Both Adults On Site…Pigeon Be Gone
- Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Frank Butson Reports:
Reporting for Lyn:
20110215 Yonge-Eglinton Peregrines
I had an exciting day today! I came out of the bank and whilst waiting for the light to change I saw a Peregrine struggle with the reflections in the windows of the Rio-Can building on the east side. The Peregrine had actually flown across the front of the Heart and Stroke building and *softly* into a window, fluttered up and down the window and then flew off over Eglinton Ave. It came back to the same side of the Rio-Can building and did the same thing again before flying across Eglinton Ave and onto the railing on the level below the nest ledge, but on the northeast side of the building. This appeared to be a large Peregrine but not having another one with which to compare it I reserved judgement. The Peregrine sat on the railing for a good ten minutes.
Just as I was about leave for indoors, she took off over the CIBC building on the SW corner of Y&E and along Eglinton east. At a spot one street west of Redpath I saw three pigeons flying above Eglinton Ave and the Peregrine had her sights set on one of them and I saw her grab it!!
I exclaimed aloud *oh wow* which caused two pedestrians to turn around and look along Eglinton but they did not see her. She struggled to fly and gain height to land on top of the CIBC building. She was flying against the wind. As she landed I saw another peregrine fly from the west to land right at the top of the nest building on the NW corner.
I thought I could safely dash home for binoculars as I thought she would eat the peregrine where she was. When I came back she had gone and so had the second peregrine. I searched the two buildings to no avail. However I did find feathers floating on the breeze coming from the west. I searched along Eglinton to the corner of Duplex - no luck! When I looked south from there I found both peregrines on top of the black building over the bus garage. This time I could definitely see the size difference and it was the female who had caught the pigeon. I stood out there in the cold wind for 45 minutes as she plucked feathers and ate, then plucked some more. The male was sitting about 2 metres away from her and periodically he called then settled down again. Eventually, minutes before I left he could bear the strain no longer. He ran along the edge of the building towards the female and grabbed what looked like the pigeon’s head and then flew to another perch on the same building. The female never paused. She continued eating. By this time I was frozen and decided to leave. Both peregrines were pecking away at their spoils. It was a great sighting.
Never go to the bank without binoculars!!!
Lyn
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