August 07, 2012 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
Bruce Massey Reports:
As I was making my way home in the evening, I came across Eglinton and when I was coming up to the Canada Square building I saw one juvenile flying above the nest building. I couldn’t stop and check whether it was Simcoe or Solar but I can confirm that one young one is still hanging around.
Posted on August 7, 2012 4:50 pm
August 07, 2012 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Bruce Massey Reports:
Yesterday I enjoyed the long weekend Monday by visiting the west end nest sites and catching up on all of the happenings. I stopped in at the Etobicoke Sun Life site early in the morning and although I had no sign of the juveniles, both parents were home. Jack was sitting on one of his favourite perches, the ADP sign and O’Connor was napping away the morning on the camera. She woke up and moved a few times but both adults stayed in the vicinity of the nest ledge. It was nice to see them both together and I’ll keep my eyes open for the kids!
Posted on August 7, 2012 4:48 pm
August 05, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I have spent the last two evenings, Friday and Saturday, chasing after some information. One little letter on the bottom of a black over green band. I swear she knows it.
On Friday, I arrived at about 6pm and found her in her usual spot on a hot day. She was on the east side of MEC 3 digesting yet another enormous crop and napping away. I watched little miss fat and sassy ( as Bruce puts it ) for the next hour and upon awakening, she began to preen. Of course when it came time to preen her left leg, the one I was dying to see, she thrust it forward towards the inside of the ledge obscuring my view of the band. After her preen she turned her left side into the ledge and looked down at me as if to say, “You’ll just need to be patient silly human.” She flew off of the building with a burst and went around to the nest box which she entered and disappeared for at least 5 minutes. When she came out, of course she stood with band in full view but by this time it was after 9pm and darkness was falling. I tried to get a look-see through the scope but no dice. Argh…
On Saturday, I arrived at about the same time and found a bird on the top of the nest box. I pulled out the scope and tried for a look only to realize that this bird was unbanded. After working all day in 42 degrees, my brain failed me for a moment and I thought I was looking at a female. The bird was not as bright white as Sante, the resident male, always appears. It would take me a full 4 hours to realize that I was looking at him with my sunglasses on and that’s why he appeared so dark. Thick as a brick in this heat!!
I set off looking for the female and was doing a ground search of the perimeters of all 4 buildings when I heard her whine. I looked up on MEC 4 and found her hiding in between the horizontals on the letter “E”. Picture the E typed here and imagine her in between the center and bottom lines. Goofy bird. Found some shade in the strangest place possible. Well, she managed to squish herself in there and was whining away for some dinner. This time I had her in full sun and could see the band I was after. Unfortunately I left the scope in the car as it was too hot to carry and only had my camera. I have a ton of great photos of her fiddling around in that “E” and many of her band. But when you’re 20 stories up in the air, as I zoom in for a look, the pixelation takes over and I CAN”T READ IT!! Grrrrr… I decided to head back to the car for the scope and in the few minutes it took me, off she went on a hunt. Double Grrr…. I waited for her to return but was out of luck as the rain and lightning had already begun. As willing as I was to stand in a tornado for one little look at this band, it would have been way too dark to see.
I will be back this weekend to try again and I will be pulling out the big guns on Monday as Bruce will be joining me and we will hopefully have an ID for you. Between the two of us, we should have some news for you and we won’t give up until we do!!!!!
Posted on August 5, 2012 10:21 am
August 05, 2012 - Toronto - Don Mills
Bruce Massey Reports:
My last and final stop yesterday on my east end site checks was at the 220 Duncan Mill Road site to check in on Amora, Blaze and Mira and their parents, Quest and Kendal. I couldn’t see any birds upon my arrival so I decided to take a walk around the perimeter but still no luck. By this time, the heat and humidity were fairly potent and so I would imagine that the family have sought out the shadiest and most breezy spot they could find. I decided to do the same and will check back in again soon.
Posted on August 5, 2012 9:57 am
August 05, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Bruce Massey Reports:
My next stop yesterday was at the ICICI building at Don Mills and Eglinton and when I arrived I found two birds on the nest building. One of the two was the resident male and the other was one of the juveniles, Ben or Len, but I was unable to see the tape color and confirm which boy it was. The adult male had just flown in with food and the juvenile took possession right away. He was not in the mood to share and was left by Dad to mantle over his food and keep it all to himself!
