May 19, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
When Bruce and I arrived we found Mason right where we left him in the tree. It was quite dark and a little chilly so we set up near the bus shelter for some wind protection. As soon as the first tiny bit of light touched the clouds both adults were calling him home for breakfast. He shuffled and turned but didn’t make a move to leave his position. He spent the early hours sleeping mostly and trying to position himself as comfortably as he could. Grace and Toivo arrived around 8am and joined us in our watch of our little Tree Falcon. By 9am, Margaret had arrived and we pretty much had him surrounded! The adults continued to call and fly overhead but he still would not be moved.
By mid morning Mason was attempting to make the best of his situation by making some new friends. He flipped his head playfully but the Cardinal, Squirrel, Robin and gang of Goldfinches respectfully declined his invitation to play. Instead they harassed him from the treetops above his head and that was as close as they dared to get. He was becoming much more active after the local birds found him and in between naps was stretching and preening as best as he could on his wee branch. At around 12:30pm we could see that he was now determined to get out of his current mess and with a quick leap and a flap he was out and in the air.
He headed across the road at an altitude of about 20 feet and circled around the west side of MEC 3. Bruce went in pursuit while Grace and Margaret stayed put and watched (you guys were so great). Mason circled around the north side of MEC 3 and came around the east side now about half way up the height of the building. He was climbing! He grabbed a hold of the window trim and clung for a minute and was off again. This time he headed towards MEC 4 and circled around the east side with an adult in escort. Margaret and Grace stayed central and watched for him coming out while I went in behind MEC 4. Mason came out over Robert Speck Parkway and headed for MEC 2 but was still way too low. He bumped into the windows and this time was furious that he did it. He recovered and headed for 4 but circled away from the windows and back towards 2. He was still about half way up the building height when he brushed the glass again and this time fluttered down the face of MEC 2 to the ground.
Our view of exactly where he landed was blocked by the valley trees and so we headed over to find him. Margaret went over to MEC 1 to meet up with Bruce and gather up the carrier while Grace and I started the ground search. I went down into the creek valley while Grace checked MEC 2 perimeter. I walked the valley to the back of 2 and came up the stairs to the very east corner and who should I find… …Mason!! He was standing looking back at me in a large concrete tiered planter that ran 15 feet along the base of the wall. Back down into the valley I go where I found the stairs and scaled the railing to the first garden tier. Then I scaled the wall of that tier up to the top level and as I did, something scooted away to my right. No matter, eyes on Mason to my left down at the end of the ledge backed into a corner. I scooped him up and walked to the other end where I shimmied along the retaining wall and handed Mason to Grace so I could get out of the planter box. Just then my darting creature appeared and it was an enormous raccoon that was on the ledge with Mason! The raccoon took off and Margaret took over handling Mason so that Grace and I could now get back onto solid ground. Margaret placed him in the carrier and took him off to MEC 1 to rest. In case he felt ambitious, I asked Mark if he could do the release and he suggested tonight in the darkness to keep him settled for the night. Thank you Mark for taking him to the roof tonight.
I have the absolute best team ever! Thank you immensely to Margaret, Grace and Bruce for their support and to Garda Security for their incredibly quick response to our need of help. Great job everyone!!
Ok Mason, we’ll see YOU in the morning…
Posted on May 19, 2014 10:56 pm
May 18, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I started the watch today at dawn with little Mason right where I left him on the top of the windows at MEC 2. He was already up and active and it wasn’t long before he took his first flight off of the windows and headed straight for MEC 1. He landed on the roof retaining wall where Rogue met him with breakfast and he was beak fed until he was quite full. He played and relaxed for a while and then made another flight to MEC 3. His landings have improved greatly and his flights are really strong. He left MEC 3 and circled out over Robert Speck Parkway and headed back to MEC 1. This time he flew parallel to the top of the nest ledge windows and with a bit of back flapping he was home!!!
