July 11, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Canada Square report for July 11 2011
When I arrived to watch the peregrines at 5:05 this afternoon there was only one sitting on the Rio-Can south face, at the top. Twenty five minutes later an adult flew on to the east face and the juvie squawked but did not move. It took over an hour to have more than one juvie in the air at once. Then, they did not stop until 8:45p.m.
When they got going they really did give me a great display of their progress and also a couple of new *tricks*. Sighhhhh….. the antics of the peregrines have caused an audible reaction from me before but today it was mirth not gasps. They had me giggling aloud. I really hate to think what passersby thought. I think there was a lovely breeze up high and the juvies really took advantage of it. Their kiting skills have improved tremendously, however, when the wind blows and they are looking into the wind and travelling backwards it is a bit of a puzzlement. One of the juvies let go of the TVO antenna and I think the idea was simply to stay aloft in the same place but he drifted backwards and flapped madly to get back to the perch. There really was effort put into the flapping. That was once occasion that I laughed.
One of the new *tricks* is to land ON the brother already perched on the antenna. There was no attempt to land next to or under the one perched. The idea was to land ON him. It worked once but the wind interfered and the landing peregrine was drifting away, so out came the talons as he grabbed his brother. That set up a new reaction as the brother tried grabbing on tight but was a bit slow and *fell* off the perch. As fast as his wings flapped to get back to the perch so his legs scrambled for a hold. Eventually it all came together and he sat down again.
The second trick shown today is to give me a heart attack!!! The juvies have learnt that they have short bursts of high speed and they use it. However they do not soar and fly high out of harm’s way! No! They fly off the antenna, southwards and then come tearing back at high speed to the Canada Square building half way up and at the last second pull into a climb to miss the building. This is great fun when playing tag !
Earlier in the watch there was only one peregrine on the TVO antenna. A gull flew by and there was no reaction or even recognition that it may slightly resemble food or intruder. It was completely ignored. Just hand them an audience in the form of brothers and my word things change.
Three juvies were on said antenna, just sitting, for a change. A gull was meandering south down Duplex, past the black building, looking here and there as gulls do! One of the juvies spotted this poor bird and was off the antenna in a flash and into a swift chase after the gull. The gull saw him and took evasive action by flapping madly and zigzagging. It went below the building so I was unable to see any more but I did see the other two juvies launch themselves into the *attack* as well. The gull, of course, got a way!
For roughly an hour and a quarter I had three juvies in the air playing follow the leader, chase me, tag, talon touching but no locking on today. There was a great deal of kiting even though the wind took them backwards! Their flying was mostly around the TVO antenna and the small condo building. They did stretch themselves at times and drift towards Canada Square and Rio-Can but always returned to the antenna.
On one occasion two of the juvies were behind Rio-Can and I had the third one overhead and he did a funny little *practise flip* baring his talons as he went onto his back. There was no other bird in sight, he was simply practising all alone.
One of the juvies is definitely an instigator of all games and flying. He just cannot bear to see either of the others sitting when they could be playing with him. If they do not fly when he does, he swoops on them on their perches. It is very effective because they do fly just to get rid of him and then come back and perch again.
At 8:45 p.m. all three youngsters had disappeared from view so I came home then.
Lyn
Posted on July 13, 2011 3:50 am
July 10, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Canada Square report for July 10 2011.
I had an early morning call at 5:35 a.m. which roused me from slumber. I listened, I heard and I rolled over and went back to sleep as this was only a hungry peregrine I felt sure! The *peregrine alarm* went off again at 9:45, 10:50 and 11:05 a.m. Then surprisingly there was silence for a very long time until after I went out at 5:10 p.m.
There was not a peregrine in sight for a while until two suddenly appeared on the TVO building; one on the antenna and one on the railing around it. There was slight activity when one flew off the railing and joined the other on the antenna and then they both flew from the antenna, did ONE talon touch and landed back whence they had come.
At 6:07 pm an adult landed on the top northwest corner of the tall condo building. I later determined this to be the mom. When the light was right her colour was quite evident.
For a long while I had only three peregrines in sight, however, at 6:34 I had four in sight, two on the TVO antenna, one on the condo and one on the southwest corner of Rio-Can. The one on Rio-Can flew from his perch, slightly north up Duplex, changed his mind and flew back to the southwest corner and overshot the landing!! Must have been Chester ! So he turned and flew north again, behind and then over Rio-Can and landed the on the second attempt, from a different angle. After some thought he flew again, north then south over Rio-Can, over Canada Square, past the two condo towers and made a perfect landing on the TVO antenna between his two brothers!!!
