All Three Juveniles Doing Well at William Osler
June 22, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
When I arrived, Hurricane was on the nest ledge looking confused and O’Connor sat firmly in the tower at the ready as usual. I saw no sign of ANY of the juveniles and of course began the search of each face of the building in turn. I found Storm by his “little screamies” on the northeast corner of the roof and so that left two to find. I circled the building; nothing. I circled the berm on the outskirts of the property; nothing!! I looked to the parents for some guidance and they consistently led me back to the northeast corner. O.K. A different perspective was needed. So across the street and far away I go to get a better angle of the building. I see Storm jump up on the northeast corner and then go back down onto the roof out of view. Then another larger juvenile jumps up onto the corner ( huge and dark ), that would be Wind. That’s two. I circle the building 4 more times and come back again to that northeast corner. There’s one bird ( lighter and a bit smaller ) which turns out to be Rain. Seconds later the other two turkeys pop up and the three are now sitting shoulder to shoulder and laughing their beaks off at how wet I am!! At 11:30am, O’Connor brings in a huge pigeon for lunch and all three juveniles take their fill. Now energized, Storm takes off for some flight time. His landings are now excellent on the nest ledge, the roof top and everywhere else he wanders. His harassment of his parents in their favourite roosting spot has their feathers somewhat ruffled. Both females have now made it to the rooftop; Wind from the nest ledge and Rain from a 4 storey windowsill. The two girls will still have to work a bit more on control and landings to really excel at this flight thing.
During the afternoon I took some time to dry off as best as I could and I was glad for the break given that by 7:00pm, it was absolute madness. O’Connor flew over to the antenna just above the three juveniles and sat there staring which incited much silliness and screaming. In moments, the first female was off and heading for the hydro tower. A successful landing was celebrated by Rain as she reached the top platform of one of the tower spires. Storm flew over to join her there and Wind, who now sat on the rooftop alone, refused to be outdone and abandoned by her siblings. She took off and flew towards the tower only to veer off at the last minute and head for the stack on top of the nest building roof. No sooner had she touched down than Storm came over and chased her off. This set off a series of events that was pandemonium!!
Wind takes to the air and circles around to the tower but cannot land as Rain is in the runway. Storm is hot on her tail as this game of chase is fun. Wind circles back around the north side of the building and she appears above it in a really beautiful soar. She tries for the stack again. Storm cuts her off and forces her back off the building. Rain is now in the air headed around to the north. Storm chases her. Wind tries for the hydro tower again. Storm is back and turning her away so she aborts the landing. Wind has been airborne for over a minute now. Rain comes back around the south side of the building heading for the tower. Storm’s on it!! I look into the tower and see one bird land, one leave and one soaring and I have no idea who is who anymore. Two juveniles cross over in the air. One to the tower and one to the west side of the building. I’m running to see where birds have gone. Two in the tower, one has disappeared around the other side of the building. I go around the entire building and find a bird on the west facing ledge. I am now soaking wet for the second time and I still don’t know what’s going on! The parents wait until everyone is settled and then leave feeling very proud of their kids and are off to hunt for the three now flighted juveniles. I head to my truck soaked and exhausted only to find all three kids in the tower. THEN ALL THREE EXPLODE OFF AT THE SAME TIME!!! All I can say is that I count five heads that won’t stop moving around but still add up to five and they’re all happy dance screaming!! Now that the juveniles are all airborne, I have relegated myself to head counts as no one bird is settled long enough to readily identify. By tomorrow, some of the newness of flight will wear off for these young and I will be able to tell much more readily who is doing what and how well.