June 24, 2011 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Linda Woods Reports:
Sunshine was having a good time today chasing the adults. Cinnamon and Kate are still on the ledge.
This evening afternoon, lots of flapping and running of the ledge,by both Cinn and Kate. This evening around 7:15 a small food drop was made, both Cinn and Kate grabbed it from the adult and dragged along the ledge until Cinn gave up. Kate chowed downed on a small sparrow, while Cinn sat on the ledge and was looking south east. 10 minutes later, another food drop of a second sparrow was made, Kate grabbed that and puffed out her feathers and mantled with the food in her beak. Cinn took this opportunity to get at the left overs from the first drop. Later, I went back to see if Cinn had a crop, Kate had snuggled under the camera, and Cinn was having his fill on the left overs from the second food drop. I did a roof scan of the building across the street. One adult on 120, Sunshine was off with the letter “S” where she was earlier. Back for a last nest check of the night, both Cinnamon and Kate were tucked under the camera.
Annie and I closed the watch for the night at 9:15p.m.
The Sheraton Centre Hotel is host to a huge event for the Bollywood International Film Awards. The hotel stated that there were expecting 4000 people to attend. It looked like it with line ups down the street to get into the event. I had to have special escort by security to get to security to sign out for the night.
Posted on June 24, 2011 10:09 pm
June 24, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
It was a quiet morning for the kids with all the rain but this afternoon as I left the site Mom and two of the kids were after a pigeon. The two juvies weren’t really stooping full stop but they were giving it a shot and one of them came dangerously close to the traffic in the road but pulled up before he got into trouble.
They are all flying quite well and staying high but now comes the equally terrifying next step of learning to hunt. They have to learn to stoop and come out of one without hitting the ground or traffic and learn to manoeuvre around the glass buildings without crashing into them. An urban juvenile has alot of challenges to overcome and we humans can only watch in awe and terror as their parents teach them the next important steps on the road to independence.
Posted on June 24, 2011 4:21 pm
June 24, 2011 - Toronto - Sheraton Centre
Harry Crawford Reports:
From City Hall at 7:15am, nothing was seen on the north facing roof
ledges. Before I left home, two chicks were on the nest ledge.
From 120 Adelaide, the two chicks [Cinnamon and Kate] still on the
nest ledge. Sunshine was on various south logo letters and spent
most of the morning there [one visit into the nest ledge]. No
adults were seen in the morning so there was likely no food drop.
Cinnamon did a bit of flapping but not the usual amount for a prior
to a launch. Kate moved around but did not run or flap. I left Zoe
and the site at 11:30am.
Posted on June 24, 2011 3:00 pm
June 24, 2011 - Toronto - King Street
Marion Nash Reports:
Kenya was missing all day yesterday he must have took off sometime in the very early morning.
I walked the downtown core for hours as far south, west , east and north as I thought he might have gone and looked in every alley I could find every balcony I could see every roof top edge and nothing. I went to the roof top of the king Edward, 18 King and Pauls terrace and scanned all the roof tops for blocks and nothing.
At the end of the day yesterday I went home feeling like I had done a marathon and worried as to where he had gotten to.
Thankfully he was found by Linda Woods right next door to the nest building on the roof top about 10 floors up he must have been tucked in yesterday and had not come out to the edge of the roof and it is one of the few roofs I could not get a site line on.
Hopefully he keeps high will keep you posted.
Posted on June 24, 2011 2:05 pm
June 24, 2011 - Toronto - Canada Square Building - Yonge and Eglinton
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Canada Square report Thursday June 23rd 2011.
I arrived today and Bruce came in shortly thereafter. One youngster was on the ledge directly below the nest ledge, just sitting. The male was on the top of the third wall south of the nest and there was no sign of anyone else UNTIL we saw a fledgling on the NE corner of the cinema building (black building). We had one FLEDGLING and one *LEDGLING*. Not for long.
The first bird to fly took off over that black building towards Yonge Street and with that Bruce also took off. He had the youngster in sight for quite some time until it flew between the two Rio-Can buildings. Bruce came back to *base camp* to catch his breath. The adults were flying in different directions at times and the female did land on the nest ledge. That is when I saw the youngest flap his wings.
After a short respite Bruce saw juvenile number two fly onto the same cinema building but down the Duplex Ave side and towards the South end of the building. In between short, sharp, showers we watched number two make his way up to the north end of the building. He walked along the northern ledge a couple of times. The weather cleared and Bruce went looking for juvenile number one.
