A few friends sent this to me,as I volunteer with The Canadian Peregrine Foundation. There are 2 young Peregrine chicks that should begin to fly very soon at the site in the article. A Fledge Watch will begin. There is a male and a female chick,both very healthy. Hospital staff is keeping an eye on them incase there is an early fledge. There has been a pair on site for several years,but never a successful nest until this year.
Last year CPF fostered 4 chicks at Osler. The 4 chicks came from the nest at the Mississauga Executive Centre,where the resident adult female Peregrine had been killed in a territorial battle. The new female completely neglected the chicks and at banding time the 4 chicks were dehydrated and underweight. Ministry Of Natural Resources made the decision to remove the chicks from the nest. CPF took care of them at their Raptor Centre in Woodbridge(located at Kortright Centre For Conservation) for several days until the chicks were well. It was then decided by MNR in consultation with CPF to foster the chicks into the Osler nest. Dead eggs at Osler were removed and the chicks were put in their place. Within 20 minutes O'Connor was sent to get food and the rest is history. All 4 fledged successfully and we have heard back about 2 of the chicks already,through their band numbers.
Banding is very important now,as the US has an annual "Peregrine harvest". A controlled number of Peregrines are captured while on migration(only passanger/migrating Peregrines can be taken..read Canadian) by falconers and kept for personal use. A concession that was made is that any banded Peregrine cannot be kept and must be released if captured,as its considered part of a recovery program.
