Hello all, I know some have been worried about the lack of Nihei sightings but this morning at 11:15 I spotted two young falcons playing about the south west corner of Place de Ville “C”.
Chris Traynor
Eve Ticknor
Connor, Nihei and Tailer photos taken by Chris Traynor.
Eve Ticknor
Between storms today, Bill and I decided to make another trip to the Lift Bridge. We arrived just around 6:00 pm. Barry had stuck it out through the storms and was able to point out where the juvies were hanging out. In a flash, Sir appeared carrying dinner in his talons. He took it to a picnic table to prepare. Maple and Truss watched in the hopes that he would share. We jumped onto the scopes and low and behold, Sir had delivered a Budgerigar. Unfortunately, another downpour started and we didn’t actually see who got the bird, but we are pretty sure that Sir did not share. We sure hope that the owner didn’t witness the wrath of Sir as he swept in and grabbed the family pet.
Throughout the downpour, Truss and Maple remained on the wires. They were just like drowned rats.
This morning we received some good news from Toronto Wildlife Centre with regards to Magarita. The vet has indicated that her injuries are not life threatening and with a few weeks of convalescent care, she should be ready to be released back to the wild and her family. Margarita will be transferred to the CPF raptor centre where she will spend the next few weeks recovering.
Stay tuned……
Junior has been resting and we hope for x-rays to be done.
I know we are not supposed to make assumptions only report but it sure seems like Voltaire and Freddie are still chut-chut-chutting looking for junior.
Freddie has been seen just sitting on the nest ledge looking around and calling. The cooler weather has brought on some great flying displays. Fast stooping and swooping. Just beautiful. It appears exactly as we had thought all along Voltaire and Freddie have no intentions of going anywhere and haven’t budged from the abutment.
Very vocal up in the beams and on the pipe they love to roost on. Some of the ruckus sounds like when it was feeding time for junior but no Junior.
Voltaire has been doing rigorous cleaning and moving around on the nest for extended periods of time.
Both are really displaying dominance over this nesting site, with no intention of giving ground to any vagrant peregrines.
The evening displays especially when the wind has a Northern element to it are dazzling.
The pair are managing and maintaining the nest ledge very actively.
We wait anxiously on Juniors health.
D&G
This is our last day, and it has been a strange one. Other than seeing the adults sitting here and there, I had little sightings of any falcons. I’d see one on the west side of the Crowne and 1 on the Carlisle antenna. Tailer was seen once in a long while, but didn’t do any of his usual flying overhead as he did yesterday. Once Diana took him over the river for lessons, perhaps in hunting. As for Nihei, she has been out of sight all day.
I received a telephone call this morning regarding Magarita’s diagnosis and the results of her x-rays. The x-rays clearly showed that Magarita has sustained a fracture to her keel and it is this reason that she is unable to sustain flight and hold any altitude. At some point during one of her many landings, she has obviously hit something very hard, (likely one of the concrete ledges). One of the many challenges and problems when the eyrie is located on unforgiving concrete ledges, the unskilled juveniles often land hard when returning to the nest ledge and often use the concrete back walls to brake their first incoming / return trips back to the building ledges. Unlike more natural cliff nesting sites that typically offer a far more forgiving and much softer landing strip, the hardened concrete ledges can sometimes be a disadvantage for the young fledglings when returning to the nest ledges for the first couple of times until they learn how to land properly. Landing for the fledglings is skill that must be learned over time by trial and error, and is one that takes allot of practice.
Magarita is being put on a general antibiotic and pain medication, but sadly must be held over for a short time for her injuries to heal. Otherwise, her overall condition is very good and she is expected to recover. The vet will be doing yet another physical examination of her tomorrow and will advice us further as to her condition.
Stay tuned…..
Checking in at 8:50, I found a juvenile on the north side of the superstructure on the DBRS building and a juvenile on the east side of the Sheraton roof. They remained in those locations for a short time. At 9:30 only one juvenile was visible on the NE corner of the Sheraton roof. A short time later an adult flew by my window at eye level - beautiful! At 11:40 I spotted an adult feeding two juveniles on the SW corner of the Thompson building roof. One was Osler (white tape visible) and the other was a female but I couldn’t see the tape. At noon the adult had gone, Osler was sitting quiety at the back of the pillar and his sister was wrestling with the remaining food - finally the band was clear to see - Sandy! Through the early afternoon two juveniles were spotted in various locations. Checking the neighbourhood at 3:30, one juvenile was on the NE corner of 120, one was on the east side of 120 and one was on the SE corner of 120 and an adult was in the nest box on the Sheraton ledge. At 4 the juveniles were in the same locations. At 4:35 an adult starting flying by my window - several passes at eye level and finally showed his underside - yes, his underside - Tiago’s black band was clearly visible, A colleague and I watched for several minutes as he circled higher and higher and went more north - very high over Bay and Charles - then he came back to the south and passed over First Canadian Place. At 5 one juvenile was on the NW corner of 130 Adelaide, one was on the SE corner of 120 Adelaide and one was on the NE corner of the elevator housing of 100 Adelaide. All juveniles are flying well and have no problem with various altitudes.
At various times through out the day, all four juveniles were seen in the direct area of the nest building. As they develop advanced flights skills, humorous landings do occur, as seen by volunteers this morning. A slight misjudgement had one juvenile land on top of another pushing it off it’s perch and into the air. They seem to prefer the spire this year, I am waiting to see the entire family on the church in the coming days.
Late this morning brought yet another call from the hospital security staff, with Todd on the phone in the middle of rounding up yet another downed juvenile peregrine on the hospital grounds. After a short conversation with Todd and some basic rescue instructions 101,, Todd and staff jumped into action and were successful in their efforts in rescuing the down fledgling. The young fledgling was identified by her band number as Magarita. She was placed in a rescue carrier and held in safe keeping until someone could be dispatched to attend.
While we expect that most of the young fledglings will at some time come to the ground during their first couple of maiden flights and need to be rescued from the ground, this situation is most concerning with regards to Magarita’s third time down to the ground. After having been rescued from the ground once after her first flight, she was observed holding her altitude and being able to return to the nest ledge on her own steam for several other good flights on consecutive days there after, it is obvious that Magarita has sustained some not so obvious injuries after the fact that is now preventing her from sustain flight.
Bruce was dispatched and picked up Magarita, and she was transported to the CPF Raptor centre for further examination. After a brief examination, it was concluded that despite the fact that she looks in very good condition and that there were no signs of any injuries or broken bones, it will now be necessary for a more detailed examination and x-rays in an effort to determine the reasons that Magarita can not hold her altitude. She was transported to the Toronto Wildlife centre for x-rays and further testing.
Stay tuned…….