July 16, 2024 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Cathy Kerr Reports:
CANADA SQUARE NEWS:
We heard from Krista, a long time watcher of this site, that she saw Haven, our long term resident female here, last week!! Such wonderful news. Her mate was also seen. Bruce has been dropping by on and off, but did not see any peregrines at those times. There is still a lot of construction going on in the area which could have contributed to, along with Havens age, no chicks this year. Krista will keep us updated on our amazing Haven!! Thanks Krista.
Posted on July 22, 2024 3:28 pm
July 17, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DON MILLS/AMEXON SPOT CHECK : Last Wednesday, Rob, Ted, Sally and I all checked in on the kids. All was great, all 3 seen and seem to be doing well. Ted got some great shots, which I am including here.
Thanks so much Ted!
Posted on July 22, 2024 3:21 pm
July 11, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DON MILLS /AMEXON SPOT CHECK :
Ted stopped by last week while in the area and caught this failed attempt at an exchange by Gideon. She had only be flying for 4 days when this was shot so… Mom Nagata saved the food, and brother Lerxst joined in after.
Lots of pictures but it really shows the training that Holden and Nagata put the kids through.
Thanks so much Ted for the great pictures!
Posted on July 15, 2024 2:19 pm
July 12, 2024 - Greater Toronto - Private Residential 1
Cathy Kerr Reports:
Martin Dekkers reports:
Hello everyone, my fellow photographer, Maggie Pawlak managed to get some fabulous photos of Luna and Aurora in a food hunt dispute.
Maggie reports, Luna was carrying a small bird and then right away Aurora showed up and wanted to intercept it.
Luna was faster and got away with her meal but they put quite a show of their maneuvers and tactics learnt from Aria.
All the youth are still here hunting and making noise like no other babies before them.
Thank you Martin for the report and Maggie for sharing her pictures.
Posted on July 15, 2024 1:51 pm
July 07, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DAY 6 & 7…DON MILLS/AMEXON :
And our watch is over….
DAY 6 was a very long day of watching Peter walk the ledge and sleep. The day before he must of had a bump, as yesterday he didn’t do much. But day 6, he was so much better. Lots of energy, he looked good but there is that confidence issue. And I thought, another day wouldn’t hurt lol.
We saw the rest of the family briefly when they would fly around to check on him. On one such visit, Lerxst landed on the sign. A neighborhood small blackbird took a run at him… He fled, crying, with the bird chasing him. It was so funny to see.
Bob and Rob spent the day with me watching mostly nothing. But as Rob says, we got lots of great pictures of our little guy!
DAY 7
Rob and I arrived to find(as I knew we would ) Peter was off that ledge finally! Yayy. Now to find him.
We headed out to the front.. Found 2 on each building. I asked Rob to id the juvies on one, while I checked out the other building. Mom and Dad were very chill. The fledglings were complaining loudly… And I heard one answer from the building the parents were on! 3! Rob yelled got Lerxst and Gideon…. And I started my check and found our little Peter on the roof!!! Way to go Peter!
So, now we settled in to watch the fun. And boy did we have fun watching. Bob joined us for a bit, Ivy came by and caught some of the action, and Sally was back, and feeling better, so she joined us for the evening fun.
It was quite obvious that Peter had been fed, Gideon must have had a bit as she was better behaved but Lerxst definitely did not. He made a few flights looking for food but by now it was siesta time. And hot.
We all had a nice time in the shade, relaxed, knowing that fledge watch was over, enjoying our last day.
Bob left and boy did he miss a show! Sally arrived tho. There were so many flights, but a few stuck out.
Have you ever heard of a peregrine tantrum? Well, we saw one. Lerxst had been flying back and forth. Then I guess he’d had enough. Screaming the whole time, he flew. Over to the other building, buzzing it(very deliberate), zooming back and past dad, then back and back to the nest building. Hit off it, again very deliberate, back over, fly by again then back to the nest building, did a FLIP (still screaming) in the air (wow & Rob got the pic! ) and headed west. Well, Mom had had enough. She was after him, turned him, escorted him back and deposited him firmly on the roof! We were laughing saying that he needed a little time out!! Wow, was he mad.
A short time after this, Mom flew in with food and took it to Gideon on the top level. Absolutely no way said Lerxst, he was after it in a flash and he got it. Gideon could only watch. She eventually snuck a few pieces from him, but got a good feed once he was done.
