Sept 6, 21 Raptors ...YTD 367

Another beautiful day,meant a slowish day for raptors,but we had a good day anyway. Lee,Carol,Ann,Dave and my friends from Burlington Sue and Bill spotted 21 raptors. Bill and Sue help with the Peregrine Falcon Fledgling Watch in Burlington at the liftbridge nest,conducted with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation,which as many of you may know I do alot of volunteer work with. (more on this later). Ann Brokelman sent along this photo of a ragged looking Redtailed Hawk

and also this American Kestrel(note the "moustache" and "beading on the wings").

Lee arrived as I was packing things in for the day,and got this shot of an American Crow attacking a Redtailed Hawk as it went along the bluffs.

Our final tally for the day was

5-Turkey Vultures

2-Osprey

1-Sharpshinned Hawk

4-Redtailed Hawks

7-American Kestrels

1-Merlin

1-Peregrine Falcon

21-Total Raptors

Under the "You never know who you will meet at Rosetta McClain Gardens category",Carol struck up a conversation with a lady on a bench,who inquired about what we were doing. It turns out she was part of a Ministry of Natural Resources team that was part of the begginning of the recovery of the Peregrine Falcon. She had worked doing hack releases in Algonquin Park and later in the city of Toronto. Irene mentioned a nest that was at the King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto(she had lived outside of the country for the past 10 years) and was very happy to hear we still have a nest at a building right near the King Eddy. We discussed some of the things I have done with the Canadian Peregrine Foundation,and how many active nesting sites are now in Toronto. Irene told me abit about the early government efforts through the MNR which began the re-introduction of the Peregrine Falcon in the early 1980s,before the CPF exhisted. I hope to hear from Irene again. We meet all kinds of interesting people at Rosetta McClain Gardens!