July 14, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I arrived on site to relieve Bruce at about 5pm to a chorus of screams from the juveniles as food was just entering the ledge. After the feeding, which the sister ate entirely to herself, the two juveniles lumbered off the southeast corner for a nap. By 6:30, they were both awake and it was now playtime. Boy these two don’t play fair or nice!! The juvenile male ran around to the south side of the building and was playing pounce with every little thing he could find. Big sis followed him down the ledge and had him blocked in the corner of a concrete upright. The two flipped heads and tried to bite each other in the face for a few minutes and then the juvie female got the idea to try and grab her brother. He bent his head down and forward in an attempt to bite her toes… …big mistake!! The juvenile female grabbed him right by the head!! He howled and squealed until she let go and then ran down the ledge and around the corner. It wasn’t a minute later that he ran back to his sister, who was now lying down, and stuck his head under her tail and started plucking down feathers that were sticking out!! Now SHE howled and squealed!! This back and forth teasing and play fighting went on for another half hour until all their energy was spent. Nap time.
The peace and quiet did not last as at 7:30pm, Hurricane made his presence known in the tower which started a new round of screaming at Daddy. He took off from the site and returned at 8pm with food that he handed over to Chessie. The resident female then flew into the ledge with the meal that was promptly snatched up by the juvenile male and he ran as fast as he could around the corner to the south ledge. There he tucked into a corner and began to chow down. All this time big sis didn’t have a clue as to what had just happened or that he had the food. She screamed at Mom who took off into the tower. After about a minute, she figured out that older brother was missing. She ran like the wind around the southeast corner, looked down the ledge and… …ah ha!!! Caught ya!! This is the fastest I’ve seen her run yet. She chased her older brother up and down that ledge trying to get in on the eats but he wolfed it down so fast each chance he got that he ate it all!! The juvenile female, now infuriated, ran around to the east ledge to find Mom and tell on him. The juvenile male thought this all hilarious and was flipping his head at her and bounced along behind her as she ran. Once around the corner and on the east side, the juvie female turned, standing a mere inch from her older sibling, and screamed right in his face!! He again flipped his head in response and I’m sure believed his sister to be quite absurd. I must confess that the family dynamics here at William Osler are so interesting to watch, not to mention really quite funny. These two chicks are so animated in their interactions and the parents are sitting back in the tower not interfering as the young ones learn from one another. With the juvenile male close to taking his first flight, this will only get more amazing to watch as the week progresses.
I apologize if some of these pictures are blurry but my camera is struggling to focus on brown chicks against the brown louvers with good lighting. I hope you still will enjoy them.
Posted on July 15, 2012 9:55 am
July 14, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
I started the William Osler Fledge Watch this morning at 6am and caught a feeding just as I arrived. The two juveniles were on the southeast corner and the resident adults were both in the tower. Hurricane left his perch and picked up a stash for the young and was joined on the ledge by Chessie who took over from there. Afterwards, the juvenile male sought out shade in the nest tray and later on moved down to the south ledge for the better part of the morning. The juvenile female had the same idea except that her perch of choice was behind the “H” on the north side of the building. There they stayed napping and preening until one of the adults made a pass by at around 1:30pm. This brought both chicks to their feet and to a chorus of screams, the adults once again paired up for a feeding. All seemed relatively quiet in the heat of the day until Tracy arrived at approximately 5pm to relieve me. As she was pulling in, I could hear not only the two chicks but Chessie as well, all complaining to Hurricane that he is late with dinner. He flew in from the tower and met the adult female on the ledge where he handed off the package to her. The juvenile male stole it from her and true to his “training” by O’Connor, the adult male immediately went over and relieved his son of the package after a spirited wrestling match and returned it to his adult female to dispense. She took the food around to the south side and was prepping it when the juvenile female came around and went on the attack. She chased Mom into a corner and tried to grab the food for herself and when that didn’t work she waited for Chessie to pick it up in her beak and snatched it right out of Mommy’s mouth!! Bold little thing!! She tore off around the corner to the nest tray knocking her brother over in the process as he was on his way over to the south side to see what he could get out of this. Mom had nothing by this point and so he just chased her relentlessly as she made many attempts to get away from him. Finally Chessie ended up on the north side of the nest tray and was clearly not interested in any more food fights. The juvenile female ate almost the entire package after which she waddled over to her brother and the pair screamed, in unison I might add, at Mom who was attempting a nap. The chicks continued this until finally the adult female left the ledge and flew into the tower for some alone time. Both chicks made their way to the southeast corner where they flumped down for some sleep.
Posted on July 15, 2012 8:59 am
July 14, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Kathy Smith Reports:
As of today, both the juvenile males, Ben and Len, have returned to the nest building roof which is a great sign of strong flights and good coordination. At 5:45am, Bruce dropped by for a quick look and found Ben & Len on nest building and Dad on De Beers before he was off to William Osler to start the watch there. I arrived at 7:00am to find Ben on the DeBeers building and Len still on nest building. Shortly after arriving, the was a feeding in to the young ones and all seemed well. By 8:00am, Anne and Donna arrive and watch Ben flying well back and forth between buildings but Len had yet to leave the nest building . It would seem that between the heat, humidity and his adventure on the TSM building yesterday that he is quite happy to stay where he is for now, especially when food keeps coming in!! The resident adult female here is quite the huntress as she regularly brings in pigeons for the juveniles and flies up to the top of the building with this large package with more ease than not. We will continue to watch as Len gains more confidence and catches up to Ben in his flight training.
