Feature
Peregrine Falcons Move to N.D.G. Church
“… A
pair of peregrine falcons recently moved into perhaps the city’s most naturally
named religious institution, River’s Edge
Community Church, facing Girouard Park.
…Polly & Algo were previously installed in a perch at the Turcot
Interchange.
But
whether they had a premonition about the site’s impending demolition or they
simply got tired of all the traffic, the birds
of prey have uprooted from abode of
several
years & found themselves a much more
laid-back spot to call home.
‘There was always this stress about the Turcot,’ said filmmaker
Alexandre Sheldon,
director of the CBC documentary Algo, Polly,
& Turcot. ‘It was such a hostile site. There
was a lot of danger around for falcons. When you
come here, it’s a much more peaceful
spot. It’s the best ending to the story I
covered (in my film).’
Sheldon was walking in Girouard park…in early April when he heard a
distinctly
familiar sound.
‘I
said, ‘Wait a second, I know that noise,’ he recounted. ‘I looked up &,
sure enough
there were falcons up on the church. I reached
out to the birdwatchers I knew, & a bunch
of them came down & (identified) Algo &
Polly.’
…Across the street in the park, Sheldon was with bird-watching aficionados
Christian
Fritschi…& Marcel Perez.
Curious visitors can expect to see a lot of action during the next few
months
according to Fritschi.
‘It’s
going to be a great show,’ he said. ‘First, you’ll start seeing little heads
appearing.
Let’s say the eggs hatch mid-June, it’s going to
be 3 to 4 weeks before you start seeing
babies. Once you see them, you’ll see them every
day, popping up & exercising their
wings, walking along the ledge if possible.
‘Then
probably 2 to 3 weeks later, when they’re full-grown & have exercised their
wings enough, (they’ll fly)…You’ll see the
parents bringing them food, taking care of the
babies wherever they’re perched. Every day it
will be a new thing: where are they today?
It’s a lot of fun.’
Fritschi has been following Polly & Algo since being introduced to
them in 2015 by
Perez.
‘I
first met Marcel at Turcot,’ he said.
‘I was told there were peregrine falcons
there… I didn’t know they could exist in an
urban
environment. I went over & Marcel was there with a tripod & a camera,
& he showed me where they were.’
The
birds’ lineage can be traced back to their birth at Universite de Montreal in
2009 &
their mother, Spirit, who spawned much of the
city’s peregrine falcon population. (The
university has a webcam monitoring the 23rd
floor nest previously occupied by Spirit &
Roger, now home to Eve & Eolo & a fresh
crop of younglings, ornithology.ca/faucons).
Perez, 75, a devoted birdwatcher for decades, says Polly & Algo’s
move is great news
for hobbyists such as himself.
‘(The
webcam at) Universite de Montreal is OK, but you can’t go there & take
pictures. We want to take pictures. It’s better
to come here.’
He
& Fritschi will stop by almost daily in the coming months to check in on
their
falcon friends.
‘For
me, it’s the photo ops to see how each year they will manage,’ Fritschi said…
He
went on to read, en francais, a passage from his blog: ‘Urban falcons bring
nature
to the heart of the city’.”
T’cha
Dunlevy
The
Gazette, Montreal
May
24/2018
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Weekly Chuckle