After a couple of short flights off and back to the antenna the three juveniles and their mom, on the condo, sat where they were for a half an hour! After that, one by one the juvies flew to Rio-Can, did a few turns over the top of that building and all then disappeared on the east side of the building. There was another rest from activity until finally the adult male put in an appearance. He must have had food because he suddenly had three squawking juvies chasing him as he flew to the roof on Canada Square and disappeared. Only one of the juvies followed him to the roof and of course ended up with the snack. So for that brief moment I had four peregrines in the air and mom (I checked) still atop the condo tower! Five peregrines again today! There was a little more activity, flying back and forth, before things quietened down again. I left at 8:30 pm and mom was still on the top of the condo catching the last of the sun`s rays. She had been sitting there for two hours and twenty minutes.
Lyn
Posted on July 13, 2011 3:46 am
July 09, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Canada Square report for July 9th 2011.
I arrived at 5:15 and saw one juvenile fly *up* the south side of Rio-Can and disappear over the top.
For the next twenty minutes there was no activity. However things did pick up once Maggie and Lance joined me.
Maggie spotted an incoming bird from way up north of normal buildings used for perches and such. This adult disappeared momentarily behind the Heart and Stroke building and came swooping in on a pigeon just north of the Canada Square building…and missed, dived again and missed and missed a third time. However, the action was ongoing as a juvie flew in after his mother and when she quit he dived and missed. The pigeon by now was west of Canada Square and taking evasive action as the juvie dived again and missed. He tried once more but missed and the pigeon was so close to the ground that we were all telling him to *go up* and forget the pigeon!!! Fortunately he realised where he was and climbed. After that things calmed down a bit and we had two juveniles in the air over the tall condo. They did lazy circles around the top and one landed on the northwest corner of the condo. A few minutes later we had three juvies in sight; the two around the condo and one perched on the southeast corner of Rio-Can.
The juveniles were active and difficult to track as they kept changing perches and air space. So it was no surprise to find one juvenile south of the TVO antenna as he dived on a small bird, once, twice, three times and missed each time by many yards!! I am sure there are two birds in the airspace around the nest who are minus a number of feathers, NOT from contact with the peregrines but just from sheer fright!
There were more aerobatics from the peregrines, especially the two now back above the condo. Mom chased yet another pigeon which literally flew up against the cinema building (black) for safety as mom flew over and landed on the TVO building. The pigeon flew up to the roof of the cinema building and froze when it noticed the female peregrine staring down at it. That was a bit of a standoff.
Much later on we had another display and this time there were four peregrines in the air. The activity began just east of the Rio-Can building as they swooped on one another and turned to talon touch and continue flying. Then things became a little *hairy*!!! Two of the peregrines locked talons and fell. We saw them fall the height of the larger antenna on top of Canada Square and they were still falling when they disappeared from view on the Yonge Street side of that building. The other two birds flew between the two condo towers before disappearing. I went for a walk to Yonge and walked a little way south but could see no birds. Lance went for a walk on my return and came back empty handed. After a while I decided to come inside and make a phone call. As I was walking along Eglinton Avenue I saw the female fly from her perch on the south face of Rio-Can and chase a pigeon and miss. One of the juvies followed her and also missed for which I was thankful as they were all well below the roof line of the cinema building, in other words, low!!!
I came out again for a little while after making the phone call and found three peregrines. Two had been on the southeast corner of Heart and Stroke and one flew between the buildings, the female flew from the corner and landed on one of the upright window ledges on the east face of Heart and Stroke and the third peregrine was just above her. I left them there at 9.20pm
Lyn
Posted on July 13, 2011 3:44 am
July 08, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Canada Square report for Friday July 8th 2011.
Once again the watch started off rather slowly with only one peregrine spotted as I arrived. Later a second peregrine flew into the area and once Maggie had joined me we had three juveniles on the TVO antenna. After a few false starts we had all three juveniles flying above the Rio-Can building. They circled well above the building and gave us a splendid exhibition of their *aerial progress*. They chased one another, two in particular with the third juvie keeping up the rear. They *played* tag and also attempted talon touching but were quite careful not to make contact. This must have gone on for a good twenty minutes.
Their flight is much stronger and a whole lot *smoother* than it has been. They are also flying noticeably faster at times and do go into a bit of a dive at times. It is encouraging to see them fly over the buildings, above any level where they might get into trouble with windows or walls so far. I am hoping that their early soft contacts with windows have taught them well and they will be careful of walls and windows.
I missed an early feeding this evening and did not see who made the drop. In fact I did not see any sign of the adults this evening. They were keeping a really low profile.
After their flying exhibition two juvies flew to the TVO antenna and sat for a bit and one juvie sat on the southwest corner of Rio-Can. A while later the two juvies, from the antenna, joined their brother on the south west ledge and there they all stayed for ten minutes. Then two of them flew northwest and beyond the building at 520. I left shortly after that.
