June 14, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 14th - 2011I watched the peregrines this evening for about two hours.
The mother flew off at one point and a few minutes later flew back to the Rio-Can south face, landed on one of the window ledges and then flew to the level directly below the nest level but on the north face. She ate there and although she was joined by the male she did not share with him. Once she had satisfied her hunger she picked up the remains and flew onto the nest ledge where she fed all three youngsters. She took about 25 minutes to do so and then left. The youngest of the three was right there demanding his share of the pigeon. He is an aggressive little youngster but being the youngest I guess he has to be.
After the mother left the ledge there was some flying back and about by both adults until the male flew south of the condos and disappeared from view.
Some long minutes later he returned with what looked like a European starling. He landed on the south face of the Rio-Can building and then flew to roof on the west face where he plucked and ate his fill. Then came the surprise. He flew to the nest ledge with remnants of the carcase in his talons and hobbled to the widow side of the ledge (out of my view). I have no idea whether he fed the youngsters, himself, or just left what he had brought to ledge. After some minutes the female flew to the Rio-Can south face. A few minutes after that the male left the ledge and flew to the southwest corner where he spent time cleaning his feet and his beak. Then he flew to the Rio-Can building south face. One of the youngsters was up again near edge of the ledge and that is how I left them.
I don’t know if anyone has seen the male take food onto the nest ledge before but this is a first time for me.
Cheers
Lyn
Posted on June 24, 2011 11:07 am
June 22, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Report for June 21st & June 22nd - Canada Square.
I did not make any notes yesterday but spent about three hours watching the Peregrines. They eyases spent time on the edge exercising their wings and hoping for food. The adult pair only fed the young later in the watch. We saw the male take a small bird over Eglinton Ave right at Duplex. I think it may have been a sparrow but I am not sure. The little bird was minding it’s own business as I spotted it when the male peregrine came swooping in and caught it.
Today there was not a lot of activity from the eyases. They spent some of the time just sitting on the edge with the occasional bit of wing exercise. The mother swooped down the Yonge street side of the Canada Square Building and two minutes later came back with a large bird which I think was a pigeon. She tried unsuccessfully to climb long the western side of Canada Square but eventually did make it to the rooftop of the black building over the bus station. There she proceeded to pluck the bird and for many minutes feathers rained down the side of the building. The male had followed her and perched on the roof not too far from her but he eventually flew off over the Police Station.
Bruce saw him make an attempt on a pigeon just up Duplex Ave. He apparently did tag the pigeon but did not make the catch. He flew back to Canada Square and sat on the top of one of the *walls* south of the nest. He remained there the whole time the female plucked the bird she had caught and then ate. When she had finished she *buzzed* the nest and flew across Eglinton to the Rio-can building where she perched. Two minutes later the male flew to where the remains of the pigeon were and he ate well.
He then picked up what was left flew a circle before flying to the north end of Canada Square building and out of sight. The female followed him. Shortly thereafter one of the Peregrines flew into the nest ledge and dropped the leftovers for the young and flew out again to settle on one of the walls south of the nest ledge.
The weather began closing in and we left the two adults on the edge of the black building where the female had plucked the pigeon. The eyases were bedded down but as we moved off one popped up.
The oldest eyas is now 41 days and has proved me wrong about being ready to fledge!! We still have three youngsters on the ledge at Canada Square. Bruce assures me that one and maybe two will fledge by Sunday. I just hope the two oldest do not fly at the same time!!
We can still see some of the baby down on the youngest, although his adult feathers and colours are beginning to show. At the moment he is noticeably smaller than his older brothers.
Cheers
Lyn
Posted on June 24, 2011 9:39 am
June 14, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 14th - 2011
I watched the peregrines this evening for about two hours.
The mother flew off at one point and a few minutes later flew back to the Rio-Can south face, landed on one of the window ledges and then flew to the level directly below the nest level but on the north face. She ate there and although she was joined by the male she did not share with him. Once she had satisfied her hunger she picked up the remains and flew onto the nest ledge where she fed all three youngsters. She took about 25 minutes to do so and then left. The youngest of the three was right there demanding his share of the pigeon. He is an aggressive little youngster but being the youngest I guess he has to be.
After the mother left the ledge there was some flying back and about by both adults until the male flew south of the condos and disappeared from view.
