Canadian Peregrine Foundation -- Etobicoke Archives: July 1999

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July 1999

Friday July 30
Tom Moreau reports: At 15:51 today I heard much vocalizing. Up to that point, I had observed one of the chicks in a slot on the northeast face of the nest building. I looked up and could see Toby and the boys flying excitedly, circling the building. After a few minutes of this, Toby and a chick flew up to the nest box and things settled down. About 1 - 2 hours previous to this, a worker was seen on the roof. It is not clear if this was the source of the falcons' upset.

Tuesday July 27
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Joan Boardman called me yesterday afternoon to provide an update of recent activities in Etobicoke. Toby and Alberta are still coming back to the nest ledge daily, and often spend two or three hours at a time standing restfully on the nest box. Barclay and Explorer also put in quite regular appearances back at the nest, mostly in the evenings. The good news is that Explorer does not appear to be limping any more - whatever it was that seemed to be bothering him for a while appears to have gone away or healed. Residents of the Kingsway-on-the-Park report that the two brothers are often flying around and making quite a racket first thing in the morning - 5:30 or 6 am.

Friday July 16
Tom Moreau reports: At 16:40 I heard a great deal of vocalizing but could see only Toby in his usual perch in a slot on the northeast side of the nest building. He was silent but looked interested in what was going on above him.. Soon after, I saw Alberta and the boys involved in a dogfight when suddenly some food dropped from somewhere. Barclay dove down and caught it in mid air and then flew up to the slot adjacent to Toby's. Then Toby took off; he likes his peace and quiet. Barclay then began to have his snack.

Wednesday July 14
Marcel Gahbauer reports: We received a report this evening that one of the juveniles was in some distress on the roof of the west Kingsway-on-the-Park building. It seems that it was in fact not in any trouble, but was simply standing on part of a carcass, and seemed to have gotten a feather stuck in his talons. We haven't been spending as much time watching Barclay and Explorer in the past week, so we are not certain whether they have been hunting on their own yet, but by this age it is certinly possible, and it could be that which ever one of the boys this was, was simply vocalizing his pleasure about getting his own meal. Of course we are just guessing - only the bird will ever know for sure...

Wednesday July 7
Marcel Gahbauer and Natalie Helferty report: Today we visited Etobicoke to unveil our Memorial Certificate to Artemis, and distribute copies to the volunteers and other regular visitors who had become very attached to her. Click here to view the Memorial Certificate.

It was sombre mood for much of the afternoon, with visitors reflecting on Artemis' short life, and getting tears in their eyes as they read the certificate. As if they could sense that we needed some cheering up, the two boys put in an appearance at the nest, and gave a performance which we will certainly remember for a long time. At first, Barclay stood on the edge, while Explorer played with some prey remains on the nest box itself. Barclay didn't react to all of this commotion for quite a while, until Explorer prodded him into action. This turned out to be a mistake, because over the next 20 to 30 minutes, Barclay became the aggressor, pushing Explorer off the nest box, jumping on his back, and nipping at his back and tail feathers. All of this was done in fun of course, and Explorer played right along - it seemed as if he was trying to goad his brother on. The whole escapade lasted until around 7 pm, when both took off to continue their play-fighting in the skies. However, the way in which they left was remarkable. Barclay actually took a running leap at Explorer, who was perched on the edge of the ledge, and knocked him off. As soon as he had gone, Barclay pursued him through the air. The hour we spent watching this pair at the nest was one of the most fascinating demonstrations of peregrine behaviour we have witnessed yet.

Friday July 2
Marcel Gahbauer reports: I visited Etobicoke briefly this afternoon to put up a few signs at the Falcon Watch Centre (announcing that the Fledgling Watch is over for the year, and that the Centre will now only be open periodically while we attend to the Fledgling Watches in Richmond Hill and Guelph).

While I was there I spoke to a number of people - volunteers, neighbours, security staff, and workers from the offices in the Mutual Group Centre. It was evident that all of them were still very saddened by the death of Artemis. For those of you who have never had the opportunity to participate in a Fledgling Watch, or even to watch the development of a bird daily from hatching through to fledging any beyond, it may be difficult to comprehend the level of grief that the community is feeling at the moment. However strange it may sound, these birds do become almost like family after a while, and there is a real sense of loss when we lose one.

Over the two weeks of the Fledgling Watch, CPF volunteers contributed over 430 hours watching Artemis and her brothers, while Natalie and I together accounted for over 300 additional hours of observation. In this short but intense period, we came to know the appearance and behaviour of each bird in great detail. Inevitably, we became much more intimately familiar with Artemis over time, because we spent so much time observing her from relatively close distances before, during, and after each rescue. It was quite a blow to us to lose this beautiful bird after all the time we had spent getting to know her, and trying to help her.

Numerous condolences and tributes to Artemis have already been e-mailed to us from across Canada and the United States. These heartfelt messages are much appreciated, and remind us how fortunate these birds are to have such a large following of caring and concerned supporters. The most poignant message we have received came from Tom Moreau, one of our Etobicoke Fledgling Watch volunteers, and is reprinted below (under June 30) with his kind permission. I believe it echoes the sentiments of everyone who had come to know this bird over the past seven weeks. Natalie and I are also putting the finishing touches on our own tribute to Artemis - more details to follow in the coming days.

Thursday July 1
Tom Moreau and Diane Brockman report: At 1710, we observed one of the finest Peregrine flying displays we have ever seen. The wind was out of the SE and gusting to 31 km/h, perpendicular to the nest ledge. The boys were locking talons, formation flying and hovering over the SE face of the nest building. Often they were motionless, taking advantage of orographic lift, which kept them over the edge of the building. At other times, it looked like they were trying to see how fast they could go and zoomed by horizontally at amazing speed. One of these passes was an attack on a pigeon. The show lasted about 10 minutes. At 1724 we heard thunder. This is not the first time we have seen a great deal of flying just before a thunderstorm.

At 1850, the boys arrived with their parents. One of the juveniles had prey in his talons. We do not know if this was his own kill or the result of a transfer from one of the parents. At the same time, there was another fantastic flying display, involving all family members except, perhaps, the boy with the food. It looks like this may have been a hunting lesson. At one point, one parent took a brief break atop 8 Lomond Drive.

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