Posted on August 5, 2012 9:55 am
August 04, 2012 - Toronto - Hearn Power Station
Bruce Massey Reports:
I stopped by the Hearn site yesterday to see whether the juveniles were around and the status of the new adult female on site. I was unable to see any of the young ones but the area provides lots of opportunity for them to explore and find food so I suspect they were out and about. The adults were both on the north side of the Hearn facility on the hydro towers. I pulled out the scope and watch the female for a while and when she preened, I was able to clearly see that her right leg was unbanded. I will continue my investigations to confirm this observation and hopefully catch the kids when thay are home.
Posted on August 5, 2012 9:52 am
August 04, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
These observations were made by Cathy who works in the area of the Don Valley ICICI nest site. Thank you so much to Cathy, Irma and Patty who continue to check up on the boys!!
This is a pic of Ben(on left) and Len I took last Friday! Stopped by yesterday ( Wed Aug 1 ) but missed them–Irma did see them in the morning and they were fine!
Cathy
Image soon to be posted.
Posted on August 5, 2012 9:48 am
July 22, 2012 - Mississauga - Holcim
CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 21st-2012
Thanks for your reply. It was a very busy season and HOT!!! So I bet everyone needs a well deserved break in the action.
Photos taken Sunday July 22nd at approx 7AM on the eastern side of the plant. Slow start to their day.
I did a drive by on Friday the 31st and saw one in flight over the plant but when I tried to get to a better viewing point it had disappeared and I didn’t pick it up after that. I do volunteer work around the corner on Winston Churchill twice a week so will try to get more observations to you.
I’m not an expert but thought they were both the adults.
Thanks for all the updates. It’s been fascinating and I didn’t realize there were so many nesting sights.
By all means you may use my photos. Thanks!
Marg Nelson
Posted on August 3, 2012 2:46 pm
August 01, 2012 - Mississauga - Executive Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Tonight I was back again at the MEC site to try and identify the new resident female and finally get her band number. This identification will be a hard won ID as she is very secretive and elusive when it comes to her recovery band. I swear she knows what I’m after and is purposely withholding the evidence!! But I wasn’t to be bested today!!
I found the adult female roosting and digesting a large pigeon sized crop on the east side of MEC 3 and so I grabbed scope, camera and other sundries and headed across the street to the south side of Robert Speck Parkway. I pitched camp on the grass beside the sidewalk, sat down and prepared for a good ole fashioned sit-in. She spent most of her time with her back to me and her left leg, the one I was wanting to see, was an inch or so into the ledge and so I couldn’t readily see the band… …and then she moved. Her left leg was now partially exposed and the top letter was revealed!! On her black over green recovery band, the top letter is a rotated S. I waited ever so patiently for her to turn just a little to the left but that was all she was willing to give up today. By 8pm, she decided to fly over to the nest box and instead of making a turn to launch, she just burst off of the ledge before I could read the lower digit. She flew over to the nest box and landed on the platform but again she was at least an inch or so in and that was enough to obscure my view of the bottom of the band.
I was pleased as punch to call it a day feeling rather triumphant at achieving a partial on her. I will be back to get the full monty, I WILL PREVAIL!! As soon as I get the bottom letter we will reveal the identity of this new resident female at MEC. Check back soon as I intend to keep at it until we know her name!!
Posted on August 2, 2012 1:08 am
August 02, 2012 - International, National and Local News
Tracy Simpson Reports:
As the saying goes, its not over until the fat peregrine fledges!! After visiting MEC yesterday evening, I decided to take Hurontario north to the 401 and on a whim, stopped by the Revenue Canada building at 5800 Hurontario St.
As you may recall, this past spring we had a pair of peregrines hanging out and mating on this building and their final choice in nest site was never truly discovered. We certainly suspected that it was to the south towards MEC but as you can imagine, the pair were very secretive about where they were going. At one point, after witnessing copulation several times, things dramatically changed and only one bird was seen at a time leading us to further believe that the pair had a nest somewhere. This nest was not successful as the area was watched very closely and there were no fledglings to be found.
Last night, when I arrived at Brittania and Hurontario the last rays of the day were fading but there was more than enough light to clearly see a male peregrine perched on the northwest corner of 5800 Hurontario St. This was one of the typical spots that the male was spotted using in the spring as a night roost. I was unable to get an ID on the bird last night but back in the spring, we confirmed that he has a solid black recovery band on his left leg; a Canadian boy. The female he was keeping with had a black over green recovery band on her left leg and a purple USFW on her right. I will be keeping a close eye on this site and work to determine the identity of the male that roosts here and see if it is in fact the same male as this spring. I will also try and determine if he has a female that is accompanying him and just where on earth they are going!!
Posted on August 2, 2012 12:52 am
