July 02, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DON MILLS/AMEXON : DAY 2
Bruce arrived to find Lerxst on the garage roof. I was there shortly after and we watched him there for 2 hours. He finally flew off and around to the north side of the nest building, 10th floor… Pretty darn good. But it got better. He didn’t stay long… He flew out over Eglinton and turned came back and made the roof! Way to go Lerxst!
He walked around to above the nest ledge to say hello to his siblings and harass Mom for food. He eventually flew over next door to the rooftop!! So good.
Now, there are a lot of people who walk their dogs below the nest. And when one came by, Mom and Dad started patrolling above. Well, Lerxst decided to join in. Absolutely not said Mom and she escorted him back but he did not want to go and tried to go south… No way said Mom. And she firmly deposited him on the rooftop. The dog had left by then lol. And it was the heat of the day. Lerxst tried one more time to join Dad this time, but again was sent back to the rooftop. He finally gave up and had a rest.
Later, he made so many flights, it was amazing. Some were good, some not so good. But he recovered every time and landed on several different ledges. He finally stayed put on an eighth floor ledge and rested. Whew.
Bruce had left so missed most of it but Bob had joined me, so he enjoyed the show.
We were then joined by Ted. And Lerxst finally woke up and showed off his flying skills to Ted. He ended up after a few flights back above the nest ledge. He was looking down at his siblings, wanting to join them. So, he jumped very purposely off and with great control, flapped straight down to the ledge. Wow. Quite the feat, very impressive! And Ted got the whole sequence!! Thank you Ted. Bob left us then and a short time after Rob came. Ted then left to check out the kids at Don Mills site.
I should mention that Gideon and Peter had a very lazy day. They only perked up, and in Peter’s case showed up, when Lerxst joined them. It was a happy reunion.
Parents brought food and there we left the three siblings together for the night.
What a great day.
Posted on July 9, 2024 8:17 pm
June 29, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DON MILLS SPOT CHECK : Thanks to Ted for keeping an eye on our kids and getting some great shots. Here are just a few… More to come!
Posted on July 9, 2024 7:59 pm
July 01, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills and Eglinton - Amexon
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DAY ONE DON MILLS/AMEXON :
Happy Canada Day! And a beautiful day it was–we have a fledge!! The oldest boy, Lerxst, has had his first two flights!
Rob and I arrived early this morning and found Mom, Nagata, above the nest ledge. We saw Gideon (girl) and Lerxst on the nest ledge, looking out at the world. I’ve been checking on them the last few days and found Gideon up and most of her down gone and Lerxst also up, with very little down. Little Peter just was peeking over. So I knew we were ready.
After a few hours, Lerxst was off! Mom was right with him… Around the building they went and came around. Lerxst tried to land on the nest building, hit the concrete (fairly gently), he fell about 3 levels, recovered and with Mom below him guiding him, headed across to the other building, where Mom helped him land 4 stories up. Not bad for a first flight! And there he stayed for the next 6 hours lol. We were joined by Bob(Bruce even dropped by to say hello). Mom and Dad finally started to try and get him to leave, showing him over and over how to get off the ledge. He finally was off, (heading straight for us it seemed) heading for the nest building, missed the ledge, recovered, headed back, touched off the concrete just 2 floors above where he just had left and headed low back to the nest building. He gained height and landed, not bad at all, on the 7th level. Well done Lerxst!! And there he spent the night.
Gideon spent the day up and down, practicing. We only saw Peter’s top of head until the evening when he hopped up on the concrete block just back from the ledge. Nice to see you Peter! But it didn’t last and we didn’t see him again. They were fed and quiet at dark.
A great first day! Looking forward to seeing more great flights from Lerxst and would love to see Gideon in the air but she is still a bit young… But you never know! Peter still has a few days to go.
Posted on July 9, 2024 7:43 pm
June 28, 2024 - Brampton - Courthouse
Cathy Kerr Reports:
FLEDGE WATCH - Brampton Courthouse - Thursday, June 27 & Friday, June 28
Lucie reports:
THURSDAY - It was my first time fledge watching at this location and I was looking forward to seeing PERCY, who had come down the night before and landed on a low building directly across the street from the nest building. When I arrived around lunch time, mom was on the roof of this building and then jumped down out of sight where Percy was assumed to be.
Finally, around 5 pm Percy made an appearance on the ledge! From that time until 9 pm, I got to see and photograph him up close, whether he was being fed by mom or just looking darn cute. I watched mom bring food for Percy .. a white pigeon .. she dropped it off in front of him and picked a few feathers to feed him. Then she stepped away while he just looked at the pigeon and struggled with it. It took awhile then it sunk it .. mom started to beak feed him. He ended up with a full crop very content. We wondered if she might be a first-time mom .. and even if so, she’s a great mom, constantly watching out over him!
It’s always a great feeling to be able to ID a peregrine and especially wonderful to know that it’s NICO, from the Duncan Mill site, son of Quest and Mystery, and first-time dad!
