August 10, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
With the possibility of a new pairing shaping up, Bruce made his way out this afternoon for a check of the Hurontario corridor beginning with a quick sweep of downtown Brampton. On the condo overhang he was able to confirm a single peregrine on the ledge that he believes, based on size, was female. He then headed down to the Mississauga North territory at Hurontario and Hwy. 401 to check on the pair hanging out there. Rob was fortunate earlier to get a photo of a falcon on the Revenue Canada building with what appeared to be bright red on its left leg. While this could be tape on a bird banded with the USFW on the left instead of the right leg, Bruce aimed to find and confirm by scope who this was and confirm the second bird as well. When he arrived, he walked the entire territory in search of the birds and none were to be found. I decided to meet up with him and help locate and identify the birds and we also planned to travel further south to MEC where we are now void a resident female due to the loss of Cass a few weeks ago. Well, the best laid plans went quite whacky after I arrived.
I met up with Bruce as a bird had just arrived on the southeast corner of the Revenue Canada building and was perched looking southeast. The bird sat almost motionless for quite some time and I was able, when it turned, to get an absolute positive look at the band and read it without any doubt. The band was Black 98 over Red E with a purple USFW on the right leg. This was Midnight from downtown Brampton???!!!! There was no sign of the female we believe could possibly be Alfrieda based on a partial reading of her Black over Green band two days ago. What on earth was this now???
After 15 minutes or so, in came another falcon and landed on the upper retaining wall of the Revenue Canada building on the south side. I heard him come in and vocalize and Bruce watched him land. What made this interesting is that at the time Midnight was preening and his vocalization actually caused her to flinch. She was on edge. We spun that scope around to get a look at the bird that we knew to be the male and could only see his back and right leg as he perched. We both confirmed that he had a USFW band on the right leg with yellow tape and that he appeared to be a subadult. The left leg was hidden and with it, so was his identification. The pair stayed on the building for almost 2 hours during which the male went in onto the sub-roof area for almost 15 minutes out of view and Midnight remained on the southeast corner. Midnight finally took flight and made a straight shot out of view. The male appeared on the retaining wall edge but stayed back just enough to keep his left leg hidden. I had him right in the scope view when all of a sudden he bowed. The female had returned. She landed just to his right and looked furious. Her hackles were up, wings held out and neck stretched out towards him. He took off like a shot and was out of view for a good 5 minutes before returning to the northwest corner of the building. He then took off again, circled back and landed on the southeast rooftop. At this point the female, still puffed up and aggressive looking, stepped forward and I was able to clearly see a Black over Green band but no digits were clear. What????!!!! In the space of three hours we now had two completely different females on the same face of the same building after the same male. The male took another flight off of the corner around to the female and this time she pursued. They both flew south and she took a shallow run at him that was not bonding but slightly aggressive. The Black over Green banded female continued south and the male circled back alone to the southeast corner. There he sat alone as the sun was setting looking off to the southeast with eyes as round as pie plates. He was so on edge that he was flinching at passing insects!!
This whole experience this evening has completely reshuffled my mental deck and so I will attempt to summarize for you.
Last year between Bruce, myself and Rob we were sporadically catching sight of a juvenile peregrine female. She was confirmed in the territory in May of this year and we were only able to confirm a silver USFW. The past few months the sightings of her on the Revenue Canada building have increased and she was now being seen much more frequently by Rob who was keeping an eye on her. I was lucky enough to catch her two days ago on the building and get a partial look at her band in the scope. Black 73 over Green ?? is what I believe her to be. Yesterday Rob had a second peregrine on the building with her and we set our minds to confirming who this pair is. Today, not one female but two were in the territory, one confirmed as Midnight from Brampton North and the other confirmed as having a Black over Green band that came from the south. It was very apparent by their behaviour that they are arguing over the dashing little male who’s identity remains a mystery for now. Given that we are coming into migration soon things will be unsettled as birds move through but you can bet that we will be staying on it and will keep you updated. Phew!!
Posted on August 10, 2013 2:17 am
August 09, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I just heard news from Rob that the female we believe to be Alfrieda is still active around the Mississauga North buildings with a male yet to be identified. While on lunch break, Rob took a peak to see if they were there and the pair came bombing in with much chit chat. They definately seem to be courting and beginning to bond! We will be working hard to discover who the male is and confirm without a doubt that this female is Alfrieda. Don’t touch that dial there is so much more to come!!
Posted on August 9, 2013 12:32 pm
August 09, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
From the visit by Bruce and I at ICICI on Sunday, some photos of little Lucky showing off his blue tape!
Posted on August 9, 2013 12:05 pm
August 09, 2013 - Toronto - Mount Sinai Hospital
Tracy Simpson Reports:
It was so great to see the pair active around Mount Sinai and we enjoyed watching the dynamics between the pair.
Here are a few more photos of the two of them. I don’t often have them down so low that I can get anything reasonably good so I was pleased to have this opportunity. They are both so gorgeous. It was difficult in the low light to get great shots but I hope you enjoy seeing the pair pictured here.
Posted on August 9, 2013 12:01 pm
August 09, 2013 - Toronto - Don Mills
Tracy Simpson Reports:
As promised, some pictures of Quest and Skye taken on Sunday during our visit.
The first three are of Quest and the last three are of Skye. Both birds were relaxed in the morning sun and comfortable with each others presence. As you can see in the photos, Skye is sitting next to the nest box and he has been accepted being there.
