March 30, 2014 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:
On Sun, Mar 30, 2014 at 9:38 AM, <mloonweller@yahoo.com> wrote:
Good morning everyone,
I’m writing from the bridge this morning. Got here about 30 minutes ago and Freddie was perched atop the Assumption Church steeple keeping an eye on the world and Voltaire was on the pipe under the bridge. No action from either one.
After waiting about 30 minutes, Freddie took a leisurely flight under the bridge, circled around and flew in to Voltaire for copulation purposes. She seemed to be ready and waiting for him. Spring is in the air!
After the brief encounter, Freddie flew to the bridge and has been enjoying the sunshine perched just to the east side of the nest box but in the small area blocked from the nest by a steel beam and concrete. Seems to be enjoying the “afterglow” of his efforts.
The watch will begin soon!
Cheers,
Marilyn
Posted on March 30, 2014 11:26 am
March 30, 2014 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Bruce Massey Reports:
I stopped in on Friday for a check in at the Canada Square nest site for the presence of eggs. When I arrived I met up with Neil from Northam Realty and we headed up to the nest ledge level for some observations. I checked the west side scrapes and there were not any eggs as of yet but both adults were seen. When I left and went outside, I found the female on the northeast corner and the male on an east ledge. The female took off down Eglinton on a very low hunt, about light standard level, and returned shortly back up Eglinton. Both adults then flew into the eastern ledges and disappeared. We will check in again next week as they are close to laying eggs and to see which ledge they choose this year.
Posted on March 30, 2014 8:37 am
March 30, 2014 - Kitchener - CTV-Bell Media Tower
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Today Bruce and I made our way out to Waterloo to check in on the resident adults progress towards the nesting season. When we arrived we initially didn’t have any birds in view so we started a walkabout of the nest building looking for the pair. On the north side of the nest building we located a roosting adult sitting in the lee of the wind which we believed to be the female. We left her there roosting while we went to get the scopes and upon our return, we found the male flying around the west side sign. He flew out over the parking lot and up into the nest box with the female right behind him. The two of them entered the nest box and were there for a good 5 minutes before the male emerged and flew around to the west side sign. The female remained in the box and we made our way over to check him out. As we re-positioned, the female came out of the box and flew around to the north side parapet that she had just recently left.
We caught up with the male roosting on the west side sign and here we split our resources; Bruce stayed on the male and I went around to the north to watch the female. Given that the pair were both out for a prolonged period, we suspected that there were no eggs present and we now set to trying to ID the adults. Just as we were setting up the scopes the male takes to the air and retrieves a cache of prey. He flies out towards the west drawing the female off of her roost. She then meets him in the air and literally fights him for the prey. He squealed at her and refused to let go so they both made away with a portion of their own. She returned to the north side parapets to eat and he went back to the west side sign. This was pretty strange for a bonded couple ready to lay eggs.
Then things really got weird. After eating, the female took off of the north side parapet and flew around to the west side sign landing on the “U”. The male was quite annoyed with this and made 5 or 6 passes at her seemingly trying to get her off of the sign. He was alarm calling as he did this. He finally settled on a parapet above and to the right of her and she decided to now roost and rest for a while. This afforded us looks for identification and we confirmed two things. The male bears a black over red band that is consistent with Caster, the male that has been present for the past two seasons. We couldn’t say for sure if the band read 16 over B as the winds and his height made that very difficult. The female was facing in towards the building and during her preening we were able to see, and photograph, her un-banded legs. This was not Statler.
Where Statler is we can’t say. We do believe that this is a recent event as Caster seems very confused by this and copulation did not occur once during our entire visit of several hours. We met up with Rudy and he watched with us for a while and agrees that this is a recent event. The Waterloo team will be watching to see how this all shakes out and although the nesting season for the site is moving forward and the pair are focusing their attention on the nest box, it looks like it will be somewhat delayed.
Posted on March 30, 2014 7:57 am
March 29, 2014 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Kathy Reports:
Rouge has just gotten up and I can see 3 beautiful eggs she’s been laying on now that the cam is back online!
Posted on March 29, 2014 2:02 pm
March 29, 2014 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
After my “visitor” flew through at the CPF Raptor Centre Thursday night, I was very eager to get down to the William Osler nest site and see if in fact Hurricane was back. You see, in years past Hurricane would occasionally come up Hwy 27 to the Raptor Centre and hunt around the open field behind the barn. He would course low over the treetops, spooking up flocks of starlings and blackbirds, and then pluck his prey out of the flock. This is exactly what this peregrine did the other night and had me truly believing I had just seen Hurricane.
