Yesterday I checked the web cameras in the morning as the sun was shining quite nicely to start the day. If found Windwhistler preening away and working on his “hairdo”. As spring is approaching fast, he needs to make sure he looks good for Erin!! Nice to see him enjoying the sunshine.
Bruce and I made our way next down to the Hilton Garden Inn as this site is inextricably tied to the William Osler Hospital as Casper, the resident male identified here last year, has been seen regularly seen at the Hospital with Chessie as of late.
Upon arrival, I searched all of the usual spots that Casper and Claire, the resident female, hang out on. Nothing. I was driving east on Caroga Drive for another pass around the area and found Casper sitting on a light standard at the end of the road. I pulled over and snapped several pictures while Bruce got a scope view of him. This was clearly Casper. He has a solid black recovery band marked 35 over Y that Bruce was able to confirm. He sat roosting on the light standard for a while and then out of nowhere comes a kestrel that attempts to knock Casper right in the head. Unamused by this, Casper takes off in hot pursuit across the 427 towards the east. He returns in a few minutes and flies up to his favorite roost spot on the Hilton Garden Inn.
Bruce and I alter our positions for a better look at Casper. Up to this point there is no sign of Claire. Not unusual as she tends to use the Hilton more so in the evening. A quick scan of the area and we found the female on the same light standard that Casper had just left. Bruce and I again reposition and I begin to take pictures. In reviewing the images, I can clearly see a bright red blood stain on the undertail feathers of this female near her left leg. This was Chessie. The stain on her undertail feathers confirms without a doubt that this bird was at William Osler half an hour before we located her here. It was quite cold and blustery and for the most part her bands were covered but she did reveal her silver USFW band. Claire is banded black over green with a PURPLE USFW band. This was not Claire but Chessie. Chessie sat for quite some time on the light and then as I dove into my car for a warm up of the fingers ( this always happens to me ) she was off like a shot towards the Holiday Inn across the 427 and we could see her stooping something twice before turning back and flying to our side of the highway. She flew over towards the other Hilton hotel, stooped again and then went low out of sight. Casper didn’t move off of the Garden Inn and remained roosting in his corner. I drove around the neighborhood and found Chessie on a TV style antenna of a one story commercial business that was at best 20 feet off of the ground. She stayed on that antenna until it was too dark to take any more pictures and I left her sitting there looking very uncomfortable and uneasy. I was able to get a shot of her band that confirms that this is indeed Chessie with a black over green 49 / AD. At no time did she approach or land on the Hilton Garden Inn but did keep Casper in her sights.
So, to sum up. Hurricane is not at the William Osler Hospital. Casper is. Now Claire is not at the Hilton Garden Inn. Chessie is. It would appear that two adults from two separate sites have relinquished control of their territories and the two that remain in the area, Casper and Chessie, are working to sort out where they want to be. Bruce and I will be staying on this. Where are Claire and Hurricane? Where will this potential new pairing end up? More questions than answers I’m afraid.
Bruce Massey and I spent some time this weekend checking in on things at the William Osler Hospital. As you know, Hurricane has not been seen since Dec. 22 when he was last confirmed on site and the male now hanging around here is Casper from the Hilton Garden Inn territory.
When I arrived, I found Chessie in the east tower on the very top in the middle of the tower. I checked in with security and then out to the parking lot for a look and some pictures. She had a very full crop that she was working on digesting and usually in “squish the food” mode, the birds are more relaxed. Not Chessie today. Her head was swivelling madly behind her to the east and then it she would swivel back around to look southwest. This went on for several minutes and as Bruce arrived we remarked how uneasy she looked. Boom!! She was off like a shot to the east on a very serious mission and disappeared from sight. It wasn’t 5 minutes and she had returned to the eastern end of the tower and was roosting. I snapped some pictures of her and as I was reviewing them, I could clearly see that there was a patch of bright red blood staining her undertail feathers, perhaps from a rather messy meal. No sign of any male at the William Osler site and so Bruce and I left Chessie preening in the hydro tower and made our way down to the Hilton Garden Inn. Little did I know that the staining on Chessie in the photo would play a very important role in what we experienced and came to understand next. The story continues in the post that follows for the Hilton Garden Inn.
On Saturday I was checking out the web cameras in the morning and caught Windwhistler at home doing the housework. For the most part he wandered back and forth along the ledge and spent a good patch of time preening but at one point, Erin must have done a fly by to check on him and he became very animated. He ran off of the ledge and straight into the nest bowl behind the pillar with a look to say, “Almost done, dear. I’m working on it.” Erin did not land on the ledge but you could tell that she’d left as he peeked out from behind the pillar and went back to the ledge to nap. Nice to see him there and so animated!!
I stopped in for a quick site check at the William Osler Hospital to see what was happening today at the site. I was unable to locate any peregrines on the building or in the towers to the east, north and south. I will continue to check in and keep you updated as events unfold.
