Canadian Peregrine Foundation -- Etobicoke Archives: June 2000

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June 2000

Friday June 30, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today was Magellan's first full day of freedom in nearly two weeks, and it was an eventful one. Early in the morning, he made a miscalculation and bounced off the centre tower of the Clarica Centre. Fortunately he didn't seem to hurt himself, made a good recovery, and ended up on a 15th floor balcony of 8 Lomond, just across the street. But before too long, a woman came out on the balcony above Magellan, oblivious to his presence, and shook a mat out over the railing. Naturally Magellan was spooked, and he flew southeast and out of sight.

We waited a nervewracking 13 hours before he was rediscovered back on the roof of 1 Lomond. Like yesterday, he became more animated as dusk approached, and around 9:15 seemed to be aiming for the roof of 8 Lomond, but fell short and landed briefly on a penthouse level balcony instead, then dropped down again and out of sight (presumably back to 1 Lomond).

Meanwhile, Monty and Apollo remain in the area too. Last night, the whole family was visible for much of the evening. This year it seems the youngsters are showing a much greater interest in the buildings to the north than Toby and Alberta's offspring ever did. Monty spent at least a couple of hours on the corner of 1243 Islington, while Apollo perched on the antenna of 1276 during this time. At least one of the fledglings has gone to perch as far as Barclay Terrace at Dundas and Islington, although I suspect that in flight all of them have traveled much further already. Tonight I spent a couple of hours walking through the area, not spotting any peregrines until I reached the TTC parking lot at the end of Lomond, and heard the telltale screeching of a young peregrine coming from the hydro tower in the middle of the lot. Sure nough, Apollo was perched on top, squawking incessantly, and a silent Monty was one level lower on the same tower.

Thursday June 29, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: This morning Mark Nash and I met Mark Heaton of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources at the Owl Foundation in Vineland. Kay McKeever of the Owl Foundation had graciously agreed to not only house and feed Magellan (and Toronto's Adelaide) during their flight training phase, but also offered us the use of her facilities for attaching satellite transmitters to these two peregrines.

We took Magellan out of his flight cage shortly before noon and brought him inside. We had already prepared the neoprene harness and transmitter, which together weighed only 31.5 grams (less than 5% of Magellan's body weight of ~660 grams). The application of the harness took just over twenty minutes, and Magellan was relatively calm during this time. We then returned him to the flight cage so that he could get some experience flying with the transmitter before his release.

Shortly before 6 pm, we returned to Etobicoke, and were granted access to the roof of the west Kingsway-on-the-Park tower. At 6:04, we released Magellan, and after only a few seconds of hesitation, he flew over to the east tower. There were a couple of additional strong flights in the next three hours, and Magellan's landings were all smooth too. It was only after 9 pm, as it was beginning to get dark, that Magellan became very active, with a series of several short yet rather acrobatic flights, accompanied at times by Marco. He eventually settled down for the night on the outside of a balcony at 1 Lomond.

Wednesday June 28, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Yesterday Magellan was released from the Ontario Veterinary College and brought to the Owl Foundation in Vineland for the final phase of his rehabilitation. Magellan was placed in an almost 30 metre long flight cage, which will allow him to build up strength prior to release.

Because Magellan's injury was minor, and his recovery has been complete and problem-free, we have decided to take this opportunity to make Magellan part of Project Track-em, our research venture designed to learn more about the dispersal and migration patterns of eastern peregrine falcons. We hope that Magellan will follow in the footsteps (wingsteps?) of his namesake, and become a well-traveled explorer over the coming year.

Tuesday June 27, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Angel and Marco continue to make regular appearances at the nest, and Marco is often seen scraping the gravel in the nest box. Toby and Alberta used to do this after the nesting season as well, so it seems to be a fairly common behaviour. Terry Sheils reports that the falcon family often flies south in the early evening, making a loop south more or less along Islington, east across Norseman, and then looping back to the north once they reach Mimico Creek.

Magellan has been transferred to a flight cage in Vineland, Ontario to rebuild his strength, and we hope to be able to release him on Thursday or Friday this week.

Friday June 23, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Apollo and Monty are still being seen quite regularly in the early morning, but tend to be wandering widely during the day. Angel and Toby continue to make relatively frequent visits to the nest ledge. On Tuesday afternoon, a red-tailed hawk invaded their territory, and it was promptly chased away by Angel (Marco apparently remained on the nest ledge during this time - whether he was aware of the hawk's presence or not is questionable). Later on, a turkey vulture invaded their airspace as well, but maintained enough distance to avoid a serious attack. Meanwhile, Magellan is recovering well and should be ready for release in a matter of days.

