Fef, one of the two females fledglings, visit the nest ledge with Rhea Mae watching over. A very hot July 6th, 2012. Temperatures reaching 36 degrees.
Lyn had plenty of action today. Timing is often everything.
Canada Square Peregrine report 20120705
My observation today was barely an hour and sixteen minutes long.
When I arrived I spotted Stormin on the antenna atop 2180 Yonge. A few minutes later I heard squawking from a hungry young peregrine and searched all the known spots for their perching. I finally found a youngster on the antenna on top of Canada Square. I am not sure this was the one squawking though. Shortly thereafter Stormin flew and I lost track of him.
The next bit of activity was when the pigeons on top of the CIBC building, across Yonge, scattered. This was indication of something afoot. I checked the top of that building and sure enough on the south west corner of the brown part on top of the roof was a peregrine. Just from the size I believed this to be young Solar. I did not at any point see band colours. The peregrine on the Canada Square antenna was Simcoe.
I saw a small bird almost drop all of its feathers when it flew up to the roof where Solar was sitting. No exit was made any faster than that one! This particular roof is a favourite perching area for the pigeons at Yonge and Eglinton and as pigeons do, one flew up to the same level as Solar but far end from her and landed on the roof. I could almost hear the hysteria when this pigeon realised it was perched within feet of its foe! Wing flaps were wild and uncoordinated as it almost fell off the roof in its attempt to make a fast getaway. Solar just looked at it in astonishment.
Fifteen minutes after this Simcoe could stand it no longer and flew from the antenna to the east over Eglinton Avenue where he actually chased a pigeon!!! He missed but scared the living daylights out of the pigeon, which I think is still on its way to the Maritimes!!! Haven then launched herself from a hiding spot and showed Simcoe, who was still in the air, how it should be done. She chased another pigeon over Yonge Street and close to the CIBC building but she also missed and this second pigeon has migrated to the United States!
Solar seemed to be plagued by pigeons as another one landed on the same roof level as she was and began walking towards her! When the pigeon realised the big bird was a peregrine it turned tail and walked VERY fast from Solar. As Solar had just seen her brother and mother in action and she figured out that pigeons were for eating, she began stalking the pigeon in a very hurried manner. This unnerved the bird which dropped to a lower level of the roof.
Ten minutes after that and after a number of stretching exercises and runs along the roof ledge Solar lifted off and flew to Rio-Can where she PERCHED ON ONE OF THOSE WINDOW UPRIGHTS. She did this with ease!!! I was so impressed. A couple of fellows from 53 Division were talking to me when this happened and I told them it was the first time I had seen this happen this year.
Haven flew from the east side of Canada Square, along Eglinton West and up Duplex and west again. This set up more squawking from Solar! A mere few minutes after this Haven returned with a pigeon in her talons and one of the fellows saw her food parcel and exclaimed *she has a pigeon and is going to transfer it in midair*!!! This is exactly what happened.
On seeing Haven return with food Solar launched herself and flew directly to Haven who by this time was over Yonge near the CIBC building. Solar, squawking madly, of course, made and missed one attempt but Haven knew she wasn’t ready and did not release the pigeon. On the second try Solar did grasp the pigeon and as Haven let go we saw Solar visibly drop a bit in height and her little wings flapped madly as she struggled to maintain height and move over the CIBC where she went to the roof. We all breathed a sigh of relief. I told the chaps that they were very lucky to have seen what they did!
Haven’s persistence and lessons are definitely paying off!
We saw three attempts on different pigeons lives, Simcoe’s in flight, Haven’s in flight and Solar’s on footJ
I saw Solar land on one of those window thingies and then finally the transfer of a pigeon to Solar.
A very good day and well timed on my part!
Lyn
Arrived at 4pm.
Saw Mira and Quest on the east side of nest building.
Mira flew to the feeding ledge.
Amora was on top of pink building and flew around.
Mira joined her and they played tag for a good 10 minutes over the trees before the apartments.
Saw a third juvenile join for a minute then took off screaming. Definately Blaze.
Quest never moved from the ledge.
She had enough lol
From a July 4th article from CBC News.
Peregrine falcons have been living in Moncton’s Assumption Place since April.
A young peregrine falcon became a sideshow on Canada Day after it fell from the sky to a downtown Moncton sidewalk.
Earlier this spring, birders were thrilled that a pair of falcons nested on top of Assumption Place, Moncton’s tallest office building.
Since then, the community has had some chances to observe the endangered birds and their offspring.
The most recent spotting came on Sunday when it appears a young male falcon was on the losing end of an aerial dogfight with his sister, according to Alain Clavette, a local birder.
Clavette was called to help when the 47-day-old falcon ended up on the sidewalk.
“While they’re dogfighting — they’re basically fighting up in the sky, sometimes with prey items. But it’s a way for them to learn how to hunt. I think she’s learning fast and she’s knocked her brother out of the sky and he came down tumbling,” he said.
