Bruce reports
As of Thursday May 28th there are 2 hatchlings in the nest.
May 27th - 2015
We have finally been able to coordinate and book the Canada Square banding for June 10th at 11am.
The plan will be to meet at 9am for set-up and start banding at 11 sharp. This requires additional set-up time given the additional resources needed in consideration to the physical location that the peregrine have chosen to nest on this year.
This banding is not open to the general public and by invitation only at the request of the property manager, in part due to the limited space that we have to conduct the banding. All CPF fledge watch volunteers are invited.
Please stay tuned as we will get the details, photos, video and particulars of the banding as soon as we can there after.
First chick for Canada Square hatched last evening or early this morning. How sweet!!!
Stay tuned for further hatch reports and photos
Thanks Lyn for the update and photos!
I was on site on Tuesday and was able to confirm that Haven and her mate are currently incubating three eggs. I clearly saw all three during a changeover but it happened so fast that confirmation of the male’s identity was impossible. I was able to see though that he has a silver USFW and a solid black recovery band on his left leg which is consistent with Malik. Congratulations to Canada Square on three eggs.
I went back today to Canada Square to check on the single egg on the southwest side of the building as we weren’t convinced that this was a change in location that would last. Several years ago Haven laid three eggs on two different ledges before settling with a clutch that she later hatched out on the northwest ledge we are all familiar with. I met up with Lyn and we went upstairs with Bruce from building management and sure enough the egg on the southwest end has been abandoned and Haven is back on the old nest ledge with eggs. I left with Lyn standing watch for a changeover and hopefully confirmation on the male’s bands.
A big thank you to Lynn and Bruce for their efforts down at Canada Square to confirm that the first egg has indeed arrived. Lynn was up checking yesterday and Bruce is on site currently and both were able to see the first egg for this pair but this year in a new location. When they went upstairs to take a look and check all of the ledges, it would appear that this pair have chosen to use a ledge on the west side down near the south end of Canada Square. Considering that this is Malik’s first year nesting it is not surprising that the location of the scrape has changed.
When Bruce left the office tower and made his way back down to the street, he witnessed what he believed initially was courtship flights. It wasn’t long before Bruce was able to see the second male in the territory that the two resident adults were attempting to escort out. So while we are celebrating the arrival of the first egg there is still much to be done and learned at Canada Square. Bruce will be back down this weekend to try and determine the identities of the resident adults as well as report on the situation involving this second male.
Yesterday Bruce Massey visited the Canada Square nest site to check in on Haven and her mate. After checking in with building management he headed upstairs to check for the presence of eggs. The first egg has not arrived yet but the adults are definitely working on a scrape. Bruce did positively identify the unbanded adult female known as Haven but has yet to confirm whether the male is still Malik. We will continue to try and confirm the ID of the male and watch for the arrival of the first egg.
I checked on the peregrines at Canada Square on July 28. I saw two juveniles and positively ID’d the one as Linden - yellow band. They flew around and over Rio-Can (RC), the Yonge Eglinton intersection and Canada Square. Linden went into a stoop east along Eglinton Ave but came up empty.
Just before I left Malik did a fly-by and fly-over and once his inspection was over Haven flew in for a quick check. I was not able to get colour on the second juvie’s band.
On July 31 I was out for an hour and a half and had some activity to watch and record. Malik kept himself entertained and me busy for close to an hour. He flew over Y/E intersection and Canada Square then settled temporarily on the south east corner of RC. There was a spurt of activity when he went into a stoop along Eglinton east and caught as small bird which he promptly offloaded on the north *nest* level. Having done that, he hopped down to the ledge below and then flew around Canada Square to pop up again on the ledge below the nest. Once he had completed his inspection he flew north around Canada Square and I saw him go into a dive before disappearing on the east side of the building.
Five minutes later he was kiting and soaring above the tall Condo (identified because of missing tail feather). He really enjoyed the breeze and went into a stoop around the two condos, played a little *touch and go* on the top of the condo and then disappeared again. The next time I spotted him he was flying over Canada Square then east of RC and back again over the old bus bays and then to the south west corner of RC.
Whilst he was perched I saw a peregrine stoop on a pigeon over the Y/E intersection and miss but it was close and I think the pigeon shed a feather or two and high tailed it for northern Ontario. Malik flew to the RC roof and then Haven flew around Canada Square, east of RC and back to the third ledge south of the wall on Canada Square where she settled for a while and feasted on a pigeon. Once that meal was done she cleaned her beak and flew to the east side of Canada Square and was gone.
Malik was a bit restless and continued to fly here and there and even went into a stoop south on Duplex, really, really, low, but missed. Eventually he too disappeared.
On Friday, Aug 1, I was briefly entertained by Chinook, positive ID blue band who had been sitting on the first ledge south of the wall. He REALLY did not want to move and didn’t for a while. When he eventually flew it was simply off Canada Square and onto RC and a third of the way up. When he was that much closer to me I could see the reason for his reluctant flight. He looked as if his crop was working through a tennis ball. It was HUGE. He was stuffed. At one point it was all he could do to turn his head and watch two gulls fly over, way high up. Whilst I was sitting there musing over his meal I noticed a very dark cloud coming in from the north. Haven did a quick fly-by and as big drops began to fall I packed up and scuttled into the mall.
On Saturday I spotted Haven high up at the BACK of the Heart and Stroke building – hiding! This used to be Stormin’s favourite hide out.
