Paul observed 4 chicks receiving a hearty meal from Voltaire this evening in the Ambassador Bridge nest box. All were reported to be looking healthy and very ready for dinner.
The Windsor Watch Team gathered last evening to begin planning for this year’s watch. Looks like there will be lots of activity in the skies soon!
Off and on for the past few weeks there have been observations of a third bird in the territory harassing Skye and Quest. Following up on observations of our watchers there I decided to spend some time checking in and reconfirming the adults identity. There seems to have been a change.
Monday May 16
I arrived at about 10:40 and saw a bird I believed to be the male on the nest box landing platform. When I came back from parking the car it was not there and had disappeared for 20 minutes or so. The male returned to the same position after about 30 minutes of being absent however I was quite surprised when I saw it its had red tape on its USFW band. With the weather and strong wind that was causing my scope to shake and my eyes to water I struggled for a band read yet I did manage to get a partial band number. The solid black recovery band was W over 7 something. Those two alpha numerics along with the red tape that was clearly visible were enough to conclude that this was most likely McKinney, the bird I had seen on this territory in December. Even though I was at the rear of the building, it was quite evident that when the female showed up the males behavior changed quite dramatically. His body language was much more tense and he began to bow and vocalize at the female sitting on top of the Harlequin building. As I walked up to the front the female flew off the northeast corner of the Harlequin building with the male following shortly. I was able to get a partial read of the female’s black over green band and am confident that this is Quest. The other thing I observed were that the chicks were very well fed. One of them was so cropped up that it looked like it would burst. Some further observation will be required to see how Quest is taking to this new mate and how the family dynamics are. Unfortunately there was no sign or indication that Skye was in the area.
Tuesday May 17
I spent around 3 hrs. at the Duncan Mill nest site today watching the dynamics between the adults and confirming that the chicks were being well fed. When I arrived Quest was at the nest ledge and the chicks were all sleeping in the rear of the nest box. Saying that , one of the chicks walked up to the edge of the nest box much to the surprise of Quest as they are now getting much more mobile. Around half an hour later a male brought in some food. It was the male I identified yesterday as McKinney with the red tape over his USFW band. The food was accepted by Quest, taken in and fed to the chicks. He then approached the nest box but didn’t go in or on the landing platform. In fact in the 2 days I’ve watched him he has been everywhere on the nest ledge with the exception of actually going inside the nest box. He is also closely watched by Quest. At times I couldn’t see her up on the Harlequin building but I could readily hear her vocalizing nearby. After she left the ledge, there was about an hour or so where the chicks were alone. McKinney dropped in a couple of times and also went over to the Thales building and was seen hunting the valley. I found Quest nearby on the roof of 240 keeping a watchful eye over all his movements. As I left, Quest was on the nest ledge and McKinney was hunting off the Thales Building.
Despite all of these changes Quest is taking incredible care of the chicks. They are well fed and looked after as witnessed during my two visits there. Again there was no sign of Skye in the area but we have put out the word and are keeping an eye out for him.
Banding day is set for Tuesday, May 24th at noon!! The climbers will arrive at 10:00 a.m. to prepare for the extraction which will begin at about 11:30 a.m. The banding will be broadcast live at CTV Kitchener’s noon broadcast.
The live web cam can be accessed 24/7 here:
On Wednesday, May 11 at 11:00 a.m., Caster was observed in the nest box. We haven’t seen many trade offs lately and seems it is mostly Mystery in the nest bringing in the meals and sitting with the chicks. There are many long periods where neither adult is in the box. Caster didn’t bring any food this time but started pecking at a carcass in the nest. He was only feeding himself, until the kids got wind of it. The bigger chicks quickly moved up to the front of the pack and got the most of the food. The third one muscled in to get his share, while the last little chick was struggling at the back of the nest box to get into the group. Finally, with some wobbly manoeuvring, he managed to get up to the front to get a few tidbits. When Caster left, he was left alone in the sun close to the balcony. A little while later, one of the parents returned and he snuggled in, while the other 3 were sleeping off their lunch at the back of the nest box. At 4:30, Mystery brought in another gull and the family had another big feed.
