The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Tuesday December 1
Tom Moreau and Diane Brockman report:   At 13:00 today, we heard the sound of a Peregrine Falcon in the vicinity. We went to the Peregrine Watch Centre to see if Toby was on the ledge, since we had seen him there a few days ago. We arrived at the Centre at 13:06 only to find not Toby but a juvenile Peregrine! We contacted Mark Nash via cell phone and directed him on the pointing and focussing of the camera, since we were standing in front of the live video monitor, while Mark had freeze-frame images 2 sec. apart. We acted as the eyes while Mark was the hand.

At 13:35, the bird took off, apparently turning left. It was clear by the launch that there were definitely no bands. After the take-off, Mark panned the camera around to see if there was any sign of the bird, particularly on the condominium but the Peregrine was gone.

Wednesday December 2
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  At 9:59 this morning I checked the camera, and discovered the unbanded juvenile standing on the far side of the nest box.  Less than a minute later he flew off again.  I continued to watch, hoping that he would come back, but instead Alberta landed at 10:03.  She immediately climbed into the box and stood there hunched over, with her head down low over the gravel.  She stood there for about two minutes, hardly moving from that position.  Then, the young bird suddenly reappeared and landed on the edge of the box beside Alberta.  In a split second, both of them flew off - it wasn't clear whether one was chasing the other or not, although I assume that was the case.  To this point (3 pm) we have not had any further reports of the juvenile today.

Thursday December 3
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  For the third consecutive day, the unbanded juvenile male was seen at the nest ledge today.  Today several observers watched on the monitor in the Mutual Group Centre, as well as on the street outside and via computer from the CPF office.  The following observations were collected from all of these observers.

At 10 am, Alberta was standing on the edge of the nest box, and seemed to be quite relaxed.  Just a couple of minutes later, the young male landed right beside her, and she immediately stepped into the box and backed herself into the far corner.  For the next minute or so Alberta remained crouched in the far corner, bowing her head down low over the gravel, while the male stood on the edge, alternately preening himself and staring at Alberta.  Alberta then flew off, and was immediately followed by the male.  Throughout this encounter, Alberta was clearly being submissive, which is quite out of character for her.  The fact that she did not chase off the intruder suggests that perhaps she is considering abandoning Toby for this younger male.  Alternatively, it could be that with the warm weather, her maternal instincts are kicking in, and she didn't feel the need to chase this intruder away.   On the other hand, when an intruder was in the area this spring, she repeatedly chased it away quite vigorously, so I question why she would tolerate a stranger on her nest now.

In the afternoon, at least three peregrines were seen by observers.  Toby was at his usual position on top of the "L" of the LAVA sign on the west tower.  At one point, however, an immature bird landed on the base of the "L" below him, and proceeded to eat a pigeon which it had brought in.  Toby did not react at all to the presence of this bird.  Some observers felt that this was the juvenile male, while others thought it looked considerably larger than Toby, and was an immature female.  It seems very odd that Toby would tolerate another male to come into his territory and sit right under him without giving a fight.   Likewise, however, it would be a very peculiar coincidence if two separate juvenile birds showed up within a couple of days of each other.  To make matters more confusing, some observers noted that Toby was missing one or more tail feathers, while others did not notice this.  It could be therefore that the bird which was assumed to be Toby by both was actually two different birds - Toby and the immature male.  There is no doubt that there are at least three peregrines in the area, as Alberta, Toby, and an immature were all seen at the same time this afternoon.  The only question now is whether there is a second juvenile, and if so, whether she has any bands.

Also today we have taken a frame-by-frame look at the images we recorded while the juvenile male was at the nest this morning and on Tuesday afternoon.  We are now almost certain that he does not have a band on either leg.   Clearly we are in for some drama in Etobicoke - over the next few days, these three or four birds will likely continue to interact, and eventually only two will remain.   We will continue to post as many updates as possible, and encourage anyone in the area to report any sightings to us.  It looks like the winter season isn't going to be as quiet and peaceful as we expected...

Friday December 4
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  I went out to Etobicoke for six hours today, hoping to make some sense of the confusion of the past few days.  However, despite all the activity I saw today, I don't think I'm much closer to understanding what's happening here.

