August 05, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
CPF Postmaster Reports:
With a big thank you to Ava St.Onge for her kind words and photos, we’ed like to share some of the conversation with our peregrine supporters. Photos of the little fledgling female on her maiden flight, and one of her first “rest stops”. Funny that this little baby ends up landing on the 4th floor, maternity ward window! Hmmmmm, as fate would have it.
Hello Peregrine Foundation,
I just finished speaking with a lovely gentleman in the parking lot of the William Osler Etobicoke Hospital who explained his purpose for standing near our truck with binoculars. He was watching the activity of a baby falcon who was perched on a building nearby to where we were standing. I explained to him that not even an hour earlier, the same falcon had landed on my sister’s room window ledge (4th floor, maternity ward) and I had taken some pictures; he gave me the web address to send them to you.
I just wanted to say that my husband and I really enjoyed our impromptu conversation with your team member (we didn’t get his name), and learned a lot in 20 minutes! I hope you enjoy the pictures I took, though only a few. (She looks like she posed in one of them!) Keep up the great work of helping (endangered) birds in need… Always a worthwhile cause!
Warmest regards,
Ava St.Onge
Posted on August 6, 2010 10:29 am
August 05, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
Fledge Day 8
Thursday August 5th:
Arrived @ 1530 Hrs. Still pretty hot, so was quiet for an hour or so, until adult Female (Gray & White, Split Tail (Missing Feather) brought in food & juvinile male popped up & began to eat. After another 1/2 hour of not seeing his sister, I got concerned & started a wide circle search around the property. I worked my way around to the SW side and finally found the juvenile female. She had indeed Fledged and was now on the south side of the Hospital 4 stories up.
All remained quiet and she stayed in that area until her brother buzzed her about 1710 HRS.
Then, one of the adult buzzed her 5-6 times and this got her going! She took off and made one circular flight & gained a few feet, then a 2nd flight that put her out of my sight. By the time I got around to the E side of the Hospital, I saw her glide over to the roof of the Medical Centre. Sure enough both her & her brother spent a 1/2 hour or so together on that roof, and at one point got buzzed a couple times by a Kestrel (Looked to be a Juvenile). Finally little brother got tired of waiting and flew off.
The young female finally got up enough nerve and flew off trying to get back up to the Nest Ledge. She got up 7-8 Floors, did a face plant on the building face, lost altitude and headed back to the Medical Centre. (A good lesson learned). By this time, Dad flew down & joined her and encouraged her back up to 7th Floor Window Ledge were she settled Down for the night. All in all, a good day for both juveniles, especially for the young female, as she learned some important lessons today.
Posted on August 6, 2010 9:58 am
August 04, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
Its been a very busy couple of days and I can only recap and high light the events.
the young juvenile Female has gained allot of strength & lost most of her fluffy white down. She continues to be very aggressive with her now flighted brother and robs him of food when ever she can. he has learned to take the food from his parents and fly off to a safe spot from his yet to fledge sister where he can eat it without having her steel it from him. He is flying great, with good landings and starting to chase his parents around with incredible skill!
His younger unfledged sister is now doing laps all around the ledge of the building, and although un-flighted, she had been a handfull to find her. The nest ledge level runs completely around the entire building and although she is not flighted as yet, she has learned that she can keep everyone in view by moving around the entire building on the ledge.
Posted on August 6, 2010 9:44 am
July 31, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
Osler Fledge Day 3:
Saturday July 31st
At approximately 0630 Hrs the young juvenile male fledged @ Osler. I say approximately, because the little *#”!! waited till I went for Coffee & a 10-100 @ 0625 Hrs. He and his Sister were sharing some food & I thought it would be safe to step away for 5-10 minutes.
When I came back, the female eyeses was on ledge, but the young male was no were to be seen ! OK, quick check around, 1 Adult was @ the SE corner Roof Level & the other Adult was on the antennas on the NE corner, Both were looking inward. Just as I walked S to check that side, The young juvenile popped up and chased that Adult off that SE Corner.
Considering the little juvenile male has fledged and he actually gained altitude,, (this a good thing), and his parents knew where he was and was being fed, I felt comfortable taking a brake around 0930 Hrs and return back in the PM.
Return around 1600 Hrs and much to my surprise I found him back on the nest ledge with his Sister. Now typically once the Juvenile has fledged and demonstrates the ability to return to the nest then it deemed able to Fly & doesn’t require the Fledge Watch any more. Yee Ha!! This means I get to rest for the next 5-6 days till the young juvenile female is ready to take her first flights, Right?,,, NOT!
This little male fledgling is the first one I can remember in a long time that has accomplished this milestone in one day,, (It couldn’t be that both the CPF director & myself assured everybody that there was no problem in missing banding him, as we’ll get him during the fledge, as most of them all sooner or later come to the ground after fledging. (Of course we should know better than to make those kinds of Statements)! Given this little guys strong flights and advanced level of skill in the air, it is very unlikely that he will come to the ground at this stage.
By the end of the day, this little juvenile male is flying all over the place and you would never know that he has just taken his first flights!! His sister remains on the ledge with a couple of days to go before she takes her first flights.