Lyn
I was out on July 21 but it was slow so I was only out for an hour and a quarter. In all that time I saw a seaplane flying REALLY low over the apartment building at 411 and I am sure this set two peregrines to flight. They must have been as startled as I. Three minutes later I spotted a juvie on the ledge at the side of the windows on Rio-Can (RC) on the fourth floor. He spent the next hour and eleven minutes there. Initially he was occupied cleaning his talons but he was hardly able to reach them he had such a barrel shaped crop. He did a 180, did his business and made another 180 and that was the extent of his activities apart from occasionally opening or closing an eye. I managed to get colour on his band and identified him as Chinook.
Today July 26th was a little more promising. I was out from 4:00 pm until 6:00 pm. It took me half an hour to get colour on one band and I was only able to get the colour on the second band when I was at the computer at home.
There was little activity at first. Some flights over the bus bays and then one juvie flew onto the third ledge south of the concrete wall on Canada Square. This was my first ID, yellow tape, Linden. Both Malik and Haven did fly-by’s. Haven’s was more of an escape to the north. Later on when Malik was circling the bus bays and Y/E intersection and the Canada Square roof, young Linden flew onto that roof. Chinook, later ID’d, flew to the antenna on top of 2180 Yonge.
I was talking to a few people and did not catch every movement so was a tad surprised when two juvies flew off RC. The two juvies spent some time flying over all the tall building especially the tall condo as there must have been lovely updrafts there. They really used the wind to their advantage by just cruising along and then turning and sweeping away at an exciting pace, with the breeze. Two of them have been flying for one month and four days now and they are doing splendidly. The later fledgling, although off to a slow and low start, is also flying really well.
I did have a giggle at two landings today. The first was when Linden flew onto the third ledge and did a *J-up* landing but then lost his balance and fell forward a bit and so flapped his wings. It was not an elegant landing. The second one was when the two juvies were flying around the top of the tall condo and one landed on a north east spire. The juvie chasing him flew up to do the same thing but was feet short of the top, fluttered awkwardly and then aborted the attempted landing. He flew out and back a bit higher and then managed to knock his brother off his perch. There were a few dives and chases and talon touches but not many.
Haven flew in from north of 411 Duplex Ave with Chinook in hot pursuit but all his effort was in squawking at her. She flew over the bus bays, over Y/E intersection, east a bit and then came back over Canada Square and landed very neatly on the nest ledge and disappeared to the back. Chinook was just coming back over Canada Square at this point and had no idea where Haven had gone. He was out over the bus bays when Haven burst out of the nest ledge and again flew north. In spite of their agility in the air these juvies are not as good as Haven or Malik, yet! Eventually Chinook came to rest on the antenna on top of Canada Square for a bit. However, by the time I had packed my bags there were two juvies on the south west corner of RC and that is where I left them, peering hopefully into the area for a meal.
Lyn
On Sunday morning, July 13th, at 7:01 I heard the squawking of a hungry youngster. It did not last long so I assumed he was fed. At 8:17 the same morning I again heard squawking. I was not awake enough to go and check. Just before 6:00 pm I went out. I was treated to the sight of and adult and juvie over Rio-Can (RC). Very soon after that Haven flew over RC and then Canada Square with a small food parcel. Haven was not giving that over easily and flew back to RC where she deposited it and the juvie took it. Haven eventually settled on the south face of RC. A juvie flew over Canada Square and south towards Davisville and was gone from view. Twenty minutes later Malik and a juvie were flying all over the top of RC, the Y/E intersection and Canada Square. They were quite high and circled and swooped for a few minutes before disappearing from view. I have no idea how many juvies I saw or whether it was the same one. All flights were strong.
Fast forward to today, July 15, when I heard a juvie squawking at approximately 2:00 pm. I eventually was out at around 6:00 pm. I did not have long to wait!! I had a wonderful private viewing of what the three, (3, count them) juvies can do.
The show started off quite slowly with one juvie flying in from the west, over 2190 Yonge and then to 2180 Yonge where he circled the antenna and played *touch-and-go* unsuccessfully and circled to try again. Three minutes later there were two juvies in the air over RC. One had just been kiting or hovering and the second one flew in at huge speed and they both turned and talon touched. Because of the speed and quick turn I thought that may have been an adult but it was a juvie. The two of them flew together over the Y/E intersection and Canada Square and south to the antenna atop 2180 Yonge.
Malik then entered the equation and flew over the tall condo, was joined by the twosome and all three flew back over Duplex Ave and somewhere west. Malik then took off and the *twosome* were left in his dust. They knew they were *bested* and simply kited where they were, back over 2180 Yonge. That was a temporary arrangement. A third peregrine flew in and I thought *oh dad is back*. Not so !!
For another twenty minutes I had three juveniles in the air, together and apart. Haven flew through the airspace once and went south. The three juvies then played every conceivable game they could, all in the airspace above Rio-Can, Canada Square, the Y/E intersection, the old bus bays, Duplex Ave and the Police Station. I had a front row seat to all this. They swooped and dived on one another at heart stopping (for me ) speeds. They turned and presented talons, sometimes just two and sometimes all three juvies. How they did not become entangled I don`t know. They practised hovering and kiting and did a few touch-and-goes. One little chappie was at the antenna on 2180 and had his wings spread doing a touch-and-go, I think, but he was near the end of one of the right jutting rods and kept moving right and more right and I knew what was coming! He *fell off* but of course just flew as if nothing untoward had happened.
The three also played tag or catch-me-if-you-can. Again I emphasise this was at great speed. Thank goodness they were high. There was a breeze on the ground and I think they found something they liked over the high buildings and simply used the wind to their advantage. Everything was so effortless! Rio-Can appeared to be the predominant playground of choice today until they flew up Duplex to number 500 where they played on the antenna a bit before disappearing altogether.
They are poetry in motion in the air now. Much of the *flap- flap* flight has disappeared and they fly almost effortlessly. They know to keep their height and they do!
Lyn