A huge thank you to all of the volunteers who have come out in support of this nest site on such short notice as we are all still on other watches in Waterloo and Etobicoke. Thanks to Randy, Winnie and Alan, Kathy, Bruce, Cathy from Foresters, Ann, Donna, Patty, Murray and Irma. Sorry if I have missed anyone. Please know that we are so grateful for all of your support!!
Posted on July 15, 2012 8:53 am
July 13, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Bruce Massey Reports:
When I arrived at 2pm, Len was on the TSM building on the north side of Eglinton and Ben was on the northwest sign of the nest building. Ben took off up to meet Len on the TSM building but landed just above the height that Len was at. The resident adult female flew in and gave Ben some food that he messily enjoyed and what remained of his meal, he accidently dropped over the ledge to Len. Lucky for him there was still a bit left!! A maintenance worker, unaware that the fledglings were up there, entered the roof area and both juvenile males took off. Ben went high over the area and was soaring beautifully with both adults. Len headed back over to the nest building and successfully landed on the roof!! This being Len’s big adventure for the day, he dropped down into the shade and laid down for a nap until 6pm. It was about that time that Ben flew off the TSM building where he had been napping and flew out to the west. The adult female was on the Foresters sign watching as he flew but didn’t move. After a good hour, I still hadn’t seen Ben return but watched as the resident female was paying great attention to an apartment building to the west. I scoped the building and found Ben sitting on top of a chiller unit where he stayed and roosted until later in the evening. The adult female then flew off of the Foresters building and over to ICICI. She was screaming and fluttering like a chick as she then flew over to DeBeers and back again in reaction to the arrival of the resident male. She and the resident male exchanged a package that she then took up to Len at 7pm for a feeding. At 7:30pm, Ben flew over to the nest building but botched the landing. He quickly recovered and flew over to DeBeers, did a bat attempt on the ledge and fluttered down to the top window ledge for a nap. At 8pm, the adult male returned with more food and did a few fly bys to tease Ben off of the window ledge but he showed no interest. He then took the food to Len on the roof of the nest building and the family settled in for the night.
Posted on July 15, 2012 8:43 am
July 14, 2012 - Toronto - Don Mills
Ann Brokelman Reports:
Posted on July 14, 2012 10:28 pm
July 13, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Tonight I spent 5 hours at the William Osler Hospital nest site to check up on Chessie, Hurricane and their two young ones before we start the official Fledge Watch tomorrow. I have to tell you, these kids are a blast!! When I arrived, the juvenile male was on the southeast corner napping and the juvenile female was in the nest tray. Chessie, the resident adult female, was in the eastern hydro tower preening away while her daughter just screamed away!! She wanted food NOW!! The young female left the tray and headed down to the northeast corner of the hospital all the while screaming at the adult. Her waddling has now improved to running as her confidence and coordination improve. After about 20 minutes of this, she tuckered herself right out and laid down for a nap. All through this display, her brother never awoke and Chessie didn’t once stop preening, recognizing a tantrum when she saw one. Both juveniles slept for the next hour and when they woke, that’s when the real silly stuff began.
The juvenile female ran back across the ledge towards the south end where her brother was now preening like a madman. When she reached the south side of the nest tray, she found and old pigeon wing which now became the toy of the moment. She ran the rest of the ledge down to her brother, screaming of course, with the pigeon wing in her mouth. She tripped over it twice but refused to give up her prize. Now down at the southeastern corner, she was tuckered out again and just plopped where she stood with her pigeon wing. The juvenile male now wound up and decided to make his own fun. Down the south face of the ledge he goes attacking everything in his path. He didn’t go far before encountering an insect that required a sound thrashing. “OK Dad, territory safe from that dangerous butterfly!!”. Now he sets his sights on his sleeping sister. Payback time!! He romps down the ledge, jumps on her tail and grabs onto a piece of down sticking out of the top of her tail. He yanked it right out!! She didn’t find that funny. By 7:30pm, Hurricane had arrived with food and Chessie flew out to meet him. In to the ledge she goes with the nights dinner. As I left, Hurricane and Chessie were in the hydro tower and the two young ones were plopped down for the night.
The William Osler Hospital name the chick contest has now closed and we look forward to the selection of names for these two little characters. Full time Fledge Watch starts tomorrow so stop by!!