Cathy posted some of my photos a couple of days ago and I’m adding a few more from that evening of mom and Percy on the roof. And it was so nice to finally meet Toivo and spend some time on this fledge watch with him.
FRIDAY - A very noteworthy day for sure and one that will certainly be remembered by myself and Winston. I was on my way to the courthouse when I got a call that Percy was down and needed rescuing. Winston and Toivo thankfully were on the job and with their efficient teamwork got Percy in the crate. Congrats to Winston on his first successful rescue!!
When I arrived, the first thing I saw was mom on the light post right in front of me with food in her talons. With the help of the courthouse staff, we released Percy on the roof and almost instantly mom flew to the roof and Percy was grabbing the food from her!!
From his release until 9:00 pm, Percy remained on the ledge, with his parents very close by. He had several feedings. Dad dropped the food off in front of him, then mom came in to beak feed. The most activity that I saw occurred after 7:30 when a pair of kestrels decided to cause a stir. I watched as mom took the brunt of their swoops, while dad remained with Percy. My heart went out to mom who endured this pair who were probably protecting their own young on the other side of the building, where I understand is their territory. I left around 9 pm and all was quiet, including the kestrels.
Mom is unbanded and has no name, so we have decided to call her ROSE. Cheers, Lucie
Posted on June 29, 2024 10:30 pm
June 27, 2024 - Brampton - Courthouse
Cathy Kerr Reports:
Lucy and I are so thrilled to announce that the resident male at Brampton Courthouse has been positively ID’d as NICO, 2021 hatch out of Don Mills, son of our beloved Quest and Mystery!!!! Percy is their grandson! Beautiful
Sally, Bob, Mark and Marion and I fledge watched him… His first flight found him landing on a hydro pole, in wires, on a blistering hot day. We waited anxiously and he finally took off low, and Mark rescued him. Obviously, he was released successfully and now has a wonderful mate and the cutest son!!
I asked Lucie and Winston to try and get an ID as soon as Toivo let me know that the male was banded. Winston got a partial, and we suspected Nico but we needed positive ID. And Lucie got it!! Thanks guys for this wonderful news.
I’ve dug up some of Nico’s fledge watch pics but the best one is Lucie’s… Our boy all grown up. Sorry if this is a bit sappy, but we put so much into our fledge watches and CPF, and it’s for moments like this, that make it all worth while.
Posted on June 29, 2024 10:20 pm
June 27, 2024 - Brampton - Courthouse
Cathy Kerr Reports:
And we are off!!
Toivo has been keeping an eye on our little one and thank goodness for that!
He arrived to find him down, probably blown off by the strong winds we have been having. He rescued him. Way to go Toivo!!!
After a rest, I joined Toivo and Mark Heaton and we got that little guy (yes its a boy) banded, his name is Percy, and then back up on the nest building, and back to his parents.
Toivo and I were happy to see his parents up with him within minutes. Lovely. I headed back to work and left Toivo to watch.
Later in the afternoon a storm came up but Toivo had lost sight of him but just knew he was not on the ledge any more. After the storm passed, Toivo observed Mom bring food across the street on the very large roof. She popped down, then a bit later, up without food. Bingo! Our little guy was across the street.
And there he spent the night.
Yesterday was a long day for Toivo and Lucie. Percy got fed multiple times on that roof and didn’t make an appearance until late in the day. Such a cutie.
Hopefully they will get to see some nice flights today!
Go Percy
Thanks Lucie for her great pics of him on the roof.
Posted on June 28, 2024 3:56 pm
June 24, 2024 - Toronto - Don Mills
Cathy Kerr Reports:
DON MILLS SPOT CHECK:
Mike was over to see the family at Don Mills yesterday morning and is happy to report all 5 seen. And doing well!
Thanks Mike for the update and pictures!
Posted on June 25, 2024 8:31 pm
June 22, 2024 - Brampton - Courthouse
Cathy Kerr Reports:
BRAMPTON COURTHOUSE UPDATE :
Toivo reports :
On Saturday I got my first good look at the chick,
at least 33 to 35 days old but size indicates a male and surprised at how many pin feathers still there, where it is standing is kind of dangerous as no grip to hold on in all of the wind but he did.
Thanks Toivo for the update. Looking forward to your fledge report
Posted on June 25, 2024 8:20 pm
June 22, 2024 - Oshawa - Lakeridge Hospital
Cathy Kerr Reports:
LAKERIDGE UPDATE : Linda reports that little Echo is doing just great! After being off exploring, she finally saw him at the nest box. Wonderful news.
Thanks Linda.
Posted on June 25, 2024 8:15 pm
June 19, 2024 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Cathy Kerr Reports:
SPOT CHECK WILLIAM OSLER :
Scott reports that he sees the fledglings every day but cannot ID them as they are in the air or too far away. Except one day when the boy, Kai visited the staff lounge! He got a good pic that day!
Thanks for keeping an eye out for them and keeping us informed. And for your pictures.
Posted on June 25, 2024 7:59 pm
