June 27, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Yesterday I opened the watch at William Osler with Peggy still on the ledge and the three boys flying like little busy bees. They were all over the place and their “off” button was definitely not working!! Go, go, go!! No landing space was now sacred. Everywhere that Hurricane goes to roost and nap was now being invaded by his boys and it was clear that the adults were going to have to go off campus if they were going to get any peace. Hurricane went first and disappeared for over an hour in the morning. I’m not sure where he goes but I suspect over to the Humber College where there are tall antennas that allow him to see his site, his kids and his mate should trouble arise. Chessie was left with the screaming threesome that spent the morning knocking her off of everything. No food was being offered yet and Chessie just continued to do her best to avoid the boys rambunctious morning exercise. Peggy spent the entire time on the southeast corner of the nest ledge and she is looking very ready to go. Head bobbing, wing flapping and little lunges around the ledge kept her busy for almost an hour. When Hurricane returned from his break Chessie went on a hunt to the northeast and returned with a big pigeon. The boys were ecstatic. Chase mommy, catch mommy, my food, get your own! It was crazy! Chessie took the prey to the south H sign to prep and then went directly to Peggy and beak fed. Once she had her fill, Chessie then unceremoniously dropped what was left on the hospital roof for the boys to fight over which they did. Benny the jet continued with his “bite you in the face” greeting with his brothers and managed to score the majority of the meal for himself. Sven is now catching on to this and as Benny ate he kept trying to grab him by the head. Winston, in the scrum, grabbed the food and ran down the ledge which started another scramble until Hurricane brought in another piece for the boys. Wow. Settled down you three!
Bruce took over while I headed down to Islington and Bloor for a spot check. All was quiet through the afternoon until the day cooled and the supper bell rang. All three boys are now making spot on landings in the tower and regularly are fooling around up there. They were for Bruce as they were for me, all over the place and into everything. Winston on two occasions went down to the tenth floor window ledge and Bruce could see that this was a very purposeful action. Hurricane is now using these ledges to stash food as it is a tougher landing to manage for the boys. He hoped that the food would be safe there but Winston had it all figured out. He scored a nice piece for himself and didn’t have to share. The second landing on the window ledge was evidently to avoid Benny as he is now ramping up his playing in the air to grabbing of tails and talons. While Sven is up to the task Winston isn’t quite ready for such aggressive pursuits and play so he hides out away from Benny when he gets a little too rough.
When Peggy does fledge, which should be any minute now, she has three boys to contend with. We fully expect that Hurricane and Chessie will manage her first flights and deal with the boys attempt to play tag with her before she’s even made her first landing. We have no doubt that she will catch up quick in her skills and when she does, oh look out you boys! They are actually being quite good with her right now as they regularly visit her on the nest ledge and snuggle with her. It’s quite nice to see.
Check back for more antics from the boys and Peggy’s soon to fledge moment!!
Posted on June 27, 2015 10:21 am
June 26, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Thursday, oh Thursday. Benny kicks off the morning by kicking tail?? Wow! After I watched this crazy stunt I checked the location of our other young ones. I have Sven sitting nicely in the tower having stuck the landing perfectly. Winston was on the roof line singing and young Peggy, youngest of the four, still in her spot on the nest ledge. The boys that at one time used to run around like busy little ants on the ledge were now jack rabbiting all around the Osler property. The focus of the day for the boys was the tower. All day long. In and out of the gridwork and always landing smartly on target. At one point Winston made his first tower landing and Benny went over to congratulate him… …by biting him. Don’t know that this should be adopted as a formal greeting but Winston did return the gesture. Not to be left out, when Sven had his tower time Benny bit him too. All is fair I guess. Of the three boys Benny the jet was the boldest taking all opportunities to chase adults and harass all moving objects including a poor butterfly just minding its own business. Remember Benny, butterflies are friends not food and besides that, they taste terrible. Peggy spent most of the day off and on sleeping and preening. She is very close to first flights and when she gets airborne these bratty brothers better just look out. Bruce arrived around 2pm and took over the watch from there. Things were quite quiet and there was some weather moving in. Just before the rain Mom brought some food into the south sign. Two of the the boys went over and got food. Winston however tried to do what his brother did, float up to the rooftop by just using the wind. It wasn’t quite as smooth but he still got the same result. When the rain hit, the female was the only one that stayed dry. She did however have a shower as she was flapping her wings and running up and down the ledge.
After the rains, at first heavy and then the later showers, there was some rest followed by some flights by the boys. Peggy spent her time exercising and sleeping.