Juvenile number two thought this an opportune moment to fly from the north end of the cinema building to the south and he accomplished this very well. However, on reaching the south end and applying the brakes his momentum carried him over the edge and there was nothing under him. He recovered very well and kept flapping and flew over Duplex, over some of the trees and homes, behind the Police Station, over Eglinton and the Bell building and Hydro building. He kept going east, over Duplex again, and right onto a fifteenth floor balcony of the apartment building. I called Bruce and as I did so the peregrine and Bruce materialised at the same time. The juvenile had jumped back onto the railing of the balcony. Both the adults had flown to Duplex Avenue when the juvenile disappeared there. They flew off. However shortly after that the female flew back and perched atop the antenna on the hydro building. She stayed there until number two flew again, over the building at the corner of Duplex and Eglinton, gained height and got himself back onto the ledge below the nest ledge on Canada Square!! He stayed put, thank goodness. Did not quite make it to the same spot from which he had left hours earlier, but back to the same height!!
Number one was found when he flew - gently – into the south face of Rio-Can about four floors up. He fluttered down a floor and flew back around the corner to the east side of that building. We think he is between the two towers on the low roof above the mall.
This all took place over a period of five and a half hours and for most of that time Bruce was on his feet keeping an eye on, or looking for, number one.
Bruce thinks I am to blame for this activity today, because he claims that yesterday I said *I just hope we don’t have two fledge at once*. I, of course, deny all knowledge of that conversation 
Cheers
Lynn
More to come… stay tuned…….
Posted on June 24, 2011 1:11 pm
June 23, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
We arrived on site to once again find no one visible. I am one day older and one day wiser so I decided to wait and watch for juveniles to make their appearances. It was a good choice as the two females were on the northeast corner of the nest building roof and had just popped up from a nap. Storm was clearly visible in the nest tray and seemed quite happy to not have to “share the bed” with two big clunky sisters. The females are gaining much greater confidence and control with their flights and are back and forth to the tower and the building roof quite readily. By noon, the rain was moving in and the juveniles got to experience their first good shower. They thoroughly enjoyed it and spent the rest of the time preening their new feathers; Storm on the nest ledge, Rain and Wind on the roof. We left the site as we were called away to two other site checks and upon our return, all three juveniles were now sitting on the east facing “H” sign which is Hurricane’s favourite spot. He has been displaced from that spot by his kids and now is perching on the nest ledge to the right of the sign. The juveniles at this site are doing very well now and we are going to reduce this site to check ins and help out at the other fledge watches around Toronto. As we were set to close down, I hoped out of the truck to find O’Connor grappling on the ground with an adult Canada goose. This goose had just been walking through the parking lot minding its own business when it was grabbed by the back by a Peregrine falcon!! The look on the face of the goose was pure shock and it stayed still for quite some time before beginning to wander over to the grassy hill again. O’Connor watched it from the top of the light post and let it be for now. It would appear that walking geese ( not flying, she leaves those alone ) now need to be added to O’Connor’s list of unwelcomed guests in her territory!! As we finally pulled out, all three juveniles were now sitting on the east facing “H’ enjoying their view from above.
Posted on June 24, 2011 12:32 pm
June 22, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
When I arrived, Hurricane was on the nest ledge looking confused and O’Connor sat firmly in the tower at the ready as usual. I saw no sign of ANY of the juveniles and of course began the search of each face of the building in turn. I found Storm by his “little screamies” on the northeast corner of the roof and so that left two to find. I circled the building; nothing. I circled the berm on the outskirts of the property; nothing!! I looked to the parents for some guidance and they consistently led me back to the northeast corner. O.K. A different perspective was needed. So across the street and far away I go to get a better angle of the building. I see Storm jump up on the northeast corner and then go back down onto the roof out of view. Then another larger juvenile jumps up onto the corner ( huge and dark ), that would be Wind. That’s two. I circle the building 4 more times and come back again to that northeast corner. There’s one bird ( lighter and a bit smaller ) which turns out to be Rain. Seconds later the other two turkeys pop up and the three are now sitting shoulder to shoulder and laughing their beaks off at how wet I am!! At 11:30am, O’Connor brings in a huge pigeon for lunch and all three juveniles take their fill. Now energized, Storm takes off for some flight time. His landings are now excellent on the nest ledge, the roof top and everywhere else he wanders. His harassment of his parents in their favourite roosting spot has their feathers somewhat ruffled. Both females have now made it to the rooftop; Wind from the nest ledge and Rain from a 4 storey windowsill. The two girls will still have to work a bit more on control and landings to really excel at this flight thing.
