July 06, 2014 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Marion Nash Reports:
Once again I am not sure exactly how many peregrines I saw today. Going out on a limb I think I did see the family of five – all at different times.
When I first arrived one juvenile (solo) flew across Duplex Ave and went west. Shortly after that I saw the *twosome tandem* flying together. They landed on the south west corner of Rio-Can (RC). Six minutes later a juvie flew in from the south and also landed on Rio-Can.
Later on I saw the twosome in the air, they really do fly beautifully together, over RC, head towards Canada Square, veer off and fly over the bus bays instead and then one kicked into high speed and a stoop over Duplex. The second juvie did the same and was actually chasing a small bird which flew for its life. I do not know if this was a successful hunt or not as the two, hunter and hunted, disappeared behind 53 Division. At this point there was still one peregrine left on the south west corner of RC but I could not ID it as either a juvenile or adult.
Malik showed up briefly, much later on and did a sortie over RC which brought a juvenile out, squawking and chasing him until he picked up speed and simply flew off. The juvie returned to RC.
At 6:45pm I spotted Haven on the third ledge south. She looked as if she was having another bad feather day and I am sure she had been sleeping on that ledge. She eventually flew off.
All the juveniles are flying very well. They do struggle against the wind and none can fly like the adults yet but their flights are strong and high!
Lyn
Posted on July 7, 2014 12:40 pm
July 07, 2014 - Stoney Creek
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Bruce and I decided yesterday that we needed to get out on a road trip and Stoney Creek was on the agenda. We both have quite an affinity to Athena and Craig as we have been tracking them and their activities for the past two years now. We were both elated when we found them in the quarry with young and were now itching to see how well they were all doing.
When we first arrived at the quarry, there wasn’t a bird in sight. We checked the nest cavity and scanned the top wall but were unable to see a single bird. We checked the ages of the young ones and they are all now between 45 and 50 days of age. Too old to still be in the nest we hope and yet too young for any major off campus travels. We scrambled into the car and decided to circle the concession to see if we could spot anyone from the various angles on the sideroads. Our first circle to the west netted nothing. Then a circle to the east. Still nothing. Back to the top end of the quarry we went and just then a Turkey vulture came in really low over the top of the quarry. If anyone was home this big bird was about to get run out of town. Blam!! In comes Athena and gives it a whack. The vulture struggled to regain its composure when Whap, another strike by Athena. The vulture beat a hasty retreat out of the territory and we scrambled back over to the west side to see if this activity brought out any of the young ones.
As soon as we made our way down the road just past the entrance to the quarry we could see Athena flying above the open field to the north and we could clearly hear a juvenile calling. Craig joined Athena in the swoop passes of the field and then next thing you know it, we had a young one in the air! As it turns out, the juvenile was Ariel, the only female, and she was flying like mad after her mother. They flew together back towards the quarry and disappeared from view behind the berm. A moment later she was back and this time she was being chased. by a second juvenile. This turned out to be Stoney and the two played a rough and tumble game of aerial chase of which Ariel felt the need to be really vocal about. Two in view!! Fantastic!! They both circled back towards the quarry and again were lost from view behind the berm. We didn’t have to wait long before they were back yet again and this time we had all three as Cameron decided to join in the fun. Both Athena and Craig were also flying with them and at one point we had all five birds present and flying together.
The rest spot for the young ones was the same hydro pole that Athena was roosting on the last time I was there. Ariel and Stoney both landed on the wires and were content to sit their briefly for a rest. Ariel took off down into the quarry while Stoney remained on the wire, but not alone. A moment later, a Red Winged blackbird flew in and landed feet away from the young male. Stoney didn’t quite know what to do with this information and so just sat there flipping his head in play at the blackbird who did not find Stoney equally amusing. After a minute or two, the blackbird took a run at little Stoney, knocking him off the wire and grabbing his tail as they went.
We left the family at rest in the quarry by mid afternoon and were feeling quite pleased to see that all three juveniles were doing amazing. Thanks to Bruce for the wonderful outing and congratulations to the quarry for such a successful breeding season!!
Posted on July 7, 2014 8:57 am
July 04, 2014 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
On Friday, Winston was out in the evening doing a site check on the fab four and observed little Blue taking his first approved trip off the property to the north hydro tower. Winston reports;
The William Osler peregrines took a gull!! I didn’t see it but security pointed out the remains. I started to do a head count but was unsure if everyone was around as they wouldn’t sit still long enough to be sure. I was able to photograph Blue and Red for sure and both adults. Tag was very much on the agenda. Once things settled down I started my head count and found a juvenile in the north tower with no reaction from the adults. This was a sanctioned off campus visit. One adult took off hunting and I continued to try and locate all four young. Three juveniles were all huddled together on the eastern H, the parents roost spot (not so anynore). I went to check on the one in the north tower and it was indeed Blue. A great night of flying with all four juveniles in sight.
