Grant Ferris
Grey/Bruce Outdoors

After weeks of gloomy outdoor news stories about population declines of some bird species, more waffling by those who could and should protect our environment, weak laws and under-staffed enforcement allowing threats to our environment, good news is like a breath of fresh air in a crowded elevator.

The good news is: there has been a major victory in the war to bring back and protect native species. In this case it’s Peregrine Falcons, the zooming raptors that fly and dive faster than any living thing. These marvellous birds are definitely returning to Grey County this June with a “hacking box’ or artificial feeding and raising system now set up locally.

Peregrines were residents of this area before DDT caused their near-extinction in North America.

Efforts by the Canadian Wildlife Service, the Ministry of Natural Resources and more recently the Canadian Peregrine Foundation have succeeded in establishing breeding populations in Ontario and hopefully soon in our particular area. The Canadian Wildlife Service’s Peregrine Falcon breeding facility in Wainwright, Alberta succeeded so well that they did themselves out of a job by raising enough birds to get a wild breeding core re-established. Breeding pairs have now been established in Ontario with about 30 pairs known in Ontario and conservationists are convinced the wild population will continue to grow. 

On May 26 this year, Canadian Peregrine Foundation staff members Mark Nash and his wife Mary-Anne brought two of the beautiful birds to MacGregor Point Provincial Park as part of the Huron Fringe Birding Festival calendar of events. Fifty birders and nature lovers were enthralled as Mark told anecdotes from the early days of learning to raise young peregrines in a natural setting.

Mark was the first person to discover a breeding pair of these raptors in Southern Ontario, when by an amazing coincidence a pair set up a nest outside his Toronto office window. He called the Ministry of Natural Resources for confirmation and was put in touch with MNR Biologist Kathy Dodge, herself a fan of the beautiful birds. For years after, Mark, Kathy and other volunteers worked on the roofs of old hotels and high-rise buildings, feeding baby falcons in a successful effort to help bring the species back from near-extinction.

Kathy has since been re-located to the Owen Sound office, and the Peregrine Falcon program in Ontario is now considered a major success. 

Mark quit his former job and joined the Peregrine Falcon Foundation full time, visiting industry, parks and schools and telling the falcon story to thousands of fascinated people every year. 

Partners in our local initiative are the Owen Sound Field Naturalists, Sydenham Sportsmen’s Association, Sydenham Conservation Foundation, the Grey County Forest Stewardship Network, the Bruce Resource Stewardship Network, the Canadian Peregrine Foundation and the Ministry of Natural Resources. 

Some of the individuals deserving recognition for working long and hard to reach this milestone are Blake Smith, Dave Fidler, Willy Waterton, Jason Vanderburg, Fred Hunt and Kathy Dodge.

Personally, I find it exciting that my children and their children will see wild falcons in the skies of Ontario. Like my grandparents, they’ll take it for granted, thanks to Kathy, Mark and others, that “the zoomers”, the world’s fastest birds, belong in the skies of our area.

The news is a bright ray of sunshine to brighten the days to come.