Shortly after I arrived at 9 am, I saw a dark immature peregrine on the southwest side of the nest building.  However, it flew off before I could get the scope on it, and I didn't see enough of it in flight to tell whether it was a male or female. Toby then flew in from the east, and went to perch on the southeast "L" where he stayed for almost an hour until moving to the southwest "L" just before 10 am.

Just a few minutes after Toby moved, I saw an immature peregrine fly past him, dropping its feet down as it passed by. It looped around the building and repeated this behaviour, then landed on the base of the southeast "L". I had a good look at it through the scope and could see that this was quite a large bird, very likely a female. When she flew off three minutes later, she again dropped her legs down, and I could see that she was unbanded. As she flew east over Bloor, the large flight profile confirmed that she was a female. She then returned to the "L" for another twenty minutes during which time I and a few others were able to watch her in detail. Around 10:30 she again took off, heading east, and made an unsuccessful attempt to catch a pigeon. After this she headed northwest, and we did not see her again for more than three hours.

Shortly after 11 am, Toby landed beside the nest box. Except for a brief flight just before noon, he remained on the ledge for almost three hours. At times he seemed very alert and even nervous, backing into the corner of the nest ledge as if he didn't want to be seen. However, at other times he was very relaxed, preening himself or closing his eyes.

At 1:52, Toby suddenly took off heading southeast, squawking all the way. We briefly lost him from sight, but then relocated him flying north over Bloor, in pursuit of an immature Red-tailed Hawk. Right behind Toby was the immature female peregrine, which teamed up with him to chase off the hawk. Once the hawk was out of range, the two peregrines began to circle together, and first drifted west past Islington, then gradually circled southeast until they were out of sight. The size difference between the two birds was quite apparent, and there did not seem to be any aggression between them.

By 2:30, the peregrines had still not returned, so I decided to leave for the day. However, just before I got to Islington and Bloor, I glanced up and saw the immature female flying over Bloor near the centre tower. She landed on the south roof of the nest building, on the east corner. As I was setting up the scope again, I heard a loud bang and saw two cars had crashed into each other over the north-south crosswalk on the east side of Islington and Bloor. Had the immature peregrine not distracted us, I and three other volunteers would have been crossing Bloor at that time, and could have very well been hit by these cars. We immediately agreed that this female should be named Angel, for having possibly saved our lives.

Upon returning to the office, I compared my notes on Angel's features with the images of the immature bird that had been on the nest box on Tuesday afternoon. The malar stripe (mustache) was considerably longer on Angel, and other head markings, as well as head shape also differed slightly. Most noticeably, the first bird appeared quite small when standing beside the nest box, while Angel is clearly a large peregrine.  I am left to conclude that, improbably as it may seem, two different immature peregrines have come to Etobicoke this week - one male and one female, both unbanded.

What was particularly puzzling today was that neither I nor any of the other observers saw Alberta today, nor did we see the immature male. The absence of Alberta is particularly unusual since she has always shown much more attachment to the nest site, and continued to spent part of almost every day on the nest box throughout the fall.

It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that Alberta has flown off with the young male, and that Toby has paired up with Angel and decided to stay in his territory. However, today is just one day. We will need to make additional observations over the next week or two to determine what peregrines are where. It may very well be that the two young peregrines are simply passing through, and that the warm weather (16 degrees Celsius today!) has confused the birds somewhat. Perhaps when the next cold front comes through things will settle down and we will be able to determine whether Toby and Alberta have stayed together or not. For now the mystery continues...

Monday December 7
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  Over the past four days, the only peregrines that have been seen in around the Etobicoke nest are Toby and the immature female. Alberta has not been reported since Thursday afternoon, and neither has the immature male. On Saturday afternoon, Ian Dalton observed a large dark peregrine, presumably the immature female, buzz a Red-tailed Hawk perched on a TV antenna on a building to the north of the Mutual Group Centre.

This morning, Angel was again back at the nest box. I first checked the camera just after 11 am and saw her standing on the northeast edge of the box facing away. For the next 45 minutes she remained there, eventually moving into the box and then to the southeast edge of it, facing out. She looked very much at home.

