Canadian Peregrine Foundation -- Toronto Archives: September

Tuesday October 31, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: Both peregrines were in the Yonge and Bloor area today. They were first seen between 6:50 and 7:35am in various locations on the CIBC and Bay buildings. At 8:25am the local female was on the south west corner of the CIBC building. She moved to the south east corner of 66 Bloor West at 8:55, remaining there until 9:30am when she made a brief visit to the top of the east CIBC antenna. At 1:25pm one of the peregrines was circling low above Bay and Bloor for about 5 minutes. It flew fairly close to the workers on the roof of 55 Bloor West, briefly landed on the south west corner of 66 Bloor West, then continued to circle the area, moving off to the north east.

Monday October 30, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: Both peregrines were on the west side of the CIBC building at 9:00am. Windwhistler-Spike disappeared 10 minutes later while the local female hung around until 10:05am. Noisy work continues on the roof of 55 Bloor West.

Sunday October 29, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: There still appears to be little activity in the normal places at Yonge and Bloor. Earlier today, at 11:00am, a peregrine was circling above Bay and Bloor. After a few minutes it headed west, probably to the Four Seasons Hotel. At 4:20pm a peregrine was heading west from east of Yonge and Bloor. It circled the CIBC building once and continued west. At Bay it dove on a kestrel, missed it and then turned southward.

Thursday October 26, 2000
Alan Kirschbaum reports: I noticed two peregrines over the Manulife building at 1 today. The female was on the antenna and the male was circling above it. The male flew off, but re-appeared on top of one of the Four Seasons' antenna. He didn't stay there for long and flew off to the north. The female was on the west most antenna of the Manulife. She dropped down to the corner of the upper roof. For the most part she had her back to me and was bent over. The male returned, again briefly, and flew off to the west. The female remained in her place.

Bruce Massey reports: Both today and on Monday the male peregrine was in the Yonge & Eglinton area from 7:45 am through 4:00 pm.

Monday October 23, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: When I returned to the Yonge and Bloor area at 9:45am, Windwhistler-Spike was on the north west corner of the CIBC building. He remained there until 10:20am. A large work crew continues their activities on the roof of 55 Bloor West, obviously disturbing the peregrines. At 1:10pm a very large raptor was seen moving from east to west, very high in the sky somewhat north of Davenport. It circled for a while north of Avenue Road and Davenport and then moved west. It was so high that it could not be seen with the naked eye and at least one plane heading for Pearson, passed beneath it.

Sunday October 22, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: Between 7:20am and 12:30pm both peregrines were in various locations primarily on the CIBC building. The local female preferred the west facing logo, while Windwhistler-Spike was mostly on the west facing ledge, just under the logo. The local female spent a brief moment on the south east corner of 77 Bloor West, a first for some time now, and then headed south, down Bay Street. Yesterday an unidentified peregrine was seen circling above the CIBC building at 7:30am.

Saturday October 21, 2000
Bruce Massey reports: Spent three hours downtown and saw both Kingsley and Victoria in and around Commerce Court and Scotia Plaza. At Yorkville, I observed the male pursuing a red-tailed hawk off to the south of the Manulife Center, and the female flying southeast over Yonge & Bloor.

Friday October 20, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: The local female alternated between the top of the west CIBC logo and the top of the east CIBC antenna between 7:20 and 7:55am. Yesterday, an unidentified peregrine was soaring high above the CIBC building at 8:25am. Part of the time it was absolutely still and eventually moved south toward the roof of 44 Charles Street West.