Triumphant at his return to the nest ledge, he spent the better part of the morning playing and bouncing around the box and flew up to the top of the box several times. He ran the ledge, hopped the gap and made his way down to the northeast corner of the nest building. He was doing great! Renegade met him on the corner and had brought in a rather odd looking piece of meat. It was a very dried up piece of remains of a previous meal that he held out and offered to Mason who was more than happy to take it. Two bites into it, Mason discarded the piece in the window well hoping for something more. Twenty minutes later, Renegade returned to the same ledge, entered the well and retrieved the dry crusty bit that Mason had discarded. He approached Mason with this gift a second time and Mason was happy to take it again… …for all of a second before he dropped it back down into the ledge. What made this exchange so odd and funny was that an hour later, Renegade made a third attempt to sell Mason on this dried up chunk of cracker like remains and this time Mason made sure to pitch it off the building and be done with it.
Several more flights were made by Mason in the afternoon with yet another excellent approach and entry to the nest ledge. He finally settled over on MEC 2 at around 1pm where Rogue brought him a huge pigeon lunch that he happily gorged away on. Shannon joined me at the watch just after Mason finished his lunch and he was relaxing on the ledge. We talked for a bit while we were watching Mason and then Shannon asked whether I thought he would be doing any flights this afternoon as she was so excited to see him fly. Just then Mr. “Too cool for school” decided to fly off of MEC 2 and try to land on the porch of the nest box. He seriously miscalculated and veered off around the north side of MEC 1. Rogue met him in the air and attempted to steer him up to the windows rather than have him leave the property as he was destined to do based on his speed and trajectory. He turned right into the windows on MEC 1 and flumped up against them. He quickly recovered and flew back towards MEC 3. Shannon and I ran down to the west side to see if he made it but we knew that he was too low. He flumped into the windows again and this time lost quite a bit of height. He did recover himself and flew low out across Robert Speck Parkway and landed in a tree by the creek.
Shannon and I raced across the street to make sure that he was alright. When we got there we could see that he wasn’t just on the tree, he was really in it about 20 feet above us. He sat on a small branch looking tired and dejected and was surrounded on all sides by more branches. Boy was he stuck. We set up nearby in case he came out of the tree and down to the ground and at the same time called for some backup. Bruce came out to the site as well as Winston and the four of us watched as he struggled to balance, find a comfortable spot, nap and sort himself out. As the afternoon wore on into the evening we discussed what we were going to do about little Mr. should he decide to stay in the tree. He was too high to reach for a rescue and the branch he was on too thin. We agreed that he was as safe as he could be from the local wildlife and that he wasn’t interested in any flights right now and so we left him to sort it all out. I stayed until almost 11pm to ensure that he was tucked in and safe at which time Bruce and I made plans for the morning. We were both going to meet on site at 4:30am before the light started in the sky just in case he began to get active early. Oh boy…
I cannot thank all of you enough that have helped out with Mason’s treetop adventure this evening. I would especially like to thank Bruce, Shannon and Winston for being there for Mason and for me as I could not have done it without you. What a great crew!!
See you at dawn Mr. Mason. Pictures to follow soon.
Posted on May 19, 2014 9:56 pm
May 19, 2014 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Peregrine huddle for food.
Posted on May 19, 2014 7:31 pm
May 19, 2014 - Toronto - King Street
Linda Woods Reports:
Anxiously awaiting a second hatch at King St. I think we should have had a second hatch by now. Evening feed for the wee one.
Posted on May 19, 2014 7:23 pm
May 19, 2014 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:
Thanks to Public Works and Government Services Canada for allowing me to post this photo of the two little ones taken on Saturday, May 17th.
Posted on May 19, 2014 3:27 pm
May 19, 2014 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Marilyn Weller Reports:
Over the past 5 days, numerous volunteers are reporting seeing feeding behaviour from Freddie and Voltaire. We have not been able to spot any babies yet but recognize the feeding activities indicating the presence of chicks in the nest. We should be able to count heads soon!
