April 13, 2015 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
CPF Postmaster Reports:
April 13th - 2015
A huge thank you to Roger for sharing some of his photos that he was able to snap of the resident adult peregrines at the Etobicoke Bloor & Islington nest site. While we had originally identified the new resident adult male was Lucky, (a Canadian produced male peregrine), it now appears that the male now on site that Roger photographed also has a Black over Green leg band with Blue tape. Is it an Optical Illusion and the light just playing tricks on us? O’Connor also has a Black over Green leg band, but has a purple USFW band with no tape.
Photos by Roger Leekam
Posted on April 15, 2015 3:04 am
April 14, 2015 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Doug Garbutt Reports:
On Mar. 26th we noticed a 3rd falcon on site. There was an aerial battle which saw the resident male (I thought) kind of reluctantly chase a juvie female from the site. Since then there have been more confrontations. On Apr. 11th a juvie banded female was in the nest box for about an hour while the two resident adults dive bombed her. She was confident and stayed her ground. The male landed in the box briefly & left, the juvie stayed. However, later both adults entered the box & the juvie left immediately. They then continued the battle in air. Today again there were 3 falcons on site. Who prevails remains to be seen. If the young falcon prevails, perhaps there is still hope for some success here this year since the resident female has a penchant for eating her own eggs. Fingers crossed!
Posted on April 14, 2015 8:53 pm
April 14, 2015 - Scarborough - Yellow Pages
Marion Nash Reports:
Kathy and I went out to take a look at the Yellow Pages nest today to see 3 eggs now for the Petra/Yellow Pages Falcons. The male was not in site but the female was closely guarding her eggs and would not fly off so I was not able to confirm her band numbers.
Posted on April 14, 2015 7:40 pm
April 14, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Marion Nash Reports:
April 14- 2015
Reports from the hospital today has 2 eggs in nest so far.
Posted on April 14, 2015 7:33 pm
April 14, 2015 - Brampton - Courthouse
Marion Nash Reports:
Interesting week in Brampton march 30th … was the first day we observed a male here with the female that has been here all winter. He was very small with a heavily barred breast , he may have been here for a few days.
By Sunday he was replaced by a larger , lighter coloured male.
This photo was taken on the 31st and is the newer male.
Friday the 4th , copulation was observed twice. and today she was on the balcony below the top ledge , outside the glass, walking back and forth and turning around. There is a spot at each end a triangle shape about 3ft long by 2ft at the widest that may have gravel.
Because it is on a balcony with glass panels it would be a problem.
We are hoping for a better result than the last two years.
Ok looks like we are serious at the Courthouse ….
last night definitely One bird …. then at 645 am the female was on the North ledge and as I changed positions , she disappeared ..I believe she walked back in … and this evening at 730 pm both falcons there and looking very comfortable.
he was on the north ledge closest to #10 and she was top NE corner , close to the spot on the ledge that she seems interested in.
Since Winston spotted them there every time I have gone by …. at least one falcon has been on the building.
I have taken to calling her ….. Hope …. as in …. Im really …. really hoping things work out well this year for Peregrine falcons in Brampton this year.
Fri morn at 645 she walked out from NE the corner of that ledge and after 3 mins left and headed south. No sign of male.
Spent two hours poking around Fri evening , Nada found her downtown on George st at dark no sign of male.
Sat morning , out early nada either location, around 10 am found 1 downtown moving around a lot bldg to bldg, agitated.
Ten minitues later, saw two wheeling around over the 4 corners, I was moving , dont know M or F. but exact same size, ignoring 2 pigeons that flew right close to them.
by 1020 a Female(very dark) settled in on a bldg and ate. Then was still very agitated, moving around every couple of minutes.
I suspect that they saw another Peregrine from the CH and came back downtown. and are still fighting over territory.
all I can do is keep watching.
Still weird out here in Brampton. Back and forth between downtown and the Court House.
Sat evening at 730 … female on the CH north ledge. just sitting … then Sunday nada till I found two downtown on George st at 1pm.
In the evening, Maria and I went on a tour , ending up at the CH. At 730 a peregrine came in and circled the building … alighting on a cell tower south end. It ignored 3 pigeons below it on the library roof.
It took off over our heads and I realized it was the small Male with the almost darkly coloured breast (not the male in Winston’s and my pics) that I had first seen downtown the week earlier…That was replaced at some point.
He buzzed the yellow apartments south. ( about 600 yds SE of the Court House)… then suddenly we had three peregrines … the female had come off the roof of the Apts and joined in the chase.
It went out of sight … but the Female returned and landed N side kind of mid roof and walked in out of sight …. she reappeared in about a minute …. and sat there … we left her there…
last week I mentioned that she was very agitated one time I watched her downtown.
Then just for S&G.we checked downtown to see if we did have two pairs …. fighting over territories.
All I can do is keep watching.
I observed copulation sat midday. and last weekend. So she has to be ready to lay eggs …. just where.