Posted on July 14, 2012 8:33 am
July 13, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Kathy Smith Reports:
Arriving at 7am Len was still on 411 building north of Eglinton. Ben was nowhere to be seen but parents content, one on each of the sister buildings. Ben must be close. Cathy and Irma arrived shortly after 7 to help in the search. After exhausting all efforts we decided to just keep an eye on Len since Ben was doing so well yesterday and is probably close. By 8 am mom feeds Len and later Ben shows up resting on signs with dad. Mom around the corner. Mom retrieves food from 411 building and brings to Ben and now on North side of nest building and parents on east. Len starts crying for food which goes on for a couple of hours. Len attempts a fly to the nest ledge but falls short and struggles to hold on to the glass but quickly corrects and goes back to the 411 roof. Later Ben joins him on the 411 / TSM building but on the mechanical room level. Mom brings Ben food to Len’s dismay and when he is done he tosses his leftovers down to Len who eagerly attacks. That’s when all breaks loose as Ben takes to the skies and the parents join and with a beautiful display of his new ability to catch the thermals and circling and soaring. I look down to see what Len is doing to see someone on the roof which started the uproar and Len is nowhere to be seen. At this point Bruce had joined me and saw Len fly back to the nest building. Bruce then went across to 411 building to let them know of the situation. They were more than happy to help out and remain off of the roof unless absolutely necessary. When I left, dad was on DeBeers and mom on ICICI, as far as we know Len was on the roof and Ben must be close. Ben has proven to be a strong graceful flyer and Len is still to show his grace.
Posted on July 13, 2012 11:11 pm
July 13, 2012 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Tracy Simpson Reports:
A huge thank you to Lyn for continuing to keep an eye on Solar and Simcoe at Canada Square. I apologize for the delay in this posting as I missed this one in my halfasleepness.
Reports from Lyn for July 8th to July 10th
Sunday July 8th
I was out at 4:36 and could only see one little head in the shade on the ledge below the nest on Canada Square. Twenty minutes later, by the size of the bird, Solar stood, stretched her wings and flew. She flew over Canada Square, in front of Rio-Can and then down to 2180 Yonge and up the east side of Canada Square and was gone.
Later on Haven flew in and settled briefly on the top of the tall condo before flying over RC and also disappearing.
Ten minutes after Haven left I spotted a youngster on the south west corner of Canada Square. I could not tell who it was but there was much squawking emanating from its beak. When it flew to RC and then south to 2180 Yonge I could see by size that this was Solar again. The squawking should have been the clue. There were a couple more flights and I think they were all Solar. It has become difficult to tell the difference between them by their flights as they both are flying well now.
Monday July 9th
I spotted both juveniles. One was on the roof of Rio-Can and the other had settled on one of the window uprights on the south face of Rio-Can, six floors down. There was a bit of squawking and shortly thereafter Simcoe flew west whilst Solar just watched from the roof. There was some quite interaction between father and son. I left for a few minutes and on my return Solar had disappeared from the roof. She did put in a brief appearance when she flew to the east side of RC and disappeared. At that point I left for the evening
Tuesday July 10th
5:57 AM – please note the time - I heard squawking and then silence. As it was early and a short-lived activity I did not get out of bed!
I was out at 6:20 this evening and all I saw were two juveniles on top of Rio-Can. There was also a wing on the roof and from the size I am guessing a pigeon wing. Solar was just finishing up her evening meal when I arrived and I saw the last few feathers fly. All was quiet. Simcoe just sat. Both the juveniles were *full to busting* by the looks of them and not ready to do anything but digest their respective meals. I spent an hour hoping for some activity but then called it quits. I spotted Stormin on the side of Rio-Can when I left and he was all ruffled as he preened.
A couple of pictures attached showing their puffed up chests and full crops!
Lyn
Posted on July 13, 2012 11:06 pm
July 12, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
When I arrived last night, the first thing I saw as I pulled in was two gigantic, white, pompom-like things sticking out on the southeast corner of the hospital. I had no idea what I was looking at until I pulled out the binoculars and saw that they belonged to the juvenile female!! Her leg feathers have yet to come in and with the heat we are experiencing, she had her legs puffed out and looked absolutely ridiculous. Very un-sleek-peregrine-like. The juvenile male was lying down on the ledge just behind her and I had no adults in view. I watched the two juveniles as they wandered the ledge and the male is almost near lift off with only a few puffs on his head and two big ones on his back just above his tail.
Everywhere the juvenile male would go, sis would follow. He is quite active and run-flapping the ledge getting lots of exercise. The juvenile female is also getting her exercise by chasing him up and down the ledge in an attempt to free him of his downy behind. I watched as she made multiple attempts to catch up to the down bouncing on his backside and deliberately pull it out. The good thing for the young male is that while he can run-flap the ledge, his sibling is still at waddling stage and can’t really catch up until he stops!
At 7:45pm, both adults made an appearance and both had food. It was a family picnic on the eastern ledge before the two young ones trundled off to bed. I will be back down on Friday evening for another prelim watch session and the full dawn to dusk watch starts on Saturday.
I have posted a few pictures, some blurry, of the juvenile female as the pompom puff legs I just had to share!
Posted on July 13, 2012 4:00 pm
July 12, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Bruce Massey Reports:
Ann and Donna were out at the Don Mills nest site last night helping to watch over our recent fledges here. They managed to snap off a few pictures that I hope you will enjoy of Len, Ben and the unbanded adult parents.
Thanks to Ann for sharing these fantastic photos!
Posted on July 13, 2012 3:49 pm
