A Busy Week at William Osler
April 13, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
With the unexpected return of Hurricane to the William Osler site and the disappearance of Casper, I made it a point to get out to check on things at William Osler as often as I was able to this week. The week began with better weather and Hurricane was busy re-establishing his territory. If there is such a thing as a “happy” falcon, he was it. He visited all of his old perches and made a point of landing and giving a few chup-chups on each one. He was all over the place! ”The “H”, that’s mine. The tower, mine too. Tree by the entrance… …well Mr. Crow, that would be mine.” This went on for a good 20 minutes as he went from perch to perch and claimed them all. Chessie napped in the tray through this whole routine and didn’t really care so long as he brought home dinner by 4. Sure enough, by 4:03pm, he was home with prey for her and he exchanged this gift with her on the eastern “H”. Hurricane returned to the nest tray and sat on the edge staring at the eggs while Chessie ate. No more than 10 minutes later, he was up on the sign with her checking to see if she ate it all. Chessie flew one quick circuit around the building before returning to the tray and Hurricane ran down the length of the sign to look for leftovers.
On Tuesday, Hurricane was on the north “H” sign and preening the day away. I didn’t remain long as the rain was now moving in and Hurricane was quite happy to fall asleep in the light showers that were falling. As the rain became more intense, Hurricane, with eyes fully closed, began to whine about the weather and eventually he woke up and moved to cover. The entire time Chessie remained in the tray and did not get off the eggs.
By Thursday the cold, wet weather had moved in and most pairs were now staying pretty close to cover. I decided on a quick check and could not see a single bird on site when I arrived. I wasn’t there for more than a few minutes when Chessie began to call. Just then, a falcon came racing up the south side of the building and another up the north side. This brought Chessie out of the nest tray alarm calling. Yes indeed, I now have three falcons above my head and its pandemonium! Chessie flew to the tower and landed. Hurricane was immediately at her side and the two were vocalizing. The third bird was definately a female and she was circling low above the parking lot but what was missing here was the ferocious defense of the nest site. Chessie left the tower and met the female in the air and there were two rather sedate attempts at contact and then Hurricane entered the mix. Chessie flew back to the tower while Hurricane chased the female along the north side of the building and escorted her off of the property. Chessie immediately flew back into the tray and was down on the eggs right away. Hurricane returned and remained on edge but calm as he took up position on the west ledge of the building. All the while I was taking pictures and the shot I was able to get of the two females about to make contact… …it looked as if Chessie didn’t have any bands!! The other female was definately in juvenile plumage and I could not see any bands on her either. While I was sure that it was just the angle of the shot and feeathers in the way I needed to confirm this for my own peace of mind.
Yesterday I was back out to visit the pair and I found the female on the west ledge of the building. A few photographs later and it was definately without a doubt Chessie. She took a run at a few crows and then disappeared around to the east side and out of my view. I went back around and could not see her or Hurricane and I may have missed an exchange in the tray of incubation duties.
You need not doubt that I will be back as often as I can to watch the progress of the pair. I want make sure that all is on track and we are up to date on who is “on the dance card” as this territory has yet to settle down.
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