June 11, 2015 - Toronto - Don Mills
Marion Nash Reports:
All 3 chicks were on the top of the nest building this morning so Harper must have flown back very early in the morning. it was not long after I arrived that Quest flew in and gave Kline and Berkley a small snack. shortly after his small tidbit Kline took his second flight and this time he flew great out and around the Harlequin Building to land high up on roof of the building just east of Harlequin safe and sound. Parker on the other hand stayed in the same spot all day long. Harper the show off flew back and forth from the nest building to Harlequin then over to 240 and back to the nest building.
At 6:45 Quest went on a hunt just above our heads so Bob, Sally and I watched her drive a pigeon into the window then chase it to the west side of Harlequin. A second later she flew to the roof top with it in her mitts and fed Berkley.
I assumed that since it was now 7:00 PM and had some food he would likely stay put but no he copied Kline’s flight and landed right beside his brother on the same level of the building east of Harlequin.
Ok I said I guess we can head home now everyone is up high been fed and are safe so we could make a early night of it. I say Nay Nay Berkley landed on a pyramid shaped window on the same building slipped of and fluttered down to the ground.
We went over to scoop him up but this time he knew exactly what we were up to and had no intention of being kidnaped by aliens again. He flew low over Duncan Mill Rd yikes and east of 240 hooking east then back the way he came back across Duncan Mill Rd. when we lost sight of him. In the mean time Kline had flown to the roof top at 240. Bob walked in the direction he was headed and found him on the top of the parking garage behind Harlequin on a high retaining wall that runs along the east side safe and sound. So he now know how to get altitude from ground good for him.
When we left Harper was on the window ledge on the east side of the nest building, Kline on the roof top of 240 and Berkley on the parking garage watched over by mom on the building east of Harlequin.
Posted on June 11, 2015 10:16 pm
June 11, 2015 - Toronto - Don Mills
Marion Nash Reports:
some beautiful pictures taken at the fledge watch by Rob over the last 2 days. Thanks for sharing Rob!
Posted on June 11, 2015 8:57 am
June 11, 2015 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The MEC complex of buildings has been occupied for 15 years now by peregrines and you would think that with all of the rescues that we perform there, why on earth would they nest in this location? Simply because it is so incredibly ideal. Abundance of food, easily defended, water, perfect nesting location and an amazing group of caring people that own, operate and work at this location. Thank you everyone for being so incredibly supportive of these birds!!
That said, yesterday was quite a messy day. It rained, it poured, they snored, we were bored. At first. The day started with Hawkeye STILL on MEC 1 with Adrianna by her side. Again, not concerned about Hawkeye as she has been running, flapping and exercising all across and around the roof working on her muscle, coordination and courage. Ieva had fluttered down the day before to the window wells on MEC 3 and she was there hopping the gaps and checking each well for dropped bits of food. Complex schedules among watchers meant that the site would go without someone until 2pm but with the pending storm and the girls all having had some experiences in the air we hoped that they would sit tight through it and flights would be held off until the evening. Others in the complex had eyes on them and were ready to alert us to any bird in distress.
When Bruce arrived he had just missed a flight. The parents were circling and scanning the area around MEC 4 so he initially did a perimeter walk of all 4 buildings to check. During his walk he located Ieva still on the top of the window wells on MEC 3 but he had no activity on MEC 1 at all; both Adrianna and Hawkeye were not in view. Nothing was found during the perimeter check so he set up to watch both 1 and 3 for signs of the two not yet seen girls. The chance existed that they may be still on the roof of 1 out of view napping after the storm. The winds were high so Bruce watched and waited. After a while he made another wider circle of the buildings keeping the parents in view as well as Ieva who was in and out of window wells. He caught a glimpse of movement and there was a young one definitely in the air. She headed towards MEC 1 from MEC 4 area and tried for the nest ledge but fell short by about three floors. She flumped into the glass and was redirected back out over Robert Speck Pkwy. All the time she was in the air she was accompanied by the parents and they tried to get her safely up to the windows on MEC 4. She had already lost too much altitude and flumped into the windows which caused her to flutter down to the front of the building. Over Bruce went and scooped her up… …Hawkeye! Good girl, you are finally off and running. She was placed in a rescue carrier at MEC 1 and Bruce was back out to get eyes on the other two.
