July 15, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I arrived to relieve Bruce at 12:30pm and we witnessed a feeding at that time. Another package at 1:30pm and then after the food fight, both kids settled down for a nap. At 2:30pm, the juvenile female woke up as Hurricane had now landed in the tower and was watching over the kids. Storms were beginning to move in and he stayed put for the time being. The rain came down but not a very substantial amount and so off to hunt went the resident male. All the while the two juvies sat on the eastern ledge and screamed and screamed and screamed. By 4pm, the sub-adult female, Chessie, was in with food and had a huge pigeon to share. She was immediately mugged by the juvenile male and robbed of her gift of food. The young female then came and stole the food from the male and the chase was on!! The two young ones now each had a foot on the prey and each refused to let the other have it. This led into a mutual chow down where they both ate each from their own side of the prey until they met in the middle. Now that was trouble. At this point, they would each take a bite and then take turns snatching out of each other’s mouths. Just ridiculous. It would appear that these chicks are really hungry but let me tell you this… …these chicks are far from starving!! They are being fed so much food!! They seem to be a really vocal and demanding bunch this year. If the adults keep feeding them like this, at migration time these kids will still be unfledged and just scream until the South American continent moves to Etobicoke!!
It took almost 45 minutes for the lunchtime ordeal to finally finish and it was about then that the rains came in full force. Both chicks were on the east side near a concrete upright so as it rained, they got a little wet. Once the rain stopped, they screamed at the parents until they were dry as “Mr. Rain touched Mr. Feathers and I’m really upset!!” Usually the chicks really enjoy their first real bath but these two weren’t into it for this rainstorm at least. The chicks did not stop their verbal harassment of the parents all afternoon. Even as she was lying down, the juvenile female continued to vocalize at poor Hurricane left to babysit in the tower. He being a seasoned male, he just turned his back and ignored them. He knows they eventually run out of pigeon power and have to stop for a while. At 8:30pm, you guessed it, food comes in! This was now the 5th feeding of the day. No weaning here. Both chicks were on the north side of the building and Hurricane flew in with a good sized bedtime package. Out of nowhere, in came Chessie and she’s now behaving like one of the chicks. She is whining at Hurricane for food and even flew over and briefly swiped the food off of the juvenile female. She squealed and Chessie relinquished. This didn’t really strike me as odd given that Chessie is just one year old now and is a mother already. She has moments here and there of a little confusion as to her role in all of this but it never seems to take long for her to figure it out. After she stood on the ledge with the chicks for a few minutes, she flew up and joined Hurricane in the tower and whined some more. A couple of starlings flew up to the tower to try and flush her off and she went at them half heartedly. I closed tonight’s watch with the adults in the tower and the two well fed and quiet juveniles sleeping on the eastern ledge.
Photos to follow shortly!!
Posted on July 16, 2012 5:50 am
July 15, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
Today I arrived at 6am and found the juvenile female on the north face of the building, an adult in the tower and the other adult on the southwest corner. At first I couldn’t see the juvenile male and so I went scouting about and found him on the north side as well. Food arrived shortly after my arrival and was taken in to the young female. All quieted down for a while as the young ones took a nap. At 12:30pm, as Tracy was pulling in, the adult male brought food in to the young and this time it was the male that was fed. He swiped the food off of Dad and went running along the ledge to the south before his sister had a chance to figure out what was happening. He pretty much had the whole meal to himself as the juvie female sought out Mom and screamed her displeasure at her. Just before I left at 1:30pm, another small food package came in and again it was the juvenile male that grabbed it up. There was a ferocious tug of war over the food but the young male is much faster than his big sister and much better coordinated. He won the meal and the screaming of the female continued. As I left, Tracy was perched by the berm with an adult in the tower and two screamy kids on the eastern ledge.
Posted on July 16, 2012 5:49 am
July 14, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I arrived on site to relieve Bruce at about 5pm to a chorus of screams from the juveniles as food was just entering the ledge. After the feeding, which the sister ate entirely to herself, the two juveniles lumbered off the southeast corner for a nap. By 6:30, they were both awake and it was now playtime. Boy these two don’t play fair or nice!! The juvenile male ran around to the south side of the building and was playing pounce with every little thing he could find. Big sis followed him down the ledge and had him blocked in the corner of a concrete upright. The two flipped heads and tried to bite each other in the face for a few minutes and then the juvie female got the idea to try and grab her brother. He bent his head down and forward in an attempt to bite her toes… …big mistake!! The juvenile female grabbed him right by the head!! He howled and squealed until she let go and then ran down the ledge and around the corner. It wasn’t a minute later that he ran back to his sister, who was now lying down, and stuck his head under her tail and started plucking down feathers that were sticking out!! Now SHE howled and squealed!! This back and forth teasing and play fighting went on for another half hour until all their energy was spent. Nap time.
