Etobicoke - William Osler

Little Boy Blue Doing Great and Sister Red Fledges

June 22, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

After the fabulous flying of Little boy blue yesterday, I was looking very forward to seeing what today had to bring. We started off the morning with little blue upon the retaining wall of the hospital and his three siblings on the ledge screening their hearts out. One of the females with red tape over her U.S. Fish and Wildlife band was actively flapping at the southeast corner of the nest building. I sat watching her thinking to myself she’s going to be the next one that’s going to fly and fly she did. She took off into the air and no sooner had she begun to flap her wings when dad came roaring in out of nowhere. Based on her height and trajectory she was destined for the other side of Humber College Boulevard, a place where only low buildings and danger existed. Hurricane would have none of it. He gently guided his daughter down to the roof of the medical center building on the hospital property. There she stood on top of the very peak of the building and was very unhappy about what had just occurred. She was quite determined to make her way across the street only to have dad interfere and she let him know how dissatisfied she was with his attempts to dissuade her. It was about this time that the rains began to roll in and here she was fully exposed on the top of the low medical building roof. She didn’t have a choice but to get wet today and so she decided it was worth enjoying. She dipped her tail, flapped her wings and vocalized as the rain soaked her feathers for the first time. After the rain tapered off she spent the next few hours preening her feathers back into pristine condition, as pristine as could be for juvenile, and enjoyed herself roosting the morning away. All throughout this her little brother blue was flying around the building testing out his wings and improving upon his landings. While his flying was looking great his landings, not so much. I will say this though compared with yesterday’s barrel roll landings on the ledge he was at least now skidding to a halt instead. This was much to the amusement of his two siblings still sitting on the ledge watching all of this take place. All was fairly quiet for the better part of the day with the adults bringing in a few feedings here and there for the kids still on the ledge. This of course enraged little red sitting on the medical center roof top and she ran back-and-forth screaming her head off telling the world all about how mom and dad were not giving her any of the spoils. It’s at this point that Bruce and I decided to switch nest sites.  That,s when all the fun began. Little red took a flight off of the medical center roof and she was not able to gain altitude. She went low around to the south side of the hospital and losing altitude came to the ground. Bruce had just left the site to run a brief errand when all of this occurred leaving watcher Winston in charge. Little Miss red gave Winston quite the run for his money. He followed her around to the south side of the hospital where he located her on the ground, but when he attempted to rescue she deeked him out and was flapping her way around to the other side. Winston caught up with little red once again and attempted to make another ground rescue but once again she had other plans. She opened her wings, caught some air and was back again around to the far side of the hospital. What concerned Winston most was that she was coming close to the roadways that surround the hospital. I raced back from MEC three to the hospital to find that the calisthenics exercises were now over and Little Miss red sat perched in a tree by the roadway. What to do with little miss red. We positioned ourselves to watch and see if she was going to take another flight and attempt to make it home. We stayed until we could hardly see but she was not to be moved even though she was being strongly encouraged by the local robins to get out of their tree and make her way back to her own nest site. The robins, about five of them, were absolutely relentless in their dive bombing of this female and on many occasions actually made full contact with her. This wasn’t enough to move her to the air and so she decided to spend the night in the tree. Bruce and I agreed that at first light, she would most likely take her next flight and so it was that we decided to leave her there and come back the next morning at dawn.