Posted on August 6, 2010 9:31 am
July 30, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
Osler Friday July 30th:
Day 2 was pretty well the same as Day 1, but a longer day. More preening, more flapping, and lots of vocalizing from the two youngsters. There also was more stealing of food by the juvenile female from the juvenile male. Three to fou times throughout this watch I observed the young juvenile male receive food from the adults, watched him take a few bites and then had his sister come down the ledge and steal it from him. It got to a point were the adult parents were beak feeding the juvenile male on other parts of the nest ledge out of sight of the juvenile female. By the end of the day, both juveniles had been feed several times, with the little female having got (or should I say stolen) the lions share of the food that the parents brought in to the hatchlings.
Posted on August 6, 2010 9:06 am
July 29, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Bruce Massey Reports:
Started the Watch at around 1415 HRS. It took me about 45 minutes to find out that both the Eyesis were on the Ledge. It was still fairly hot and they were asleep in the shade near the back of the Ledge on the East end of the Hospital. Around the 1600 Hrs they began to get active. The Female was visible until 1700 Hrs. and then like a shift change almost on the dot the 2 adults changed positions.
At around 1710 Hrs. we almost had a fledge, the male was flapping and got blown about 2 feet in the air and just held on to the ledge by his 6 Talons- just barely. Shortly after, the two Eyesis settled down for a siesta for and hour or so.
Around 1930 hrs the two started getting active again, especially when Mom brought some feed by the nest. The Female then fed the Boy for 10-15 minutes and about 20 minutes the bird headed back to the column. I took the the chance and put the Watch to Bed as I intended to be here in the Morning first thing.
Posted on July 29, 2010 10:08 pm
July 23, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Frank Butson Reports:
Today at William Osler Heath Centre,CPF,Ministry of Natural Resources and Osler management and staff took part in the first banding ceremony ever at the facility. The Ontario Stewardship Rangers were in attendance and assisted with the banding.
The extraction was a little tricky today,as one of the chicks,believed to be a male,eluded Mark Heaton of MNR,running around on the ledge out of range. As a result this chick will be banded at a later date if it should be rescued at fledge time. One chick,a beautiful healthy female was banded today. She will be named in the near future,stay tuned for a coming post. Those who took part will also be more thoroughly identified and thanked! The particulars of todays banding:
Female,25 days old,weighing in at a very healthy 890 grams,black over black band,23/X.
The chick was very vocal. Ashleigh from the Ontario Stewardship Rangers held the chick,while Mark Heaton from the Ministry of Natural Resources banded the bird.
The adults and proud parents on site were confirmed to be:
Female:named O’Connor,hatched 05/06/07 at the Landmark Building in Summit County Ohio. Banded on 05/24/07 .
Male: named Hurricane, who hatched in 2004 on the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto.
Many thanks to William Osler Health Centre security,maintanence and management for their help today and fine care which they take of their birds on an ongoing basis. The Osler folks are very proud hosts of this nest.
Posted on July 24, 2010 4:24 am
July 23, 2010 - International, National and Local News
Frank Butson Reports:
Today at William Osler Heath Centre,CPF,Ministry of Natural Resources and Osler management and staff took part in the first banding ceremony ever at the facility. The Ontario Stewardship Rangers were in attendance and assisted with the banding.
The extraction was a little tricky today,as one of the chicks,believed to be a male,eluded Mark Heaton of MNR,running around on the ledge out of range. As a result this chick will be banded at a later date if it should be rescued at fledge time. One chick,a beautiful healthy female was banded today. She will be named in the near future,stay tuned for a coming post. Those who took part will also be more thoroughly identified and thanked! The particulars of todays banding:
Female,25 days old,weighing in at a very healthy 890 grams,black over black band,23/X.
The chick was very vocal. Ashleigh from the Ontario Stewardship Rangers held the chick,while Mark Heaton from the Ministry of Natural Resources banded the bird.
The adults and proud parents on site were confirmed to be:
Female:named O’Connor,hatched 05/06/07 at the Landmark Building in Summit County Ohio. Banded on 05/24/07 .
Male: named Hurricane, who hatched in 2004 on the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto.
Many thanks to William Osler Health Centre security,maintanence and management for their help today and fine care which they take of their birds on an ongoing basis. The Osler folks are very proud hosts of this nest.
Posted on July 24, 2010 4:11 am
June 30, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Mark Nash Reports:
Hi Mark & Matt
I was able to get a couple of pics through the peep hole of the chicks today. Still one egg left to hatch, fingers crossed.
Photos to follow.
Joe
Posted on July 1, 2010 9:58 am
June 29, 2010 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
As they have been affectionately referred to, there are now two lovely little “cotton ball” chicks at the William Osler site!! At 8:00pm this evening, thanks to the amazing folks in security, I was able to get an accurate count of the chicks that have hatched, totalling two so far. The adult female, who’s identification still eludes us, was revealing little to nothing of what she protected underneath her on such a chilly night in June. She was amazing at concealing the 2 to 3 day old chicks from the elements and my view until the resident adult male, Hurricane, made an appearance with food. Although the chicks are too young for feeding right now, the male is on top of it anyways, just in case. I will be checking back in over the weekend to see if the third egg has hatched and how our new parents are doing with their family.
Congratulations everyone at William Osler!!
Posted on June 30, 2010 8:20 pm