Some long minutes later he returned with what looked like a european starling. He landed on the south face of the Rio-Can bulding and then flew to roof on the west face where he plucked and ate his fill. Then came the surprise. He flew to the nest ledge with remnants of the carcase in his talons and hobbled to the widow side of the ledge (out of my view). I have no idea whether he fed the youngsters, himself, or just left what he had brought to ledge. After some minutes the female flew to the Rio-Can south face. A few minutes after that the male left the ledge and flew to the southwest corner where he spent time cleaning his feet and his beak. Then he flew to the Rio-Can building south face. One of the youngsters was up again near edge of the ledge and that is how I left them.
I don’t know if anyone has seen the male take food onto the nest ledge before but this is a first time for me.
Cheers
Lyn
Posted on June 20, 2011 12:14 pm
June 20, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
June 20th - 2011
I think the Canada Square youngsters are ready to fly - well one perhaps is.
I do not go out until the sun has moved way over to the west so that I am in shade when observing.
Today the mother flew onto the nest ledge with food and off again immediately taken food with her. On another couple of occasions she flew onto the ledge without food and off immediately. The male did the same thing once, onto the ledge and off. He also flew by the nest a couple of times. This is *new* behaviour that I am seeing and I don’t think it is just time of day stuff, between 6pm and 9pm.
The youngsters were fed by the mother and much later on the male took his leftovers onto the ledge and left them. He did not feed the youngsters.
One youngster really revved up his wing exercises and is now facing outward and standing on the ledge whilst doing this. Once this evening I thought he would fly but thank heavens he did not.
Cheers
Lyn
Posted on June 20, 2011 10:41 am
June 11, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Tracy Simpson Reports:
A tremendously exciting day at the Canada Square building at Yonge and Eglinton where three beautiful chicks named Luke, Chester and Buzz were banded. A big thank you to all that made this fabulous day possible!! Here are some more pictures of this amazing event. I was able to get some images of the female taking care of the “villain” and dispatching him from her nest ledge. The resident female did a fabulous job and Stormin’ took the fantastic crew from Solar Window Washing to task as well. Enjoy!!
Posted on June 11, 2011 11:14 pm
June 10, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Mark Nash Reports:
A huge success banding the three young hatchlings today and lots of excitement!!
With both resident adults defending the hatchlings and ledge, it was a huge success! A big thank you to the property management for hosting the banding and to Solar Window washing for their support in getting the three young hatchlings for us and staying on the nest ledge to be the villains to distract the adults while we were banding the chicks. It was a very good day indeed!
The best news came half way through the banding process, with the new resident adult male “Stormin” who also made a strong appearance while assisting his female mate in defence of the 3 young hatchlings and the nest ledge. Both resident adults were on hand to strongly show their dissatisfaction with the entire situation and were aggressively defending ,, which is exactly what we all wanted to see!
Stormin, - (who was produced in 2009 at the Toronto Sheraton nest site - Banded Black 30 over Black Y) not being the sire of the these chicks (and replaced the original resident male “Irving” -after he was killed two weeks ago after a colliding with a hydro line) has finally, and clearly demonstrated that he has accepted parental responsibility for the hatchlings. The resident adult female is not banded and her origin is not known. Irvine, the original resident male - (and sire of the chicks) was produced in Chicago Ill USA in 2009, banded with a Black B over a Green 44. He was killed on May 21st at Eglinton and Mt. Pleasant here in Toronto.
Three healthy hatchlings named Luke, Chester and Buzz - (all male chicks) were successfully banded and returned to the nest ledge and their parents without incident.
Posted on June 11, 2011 4:06 am
June 06, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Mark Nash Reports:
Just a short note to let you all know that the banding date has been booked and confirmed for Friday June 10th at 10 am in the morning! Its going to be a very busy day indeed as we have also confirmed and booked the Scarborough Yellow Pages banding this same day at 2 pm in the afternoon.
An update on the Canada Square nest site peregrines,,, the best news in that the new resident male has been providing food to the resident female and actively involved in the family rearing process, despite that he is not the “sire” of the young hatchlings.
We have been monitoring the nest site very closely since the original resident male named “Irving” - (banded Black B over Green 44,, - who was produced in 2007 in Chicago Ill. USA.) was killed in a collision with a cable several blocks from the Yonge & Eglinton nest site just over a week ago.
