Rouge has just gotten up and I can see 3 beautiful eggs she’s been laying on now that the cam is back online!
After my “visitor” flew through at the CPF Raptor Centre Thursday night, I was very eager to get down to the William Osler nest site and see if in fact Hurricane was back. You see, in years past Hurricane would occasionally come up Hwy 27 to the Raptor Centre and hunt around the open field behind the barn. He would course low over the treetops, spooking up flocks of starlings and blackbirds, and then pluck his prey out of the flock. This is exactly what this peregrine did the other night and had me truly believing I had just seen Hurricane.
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon at about 2pm. I pulled in to the William Osler site and found an adult asleep on the south facing edge of the tray and one on the north sign eating. This was clue number one that something was different as Casper has never been seen using the north sign for anything. After eating the male flew around to the eastern H sign where he tucked in and started napping. He was calling softly to the female who was still on the tray and she in turn was calling back. The two continued to “sing” to each other for about 20 minutes when the female took off of the tray, flew out over the parking lot and landed on the southeast corner of the hospital. She looked up to the sign and invited him to breed. The male was off the sign in seconds and did as he was asked, cementing the bond between the two of them. He then flew a circuit around the building and swooped up to the nest tray for another nap. Clue number two, Hurricane is famous for napping as often as he gets the chance!! I was able to confirm Chessie’s band number at this point as she took off of the southeast corner in a spectacular stoop towards the northeast hydro corridor. For the next 20 minutes all was quite while the male napped and Chessie was off site. I was able to get good looks at the male and he had such a dark and full helmet on his head, unlike Casper who’s hood was less complete; clue number three!! Suddenly Chessie reappeared on the eastern H and she was just soaked! She had found herself a puddle and had taken a soaker bath in it! She called softly to the male in the tray who responded to her calls and the two once again were singing to each other. After another 40 minutes, he flew out of the tray and around the north side with Chessie hot on his tail. He flew four circuits of the hospital at the fourth floor level in an outstanding display of speed and control, one which Chessie gave up matching on the second revolution of the building. As he passed the south side for the fourth time, he pulled straight up over the east parking lot, stalled for just a second and then flipped over and swooped down and up to the east H sign. I didn’t need a band number to tell me this was my windmaster, the fourth and final clue. Chessie joined him on the H sign where the two copulated a second time and then the pair settled in on the H for a snack and a nap. It was then that I was able to clearly read the band number on the male as a solid black three character band labelled 5 over X (three character bands have a line between the upper and lower characters). Hurricane is home. I left the pair on the eastern H, facing each other, heads tucked in and comfortably napping together.
After the battle out here last weekend I was already suspicious that Hurricane was back. Last Saturday, Casper was the victor and returned to the site as territorial male. That has now changed and we hope that Casper has returned safely to his Viscount Road territory and awaits the return of his mate Claire from migration. A quick check of that site yesterday did reveal fresh whitewash on the buildings but I was unable to successfully sight a bird there. We will be keeping an eye out for him and we hope that he is doing well.
Welcome home Hurricane!! So glad to see you back safe and sound!!
Several of us were watching online from approximately 4 pm to 5pm while O’Connor seemed to be in labor. Did she lay an egg? We can’t tell but it certainly looked like it, she pushed, she turned, she napped and then she left but we can’t see another egg right now over the edge of the nest box.
Soooo….’two eggs or not two eggs’..that is the question 
March 29th and finally can see two eggs for sure in the nest box!
Had a surprise visitor at the CPF Raptor Centre last night. As I sat in my car watching the snow, above the treetops bombed in a hunting peregrine! Only one bird in the 14 years I’ve been at the barn caring for these birds has done this... …Hurricane. I am now desperately wanting to get down to the William Osler nest site and see if he is in fact home. The picture is not good as I was caught completely by surprise and it was taken during the snow falling (hence the white dots on the bird).
Coming back through the city from Bowmanville, I decided to take a break from driving and stop in at Yellow Pages to check in on Linn and Rueben. I found Rueben almost right away on the southwest ledges of the building sunning himself. Up that high all I could see at first was a white dot that was out of place on the dark building and the binoculars revealed a preening Rueben. I scanned around for Linn and couldn’t find her at first but a check of her favorite roosts helped me to locate her. She was also sunning herself on the Investors Group sign and pushing down a nice crop of food.
I was able to confirm Linn’s band number, Black 91 over Green V, and get a few photos of the lovely lady up on the sign. We look forward to season with the pair and will be watching to see what ledge they choose to nest on this year. Not the best photos but I hope you enjoy.
On the road with Project School Visit I had the pleasure this week of spending time in the Bowmanville area. Yesterday I finished early and took a moment to stop in at the St. Mary’s Cement nest site to check in on Buffy and Legacy after this long hard winter. I met up with staff who helped get me out to the site and when I first arrived, I couldn’t see anyone. It wasn’t a minute when Legacy came bombing in with food and Buffy was hot on his tail. She almost landed on top of him, snatching the prey and taking it up top to dine. Legacy sat one level below her and watched her eat, vocalizing occasionally, and cleaning his talons.
Thank you so much to the staff at St. Mary’s for taking a moment with me to check in on the pair. I will be back soon to see what progress they are making towards nesting.
Yeah good news I am so excited I have to share. Like I do everyday I go on the web site to look at the nest sites. Yesterday I noticed the adult Peregrine lying down so this morning I checked again and all I saw was an EGG!!!!!
Have a great day
Dennis & Gwen Gidge Patrick
This past weekend I was out at the William Osler nest site to check in on Chessie and see who the resident male is at this time. Last year Hurricane went on vacation for the winter and in his stead, Casper from the Viscount Road territory spent the winter with Chessie as his mate Claire had also left. This past winter was a repeat of the previous season with Hurricane gone at William Osler, Claire gone at Viscount Road and the remaining adults, Casper and Chessie, keeping company.
When I arrived I didn’t have a bird in sight and then bombing in from the southeast came a male and female. The two went directly to the nest ledge and tray and were vocalizing wildly! A minute or two later, the male came whipping out of the tray and was off to the east in pursuit of something. Off in the distance he met his quarry and it was in fact another male peregrine. I could see that they were locked in battle over the residential neighborhood, grabbing each other and tumbling in the air. They disappeared below the horizon and a minute later, a bird came flying back to the site and the ledge. It took me about 20 minutes to get a look at the band and it was indeed Casper.
Who was this challenger? Is Hurricane back and looking to re-claim his site? I will be out there this weekend to check on just who is who and whether eggs have arrived yet.
March 24th - 2014
A big thank you to Nick from SkyReach window washing services for sending in his photos of Rouge, (the resident adult female at MEC) that he was able to take when we were installing the new MEC nest box earlier in the month.
As you can clearly see in the photos, Rouge dawns a Silver USFW leg band on her left leg, which should make it pretty easy to identify her from her mate - Sante - (who is not banded at all).
Rouge was banded last year prior to her release back from the wild after spending more than a year and a half in re-hab.
Welcome back!!
This image of Erin and Windwhistler at King St this morning. Eggs soon, I hope.
