Saturday, May 31, 2014

Sunny and clear blue skies

9:00 am – 12:30 pm

Photos copyright of Bill McCreadie
 

What a beautiful morning for falcon watching.  When we arrived at the Lift Bridge, both adults were hanging out in the Hamilton Hydro Tower.  The little ones were in the back of the box, probably trying to get out of the sun.  I imagine the box in very hot until the afternoon, when they get some shade. 

There wasn’t too much going on until a freighter came through with a full lift of the Bridge.  Immediately at the sound of the bells, and before the bridge even started to lift, both Cirrus and Mackenzie sprang into action.  Working together they began terrorizing the Pigeons on the bridge, getting them up and into the air.  Cirrus was finally able to grab one and she took it to the Hamilton Hydro Tower to prepare.   Mackenzie continued to work the bridge.  He was in and out of the holes, looking for squab, much to the chagrin of the adults.  He was unsuccessful.  Cirrus prepared the meal and took it over to Ghent and Ireland where she beak fed both of them.

Cirrus Catches Breakfast



Cirrus Prepares Breakfast

 

Cirrus Off to the Nest Box

Breakfast is on its way

 

Ghent and Ireland Get Breakfast

 





A short time later another freighter came through, again with a full lift of the Bridge.  Mackenzie started again.  He search hole after hole with the Pigeon Parents trying to scare him away.  Again, he was unsuccessful.  By this time Cirrus had finished feeding the little ones and returned to the Hydro Tower to clean herself up.  When Mackenzie saw she was out of sight, he went into the nest box and took the scraps that remained of the meal.  He took them to the face of the Hamilton Bridge Tower where he stored it.  We figured he wanted to be sure that Cirrus hadn’t seen him.

 

Mackenzie Steals the Remains

 

After all that, things quieted down.  The little ones went to the back of the box to sleep off the meal and Cirrus and Mackenzie were resting in the Hamilton Hydro Tower.

We figured that all would be quiet for a while so we took our leave.

Banding Day Photos - May 23, 2014

Photos Copyright of Bill McCreadie

These were some of the photos taken at the banding yesterday at the Lift Bridge.

Ministry of Natural Resources Banding Tools

 

The Two Little Ones Arrive from the Tower

Ghent

Ghent 2

Ghent 3

Ghent's New Jewellery

Ireland

Ireland 2

Ireland 3

The Two Failed Eggs

Mom Cirrus does a flyby as Dad Mackenzie sits on the nest box.



Cirrus is so irate that she goes after Mackenzie.
 I guess she thought the whole thing was his fault.

 

 

 

Friday, May 23, 2014

Banding Day at the Burlington Lift Bridge

This morning, two healthy and feisty chicks were banded at the Lift Bridge by Anne Yagi from the Ministry of Natural Resources.  Two failed eggs were also retrieved from the nest Box.  The results are:

1.  Male - 705 grams - 26 days old - Banded Black B/00 - Yellow tape - Named Ghent
2.  Male - 713 grams - 27 days old - Banded Black B/01 - Red tape - Named Ireland

May they thrive and continue to help this species at risk grow and prosper.

The name Ghent comes from a historical family of Burlington.  The Ghents emigrated from North Carolina to Ontario in the later half of the nineteenth century.  After spending one year to the east of Hamilton, set off across Burlington Bay in canoes with several sacks of apple seeds.  The seeds thrived in the sandy soil of Burlington and to this day remnants of the Ghent orchards are still found in aging apple trees shading many gardens of core-area Burlington homes.

Hopefully, some photos will follow when we receive approval from Public Works and Government Services Canada.  Thank you to PWGSC for allowing us access to this event.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Photos copyright of Public Works and Government Services Canada

Things are pretty quiet at the Lift Bridge as we wait for the little white heads to make their way to the front of the nest box.  Banding is scheduled for Friday, May 23rd.  Looking forward to seeing what we have.

Thank you Public Works and Government Services Canada for allowing me to post this photo of the little ones.  You can see one failed egg in the foreground.

Monday, May 5, 2014

9:30 – 11:00 am
7 C / 45 F
Sunny and clear
Photos copyright of Bill McCreadie

Bill arrived at the Lift Bridge this morning around 9:30 and found Mackenzie on the Hamilton Hydro Tower.  He made several hunting attempts and finally showed up on one of the picnic tables with what appeared to be a Starling.  He then flew to the roof of the Burlington Tower and Cirrus came out of the nest box and followed him there.  Dad left the food on the roof and flew into the nest box.  Within a few seconds Cirrus went into the nest box, Dad left and Mom began feeding.

As Bill witnessed the food delivery to the nest box he decided to go down the road where you can get a site line into the box.  With the scope, he was able to see Cirrus feeding two little white fluff balls.

 

So, I’m really happy to report that we have at least 2 little ones.  Hopefully, there is more.

Mackenzie arrives with food

Mackenzie arrives with food
 

Cirrus arrives with food

Mackenzie leaves and Cirrus goes into the box



A distant shot of Cirrus feeding a little one