Clavette said birders aren’t sure how many young falcons hatched from the four eggs laid in the box high above Assumption Place because they have only seen three of the birds at a time.
But the upside to the bird’s fall, Clavette said, is that locals are learning how to live around wildlife.
“Apparently on Main Street [on] Sunday people were saying, ‘Don’t touch them. They’re nesting on the roof of the building. Somebody’s going to come. It’s an endangered species,” Clavette said.
“Apparently that was the speech that was being told amongst the people. So people are aware.”
The Moncton birder said the falcon could have been in danger if someone mishandled the bird.
“The most dangerous part for him would’ve been to start being tampered with by people who don’t know how to handle him. Just holding a bird like that, if you hold him wrongly, he’s going to try to escape at one point, make a move, he can break a wing, he can break a talon if you’re not holding it properly.”
Still Clavette wants to step it up and start an online falcon webcam if the birds show up next year.
Posting for Dennis and Gwen: Extra special thanks to Jerry Peltier for catching this amazing sequence which shows a food transfer(Killdeer) from Freddie to Twitter. This teaches the young Peregrine’s how to hunt for themselves eventually. Great catches Jerry! See Freddie approaching and Twitter turning upside down to accept the meal.
Reporting for Dennis and Gwen, With thanks to Jerry Peltier.
Gwen says: Flight school is begining. The two fledglings are beautiful flyers, Twitter is catching up and little Eddy is doing the best that she can for now. We’re just happy that she is being fed and is way above ground.
July 2nd - 2012
Interesting photos sent into us by Ron that he snapped last week weekend of a pair of Red-tail hawks hanging out together.
Of particular interest in addition to the white coloured Red-tail, is it mate, one that dawns a gold coloured band on it leg.
This gold coloured band is consistent with that used by breeders to band their captive produced birds.
It is obvious that this bird is yet another privately owned raptor, one that has escaped its owner and has not been recovered.
Ron writes:
Photos taken on July 2nd - 2012 on Bruce Road 1 near County Road 20. We first spotted it on June 30th but were without our camera so we went back on Monday to see if it was still there and it was in the exact same place we found them the first time. The pole it sits on is directly opposite a nest where another adult is sitting. We believe they are a pair. I’ve attached a picture of its mate as well as a couple more of the white Red-tail. I had a bit of difficulty determining which was male/female so maybe you can tell better. I am reasonably sure that the other is also a Red-tail hawk, but wouldn’t state 100% as I’m really a beginner in this.
Ron James
Reporting for Dennis and Gwen:
Thanks again to Jerry Peltier for these incredible photos. They were taken June 10th. Only the last photo of Voltaire was taken June 16th. There are some beautiful shots of both the adult and juveniles.
We are sorry it took so long to post these photos, its our busiest time of the year and we got behind on our postings. Thanks as always to Gwen,Dennis and Jerry for their submissions and being patient with us.
Canada Square Peregrine report 20120704
A short report from a *sticky* mid Toronto.
I went out late as it was so hot. I think the peregrines found it so as well. Three minutes after I arrived I saw a small low flying peregrine fly from somewhere on the west side of Canada Square around the north end to the east and gone. Two minute after that I spotted a small peregrine come back to the west side of Canada Square, low, flying at fourth floor level, and land on the ledge between the black building and the concrete below it.
I thought oh that must be *dad* but had the binoculars up just in case. Thank goodness I did for after twenty minutes of staring the right leg emerged in a stretch and I could clearly see the yellow tape on the band. That yellow really shows up in some light! So I was watching Simcoe. He sat there for a total of thirty eight minutes admiring his handsome self in the reflective glass.
After that he flew north of the building, again at fourth floor level! He circled upward over the east side of Yonge street going as far as the Bell building. He really seemed to struggle for height as I next saw him on the south side of Canada Square a little higher but nowhere near roof top level of the building. He disappeared after that and I saw a large peregrine fly off the south face. A few minutes later I heard calling and determined it to be from the north of the building but never did find out who was squawking. I walked south a little to keep in the shade and looked at the Heart and Stroke building where I saw two peregrines. These were Stormin and Haven, feeling the heat. They had their wings slightly spread and did not budge. By this time I was feeling the heat and opted for the indoors. So I saw three out of the four but I am sure the squawker was Solar in hiding somewhere. I shall check again tomorrow and see who I can find.
Lyn
As reported earlier this spring, a female Peregrine named Gleig, hatched in 2009 at the Hamilton Sheraton Hotel has nested in Buffalo NY. Gleig has had 2 chicks. They were banded on June 23rd in Buffalo at the Central Terminal nest. The chicks were both female and named Wagner and Alfreda respectively.
The excellent photos from Vicki are of the nest building, both adults and one of the young. This is great news, as this adds to the legacy of Madame X and Surge.
We appologize for the delay in posting, all available CPF staff have been busy in the field.