During the afternoon I took some time to dry off as best as I could and I was glad for the break given that by 7:00pm, it was absolute madness. O’Connor flew over to the antenna just above the three juveniles and sat there staring which incited much silliness and screaming. In moments, the first female was off and heading for the hydro tower. A successful landing was celebrated by Rain as she reached the top platform of one of the tower spires. Storm flew over to join her there and Wind, who now sat on the rooftop alone, refused to be outdone and abandoned by her siblings. She took off and flew towards the tower only to veer off at the last minute and head for the stack on top of the nest building roof. No sooner had she touched down than Storm came over and chased her off. This set off a series of events that was pandemonium!!
Wind takes to the air and circles around to the tower but cannot land as Rain is in the runway. Storm is hot on her tail as this game of chase is fun. Wind circles back around the north side of the building and she appears above it in a really beautiful soar. She tries for the stack again. Storm cuts her off and forces her back off the building. Rain is now in the air headed around to the north. Storm chases her. Wind tries for the hydro tower again. Storm is back and turning her away so she aborts the landing. Wind has been airborne for over a minute now. Rain comes back around the south side of the building heading for the tower. Storm’s on it!! I look into the tower and see one bird land, one leave and one soaring and I have no idea who is who anymore. Two juveniles cross over in the air. One to the tower and one to the west side of the building. I’m running to see where birds have gone. Two in the tower, one has disappeared around the other side of the building. I go around the entire building and find a bird on the west facing ledge. I am now soaking wet for the second time and I still don’t know what’s going on! The parents wait until everyone is settled and then leave feeling very proud of their kids and are off to hunt for the three now flighted juveniles. I head to my truck soaked and exhausted only to find all three kids in the tower. THEN ALL THREE EXPLODE OFF AT THE SAME TIME!!! All I can say is that I count five heads that won’t stop moving around but still add up to five and they’re all happy dance screaming!! Now that the juveniles are all airborne, I have relegated myself to head counts as no one bird is settled long enough to readily identify. By tomorrow, some of the newness of flight will wear off for these young and I will be able to tell much more readily who is doing what and how well.
Posted on June 24, 2011 12:24 pm
June 21, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Bruce was on site at first light to check on the two girls’ progress in navigating their newly discovered airspace. Rain was still on the west side of the building on the windowsill just beneath the nest ledge, Wind had left the roof and was now on the low mechanical building on the south side and Storm was all over the place screaming about how happy he was to be flying. When Frank and I arrived, Storm had gone down to the lower mechanical roof to visit with his sister Wind and the two of them were having a flapping good time. Rain was still on the western side of the building and Frank positioned himself to witness her coming off from and heading around the building to be with her siblings. When I arrived later that afternoon, there were two juveniles on the lower mechanical roof and one up on the roof of the nest building. It was clear that it was Storm on the roof as his little scream is hard to miss. That meant that Rain had sneaked around and evaded the watchful eyes of Frank to land on the mechanical roof with her sister. As the evening progressed, the two females were getting rather excited to fly again and Storm had been down to visit them both quite regularly. Wind finally took off from the low roof and circled the entire building gaining altitude as she went. She finally ended up on the northeast corner at the nest ledge and was so jubilant to be back, she dropped where she stood and napped the night away. Rain also made a flight attempt from the same low roof and wasn’t as successfully in gaining height as her larger sister. She landed on the north face of the building on a 4th floor window ledge. She managed to tuck herself up against a pillar separating the windows where she finally fell fast asleep. Storm wasn’t quite done for the day as he gathered up his courage and made a try for the tower that he fell off of during his initial fledge. You can only imagine how loudly he screamed when he successfully landed on the top of the tower, joining his parent in their favourite perching spot. O’Connor and Hurricane were so pleased to see Storm succeed that they stuffed him with food as he sat on their tower. Storm eventually flew back to the roof and then made another “cheater” drop down back flap flight to the east facing “H”. It is clear now that the resident adults have no haven left away from the kids; Storm has now made it to all their personal perch sites!! Storm ended the evening by returning to Wind on the nest ledge and slept next to her. With Wind and Storm “home” and Rain settled in for the night, Frank and I left the site ready to return early tomorrow morning.