Bruce Massey reports: Both the male and female were seen in the area of Yonge and Eglinton yesterday. Today I saw a peregrine chasing pigeons near Erskine & Yonge (three blocks north of Yonge & Eglinton)

Wednesday October 18, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: The peregrines have been busy stuffing the CIBC concrete slots with prey. Within 24 hours they retrieve and eat it. It's not unusual to look across and see a pigeon on its back in one of the slots. At 8:40am the local female was on the top of the east CIBC antenna for a brief time. She was back in the same location at 9:00. At 9:40 she was observed circling above Yonge and Bloor, getting higher and higher, almost out of sight. At the same time I noticed prey on the south east mid ledge of the CIBC building. It disappeared at 11:15am. At 11:35am the local female was on the antenna again and was still there at 12:05pm. 4:40pm found her on the south east mid ledge of the building. She disappeared 15 minutes later.

Tuesday October 17, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: The local female was on the top of the west facing CIBC logo at 7:20am in the early dawn light. She disappeared from view as soon as the sky brightened. At 7:40am both peregrines were circling above Yonge and Bloor; the local female landed on the east CIBC antenna and remained there until 8:00am -- Windwhistler-Spike headed towards the roof of 44 Charles Street West. The local female was seen briefly on the north west roof area of the CIBC building at 10:00am. At 3:45pm she was on the west facing middle ledge of the building, remaining there until 4:45pm. She reappeared in a slot in he same location at 5:00pm remaining there until 5:25pm.

Alan Kirschbaum reports: I was checking out the Yonge and Bloor area from Queen's Park around noon and didn't notice much so I started to check out the antennae of the taller buildings around where I work. There was an object on top of the Coroner building antenna that wasn't flashing so I had a look. There she was looking around, cleaning her feet and, from time to time, stretching her wings. Great I thought. The building is off of Yonge, South of Wellesley with a clear view of Yonge and Bloor and the many pigeons below. I also looked at a free standing antenna that is East of Yonge, South of Wellesley. Again I noticed a what I thought was a smaller peregrine on the antenna. I went for a walk to get a closer view. There were a number of objects on the Coroner building, such as small satellite dishes, to compare the peregrine to. Further its back, upon closer inspection was nice and dark. The smaller, likely male, peregrine on the other antenna also had the appropriate markings. They were both sitting around from at least 12:15 to 1:30.

Monday October 16, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: At 8:20am the local female made her way from the roof area of the Marriott to the top of 44 Charles West. She made a brief appearance in a west facing mid slot of the CIBC building at 9:50am. Windwhistler-Spike was briefly on the west ledge of the CIBC building at the same time.

Sunday October 15, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: The local female was on the top of the east CIBC logo between 7:15 and 7:30am. Windwhistler-Spike arrived from the west with prey in its talons (starling sized), placed it in a west mid slot and then disappeared from view. He was seen on the south west mid ledge at 10:00am, disappearing at 10:20. The prey in the slot had disappeared so it is likely he ate it before I got a chance to see him. Yesterday an unidentified peregrine spent 15 minutes on the southwest corner of the CIBC building at 7:30am.

Bruce Massey reports: At downtown Toronto, I found the male first on the corner of a building at York & Richmond. After setting up my scope back around York & Front, I also saw that the female was also on the building, but was off the edge and only occasionally could you see her.

Saturday October 14, 2000
Bruce Massey reports: Went down to Yonge and Eglinton at dawn, and the male was still were I had left him the previous evening. He made one flight to the east and landed on a low antenna near Redpath & Eglinton. About an hour later he was back on the east side of the Yonge-Eglinton Center.

Friday October 13, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: At 8:20am the local female was on the top of the east CIBC antenna briefly. She circled above for a few minutes and then landed out of view on a north CIBC location. Windwhistler-Spike appeared on the south west side of the same building at 10:05, disappeared to the north side at 10:25am and then appeared back in the same location for a brief visit shortly after. At 5:35pm he made a brief trip to the south north east corner of 77 Bloor West. Yesterday he was seen briefly on the south east middle ledge of the CIBC building at 4:10pm.

Bruce Massey reports: Around 12:30 both the male and female were present in the area of the Yonge-Eglinton Center. At around 2:00 pm, I went home and picked up optics and returned. The female flew off fairly soon after that, but the male stayed around till dusk in the vicinity of the Yonge Eglinton Center.