Wednesday June 21, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The Etobicoke chicks now have names! The winning entries from our annual "Name the Chicks" contest are:

"Magellan"
(suggested by Sylvia Biribauer, in honour of the explorer Ferdinand Magellan)

"Apollo"
(suggested by Peter Ulecki, in honour of the Greek God of the sun)

"Monty"
(suggested by Peggy Brathwaite, in honour of Montgomery Road, east of the nest)

Tuesday June 20, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: I spent a couple of hours searching for peregrines around the nest site today, but to no avail. These fledglings already seem to be traveling far and wide, presumably accompanied by their parents. All four were seen yesterday morning, but have apparently been scarce ever since. This behaviour is in sharp contrast to what has happened in past years, where the fledglings returned to the nest frequently for several weeks after taking flight.

The male in Guelph is being treated for some internal bleeding, but seems to be fairly healthy otherwise. As a precautionary measure, it will be kept there until at least the weekend; at that point it will be reassessed, and possibly released if it receives a clean bill of health.

Sunday June 18, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: While doing a routine check around the Clarica Centre yesterday afternoon, I was shocked to spot one of the young peregrines on the ground, just a couple of metres away from me. This was in front of the Centre Tower, on the southeast side. The bird had its left wing extended to the side, and was panting quite heavily. Very likely the bird had flown into the windows above and come to the ground as a result of the impact. I quickly rescued it and together with Mark Nash we brought it to Dr. Markus Luckwaldt, who examined the bird thoroughly. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but there did appear to be a bit of internal bleeding. As a precautionary measure, the bird has been sent to the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph for further monitoring and care.

Fortunately the other two fledglings are still flying strong and high. They were observed by Mark Nash and other volunteers this evening both perched and in flight. Hopefully we will be able to return their brother in full health fairly soon.

Friday June 16, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: It was another day of great flying weather in Etobicoke. Already the fledglings are flying so high that they are at times hard to spot from ground level. Our highlight of the day was a visit to the nest ledge by Marco, during which we were able to zoom in on him with our nest ledge camera. We have got some closeup shots from that encounter, and will try to post one in the Etobicoke Photo Gallery within the next week.

Thursday June 15, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: We continued with our dawn-to-dusk watch today, but decided that this would be the last day that it would be required this year on such an intensive basis, although we certainly will continue watching more informally for a while yet. All day long, the three fledglings made accomplished flights, having no trouble with the sometimes gusty winds, or with landings.

While we may have questioned Angel's maternal instinct earlier, concerning her feeding and housekeeping habits, she has proved to be an excellent mother. Throughout the day, she circled over the Clarica Centre regularly, flying back and forth so that she could keep an eye on all of the fledglings at their various locations. From time to time she would land near them and bring them some food, but mostly she simply flew past, as if inviting them to join her in the sky.

Meanwhile, we have identified her mate by his leg band. The male here this year is Marco Polo! This marks the first time we know of that one of the peregrines raised in Etobicoke has returned to this site, let alone to breed. Marco had spent much of the fall and winter around Eglinton and Yonge, but disappeared from there early in 2000. We don't know when he arrived and Toby disappeared in Etobicoke, nor can we guess at how the two interacted to cause this change to take place.

For all of you who remember Marco from his days at the nest in 1998, he of course looks quite different now, as he was matured into a handsome adult. We hope to be able to get a closeup photo of him soon to post on the website for all to see.

Wednesday June 14, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Arriving on the scene at 4:30 am today, I was happy to see that our wayward wanderer was still in place on his fourth floor ledge. Volunteers kept an eye on him, and noticed that he was wandering back and forth on the 2-foot long ledge, seemingly eager to leave, but a bit hesitant to make the leap and take flight.

At 7 am on the dot, he took off, heading south across Aberfoyle as expected. However, he quickly disappeared behind the contours of the building, and we again were forced to launch a search. This time it only took us an hour and a half to locate him on a 20th floor balcony on the east Kingsway-on-the-Park condominium tower. Evidently he was quite a strong flier after all, to recover so much altitude in a single flight. He remained there for another couple of hours, then amazed me by stooping like an experienced adult toward Eagle Road and Bloor where I was standing. He pulled up when 5-6 storeys above ground, and swooped back up to the same perch. Only a couple of minutes later, he took off again, headed straight for the nest ledge, and made a beautiful landing there. This got the attention of his brothers, who began screaming and flapping like mad. The first one took off again on another strong flight to the east.

Only ten minutes after that, at 10:55 am, the second chick took flight. This agitated the remaining one even more, and he followed at 10:59 am. Both of them headed west, and did not lose any altitude on their initial flights. They flew with strong wingbeats, and were each accompanied by one parent.

The morning's heavy fog was beginning to lift by this time, and around noon, the sun broke through and the air began to heat up. This caused some thermals to develop, and the peregrines took full advantage of these. Over the course of the afternoon, both adults soared effortlessly for extended periods, and on a surprising number of occasions were joined by all of the fledglings. They soared, banked, dove, and even playfully chased each other in the air as if they had been flying for a week or more. We were absolutely flabbergasted to see them performing such aerial acrobatics so quickly, as we have never seen them develop their flight skills anywhere near so quickly. It was a delightful afternoon for everyone in attendance to watch these birds in the skies above.