He still had Ieva on the window well ledge of MEC 3 jumping the gaps and dropping down in for short periods. No sign of Adrianna on the roof of MEC 1 as of yet but now the clouds were rolling in. With tornado warnings in effect, I called Bruce and told him to take cover until it passed which he did just as the storm rolled in. Horizontal rain that fell in a torrent made it almost impossible to see the other three buildings in the complex. When it was all over, he went outside and Ieva could no longer be seen on MEC 3. Ugh!! We chatted about this and decided that he would sit down and wait for the parents to show him where the girls were. A few minutes later, up pops a bird on the roof line of MEC 1! Who was it. Wait and see. Another 10 minutes goes by and the second girl pops up on the windows of MEC 3!! It would seem that Adrianna had been on the roof of 1 the entire time and was down futzing around all day while making Bruce search for her. Gee thanks. With two girls in view and one in a carrier Bruce could finally relax and take a breath. He was joined by Winston and the two gents awaited my arrival for the release.
I was on site at around 8:30pm having gotten out of work early and handed two carriers off to Bruce who was delivering them to Amexon on his way home. Too many bouncy boys out that way and extra gear was so much needed. Winston and I waited out the light with plans to release Hawkeye on the roof of MEC 3. Just as it was getting dusky, Adrianna crouched and leapt forward with wings out along the north side of the MEC 1 roof. Out of view. Seriously?!? Midnight watched her entire movements where we couldn’t see at all and given that we didn’t get any reaction at all from Midnight, we believed Adrianna to still be up there somewhere. Yup. Here she comes! Jumping the gaps of the window well all the way back to the nest ledge! It would appear that Adrianna’s little flight took her down to the window wells of the nest building and all the way home. Great job!! I then met up with security and up to 3 we went with Hawkeye. This new location will give her a new perspective and hopefully a new sense of drive to fly home. I took her up and thinking she was the more sedate of the three girls went to open the carrier door and WHAM!!… …she struck out at me with all she had!! Nasty!!! I tried to grab the edge of the towel and slowly pull her out. WHAM!! She goes at me again with ferocity. I take my rescue towel, put the end in to the box and she attacks. I slowly pull her out and she did something I so didn’t expect… …she lunged at my face!! With the end of the towel in my hand I blocked her and she jumped down onto the concrete and waddled into the corner that I wanted her in puffed out and peeved off!! Excellent. Just exactly how we want them to be to carry them through to survive. Cuddly and cute only works when you are a chick. As birds on migration or nesting in the future they need that edge to succeed and I was amused and pleased that Hawkeye has her mother’s attitude! Good luck girls! We’ll see you later today!!
Posted on June 11, 2015 8:30 am
June 10, 2015 - Toronto - Don Mills
Marion Nash Reports:
It’s been quite an eventful day at the Don Mills location! It involved a variety of architecture 
and a rescue.
I arrived as early as I could this morning before 7:00 a.m., anxious that Harper may have taken flight when daylight arrived. Thankfully he was still on the roof ledge of Bayview Glen school’s Moatfield Road building and I was able to monitor him running along until he couldn’t go any further and remained at the South East corner for some time being royally harassed by very agitated robins, swallows, grackles and a tiny warbler who may have not been too sure at one point who to harass! I now know there are a variety of nests across in the Kraft grounds! Bob arrived and took a walk behind the Kraft building (whose grounds we were standing in) and assessed the landscape, should Harper fly out into the open school fields below us or toward trees and not manage to reach another building (how do we get down there? etc.). The time spent watching Harper here also allowed us to watch how staff came up through the back of the school on a path linking the Westin Hotel to Kraft and Bayview Glen grounds (good to know!).
