July 24, 2013 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
Frank has been laying in the nest box for over an hour now and his sister Lizzie has joined him on the ledge. She finally stretched out her leg so I could confirm her yellow tape! Unfortunately the editor cuts out her leg with the tape but it is there in the photo I’ve saved to my desktop. Lizzie is the one of the left in the photo attached 
It’s great to see them together on the ledge again!
Posted on July 24, 2013 5:26 pm
July 22, 2013 - Toronto - Don Mills
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 22nd - 2013
Kendal’s Diagnosis:
Kendal suffers from a fractured left coracoid in addition to his right clavicle having also been fractured. The head trauma and swelling on the left side of his head, trauma to his left eye has since dissipated less than 24 hours after his admission and as of date, is no longer an issue. There is a tiny ulceration on the left eye, which is being treated and no longer a concern at this point.
After more than 17 years dealing with peregrines and having had to deal with hundreds of fractures over this same time frame, we have long since learned that in these cases, the coracoid fracture (especially for a peregrine and peregrine sized and smaller birds), that this is the most serious of his injuries. While far from being life threatening, coracoid fractures are not surgically repairable for small birds.
This particular injury could only be best described as having a permanently dislocated shoulder, one that could prevent full extension of the wing, and a huge loss of muscle strength and wing control.
As you know, peregrines are very unique in their flight set and skills, unlike many of the other birds of prey. Peregrines (and most other large falcons in general) have thick heavy bodies and very small wings in comparison to other raptor’s.
Other Eagles, Hawks, Owls and Accipiter’s have much broader wings, and many of these other birds of prey can both easily fly and stay aloft even in dead air, as their larger wing mass allows much greater lift and sustained flight. Peregrines although, (and other similar type falcons) due in part to their smaller wings and heavy body mass, need allot of assistance from air movement, updrafts and altitude to allow them to do what they do, requiring incredible wing and muscle strength and in particular, wing flexibility and mobility.
While he may be able to fly from perch to perch, (maybe ground to perch), we must remember that the peregrine is the F-16 jet fighter of all birds of prey, one that is a hi-performance open air dependant bird. They hunt from altitude, in the open air from above and behind their prey, utilizing an incredible muscle set and wing make-up to achieve this type of performance, one that not only allows them to both survive, but to be able to out perform the very birds its needs to provide for itself and family.
That being said, the prognosis for this type of wing / shoulder injury does not look promising. At this stage, for Kendal, only time will tell.
Our fingers remained crossed for Kendal.
Stay tuned…………
Posted on July 24, 2013 10:31 am
July 24, 2013 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
Lovely cool morning and Miss O’Connor was happily preening away on her web cam perch this morning. Wonderful to see her back in her favorite spot again! I did see Frank earlier on the web cam - that boy sure loves the nest box
Tracy has been lucky enough to see all three girls at home over the past weekend. I guess they’re out and about during the day so I don’t get to see them all together anymore but rest assured the family is all accounted for and doing fine!
Posted on July 24, 2013 10:07 am
July 23, 2013 - Toronto - Don Mills
Ann Brokelman Reports:
Stopped in on Don Mills on the way back from a meeting. Only had a short visit. First saw Carina on the ledge of 240 SW corner eating something large. Quest flew by me as I watched from Harlequin. I could hear a second juvenile calling from the back of 240. Just as I was going to look for the juvenile Quest came in with more food and landed on the ledge with Carina. Carina crop was huge but she wanted the food mom brought in. She chased her and grabbed the food. Quest moved ahead, Carina over and over followed her on the ledge. Finally she knocked Quest off the ledge and the food went flying in the air. Quest lost her dinner. Carina continued to eat the left overs on the ledge. At the time I left Carina and Luna were on 240 and Quest was on 220.
