I have been observing the webcam these days and finally I could see 2 eggs in the nest box at Bloor Islington Place site.
Best.
Erika
Well, 2023 has been an interesting as well as emotional time at our local peregrine falcon nest site down at Islington and Bloor.
First was the death of the resident female D’arcy. It wasn’t long after her demise that another female showed up. The new female is not banded.
More recently a new male has come in and taken over. Our long time male, Lucky, has unfortunately been pushed out. Lucky was a Toronto born bird and one helluva dad. We have no idea where he’s gone off to since this younger male moved in on his turf. We just hope he is well and will find a new territory, and mate.
Now for the new male. My Rexdale friends should take note of this. Meet Romeo. He was born at Etobicoke General Hospital up at Hwy 27 and Humber College Blvd in 2017. I probably had my bins on him that spring during fledge watch. Who knows where he’s been the last 5 years but peregrine does mean “having a tendency to wander”. This photo of him bringing in food to the female was taken by my friend and fellow watcher Roger. Thanks to Roger for being able to get photos of the bird and confirming his ID through pictures of his leg band numbers. Roger has named the unbanded female Anne after his wife.
I don’t like these changes but I know this is how nature works. Survival of the fittest, only the strongest survive, blah blah blah. As a watcher, one cannot help but get attached to the birds year after year. I saw some amazing parenting from Lucky and D’Arcy during past fledge watches. Shit that makes your heart jump into your throat as you gasp at what you are seeing, Seeing an adult fly under a struggling juvenile bird, giving it bumps to help keep it from coming down to the busy street below. WOW! Or intervening as a juvenile gets too close to the reflective glass of the office towers, trying to keep its offspring from making a potentially deadly collision with the windows. WOW WOW WOW! As someone who has seen young birds hit these windows. The sight and sound of the strike is unforgettable. It’s heart breaking when you have to recover a dead young falcon. So when you see a parent bird step in and prevent a strike, it is a real whirlwind of emotions.
I hope the two new adult birds are up for the challenge of raising young falcons at this somewhat dangerous nest site. As you can see in the bottom photo, their first egg came sometime this morning. I wonder how many eggs there will be? Fledge watch will be later in the season, if all goes well.
Screen shot from today. the pair is on site but no eggs yet.
Looks Romeo hatched at the Etobicoke Hospital in 2017 is trying to move in. So who will win Romeo or Lucky.
Looks like 2 new birds on the nest. Male is Y33 with metal band, female unbanded (I’m naming her Anne, after my wife). There were 3 birds in the area with lots of noise & wonder if Lucky is trying to move back in.
Regards,
Roger
We were just contacted by Toronto Wildlife Centre, as they responded to a report of an injured raptor. On arrival, they picked up a an adult female Peregrine at 721 Royal York Rd., in Etobicoke. They reported that the Peregrine is banded - Black 69 over Green BC She fell off a school portable rooftop still very much alive but unable to fly,, she vocalized but sadly died in transit on the way to TWC. No obvious signs of any trauma.
Sadly this is D’Arcy the adult female from the Bloor Islington Place nest. she was banded at the nest site as a hatchling - on (06/14/2016) in New York.We have no idea what happened to D’Arcy but we will have to keep an eye on the nest site and see if another female is on site.
So exciting news!! Tornado, hatched at the Bloor and Islington site last year, banded 02/AB has been spotted again!! In Buffalo! She is the daughter of Lucky and D’Arcy, Granddaughter of the late Jenna and Chester, Great granddaughter of Haven!! Huge thanks to Dana for spotting the report in ebirds and letting us know! And great pics and report from Christopher Hollister who got to witness an amazing hunt by Tornado who took down a green heron!! She’s a fierce one that Tornado, as Rob can attest to as he had to rescue her last year lol… I believe he said she was one of the meanest Pf he had ever rescued… And that’s how we like them because it means they are a fighter and a survivor! And boy is she ever!!! Way to go girl!
Bullet a fledgling from the Bloor Islington Place nest was found dead at Bloor and Montgomery must have hit a window or wall. The report was sent to the banding office on July 10th I got the report on the 19th. Although this is very sad I can at least take comfort in the fact that mortality has been low this year so far with only 1 other loss at St Mary’s Ontario. Hitting windows, concrete walls or wires is beyond our ability to prevent as these youngsters learn to be feathered F-16’s. It is up to the adults to guide them away from danger by bumping them in flight, pushing up on one wing to steer them or pushing down on their tail to break the speed. I have seen this so often but there are times when the adults don’t see it coming. It is all part of the high mortality rate ( 80%) the youngsters have in their first year of life. We can lower that mortality rate to a degree during the fledge period which is about 60% of that mortality. Thank you to all who spent time in the streets looking after the fledglings there and lets hope the other 3 make it to migration and beyond.
Lucie Kirchknopf reports:
I started watching at around 7:00 pm, and at 8:15, the activity started when a parent flew in with food. Three out of four kids went for it and as everything was happening very quickly, I’m not sure who the winner was in the food transfer .. I could see it wasn’t BULLET (red) or STARLIGHT (yellow). I’m leaning towards BIP (white) but my photos are quite grainy.
Once things quieted down, I figured it was time to call it a night. It was about 8:45. I was parked on Eagle Road and while putting away my camera, I just happened to look up at the Bell Building (low rise, about 2 stories) and there they were .. BIP and STARLIGHT lol. So typically I would be getting ready to text someone about this just in case, but something told me to wait .. that these two were going to be just fine. STARLIGHT took off towards Bloor Street and around the corner flying very low. I turned around to see BIP and she was gone too. So I just waited.
It was after 9:00 pm .. I set my camera’s lighting and as grainy as it was, I could make out band colours! All ended well! On the condo beam were BIP and STARLIGHT! BULLET landed on the ‘p’ of the Flipp sign and soon enough BIP joined him. STARLIGHT remained on the condo beam. FREEDOM (blue) was on the nest ledge.
I left feeling quite happy!
Cheers, Lucie
just got some photos to post.
On June 10, Marion Nash posted a report from the Etobicoke nest site at Bloor and Islington about a flight by Bullet. During this flight, Bullet clung to the side of our condo on the 20th floor. Attached are 2 pictures of Bullet on the ledge.
Please forward this email to Marion Nash
Pat & George Mitchell
Lucie Kirchknopf reports:
Bruce saw all 4 on Wednesday morning flying high and well and said if they stayed that way, we could scale back to spot checks. He had to leave to go downtown and rescue a juvie that came to ground. Erika and I were there in the evening and when we left around 9:00 pm, we had 3 on the nest ledge and 1 on the roof.
Today was hot and humid and we were anticipating possible wicked thunderstorms. Since that didn’t happen, I didn’t come by until 8:00 pm. Well .. I didn’t have to look very hard as all 4 were on the nest ledge. Left to right: The girls, FREEDOM (blue), STARLIGHT (yellow), BIP (white), and their brother BULLET (red).
I left at 9:00 pm as mom was bringing in food, so I imagine they stayed put for the night.
Cheers, Lucie