Harper eventually took off, south (wrong way your nest is north!) tried to circle south behind Bayview Glen, disappeared behind all the trees, then came into view again flying west towards Valleybrook Drive but turned south and all we could do was stay put and watch through binoculars and cross all fingers and toes that he wouldn’t make it past the Westin Hotel and over York Mills Road. He hit a concrete wall on the Westin Hotel, regained flight, attempted to continue south around the east side of the hotel but probably (thankfully?) due to the bump, came to rest somewhere…but where? Oh dear. We were convinced he must be on a corner balcony of one of the suites or on the roof of a small maintenance building. We called the hotel who had their maintenance staff take a look (nothing) and then allowed us to enter the hotel and explore an open garden/sitting area above the function rooms at the back of the hotel. We scanned the foliage around the garden, glanced up and there he was, perched on the ledge of a balcony. Hotel staff were fairly sure he had checked in to the balcony of Suite 705. Phew! But the room was occupied. Yikes. Now what? Poor Marion’s phone must have been buzzing like black fly season because of all the advice we were seeking. We did realize that If he took off we were trapped in a lovely guest retreat with Adirondack chairs and foliage, but no quick exit to the street to monitor his direction. Bob was sure we would be able to see this balcony from the north east corner of the Kraft parking lot, and as Harper kept hopping from the railing down to the balcony, we were confident we had time to get back to where we were before to observe. The Kraft lot did give us the perfect view. Worrying that nobody was monitoring the other two birds, Bob went back to check on Berkley and Kline, just before Harper took off flying again! This time due north, turning slightly west towards Valleybrook Drive again and then I lost sight of him. I was sure he’d either hit a window or landed on a roof somewhere near the corner of Lesmill Rd and Valleybrook, so we hot footed it to that area and, sure enough, found him on the roof of the blue glassy SOCAN building (we thought it was the Zeiss glass building but, checking Google maps, I see it’s deceiving signage and it’s actually the Socan building that Harper was on up to when I left at 6:00 p.m.).
All the anxious texting these flights prompted had Cathy Kerr joining us as soon as she could, as well as another volunteer to watch with Bob and me (until Marion could get to us after a banding). We were able to divide then, watching Harper from the Harlequin parking lot as the thunder and rain came through (which he seemed to enjoy immensely, flapping about and prancing on the roof).
Feeling pretty good about Harper, Cathy thought she should go and see if Bob needed help, because while Harper had us all in a tizzy earlier, Berkeley had fledged and ended up on the ledge right above the 220 Duncan Mill Rd sign. Low, and vulnerable. While he ledge hopped and entertained passers by, we had heard that Kline wasn’t in view (from people outside, and from texts I was receiving from co-workers after having watched Kline being fed earlier that morning). Cathy started walking around the buildings, while I stayed in the parking lot by Moatfield Dr to keep an eye on Harper. Got a call that Kline was on top of a car by the loading dock in the Harlequin parking lot! A small crowd was beginning to gather, and the number of cars passing by increased. Cathy phoned for advice, Kline got jumpy, came off the car, I attempted to cover him with my towel but he saw an escape route between Cathy and me and took off, very low (to our horror) across the parking lot to Duncan Mill Rd and thankfully gained enough elevation to land on a low ledge at the 240 building. Now we had both Berkley and Kline lower than we would like, but easy to watch. Well, didn’t Beckley attempt to fly off the 220 sign ledge. I should really hand this part of the day’s recap over to Ann, Murray, Marion and the others , as they went after him! I stayed put to keep an eye on Kline because, heaven forbid, we had two on the go at once. It sounded like Beckley sped off as Ann approached, flew low through cars (which is when we heard the hollering and alert that something was happening), circled around the back of the Harlequin building and landed ON TOP OF THE SAME CAR AS HIS BROTHER HAD EARLIER! Marion and Murray managed to capture Beckley from the top of the car. Another collective sigh of relief.
With Harper still in view high up on his roof top, and Beckley in a carrier (safe until release later this evening) we could all relax a bit. Ann did a beverage run, and we could all watch Kline, which is where I said g’night to the crew, who can update further if anything happened later on!