Posted on July 23, 2013 9:38 pm
July 23, 2013 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Ok. So here’s the story. Back in 2012, a pair of peregrines were hanging around at the Alt Hotel near Viscount Rd which is on the north side of Pearson International Airport. We were alerted to their presence as the hotel had called for assistance regarding these birds on their building. Not knowing what they were, they reported two loud grayish birds with one louder brown one dropping prey remains around the grounds. After investigating the site, Bruce and I were able to confirm the pair of peregrines and identify them as Claire banded Black *S over Green *B hatched in 2009 at the Blue Water Bridge in Michigan and Casper banded solid Black 35 over Y hatched in 2009 at a residential nest site in southern Ontario. They had produced at least one male offspring that we were able to photograph and we were able to determine that their buildings of interest were the Hilton Garden Inn and the Alt Hotel. We continued to check in on the pair and by early December, Claire was no longer present. This prompted Casper to incur on a neighboring territory, the William Osler Hospital, and oust the resident male Hurricane who was missing and replaced sometime after Dec. 22, 2012. We continued to monitor both territories and by mid January Chessie, the resident female at William Osler, was now following her new mate Casper down to the Hilton. In Feb. 2013, they were photographed in the Hilton territory and were also seen roosting at the Osler territory. Casper was forcing a decision by Chessie; which site dear? In March they were copulating in both territories but Chessie finally settled on the Osler site which Casper was bound to follow. Just prior to egg laying in late March, I attended the site and found the male sitting calmly in Hurricane’s usual roost spot mimicking his behaviour. No imitation here, it was indeed Hurricane back on the site. We checked the Hilton territory off and on for weeks thereafter with no sign of any adults whatsoever. No white wash on the buildings. No presence at all. We deemed the territory now void and moved on to the nest sites that were now hatching eggs and in need of our attention.
As reported by Mark Nash earlier, on July 4th a juvenile peregrine falcon female was rescued from the ground in the Hilton Garden Inn territory at 427 and Dixon Road. She was turned over to Mark Heaton that day, was banded and then released on the roof of the neighboring Hilton hotel (there are two). Bruce and I were determined to check this out once watches were concluded.
On Sunday, we attended the territory and were on a mission. We started at the Alt Hotel and made the rounds. Bruce was at the Alt Hotel with no birds in sight and I was at the Hilton Garden Inn. I had located an adult male roosting on the light above the sign. Casper’s favorite hang out. I sat and waited for the look I needed at the band and was able to clearly photograph the 35 over Y on his solid black band. This was confirmed Casper. We continued our search and I located a second peregrine on the office towers one block south. I raced over to find a juvenile female on the edge of the roof. I was able to photograph, and Bruce confirmed this by scope view, that this female was unbanded making her a second surviving produced offspring by Casper and his unknown mate. We left the territory for another site with intentions of returning in the evening for the late day roost. I found the adult female on the sign of the Alt Hotel and had already had the adult male on the Hilton Garden Inn sign. I waited her out and was able to confirm by scope view that this is in fact Claire banded Black *S over Green *B. She’s back!
Our theory is this. Claire partially migrated in the late fall of 2012 prompting Casper to seek partnership elsewhere. He invaded the Osler territory and wounded Hurricane in battle. Casper won the day , the site and Chessie. At breeding season in March 2013, Chessie decided on the Osler site as her nest site of choice and Hurricane, watching from afar, was determined, now stronger and wiser, to get her and his territory back. Hurricane engaged Casper and won this round and was back at Osler with Chessie. Casper had now disappeared and was healing up from battle. Claire returns to the Hilton Garden Inn territory. Her and Casper reunite and produce a late clutch resulting in the July 4th fledge and rescue. This juvenile female had obviously not been on the wing long. If we estimate her age as around 45 to 50 days, that would put her hatch date as late June. Tracks with all that’s happened. By that time we were all engaged in dawn to dusk watches and this pair slipped two girls in right past us.
Congratulations Casper and Claire on another successful year. We are determined to confirm just which building the nest site is on although we suspect the Alt Hotel or the Hilton Garden Inn. We will keep you updated as we learn more.
Pictures to follow.
Posted on July 23, 2013 11:49 am
July 23, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
For the past few days I, along with all of our staff and volunteers, have been doing site checks to account for all of our wild peregrines after Friday’s 110kph sustained winds reported by Pearson Airport. On Saturday, I was able to confirm that Chessie and Hurricane were both on site and are flying great. I was also able to confirm the presence of Blizzard having photographed her and her white tape being visible. On Sunday, I made another foray out to the site and located Chessie and a single juvenile, this time being Maverick. It took a while to get a visual on his blue tape but it was worth the wait. Yesterday I stopped in for a third try as I was still looking to account for Aura, the second female with red tape. She was the second fledge at William Osler and has been a high flyer ever since. I found Blizzard and Maverick alone in the east tower and no other peregrines on site. Both juveniles were concentrating their attention to the west over towards the Humber Arboretum and I believe that’s where the parents were with Aura. I will continue to check in until I can confirm the presence of Aura (she scoots in and out so much now) and will keep you updated on the progress of their training.