Wednesday October 11, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: At 7:35am the local female was on the south east corner of the Bay roof. She moved to the top of the east CIBC antenna at 7:45 for a brief visit. At 8:25am a peregrine alternated between the south east and south west corners of the CIBC building until 9:25am. A second peregrine was on the foot of the west facing CIBC logo between 9:10 and 9:25am. It looked like the one that was on the top of the same logo over the past couple of days. At 10:35am a peregrine was on the north west corner of the same building for a few minutes. At 5:15pm the local female spent a few minutes on top of the CIBC east antenna. 5:55pm found 2 peregrines on the same segment on top of the south CIBC logo. They were feeding and still there at 6:10pm. There were only a few feet separating them.

Sharon Jocelyn reports: There was also a huge contingency of (I'm assuming Turkey Vultures) around the area at 3:00 today. A couple got too close to The Bay and one of our peregrines took a swoop at it. I'm seeing a lot of the peregrines - just saw one hovering above Yonge Street between The Bay and our building. There definitely seems to be more than two in the area.

On my way to work this morning, I'm sure I saw a peregrine at St. Clair and Yonge. It was after a smaller bird and swooped in to corner it against a building on the west side of Yonge.

Tuesday October 10, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: What I thought was to be a normal day started out with the local female on the south side of the CIBC building at 7:00am for 20 minutes. At 7:10am Windwhistler-Spike? was seen on the top of the west facing CIBC logo. He was seen eating at 9:20 and eventually left this location at 12:40pm, taking off towards the north west. At 8:55am two peregrines appeared and it looked like they were trying to dislodge the one on the top of the logo. Unsuccessful, they disappeared around to the north side of the building.

At 10:00am the two peregrines returned -- this time to the mid west and mid south west ledge. We now have 3 peregrines on the west side of the CIBC building! Intrigued by all of this, I wanted a better look. I set up the scope on the south west corner of Bay and Bloor at 10:45. By this time one of the 'lower' peregrines had left [it reminded me very much of Mandy]. The two remaining birds were definitely adults. The one on the top of the logo had an incredibly full crop as well. The remaining 'lower' bird disappeared at 11:20 and the 'logo' bird at 12:40pm, circling above the Radisson Plaza for a time.

Bruce Massey reports: Today I positively identified a female at the Yonge-Eglinton Center.

Monday October 9, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: Both peregrines were on the CIBC building at first light, 7:00am. The local female was on the north west corner of the roof and disappeared at 7:10am; Windwhistler-Spike was on the top of the south logo and disappeared at 7:20am. He was back briefly on the south west corner of the roof at 1:25pm. The female was on the same spot at 3:10pm for a brief time. A very brave pigeon was on the same ledge, about a third of the way down the ledge! The female was on the top of the east antenna at 4:10pm and moved to the south west corner of the building at 4:15. She left at 4:40pm.

Sunday October 8, 2000
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Bruce Massey called me this afternoon to tell me that he was watching a total of four peregrines around the Yonge and Bloor area. There were at least two males and one female; the sex of the fourth was not clear. For the most part, they seemed to get along - there was one minor squabble between two males over Yorkville, but that was it. It's probably safe to assume that at least two of these peregrines are migrants moving through the city, but in this area, we've learned that anything is possible, so we will keep an eye on the situation.

Bruce Massey reports: I found a female eating a pigeon on the southwest corner of the building at Bay & Yorkville. She flew to the south side of the Bally�s building where she was joined by a male. Much to my surprise, I observed another peregrine on the west CIBC Sign. I thought I was quite fortunate to have 3 in the same area, however I outdid myself an hour or so later, when I observed 4 birds in the immediate vicinity of Bay & Bloor. The 2 birds on the buildings I assumed were the females, and the 2 males were chasing each other over Yorkville. Later, I saw both Kingsley and Victoria on and off the east side of the Scotia Tower at the downtown Toronto site.