The boys made the tower numerous times. There was only one bobble, but the bird recovered and landed at the southwest corner of the nest ledge. With the parents on the tower and on the South H sign, the juveniles tucked themselves in at the east end of the building and I left for the night.
This wonderful Friday morning started with the three boys getting into everything; the tower, antennas, tag games, H signs and Hurricanes personal space. Peggy is now sitting on the southeast corner with her back out ready to go. I expect that a first flight for her will happen today. Check back later for an update on her progress.
Posted on June 26, 2015 8:45 am
June 26, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
So Wednesday Benny was on a mission to tear it up. He had been flying amazingly well all morning and was now bored. Sven and Winston were on the north side of the nest ledge and Peggy was on the northeast corner. Benny landed on the ledge next to Sven and walked in between him and the back wall. Benny then lunged forward at Sven and pushed him off of the ledge. Sven was shocked to be in the air and he looped out over the north parking lot and made it up to the roof. Next was Winston. Benny ran down the ledge to his brother and pulled the exact same stunt except this time Winston struggled to get up to the roof, circled around and finally made rooftop on the south side. Benny didn’t dare try that stunt with Peggy as she would have just pulverized him. She’s a tank and will move of her own will thank you much. Sven took another flight as he was miserable on the roof and wanted to go home. I should preface this by saying that Sven still has a head full of down and of the three boys was the least ready for this. Sven’s flight got him what he wanted which was home to the ledge. It wasn’t pretty as he threw himself at the louvres and bounced onto the nest ledge rather than landing smartly. He shook it off and went back to bed. Winston ran the rooftop screaming all morning. My tough guy on the ledge, wee Winston, was now a chicken outside of his comfort zone. Peggy was unimpressed with it all until she realized that food was going to them and not her. Still, she was unmoved. Sven did yet another flight back up to the roof and when Bruce arrived, Sven and Winston were on the roof, Peggy on her corner of the nest ledge and Benny the jet was on the north H taking daddy’s spot on the couch.
Bruce took over at 2 o’clock with all 4 birds accounted for. It was pretty quiet for about an hour or so but as the afternoon cooled down then there was some action. The two boys that were evicted by their brother in the morning started to rev up. Occasionally Peggy would pop her head up but for the most part she dozed until 5:00 or so. Brother Benny had joined his sister for a nap for an hour or so. The two roof boys, Sven and Winston, revved up and started to doing laps and lengths. Benny joined them, but he did more adventurous flights with an occasional flight out and back from the roof. Then it got really hard to follow the boys when Chessie and Hurricane got involved. They generally sat on the northwest antennas and the boys, mostly Sven and Benny, would fly up and chase the parents off them. When Benny did it the first time, he knocked Chessie clear off much to her surprise. Chessie was unimpressed and returned the favor by hovering over top of Benny as he sat on the antenna but he didn’t budge. At one point I had Benny, Sven and an adult on 3 separate antennas. Winston was also doing well with flights and landings but did have a tiny wobble in some of them. He missed an attempt at the ledge and ended up on the 10th floor window below. Mom made several attempts to encourage him off but he was too busy looking at himself in the window. Finally mom encouraged him back up to the ledge and Winston walked around back to the north side. That essentially was the night, with all the chicks showing up on east ledge and tucked in by 8 o’clock.
By Wednesday morning Benny the jet had his big shoes on and was behaving more like an adult than a 43 day old chick. He was on the north H and suddenly began to alarm call. He took off and started to chase a Great Blue Heron over the emerg parking lot. He made one grab at its tail and then circled back to the roof. Like father like son. More updates on Thursday’s adventures to come!
Posted on June 26, 2015 8:17 am
June 24, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I think we should have a special award at the end of the fledge season for “Dumbest Thing Done by a Tired Watcher” and I certainly qualify. After trying to open my fledge watch chair with my car remote and taking half a minute to realize what I was doing wrong it was clear to me that I was losing it. Now I figured I better just sit down and sort out my notes before I do something else goofy. So glad no one saw me do this.