Just minutes after Angel finally flew off, Toby landed at the nest box. He immediately climbed inside and started scraping the gravel and lying down flat on it, then glancing out toward the sky. Was he trying to impress Angel, who might have been watching? Toby left again a few minutes later, but was observed coming back to the nest several more times in the early afternoon. Toby and Angel were also seen flying together again, and both remained in view from the street for much of the afternoon.

Thursday December 10
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  These peregrines continue to amaze us.  For the past couple of days, little has changed in Etobicoke.   Angel was at the nest for a while on Tuesday morning, but was not reported by anyone yesterday.  Toby, however, has been at the nest box for at least half an hour each afternoon.  Alberta and the young male have now not been reported for a whole week.

This afternoon Angel shocked us again.  After Toby had been at the box for about an hour and a half, he flew off shortly before 2:30.  Before 3 pm, Angel landed, carrying food, which looked like it was probably a Starling.  She took it into the nest box, and proceeded to spend several minutes standing in the box, eating it.   Eventually she climbed up to the southeast edge of the nest box, leaned over, and wiped her bill on the edge of the box, exactly like Alberta typically did.  Angel then stood on the edge of the box until about 3:45, when she flew off again.

It seemed to me that Angel hadn't been eating long enough to finish off her prey, so there must still be some in the nest box, although it is hidden from view.  I watched the nest for a while after she left, but did not see her or Toby return.  I captured several images from this afternoon's feeding, and we should have a couple of the better ones up in the photo gallery within a few days.  Dec. 11 - Four photos are now available - click here to see them.

Since this year's chicks fledged, I've only seen Toby and Alberta with food at the nest once or twice, which is one of the reasons I was so surprised to see Angel feeding there.   The fact that she brought her food back to the box suggests to me that perhaps she feels some safety at the box, which in turn might be an indication that she was hatched in a box.  This is of course just speculation, but is certainly a possibility.   Unfortunately, since she is not banded, we'll never know for sure where she has come from.

Monday December 14
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  There hasn't been much change at Etobicoke for the past few days.  Toby and Angel continue to be seen daily, and often spend much of the afternoon together on the "L" of the LAVA sign on the west tower.  On Saturday afternoon around 3:30, I saw them there, with Toby perched on top of the L, and Angel on the base.  Both were preening themselves quite thoroughly, and seemd to be very relaxed.

Judging by the bloody bones and other scraps lying around in the nest box, Angel has brought food back to the nest box on more than just the one occasion that I observed on Thursday.  It appears that she is not quite as neat a housekeeper as Alberta.

This morning, both Angel and Toby visited the nest ledge briefly a couple of times between 9 am and 11:30.  Each time, they left rather suddenly, and it looked like they might be chasing something.  Considering that neither one has seemed to be easily excitable by pigeons flying past, my guess is that they were chasing each other around (albeit likely in a friendly, rather than aggressive manner).  I say this largely because shortly before noon, I finally saw Toby and Angel together at the nest for the first time.  Angel was on the far edge of the box, looking down at Toby who stood beside the far wall.  While they were together there were no signs of aggression or nervousness, but as soon as Toby flew off, Angel followed.  Are we observing the preliminary stages of courtship behaviour here?

Thursday December 17
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  Since Monday, Toby and Angel have been spending less time at the nest box.  I've caught only brief glimpses of them there, but in most cases they were at the nest together, and flew away together, but again there never seemed to be any aggression - it seemed more like they wanted to stay near each other.

I received a report from Ian Dalton that Alberta was back in the area on Tuesday afternoon.  At the time, both Toby and Angel were on the LAVA sign, and a large peregrine was seen flying along Aberfoyle, then coming to land on the east side of the nest building.  This turned out to be Alberta, and she was in fact eating there.   Maybe she has come back from her little 'vacation' and will reclaim her territory now.

Monday December 21
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  On Friday, I received another report that Alberta was back in the neighbourhood.  I stopped by the nest site on Saturday afternoon, hoping to see her myself.  However, during the time I was there, I only saw Toby and Angel.  They were sitting on top of the L and A of the LAVA sign, staring at each other.  Periodically one or the other would start preening or close their eyes.  Again, they certainly seemed very comfortable together.

