The King St. nest appears to be coming along as expected.
It’s been difficult to snap an image off the web cam of the status of the eggs.
The female tends to do long periods of incubating, ingnoring the male when he arrives to relieve her. She seems to be very attentive.
Not a hand off, but she took some time off the clutch. All eggs and male present. Taken this am off the webcam.
Attila
Another site visit today revealed a little more information yet again about the female, but her identity still remains a mystery!
I arrived just at the perfect time to catch the incubating female leaving the nest tray for a wing stretch and a quick bite to eat as she flew over to the hydro tower to take advantage of a fresh cache of food that her mate had earlier brought in for her and deposited in one of their secret hiding spots. As she stood up on the nest tray to reveal her four unhatched eggs, I was finally able to catch the colours of her leg band which was clearly visible as a Black over Green coloured band. Sadly, it happened so quickly, I was not able to identify the digits on the band. Also, at this time of day, the low light and shadows that fall in behind the pillar make it very difficult to see something that small in any detail. We are expecting a hatch in the next week to ten days if everything has gone well. Stay tuned,,,, - More to come….
This afternoon I finally got a “peek” at the clutch of eggs when the adult male stood up to adjust himself and exposed three dark reddish brown coloured eggs. Finally my long wait paid off after utilizing the small monitor that is hooked up to the colour nest box camera. There are only three eggs currently being incubated with no sign of the other forth egg in the nest box. No hatchlings as yet. I can only speculate that the territorial battles that occurred several weeks ago with the two adult females battling it out for the nest box caused the destruction of the forth egg that was laid. While the adult female was no where to be found at this time, I could hear her vocalizing on several occasions throughout the several hours that I was on site. Stay tuned, - More to come as a hatch is expected in the next week!
On April 23rd 2009 from noon to 3:30 CPF staff educator Emma Stainton and our feathered eudcator Falon the Falcon attended the Etobicoke Nest site to be part of the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada and Oxford Properties Group Inc’s celebrations for Earth Day. Hundreds of visitors enjoyed meeting Falon and hearing the information Emma offered about Peregrine Falcons,the Peregrine’s which nest on the building and education and conservation efforts. I was on hand to offer help where required. Seeing Falon so close up was a real treat for everyone who visited us. They marvelled at Falon’s beauty. Thanks to Kathy,Diana and Terry for adding to the day also.
I noticed today on the monitor that the remaining 2 eggs (which have been badly neglected the last week or so) have also been broken. There are now remnants of shells but nothing else. Millie was observed in the box for over an hour just doing houskeeping & walking around. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Finally, I was able to capture Rhea Mae feeding her 3 little ones.
The fourth egg has cracks in it and I expect it to hatch over night at the earliest.
After the feed, Rhea Mae flew off with the “bones” and Tiago was more than eager to come in and pick at the leftovers before settling down on the 3 hatchlings.
Euan Reid sent a report of copulation witnessed of two adult peregrines at the lift bridge, and was kind enough to include this excellent shot. Stay tuned for more developments. Of course we are hopeful for what this may mean for this location again this year.
Back to the Sheraton this morning, for a short time, but no luck. Rhea was giving me a look, but when Tiago came to give her some time off the nest, she wouldn’t budge. Rhea was very restless, constantly turning and changing positions. After an hour or so, I left the maternity ward .
Tiago was very content to sit on the sand pipe and preen.
I went searching for peregrine activity in the Yorkville area this
morning and found a male on the north-west corner of the roof of
the CIBC building at 10:14am. He was standing on the track that
supports the swing stage equipment. He was gone by 10:57am at which
time workers were on the roof of the nearby Marriott. At the same
time, I spotted the female. She was on the maroon strip of the west
CIBC logo. With binoculars, the body and head looked normal but
the breast colouring was off. I then dusted off my scope and took
it to street level. She is a sub-adult, likely one of last year’s
chicks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see if she was banded. She slept
most of the time and finally disappeared from view at 12:35pm.
Clearly, these birds are not Ranger and Hunter from last year. They
also take up different locations from the previous birds. I still
need to find out where they normally hang out.