July 14, 2015 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Another one of the new challenges that fledglings face is the glass balconies we see now commonly in use on condominiums. They get in behind the glass and cannot figure out how to get out. They try to fly through the glass and bump up against it not realizing that they need to go up and over. So was the case with Mel last week but he managed to free himself through a small opening between the panels. Not so for Ninja.
The CPF head office received a call that one of our juveniles was stuck behind a glass balcony at Kipling and Bloor on the 27th floor of one of the newer condos in the area. Once the kids at the Islington Bloor Centre learn to fly, they often go and play with the pigeons at Kipling subway station so the location was not a big surprise. Marion Nash contacted me and I was the closest so I headed out from MEC over to Viking Lane to help Ninja out.
I met the concierge and headed up to the tenants suite. The gentleman had been away for the weekend and on Sunday night when he went out to water his plants at 9:30pm, he was driven back into his unit by an angry peregrine juvenile. He contacted the concierge and started to make plans for contacting someone in the morning as it was late and he was sure no one was available. He called around in the morning and was redirected a few times before reaching our head office at the end of the day yesterday. When I arrived, Ninja was sitting in the gentleman’s tomato plant inside the circular tomato cage that helps the plant to stand up. Great. Can’t get a towel on that!! So I went out to the balcony, slowly approached from behind and put my hands around his back and wings. No problem, gotcha!!
What a nasty little attitude!! This was one angry little man!! I checked out his wings, his keel, his feet and his mouth. All clear. I hydrated him while he lashed out at me and the water bottle and he took the drinks with hiss and snap!! I looked around the balcony and when standing at the end of it, there was a clear line of sight to the nest building. I could see one of the parents on the ADP sign from where I stood and so could Ninja. This was a perfect opportunity to let a completely healthy and furious juvenile go back home. So I did. I launched him off of the balcony and he flew straight home.
I checked out the balcony for signs of Ninja’s time there. He had obviously been sitting initially on the small planter with jalapenos growing in it and shredded the entire thing. Peppers all over the place, plant stems shredded and poop in a row beneath where he sat. The droppings looked fantastic in that when he landed he had food in him and there was no sign of discoloration at all. The poops got smaller as the bird processed his food and moved on to trash the thyme planter. Shredded thyme leaves and stems all over the balcony where Ninja exercised his wrath on the poor unsuspecting plant. Finally he moved to the tomatoes. Oh dear, the poor tomatoes. The tenant informed me that between my calling him and letting him know I was on my way, up until the time I arrived, Ninja went rip and tear crazy on the tomatoes destroying the plants completely. I thanked the gentleman for calling and helping Ninja make his way home and headed down to the concierge. I left the CPF head office number, my number and Bruce’s number should there ever be a problem in the future and headed off to the nest building to check on Ninja’s return.
Well, what a homecoming! Lucky was sitting on the top of the apartment building on the Aberfoyle side looking totally confused as to where this little guy came from. O’Connor was out on a hunt and so Lucky was left to decide how to handle this juveniles return to the nest site. He kept calling OC but she was out of earshot. Lucky decided to sit tight and let this play out. Ferris on the other hand was overjoyed with the return of his brother. I had both juveniles chasing each other around excitedly and finally landing together on the Centre tower for a rest. They sat beside each other flipping heads and beak tapping in celebration of Ninja’s return. Then Ninja turned his sights on Dad. He was hungry. Feed me now!!! Ninja spent the next 10 minutes pursuing, harrassing, knocking off and screaming at Lucky for food. By the time I left Lucky had gone out on a hunt to try and calm Ninja down as his pursuit was relentless.
I was so pleased to see the two boys together once again and that this story ended with a happy conclusion. We will continue to check in on the two boys and their progress and hopefully glass balcony garden ripping is off the agenda for Ninja. Welcome home little man.
Posted on July 14, 2015 11:39 am
July 14, 2015 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
From the Holcim site I decided to head up to MEC on my way back north to check in on the progress of Hawkeye, Ieva and Adrianna. Reports from Winston of the girls trying to hunt on their own had me excited to see how well they are doing. MEC is such an incredible site supporting the family from both an environmental and positive human interaction perspective. This site is one of the more challenging ones in the respect that for the fledglings to find a mid level height to land on and work their way back up to the nest ledge height, they have to go across the street; a long flight for a young bird. This year we performed 5 rescues at MEC and today I sat at MEC 3 and was enjoying watching our success as a community flying around driving the parents just nuts!