Posted on June 24, 2011 12:22 pm
June 20, 2011 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
A hectic time at William Osler is an understatement of events at this fledge watch. With Wind deciding to fledge at 9:45pm last night and ending up on the low roof near the emergency entrance, we needed to be on site as early as possible to witness her next attempt. Frank and I were here by 6:00am and counted the two youngsters on the nest ledge but there was no sign of Wind. After a couple of searches around the building and perimeter, I decided to sit down and let the parents tell me what I needed to know; where is Wind? Within 10 minutes they had pointed out the general area and I was able to find her in a pine tree on the northeast corner of the building. We took up positions nearby and it wasn’t long before she took flight low to the ground and bumped a first floor window. I was able to corral her into a corner and catch her up. I must say that this is one enormous female not to mention that she has her mother’s temperament!! Paladin Security staff witnessed the rescue and assisted by retrieving the carrier from their office and holding it steady while Wind was placed into it. After a quick exam, she was in security cooling off and awaiting release that night. Back outside Storm and Rain, the other two juveniles, were excitedly flapping about the nest ledge and Storm was feeling braver by the minute to take another flight. At 7:15am, an adult brought food into the southeast corner of the nest ledge for Rain. Storm, who was sitting on the roof retaining wall, was so wound up by the sight of food that he made an attempt for the nest ledge by coming off and back flapping down to a safe landing on the northeast corner. After a frenzied feeding, Storm and Rain retired to the nest tray for a nap. The rest of the day was spent watching Storm take short flights out to the roof and back to the ledge using his “cheater” drop down flight. At 4:55pm Rain decided that she would try her first flight and successfully circled the building and came to rest on the window ledge two floors below the nest ledge. She made a second attempt to gain some elevation and only achieved one floor higher on the same side. The two flights and her efforts to balance on the narrow ledge took enough out of her that she now required a nap!! She spent the rest of the evening right up to nightfall on the window ledge peering in at the people inside.
At nightfall, after a complete health check, Bruce Massey and I took Wind to the rooftop for the release. Upon opening the carrier door, she raced forward and stopped in the doorway of the carrier which she amply filled. She stretched out her wings and every feather on her stood straight up as she defended HER carrier!! I reached in to pull the towel out ( with Wind firmly attached ) and she dove for my hand. She then bolted out and attacked the wall before realizing that she really meant to go after me but by that time I was already making my way through the door into the stairwell. She really is her mother’s daughter!! We will be back early in the morning to make sure that her flight off of the rooftop is a good one.
Posted on June 24, 2011 12:09 pm
June 24, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
Mark Nash Reports:
!!!Confirmed hatch!! One hatchling observed!
June 23, 2011 - Brampton - Courthouse
Mark Nash Reports:
We have some great news to report today, in that we have been able to confirm that at least one egg at the Brampton courthouse has hatched! I was able to put Tracy from the CPF and Mark Heaton from the OMNR together today in an effort to make contact with the property manager from the Brampton Courthouse.
Both Tracy and Mark were able to meet late this afternoon in a unscheduled meeting at the Brampton Courthouse and able to speak with the property manager so that we could do a visual observation of the nest ledge to confirm the observations that we have been getting from Winston who has been diligently attending the site almost daily to provide us with observations reports of the happenings going on a the Brampton Courthouse nest site.
At around the 18th of June, the resident adults behaviour changed dramatically indicating that incubation had finished and brooding activity had started. While there was some gaps in the observations from June 15th to June 19th , the observation report filed on June 18th told a story of brooding activity as opposed to incubation activity and we knew that a hatch had happened.
The photos taken today - (June 23rd) of the single hatchling does gives us a hint of the age of the chick putting it at approx 8 to 13 days old as of June 23rd.
We are in the process of trying to work out banding possibilities with the property manager, the district office of the ministry of Natural resources and the Ministers office. In addition, we are looking into a dark window film covering that might be installed for the window that lies directly behind the nest ledge, as any human activity from this office window at this time can cause a huge stresses on the resident adult female and there is a risk of her killing or abandoning the nest site and the hatchling.
The property manager seems very eager, supportive and accommodating and equally excited about their peregrines.
Stay tuned……..
Posted on June 24, 2011 12:08 pm