Harry Crawford reports: The local female was on the top of the west CIBC logo at 7:10am. She was still there when I last looked at 6:40pm! Windwhistler-Spike appeared on the south west corner of the same building at 8:50am. He dove straight down from the ledge at 9:10, chasing something. He wasn't successful so he proceeded to pester the resting pigeons on the 4th and 5th floor window ledges on the south side of the Bay building. He made at least three passes and then disappeared. At 4:10pm he was seen circling above the CIBC building. At 4:30 he tried to drive the local female off the west logo but was not successful. He then resorted to about five minutes of aerial displays which also didn't impress her.

Saturday October 7, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: At 7:50am the local female was soaring high above the CIBC building; landed briefly on the top of the east CIBC antenna, and landed on the south east side of the CIBC with prey. She disappeared at 8:20am. Both peregrines were circling above Yonge and Bloor at 9:25am. They were playing with each other, diving and swooping over the whole area. At 9:45 the female was briefly on the north west corner of the CIBC building. At 4:05pm she was seen briefly on the top of the south CIBC logo.

Friday October 6, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: Windwhistler-Spike was on the south side of the CIBC building between 7:05 and 7:50am in the drizzle. The local female circled above and landed on the top of the south facing CIBC logo at 7:10am. She also disappeared at 7:50am. She was over at the bottom of the 'y' of the south facing Bay logo at 8:35, moved back to the CIBC building at 9:10 [west mid ledge] and disappeared at 9:25am. Windwhistler-Spike was on the south side of the same building at 11:05 and took off west above Bloor at great speed and height at 11:40am. At 12:25pm he was back on the south side of the CIBC building. At 12:40 he headed west and then south above Bay.

Bruce Massey reports: Male seen on south side of 20 Eglinton West during the morning. Downtown, both adults were seen circling over the intersection of King & Yonge and then spent the next 2 hours in the vicinity of the ScotiaTower and the Bank of Montreal Tower. Victoria was also seen eating a pigeon on the Canada Trust Building at Temperance & Yonge.

Thursday October 5, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: At 7:20am the local female was briefly on the south east Marriott roof. She was back at 12:05pm, this time on the west side of the CIBC building, remaining there until 2:45pm. She made a quick low pass over the roof of 55 Bloor West [the workers didn't seem to notice] and disappeared to the north behind the CIBC building. Windwhistler-Spike was on the west side of the same building at 12:05pm and remained there until 2:55pm. At 3:15 he moved to the west side and eventually moved into a concrete slot at 4:40pm. He spent a lot of this time sleeping. At 4:00pm the local female joined him on the west side and also moved into a slot, this time at 4:35pm. At 4:48 both peregrines were circling above the CIBC building. They later took up various positions on the building to wait out the rain and finally disappeared from view at 5:15pm.

Bruce Massey reports: Male peregrine in Yonge -Eglinton area today, stooped in on two pigeons near the TVO Building.

Wednesday October 4, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: Windwhistler-Spike was seen briefly in a south concrete slot on the CIBC building at 7:30am, was seen feeding on the mid south west corner 5 minutes later, and disappeared from view at 7:35. He returned to the same spot from 8:10 to 8:45am and was back again for a while at 10:10am. The local female was seen on the top of the 'y' of the south facing Bay logo between 7:35 and 7:55am.

Tuesday October 3, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: 7:25am found both peregrines circling high above Yonge and Bloor and in particular, the CIBC building. A few times the local female was actually motionless, riding the wind currents. Windwhistler-Spike spent 15 minutes on the south east corner of the CIBC building at 7:50am and the local female was seen on the north west corner for 10 minutes at 9:05am.

Sharon Jocelyn reports: Both are often making pit stops on the letters of The Bay - and it's nice to see them back - in fact one of them just swooped by me a few minutes ago and I think she is circling our building!