I found Renegade on the Desjardins sign preening and there was no sign of anyone else. Wait… …what was that? I could hear one of the girls but couldn’t see her. Oh yes, there she is! On the ledge at MEC 4 hiding behind her enormous crop!!! Even though she was obviously quite full she was screaming like she hadn’t eaten in a week. Wow. At this time of day when Robert Speck Parkway quietens down that screaming really, really echos!! I found another one of the girls by following the screaming over at MEC 2 with just as big a crop as the first. Jeepers, what are they complaining about!! The juvenile on MEC 2 took off and headed for MEC 1 with her sister hot on her tail. They both landed on the northeast corner of the nest ledge and continued to complain about nothing. Midnight was not on site and the third juvenile was off on an adventure as well.
It was so great to see the girls doing well. A reminder of why we do what we do on fledge watch!! Thank you to the MEC community of supporters. These three girls are well on their way!
Posted on July 14, 2015 11:10 am
July 14, 2015 - Mississauga - Holcim
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Yesterday after checking in at William Osler I headed down to Holcim to see how little Ogden was doing. Margaret, one of our watchers from MEC, checks in on the site on Fridays when she is in the area and she noted that while he still bore some down he was flapping strongly and exercising very well. With her observations in mind and knowing that he is right around the perfect age for fledging, approximately 38 days now, I wanted to check in on his progress.
I found him easily enough when I arrived right on the edge of the nest ledge. He still had a downy mohawk and has still yet to fledge. I don’t blame him. The past few days have been so hot, humid and virtually windless that it would make that first flight a really tough one. He sat in the hot sun calling to his parents as he wanted breakfast regardless of the heat. Good, they are weaning him. I found Caspian up on the top rail of the central plant and the male down by the south silos. They had Ogden lined up should he take that first flight and were ready if he chose to go. Definately not much flapping today but he had that look. You know the look. The one where they settled down in their bouncing and playing and start to seriously target where that first flight is going to take them. He’s not far off from taking that flight, that’s for sure! During the time that I was there, the parents would occasionally go out on a hunt but nothing too intense or serious. It was more a hunt of opportunity. If they came up with something that was great but no real drive behind it to succeed. The male went after a flock of starlings over Avonhead Road but did not come up with anything. Caspian flew north to the heart of the quarry after some pigeons but again a half hearted chase. After each hunting attempt they returned to their perches that I originally found them on and watched Ogden. They know its soon!
I will be back later in the week and I suspect our little man may have flown by then. The Holcim staff are amazing and will also keep an eye out for Ogden. Margaret will also pop in at the end of the week for a site check. We look forward to his first flights!
Posted on July 14, 2015 10:49 am
July 14, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I didn’t get there as early as I had intended so my hopes of seeing much I knew was pretty slim. Even so, when I arrived I found Hurricane exactly where I expect to see him on a hot and muggy morning, asleep in the nest tray. Chessie was not on site and after checking around the building the only two kids I could see were Sven and Peggy. Both of them did short flights around the hospital and a few jaunts to the tower and back but they were happy to sleep away the afternoon on the north side in the shade. I will continue to check back in when I can later this week.
Posted on July 14, 2015 10:32 am
July 14, 2015 - Scarborough - Yellow Pages
Bruce Massey Reports:
This past Sunday I went out to Yellow Pages in the morning for a quick check in on the adults before the heat of the day moved in. I found both adults on the nest building and both were very active. After about 10 minutes, the two went on a hunt to the south and shortly thereafter the female returned to the Yellow Pages building and the male flew over to the floodlight over Wynne Fitness. The female then flew over and landed on the top of the Investors Group building so I re-positioned for a better look. By the time I was set up the male had already taken off on another hunt attempt but the female remained in place. I was able to get the scope on her and read her band number. I can confirm that the female is still Linn donning a black 91 over green V band from Rochester, New York. The male did not return for some time and the heat was coming on so I packed it up with plans to come back and confirm the ID on the male.
