Chroma is flying well!
June 28, 2015 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Lisa Reh Reports:
On Friday at 9:30 a.m., Caster was perched on the top parapet on the Sun Life building facing east. One of the juveniles, probably Reggie, was perched on another parapet mirroring his Dad as they surveyed the territory. At 9:45, an adult and juvenile were seen flying circles around the building for about 15 minutes. A second juvenile joined in the chase!! Office workers on the top floors could hear the juveniles vocalizing and they were seen as far down as the 14th floor. From 12:30 to 1:00, Dale dropped by. Caster and Mystery were now on the hospital antenna and CTV tower. Two juveniles, including Chroma, were on the CTV tower, and one was on the hospital roof. The fourth juvenile could be heard vocalizing from the hospital roof while lunch was being prepared and feathers floated down from the rooftop! Caster and Mystery both did some fly bys and one juvenile followed. At 6:15, two of the juveniles, could be seen on the top of the hospital that supports the tower. In a blink of an eye, in typical “grine” fashion, both disappeared out of sight. At 7:00, Karen and Janice could account for all four juveniles. Kings Towers was the preferred perch that night which they haven’t been frequenting for the last week or so. Redbud and Reggie were doing most of the flying. Redbud, a.k.a.Redbutt, did a beautiful little song and dance landing on top of the red light on the Kings Towers antenna to end the evening!
Karen and Chris stopped by on Saturday morning at 10:00 before it started raining. One of the adults was on the CTV tower, while three of the juveniles were seen chasing each other. The rain kept the fledge watch team away. On Sunday at noon, one of the juveniles could be seen from Central Fresh Mart, flying around Kings Towers and landing on the roof. At 7:30 p.m., Karen and Chris stopped by after the rain stopped. One was sighted on the roof of Kings Towers and one on the antenna. Two juveniles were in the flight chasing one another. Shortly after an adult did a flyby with a juvenile in tow. Ginnie and Redbud did over 15 minutes of flying and acrobatics. Ginnie dashed off at one point looking like she was on the hunt after some prey! After the adult left, Chroma landed on the CTV tower and eventually joined in the falcon follies! Her flights were strong and she landed well, on top of the Kings Tower antenna. Thanks to Karen, we finally have confirmation of Chroma in flight and she seems to have recovered from her misadventures.
I stopped by at 9:00. The sky was brilliant for a few minutes but very quickly the light faded as the temperatures dropped. One juvenile was hunkered down behind the drum on the CTV tower, and a second one flew in beside it. One landed on the other CTV tower and then a few minutes later flew on top of the nest box and was joined by a sibling. Just when I thought they were all settling in for the night, they started flying again! One to the hospital, one to Kings towers, and one remained on the CTV tower. At least 3 were in sight but it was getting too dark to do a full count. All of the juveniles are flying well and their flying skills are getting better and stronger each day. Reggie and Redbud are at the top of the class, while Chroma is making a great comeback after her rocky start. Ginnie, the last one to fledge, is keeping up with her siblings.
Caster and Mystery are permanent residents of Kitchener-Waterloo and have been sighted year round from BMO in Waterloo, to Sun Life and CTV to the buildings downtown and both St. Mary’s and Grand River hospitals. The kids now need to learn how to hunt in order to make it on their own and establish their own territories. The skills they are learning now will last them a lifetime. From what we are seeing from their parents, they have the very best teachers. Too soon, we will have to say goodbye to these youngsters as they leave their parents’ territory, but for the next month or so we will continue to watch their progress as long as they give us a show!
