August 11, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
After spending a portion of the morning at the Hilton Garden Inn nest site, I decided to try my luck at William Osler as the proximity of this nest to the Hilton is quite close. When I arrived, I found Hurricane preening on the eastern “H” sign but there was no sign of the kids or Chessie. Tobi and Ossie have been flying so well, its not surprising that they are out practicing!! It was nice to see Dad was at home manning the fort!!
Posted on August 15, 2012 12:30 am
August 11, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Bruce Massey Reports:
I stopped in on Saturday August 11th to check in on Claire and her family at the Hilton Garden Inn. I started off at the alt Hotel and couldn’t find any peregrines there. I took a walk over to the Hilton Garden Inn, east towards Dixon Rd and back over to the Airport Rd. Hilton and still no luck. In the two hours that I spent looking, I think the birds must have been out on a breakfast hunt!! I will be back to try again soon!!
Posted on August 15, 2012 12:28 am
August 08, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The past few days I have been attending the Hilton Garden Inn site just off of Viscount Rd in Mississauga to try and identify the adult pair, determine the number of juveniles they have and locate the nest site if possible.
Wednesday August 8th
I arrived on site at approximately 6pm and found Claire, the resident adult female, roosting in her favorite corner of the Hilton Garden Inn. I left her there sleeping while I circled around the neighborhood checking out the alt Hotel, the office towers and another cluster of hotels to the northeast. In all my searches of this local radius I was unable to find either the resident male or the juvenile that I have been seeing back at the Hilton on a regular basis. I came back around to the Hilton Garden Inn and decided to sit tight for the return of Claire’s family as I suspect that this is the nest location. I was not to be disappointed as the resident male flew in and landed on the eastern facing hotel sign and began vocalizing at his female. He ee-chupped and bowed with her joining him for a good 10 minutes on the ledge just beneath the sign. For the most part, he was hidden behind a cross bar that holds the sign in place but for a brief moment. It was in that moment that I was able to see that he has a solid black recovery band on his left leg and a silver USFW on his right making him of Canadian origin! I was determined now to try and see the band but he just wouldn’t sit still enough with his female in attendance. I was able to see a partial ID on him and can say for certain that the bottom letter on his band is a Y. There are two top digits and it is those that I will need to positively identify him.
Check back soon as I will stay on the case!!
Posted on August 15, 2012 12:22 am
August 13, 2012 - Stoney Creek
Sue McCreadie Reports:
Bill and I spent some time in Fruitland this afternoon. We we arrived there was one bird visible in the tower. It must have been Dad because as soon as a few sprinkles of rain started he flew directly into “HIS” drum. The other bird was not to be found.
Posted on August 13, 2012 7:16 pm
August 09, 2012 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
I was able to observe one of the girls dozing on the corner of the second tower at Sunlife today. She was there for almost an hour sleeping and then preening. I also saw a good poop shoot before she took off..so I know she’s eating well 
I watched her fly off south and headed to intercept another bird which I couldn’t ID from that far but she was on it at full speed. I watched them both until I lost them in the distant clouds.
I can not say if it was Olympia or Windward..all I can say is that is was definitely female as she was big and very healthy looking!
I did get a glimpse of O’Connor earlier this morning on the way into work, she was perched on the nest box ledge.
Posted on August 9, 2012 2:14 pm
August 07, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Yesterday, Bruce Massey and I responded to an observation sent in about a pair of peregrines hanging around on a hotel near the airport on Viscount Road in Mississauga. Bruce arrived first and sure enough had a female peregrine roosting on the west side of the alt Hotel at Viscount Road and the 409 exit. He watched her for a while and was able to ascertain that she was indeed banded but she wasn’t prepared to give up her ID just yet. I arrived around noonish and just before I pulled in, the female took off and disappeared somewhere to the northeast. I met up with Bruce and we chatted with staff of the alt Hotel about the activity that he had been seeing on the building. At the most he had seen three peregrines together that would indicate that this is a nesting pair and they had successfully produced at least on juvenile. After chatting with Marc for a few minutes, we decided to walk in the direction of the female’s travel to the northeast where a cluster of hotels were in close distance along Viscount Rd. As we neared the area, Bruce and I were able to see a peregrine who was now roosting on the Hilton Garden Inn sign and we made our way over to the hotel for a look. When we got there, the bird had left the sign and another peregrine, a confirmed adult, was now on a ledge around the corner sleeping. We walked back over to our vehicles, drove over and got out the scopes for an ID but this bird, the adult female, was now very busy and moving in circles around the hotel. What was keeping her busy was a very loud and determined juvenile!!
The adult female landed back on the northeast corner on the ledge she initially occupied and the juvenile landed on the ledge beneath the sign on the east side. The young one continued to vocalize and ran the ledge over to the adult female who clearly didn’t have any food but the juvie didn’t believe her. She took off over to the hotel next door, the Marriot, and landed on the sign on the west side while the young one just sat in the corner vocalizing on the Hilton. By this time, Bruce had spotted another peregrine back on the alt Hotel and he took off to monitor that one.
