ran to the windows or outside.  These are fighter jets they put on a show with at the exhibition here this weekend.  They sound like rockets and they fly awfully fast so naturally the noise is insane - you can't hear yourself think when they go overhead.  The pigeons and blackbirds were going insane - they were so upset, they started flying in circles up and down.  It was quite surreal.  They apparently are going to 'practice' again tomorrow so I'll be out monitoring the falcons again. 

Angel's talon seemed okay today from what I could see.  I wonder if when she was diving bombing that huge bird that seemed immovable last week if she might have bruised herself.  During fledge watch this year we noticed that she actually had trouble landing and slipped on the glass on the building which is not like her at all...  That weird landing I saw the other day was only the second time I've ever seen her have any issues with a landing so I'm keeping an eye on her.  It may be nothing...I'm assuming birds have off days as well.

[Alison]

You're right but I heard through the grapevine that he didn't look right and they were hoping he'd come to ground so they could have a look at him so I made an assumption. 

In other news a young 2 year old male named Perry from Toledo that was found severely injured after the tornadoes here has had to be put down - his injuries were too severe apparently.

Our resident male Jack is also MIA since the storms, he has not been seen here nor at the residential site. 

Angel seems to be having a problem with one of her talons I've noticed, I'm not sure if she injured it or not but she is having a balance problem.  Hasn't stopped her hunting though so hopefully it will pass. 

I do hope Truss will turn up somewhere - I wonder what the possible problem might have been.

Carly, do you have more info on Perry from Toledo? I think this would be Perry from the Commodore Perry Motor Inn, band C/51. Haven't seen anything about this - is there a link or a source? Where was he found?

Any updates on Angel's injured talon? I hope she is okay.

It seems that Jack is back. Part of today's update on the CPF site:

. . . And then I went around the back of the building and saw 2 peregrine falcons on the same ledge about a wing span apart.  My first thought was wow..Elena flies fast but quickly realized that one of those falcons was alot bigger than the other and both were black and white and not brown!  Both heads were swiveling back and forth and both were facing inwards towards the wall.  Interestingly there are workmen on the condo next door and normally Angel would at least be kacking to let them know she’s not impressed however no one is even moving from the ledge right now.  I watched them for a good 15 minutes and I’m pretty sure one was our resident male unless mom has something she’d like to share with me!