!!! Two Firsts and a Wind Storm Casualty!
November 13, 2013 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
In all the years I’ve been watching the resident falcons here - I don’t ever remember seeing both adults perched on the web cam at the same time..until this morning. When I came out both were there side by side having a conversation which I quickly came to realize was a ‘you move, no you move - conversation. You can guess who lost that arguement…Jack flew out in a semi circle to the nest box where he is now pouting!
Last Friday I happened to see O’Connor coming in with a ‘duck’ - yes a duck! We’ve seen them up in the cache from time to time but I’ve never actually witnessed either of them bringing one up to the ledge. A co worker and I were out on a break when we noticed a really large bird in the distance flying really low - my first thought was holy cow that’s a huge bird and then she got closer and I realized it was O’Connor with a really large prey in her talons.
She was having a difficult time maintaining altitude but managed to vear off towards the towers and it looked like she was going to slam right into one when suddenly she reared up - honestly it was the most amazing sight ever! Then she proceeded to circle around the building to try and gain height - which she did but she was still about 5 stories short of a ledge.
Jack, who up until then I didn’t even notice as I was focused on O’Connor and quite worried she wouldnt’ make it, was on the ADP sign and dove down as she came around and got under neath her to help guide her upwards. They both flew around the building and I ran through the concourse as no one came back to the front. By the time I got out to the back - there she was on one of the ledges..looking quite proud of herself as she started to prepare - ‘lunch’!
On Sunday we had a powerful wind storm in Toronto - and as a result on Monday I recieved a call from Mark Nash informing me that someone had reported a falcon down on the property. I quickly went to security who took me out to check on the bird and it turned out to be an adult Red Tail, a female judging from the size of her and her talons. She was lying just a few feet from the glass on the ground in a construction area and there were no marks on her. I suspect she likely crashed into the building at high speed due to the wind. As no one saw anything we can’t really say whether or not the resident pair were trying to steer her out but that could have been the case and due to the high winds she would have a hard time controlling herself.