In the meantime, Mom fed Peter on the roof until… Alarm calling! And she was off to join Dad, going after an intruder. Another fledgling!! Again ugh. Not sure if it’s the same one as Wednesday(unbanded again) or Sunday but… Boy did it go the wrong way. It came from the east this time, came around and so close to the buildings. Thank goodness our kids stayed put. They eventually chased him south and out of sight . Hope it’s ok.
While Mom and Dad were out of sight, about 6-8 crows came in! We watched nervously and were relieved they stayed low. And even more relieved to see Mom and Dad return.
Now it was close to dark. Time to pack up. Right? Gideon was on the top floor. The boys were across on the rooftop. Mom. Dad. Settled. Then Peter decided to fly. At 9pm. Over to the other rooftop. Ok. Nice. But no, off he went again. Losing good light, and stamina, he repeatedly missed the rooftops, going back and forth, determined not to end up on a ledge, but he had no choice in the end and we all exhaled, a collective sigh of relief.
He landed on the top floor with Gideon at the other end. Ok we can go now. Everyone left but me. I had to have one last look. Then Lerxst decided, at 9:20pm, to head over to his siblings. Ugh. But he landed, a little wonky, about 3 feet from Peter! And now they were done at last. And I could go home. Excellent job kids!
A great watch
.. No rescues, everyone accounted for. Lovely.
I want to thank building management for their continued support. All the maintenance people and security who keep an eye out for our family (and us!). A special shout out to Ean and Paul.
And of course, my team, Rob, Bob, Bruce and Ted, great job guys! You are the best!
And always a thanks to Mark for his support when I needed it. Marion, you are missed.
Look for our spot check updates…. Fly well little ones, hope to see you come home at some point in the next few years
Posted on July 10, 2024 3:59 pm
July 05, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DAY 5 DON MILLS/AMEXON :
And we are all fledged! Yep, Gideon and Peter took the plunge today…
I got a call from security on my way there-fledgling down in the parking lot on a car! Oh dear… Poor car lol. I got there to find Peter. Security tried to distract him, but he saw me and was off, straight down the parking lot, gaining altitude. Over the street (thank goodness), through the park to land on a house rooftop. Well, not too bad. Ok. Bruce met me there and set up to watch him.
I headed back to check out the other two. Saw Lerxst on the Canada protection sign right away. Then I saw a parent with food… Heading for the nest ledge. I saw her holding onto it on the ledge, talking. Hmmmm… Not normal but then she flew out with it and over to the 2nd level down… And gave it to Gideon!!! Way to go girl… Excellent height for a first fledge. And there she stayed until after siesta time.
Now Peter. I had to leave for an hour for a work commitment. Bruce was watching him and Ted had arrived, so he was watching Gideon. Just after I left, Peter went over the roof (he’d been doing that back and forth for a while). When he didn’t come back, Bruce checked and yep, he was gone. Bruce did a walk about but no luck. I got back and did a drive around, scanning ledges etc. No sign. But we knew he’d show up
.. And he did! Back of the building, low down in the corner, pancaked. He stayed there until dark. We don’t know how he landed, but I suspect it was a bit bumpy. Hope to see him flying high tomorrow.
Gideon meanwhile showed off by flying to the rooftop - a few times. Lerxst was thrilled to see her up there and joined her. So sweet
A good day.
Posted on July 9, 2024 8:46 pm
July 03, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DON MILLS/AMEXON : DAY 3 & 4
It’s been a couple of very hot, humid days! And no further fledges… Gideon and Peter are a couple of ledge potatoes!! But Lerxst is doing great..lots of firsts. The biggest one being making the letters! Day 3 he made the B, on the north facing BANK sign and Day 4, he chased Mom off of the intel sign, making a perfect landing. And spent the night there too.
He also flew across the top of the nest ledge (twice) and did his controlled jump down to the nest ledge 2 more times!! Very impressive. Lots of great flights too.
We also saw a juvie enter their territory (I witnessed this Sunday night as well) and Mom and Dad escorted him out, firmly. Ted has shared his pictures of this… They are wonderful. You can see the juvie is unbanded. (much to my relief… I was worried it was one of the Don Mills boys!). Hopefully he got the message and will not be returning.
I added a few of my pics as well.
Another hot, muggy day tomorrow. Sure hope we have another fledge in spite of the weather.. They are ready… They just don’t know it yet
Posted on July 9, 2024 8:36 pm
July 02, 2024 - Brampton - Courthouse
Cathy Kerr Reports:
FLEDGE WATCH - Brampton Courthouse - Saturday, June 29 - Tuesday, July 2
SATURDAY - It wasn’t a great day to be in the air with all the rain and wind, so it was good that PERCY stayed put on the ledge all day according to Winston. Mom ROSE was close by at all times.