At some point between us leaving the Hilton and heading over to the alt Hotel, the birds pulled a switch-er-roo on us and it was now the adult female roosting on a ledge on the east face of the alt. We parked, set up our scopes and honed in on her in the hopes of getting her band number. I must say that the MEC female has me very well trained and I can wait an eternity… …apparently. It was hot and bright but I wasn’t giving in; this adult female would have to cave first and give me the ID!! I was rewarded for my efforts and I am pleased to introduce to you our first successfully nesting Michigan peregrine falcon named Claire banded black rotated S over green rotated B. She was hatched at the Blue Water Bridge nest site in 2009 and get this… …she is daughter of Tonga who was hatched at MEC in 2003!!! This is very exciting news and I look forward to identifying her resident male.
We still don’t have an exact location for a nest site but the Hilton Garden Inn looks rather exciting as a site and I wouldn’t rule out another cluster of hotels to the east at Dixon and Carlingview area. Still, I do believe that we are in the right area and all looks quite perfect for an aerie. I will be back soon to check up on Claire, try to identify her mate and see how their single juvenile is doing.
Posted on August 8, 2012 12:47 am
August 07, 2012 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
After being away on vacation for awhile, the first thing I did was check up on our family this morning. Found O’Connor perched on top of the building. Jack was on the opposite side of the building preparing some food on one of the ledges as was evidenced by the shower of feathers streaming down.
Later on in the day during my lunch break, I wasn’t able to find any falcons and was about to head in when I suddenly heard screaming juveniles! I ran around trying to get a visual but no such luck .
At work days end there was no sign of anyone on the usual perches.
Posted on August 7, 2012 6:12 pm
August 07, 2012 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Bruce Massey Reports:
As I was making my way home in the evening, I came across Eglinton and when I was coming up to the Canada Square building I saw one juvenile flying above the nest building. I couldn’t stop and check whether it was Simcoe or Solar but I can confirm that one young one is still hanging around.
Posted on August 7, 2012 4:50 pm
August 07, 2012 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Bruce Massey Reports:
Yesterday I enjoyed the long weekend Monday by visiting the west end nest sites and catching up on all of the happenings. I stopped in at the Etobicoke Sun Life site early in the morning and although I had no sign of the juveniles, both parents were home. Jack was sitting on one of his favourite perches, the ADP sign and O’Connor was napping away the morning on the camera. She woke up and moved a few times but both adults stayed in the vicinity of the nest ledge. It was nice to see them both together and I’ll keep my eyes open for the kids!
Posted on August 7, 2012 4:48 pm
August 05, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I have spent the last two evenings, Friday and Saturday, chasing after some information. One little letter on the bottom of a black over green band. I swear she knows it.
On Friday, I arrived at about 6pm and found her in her usual spot on a hot day. She was on the east side of MEC 3 digesting yet another enormous crop and napping away. I watched little miss fat and sassy ( as Bruce puts it ) for the next hour and upon awakening, she began to preen. Of course when it came time to preen her left leg, the one I was dying to see, she thrust it forward towards the inside of the ledge obscuring my view of the band. After her preen she turned her left side into the ledge and looked down at me as if to say, “You’ll just need to be patient silly human.” She flew off of the building with a burst and went around to the nest box which she entered and disappeared for at least 5 minutes. When she came out, of course she stood with band in full view but by this time it was after 9pm and darkness was falling. I tried to get a look-see through the scope but no dice. Argh…
On Saturday, I arrived at about the same time and found a bird on the top of the nest box. I pulled out the scope and tried for a look only to realize that this bird was unbanded. After working all day in 42 degrees, my brain failed me for a moment and I thought I was looking at a female. The bird was not as bright white as Sante, the resident male, always appears. It would take me a full 4 hours to realize that I was looking at him with my sunglasses on and that’s why he appeared so dark. Thick as a brick in this heat!!
I set off looking for the female and was doing a ground search of the perimeters of all 4 buildings when I heard her whine. I looked up on MEC 4 and found her hiding in between the horizontals on the letter “E”. Picture the E typed here and imagine her in between the center and bottom lines. Goofy bird. Found some shade in the strangest place possible. Well, she managed to squish herself in there and was whining away for some dinner. This time I had her in full sun and could see the band I was after. Unfortunately I left the scope in the car as it was too hot to carry and only had my camera. I have a ton of great photos of her fiddling around in that “E” and many of her band. But when you’re 20 stories up in the air, as I zoom in for a look, the pixelation takes over and I CAN”T READ IT!! Grrrrr… I decided to head back to the car for the scope and in the few minutes it took me, off she went on a hunt. Double Grrr…. I waited for her to return but was out of luck as the rain and lightning had already begun. As willing as I was to stand in a tornado for one little look at this band, it would have been way too dark to see.
I will be back this weekend to try again and I will be pulling out the big guns on Monday as Bruce will be joining me and we will hopefully have an ID for you. Between the two of us, we should have some news for you and we won’t give up until we do!!!!!
Posted on August 5, 2012 10:21 am