The peace and quiet did not last as at 7:30pm, Hurricane made his presence known in the tower which started a new round of screaming at Daddy. He took off from the site and returned at 8pm with food that he handed over to Chessie. The resident female then flew into the ledge with the meal that was promptly snatched up by the juvenile male and he ran as fast as he could around the corner to the south ledge. There he tucked into a corner and began to chow down. All this time big sis didn’t have a clue as to what had just happened or that he had the food. She screamed at Mom who took off into the tower. After about a minute, she figured out that older brother was missing. She ran like the wind around the southeast corner, looked down the ledge and… …ah ha!!! Caught ya!! This is the fastest I’ve seen her run yet. She chased her older brother up and down that ledge trying to get in on the eats but he wolfed it down so fast each chance he got that he ate it all!! The juvenile female, now infuriated, ran around to the east ledge to find Mom and tell on him. The juvenile male thought this all hilarious and was flipping his head at her and bounced along behind her as she ran. Once around the corner and on the east side, the juvie female turned, standing a mere inch from her older sibling, and screamed right in his face!! He again flipped his head in response and I’m sure believed his sister to be quite absurd. I must confess that the family dynamics here at William Osler are so interesting to watch, not to mention really quite funny. These two chicks are so animated in their interactions and the parents are sitting back in the tower not interfering as the young ones learn from one another. With the juvenile male close to taking his first flight, this will only get more amazing to watch as the week progresses.
I apologize if some of these pictures are blurry but my camera is struggling to focus on brown chicks against the brown louvers with good lighting. I hope you still will enjoy them.
Posted on July 15, 2012 9:55 am
July 14, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
I started the William Osler Fledge Watch this morning at 6am and caught a feeding just as I arrived. The two juveniles were on the southeast corner and the resident adults were both in the tower. Hurricane left his perch and picked up a stash for the young and was joined on the ledge by Chessie who took over from there. Afterwards, the juvenile male sought out shade in the nest tray and later on moved down to the south ledge for the better part of the morning. The juvenile female had the same idea except that her perch of choice was behind the “H” on the north side of the building. There they stayed napping and preening until one of the adults made a pass by at around 1:30pm. This brought both chicks to their feet and to a chorus of screams, the adults once again paired up for a feeding. All seemed relatively quiet in the heat of the day until Tracy arrived at approximately 5pm to relieve me. As she was pulling in, I could hear not only the two chicks but Chessie as well, all complaining to Hurricane that he is late with dinner. He flew in from the tower and met the adult female on the ledge where he handed off the package to her. The juvenile male stole it from her and true to his “training” by O’Connor, the adult male immediately went over and relieved his son of the package after a spirited wrestling match and returned it to his adult female to dispense. She took the food around to the south side and was prepping it when the juvenile female came around and went on the attack. She chased Mom into a corner and tried to grab the food for herself and when that didn’t work she waited for Chessie to pick it up in her beak and snatched it right out of Mommy’s mouth!! Bold little thing!! She tore off around the corner to the nest tray knocking her brother over in the process as he was on his way over to the south side to see what he could get out of this. Mom had nothing by this point and so he just chased her relentlessly as she made many attempts to get away from him. Finally Chessie ended up on the north side of the nest tray and was clearly not interested in any more food fights. The juvenile female ate almost the entire package after which she waddled over to her brother and the pair screamed, in unison I might add, at Mom who was attempting a nap. The chicks continued this until finally the adult female left the ledge and flew into the tower for some alone time. Both chicks made their way to the southeast corner where they flumped down for some sleep.
Posted on July 15, 2012 8:59 am
July 13, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Tonight I spent 5 hours at the William Osler Hospital nest site to check up on Chessie, Hurricane and their two young ones before we start the official Fledge Watch tomorrow. I have to tell you, these kids are a blast!! When I arrived, the juvenile male was on the southeast corner napping and the juvenile female was in the nest tray. Chessie, the resident adult female, was in the eastern hydro tower preening away while her daughter just screamed away!! She wanted food NOW!! The young female left the tray and headed down to the northeast corner of the hospital all the while screaming at the adult. Her waddling has now improved to running as her confidence and coordination improve. After about 20 minutes of this, she tuckered herself right out and laid down for a nap. All through this display, her brother never awoke and Chessie didn’t once stop preening, recognizing a tantrum when she saw one. Both juveniles slept for the next hour and when they woke, that’s when the real silly stuff began.
