July 06, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 6th - 2011
Milton spent the afternoon snoozing on the East side of the building while Truss was out of sight. At 5pm, Milton left the courthouse hunting. A minute later, Truss returned to the nest; without any food. At 5:28pm she popped out from the nest in a small circular swoop flying very low, so low that I lost her behind a small hill, returning to the nest. Both Milton and Truss normally walk/hop to the ledge before flying. Perhaps she was hoping to surprise a bird with this manoeuver. At 5:35pm Truss left the nest perhaps to try her luck again elsewhere. At 5:40pm Milton returned with a kill. Looks like a young starling. With Truss gone, there was nobody there to take the kill from him and feed the chick; so after about 5 minutes of waiting, he dropped down into the nest with the kill. Vocalizing could be heard at street level. Ten minutes later Milton hopped up onto the ledge and cleaned his beak. He flew to a higher perch and waited until 6:30pm when Truss returned and forced him off his perch. She did not return with food. Milton returned to his afternoon snooze location with Truss left watching the nest.
Winston
Posted on July 13, 2011 2:00 am
June 29, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Failing any further complications, we are delighted to announce that we have a banding date set for the Brampton nest site for wednesday July 13th. While there are still some bits and pieces to assemble, everything is looking good for July 13th.
Stay tuned………..
Posted on July 4, 2011 12:55 pm
June 30, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 30th - 2011
Friday saw Milton return with a pigeon. Moments after landing, Truss flew out of the nest area, snatched it away from him and flew off to another part of the roof to feed. Once she was done she took the kill to the nest. Sadly that was all the action I managed to catch today.
Winston
Posted on July 1, 2011 12:40 pm
June 29, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 29th - 2011
This morning I saw what looked like a food transfer between the two adults. I was far away and did not see any food but am pretty sure. A perched Truss walked over to Milton, who had just landed near by at a cache site, and then made a b-line to the nest. The two could be seen perched near the nest most of the AM.
The afternoon had two Turkey Vultures wander too close to the nest. Truss was with the chick when Milton took off after the TVs. Shortly after, Truss bolted out of the nest area screaming. One TV made a hasty exit but the one that Truss was chasing couldn’t get away fast enough for Truss’ liking and was attacked. Both TVs survived and Truss returned to the nest area for some preening.
Winston
Posted on July 1, 2011 12:35 pm
June 28, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 28th - 2011
Today’s sunny weather did provide for more activity as both Truss and Milton were out and about near the nest site. Today was very windy and although I did get several good looks at the pair, sadly I did not witness any food entering the nest site. At one point, Truss left her perch (which was sheltered from the wind) then hit the full force of the wind as she flew West. She quickly decided to land, and the closest location was the nest. Once down, a lot of vocalization was heard, presumably the chick begging for food. Truss left the nest shortly after landing. Earlier in the day Milton was found near the roof on the East side of the building on an exit door to a narrow ledge several stories up. It was the kind of door you wouldn’t want to open from the inside if you were being chased; or for that matter if there was a Peregrine on the other side.
Winston
Posted on July 1, 2011 12:22 pm
June 27, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 27th - 2011
Finding Truss and Milton has been difficult over the last few days as rain and hunting demands have kept the parents busy. Truss was out of sight until today when she was spotted looking down over the nest site. Milton has been more visible but even he has been hard to find of late; presumably off hunting. Luckily today I was able to spot both of them in their usual location near the nest together. Prior to this week, it was easy to see the pair carrying food to and from nest and cache sites. Lately, I have been either unlucky or the rate of activity has decreased.
Winston
Posted on July 1, 2011 11:58 am
June 24, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
Mark Nash Reports:
!!!Confirmed hatch!! One hatchling observed!
June 23, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
Mark Nash Reports:
We have some great news to report today, in that we have been able to confirm that at least one egg at the Brampton courthouse has hatched! I was able to put Tracy from the CPF and Mark Heaton from the OMNR together today in an effort to make contact with the property manager from the Brampton Courthouse.
Both Tracy and Mark were able to meet late this afternoon in a unscheduled meeting at the Brampton Courthouse and able to speak with the property manager so that we could do a visual observation of the nest ledge to confirm the observations that we have been getting from Winston who has been diligently attending the site almost daily to provide us with observations reports of the happenings going on a the Brampton Courthouse nest site.
At around the 18th of June, the resident adults behaviour changed dramatically indicating that incubation had finished and brooding activity had started. While there was some gaps in the observations from June 15th to June 19th , the observation report filed on June 18th told a story of brooding activity as opposed to incubation activity and we knew that a hatch had happened.
The photos taken today - (June 23rd) of the single hatchling does gives us a hint of the age of the chick putting it at approx 8 to 13 days old as of June 23rd.
We are in the process of trying to work out banding possibilities with the property manager, the district office of the ministry of Natural resources and the Ministers office. In addition, we are looking into a dark window film covering that might be installed for the window that lies directly behind the nest ledge, as any human activity from this office window at this time can cause a huge stresses on the resident adult female and there is a risk of her killing or abandoning the nest site and the hatchling.
The property manager seems very eager, supportive and accommodating and equally excited about their peregrines.
Stay tuned……..
Posted on June 24, 2011 12:08 pm
June 21, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 21st - 2011
Tuesday brought little action. Truss was seen removing food from the nest site while Milton looked on. Most of the time I spent on site today had Milton watching/guarding the nest from his usual ledge. When Truss was present, she also seemed content to perch near the nest as well. Perhaps the most interesting moment was when a Great Blue Heron was flying low on a direct path over the nest when it noticed Milton and instantaneously made a 90 degree turn Southwest. Unlike the pair at Etobicoke General Hospital, Milton and Truss have not shown the same level of aggression towards other intruders. Gulls, Pigeons and Starlings all seem to fly very close to the nest without many regrets.
Posted on June 24, 2011 2:00 am
June 20, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Spent almost 2 hours watching today and Milton & Truss continue to bring food to the nest and keep it there for several minutes. Of the three trips I witnessed today, twice the visits were 10 minutes long and another was 6 minutes. There is a lot of soft vocalization when the food is present at the nest site. Normally, when the adults are eating away from the nest, they do not vocalize. This could signal chicks?!
Milton and Truss were very active hunters today; both returning from trips with meals. Truss was especially active today, heading Northwest to attack a flock of pigeons a few kilometres away. I could only make out the action through the lens; she bombed a Turkey Vulture who was too close to the action. Once she returned to the courthouse, she immediately began looking for targets and soon she took off again; returning with what looks like a Starling.
Winston
Posted on June 20, 2011 11:49 pm
June 18, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 18th - 2011
Patience paid off today. After not seeing Milton or Truss Thursday, Friday started off the same however after waiting a bit longer Truss finally arrived and with food. She flew to the nest, where Milton soon exited. For 15 minutes Truss was out of sight at the nest as Milton stood by. Then she flew off, with what was left with her food. The suggests that she is consuming her food at the nest. After discarding her leftovers, she returned to Milton and the two perched watching some brave gulls circling and calling before Milton took off and put an end to that. Once Milton left, Truss returned to the nest.
Posted on June 20, 2011 9:43 am