Winston
Posted on July 7, 2014 8:35 am
July 01, 2014 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The William Osler family of four are definately on their way. The juveniles are all now showing some great skills in flight and are no longer in need of our help. Tonight the young ones were all practicing their talon touching in preparation for the food exchanges and hunting training that they will receive during the rest of the summer. The family looks fantastic and we are so excited to see them doing so well.
The William Osler Name the Chick contest will be closing shortly and the four juveniles will all be receiving their official names. We look forward to the staff’s selections this year and anticipate that they will wear them well. I will update you as soon as the names are selected.
I have way too many people to thank for this watch going so incredibly well. The William Osler nest site hosts have been amazing and I must thank Ross for his continued support and assistance. The great folks at Paragon Security have been amazing and I can’t thank you enough for all of your assistance. Of course, I also must thank the incredible team of individuals that made the watch possible! My heartfelt thank you goes out to Rob, Bonnie, Lucie, Winston, Mark and Bruce for all of their generous support and gift of their time. We did it everyone! Great job.
Posted on July 7, 2014 8:28 am
June 30, 2014 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Well, it would seem that Red is back to her old self and her old tricks after her epic flight last nigh. By morning she was back on the nest ledge and howling at her siblings once more. A morning feed came into the nest ledge and all four juveniles congregated for the feeding. Meal time has certainly now lost its friendliness and its every juvenile for himself. The food package was dumped unceremoniously on the ledge by Hurricane and the kids fought over it until it was gone. By the afternoon, Blue was really showing his advanced skills by practicing his kiting above the hospital roof. He was in complete control and started experimenting with changing wing positions subtly and how that would effect his flight. It was really neat to watch him figure all of this out. He learned this technique from Hurricane who would often kite right in front of the ledge and the kids in the hopes of inciting a flight. His son has picked up this rather quickly and has already mastered it.
By the evening, well… …pandemonium!! All four juveniles were now buzzing around the hospital playing tag and chasing the parents. You could tell that this was getting more skilled and serious as they weren’t doing the typical clumsy flap and scream technique but rather sneaking up on each other in stealth mode. As always, the best is when they get chasing Hurricane. They start with laps around the hospital with Hurricane in the lead and just when they think they are catching up to him… …a flick of the tail and reset of the wings and he’s rocketing around and coming up behind them! The evening was filled with family flights around the immediate territory and pigeon rewards from Chessie to end the day.
I will be down tomorrow for one last day at the watch as it looks as though this family is well on their way and no longer needing our help.
Posted on July 7, 2014 8:19 am
June 29, 2014 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Today Bruce started the watch allowing me a moment to sleep in which I was so grateful for after getting home from Renfrew so late. Bruce had a feeding come in for the morning which of course had the whole family of fliers really revved up and while there was some activity in the morning, it was over quickly and on to more important napping and preening jobs. The day went by rather quickly as we watched the juveniles exploring the territory and practicing their flights. It was to be evening though that the real flight show began.
All four juveniles were playing tag with Hurricane and generally being a nuisance to the parents. The boys would gang up on Red and had her screaming her dissatisfaction with this until Chessie would come in and break it up. Yellow would then take the sneaky approach and fly in behind white and give him a chase or two. It was around the evening feed that Red took to the air and made for the tower. By this time I was joined by Winston and we were watching as she veered off her landing and made a return flight towards the nest ledge. She didn’t have the altitude to make the ledge and so she swung back around the building and out to the north. She circled, gained some altitude and tried again for the nest ledge. Nope. Position all wrong. Now she went back out and circled again but she was too low now and made for the low medical centre roof. She was going to land but changed her mind and headed back towards the main building. She had been in the air now over 2 minutes and was feeling it. She landed on the 5th floor window ledge and took a break. It wasn’t long before she was in the air again and making excellent decisions even though they weren’t getting her what she wanted. Again she ended up on a window ledge on the north side. Flight number three, now she’s really tuckered, but she managed to get back around to the east side. She tried to land on the hydro wires but she’s a tank and that wasn’t going to work. She ended up on the east side on a window ledge right below the nest ledge. There she stayed and ran the ledge several times before settling in for the night.
While Red may have ended up on a window ledge, she is a flighted juvenile. She will have no trouble getting back up to the ledge come morning once she has had a chance to rest but just in case, we will be continuing the watch for Monday and Tuesday. Thanks to Bruce and Winston who were out with me today. The flights were awesome to watch!!
Posted on July 7, 2014 8:07 am
July 06, 2014 - Scarborough - Yellow Pages
Marion Nash Reports:
July 6th - 2014
Al three fledglings were seen on the nest building when we arrived, with Lorne and Tormey on the upper north face and Petra on the upper west.