Posted on July 23, 2013 11:15 am
July 22, 2013 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I apologize for the earlier posting but I didn’t want to leave things with Ashley out of the core of the territory. By July 1st Ashley had returned home and life with the MEC family was moving forward. Katherine and Shannon who both work in MEC 3, Margaret who lives locally and the many incredible folks we met and befriended at MEC 3 have been keeping an eye on the family. From July 2nd leading up to this most recent awful heat wave lasting 6 days, Ashley has been flying well with Cass and Sante and her training has been progressing rapidly. Not only has she been back to the nest box and all over the MEC complex, she has also made flights back to Morguard, Accenture, CIBC and beyond to the west side of Square One.
Last week during the heat, Cass was found deceased in the parking lot behind the CIBC building. She was found on Tuesday July 16th and security was alerted at CIBC. During the time we spent watching Ashley on this building, we spoke regularly with security there and we educated them about the family and the species. While they did not have our numbers to contact, on Tuesday they clearly recognized what bird now lay in their parking lot and called Mississauga Animal Services. They came and retrieved Cass and took her back to their nearby location for holding. They contacted our head office and I was dispatched yesterday to pick her up.
Given that she was fatally wounded prior to the violent winds this past Friday, I was surely going to examine her to try and determine what had happened. There were wounds on the top of her feet and neck that might be consistent with a battle of some sort. Although no such fight was witnessed, she was clearly wounded. When I returned to the center and was able to look her over more closely, I checked her wings for damage and her humerus of the right wing was broken. This is an impact fracture. I believe that Cass had somehow become involved in territorial defense or was distracted during a hunt. She then lost control and made a very hard sharp contact with something that then broke her right wing. On the ground in the parking lot, she could have collided with a light pole or been accidentally hit by a car. Given that she was found away from the building, a window strike is less likely.
After picking her up I went straight to MEC to look for Sante and Ashley. I had attended on Sunday, after the storm, and located Ashley on the Morguard building. I searched for both adults and was frustrated in that I couldn’t find either of them. I believed that they couldn’t be far and intended to return to account for them as this past storm wreaked havoc and has injured another two peregrines elsewhere. When I arrived at MEC 3 yesterday evening, I found an unbanded adult male in the bottom of the S of Dejardins. He was on edge. There was no sign of Ashley as of yet but I believed that this could be Sante. To be sure, I waited to see him interact with Ashley which would assure me that this was her father. He flew to MEC 2 to the cache site that he always uses and then flew over to MEC 4 under the Jevco sign. Ashley came flying in from the Square One area and met him on the ledge. He gave her the cache which she promptly dropped in her enthusiasm off the edge of the ledge. She remained on MEC 4 screaming at Sante for more while he sat watching out to the west. He left on another hunt shortly thereafter while Ashley remained on MEC 4.
I can tell you this. This is another sad loss for MEC and one that Sante is not unfamiliar with. Last year he defended, fed and trained his last remaining offspring, Janet, alone without a supportive female. He did an outstanding job and was able to take her right through to the fall. While this is not an easy task ahead of him, he will do it again. He will give Ashley all his attention and dedication and he is a remarkable male in his ability to succeed in this. He has our unwavering support as we will continue to check in and watch these two as fall migration slowly approaches.
Posted on July 23, 2013 11:01 am
July 01, 2013 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Bruce Massey Reports:
Thank you for your continued patience as we try to catch up on the stories of the families at various nest sites. Dawn to dusk at the sites leaves little time for anything else and so our posting went by the wayside. Still, with that said, it is important to finish telling the tale.
Ashley was resighted this morning, Day 20 of the watch, by Margaret and Katherine on the west side of the Morguard building. She hung around that building off and on throughout the day and finally took the long flight back home. She flew straight over to MEC 3 and landed like a pro. She was home. The rest of the day was spent back and forth between the MEC complex buildings exploring her world at home and chasing the parents for food.
Why so long? Why so hard? We’ve talked about this amongst ourselves and we believe that a key factor in the length of her “getting it together” was the loss of her sister Catherine. Ashley has no competition for food and attention from her parents. Ashley has no other siblings to prompt her to fly and train. Her training could now be in her time and at her pace as there is no other juveniles to urge her on or compete with her. We have seen this scenario play out at several other single chick nest sites and it is very consistent. While it was not as long a watch in all cases, it certainly extended the training period well beyond the norm.