Little Boy Blue Fledges - Friday June 21

June 21, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

Today was my first full day at the fledge watch at William Osler hospital and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. Shortly after I arrived here early in the morning the little male with blue tape decided to take his very first flight. All was calm on the nest ledge with all four juveniles napping and relaxing after having a big morning breakfast . The little blue tape male made his way down to the southeast corner of the nest ledge, typically the launch pad for fledges, and began to flap heavily. He stopped briefly, looked around and then he was in the air. It happened just that fast. He flew out over the north parking lot, circled back and landed quite dramatically on window ledge on the north side of the hospital. His next flight came very quickly and took him back out over the north parking lot where he circled around to the east and tried to make for the nest ledge. It was not meant to be and he landed low on a window ledge on the east side of the hospital. Back on the nest ledge, his siblings were wailing their encouragement as the little male made yet another attempt at a flight. This flight took him directly east and he looked to the tower to be his next landing spot. At first he attempted to grab a couple of Hydro wires and hang on but he was unable to get a proper grip. He circled out behind the tower and with assistance from Hurricane he was able to make a safe and happy landing in the East Hydro tower with his parents. He was so excited at his accomplishment for the next 45 minutes all this little boy could do was scream and scream and scream. His siblings sat on the nest ledge looking out at their brother now sitting in the Hydro tower. They were quite intrigued by the fact that he had somehow made it over to mom and dad hangout. As elated as he was to be out and flying, he wasn’t quite done yet. After a good little rest the little male took off from the Hydro tower and headed towards the nest building. He pumped as hard as he could, flapping as madly as he could with his ultimate goal straight ahead of him. He managed to get the height that he was looking for maybe just a little too high.  The louvres at the back of the nest ledge became his backstop and he was finally and happily home. He ran down the ledge to join his siblings on the northeast corner and they greeted him with some of the loudest screaming I’d heard yet. It was all said and done by 11 AM, the first fledge out and back home and the rest of the day was spent preening, eating, sleeping and playing along the nest ledge and the south side of the hospital. Chessie and Hurricane were doing an outstanding job at controlling their bouncing brood . Any time one of the juveniles went down the ledge and out of their view Hurricane would chastise them and demand their quick return. What I found quite amazing is that the juveniles actually listened to their parents and would return to view very quickly so that mom and dad knew exactly where they were. Of the remaining unfledged juveniles, the most active of the bunch is the little female with red tape. She spent a great deal of time on the southeast corner hanging on for dear life and flapping madly and it looks like she’s probably going to be the next to fledge. I closed the evening with all four juveniles the northeast corner of the hospital and they were all vocalizing quite loudly for such a late hour at night. I look forward to tomorrow and the flights  yet to come here at the William Osler hospital.

All Sleep and Lots of Play at William Osler

June 20, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

Today was another day where I was split between the MEC nest site with Miss Ashley and the William Osler nest site with the fabulous four flapping up a storm all over the ledges. I was able to dedicate a good portion of the afternoon to the four chicks here thanks to the many watchers down at the MEC site that we’re keeping an eye on Ashley for me . Of all of the chicks on the nest ledge the one that is impressing me the most as the first bird to most likely take flight is the little boy with blue tape. He made his way out to the southeast corner where he stood flapping up a storm and was able to get a slight lift up off of the edge for all of his efforts. The three lazy Daisy siblings of his sat back in the nest ledge watching him with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. I stayed on site for several hours watching as the young ones played and romped ran and flapped all up and down the north, east and south side of the hospital but none other than the little male with blue tape looked even close to taking its first flight. What was really enjoyable was watching the dynamics between all four siblings as they played, as they napped and as food came brought in by their parents. At each and every meal time all four fought ferociously over the food but once it was gone and your appetites were satisfied, they all laid down together in a neat little row along the ledge. Both females were still sporting a great deal of down on their heads and backs and therefore I don’t expect that they will be leaving for their first flights anytime soon. The boys on the other hand are much further advanced and they could take their first flight any day now. The first official dawn to dusk of the fledge watch here at the hospital will start tomorrow. As I left the site to head back down to MEC to close the watch I looked back at the hospital to find a large blob of baby Peregrine falcons huddled together on the southeast corner of the nest ledge watching the world go by.Oh to be young again.