Food was dropped off to Tormey and Lorne at 3:00 PM by Linn.
Petra took flight at about 4:15 and flew around to the north face of the building just as one of the parents flew in with food. She must have seen it coming and decided that this one was hers. She grabbed the food in the from adult in the air but with a fist full of food and the added weight, she missed the landing and hooked back west and again. In an effort to try and make the upper concrete ledge, she struggled to gain altitude and eventually lost her altitude and did a face plant into the glass and fluttered down to lower concrete overhang. It didn’t take her long to recover, (only a second) and she started to eat her prize!! There was no way she was sharing any of this with anyone!! Tormey flew in to see if Petra might share but was soon disappointed with her sisters attitude of non-sharing and flew back to the north face pretty upset. She screamed and vocalized the entire flight back!!
After Petra ate, she flew off and got herself up to the upper glass pyramid level on the north east side.
Tormey flew around to the back of the building and Lorne flew to the Kitchen and back to the nest building on the north side with some good strong flights!
Looks like all three fledglings now know how to get altitude from the lower levels. Although the landings are still pretty clumsy, (OUCH),, it would appear there is little worry about them being stranded and in need of rescuing on the ground at this point. Lets hope that they have learned about bumping into windows and will stay clear when the high speed flying and hunting lessons start.
The girls have some catching up to do as their brother Lorne in so far as their flying ability, as Lorne is flying much stronger, but remembering that the girls are younger and heavier. But look out Lorne, as in a few days the sisters will soon catch up, and if there is food involved,, Petra just might give you a very good run for the pigeon 
At this point, we have finished the dawn to dusk fledge watch at the Scarborough nest site, and will be only spot checking the site from here on in. The rest is now up to Linn and Ruben. We will be back next week with the cameras and tripods for some “relaxed watching time” to get some decent photos of the best that is yet to come!!
We would encourage any and all watchers to visit, and remember to bring your cameras!!
Posted on July 6, 2014 11:19 pm
July 05, 2014 - Scarborough - Yellow Pages
Marion Nash Reports:
Saturday July 5th - 2014 - Day 10 on the Scarborough Fledge watch
When Mark and I arrived Petra - (Yellow Tape) and Tormey - (Red Tape) were still on the west face of the Yellow Pages building, with Petra on the upper concrete ledge and Tormey still on the middle concrete ledge where we had left her yesterday.
Petra was somewhat active walking back and forth across the ledge but Tormey looked like she was going to sleep all day. After about and hour and a half Petra finally took flight and made it to the glass pyramid flapping to try to balance on the point which she managed to do. I guess she felt a little uncomfortable there with the wind so she hopped down to the ledge below the pyramid and there she stayed for several hours.
Little Tormey had us concerned as she just walked back and forth across her ledge on and off all day, not showing allot of energy. By the end of the day she was starting to show some energy and started playing with some dried up scrap of food looking bored out of her mind but still had not taken flight.
I walked around the building late in the afternoon as Petra had been out of our site for some time and found her on the opposite side of the same ledge and found Loran on the North side upper concrete level. As soon as I got back to our sit spot one of the parents flew in and gave food to Loran who ran off into the corner with his prize to have his lunch. Tormey and Petra got none.
At 6:30pm, Mom flew in with and made several circuits around the building and flew off. That was enough to finally get Petra off her feathered butt and she flew off to the north hooked back and landed on the upper elevation of Yellow Pages just making it.
She looked quite excited and proud of herself. Soon after Mom come in with food and flew to the kitchen and Petra - (Yellow tape) immediately bolted into flight and flew right after her This is one meal she was determined to beat her brother to!!
She made a clumsy very hard landing on the top of the glass arch, but got her lunch. Minutes later Loran - (Blue tape) flew in to squabble with his sister over what ever leftovers she had but it looked like Petra had eaten everything so they sat together for a while.
Tormey - (red tape) finally took a short jump and sort of a flight up to the upper level concrete ledge, approx. 1 floor up and landed just fine. She then walked to the leading edge of the North West glass ledge just below the glass pyramid and a few minutes later Mom finally came in with her food reward.
Everyone has now been fed and seem to settle down for the evening - (including both of the adults), so we left the family high and safe.
Our biggest concern is still Tormey - (Red tape) as she has clearly not taken her second real flight from the Yellow Pages nest building and actually been able to return to any altitude. She is now 44 days old as of today, so she should be flying tomorrow.
Lets hope tomorrow is the day that she will be able to get some real flight time and demonstrate that she is no-longer at risk from coming to the ground and in need of rescuing.