Sally
Evening Watch!
About an hour after Sally left Kline took flight heading towards the Bayview Glenn school and Murray, Mark, Bob and I were right on his tail. He flew quite a long way and it took us a while to find him at the Kraft building low on a retaining wall Mark and Bob managed to catch him up and he was placed in a rescue box and taken to rest with his brother Berkley in the Harlequin building until dark for release.
While we were out rescuing his brother we had a clear view of Harper still on the roof top on Valleyboork Dr.
The release went very well the two boys were put up on the nest building roof together.
was this finally the end of the day? I say nay nay on our way to Harlequin from the Canada Square banding in the morning we had we had to stop off at the Don Mills Amexon nest site to rescue Horton who had gotten blown off the ledge and fluttered to ground 4 or 5 days before he should have even tried to take his first flight. We now had to head off the that site to get him back up on the roof to his family.
by 12:30 AM everyone was finally safe for the evening, it had cooled off and the humidity was gone and my bed was calling me so I went home knowing I would sleep tonight!
What a great crew good job everyone!!!
Marion
Posted on June 11, 2015 1:05 am
June 10, 2015 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Lisa Reh Reports:
Chroma, Ginnie, Redbud and Reggie have very little baby fluff left. Mom and Dad have been dropping off food and hanging out on the railings of the Bell Media tower. Yesterday, after a good meal at 4:00 all four of the young ones were flapping like crazy and running (as much as a falcon can run) around the nest box. Chroma is so large that when she starts flapping and turning around in the box, and on the balcony, it’s a wonder that she doesn’t accidentally knock one of her siblings off of the platform. The nest is completely filled with the wings and feathers of many meals. five days ago Mom dropped off a live bird to the nest box and one of young ones had to dispatch the poor thing. There’s a lot of activity in the nest, wing stretches, flapping and feeding on leftovers. Mystery and Caster should start withholding food soon to encourage them to fly. They all venture out onto the balcony, waiting for Mom and Dad to bring them more food. And, when Mystery and Caster return the kids are extremely loud with their vocalizations causing people passing by to look up to see what all the ruckus is about.
Just before 8:00 this morning, Karen saw Redbud get some lift and fly into the back of the nest box! We had a few tornado warnings in the area today. During all the wind, rain and turmoil the kids were all safe and sound and hunkered down in the nest box. Training for the fledge watch team took place later tonight. At the end of the training session, even though it was getting cold we were rewarded for our lingering as Mystery flew around the tower while the young ones vocalized for her. She continued to fly right by as if she was showing them how it’s done and gave us some spectacular views of her in flight. Caster came in from the south as Mystery went out to greet him and another food drop was made. Redbud again got some lift and was in the air for a moment or two!! Get ready fledge watch team! They are ready to fly!!
Photos courtesy of Karen von Knobloch.
Posted on June 11, 2015 12:06 am
June 10, 2015 - Mississauga - Holcim
Mark Nash Reports:
June 10th - 2015
Hi Mark,
We finally have something to report from our site. Today June 10, 2015, we got lucky and got our timing right, thus allowing us to observe the contents of the nest.
We started off with 8 eggs on April 30th, and today we see that only 2 were successfully hatched, but that is really good considering the obstacles that Caspian had to overcome. I believe full time incubation started on May 1, 2015, and the hatching took place within the last 5 or 6 six days. We could tell that the parents were aware of something under them earlier, but could not see anything until today.
Based on this info, when do you think banding day would be?
Regards
Armando
Posted on June 10, 2015 11:11 pm
June 10, 2015 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The boys at Islington and Bloor have been off camera for the most part over the past week as they have now become quite mobile. They are spending the majority of their time down by the camera at the east end of the ledge as their mother, O’Connor, loves to sit on top of the camera housing and watch her young ones. Her kids adore her and want to be as close to their mother as possible and so they gather right beneath her in that far corner away from the watchful “eye” of our cameras. Every once in a while we get explorers along the ledge and this morning young Ninja was filled with brave wanderlust. He decided to head down to the nest tray and explore the area while catching the morning sun.
