June 20, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
We have lift off!! At approximately 4pm today, the first flight off of the nest ledge was our dear little Apollo ( I just knew he would be first! ). He made all attempts to reach the hydro tower to the east and was maintaining altitude fairly well until he actually reached the lower teir of the tower. Due to the misting rain that had been falling all day, the tower was unexpectedly slippery for the young fledgling to get a good grip, so off he went again around to the north side of the building. He finally came to rest on a ledge two stories below the one he had just left. His two siblings were above on the nest ledge watching while the chick ( Apollo ) walked back and forth on this smaller window ledge and even had some pictures taken of him from inside! With mom close by encouraging him, juvenile Apollo was in the air once more. He came around to the east where he tried to get back up to the nest ledge, doing what we call “the bat” ( clinging on and flapping ) a few times before finally losing altitude and coming to the ground. A great first try!! Bruce Massey walked over and scooped up the juvenile just as I pulled up with the rescue box. We took a quick once-over to make sure he was alright ( he looked fantastic! ) before placing him in the rescue carrier and escourting him to security. He now sits in a dark, quiet and safe place until this evening when Bruce and I will put him back up on the roof of the nest building. Stay tuned… …”Part 2; The Release” to come!!
Posted on June 21, 2009 5:07 pm
June 19, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Once again, the three juveniles were ledge running most of the evening. Much to my chagrin, they have now found that there is a FOURTH side to this building. They have had me running circuits all night!! They are certainly gearing up for take off any day now. The one chick, known as Apollo and donning a blue band, was the most active of the bunch, running up and down the ledge so fast that I was worried he would fledge without really meaning to!! Several feedings were had throughout my watch ( 4 to be exact! ) with mom showing impatience with them on the final snack of the night. Dad ( Hurricane ) brought the food in, dropped it and left it to the chicks to self serve. Katarina, our little one with a red band, grabbed the food and made a dash for the nest tray. Apollo, our chick with the blue band, jumped in front with wings spread, blocking all escape with the food. Katarina turned around only to find her big sister Margherita standing right in her face like a little brown tank. That’s when mom flew in, took the food and generously fed each one a share. Satisfied, the three juveniles made their way over to the northeast corner where Apollo, the male chick, did something that made me absolutely laugh.
Dad, the resident male known as Hurricane, often sits right on the northeast corner ( literally on the edge ) with his back to the east. It would appear that Apollo decided he wanted to be like Dad tonight so he wandered up to the corner and very gingerly “pawed” at the edge. When he felt sure of his footing, he took a step forward and shuffled around using little baby steps until he was in the exact same position that Dad always sits. He was so proud of himself that he did a huge rouse of his feathers, wiggled his tail and then sat up straight as an arrow as if to say, “Look at me!! I’m a big boy now!!”.
Posted on June 21, 2009 4:55 pm
June 18, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The three juveniles are having a great time today exploring!! They have now realized that there are 3 sides to this ledge instead of just two. As I approached the building from Highway 27, I could see two of the three young on the west side of the building. In a flash, they flew/ran back down the southern ledge to the southeast corner where the resident female O’Connor was waiting. O’Connor and her mate Hurricane have taken such good care of these chicks that she is turning her little juvenile “fighter jets” into “jumbo jets”. At 7:07, they were fed ( spoon fed at that! ). Then 7:37, another feeding! Oh my gosh, 7:57 more food comes in! You would think that they would be so full that they couldn’t move. Wrong!!! One minute the three chicks are standing together ( I would swear they were coming up with a plan ) and in a flash, one goes to the west, one to the east leaving one on the south that dipped behind the sign and out of sight. I didn’t know which way to follow! By 9:00, O’Connor had come in to land on the southeast corner as she does every night and called her three chicks to bed. Boy can they run! Especially when mom gives the call.
Posted on June 21, 2009 4:36 pm
June 19, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Kathy Smith Reports:
I arrived with my daughter Jenn around 2pm. today. The 3 fledglings were flapping and hopping back and forth along the east and south ledge. Dad seems to spend alot of time hunting to the west and brought in food twice between 2:30 & 3:30pm. Then the little one were full and went down for a knap. They were back up and active by 5pm and another food package came. Mom who sit on the hydro tower most of the time keeping a close eye on the activities, came over to help with the feeding. They wondered the east side of the ledge and as the sun moved over the building they move to the north side to soak it up. There were a few hop, skip & jumps until another food package came in @ 7:13pm and the larger of the 3 took off with it and mom decided to beak feed and made sure they all got their share. They returnd to the north side of the ledge for a lay down. Tracy joined me around 7pm, and after discuss the days events I left the watch in her faithful hands.
Posted on June 19, 2009 9:18 pm
June 17, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Kathy Smith Reports:
I was out at the William Olser site breifly on Wed. All three babies were activly exersising their wings and running the whole east side of the building. Saw both parents keeping a close eye. I’ll be back out for a full watch Fri.