On Thursday May, 12 we watched around 6 feedings, one at 6:00 and 8:00 a.m. and another feed around noon and two more in the afternoon. There was more gull, grackle and some smaller birds on the menu. On Friday, May 13th Mystery brought in a grackle at 11:30. She took great care to feed all the chicks and is proving to be a great mom. At one point, all 4 chicks were lined up in row getting their tidbits. We have a feisty bunch of kids on our hands this year!
On Sunday night, May 15 as a cold air mass hit the area, Mystery could be seen snuggling in with the chicks around 7:30 p.m. They are getting bigger by the minute and she can barely cover them all now. A little before 8:00 she flew away and the chicks nestled together trying to keep warm.
For the last few days there has been no sign of Trillium (the resident female here). However, the resident male Buffalo Bill has been courting daily & even mating with the young falcon that was in the fatal battle with Redbud. With any luck, perhaps this new female which appears to be a year old unbanded female will produce an egg or 2 this year.
I stopped by the Bridge this evening and was able to see Voltaire fly in and out of the nest several times. She came in with food and I was then able to see movement around her followed by a clear view of 3 little heads!
The Windsor Falcon Watch team will hold an organizational meeting in order to begin our plans for this year’s watch next Tuesday evening at 6 pm. We will gather at the Dominion House Pub on Sandwich Street just a few blocks from the Bridge. Anyone who would like to join in the Windsor Watch is welcome to come and join us.
Soon we will begin watching the skies for another season of Peregrine Flight School!
Cheers,
Marilyn
Banding day for the baby chicks will be May 20th at Noon at the same location as last year in the East Tower Lobby Bloor and Islington Place. come out and meet the newest additions to the Etobicoke peregrine family and watch the banding.
Banding day has been set for May 20th at 3:00 PM in the lobby of #1 Robert Spec Parkway. Please come out to see the newest additions to MEC’s Peregrine Family and watch the banding.
Since the battle between the 2 young falcons reported in the last post, the resident female Trillium has only been seen once & it was at 7am May 9th. Since then, Buffalo Bill & the juvie with no bands (the one that had the battle with Red Bud) have been in the nest box frequently & exhibiting courtship behaviour & digging in the scrape.
On Friday, May 6 – Morning feedings were observed at 6:00 and at 10:30 and all 5 chicks were accounted for. At 2:30 there was a little squabbling and jostling amongst some of the siblings while the parents were out hunting. At 3:00 one of the adults returned with an afternoon snack.
At 7:40 a.m. on Saturday, May 7 only 4 babies could be seen. The last chick to hatch was so much smaller than the others and was hard to see amongst his larger siblings. It looked like he had some catching up to do. Mystery left the nest a little after 4:00 p.m. and the 4 bigger ones were huddled together, jostling and pecking at each other a little. The littlest one was just outside of the group face down and wasn’t moving. At 4:20 Mystery came back and her foot dragged him over closer to the brood but he still didn’t move. She nestled back over the chicks and you see some of them appearing moving underneath Mom. At around 4:45, Mystery moved off of the nest and took off and the littlest one was still in the same place not moving while the others pecked at each other a little and jostled for a position in the group. Around 5:00, Mystery came back with a grackle for dinner and there was no reaction at all from the littlest one while the others demanded their dinner. A sad turn of events, that the last hatchling has passed.
At 7:00 a.m., Sunday May 8 – the deceased hatchling could still be seen sticking out from under his siblings. At 8:00 a.m. he couldn’t be seen. At some point, Mom will remove the deceased hatchling as peregrines don’t usually eat their own. There was too much of a spread between the first hatchling and the last one which you could see in the difference in the size. The 4 remaining chicks are almost double the size of the last hatchling. Although it is sad losing the littlest hatchling, it will make it a little easier for the parents to keep up with the demanding needs of the 4 remaining chicks who appear strong, feisty and healthy.