So we left off Tuesday morning with Benny having fledged to the roof of the hospital. He ran back and forth all morning trying to figure out how to get back down to the ledge without flying again. They all try “cheater” drop down flights at one point or another and here was his big chance. Each time he lined himself up for the drop down onto the eastern H the incredibly gusty and high winds got the better of his courage. To make matters incredibly worse both of his parents were sitting on that sign which drove him crazy wanting to get to them. Chessie took off on a hunt around 11am and came back shortly with a pigeon. She took it up to the eastern H to prep and this is where things got rather interesting. The three on the ledge were losing it as she plucked and prepped the food right above them. They ran and screamed trying for the perfect position but she just ignored them. Benny ran back and forth on the roof line trying to get himself perfectly aligned for a drop down and even looked as though he would try it. He decided to wait and wail about his impatience rather than do something about it. Hurricane sat across from Chessie and watched with great interest as she prepared lunch. Then our dear Chessie did the unthinkable; she began to eat. In front of the drooling stares of her hubby and kids she ate half of the pigeon and in tiny wee bites no less. It gets worse. She took the remains of the meal and, get this, stashes it between the top of the sign and the wall then sat there preening. The whole family stopped and went silent at this turn of events. Both Hurricane and Benny were ready to pounce on it should she happen to leave it unattended. The kids on the ledge just stared and prepared themselves ready to run should she bring it down. But no. She sat for a good 5 minutes with a juicy piece at her feet defying ANYONE to dare try and touch it. After 10 full minutes of this she relented and took it to the ledge.
Benny finally took flight again just shortly after noon which had me on my feet in seconds. He was heading for the tower where currently there is large earth movers, dump trucks and other equipment working feverishly to finish the revamp of the east parking lot. If he slips and falls the amazing crew from Pacific who are doing the work have set up a procedure with me for stopping all equipment and giving me access to rescue but I need to be quick. Benny went for it but realized that the winds were too strong for him to land and he turned back. He hit the winds whipping past the northeast corner and almost lost control. To save the day he tucked tight and threw himself back onto the roof. Enough of that he says. Nap time.
Bruce took over at 3pm so I could get to work with three still on the ledge and Benny on the roof. The winds died down around 6pm and so Benny decided it was high time to rip it. And he did.
Throughout the evening he made several awesome flights. At one point he made it down to the north H, daddy’s favorite roost. Bruce watched as he stepped off of the sign into the wind and with perfectly set wings FLOATED up to the roof edge. First of all, he’s been flying less than 12 hours at this point. The sign is a complex landing and the float, well that’s just poetry. What I think is so amazing is that Hurricane has been pulling the kite/float move over that corner all day showing the next generation of windmasters how it’s done. Bravo!! Then Benny faked Bruce out by taking a flight and disappearing from view. Bruce followed him around but had lost sight of him. Bruce looked everywhere as he’d seen him brush a window and come around a little low. What Bruce didn’t realize is that Benny had recovered his altitude and was back on the ledge. After a bit of walking, consulting and rechecking he found all four on the nest ledge trundling off to bed. Great job Benny!!
This morning Benny started his flying at just after 6am and has yet to really stop. Check back later to see who goes next and for more tales of Benny’s big day.
Posted on June 24, 2015 12:28 pm
June 24, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
News Flash. Benny has just systematically pushed his two brothers, Sven and Winston, off the ledge and into the air. Sven made it back home. Winston is on the roof. Benny now laying down napping on the north H believing his work is done here. Peggy still on the ledge. Full story to come.
Posted on June 24, 2015 7:44 am
June 22, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Yesterday at William Osler was a complete shift in behaviour for the family as the parents prepare their young ones for fledge. When I arrived all 4 kids were napping away when suddenly in came Chessie. She was on a very distinct mission; harass them until they fly. This was not a singular effort either as Hurricane joined in the effort as well. The chicks were all on the east side split two and two on either side of the H sign. Hurricane took the left pair while Chessie focused on the right. Their efforts were relentless and spectacular in the same breath. Both parents engaged in aerial flights that included barrel rolls, loops, flip overs, tower slaloms and Hurricanes famous pull ups against the wall and jetting straight vertical past the chicks. Back flips off of the ledge capped off the display as well as both adults in tandem at one point displaying their incredible skills. I can’t say it enough, the flights by Hurricane and Chessie here are just pure art… …and the chicks sat admiring the art instead of taking part. Their little fuzzy heads followed the path of their parents and in way of applause they just screamed and screamed. By the end of the display both parents were a little winded and flew up to the tower for a well deserved break as their efforts had gone on for over half an hour.
From noon to 5pm not a single drop of food entered the ledge. Parental displays and too many touch and gos to count continued throughout the evening and the chicks weren’t allowed much rest. Lots of running and flapping exercises filled the evening until supper arrived at 730pm. Then dinner at 737pm. Then snack at 801pm. They were all now so full they could hardly utter a sound. They were one large pancake by 815pm and so I closed it down for the evening to go and help Bruce at Islington and Bloor.
With this extreme shift in behaviour towards encouraging a fledge the parents have let me and the kids know that it’s time. The full time watch begins Monday in earnest!