Well!! Aren’t we starting to look like a falcon should!! Ninja is now becoming quite feathered as the time for first flights is fast approaching. The oldest boy will be 37 days of age by next Tuesday and we intend to start the fledge watch then. We will start off the watch with spot checks to determine how active they are in flapping and preparing for flight and how they are coming along with feather coverage as the camera can only tell us so much. We will continue with the spot checks each day until we have determined that we are close to ready and then the full watch will commence. Thank you to all that have contacted us expressing your interest in helping out this year. I will be in touch with you very shortly to set up a time and date to meet up with you all and get ourselves oriented and see who is available when. Bruce (evenings) and I (days) will be covering the site and need all the help we can get with the boys club. We look forward to seeing you all there and should anyone wish to volunteer for the watch, ANY time you can spare is ever so welcome. Please contact us through our volunteer page on our website and I’ll be in touch very soon.
Posted on June 10, 2015 7:47 am
June 10, 2015 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Yesterday the watch was in the good hands of Grace, Margaret, Bruce and Winston for the day and there really wasn’t much change in the status of our three. Grace arrived to find Adrianna and Hawkeye on the retaining wall of MEC 1 and Ieva, much to her chagrin, up on the roof of MEC 3 where we released her following her second rescue. It would seem that Adrianna is playing nice with Hawkeye and the two are somewhat glued to each other. Much attention was given to the swing stage that sits on the roof of MEC 1 by the two girls and much fun was had in, on and around it. Ieva on the other hand spent the day alone on MEC 3 flapping and preening for the most part. Margaret arrived in the afternoon and joined Grace for the lull in the day where the girls were really not interested in much beyond the ledges where they sat. It wasn’t until later that the inspiration (dinner) arrived.
Bruce took over the watch at just after 2pm and there was more of the same to be had. Hawkeye, the first rescue who has yet to take another flight, was on the northeast corner with Adrianna having some sibling time. Adrianna, who flew from MEC 3 to MEC 1 just the other day has yet to show any interest in leaving her new location. By the supper hour, Ieva was now making her way down to the southwest corner of MEC 3 and contemplating trying to go home once again. Winston arrived at around 7pm and relieved Bruce for the evening and that’s when the first bit of real action for the day began. Just after 7pm, Renegade arrived with food and flew to MEC 3 landing on top of the window section just below Ieva. He prepped the meal while Ieva stood above him howling away for a bite. Renegade then took the food over to MEC 1 and dropped it off for Hawkeye and Adrianna. Oh our dear Ieva was so impressed. Renegade found another piece of food and brought this one over to… …MEC 1. Ieva is now losing it. Midnight took the food from Renegade over to MEC 3 to the window section and once again Ieva was witness to a prep. Now she’s absolutely going nuts. Midnight takes the food and flies it around in front of Ieva and then decides to take it to… …MEC 1!! She is now beak feeding Hawkeye and Adrianna while Ieva is left to tantrum on MEC 3. After a few minutes of feeding at MEC 1, Midnight finally takes it over to Ieva and gives her the rest of the meal. In her furor, Ieva polished off the food and then dropped down from the roof level to the top of the windows and hopped two gaps most likely looking for more food. By dusk the girls on MEC 1 were settled in for the night and Ieva was in a window well on MEC 3.
Well, looks like Midnight is determined to reunite all three girls on MEC 1 before this fledge thing goes any further. If Ieva makes the flight and sticks the landing, we have two girls half way there! Grace will be down this morning to watch the girls and Bruce will be in this afternoon. With the weather quite fine and cool this morning, lets hope for a great return home for our young Ieva.
Posted on June 10, 2015 7:29 am
June 10, 2015 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 10th - 2015
Hi all
This is a late report for what happened at the Burlington lift bridge peregrine watch yesterday, as it was a long day, 9:45 to 6:00 p.m.