This morning at 630 … a female was on the East corner of the North ledge of the Courthouse… she left and mated with a male at 645 … and he went out on a hunt west. at about 650 am.
Winston texted me and reported Pefas on the north side midmorning and Maria observed two Falcons on the courthouse …. mid afternoon.
Six minutes later she was Downtown and observed our spare male Peregrine …. Downtown on the George st building.
We have had some real drama here in Brampton …. but it seems settled that the lighter …. slightly larger male is the man. Sunday evening the female helped that male chase off an interloper. She has been on the courthouse almost continuously since Midday Sunday , and mating has been observed twice.
The primary site of interest is a spot on the East end of a ledge on the North side of the Brampton courthouse Hwy 10 just south of Steeles.
I will be doing early Morning and evening checks , Winston will be providing midday observations until we have established that we are hopefully in the family way here in Brampton.
Winston, Toivo and Maria
Posted on April 14, 2015 1:28 am
April 13, 2015 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Kathy Reports:
Egg #3 has arrived just a few minutes ago for Rhea Mae and Tiago!!!
Posted on April 13, 2015 10:06 am
April 12, 2015 - Mississauga - Holcim
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I arrived at Avonhead Road in the morning and found Caspian and the young male flying through the centre of the plant. It was clear that the chases going on were not entirely aggressive nor were they friendly. It seemed as though they were getting to know each other and setting some boundaries. Caspian broke away from the aerial chase and landed on the southeast corner of the nest ledge but made no move to enter and cover the eggs. The male landed on the main building in the plant on the southeast corner. The pair stared at each other from their respective perches for almost 20 minutes and then the male took off. All of his flights for the next 10 minutes were around the main building in the plant which he circled half a dozen times before landing again on the top of the structure. Caspian flew over and landed on the corner of the main building that the male had just left and he began stooping her as she sat. She didn’t move for quite some time until the male decided to find a perch of his own. He circled for about 5 minutes and finally landed on a light half way up the tallest stack in the plant. He stayed there for about 5 minutes and then was off in a stoop to the north. Caspian followed and the two disappeared from my sight.
Caspian returned to the main plant area but this time to a spot I did not anticipate; the old nest box on the east side of the main building. She entered the box and vocalized drawing the male in to investigate. He landed on top of the nest box and the two were vocalizing back and forth for a few minutes. He was the first to take off and she bolted out of the box in pursuit. It was an aggressive gesture but she did not make contact, just drove him out. She flew back and landed on the southeast corner of the main building and he continued to circle, stoop and finally decided to soar above the plant. And soar he did. It took him about 10 minutes of soaring and circling but he succeeded in reaching his goal… …the very top of the tall stack in the heart of the plant. Just below the opening at the top of the stack is an enormous steel ring (for lack of a better description) and he landed neatly on the top lip of that ring. Impressive. He stayed for about 15 minutes and was off again to the main building stooping her on her corner. He gave up trying to drive her off and into the air and flew over to the Avonhead side of the plant landing on the nest ledge. Caspian was off like a shot and landed right in front of him. She aggressively drove him off of the ledge and he disappeared from view. She stayed on the nest ledge for about 30 minutes before taking off again and at no time did she step back onto the ledge to the eggs. She flew back over to the old nest box and once again entered. She stayed for almost 20 minutes; in and scraping then out on the porch roosting. He didn’t visit her there this time but instead continued his flights around the main structure. After about 3 hours I left these two to continue to sort things out.
One thing I can say for sure is that in the three hours I was there that Caspian is still on site and I once again confirmed that it was her. She has abandoned the clutch of four eggs she was incubating, most likely during the intense rainfall we had on Thursday night. The young immature male is still very much in the territory and I again confirmed his age through plumage. I am also fully confident that he is the male I saw on April 7th with a solid black recovery band and yellow tape over his USFW band as I was able to see these features as well. All of their attention is focused on each other and working out their partnership in the territory. Several Turkey vultures, Red tailed hawks and one Harrier came right through the plant and drew no attention from either bird; they were fixated on each other. Bruce Massey will be going down today (Sunday) to continue the observations of the pair and attempt to read the band on the immature male if he comes close enough.
Posted on April 12, 2015 8:50 am
April 10, 2015 - Mississauga - Holcim
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I visited the site briefly today to see whether Caspian was about and if the immature male was with her. When I came down Avonhead Road she was on the corner of the low silos and preening intensely. It was extremely windy so I set up my scope (she was too close not to try) using my car as a wind block and I was able to confirm that the female is Caspian with a black S over green 40 band. She stayed out preening the entire time I was there and she kept glancing back at the nest ledge every once in a while. After about 20 minutes she took off and flew into the heart of the plant where she landed on an exterior light housing that I haven’t seen her use before. Just as she settled in the immature male came whipping in and dove past her. She didn’t flinch or react in any way so I don’t see this as an aggressive action by the male; rather more like showing off. She maintained her position on the top of the light and he flew out to the west. I left after an hour of observation and at no time did she return to the nest ledge or the eggs. I will be back down on Saturday to spend as much time as I can and will update you on her situation. Coupled with the great observations by Armando we will have a good idea of what is going on for the 2015 season soon.