Posted on August 9, 2013 11:48 am
August 08, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
On Sunday Bruce and I also made a stop in at the ICICI nest site to check in on Chester and the family. It was fairly quiet when we arrived but after a bit of scanning, we found Lucky perched on the north side of the nest building on one of the I’s. He sat there roosting and preening quite relaxed and enjoying the cool afternoon. After about 15 minutes, another falcon did a quick fly by of Lucky and then disappeared off to the west. We located the bird on the Forester building on one of the letters. We couldn’t tell for certain who it was other than it was definately an adult and we believe it to be the resident female. A great visit at ICICI and really nice to see Lucky home! I will post some pictures tomorrow as they need resizing. Check back tomorrow for pics of Lucky!!
Posted on August 8, 2013 11:53 pm
August 08, 2013 - Toronto - Mount Sinai Hospital
Tracy Simpson Reports:
On Sunday, Bruce and I were out and about checking on Toronto nest sites and decided to pop in on the Mount Sinai territory. As many of you may know, this site has been in the talons of Ranger, now 12 years old from Rochester, New York and Hunter who is an Ohio male of 13 years of age. This pair have unfortunately never successfully hatched eggs since they began courting and mating at Yonge and Eglinton almost a decade ago. Even so, the pair has remained together and continue to control the skies around the Mount Sinai Hospital.
On Sunday, Bruce and I were treated to an up close version of the pair as they rocketed down Elm Street over towards the hospital. First Hunter arrived and landed on the low roof of the Toronto General Hospital. It wasn’t long before another falcon, this one an enormous flying fortess, came flapping up the street with a pigeon in her talons. Ranger! She landed three floors above street level on the east side of Mount Sinai and began to eat. Hunter, thinking this was a great idea, landed next to her and begged for a taste. That did not go over as well as he’d hoped. He tried to sneak in and grab a bite after patiently waiting for 15 minutes and Ranger simply turned sharply and knocked him right off the ledge and into the air. Brave man that Hunter trying to sneak a bite!! After feeding for about 20 minutes, Ranger attempted to cache the remains which Hunter was glad to take over to the Toronto General to eat.
It was great to see the pair and confirm that it is still Ranger and Hunter in the area. They are both very impressive birds to watch and it was a treat for us to see them at such a great vantage point. I have posted a couple of pictures and will post others soon.
Posted on August 8, 2013 11:46 pm
August 08, 2013 - Toronto - Don Mills
Tracy Simpson Reports:
With so many of us still awaiting the status of Kendal’s condition, we have turned our attention to the Duncan Mill Road nest site to monitor Quest and her family. Recently a young male, Skye from Etobicoke Sun Life, has been visiting with her and hanging about in the territory. On Sunday, Bruce and I attended the site and were watching the pair interact and things have become much more friendly of late. When we arrived, Skye was actually in the nest box and was working on scraping out a bowl while Quest watched from two doors down. She sat on the ledge and occasionally stretched out to look in Skye’s direction. There was no discomfort, just curiosity. When Skye finally exited the box, he moved onto the ledge right beside it and Quest flew over to claim it as hers. She let Skye know that she was very much in charge of things and he was alright to hang about for now. It would seem that she has accepted his presence and the pair began to relax. Quest spent much of her time in the box preening, sleeping and housekeeping and Skye stayed on the ledge beside the box doing much of the same. All was calm, quiet and accepting.
We are unsure what the future will bring, or which male will rule the site, but we can say for sure that the nest site will remain active. We will continue to keep you updated on the latest news regarding Kendal, Quest and Skye so check back soon.
Pictures will follow very shortly.
Posted on August 8, 2013 11:33 pm
August 08, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
For almost a year now Rob, Bruce and I have been chasing a juvenile peregrine female around the Mississauga North area attempting to identify her. A really big, dark and heavily streaked female, she has challenged and frustrated us by always sitting so high up our scopes were useless or turning her recovery band in towards the Revenue Canada building that she roosts on. Yesterday while in Mississauga, I was fortunate enough to have her roosting on the building, left leg in, and I was determined to wait her out. I got out the scope, camera and any other tool I could find to try and identify her. I got lucky.
She made a short flight from one corner of the building to another and was flipping her head like a little kid at something. I was able to capture band colours and the top digits only in the scope view and on the camera. Given that I knew her banding year to be 2012, last year as she is just now moulting into her subadult phase, and the colours and top digits, I took a chance and contacted the New York DEC for a bit of a scavenger hunt. I sent off an email with the information I had. How many females in 2012 could have that top digit combination? Well, just one.
The female at the Revenue Canada building in north Mississauga is Alfrieda, banded Black 73 over Green AW and she was hatched at the Central Terminal nest site in 2012. She is daughter to Gleig from the Hamilton Sheraton Hotel and Diamante from Rochester.
Now I must warn you that this ID is preliminary and MUST be confirmed by a full reading of the band but the chances that this is Alfrieda are very high. The DEC shared with me that Alfrieda struggled in her fledgling phase and was rescued from the ground twice before really getting her wings. Not only is she now in Ontario but as of today, our watcher Rob Mueller found her with a male!! I knew yesterday when she was flipping her head and being somewhat silly that it had to be another falcon that I couldn’t see. You don’t flip your head at food or predators if you want to succeed!! He made his first appearance today and we will be working very hard to confirm Alfrieda as the female and discover who her mate is.
Pictures will be posted shortly so please check back.
Posted on August 8, 2013 11:20 pm
August 07, 2013 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Doug Garbutt Reports:
Eve is enjoying her new found skill of flight. Tonight she was taking advantage of the strong & steady winds coming off of Lake Erie to kite & also use them for great speed. Mom was watching from an appropriate perch. I was only there for about 15 minutes so I didn’t observe her on the hunt. I think her constant vocalization was keeping the pigeons hiding. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll try & get some shots of her in flight. So far, all is well. When I see her in flight I have to thank Mark Nash & Anne Yagi for giving her this chance by moving her off of the narrow beam she was originally on and into the safety of the nest box. Had we left her on the beam, she would surely have perished.
Posted on August 7, 2013 11:21 pm