Fledge Watch Begins for the Fearless Foursome

June 19, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

We started the official fledge watch at William Osler Hospital today with much fanfare from the young ones. With the naming contest entering its final round, the chicks will be referred to by their tape colours in the interim. When I took a look at the young ones today, they were still sporting a lot of down and it was clear that they weren’t quite ready yet for their next adventure in life. Even so, it didn’t deter them from ripping around the nest ledge and wreaking havoc as they went. Chessie and Hurricane did their utmost best to keep them together for now but Little Boy Blue had other plans.  He bounced down the ledge along the south side to where a swing stage is set up for some external work. He thought the ropes were pretty funny looking and was obviously curious how they tasted. I think the rope taste turned him away and he bounced back home. His siblings were busy trying to pick out the last of their down and exercise for the flights to come. After spending several hours on site it was clear that the Brat Pack weren’t ready to fly yet.  They were still too busy practicing their screaming!!  I think Little Boy Blue will be our first explorer of the world beyond the ledge.

!!! Fledge watch - we need your help!

June 17, 2013 - Toronto - King Street

CPF Postmaster Reports:

Attention all fledge watchers and peregrine enthusiasts! The fledge watches have started and we need your help!

June 17th - 2013
As some of you may be aware, we are currently eyeball deep in 7 different fledge watches that are now running simultaneously, and needless to say, we are incredibly stressed for manpower to cover all of the fledge watches. Never in the 17 years that we have been running fledge watches have we ever had this many fledge watches occurring all at the same time.

This in addition to having so many nest sites to deal with where the hatches have all happened within such a short period of time, thus having all of the young fledge at the same time.

While the season has only just started, we have already rescued and saved 9 fledglings from the ground and returned them back to the rooftops and nest ledges back to their parents care.

That being said, we need your support to join us in the streets at one of many nest sites here in the GTA.

You will see members of the fledge watch team in the streets at the following nest sites:
Please bear in mind that we are limited in volunteers currently at some of these sites and you may have to do some searching for us as some of these sites have vast areas to cover.

Please join us and help us help your young peregrines make it through this challenging time.
Ongoing fledge watches:
Toronto Sheraton Centre hotel nest site - downtown Toronto - Bay & Queen
MEC nest site -1 Robert Spec Parkway - Huriontario and Hwy # 403 Mississauga
225 Duncan Mill road nest site - Don Mills
ICICI nest site - Don Valley Parkway and Eglinton Ave East, Toronto
Etobicoke Sun Life centre - Bloor & Islington - Etobicoke
18 King Street nest site - Victoria Street & King Street - Downtown Toronto
Canada Square nest site - Yonge & Eglinton - Toronto
Kitchener CTV - King Street - Kitchener Ont.
William Osler Hospital - Hwy # 27 & Humber Valley Blvd - Starting June 20th

Starting end of the week: June 22nd:
Scarborough Yellow Pages - 325 Milner Ave & Progress Ave

Banding Day at William Osler a Huge Success

June 03, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

On June 3rd, we gathered together to band the offspring of Chessie and Hurricane at the William Osler Hospital and celebrate this site’s first ever foursome!  We met up with Ross Bartlett from Environmental Services with the hospital and headed up to the 11th floor mechanical room for set up.  We were joined by several of the staff from the hospital including Lyndsay Carter from Corporate Communications who was there to gather the pertinent details for the naming contest for these four chicks. 

This site is one of the easiest extractions to do as the nest tray is right behind the “H” sign on the hospital and there is an access hatch right there.  We waited for Hurricane to finish a feeding and then once gone, opened the hatch and removed the foursome for banding.  Neither Hurricane nor Chessie knew what we had done and so 10 minutes later when Hurricane came back to check on the kids, they were gone.  The camera that is on the nest bowl ( that we are working to get to the internet thanks to Ross and Lyndsay ) showed a very perplexed Hurricane looking for his offspring.  He checked every corner, every edge, every stone of that tray and just could not for the life of him figure out where they went.  I’m sure he figured he be in big trouble as it was his turn to babysit and lost the kids inside of 10 minutes.  He took off, presumably to tell Chessie what had happened and all was quiet for the next 15 minutes.

The chicks were a gorgeous group with good feisty attitudes.  Each was banded and weighed but not named as of yet until the William Osler Hospital name the chick contest is concluded.  Here are the particulars and we will announce names as soon as we have them.

