!!! Courtney is doing just fine! The full time “all day fledge watch” is no longer necessary, but daily spot checks will continue.
July 26, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 26th - 2011
For the most parts, the day was very quiet with the exception of the morning - 8am to 9:30am and of course the falcon follies - (evening watch) just after 8pm.
Toivo reports from this mornings watch that Courtney was observed in some decent short flights around the courthouse chasing mom for food and holding her altitude - with several flights well above the upper courthouse roof top. Mom brought in food and Courtney was fed. Shortly after her meal, everyone got very quiet and their was not a lot of activity there after. Toivo had to leave for work and departed soon after.
Bill, Sue and Grace were on the watch for the afternoon and although everyone was almost as quiet, they had an interesting observation. At one point shortly after 4pm, Milton was observed actually taking food away from Courtney,, and Truss was enraged with his action!! She screamed and vocalized at Milton, than proceeded to chase him into the air, and continued her pursuit of him in the air for several minutes (with several revolutions in the air, out and around the courthouse building)! She was clearly furious with his actions of taking food from Courtney!
For the most parts of the early evening, the entire family was very in-active and only a few very short flights were observed. By 8pm (the falcon follies time as we say), things did get a bit more exciting, as Truss went out on another hunt,, (Milton simply stayed in his usual roosting position on one of the courthouse ledges). While we didn’t observe her actually making the kill, Truss arrived back at the courthouse with a huge pigeon, again struggling in the air given its huge size and weight. Winston and I caught some good photos of Truss in flight carrying the pigeon and snapped some shots not more than a second after she landed with it, holding it with one foot as it dangled over the leading edge of the roof.
Truss proceeded to pluck and prepare it, then took a flight out and around over Courtney’s position trying to tease her into the air. Unsuccessful in getting Courtney airborne, she finally gave in and brought the food to Courtney’s upper roof top position. Later, Milton was observed once again, going to the food drop spot looking for “left-overs”. Throughout the day, Courtney had been fed at least three times by Truss.
At least one of the food packages, - (a small bird) had been brought in by Milton and delivered to Truss,,, (or should I say, Truss relieved it from him as soon as he arrived at the courthouse with it). I believe that this was part of the earlier morning feeding that Toivo observed.
Courtney made some great flights during the early evening and although her landings are far less than perfect, (most of them were by simply dropping in from above like a rock falling from the sky), she is very skilled at gaining altitude, now using her tail as it should be used to gain and lower her altitude, and showing some very strong flights and elevation changes.
While there was constant north west winds, (some very blustery) winds throughout the late afternoon and evening, it was one again very obvious that Courtney’s aerial activities were for the most part unaffected, and she seems to be dealing well with the changing conditions just fine.
There is very little risk at this point that she will come to the ground and in need of resecuring. If she does, she is more than capable of getting airborne on her own steam.
Given what we have seen thus far, the full time fledge watch has finished as of this evening. CPF volunteers will continue to monitor her activity for the following days to do some spot checks on her.
The rescue carrier will remain at the facilities management office for the next few weeks just in case it is needed. While Courtney is not likely to need to be rescued from the ground because she has simply lost altitude, we know only too well that accidents can still happen with collisions with windows while she is still learning what they are all about.
Over the next few days (and weeks), Courtney will be building up confidence and soon to get over-confident just like any similar age human teenager. It is at this time that accidents can happen, - (collisions with windows, impacts with cars, and other reckless “teenage” happenings).
We can only hope that she has learned from her previous “negative experiences” when she came to the ground and needed to be rescued, and the minor bumps and hits that she has already had with some of the windows and concrete. They do in fact learn from these events. Some learn slower than others 
Recklessness is the next dangerous time for Courtney, as the fledglings become “very reckless and over confident” with their new flight skills. This combined with ‘poor judgement” will be her next hurtle. She will be building up some incredible speeds as she continues to learn how to fly and actually learns how to manoeuver in and around things. Window and concrete collisions at this stage can be disastrous and often lead to serious injuries and mortality. Speed does kill!
It is also important to understand, that Courtney will still be solely dependant on her parents for both food and protection for the next 30 to 60 days while they are teaching her to hunt and many of the other life skills that she will need to survive while on her own. She is still “mentally” a infant that just has only just learned to walk,,, (or should I say, only just learned to fly - sort of). Good landings will take a lot more practice) 
By 9:30pm, all of the grins were roosting quiet and settled in for the evening.
In closing, your ongoing support is still very much needed, and we are asking that you continue to keep your eyes to the sky, as Baby Courtney could still run into trouble. Please don’t hesitate to call us if she needs assisatance and finds herself in trouble on the ground or tapped.
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