Posted on June 22, 2015 11:18 am
June 21, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Yesterday after Bruce and Rob arrived at the Islington and Bloor nest site, I left the watch in their capable hands and headed up here to William Osler to check in on the family for a few hours. My initial task was to locate all of the chicks which is like trying to find a green smartie in the grass. Hurricane and Chessie always have such handsomely dark chicks that match the color of the louvres quite nicely. It didn’t take long to find them as Chessie flew in with a massive pigeon and they were on their feet cheering her on. She flew into the ledge and spent the next 40 minutes beak feeding each chick that only stopped howling their excitement long enough to swallow. Two chicks then galloped down to the south H sign and pancaked out for a few hours leaving the other two lots of room in the nest tray for napping. Hurricane and Chessie also took the next few hours to nap in the tower which had me in my vehicle dozing a bit myself. All 7 of us had a good wee sleep and by noon Hurricane took off west. About 20 minutes later he came flapping in like mad with… …oh no… …NOT ANOTHER PIGEON??!! Yup. Chessie took the pigeon lunch onto the ledge and beak fed again. More pancaking followed and one chick was in such a food stupor that it leaned against a pillar and fell asleep standing up and screaming. Back to the tower for the parents and let nap number two commence. The third pigeon arrived around 4pm and now one of the chicks was screaming and running AWAY from the feeding scramble totally disinterested but screaming anyways ’cause everybody else was. Goodness gracious. By 530pm we were all zonked out again and Bruce was calling with a low bird report. I left my cell number with security just in case one of these two tonners came down and I headed down to Islington and Bloor to back up Bruce. On my way back north I stopped in for a head count and all four chicks crops could easily be seen from the Moon as they had recently been fed yet again. Sunday I will be spending the day once again checking in on how close we are to the start of the full watch.
Posted on June 21, 2015 4:04 pm
June 20, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
This morning we received notice from Ross Bartlett at William Osler that we may have had an early fledge today. It appeared that one of the juveniles may have flown and ended up on the west side of the hospital on the 10th ledge. Tomorrow (Saturday) was our scheduled spot check for readiness to fledge as the oldest chick is now 35 days of age and we were concerned that we may have had a slip off or an eager beaver so off we went to check it out.
Bruce headed out there before going over to Islington and Bloor to take a look around and was only able to find three of the four on the ledge. Two of the chicks are still half covered in down and the other is looking more like a potential fledgling with little areas of down left to go. He searched the grounds to no avail and checked the nest tray camera while I did another round of the grounds from a little further out to get a better angle on the ledge. Chessie left on a hunt while Hurricane sat in the tower and returned with a pigeon for the kids. She took it around to the east ledge and up pops four heads, the fourth one sporting a really neat downy mohawk!
The good news is that all four kids are on the ledge safe and sound. I will be out tomorrow to continue my assessment of the young and start gathering the troops for the full time fledge watch to begin. Thank you so much to Ross at William Osler for keeping such a close eye on your young ones. We look forward to starting the full time fledge watch sometime very soon.
Posted on June 20, 2015 12:55 am
June 05, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 5th - 2015
Banding Day!strong>
A big thank you to Ross and the William Osler Hospital for hosting the banding today, as it was a very successful morning indeed! All four young hatchlings were banded this morning and returned safely back their parents in record time and everything went without a hitch! 
William Osler writes:
It was a pleasure to be a part of the banding process today. After receiving over 80 submissions from our staff over the past week, we have decided on the names: Benny, Winston, Sven, and Peggy. We hope you like them as much as we do!
All four hatchlings checked out very healthy with the typical feisty peregrine attitudes that we are looking to see.
Their particulars are as follows:
1st - A male named Benny - 580 grams - Banded Black Y over 14 with Green Tape
2nd - A female named Peggy - 795 grams - Banded Black Y over 96 with Red tape
3rd - A male named Winston - 606 grams - Banded Black Y over 15 with White Tape
4th - A male named Sven - 530 grams - Banded Black Y over 16 with Yellow Tape
Both resident adults were on hand to voice their dissatisfaction with or efforts, but waited patiently for their hatchlings return.
You can see some of the video footage taken with the CPF wireless colour camera that was recorded throughout the event on our YouTube page at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHlNQ5LCbkTPps432yxEaQ
Posted on June 5, 2015 11:41 pm
May 28, 2015 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Marion Nash Reports:
May 27th - 2015
A quickly update, we have been able to confirm a June 5th banding date for the William Osler Hospital peregrine hatchlings!
The plan is to meet at 9am for set-up, and to start the banding process for 9:30am.
This is a closed to the general public banding due to the restrictions of space and time constraints.
Stay tuned for all of the banding details, photos, video and updated news.
Posted on May 28, 2015 10:52 pm