Chick 1       640 gram male       22 days old       R/55        Blue tape

Chick 2       620 gram male       22 days old      W/62       Yellow tape

Chick 3        840 gram female     23 days old      Y/62        Red tape

Chick 4        840 gram female     23 days old      Y/63        White tape

By the time that the banding was almost complete, Chessie had returned and was now looking for the kids.  She could hear them occasionally chatter on the other side of the wall in the mechanical room and so she attempted to peek through the crack between the door and the wall and find them.  After she had taken off, we quickly returned the fab four to the nest tray and with the door now shut, Hurricane returned with a “Where have you been!!” look on his face.  He went out and told Chessie that he found them and all settled down.  Congratulations to the William Osler Hospital and I look forward to this year’s Fledge Watch!!  We would like to thank our gracious nest site hosts the William Osler Hospital, Lyndsay Carter and their staff, with special regards to Ross.  Your supp;ort has been amazing.  We would also like to thank Paladin Security staff as they have been another excellent part of the support team for the nesting pair and Mark Heaton of the OMNR and his collegues from the Economy department for making the banding of the pair today possible.

William Osler Foursome to be Banded on June 3rd

May 31, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

The four young ones produced by Hurricane and Chessie will be banded on Monday June 3rd in the afternoon by the CPF, OMNR and William Osler Hospital staff.  We will be bringing you all of the news posted after the banding so check back next week for the update on the hatchlings and their banding event.

William Osler Wow Factor!! Hurricane and Chessie Just Awesome!

May 26, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

Last night on my way to the Raptor Centre, I decided to pop in on Chessie and Hurricane for a look at what they are up to these days.  For the first time since this site was colonized by Hurricane in 2006, the William Osler Hospital has successfully hatched four chicks which I am sure has Hurricane just elated.  When I pulled in I initially didn’t see either adult but it wasn’t long before the air show began!!  All I can say is that Hurricane is over the moon happy.  For just over an hour, he did not stop hunting.  He would land on the corner, look down at his newly hatched family and was immediately off.  You could imagine his thoughts as he looked down the ledge to see 4 chicks and a massive female mate all waiting for him to get a move on.  He flew 8 hunting forays after which I stopped counting and he was successful in three of those attempts.  He plucked one bird out of the air so fast I couldn’t see it and also brought home two impressively massive pigeons from behind the hospital.  Chessie was less active but equally as amazing bringing home one pigeon of her own and stooping another above me that narrowly escaped.  All of this in very gusty conditions that at one point almost knocked Chessie right on her face as she sat on the eastern “H” sign.  Hurricane on the other hand made it look easy, as if there wasn’t a breeze to be had.  When Chessie went tail over tea kettle Hurricane flew up to the “H” on the opposite end and looked at her as if to ask, “Are you alright dear?” 

Most of the hunts were  right over the parking lot above my head and were so spectacular and inspiring.  Those flights were actually too close for me to photograph but I did manage to get some shots of the overjoyed parents as they filled each and every “H” sign with cache after cache.  We look forward to the new family emerging from the tray and becoming active on the ledge in the weeks to come.  This is going to be awesome!!

William Osler Has Four!!!!

May 22, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

This news just in from Ross Bartlett at the William Osler site.  Chessie and Hurricane have four young in the tray!!  Congratulations to the great folks at William Osler and thank you so much for your incredible support of the pair.

First Little One Has Arrived at William Osler!

May 11, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler

Tracy Simpson Reports:

Bruce and I arrived this morning at the William Osler site to check on Hurricane and Chessie as we knew they were so close to a hatch.  We hadn’t even parked the car when both adults came howling off of the ledge and out to the southeast.  We finally got a look at what they were chasing and the Turkey vulture flying through was now beating a hasty retreat.  We raced in to meet security and headed up to take a peek at the tray before the adults returned and covered up again.  When we got upstairs and found Chessie had returned to the tray and was attending to a minutes old hatchling that was still pink and wet!!  She worked to move the shells aside and then quickly covered the little one and its unhatched siblings.  We were also able to confirm that William Osler has four eggs this year!!!!  Congratulations William Osler, Hurricane and Chessie!!!