Adults and juveniles still very visible!
June 24, 2012 - Toronto - King Street
CPF Postmaster Reports:
I down to visit the peregrines from the 18 King Street East nest site.
7.05 pm – 7.25 pm – saw an adult peregrine preening on southeast corner of King Edward Hotel, after the recent rain;
7.25 pm – the adult flies away westwards along Colborne Street;
7.45 pm – I can hear a peregrine falcon calling, and spend some time looking for the source of the calls;
7.50 pm ish – I locate the adult and one juvenile falcon on the northeast corner of the EDS Building (second terrace) on Wellington Street East. The adult has caught a pigeon, and proceeds to feed the juvenile;
8.01 pm – the juvenile flies across the street to the southeast corner of the roof of 30 Wellington Street East. I did not see the landing, but the juvie did not appear to have any problems flying up to the altitude of the roof of 30 Wellington East from the lower EDS Building;
8.01 pm – 8.10 pm ish – while the juvie is resting on the roof of 30 Wellington East, the adult prepares more of the pigeon, and feathers are flying;
8.10 pm or so – the juvie takes off, and makes a strong flight over the roof of 91 King Street East, where it looks like it is joined by another peregrine. I can’t tell if it’s another juvie, or the other adult, but the juvie seems to be enjoying a game of tag. The adult is still on the second terrace of the EDS building while the juvie and the second peregrine fly around the King Edward Hotel and environs;
8.15 pm – the juvie lands on a cooling vent on the roof of 91 King Street East. Again, I missed the landing, but the juvie does not appear to be having any difficulty reaching and maintaining altitude, and his/her flights appear strong and confident;
8.15 pm – 8.30 pm – the juvie takes off again, and appears once again to be playing tag with another peregrine. When I looked back at the EDS Building, the adult was suddenly gone, so I am not sure whether the juvenile was joined by the adult from the EDS Building, or whether it was the other parent, or another juvie sharing airspace with the first juvenile. Unfortunately, I was too far away to get a good look at any of the birds’ band colours. Eventually the juvie and another peregrine (which looks like an adult), land on the window washer support on the east side of the roof of the King Edward Hotel. This time I saw the landing, and the juvie seemed pretty confident in landing on such a small space.
I apologize for the poor quality of my photographs – I was caught on the roof without my camera and had to use my iPad. I attach photos of the adult on the King Eddie (from a distance), the adult and juvie on the EDS Building, the juvie on the roof of 91 King East (from a distance), the juvie on the roof of 30 Wellington East (from a distance), and the adult and juvie on the roof of the King Eddie. The close-ups (such as they are) were taken by putting my iPad camera up against the eyepiece of my binoculars.
Meg Langley Grainger