As I arrived at 9:45am, I first noticed that the nest box was empty, OH CRAP. The day before there was still two in there when Linda and I left at 6:00 p.m.
I started an immediate search, then a passer by came up to me and asked what this bird on the path was ? and why didn’t it fly when he walked right past it ?
I looked behind me and thought, HOLLY CRAP! I now had to walk past Wellington to get back to my vehicle to get the box and a towel, to try to capture him. I did and returned to him and to my surprise he cooperated without a fuss as I put the towel around him and picked him up and into the box. I was glad because I was a crew of one at this point. I delivered the box with Wellington inside, to John, the lift bridge worker, as he has the carrying cage in his building.
Later that night Wellington would be released back up on the Burlington tower roof by a C. P. F. member after it is examined for injuries and trauma that can often manifest after a hard grounding. This protocol of a short hold-over is a mandatory policy to ensure that a downed fledgling is examined before it is released back to its parents. At this particular site, a night (under the cover of darkness release is also much safer for all given the situation and conditions as the only release option is the flat top roof of the towers).
This was like deja vu all over again, we did this same manoeuvre with Lucifer the previous day.
It took till 3:00 to notice Stella on a horizontal beam halfway up on the Burlington tower. She had been hiding from us for most of the day until then.
As we left at 6:00 p.m. all three juveniles were accounted for.
Barry
Posted on June 10, 2015 4:28 am
June 09, 2015 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Mark Nash Reports:
June 9th - 2015
Never a typical day or a dull moment during what we commonly refer to as peregrine season! Up early for work and out the door in time to drop Marion off at the Duncan Mill fledge watch and get on to work in time.
Prior to even being able to get our first Timmy’s coffee, my mobile phone was ringing,,, (and we all know only too well that its never the tooth fairy calling).
It was although, in part, some good news mixed in with not so good news, in that the call was from the Burlington Bridge staff to pass along an update on the birds status. One peregrine reported to them as being on the North Tower roof, (sadly one missing), and the third having been already rescued from the ground and turned-in to the Bridge staff by Barry. Way to go Barry!!! 2 for 3 so far!!
Way to go Barry for what would add up to be yet another successful rescue!! This time, the little grounded fledgling is a peregrine named “Wellington”,, Banded Black B over 10 with Red tape. *(See attached photo”).
While we are unsure a to how and where little Wellington came to the ground and how he was rescued, another huge thank you to Barry for doing the rescue.
This time, the little grounded peregrine fledgling was a little male.
For me, it was off to the CPF office after a long day at work to grab a net for Marion that she asked I drop off to assist her and he fledge watch team facilitate the rescue of yet another fledgling that has lost way too much altitude on its maiden flight.
Then back on the road and headed back down to the Burlington nest site to examine the young fledgling that they had rescued earlier and if uninjured, get it back to a safe elevation and the care of its parents.
Another 240 kms round trip this go round, and a second visit to Burlington in less than 24 hours, (work to the CPF office, then to the Duncan Mills nest site to Burlington and back to home in Toronto) and with the support of the Burlington lift bridge team and the Public Works Government Services Canada, I was able to get little Wellington back up to the north tower roof to release him back to the care of his parents! Under the cover of darkness, his release went text-booked success.
Oddly enough although, unlike yesterday even, during Lucifer’s release, neither of the resident adults were around to scold us about being in their air space.
Finally, back home by midnight, eat,,, file my report and get to bed!! Early morning again tomorrow, work, than the Canada Square banding, back to work.
Despite the access challenges, so far, the two successful rescues that have already taken place, have been outside of the restricted areas! Another thank you to both the Bridge staff and the PWGSC who have been very supportive. (Hmmmm, perhaps the fledglings know something that we don’t know?
Wellington was successfully released back to the roof of the North Tower under the cover of darkness looking no worse for where.
Stay tuned,,, as we know that if’s not over!
Calling on all fledge watchers for your support, as the more eyes to the skies watching, the better!!
Posted on June 10, 2015 2:47 am