Lyn
Posted on July 13, 2011 3:37 am
July 08, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 7th 2011.
I was out for a short period yesterday and did not see too much activity thus no report.
Today started off the same way – slow! On arrival I found three peregrines. The adult male was on a ledge south of the nest ledge on Canada Square, one juvenile was on the TVO antenna and one juvenile on Rio-Can.
There were some flights by the juvies and the adult male and then the adult female joined in but at no time, for a very long while, could I account for the whereabouts of all five!
There were some flights to the antenna at 520 Duplex and several more flights behind the two condo towers. Some were high flights and some not so high.
Then there was a dash of excitement as I had the adult male on the antenna at 520, one juvie on the northwest corner of Rio-Can and mom flew in with food and was actually mobbed in mid-air by the other two squawking juvies. I had five peregrines accounted for at that time!!
Mom flew over Rio-Can with the food and looked as if she wanted to set down on the southeast corner but the juvies were so exuberant that she changed her mind and flew to the top of Canada Square where she dropped the food on the roof and flew off. A short while later the third juvie realised the others were eating and took off but flew to the wrong spot with mom right behind him. He first landed on the second ledge south of the nest and then finally found his way to the roof top of Canada Square.
Mom flew to half way up the south face of Rio-Can where she could watch her brood.
I left her there and two juvies had, by this time, come to the edge of the roof where they had been feeding. I guess they had eaten their fill
Lyn
Posted on July 13, 2011 3:34 am
July 12, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 12th - 2011
So today I was only able to watch the nest during the lunch hour. I was able to watch Milton attain great speed during some swoops around the courthouse. The speed also prevented me from getting any really good pictures as tracking him was hard in addition to all the wind. Truss was also seen hanging around a bit.
As Mark knows, after work I went to check out a reported injured falcon that had been trapped on a balcony. The great folks that discovered him were able to capture him in a box and called for help. Luckily the male American Kestral was not injured and I was able to release it in a park 50-75m from the building where he was found on a balcony. Peregrine fledglings are not the only one that needs some help at fledge time.
Posted on July 13, 2011 3:18 am
July 08, 2011 - Niagara Falls
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 8th - 2011
I attached some pictures from banding day for you! We had a great view from Terrapin Point and visibility was nice and clear. I was watching with John Shiposki.
I took these with a little point-and-shoot through a spotting scope so they are not the best quality but I picked some to send to you that I thought were pretty decent..
Jacquie Walters
Posted on July 13, 2011 2:58 am
July 07, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 7th - 2011
During lunch Truss and Milton perched at opposite corners of the courthouse before Truss retuned to the nest.
In the late afternoon, Milton went off hunting and 20 minutes later returned with what looks like another young Starling. Upon return, Truss took the kill from him and flew off to another part of the roof to feed/pluck feathers from the kill for another ten minutes. The chick began vocalizing as soon as Milton returned but was kept waiting until mom was ready. Truss flew with the kill to the nest where both adult and chick were heard vocalizing. Truss was out of sight, presumably feeding the chick, for ten minutes before reappearing on the ledge where she cleaned her bill by rubbing it on the ledge. She flew off to a higher perch, leaving the kill in the nest area. Milton was circling the nest at this time and stayed on the wing past my departure.
Posted on July 13, 2011 2:12 am
July 06, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 6th - 2011
Milton spent the afternoon snoozing on the East side of the building while Truss was out of sight. At 5pm, Milton left the courthouse hunting. A minute later, Truss returned to the nest; without any food. At 5:28pm she popped out from the nest in a small circular swoop flying very low, so low that I lost her behind a small hill, returning to the nest. Both Milton and Truss normally walk/hop to the ledge before flying. Perhaps she was hoping to surprise a bird with this manoeuver. At 5:35pm Truss left the nest perhaps to try her luck again elsewhere. At 5:40pm Milton returned with a kill. Looks like a young starling. With Truss gone, there was nobody there to take the kill from him and feed the chick; so after about 5 minutes of waiting, he dropped down into the nest with the kill. Vocalizing could be heard at street level. Ten minutes later Milton hopped up onto the ledge and cleaned his beak. He flew to a higher perch and waited until 6:30pm when Truss returned and forced him off his perch. She did not return with food. Milton returned to his afternoon snooze location with Truss left watching the nest.
Winston
Posted on July 13, 2011 2:00 am
July 12, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills
Ann Brokelman Reports:
Enjoy a few photos of Harlequin, Kendal and Quest over the past few days.
Ann
Posted on July 12, 2011 8:16 pm