Posted on July 14, 2015 10:28 am
July 13, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Yesterday Bruce and I went out in the early morning cool to check in on the family at William Osler. We found Chessie in the tower with Hurricane and Chessie was quietly kakking. Benny was in the front of the tower and no other kids were in sight. Chessie continued to vocalize and in our scan of the area, we found Sven in the tower to the north. That’s two! Bruce did a walk of the perimeter and found a third bird on the northwest corner that turned out to be Peggy. Excellent. Still no sign of Winston.
Chessie took off from the tower and went very low over to the medical centre roof. There she sat kakking and this had us a little worried. Bruce went up to the 10th floor and scanned the rooftop of the building to make sure that no one was up there and cleared the majority of it; nothing in sight. I stayed on the ground and watched Chessie. She was watching something behind her. Just before Bruce came back out Chessie turned around and walked into the center of the roof out of view and came back… …with a pigeon! Ok, so that’s what has your interest. She ate what was left and then took off back up to the tower for a roost. Just to be safe I went up to the Med Centre roof and cleared the blind spot that Bruce couldn’t see and all was well as the heat was coming on.
Benny and Sven did most of the flying this morning. Peggy was sleeping on the northwest corner and Winston still did not make an appearance. With the boys flying so well and the temperatures so hot, there is a chance that after a morning feed he was napping away somewhere out of our view. Hurricane took off of the tower and flew down to the Med Centre roof and stayed there for a while looking for scraps and lining up the sparrows in the neighboring tree. He eventually took off to the north tower after Benny decided to stoop him on the low roof. As we were leaving Benny, Sven and Peggy were all on the north side of the hospital enjoying the recent delivery of a pigeon brought in by Chessie. Benny was eating it for the most part as Sven watched and Peggy slept. Then Benny did something that I have never seen a two month old male do. He took off with the pigeon and attempted to fly around the hospital with it… …and succeeded!! A bird almost as big as himself. Heavy and cumbersome. What an ambitious little man! He flew around the west side and we could see he was losing altitude. He continued around to the east and headed for the Med Centre roof which is where we believe he dumped his package. So that’s how the pigeons are getting up there!
As we left there was still no sign of Winston. I will be back today to check in on the family and hopefully Winston was just enjoying some independence or taking a nap during our time yesterday.
Posted on July 13, 2015 8:32 am
July 10, 2015 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Marion Nash Reports:
Got some great shots from Janice Swan of the adults Haven and Malik to share with you. How lucky to have an office to close to the nest. Thanks Janice!
Posted on July 11, 2015 11:51 am
July 09, 2015 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Marion Nash Reports:
Snapped a shot of Ninja non the nest ledge on July 8th and saw Dad later also on the nest. Roger reported that he saw ninja and Ferris flying together so all is well with these 2.
Posted on July 10, 2015 12:11 pm
July 10, 2015 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
I am delighted to report that I had eyes on both of our wandering juvies !! I had to go out for work, and as I left the building, I heard that familiar screaming coming from above! I looked up to see 3 peregrines flying above–from the size I would say 2 females and a male(I had no bins on me). I watched as they seemed to chase one-and sure enough one headed over and around the corner of the Forester bldg to hide out!! I watched the other two chase and ride the thermals abit and then they flew off towards the nest bldgs. I ran to my car and drove over, found one on the north ICICI sign–juvie! Wouldn’t show me a leg. I saw one hiding on the north Forester sign-parent! OK. Where was the third? Over they came, screaming at poor parent on Forester! Buzzed them and landed on the roof, whinning all the way lol!! Juvie!! Yay!! Glad to see you Horton, you brat!! Back to work I had to go, but not before parent got chased off their hiding spot lol!! so glad to see them all
Posted on July 10, 2015 11:42 am
July 09, 2015 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
I have been making almost daily(and sometimes twice a day) spot checks here and have been delighted to see Morgan flying so well! And if Morgan is there, so is Mom! Jenna is keeping a good eye on her girl. It has been frustrating not able to see Horton tho. He and Dad have been very absent when I am there! Yesterday morning I did have eyes on Dad finally but could not stay around to see if Horton also was there, as I had to go to work, drat. And after work today, before I headed over to Yonge & Eglinton, I was very surprised to see Jenna and Chester on the ICICI bldg but no kids!!! Guess they were out playing somewhere lol. If anyone out there has eyes on them, please let us know–I know I would love to hear!
Posted on July 9, 2015 10:17 pm
