We received some sady news today with the report that one of the four eggs was observed broken. We have no idea as to what has happened, but we can confirm that there has not been a hatch as yet. Incubation has now gone beyond the 33 day mark and its not looking good for a hatch. Stay tuned……
After leaving the Yellow Pages nest site, we headed off to the Bell site to check in on Linn to get an update on her status. After more than an hour at street level scanning both the communications tower and every nook and cranny of the building, (and with absolutely no birds in sight), we decided to check in at the hack box to utilize the peep holes to see if she was home. Not only was no one at home, there was no evidence of any activity in the hack box. No scrape, no eggs, and no peregrines. Seconds later as we were exiting the roof, we heard vocalizing coming from the direction of the communications tower to the east of the building and before we had a chance to react, we were aggressively stooped and pursued from above as Linn seems to come from no where. Very aggressive & protective behavior indeed! Very territorial! No male was observed during this visit. After arriving back at street level, we both concluded that Linn may have produced / laid eggs somewhere else on the facility, (and suspected that her mate was currently incubating). This would explain both her protective behavior and the lack of her mate’s presence. We stayed and watched from the street level for the next hour and never saw the presence of a male, nor did Linn return to any part of the building, preferring to roost on the communication tower to the east of the building. After returning to the CPF office, we received news about the band number of the male that Marion and Bruce had watched and recorded several days earlier when they observed this male involved in a three hour plus long courtship and 8 copulations with Linn during this time frame. The males band number was observed and recorded by both Marin and Bruce as being a Black 43 over Green M belongs and belongs to non-other than Rueben!! Rueben was Lawrie’s mate here at the Scarborough Bell site in 2005 & 2006. Now the more interesting part: Rueben is currently the territorial male at the Scarborough Yellow Pages nest site with Lawrie!! So it appears that Rueben has two homes and is servicing two different female mates!!
Stay tuned…….
The short answer is yes, when I arrived 1915 Hrs. there was a Male kiting high over the Building. Then the Female appeared low around the building and then landed on the top. The Male then did a long shallow stoop to the other side of the building. I finally found him on the North West sign, but other than getting a brief look at his US Fish and Wildlife Band, which in the Sun looked the regulation Silver. He flew around a bit alighting on an antenna and then stooped off to the SouthWest. By the time I arrived around that side he had landed just by the lights at the base of the Triangle. He was perched on a wire in the right position to see that his other Band was Black over Green, but with the distance plus the light I couldn’t make out any of the Numbers or Letters on it. The other thing was in that light the F&W Band didn’t look light but darker. He stooped to the East and for the 2nd time in my Observing Peregrines I saw him killing the Prey in Mid-Air. He flew it around to the Nest Ledge and by the time I had repositioned there was a bird on the Building to the West at the top of the building with rather noticeable Glass Arch. As I scoped this bird it was I suspected, the male had swapped places with the Female (Lawrie). The Male later popped up at the Nest Ledge, and then swapped buildings with the Female. The male disappeared as I lost my light and was breaking down my Scope.
North York Peregrines:
Yet another Behavioural Change, both Male & Female Observed various times during the day both together & seperately. They were seen in between Yonge & Shepard and just North of Mel Lastman Square.
We had a chance this afternoon to do another site visit to check on Lawrie’s progress. With a quick check from the upper elevations, we were able to reconfirm that Lawrie still has only two eggs in this clutch and is currently in full time incubation. She was viewed settled down in hard incubation and was not bothered at all by our presence, somewhat unusual behavior - especially for Lawrie the “killer peregrine” that we have come to know and love. What was even more unusual, was that the lack of a territorial male’s presence on site during the entire time of our visit. Over the course of more than two hours on site, at no time did we see the presence of a male which is very odd indeed. We spent the several hours at ground level visiting all of the usual roosting places where Ruben could have been typically found, but he was no where to found. While he may have been out hunting, we would not have expected him (or any territorial male that has a female on eggs) to leave both her and the territory alone for this long. This is very strange indeed…
I have included a photo of Lawrie incubating and a photo of the old nest ledge on the south west corner with the broken egg shells visible. Notice the spider webs now covering the egg fragments. It is also worth noting that Lawrie is looking very ragged and un-kept. Once again, very strange.
Stay tuned, more to come
It was such a beautiful day - 28 degrees and the first day that we haven’t needed our winter coats. HURRAY!!!!
Bill and I arrived at the Lift Bridge around 12:00pm and we discovered that “Sir” was doing nest box duty. “Cirrus” was no where to be seen until 1:12pm when she brought a meal to the box and disappeared inside. When we left around 3:00pm there was no one to be seen. It was a very quiet afternoon.
We dropped by again this evening at 6:00pm and again, “Sir” was doing nest box duty. After searching we found “Cirrus” preening on the penalty box (cable arm). At 6:45 “Cirrus” took over nest box duties and “Sir” took off towards Stoney Creek in a hurry. At 6:50, “Cirrus” starting checking their food caches, going from ledge to ledge and picnic table to picnic table. The cupboard must have been bare as she gave up and started hunting the neighbourhood pigeons under the Skyway. She kept returning to the cables and finally at 7:20 she was successful. It appeared to be as big as she was. She managed to take it to the face of the Hamilton Bridge Tower and commenced cleaning. At 7:30 she took it to the nest box and a feeding began. We headed for home and just as we were leaving the parking lot, “Sir” returned to the territory and did a sweep past the nest box to make certain that all was well.
Well… it’s started!
Banding of the new peregrine hatchlings will happen at the Etobicoke Sun Life Centre, East Tower, in front of All Trans Financial on Tuesday May 26th at 1:30pm. Etobicoke Sun Life Centre is located at 3300 Bloor St West, in Toronto.
Swing stage will be setup by 1:00pm, opening speakers at 1:30pm, official banding at 2:00pm.
The Ontario Minister of Natural Resources, Donna Cansfield, will be present to assist with the banding of the peregrine hatchlings. As always, the public is invited to attend.
See you Tuesday!
Well the 4 little ones, (or should I say big ones) are quickly growing. There is this weed in the scrape that is quite large and the chicks are enjoying hiding under it. The only thing, is the camera angle needs to be changed so we can see them.
I am always amazed at how fast they grow and how quick their feet turn that beautiful yellow!
Stay tuned!
When I arrived at the bridge this evening, both adults were sitting on the ledge of the south tower, opposite the nest box and spent most of the evening away from the scrape.
The chicks got fed twice tonight: once about 7:30pm the female took off from the tower, made a few attempts at the local pigeons without success, and then flew off past the Skyway and CCIW. She returned very shortly carrying a small meal package to the nest where she stayed out of sight for a long time, longer than five minutes before returning to the south tower.
Less than an hour later, the male left the tower vocalizing, and flew to one of the ‘picnic tables’ (small platform on the overhead wires) where he spent some time plucking a cached food item, then carried it to the top of the south tower. A few minutes later he flew to the nest box with some of the food, followed by the female who remained with the food, while he returned to the south tower. Again, she stayed on the scrape out of sight for longer than five minutes, before joining the male on the south tower, carrying some remains.
I spent much of the time trying to get band shots, unsuccessfully, and didn’t manage a glimpse of the little ones on the nest, but soon enough they’ll be wandering around the edges in full view.
With a huge thank you once again to Juanita, we have some history on the new adult female at the Burlington Bridge nest site.. Black K over Green 83 was hatched in Dayton Ohio USA in 2006 from a nest site on the At&T building. Her name is Cirrus.