Posted on April 11, 2015 9:49 am
April 10, 2015 - Toronto - King Street
Tracy Simpson Reports:
This past week has been odd for the pair down at 18 King Street East as the level of activity that we have been watching had slowly been reduced to nothing. At the beginning of the week, we would see Erin or Stormin briefly on the ledge but they stayed off camera more than on. Linda Woods was keeping an eye out for them and activity was quite rare. By mid week, they had dropped off camera altogether and Linda was not seeing them at all in the territory on any of the usual perches and buildings. Even local residents were wondering where the falcons had gone and why they suddenly became so quiet. Late in the day Thursday the pair finally made their first on camera appearance in days and with that I decided to go down yesterday and spend some time at the site trying to determine what was going on and confirm identities of the adults.
Well… …wow!! I was treated to some rather amazing activity. It started off in the morning with camera image captures of the pair all over the ledge. I can’t overstate that. They were in and out of the ledge, down by the camera, back in the scrape and then over at the far end. At one point the camera caught an image of the pair copulating but we were not quick enough to save it before the next refresh.
I arrived around 10am and found the female on the northern most nest ledge opening looking out and watching the bird activity. The male was in the air and patrolling back and forth up Yonge Street over by 1 King and the Scotia Tower. He went back and forth, back and forth and then… …gone, but not for long. The male came flying in over Toronto St. where I was watching from and he had food. The female came off of the nest ledge and met him in the air over Toronto and Court. He dropped the prey, she inverted and went to grab it but the prey was still very much alive. Much to her surprise the prey took off up Court Street and in an effort to evade it grabbed a window frame about 7 stories up on the Mercato building. She pursued, banked and tried to grab it off the building but it took off again this time towards St. James Cathedral. She gave up and flew back over my head about 30 feet above me and headed for home. Just spectacular. It was then that I was able to get her on the ledge and in the scope confirming her identity as Erin with a black B over red D band. She turned to face out and I could also now clearly see her black dot on the lower right side of her chest clinching the ID. The male now took off to find something else for her to eat that was more appropriate to catch in an exchange. He was back and forth again around 1 King, the Scotia Tower, behind the King Edward and over towards the Esplanade. He stayed airborne for a good 30 minutes and seemed to be just loving the day. I stayed watching Erin and at one point I watched her turn facing north, she bowed, waited and in zipped the male for copulation number 2. What was nice to see is that it was her invitation rather than seeing her allowing mating reluctantly. She may be 17 years old but she figures she’s not done nesting yet. Off he went again flying, zipping through and soaring. He came back to the ledge and landed briefly down near the camera and I was able to get him in the scope and confirm that this is Stormin with a solid black 30 over Y band. Now both adults took off and were in the territory hunting. They returned to the nest ledge for yet another mating after which Erin remained and Stormin continued to course through the territory.
While they may be behind schedule, it looks like Erin and Stormin are on track for possible eggs in the coming weeks. They are both looking amazing and are working very hard towards having a family in 2015. We look forward to more from this pair throughout spring and the possibility of young.
Posted on April 11, 2015 9:47 am
April 09, 2015 - Mississauga - Holcim
Tracy Simpson Reports:
With all of the changes at the Holcim nest site, I was very concerned about Caspian these past few days and so I have made regular visits each day to check in on her. On Thursday with the heavy rains and intense weather setting in I came down for about three hours to see if she was maintaining her position on the eggs. She came off briefly at around 11am and was sitting on the low silos to the east of the nest ledge. She was there for about 15 minutes calling and looking for her mate Storm and received no response from the young male that I spotted the other day. She returned to the nest ledge and disappeared into it. The rain wasn’t at its most intense yet and she appeared to be maintaining her position. In a perfect scenario, the pair would share the incubation, her doing most of it, giving her a break to eat and dry off. Right now she is alone and doesn’t have a supportive male. At noon the immature male arrived and flew through the plant landing on the high silos. He called her several times but with no response from her. He took off and flew through the plant again and after 5 minutes he landed on the high silos out of my view. A few minutes later I caught sight of him off on a hunt and I hoped that if he was successful that he would instinctively think to bring her some food. He didn’t. Caspian came off the eggs again at around 12:30pm and went looking for caches on the low silos to the east of the nest ledge. She found a little something there that she ate and then remained on her perch until 1:30 when she once again returned to the eggs. I left after about three hours and can say that she has maintained her position on the eggs during my observation period with the exception of one brief perching period and one period out that lasted one hour. No other bird went into the nest and took her place during that time. I know that serious weather with heavy rains is moving in through the overnight and she will struggle to stay on those eggs and protect them by herself. I will check back tomorrow and see how she’s doing.
Posted on April 11, 2015 9:43 am