Posted on May 19, 2014 10:12 am
May 18, 2014 - Toronto - King Street
Linda Woods Reports:
This just in, Erin feeding the little one. Looks like three eggs to go. May 18th 4:15p.m.
Posted on May 18, 2014 4:19 pm
May 17, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I relieved Bruce at the MEC watch at around 5:30pm with Mason on the nest ledge and looking rather triumphant. Actually, he looked rather relaxed now that he had achieved his goal of getting home. He spent the bulk of the evening on the northeast corner of the nest building resting and preening in the evening sun. At around 8pm Rogue did a fly by with food which had Mason in an absolute tantrum demanding immediate delivery. When Rogue flew up to the retaining wall of MEC 1 with her fresh caught pigeon, it was more than Mason could bear. He deliberately took to the air and headed south. He flew well out over Hurontario and was almost at the Morguard building before he circled back and headed for the roof of MEC 1 where Rogue sat waiting. As he approached the rooftop he back flapped to ease his landing and alighted without a hitch. It took him a minute or so before he ran down the ledge wailing at Rogue for food.
Once he reached Rogue he fought her for the food but she wasn’t giving up anything. She started to beak feed him and moments later, in comes the male. He lands on the opposite side of Mason and HE has food for him as well. The male sat and waited for Rogue to finish feeding and was quite prepared to continue the meal but Mason was now quite contented and playing with a feather. Renegade (our nickname for the new male, easier to say than “the new male”) took off with his package and stashed it on MEC 3 for later. Rogue left as well and stashed her remaining food leaving Mason on the retaining wall of MEC 1.
Winston joined me at the watch and we both witnessed the awesome flight out from the nest ledge and back to the rooftop. We agreed that Mason was not done for the night and settled in to watch. He quickly took off of the roof of the nest building and headed straight for MEC 3. Winston and I dashed around the corner to make sure that he made a good landing and I saw him glide in towards MEC 3 and do a back flap landing on the Desjardins symbol. Awesome! He was only there for a few minutes before flying over to MEC 2 with an escort from Renegade and they both landed on the northeast corner of the top of the windows. Another excellent landing! Mason dropped down into the window well and as dusk turned to darkness we decided to close down the watch for the night and head home to get ready for the AM shift.
Three great flights by Mason with landings greatly improved. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring. Thank you so much to Bruce for giving me a much needed “down day” morning to catch up on things and to Winston for joining me for the closing shift. See you all tomorrow!!
Posted on May 18, 2014 12:02 am
May 17, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Bruce Massey Reports:
Last night I left Mason tucked in on MEC 3 and returned this morning at dawn to find him on the same building although he had moved position. He spent much of the morning running and flapping , napping and of course eating… …a lot! By noon the parents had fed him 5 or 6 small feedings which he happily accepted.
At around 1pm he began to get active and finally took his first flight of the day. He left MEC 3 and began flying towards MEC 1. He circled out over Robert Speck Parkway and had great elevation. He decided to go for the roof retaining wall and landed fairly well on the edge. There he stayed until around 5pm when it was time for the next adventure.
Mason decided to take off of the retaining wall of MEC 1 and head towards MEC 3. When he crossed over the creek and was nearing the building, he veered off and circled back towards the nest building. He was too low to make the rooftop but that was on purpose; he was headed home. He came in too high for the nest ledge and grabbed on to the concrete wall above the nest box clinging like a bat for a brief moment before letting go and dropping straight down to the roof of the nest box. He was home!! Not a graceful or controlled entrance to the nest ledge but a successful one. He was immediately fed by Rogue and a little later by the new male as well (we’ve nicknamed him Renegade for now). He ran the ledge and was hopping the gap when Tracy arrived to take over for the evening after an eventful return home.
Posted on May 17, 2014 11:43 pm
May 17, 2014 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Finally captured an full image from the webcam. Look closely you can see one little head tucked in between looking at the camera.
Posted on May 17, 2014 12:52 pm
