!!! The juveniles are starting to notice that the local birds are looking kinda different!
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