Tuesday June 13, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: At 2:45 this afternoon, the first chick took flight! He took us by surprise for two reasons - traditionally, the chicks in Etobicoke have fledged either in the early morning or early evening, and also usually in good weather. But around 2:30 today, the rain began to fall again, and we were fairly confident that there would be no action for a while. No sooner had the volunteers out in the street taken shelter, than the chick left the nest. Although I ran outside immediately, all I spotted was the two adults circling over Bloor, and returning to their perches (suggesting that they had accompanied the fledgling on his flight).

We commenced a search for the fledgling, scanning all the ledges, rooftops, balconies, etc. However, hour after hour passed without any success, and the adults didn't seem to be giving us any clues as to his location. Finally, almost five hours after he had disappeared, he was spotted by two Canadian Airlines employees who had taken a walk along Aberfoyle during their break. They noticed the fledgling perched on a narrow fourth floor window ledge of 56 Aberfoyle and immediately returned to the Falcon Watch Centre to notify us. I went to look at the bird, and saw that he was awake and alert. He could very well have been here the whole time, and simply escaped our detection since he was low enough to be obscured from view by trees if not looking directly at that spot.

Several of us stayed on the scene watching him until it was completely dark (around 9:30 pm) to make sure he was planning to spend the night on this ledge. We plan to return before dawn in case he takes off early, as there is a risk that being so close to the ground, he may come down into the street.

Monday June 12, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: With each passing day, the three chicks become a bit bolder, and the suspense is building further. By 6 pm, one of the brothers was jumping up the far wall of the nest ledge and clinging on like a bat - a behaviour we have seen here each year shortly before the chicks take flight. However, today was not to be the day. Maybe tomorrow...

Sunday June 11, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Still no chicks in the air, but we made a startling discovery today - the adult male is not Toby! We had been assuming that Toby had stayed faithful to this site, but when I looked at the male through our scope this morning (for the first time this year) I realized with a shock that it could not be Toby, as this bird's black leg band was on the right leg, whereas Toby's was on the left. Using the high magnification (120x) on the scope, I was able to read the top of the band, but he pulled away from the edge before I could see the bottom half. We tried throughout the day to solve this new mystery, but were unsuccessful.

What this means, however, is that Toby and Alberta could very well still be together after all. Where they are is of course anyone's guess, but we hope that somebody will report a "new" nesting pair somewhere, and that it will turn out to be them.

As for the chicks, they certainly had their active moments today, including multiple flying leaps several metres along the ledge, but mother's regular meals and the afternoon/evening rain put a damper on any ambitions they might have had regarding flight.

Saturday June 10, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today we launched the 2000 Etobicoke Fledgling Watch, but the chicks remained in place on the nest ledge. There were several times over the course of the day when one or more became quite animated, and danced along the ledge with wings open, and came precariously close to the edge, but each time they settled down again and chose to remain with the familiar confines of the ledge for now.

The chicks are now 38 days old, and in past years males at this site have taken their first flights around this age. Whether this year's peregrines will leave in the next day or two, or choose to remain longer is anyone's guess at this point. What is noteworthy is that unlike in the past three years, these chicks are still being fed regularly. Twice again today Angel not only brought food to the ledge, but actually fed it directly to the three chicks. By this age the chicks are more than capable of feeding themselves; the fact that Angel continues to pamper them in this way may be a reflection of her inexperience as a mother. Toby, on the other hand, performed more typical behaviour this morning when he flew past the nest ledge several times, landing for a split second on some occasions, as if trying to entice the chicks to follow.

Will the chicks be tempted by curiosity and follow Toby's lead, or else opt for the comforts of home as long as Angel provides for them? We will have to wait and see. If you would like to help us monitor the chicks on their initial flights, please phone me at (416) 896-6608. The Fledgling Watch will likely continue for 10-14 days, dawn to dusk (duration dependent on how soon the chicks take off, and how quickly they acquire their flight skills).

Friday June 9, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: This evening marked the unofficial launch of the 2000 Fledgling Watch in Etobicoke. Although the chicks are only 37 days old and thus still a bit on the young side for taking flight, we wanted to be on hand just in case. Fortunately, although there was some good strong flapping, none of the chicks seemed to show a real interest in leaving just yet.

The most peculiar observation we made was that Angel is still feeding the chicks, i.e. ripping off pieces of meat and passing them off to her chicks beak-to-beak. This is quite unlike what we have observed here in the past - typically in the week or so prior to the chicks fledging, the adults will simply drop whole prey at the nest and allow the chicks to do the rest. Perhaps as a first-time mother, Angel is being overly doting.

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