Monday October 2, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: At 7:25am the local female flew in from the west and landed briefly on the north west corner of the CIBC building. At 12:10pm Windwhistler-Spike was in a west concrete slot of the same building, remaining there until 5:15pm. For most of the afternoon, he faced inward and probably slept. During this time there were up to 8 workers close by on the roof of 55 Bloor West.

Sunday October 1, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: The local female was on the north west corner of the CIBC building at 7:55am. At 8:20 both peregrines were circling low over Bay and Bloor and eventually headed west. Windwhistler-Spike was on the south west mid ledge of the CIBC building at 8:15am and the local female was on the north west corner at 9:00. Both were gone from view by 9:30am. Yesterday, Windwhistler-Spike spent 15 minutes on the south west corner of the CIBC building at 7:30am.

Bruce Massey reports: Kingsley was seen West of Yonge on New Commerace Court Antenna and the East side of the Scotia Tower.

Friday September 29, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: At 8:35am both peregrines were on the top of the west facing CIBC logo. Windwhistler-Spike left 10 minutes later; the local female moved to the north west corner at 9:00 and was still there when I left the area at 9:25am. At 2:05pm Windwhistler-Spike was seen briefly on the south west corner of the same building. Yesterday, the local female made a brief appearance on the north east corner of the CIBC building at 7:50am.

Betty Beaton reports: At 4:10 p.m. this afternoon, I saw pigeons being chased outside my office window by something that looked a whole lot like my old buddy Marco Polo. I haven't seen any peregrine activity around here since about February.

Thursday September 28, 2000
Sharon Jocelyn reports: Having had a longer chance to see both peregrines, the smaller one definitely looks like Windwhistler, much whiter breast feathers - and boy, did he enjoy breakfast, feathers were flying, and I wouldn't have wanted to be walking underneath as he dropped some of the entrails! The other bigger peregrine, is much beiger on the breast feathers, and she sure is a good size. (my morning entertainment, watching Windwhister drag his breakfast around on the bottom of the B - in fact a few of us were watching.)

Wednesday September 27, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: Both peregrines flew into the area from the south at 7:45am. They circled the Yonge and Bloor area for a few minutes and eventually settled on the north side of the CIBC building, out of my view. The local female took up a position on the south east corner of the same building at 7:50am and Windwhistler-Spike took up the south west corner at 7:55. Both took off out of view at 8:10am.

Tuesday September 26, 2000
Sharon Jocelyn reports: It's 8:30 am, and one of the peregrines is enjoying breakfast on the "a" of the west facing Bay letters. I have seen both legs but don't have binoculars with me so can's see if it's banded - and feathers are flying everywhere. The other, larger peregrine just swooped by towards my building (CIBC), and has now gone to perch on the antenna atop the Bay.

Harry Crawford reports: Windwhistler-Spike was briefly seen on the north west corner of the CIBC building at 7:45am. An unidentified peregrine passed east to west and back east in front of the north side of 44 Charles West [my apartment] at 8:35am and disappeared to the north of the CIBC building. The local female was on the north west corner of the CIBC building between 8:50 and 9:10am and between 10:45 and 11:30am. At 4:50pm Windwhistler-Spike had a very large [pigeon?] prey in a west CIBC mid slot. He prepared and ate it there, very unusual. At 5:35pm he was gone but there was a partial carcass left on the south west mid ledge of the CIBC building.

Monday September 25, 2000
Harry Crawford reports: The local female was on the south east corner of the Bay roof for a short time at 7:35am. She was later seen on the west mid ledge of the CIBC building between 11:00am and 12:30pm. Windwhistler-Spike was on various positions of the CIBC building between 8:40 and 9:20pm. At 5:50pm the local female was on the north west corner of the CIBC building with prey, likely a pigeon. She was rapidly showering the area with feathers as she prepared her meal.

Sharon Jocelyn reports: I saw two peregrines swooping around this morning but only a couple of times. One flew and landed on the north side of The Bay. I also saw them Friday, but only in flight.

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