Brampton Courthouse May Have Eggs
April 06, 2012 - Brampton - Courthouse
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Frank and I went out to Brampton to check in on the peregrines as there has been no shortage of action as reported by Winston, Toivo and Grace. Sightings have been reported both at the courthouse and in downtown Brampton of peregrines sorting out the nesting arrangements amongst themselves. When we arrived on site, there wasn’t any sign of a peregrine on the west side of the building where they nested last year and so we made our way into the parking lot to check the other ledges. Just then an adult came bombing in with another bird hot in behind it. The male landed first and immediately took up position over the southwestern corner and the female swooped up to land on one of the antennas on the roof. Back across the street we go and we were able to positively identify Milton as the male with his Black 4 over Green B recovery band both rotated 90 degrees left. We then focussed our attention back on the female and we knew for sure by her coloration and streaking that it was not Truss. A few pictures later and a sharp eye on the scope revealed that this female was an unbanded subadult bird. During the previous week, both Winston and Toivo had witnessed mating between Milton and this new female and it would appear that she is the new resident gal for 2012. We were joined shortly by Toivo as the female left her antenna perch and headed straight for the ledge used last year for nesting. She disappeared into the ledge out of our sight and Milton took off heading north towards downtown. It was a full 45 minutes before the female reappeared on the flashing of the ledge and when she flew, she didn’t travel far. By 2:00pm, Milton had returned and was perched atop the southwest corner of the courthouse directly above the nest ledge while the female chose to sit on the northwestern corner. Within 10 minutes, she was up and on the roof next to Milton and whining very loudly. While there has been much action over the past few weeks, it would seem that this pair may already have at least one egg in the nest with more to come. We will be keeping a close eye on this site and will update you as developments arise so keep checking in!!