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon at about 2pm. I pulled in to the William Osler site and found an adult asleep on the south facing edge of the tray and one on the north sign eating. This was clue number one that something was different as Casper has never been seen using the north sign for anything. After eating the male flew around to the eastern H sign where he tucked in and started napping. He was calling softly to the female who was still on the tray and she in turn was calling back. The two continued to “sing” to each other for about 20 minutes when the female took off of the tray, flew out over the parking lot and landed on the southeast corner of the hospital. She looked up to the sign and invited him to breed. The male was off the sign in seconds and did as he was asked, cementing the bond between the two of them. He then flew a circuit around the building and swooped up to the nest tray for another nap. Clue number two, Hurricane is famous for napping as often as he gets the chance!! I was able to confirm Chessie’s band number at this point as she took off of the southeast corner in a spectacular stoop towards the northeast hydro corridor. For the next 20 minutes all was quite while the male napped and Chessie was off site. I was able to get good looks at the male and he had such a dark and full helmet on his head, unlike Casper who’s hood was less complete; clue number three!! Suddenly Chessie reappeared on the eastern H and she was just soaked! She had found herself a puddle and had taken a soaker bath in it! She called softly to the male in the tray who responded to her calls and the two once again were singing to each other. After another 40 minutes, he flew out of the tray and around the north side with Chessie hot on his tail. He flew four circuits of the hospital at the fourth floor level in an outstanding display of speed and control, one which Chessie gave up matching on the second revolution of the building. As he passed the south side for the fourth time, he pulled straight up over the east parking lot, stalled for just a second and then flipped over and swooped down and up to the east H sign. I didn’t need a band number to tell me this was my windmaster, the fourth and final clue. Chessie joined him on the H sign where the two copulated a second time and then the pair settled in on the H for a snack and a nap. It was then that I was able to clearly read the band number on the male as a solid black three character band labelled 5 over X (three character bands have a line between the upper and lower characters). Hurricane is home. I left the pair on the eastern H, facing each other, heads tucked in and comfortably napping together.
After the battle out here last weekend I was already suspicious that Hurricane was back. Last Saturday, Casper was the victor and returned to the site as territorial male. That has now changed and we hope that Casper has returned safely to his Viscount Road territory and awaits the return of his mate Claire from migration. A quick check of that site yesterday did reveal fresh whitewash on the buildings but I was unable to successfully sight a bird there. We will be keeping an eye out for him and we hope that he is doing well.
Welcome home Hurricane!! So glad to see you back safe and sound!!
Posted on March 29, 2014 8:26 am
March 28, 2014 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
Several of us were watching online from approximately 4 pm to 5pm while O’Connor seemed to be in labor. Did she lay an egg? We can’t tell but it certainly looked like it, she pushed, she turned, she napped and then she left but we can’t see another egg right now over the edge of the nest box.
Soooo….’two eggs or not two eggs’..that is the question 
March 29th and finally can see two eggs for sure in the nest box!
Posted on March 28, 2014 6:56 pm
March 28, 2014 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Had a surprise visitor at the CPF Raptor Centre last night. As I sat in my car watching the snow, above the treetops bombed in a hunting peregrine! Only one bird in the 14 years I’ve been at the barn caring for these birds has done this... …Hurricane. I am now desperately wanting to get down to the William Osler nest site and see if he is in fact home. The picture is not good as I was caught completely by surprise and it was taken during the snow falling (hence the white dots on the bird).
Posted on March 28, 2014 7:15 am
March 27, 2014 - Scarborough - Yellow Pages
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Coming back through the city from Bowmanville, I decided to take a break from driving and stop in at Yellow Pages to check in on Linn and Rueben. I found Rueben almost right away on the southwest ledges of the building sunning himself. Up that high all I could see at first was a white dot that was out of place on the dark building and the binoculars revealed a preening Rueben. I scanned around for Linn and couldn’t find her at first but a check of her favorite roosts helped me to locate her. She was also sunning herself on the Investors Group sign and pushing down a nice crop of food.
I was able to confirm Linn’s band number, Black 91 over Green V, and get a few photos of the lovely lady up on the sign. We look forward to season with the pair and will be watching to see what ledge they choose to nest on this year. Not the best photos but I hope you enjoy.
Posted on March 27, 2014 8:03 am
March 27, 2014 - Bowmanville - St Mary's Cement
Tracy Simpson Reports:
On the road with Project School Visit I had the pleasure this week of spending time in the Bowmanville area. Yesterday I finished early and took a moment to stop in at the St. Mary’s Cement nest site to check in on Buffy and Legacy after this long hard winter. I met up with staff who helped get me out to the site and when I first arrived, I couldn’t see anyone. It wasn’t a minute when Legacy came bombing in with food and Buffy was hot on his tail. She almost landed on top of him, snatching the prey and taking it up top to dine. Legacy sat one level below her and watched her eat, vocalizing occasionally, and cleaning his talons.
Thank you so much to the staff at St. Mary’s for taking a moment with me to check in on the pair. I will be back soon to see what progress they are making towards nesting.
Posted on March 27, 2014 7:57 am
March 27, 2014 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:
Yeah good news I am so excited I have to share. Like I do everyday I go on the web site to look at the nest sites. Yesterday I noticed the adult Peregrine lying down so this morning I checked again and all I saw was an EGG!!!!!
Have a great day
Dennis & Gwen Gidge Patrick
Posted on March 27, 2014 7:55 am
