All is Well
June 10, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Emma Stainton Reports:
I arrived to nest site at 3pm. I got sight of the female fly over and land on the hydro tower across from the nest site. She proceeded to preen for 20 minutes ( a well deserved break, I’m sure). I was able to spot two of the chicks, but they appeared to be tucked in on the ledge, most likely taking a nap.
Suddenly, the chicks began to cry and I saw the male come in to view. He appeared to be carrying a food package and proceeded to fly over to the female on the hydro tower. He landed underneath her and began to “ee-chup”, signalling that he had food to hand off. The female retrieved it from him and took it to feed the chicks. My view was still slightly obscured by the ledge, but the female appeared to be feeding them. The male stayed on the hydro tower during this time. Eventually, the female left the chicks and took off headed west.
The male then went and sat on the north east corner of the hospital, with the chicks in his sight line. He then began to preen and roost. One of the chicks began whining and slowly approached him, scaling the edge of the ledge. That was a slightly tense moment. Eventually, realizing that “Dad” didn’t have any food, the eya returned to their siblings.
Later, the female came in. She appeared again to be feeding the chicks, but again, my view was not entirely clear. I have a photo of this event, in which the three chicks, the female and male are together on the ledge that I will try to post later. (The male left immediately afterwards).
In summary, I was able to see all three chicks and see both male and female bring in food. So it would appear all is well at this nest site.
I left the nest site at about 5:30.