Chessie at Viscount Rd
February 05, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I took a moment yesterday to swing past both the William Osler Hospital nest site and the Hilton Garden Inn hoping to catch sight of a peregrine. At the hospital, there were none to be seen and so I headed straight for the Garden Inn. When I arrived I did my usual check of the alt Hotel and Caroga Drive hotels but not a bird to be found. As I made a second pass, I found an adult female on an antenna at the Hostopia building that is bordered by Viscount Rd on the east and Airport Rd on the west. This building is one of three where the resident adults are periodically seen and today this female was all over it. I pulled in for some pictures and a confirmation of who this bird was and it was indeed Chessie. There was no sign of Claire, the resident female up until recently, and there was no resistance to Chessie’s presence in the territory. Casper was not in sight but Chessie was nonetheless sticking tight to the Hostopia building. Again today, her head was swivelling madly about as she checked the airport, then the Hilton Garden Inn, the airport, Garden Inn… This went on for quite some time and then like a shot, she was off and flying on a mission towards the 427 highway. I drove around with the hopes of seeing her and as I travelled along Fasken Drive and was about to go under the highway to the other side, a raptor approached from the south. The bird landed on the light standard by the bridge and I quickly pulled over. A juvenile RT hawk. I was snapping a few pictures when a feathered bullet whipped past the hawk and scared the feathers right off of it. While I managed to photograph the hawks reaction, Chessie was moving through way too fast to be in focus! She didn’t make any serious attack on the bird but it moved along anyways. Chessie then flew back to the Hostopia building and remained on the corner as I left. She made some good and strong flights today and looked excellent in the air even though she was not relaxed at all. I did not see Casper but I will continue to monitor things at these sites as spring approaches.