SUNDAY & MONDAY - Toivo reported PERCY being on the ledge early Sunday morning. When he returned later, PERCY was no where to be seen and neither was mom. Only Dad NICO was around and hanging out on the nest ledge. Because we know ROSE’s behaviour, it wasn’t difficult to speculate that wherever PERCY was, mom was close by. ROSE returned to the nest ledge late Sunday afternoon. Neither ROSE nor NICO seemed overly concerned and we felt they knew exactly where PERCY was, even though we did not. On Monday, no one saw PERCY or ROSE.
TUESDAY - When I arrived early afternoon, it was just Dad NICO that I saw on the ledge. He stayed put for quite a while until he took off and landed on a tall condo west of the nest site. He stayed there for a while and I knew there was a reason he was perched there. A few hours later, NICO flew there again, this time with food in his talons. It wasn’t difficult to hazard a guess that PERCY was somewhere in that area! With my bins on him constantly, I waited and watched while he remained on the rooftop .. and finally .. shortly after 5 pm .. I saw 2 falcons flying in the distance. I thought at first it was a pigeon .. and then no, it was definitely a peregrine .. so I thought .. mom? Well, even if it was mom, given that she’s been with PERCY, by his side, all day long, he just had to be there! I was quite a distance away and even through my binoculars, I could easily be looking at pigeons, so having my camera handy really helped. Yes, I saw a parent .. no mistaking that. But then a second peregrine was perched on the roof too and sure enough, it was PERCY!! I had to get closer and take more photos, and then confirmed that I was looking at that juvie brown chest! Before long, I saw all 3 on the roof and I can’t tell you what it felt like to have found our boy!! When I left, PERCY was still on the condo roof, ROSE was back on the nest ledge prepping food, while NICO was perched on another building. Toivo and Winston continued to watch, but I didn’t stay since I was quite satisfied knowing PERCY was okay!
Update on WEDNESDAY - Toivo reports PERCY in the air with parents tonight showing off some pretty darn good flying skills! Happy day! Cheers, Lucie
When I arrived Sunday early afternoon, I did a complete search of the courthouse, including the kestrel’s territory. I have never been this close to a kestrel nest area and since I didn’t see peregrines, I got some photos of the kestrels. Oh so cute! Also nearby were the goldfinches and I enjoyed watching them too
Posted on July 9, 2024 8:25 pm
July 02, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DON MILLS/AMEXON : DAY 2
Bruce arrived to find Lerxst on the garage roof. I was there shortly after and we watched him there for 2 hours. He finally flew off and around to the north side of the nest building, 10th floor… Pretty darn good. But it got better. He didn’t stay long… He flew out over Eglinton and turned came back and made the roof! Way to go Lerxst!
He walked around to above the nest ledge to say hello to his siblings and harass Mom for food. He eventually flew over next door to the rooftop!! So good.
Now, there are a lot of people who walk their dogs below the nest. And when one came by, Mom and Dad started patrolling above. Well, Lerxst decided to join in. Absolutely not said Mom and she escorted him back but he did not want to go and tried to go south… No way said Mom. And she firmly deposited him on the rooftop. The dog had left by then lol. And it was the heat of the day. Lerxst tried one more time to join Dad this time, but again was sent back to the rooftop. He finally gave up and had a rest.
Later, he made so many flights, it was amazing. Some were good, some not so good. But he recovered every time and landed on several different ledges. He finally stayed put on an eighth floor ledge and rested. Whew.
Bruce had left so missed most of it but Bob had joined me, so he enjoyed the show.
We were then joined by Ted. And Lerxst finally woke up and showed off his flying skills to Ted. He ended up after a few flights back above the nest ledge. He was looking down at his siblings, wanting to join them. So, he jumped very purposely off and with great control, flapped straight down to the ledge. Wow. Quite the feat, very impressive! And Ted got the whole sequence!! Thank you Ted. Bob left us then and a short time after Rob came. Ted then left to check out the kids at Don Mills site.
I should mention that Gideon and Peter had a very lazy day. They only perked up, and in Peter’s case showed up, when Lerxst joined them. It was a happy reunion.
Parents brought food and there we left the three siblings together for the night.
What a great day.
Posted on July 9, 2024 8:17 pm
June 29, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DON MILLS SPOT CHECK : Thanks to Ted for keeping an eye on our kids and getting some great shots. Here are just a few… More to come!
Posted on July 9, 2024 7:59 pm