Yesterday I stopped by for a visit at the Etobicoke Sun Life nest site and found O’Connor perched high on the west tower and Jack nowhere in sight. After a few minutes, O’Connor flew off of her perch straight to the nest ledge and landed right in the tray. As she bowed and chupped, Jack flew in from the south and swooped up to the sloped window section of the ledge. The two exchanged a few words before settling down for a few minutes. O’Connor was feeling a little hungry and decided to line herself up for lunch. While O’Connor opted to shop for fresh stuff, Jack was content to fly up to the ledge to the right of the nest ledge and have leftovers.
O’Connor flew over to the west tower looking north and in a blink of an eye she was off. I circled around to the Lomond parking lot to try and relocate her and the pigeons were going wild. The next thing I see is O’Connor circling with a pigeon in tow and I am amazed at the size comparison. A pigeon is no easy meal to carry but she managed quite well as she circled up to the hydro tower at the subway. Before I could get there she had already taken off with her meal to the nest building and was chowing down.
It was very nice to see the pair together on such a sunny day and I look forward to seeing more of them in the coming months.
As recent events have tied this site with the William Osler Hospital, I am trying where possible to monitor both for activity by the peregrines in the area. As I drove to the site I could see two birds on the antenna of the Holiday Inn on Airport Road. This is just opposite the Hilton Garden Inn, is a perfect sightline for the Hilton and alt Hotels and is an area that Claire has been seen defending. As I approached the site, both birds flew off to the east and I followed one as it travelled. The bird came down low near the Doubletree Hotel on Dixon Rd and was definately on a hunt. I located the bird and it was an enormous female Red Tailed hawk. Usually when the RT hawks sit on the Holiday Inn, Claire gives them all she’s got to move them off as this is a hunting area for her. I have on several occasions watched her stooping on any loafing raptor on this roof. She must have been out of the area to allow this disregard for her territory.
I drove back along Dixon to Airport Rd and saw two sizeable birds whipping through the Hilton Garden Inn area towards the airport. I cannot say what species they were for certain, but flight style suggests peregrine. I checked the Caroga Drive hotels and the alt Hotel but no peregrines were to be found.
I will be attempting to include the Viscount Road area in my site checks as often as I can as the sites are only 4km apart. I have posted a map showing the distance as the peregrine flies. So far, no sign of Claire or Casper at the site or in the area but this is not unusual for the peregrines or at this time of year in general. I will keep you posted.
As the William Osler Hospital site is close to the Raptor Centre and easy for me to get to, I stopped in briefly on both Sunday and yesterday for some quick observations of activities. On Sunday, as I pulled in I found Chessie in the east tower on the third pillar eating. As she plucked and ate, Casper flew off of the nest ledge and landed in the first pillar closest to the building and began to whine. He was begging, not chupping, in the hopes of getting a morsel of food. Chessie didn’t budge and aggressively tore into her food. The entire time she was eating, her head would snap up every few seconds and glance to the south. There was something in her vision that she clearly wasn’t trusting but she continued to eat without interruption. After a minute or so, Casper gave up on trying to beg for food and sat quietly in the first pillar of the tower preening.
Yesterday I arrived late in the day as the light was growing dim and spotted a peregrine on top of the eastern pillar of the hydro tower. It was Chessie and once again she was aggressively plucking and eating giving me a sense of unease. She would pluck, then look south, then pluck, then look south… …each mouthful of food was followed by an intense look in that direction. She was definately on guard. Casper was nowhere to be seen.
Chessie is now prepping and eating her food on the very top of the hydro tower. This is not her usual spot but it is the best vantage point for her to watch the area. I will continue to watch and report.
On Sunday, I met up with Linda Woods and we were chatting about the downtown pairs at King Street and Toronto Sheraton Hotel and how camera shy they have been lately. I was able to capture an image on Sunday of a tail sticking out from behind the pillar indicating that someone was indeed home at King Street during the warm spell. As we were chatting and watching the skies, zzzzzzzzzoooooooooommmm… …Linda’s eagle eye catches one of the adults flying south through the downtown core towards the lakeshore. I remarked how nice it would be to see them both and confirm the presence of the pair in the area. Before I could finish my sentence, zzzzzzzzzoooooooooommmm… …Windwhistler flies through in hot pursuit of Erin towards the lakeshore. The pair were definately onto something and had serious intentions! Great to see the pair in action, however brief, and I will be back down to visit with them in the near future.
Our last stop this weekend was over at the Brampton Courthouse to check in on the happenings with Milton and his new girl Midnight. When we arrived at the courthouse, there were no peregrines to be found and so Bruce and I headed up to Shoppers World to look for Midnight. She has been see almost daily hanging out on the roof tops of the apartments behind the plaza and she is actively hunting the abundance of pigeons in the area. When we entered the parking lot we indeed found Midnight perched high on a building and digesting a crop of food. Many pigeons were swirling around her chosen perch and one nearly landed beside her before realizing what she was and veering off. Although interested in watching the activity, Midnight made no move to hunt any of these foolish daredevil pigeons that were flying around her as she clearly had already done that earlier and was satisfied. As we haven’t seen Milton in a while, we decided to drive north to the downtown area and look about. Bruce and I did a walk about of the area but were unsuccessful in finding any peregrines. Milton may have a new hangout and Midnight was sure interested in something to the east of Shoppers World. We will be back to check in on the pair and keep you updated as spring approaches.