March 12th - 2015
Spring is in the air, as we’re seeing increased activity on all of the nest ledges her in urban town.
March 11th - 2015
Some quick shots sent in to us showing one of the Bloor and Islington resident adults busy scrapping a nesting bowl in the nest tray pea-gravel preparing for eggs? Fingers crossed!!
Stay tuned….
Received from Paul Gosselin today:
Here are some more pictures of Voltaire and Freddie
taken on 03/11/2015. From Paul Gosselin.
The pictures were taken between 5:30 and 6:30 PM.
Could you please post them for us again. The pictures
on the box are of Freddie and the one on the pipe is
Voltaire. The picture on the wall is also Freddie.
Thanks to Paul for sharing some more great pictures of Voltaire and Freddie!
The Hamilton Falconwatch Team has tentatively ID’d the new tiercel hanging around Madame X. With Tracy Simpson’s help they were able to match a O/8 to a young 2012 bird banded at William Osler in Etobicoke.
Hamilton, say hello to Ossie! Based upon a slightly blurry look at leg bands this afternoon, we have tentatively identified the new male at the Hamilton nest as a bird that was banded in 2012 at the William Osler Hospital in Etobicoke. His parents were Hurricane (male) and Chessie (female). This is “tentative” until we can get a clearer look at the bands, to be sure that the upper character is the letter “O” and not the number “0″ (or something else), as it is the former that identifies him as Ossie. So for now, that’s what we’ll be calling him. Welcome to Hamilton, Ossie!
The photo in yesterday’s post showing a falcon in flight is actually of Freddie, rather than Voltaire. The other shots are of Voltaire on the Ambassador Bridge.
March 11th - 2015
After having our earlier observations confirmed, it appears that the new resident male peregrine now in Hamilton at the Hamilton Sheraton nest site is in fact Ossie from the William Osler nest site!
Ossie, banded with a Canadian solid Black leg band baring the digits 0 over 8, (with a line separating the above and below digits) has been positively identified and confirmed to be Ossie!
Windsor volunteer, Paul Gosselin sent these beautiful photos of Voltaire taken this week at the Ambassador Bridge nest site. Voltaire looks healthy and ready for another breeding season!
Thank you to Paul, for sending these great shots!
Sunday March 8, 2015
+1 C / 33 F 12:30 PM Sunny and clear
Monday, March 9, 2015
+4 C / 39 F 10:00 AM Sunny and clear
Finally, above zero degrees for 2 days in row. The canal is no longer frozen over. Just the odd ice flow is making its way out to the lake. The water birds are once again busy diving for food and the Trumpeter Swans are visiting daily so they can drink and bath. YAH!!!
Cirrus and Mackenzie are very busy in and around the nest box. Cirrus is not straying too far. Mackenzie is in the box working on the scrape while Cirrus is standing watch from the corner of the nest box. There is a fair bit of calling going on between the two and lots of mating taking place. When will be have our first egg???
We were able to confirm Cirrus’ band number but have not been able to confirm that Mackenzie is the male. We are working on it. Cirrus is now 9 years old being born in Dayton, Ohio in 2006 and Mackenzie was born in Etobicoke, Ontario in 2009 making him 6 years old this year.
Keeping our fingers crossed for a successful nesting this year.
Windwhistler has been replaced by Stormin. Windwhistler has not been seen in his King St Territory since January. Courtship activity including flights has not been seen. Erin tends to sit away from Stormin , appearing that she is not interested in him. Also, Erin has been lying down behind the pillar since September. Could be a number of possibilities given the harsh cold temperatures this past winter and her age. It is certainly not incubation as there are no eggs as yet. Her age is a good indicator and the fact that only one egg hatched last year at this site. We’ll keep watching for courtship activity but at this time it’s not happening. I think Stormin is more concentrated on patrolling the area, and sometimes wandering over to the Sheraton nest site, which is very close.
March 9th - 2015
Again, thank you to Laura who was able to capture this photo at 4pm this afternoon of both resident adults on the nest ledge at the 18 King Street nest site.
With much speculation of Windwhistler having been displaced (and replaced) earlier on in January of this year by one of his grandsons - (who was clearly identified as being a peregrine named Stormin via his leg band identification), we have yet to be able to identify re-identify the adult male that we’ve been seeing at the Toronto King Street nest site these past two weeks.
Windwhistler (the long standing resident adult male at this site) would be 17 years old this year. He was produced at the Etobicoke nest site at Bloor & Islington in Etobicoke.
Erin, the long standing resident adult female at the 18 King Street nest site (who we suspect is still the adult female being seen on the nest ledge) will also be 17 years old this year!!
The photo taken today by Laura shows an adult laying in the nest bowl behind the pillar in the dark shadow, and an adult male on the ledge just coming in.
Sadly, no leg bands are readable.
Remember that both Windwhistler and Stormin have solid Black coloured leg bands on their left leg,, and Erin has a two coloured leg band (Black over Red) on her left leg.
So the question remains, who is currently residing at the 18 King Street nest site now??????
Please don’t hesitate to send us any and all photos that you are able to capture that have show any legible band numbers!
Also, it certainly looks like we have incubation happing????? Are there any eggs yet?????
