Togetherness at Etobicoke Sun Life
November 11, 2012 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I met up with Kathy and Bruce at the Etobicoke Sun Life nest site to check in on the resident pair. A third falcon has been sighted in the area and had O’Connor in a bit of a tizzy ( an understatement ) and we wanted to confirm the identification of the resident pair and that all was well.
When we first arrived, no falcons to be seen. We searched around the nest building and the other towers but still not a peregrine to be had. All of a sudden a bird flies in from the west and lands on the nest ledge. Chup, chup,chup… …and gone as quick as it came. Too fast for a look. We waited around for a return and it wasn’t long before the three of us began to wander about. Bruce spotted a falcon coming in from the west and landing on the west tower with food. Looked to be a rather large female. As we repositioned the bird took off and flew behind the nest building and was somewhere on the Aberfoyle side. Off we all go to Aberfoyle and when we reached Lomond, Kathy spotted a falcon on the center tower eating. Bruce met up with us and from his angle, he could see two falcons on the same ledge.
Back in the Lomond TTC parking lot we were able to see the two falcons together on the ledge. One was eating, the other waiting patiently for a turn. Sound familiar? In O’Connor’s way of thinking, ladies always go first. We gathered up the scopes and were able to confirm that the female was banded Black over Green with a Purple USFW band, the same as O’Connor. We had to wait for a repositioning of the male for a positive look. The female flew off to the Moneris sign on the west tower facing northwest and the male took over eating the rest of the pigeon that was caught.
The female was perched on the dot in the I of Moneris and was watching the skies to the northwest. After finishing his meal, the male flew several circles around the west tower and eventually landed on the lower portion of the S on the same sign. They sat together for a while and then something triggered O’Connor to take off into the air and fly several circuits around the west tower. She then landed on the top curve of the S while the male roosted on the bottom of the curve. It was almost sweet to see the two of them together like this reasserting their bonds. We were able to get a great look through the scope and confirm that the male is indeed Jack with a three character Black band on his right leg and Silver USFW on the left. A unique configuration that only a few falcons have as almost all are banded with the recovery band on their left leg.
Jack took the S in Moneris to mean sleep and so he napped away occasionally sharing O’Connors fascination with the northwest. At times the two looked in that direction together with great intensity and they are absolutely keeping their eyes on something. As we were leaving for the day, Jack took off to the northwest and did something absolutely bizarre. He flew over to a nearby apartment building and I watched him swoop up and disappear near the top of the apartment and then reappear. He repeated this again and then on the third swoop up… …he just disappeared!! Kathy and I piled into my car and off we went to check out just where Jack disappeared to. Lo and behold, here he sat on a ledge no bigger than a slice of cheese in a corner where a concrete balcony met the wall. Got ya!! Given the amount of mutes on the wall and the reports Kathy has received from a friend in one of the neighboring buildings, Jack is making this spot his new pad. A place to hang out where he can be alone with his thoughts! Given the bonding and closeness that we witnessed today, I would bet those thoughts are of a prosperous spring!!
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