The juvenile female ran back across the ledge towards the south end where her brother was now preening like a madman. When she reached the south side of the nest tray, she found and old pigeon wing which now became the toy of the moment. She ran the rest of the ledge down to her brother, screaming of course, with the pigeon wing in her mouth. She tripped over it twice but refused to give up her prize. Now down at the southeastern corner, she was tuckered out again and just plopped where she stood with her pigeon wing. The juvenile male now wound up and decided to make his own fun. Down the south face of the ledge he goes attacking everything in his path. He didn’t go far before encountering an insect that required a sound thrashing. “OK Dad, territory safe from that dangerous butterfly!!”. Now he sets his sights on his sleeping sister. Payback time!! He romps down the ledge, jumps on her tail and grabs onto a piece of down sticking out of the top of her tail. He yanked it right out!! She didn’t find that funny. By 7:30pm, Hurricane had arrived with food and Chessie flew out to meet him. In to the ledge she goes with the nights dinner. As I left, Hurricane and Chessie were in the hydro tower and the two young ones were plopped down for the night.
The William Osler Hospital name the chick contest has now closed and we look forward to the selection of names for these two little characters. Full time Fledge Watch starts tomorrow so stop by!!
Posted on July 14, 2012 8:33 am
July 12, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
When I arrived last night, the first thing I saw as I pulled in was two gigantic, white, pompom-like things sticking out on the southeast corner of the hospital. I had no idea what I was looking at until I pulled out the binoculars and saw that they belonged to the juvenile female!! Her leg feathers have yet to come in and with the heat we are experiencing, she had her legs puffed out and looked absolutely ridiculous. Very un-sleek-peregrine-like. The juvenile male was lying down on the ledge just behind her and I had no adults in view. I watched the two juveniles as they wandered the ledge and the male is almost near lift off with only a few puffs on his head and two big ones on his back just above his tail.
Everywhere the juvenile male would go, sis would follow. He is quite active and run-flapping the ledge getting lots of exercise. The juvenile female is also getting her exercise by chasing him up and down the ledge in an attempt to free him of his downy behind. I watched as she made multiple attempts to catch up to the down bouncing on his backside and deliberately pull it out. The good thing for the young male is that while he can run-flap the ledge, his sibling is still at waddling stage and can’t really catch up until he stops!
At 7:45pm, both adults made an appearance and both had food. It was a family picnic on the eastern ledge before the two young ones trundled off to bed. I will be back down on Friday evening for another prelim watch session and the full dawn to dusk watch starts on Saturday.
I have posted a few pictures, some blurry, of the juvenile female as the pompom puff legs I just had to share!
Posted on July 13, 2012 4:00 pm
June 30, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
After the wonderful time that we had at the banding of the William Osler Hospital’s new family, I decided that I would make a quick stop in to check up on Chessie, Hurricane and their lovely two. Hurricane was on the nest ledge in almost the exact same position as when I left on Tuesday!! It would seem that when he is told to watch the kids, he takes it very seriously. ( He was trained by O’Connor! ) He sat with his back to the tower and every few seconds would glance down the ledge to where the chicks lay in the tray napping. He was sitting so still for the half an hour that I was there that I thought, he’s sleeping I bet. Sure enough, I changed my angle of view and caught the man himself napping away!! More than once he glanced down at me with my camera as if to say, “Please don’t tell the wife!! She’ll have my tail feathers!!” I assured him that his secrets safe with me. Chessie was offsite the entire time I was there so he can easily get away with a snore here or there!
Check back soon as we update you on the progress of the chicks as the watch draws closer!!
Posted on July 1, 2012 5:12 pm
June 27, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 27th - 2012
A great day at the William Osler Health care centre in Etobicoke Ontario this morning as two very healthy young hatchlings were successfully weighed, sexed and banded. William Osler’s newest family members were identified as one male and one female.
We are waiting on the Hospitals name the hatchling contest to assign them their new names and will report this information as soon as we have the winners of the contest and their names.
A huge thank you to the William Osler staff who hosted the banding and to Mark Heaton and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for banding William Osler’s newest family members.
Again a big thank you to the Rochester gals who were able to attend and all of the CPf staff and volunteers that were on hand to assist.
Stay tuned for photos and further details of the banding………..
Posted on June 28, 2012 11:18 am
June 09, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I received some great news from Ross at the William Osler Hospital site on Thursday that the second egg of Hurricane and Chessie has hatched!! The two little ones are being brooded by Chessie right now as the weather turns less friendly and we will get pictures as soon as we can of the latest family. Congratulations Hurricane, Chessie and all of the folks at William Osler Hospital!!
Posted on June 9, 2012 7:11 am
June 09, 2012 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Frank Butson Reports:
Tracy got a call from Ross that there had been a 2nd hatch at William Osler Hospital. Chessie and Hurricane are very proud parents!
Posted on June 9, 2012 2:12 am