Posted on June 19, 2009 7:53 am
June 16, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
The weather tonight is as fine as it gets and the three juveniles were enjoying it as much as I was. It is nights like tonight that make watching juvenile peregrines so much fun. All three young were literally hopping like little jack rabbits along the length of the ledge, pouncing and playing as they went. Ah, to be young again! These three juveniles are definately getting ready for the big day! Apollo, the juvenile male, started off visiting dad ( the resident male Hurricane ) at the northeast corner of the nest ledge. Then with a burst of energy that only kids are capable of, he did a combo hop, skip, run all the way down to the southeast corner of the nest ledge, slamming on the brakes just at the right moment. I would swear he did it just to get a rise out of me!! There on the corner he met up with his two siblings, Margherita and Katarina, who were diligently preening their feathers and ignoring his interest in play. After a couple of minutes of trying to taunt them into a game, the juvenile male decided they were yucky girls and he would go play by himself ( so there!! ). During the next 10 minutes, the juvenile male Apollo played with every feather he could find. He would grab them first with the left foot, then the right, then the left…! All this play is so important for the young juveniles as they learn how to attack and grab, move their wings in varying winds and tear food for themselves. It’s just our good luck I suppose that they are so much fun to watch during this learning period! At 8:05, Hurricane joined mom on the watchtower ( hydro tower to the east ) and passed off dinner to her that she then delivered to her chicks. This was thoroughly gobbled up by the three young just as bedtime was arriving. With now visible crops, they waddled over to each other and plunked down on the southeast side in bed, looking like one big heap of brown feathers in the dim light. As is routine, Mom did a last, quick flight around the building before settling in on her southeast corner for the night.
Posted on June 17, 2009 8:33 pm
June 15, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Today is the first day in the last few that I have been able to spend some time out here at the site and I was amazed to see just how feathered our young friends are. All three juveniles are sporting beautiful brown flight feathers that they are actively testing out. During the entire time I was present, all three young were flapping with vigor; practicing for that first flight that will occur in the days to come. The young have become much more bold in their exploration of the nest ledge and are now spending much of their time around the corner on the southeast side, the very corner that mother bird was originally herding them away from. Kids, they never listen!! O’Connor, the resident female, has been keeping an eye on them none-the-less from her favourite perch on the hydro structure ( her own private watchtower ) directly east of the nest ledge. While on the ledge, the juveniles are still receiving food from O’Connor as her and the resident male Hurricane continue to provide for them. After the sun had completely set and I was straining to see the three brown babies against the dark background of the building, mom did a fly around of the building at ledge height and seeing that all was clear and safe, settled in for the night on the southeast corner of the building with her chicks.
Posted on June 17, 2009 8:03 pm
June 10, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Emma Stainton Reports:
I arrived to nest site at 3pm. I got sight of the female fly over and land on the hydro tower across from the nest site. She proceeded to preen for 20 minutes ( a well deserved break, I’m sure). I was able to spot two of the chicks, but they appeared to be tucked in on the ledge, most likely taking a nap.
Suddenly, the chicks began to cry and I saw the male come in to view. He appeared to be carrying a food package and proceeded to fly over to the female on the hydro tower. He landed underneath her and began to “ee-chup”, signalling that he had food to hand off. The female retrieved it from him and took it to feed the chicks. My view was still slightly obscured by the ledge, but the female appeared to be feeding them. The male stayed on the hydro tower during this time. Eventually, the female left the chicks and took off headed west.
The male then went and sat on the north east corner of the hospital, with the chicks in his sight line. He then began to preen and roost. One of the chicks began whining and slowly approached him, scaling the edge of the ledge. That was a slightly tense moment. Eventually, realizing that “Dad” didn’t have any food, the eya returned to their siblings.
Later, the female came in. She appeared again to be feeding the chicks, but again, my view was not entirely clear. I have a photo of this event, in which the three chicks, the female and male are together on the ledge that I will try to post later. (The male left immediately afterwards).
In summary, I was able to see all three chicks and see both male and female bring in food. So it would appear all is well at this nest site.
I left the nest site at about 5:30.
Posted on June 13, 2009 10:34 am
June 11, 2009 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Matt MacGillivray Reports:
If you have photos of any of the CPF monitored nest sites, birds or fledglings in this exciting time, we would love to see them! If you have older photos or videos from CPF events, like the 2009 Sportsman show, we would love to see those too.
We’ve got a flickr group that you can upload photos and short videos to. If you have longer videos, upload them to youtube and tag them with cpf and peregrine and I will find them.
Example shot from the Sheraton Banding in the Flickr Pool -
We might include some of the videos or photos in our updates, or around the site. You could be famous!
Matt.
Posted on June 11, 2009 10:29 am
June 09, 2009 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Tonight was even better than yesterday. The new family has settled in and are loving life. For the first little while, I couldn’t see any of the chicks but was comforted by the fact that O’Connor was sitting squarely on the SE corner of the building. I walked the perimeter below the ledge and found a fresh pigeon kill picked completely clean, not a scrap left. The resident adult male (Hurricane) was on the southern side of the building on the “H” taking a break but not for long. Within minutes of my arrival, he was off like a man on a mission. Just after his take-off, three little sleepy heads popped out from behind the “H’ on the east side where the nest tray is located. After much stretching, the three juveniles preened themselves silly. One of the chicks, the larger female Margaritta, started preening with preen oil all of her new feathers that are working there way in.
Heads up… …Dad’s ee-chupping! Sounds like dinner! 8:05pm. Right on time! A pass off of food from Hurricane to O’Connor who then prepped the dinner for feeding. She flew over to join her chicks and with the utmost care and attention, beak fed each chick in turn. It was absolutely amazing to be a part of such a tender moment between mother and young. After dinner, a good romp on the ledge with much wing stretching, pouncing and flapping exercises before off to bed they went with Hurricane above them on the “H” and O’Connor back on the SE corner.
Posted on June 10, 2009 5:25 pm