While the photos are not the greatest, (remember that the peregrines are a very long way up, and we are some distance away from the building itself so we can get a decent view of them given the angles involved without succumbing to the serious affects of “Falcon-Neck” as we all refer to it as),, the photos show the coloured tape that we put over their USFW silver leg band to help us identify them at distance.
I have also included a photo of Mark and I, as we have now been in the streets on the various fledge watches and running to the various banding events from Toronto to Windsor to Stoney Creek to Burlington to Kitchener to Mississauga to Pickering to Scarborough for over 8 weeks now. You can see that we are starting to show the affects of the 14 to 16 hours a day - seven days a weeks while in the streets on the fledge watches.
So if you one of us looking a little “odd”, or someone that looks similar,, have pity, its likely one of the CPF fledge watch team
Posted on July 6, 2014 1:14 pm
July 05, 2014 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Marion Nash Reports:
I was out for a short period this evening and managed to see three of the peregrines, Haven, Malik and a juvie unless the juvies pulled the old switcheroo on me. I just cannot ID band colour when they are flying!
Anyway, today I shared Mark’s horror at the antics of Haven and Malik!!
I think there was a hunting lesson in progress. Firstly, Haven went into a stoop along Yonge street and ended up really low, just above the roof of the TD bank building and getting lower. Then Malik did more or less the same thing along Eglinton. He was so low I could not see him even when I stood up and dashed to the corner where I was sitting! Pigeons of course went everywhere and a juvie flew south on Yonge just as a pigeon flew over its head. The juvie did a *180* behind Canada Square and came back but it was too late, THAT pigeon had gone!
On another occasion Malik went into a stoop north on Yonge from over Canada Square. It was really steep because by the time he was just north of the Y/E intersection he was already low but he missed. He came back from around the corner at Y/E, low over the bus bays, skimming them really, rose a bit to cross Duplex and then disappeared over the homes behind the Police Station.
The juvenile who was around flew up to the antenna atop Canada Square, lightly touched it, hovered and then flew off. Not quite kiting. Later on he flew from somewhere behind or around the condo’s, up Yonge around the Rio-Can building and back to Canada Square where he did the *touch and go* thing again and then flew north.
That was the extent of the activity.
Lyn
Posted on July 6, 2014 11:24 am
July 05, 2014 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Mark Nash Reports:
The best is yet to come!!! Photographers get your camera’s!!!
Remember that the family rearing process is far from being over, as its now dads turn. Over the next 30 plus days, the adult males will be doing most of the flight and hunt training with the fledglings, leaving the resident adult females some time to themselves to catch up on some most needed sleep and de-stress time. WE often see the adult females on the nest ledges doing some est box or nest tray rearranging and sleeping.
The fledglings will still be completely dependant on the adults for food, protection and support for the next 30 to 60 days as they will be staying very close to home around the nest buildings.
We often forget that the fledglings (I guess we can call them juveniles now, as they are the equivalent of teenagers in their mind set), still have no idea that they have actually been eating birds, as their food has been prepared by their parents. Many of the food packages have already had their heads removed, and with many of the feathers already having been removed, and as such, the juveniles have had no idea what they have actually been eating!
Of course its birds and only birds, but the young peregrines must be taught this!
They must be taught how to chase, stoop and dive for things and encouraged to chase their parents for the food. They must be shown what to hunt, how to hunt, how to catch it and how to kill it and then how to prepare it. The fledglings still have a long way to go before they are actually able to catch food themselves!
For the next few weeks, its all fun and games (at least for the fledglings),, but they are actually be taught important life skills that will prepare them for survival on their own this fall.
The fledglings, (juveniles) will succumb to a couple of thousand years to migrate in the fall and they will be on their own.
Most all of the resident territorial nesting adults at our southern Ontario urban nest sites will NOT migrate, and they will stay on territory all year. The adults have learned that you they can survive in the city all year long, (urban adaptation), and have figured out that there is an abundance of food around all year long, ideal habitat, no predation and lots of warmth from the buildings, especially from that of the illuminated signs that they roost on.
But the young of the year will go! Being creatures of habit (almost to a fault), what they know, they deal with,,, what they don’t know, they avoid! So its up to the parents to teach them as much as they can over next two months so the fledglings have the necessary life skills to be able to survive on their own. The fledgling juveniles typically migrate south to central and southern America for the winter months and have a very long trip south with many dangers.
Also remember, that the peregrine has more than an 80% mortality rate until it reaches breeding age (typically between two and three years of age), with the higher percentage of this mortality happening in the first year of their lives.
For all of the photographers out there, this is the best opportunity for some incredible photos of the adults training the fledglings over the next 30 plus days!! This is the time to really enjoy your peregrines,, so get out there with your cameras and spend some time with them!
Posted on July 5, 2014 12:07 pm