As you may recall, a new adult male was literally on territory and courting the resident unbanded female as we retrieved Irving’s body from the Toronto Animal Services.
The new male, identified as an adult male named “Stormin”, was produced at the Toronto Sheraton nest site in 2009, and banded Black 30 over Black Y.
The resident unbanded adult female was not eager to accept “Stormin” and there were some very tense moments observed as she initially tried to drive Stormin out of the territory and protect her chicks.
Today, not only has she accepted his presence, but Stormin has been observed participating in the rearing of the young hatchlings! He has been providing food for the resident female despite the fact that the young hatchlings are not his! At this point, it appears that Stormin has fully accepted the responsibility of the resident male, as he has been observed both defending the territory and continues to provide food for the resident female. She has also now allowed Stormin for the first time into the nest ledge unattended with the hatchlings. While he is not actually brooding the hatchlings or actually fed them himself, he has not taken any action to hurt them at this point.
Stay tuned………..
Posted on June 7, 2011 11:06 am
June 02, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Tracy Simpson Reports:
First off I would like to apologize for the lack of posts as I have been at a banding event every day and it seems in every corner of the province!! It has been wonderful to be able to celebrate these banding events as another opportunity to participate in the monitoring of this species at risk and equally exhausting!! Here is the update that we have all been anxiously awaiting.
There has certainly been much to watch at the Canada Square nest site and we have been documenting a great deal of behaviour observed between the new male and the resident female. One of the best observations came from Neil Armstrong of Northern Realty Advisors Ltd when he checked on the three chicks from the observation room on Monday May 30th. The new male was on the ledge with the chicks alone for a full five minutes and he exhibited nothing but curiosity for the young ones. Thanks to Neil we were able to get a band number and confirm that the new male on-site is none other than Stormin’, a 2009 hatch from the Toronto Sheraton Hotel. Stormin’ has been spotted several times over the past year in the Warden and Eglinton area as well as several other places throughout the east GTA. His tenacity paid off with a territory to call his own that came furnished with a female and chicks already in place!!
The next big step for this male would be to adopt the young as his own by participating in not just the defence of the site and young but food provision as well. Bruce and Lyn have been attending regularly in the hopes of witnessing such an event and their efforts were rewarded today with an observation of Stormin’ flying up to the nest ledge with food!! The resident female flew into the ledge and demanded he hand it over which he relinquished half heartedly. The female then proceeded into the ledge to feed the chicks and Stormin’ took this as his cue to leave. It is now clear that Stormin’ has accepted the role of resident male at the Canada Square nest site and is participating in the rearing of the young family. From the vacancy of the territory left by the death of Irving to the adoption of the family by the new male Stormin’, the change over came full circle in a matter of 12 days. A huge thank you goes out to Bruce, Lyn and Neil Armstrong at Northern Realty Advisors Ltd for all of their efforts in documenting this event so thoroughly.
Posted on June 4, 2011 5:54 pm
May 28, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Since the death of Irving, the resident male at the Canada Square Building last Saturday, we have been on-site each day to monitor the new male that has taken up a position in the territory with the resident female and her brood of three chicks. What follows is the observations of Bruce and Lyn last night and today.
4:53pm May 27 - Male was perched on the north side of Eglinton and the female was in the nest ledge. The male then flew off to the RioCan Building across from the nest site and she joined him on the same ledge. The female tolerates his presence and shares the same roost ledge as the new male. Shortly after, she leaves and flies into the nest ledge with the new male following closely behind. He doesn’t land on the ledge but flies past and lands on another ledge nearby to the nest. The female shows no reaction to his proximity.
5:46pm May 27 - Female leaves the nest ledge and heads south followed by the male. Moments later both adults return with the new male in the lead and her following. They cross over each other over Eglinton Avenue showing no signs of aggression towards one another. The flight resembles more courtship than anything.
5:20pm Today - The new male enters the nest ledge and walks in to where the chicks are located. The resident female follows him in but not aggressively or in alarm. Half a minute passes and the male appears and then leaves the nest ledge. Shortly after, the resident female and new male pair up to chase off a Red Tailed hawk from the area. Bruce was able to see that this male is banded and will make efforts to identify him. The new male has yet to bring food to her or to stash any at the regular cache sites.