This morning I checked the camera just after 9 am, and found Angel standing in the nest box, with an almost whole pigeon under her.  For the next 20 minutes or so, she fed almost uninterrupted.  At that point, she began to look around a lot, and in particular was spending a lot of time looking toward the camera.  I pulled back the zoom, and saw that Toby was standing roughly a metre away from the box, watching Angel.   After a couple of minutes, Angel went back to eating, while Toby remained where he was, alternately looking at her, and toward the camera.  After about 15 minutes, he flew off, having never made any attempt to approach the box for food.

Finally around 10 am, I thought that Angel was finished with her meal.  She moved to the edge of the box, and lifted the remains of the pigeon (not that much by this point) up with her talons.  She then hopped down to the edge of the ledge in front of the box, and resumed eating.  It was only around 10:20 that she finally flew off.   She left behind a real mess - feathers, bones, and bits of bloody flesh were all around the ledge and the nest box.  If she does end up staying here and taking Alberta's place, I can only hope she takes some lessons in housekeeping before spring arrives.  I captured a few more closeups of Angel feeding - these are up in the photo gallery now.

Tuesday December 22
Tom Moreau and Diane Brockman report:  We were able to make several spot observations today. At 10:07, Toby and the juvenile female were seen together. (The female is quite larger than Toby and has a slight white streak on the head. (Tundra subspecies?)) The female was inside the box, eating a large meal. Toby was outside the box, looking on. At 13:30, only Toby was at the box, sitting on the edge. By 15:00 both birds were seen together at the box. The female was eating again in the box with Toby outside the box as they were in the morning. The outside air temperature was quite cold with high winds.

Marcel Gahbauer reports:  It's beginning to look like Angel might make a habit of eating at the nest box.  This morning she was already back before 9 am, once again feeding with Toby watching her.  Unlike yesterday, however, Toby finally got up the nerve to try to steal a few bites.  Angel didn't seem bothered by this - at first she preened herself while he ate, then eventually she resumed eating herself - i.e. both of them were on opposite sides of the carcass, eating at the same time.  I don't think we've ever even seen Toby and Alberta share a meal in this way.

Later in the morning both Toby and Angel visited the nest briefly, but were alone and without food.  Shortly before 3 pm, Angel was back in the nest box, standing over another dead bird and once again feeding voraciously.  This time it looked like the victim may have been a Mourning Dove instead of the usual pigeons.  She ate for at least twenty minutes before flying off again.  In the process, the nest became even messier.  It now seems to be full of bones and feathers, with small chunks of flesh scattered around for good measure.  It's a good thing there are no vultures around here in winter...

Wednesday December 30
Marcel Gahbauer reports:  There have been few reports of Toby and Angel over the past week, but this is probably mostly because fewer people were watching during holidays.  Glenn Coady reported that Toby was at the nest during the Toronto Christmas Bird Count on Sunday.  I spent some time looking for the peregrines on Monday, but without any success.  This afternoon, Maurice Lui alerted us to the presence of a peregrine on the nest, and we were able to dial in with the camera in time to see Angel standing on the box.  After a few minutes she flew off again, but soon after that Toby arrived.  He stood on the corner of the box, all hunched tight and looking rather cold, but he too flew off again after only a brief visit.  Angel has now been here for a full four weeks, and during this time Alberta has been reported only a couple of times.  We are all anxiously awaiting spring to see what will happen then.

Thursday December 31
Tom Moreau and Diane Brockman report:  At 15:00 today, we saw Toby by himself on the edge of the box. The wind chill factor was -19 degrees C. His feathers were quite ruffled. One foot was tucked up into his chest down and he settled down on the other foot to cover it up with down. He feaked his beak several times and scratched his head very often.  By 15:50, Angel had joined him. She was inside the box, obviously the Chatelaine of the estate.

Diana Karrandjas reports:  I have walked up to the Mutual towers 3 times this week. Once I saw a large peregrine take off from the nest ledge, go around the back of the building and appear again on the Lava building, perching on the roof above and to the east of the sign. Today on my walk I saw no peregrines at around 10 a.m. but on my return at about 11 a.m. I saw two peregrines on the Lava sign; one on the 'L' and one on the 'A'. I couldn't watch very long because of the bitter cold, but I saw the bird that was on the top of the 'L' come down to the horizontal piece of the letter.

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