We are really pleased that Ashley has now returned home and is staying high. It is our hope then that the watch can offcially be scaled back as of this day, July 1st, to site checks and monitoring. The dawn to dusk at MEC can now slow down. Thank goodness as we are all exhausted and with other sites still requiring our attention, we can now breathe a sigh of relief. Congratulations Ashley, you’re a big girl now!!
Posted on July 23, 2013 10:29 am
July 07, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Not having seen the offspring here at the hospital for a few days now I’m eager to check in and see how they were doing. Before I even turned the corner onto Humber College Boulevard I could see them in the air. All three juveniles were flying above the hospital in lazy circles playing tag with one another. Pulled in and checked in with security and let them know that I was here and eager to get some pictures of the amazing flight and I was no witnessing outside. I position myself to watch the kids from the best angle and waited. It didn’t take long before all three were soaring in lazy circles above my head. They would each in turn approach one another and lock talons for a brief moment before releasing and continuing on in their soar. These three are so skilled and it’s not surprising knowing who their father is. The best was still yet to come as Hurricane, sitting in the tower watching his children playing, was finally enticed to join them. If there is such a thing as aerial poetry, this was it. Hurricane came off of the tower and flew west along the south face of the hospital with three kids in tow. They had no chance whatsoever of keeping up to this windmaster but boy did they ever try. He took them further west past the hospital out over the ravine where he took them low over the treetops and showed them were all the food was. The children circled back without their father and it was only a minute when he returned and flew 15 feet above my head back towards his kids. These are the days that I wait for, just like every watcher at every other site, where the kids are flying so well there’s very little to no chance they’re coming to ground in need of our help. These are the days that we watch in awe of these amazing creatures and their ability to fly so well as to make it look easy. Hurricane and his three offspring were flying together and putting on a show like none other. It got even better.
Chessie decided that she could no longer resist as well. This was the opportunity to fly with her kids and her mate enjoy the afternoon at the hospital. A falcons life is a serious one with not a lot of opportunity for things such as play. This was one such rare afternoon where the family could indulge and enjoy each others company. I now had the entire family in the air. Two girls were playing with mom while dad and his son were chasing one another around the hospital as fast as little boy blue could go. The next few weeks of training, food drops and chases are going to be spectacular to watch and I truly feel honored to have been a part of this. Congratulations William Osler on another season well done.
Posted on July 23, 2013 9:53 am
July 01, 2013 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I thank you for your patience as I am continuing to catch up on all of the past stories at the William Osler Hospital watch. On the holiday Monday July 1st, I arrived at the hospital and found Apollo 3 in the same spot that Bruce had left him the night before at close of watch. He was on the low roof of the Medical Center and spent the bulk of the morning running the edge, jumping back out of sight and then coming to the edge again. He wanted to fly but was holding back. His three siblings, Maverick, Aura and Blizzard, each took turns flying down to visit and encourage him which incurred a reprimand by Chessie. She didn’t want her kids on that low rooftop but was allowing it so long as Apollo 3 had yet to fly. By the afternoon he finally took a flight that took him around low over the emergency entrance and over the mechanical area on the south side. I did not see where he landed but I could tell that it was low and down at the southwest corner. I circled the hospital several times to no avail and waited for the parents to give me some kind of a clue. Both Hurricane and Chessie were paying great attention to the southwest corner and so I returned to check it out. There was a chance that the male could have ended up on the mechanical roof on the south side and so I contacted security for assistance. They were amazing in helping me by checking out areas on their rounds that were blind spots to me on the ground. We were able to locate Apollo 3 and seeing him closely now it was clear that the left wing was drooping seriously. I rescued him from the southwest corner of the hospital and contacted Mark Nash regarding setting up a vet visit for him. Mark Heaton of the OMNR was notified and we were off to the raptor centre for the night. The other three siblings were flying very well. As I was leaving, Hurricane was sitting above Apollo 3’s last known location with Blizzard and Maverick nearby. Aura was in the tower with Chessie watching from afar. Many thanks to the folks in security that helped make this rescue possible. Were it not for their assistance I might not have found him so readily. Also, a big thank you to Winston who joined me for the evening watch and was instrumental in helping to find and rescue Apollo 3. We will keep you updated as to his condition and the results of his vet visit.
Posted on July 23, 2013 9:19 am