6:12pm Today - Both the resident female and new male chase off another potential threat from the territory in a tandem effort. The female heads northeast, catches a pigeon and returns to the north side of the Canada Square nest building to prepare it for the young. The resident female enters the nest ledge and feeds the chicks. She later appears with what remains of the meal, eats some herself and stashes the rest. Still no indication that the male is providing any food for her.
We will continue to be on-site each day and monitor the behavior of this new male and the resident female. Updates will continuously be posted on this change in males and the progression of the relationship between the adults. We will also work to identify this new male and ascertain whether he is actively participating in food providing. Check back for daily updates as this story unfolds.
Posted on May 28, 2011 10:31 pm
May 25, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Tracy Simpson Reports:
We received a call at the CPF head office on Saturday May 21st from a gentleman in the Eglinton and Mount Pleasant area that he had witnessed a peregrine falcon, in a stoop, make contact with a wire and then fall to the ground dying instantaneously. The gentleman noticed that the bird was banded, preserved it in his freezer and contacted the CPF. We unfortunately were not able to get the call that day as we were attneding the Port Colbourne nest site and almost a dozen other nest sites over the long weekend. We responded to the call on Tuesday and found that the bird had been retrieved by Toronto Animal Services. We placed a call to them immediately as we had a sinking feeling that this bird was the resident male at the Canada Square nest site. They had indeed picked the bird up from the gentleman and they were awaiting my arrival to retrieve the bird from them for identification. My time spent at the Canada Square site to date had only given me partial glances of a band number on the male, but enough information to confirm that this was in fact the resident male from the Canada Square nest site. The CPF then simultaneously launched an investigation into the state of the nest site at the Canada Square building and confirming the identity of the deceased bird.
The bird was a 2007 hatch from the Uptown Theatre in Chicago, Illinois and his name was Irving. He was easily visually identified at the Canada Square nest site last year by a noticeable kink in his wing that would not allow him to fully extend it in a soar. Looking at the records for the Uptown Theatre in Chicago during 2007, it was noted that the fledgling Black over Green B/44 was grounded after 4 weeks of post fledge experience and was taken to rehab with a broken wing. He was later released and has gone on to produce young in 2010 and 2011 in Uptown Toronto at the Canada Square nest site. We are happy to see that through the monitoring of fledgling peregrine falcons in streets of Chicago, as the CPF does here in southern Ontario, that Irving was found and given a second chance through rehabilitation. We are pleased that he chose Toronto to nest in and he will be missed.
Back at the Canada Square nest site, the female was now charged with the task of taking care of not just two, but now three young chicks. The third egg hatched on Thursday May 19 as reported by Neil Armstrong and his excellent staff at Northern Realty Advisors Ltd. that manage the Canada Square building. Upon my arrival at the site, I met with Neil to discuss the news about the male and he was able to confirm that there was without a doubt two falcons on-site at that very moment. It would seem that a rival for Irving’s territory had arrived and was making all attempts at interacting with the resident female. I raced up to the observation suite to check on the young to find the three chicks on the ledge and the two adults tandem soaring over Eglinton Avenue.
I must say that where a peregrine needs us, we show up in droves!! I was in the observation suite, Bruce and Lyn were in the streets and Mark and Marion were on the way!! Bruce and I were on the phone communicating locations and vantage points of the adults and through our observations of their behavior we have determined that the resident female has accepted this new male into the territory but is not allowing him to the nest ledge just yet. The resident female showed a moment of trust by allowing the new male the opportunity to defend the site from a crow that wandered through; a job that he accomplished quite quickly and I am sure in the hopes of convincing her that he would be an appropriate mate. We have observed no aggressiveness by either the resident female or the new male in the territory towards one another and they have cooperatively participated in vanquishing a window washer from his duties. We are now and will continue to be in the streets and on-site each day at the Canada Square nest to monitor the resident pair, attempt to identify the new male and gather detailed observations on the progress of this change in the resident male adult.
I have included photos of Irving as well as the latest member of the Canada Square family of falcons. There is a noticeable difference in size and age of the last chick of this brood in comparison with the first hatched. A trend we are observing throughout southern Ontario in at least three nest sites so far.
Posted on May 27, 2011 8:08 pm
