Aphrodite Fledged and Rescued; Still No Visual on Tristen
June 09, 2012 - Toronto - King Street
Tracy Simpson Reports:
Today I was treated to a shift at the 18 King St. nest site with Erin and Windwhistler and their 4 little monkeys. I first had to drop Frank off at the Etobicoke Sun Life watch where little Euro had just fledged and was around the back of the nest building. As I was getting ready to head downtown, I received a call from Bruce that Aphrodite had taken her first flight and was now scooped up and in a rescue carrier!! She was unamused at this first flight business and took it out on Bruce!! When I arrived, Grayor was on the nest ledge flapping up a storm and little Dundee was staying out of the heat of the day behind the pillar. Bruce and I made our way up to check on Aphrodite and she was doing just fine. To remind me, this newest person in her life, that goddesses are a force to be reckoned with she gave me a little tag on the finger during her exam. I can tell you that she is in grand shape indeed!! We left her to rest and relax in preparation for her rooftop release and headed back down into the street. Bruce then took off over to the Toronto Sheraton site while I remained at King with Zoey and Ann.
Grayor was flapping like mad throughout most of the day. We certainly anticipated a fledge but it would seem that the little burst of energy was spent by about 1pm and a nap was in order. Before settling down in the shade, Grayor spent a few minutes amused at his own reflection in the dome cover of the camera. It was hilarious. Both adults flew in with a tidbit for lunch at around 2pm but nothing really significant.
Now that the two ledge potatoes were all settled, we set out on a search of the area for Tristen. His first flight took him down onto the rooftop of 20 Toronto St. where he remained and we were hoping for a looksee at him today. The heat was sooooo oppressive down in the core of the city that he must of found a cool, shady place to hang out. We walked for several hours with no look whatsoever. Both Erin and Windwhistler seem to know where he is and we believe he is still on a higher elevation in the Toronto St corridor. The parents didn’t help a great deal as they were not readily supplying food on such a hot day. Finally we decided that our perch on Court St was the best option for a view and so there we remained for the rest of the afternoon. At around 3pm, Grayor woke up and began another flap-fest-o-rama that tuckered us out just watching. He certainly will fledge very soon if not tomorrow. Windwhistler at this point made a visit to the highest level of 20 Toronto St and Erin flew over to land on 1 Toronto. Both were giving us indications that they had Tristen in their sights. By 6pm, Bruce had returned after completing his second rescue of the day at Toronto Sheraton and “sent me packing” back to Etobicoke Sun Life. Bruce and Marion stayed on to close the watch and release miss Aphrodite to the roof of the nest building where she gave Marion the goddess glare before taking up position in the southeast corner of the rooftop. Come dawn she will be looking for ( and screaming for ) some attention from mom and dad and feeling rather triumphant with her return. We are all truly grateful we could help.
More pictures to come once I have a chance to go through them all!!!
!!! Euro and Windward’s First Flights:We Have Liftoff!
June 10, 2012 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Frank Butson Reports:
It turned out that last night I was seeing things. It was infact O’Connor who had flown from the nestledge late in the evening.
This morning at 7am, Kathy was on the edge of her seat when young Euro finally did make his first flight. He flew very well and kept his altitude. He had a long flight which had the highlights of him pushing off of the 2nd condo building, clinging to a nestbuilding window and without panicking come to rest on a ledge on the Aberfoyle side of the Sunlife Centre at the nestledge level. As the morning passed, Euro moved a few times including to the roof of the Sunlife Financial Centre, before rejoining his siblings on the nestbox at 140pm. There was a rather touching reunion with his sisters where they touched beaks. I’d really love to know what gets said when one arrives back to the ledge? The stories they must tell.
Glad that he was able to fly so well,things slowed down till about 4pm. Thats when our 2nd fledge occured,believed to be Windward. She gave me a fit by flying very high and out of sight, to the northeast. Jack flew with her the whole way so it was of some comfort that he knew where Windward had flown. I did a quick search along Aberfoyle, before calling Tracy who was having her own issues down at our King St nestsite. She would come and begin a search by car as soon as she was relieved at King St. I saw Jack fly back to the Sunlife, from the direction he had followed Windward in.
In the meantime, back on the ledge Regatta,Olympia and Euro had been fed a small food package caught and prepared by Jack and served by O’Connor. There was plenty of ledge running and flapping. I had saw a bird fly into the ledge. I checked what I thought was very closely and believed it to be O’Connor. I went down to the intersection at Aberfoyle and Bloor to see into the nestledge more properly and was unsure of exactly who was there. Was it O’Connor and 3 juvies or was it 4 juveniles.
A local resident who has joined me a few times Bob, who lives at The Kingsway On The Park came out and was chatting with me. When I described Windwards flight path he went for a walk around the various condos in front of The Kingsway On The Park and in the park as well. He described where he’d heard a few “smaller” birds calling. A Robin and a Blue Jay were giving heck to something, so Bob suggested further investigation. Tracy arrived just after Bob left and I gave her the trajectory that Windwards flight was. She pulled away in search of Windward. I studied the nestledge and within moments of Tracys departure I thought I had 4 juveniles on the ledge. I stared hopefully as I had 3 juveniles together and Yes!! a 4th was running the ledge flapping..clearly a juvenile behavior. It had indeed been Windward who had snuck in earlier. I made a call to Tracy and told her to abort her search. She came back somewhat skeptical and then verified that all 4 young Peregrines were indeed on the ledge. That was a relief to us both.
I was very fortunate today, to have Bob, Ken, Jo and Tom who all live locally and took a great deal of interest in the falcons. It was a pleasure to share even a brief moment with each of you chatting about “your” falcons. Thanks for caring and helping me get through a terribly hot, hectic day. The support that CPF gets from local residents,business owners and patrons and of course from Sunlife Financial Centre staff and management as well as Kingsway On The Park staff is so heartening and important to us doing what we do. Thanks to you all!
!!! First fledged - Carrey! Rescued completed and returned to a safe elevation.
June 10, 2012 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Mark Nash Reports:
June 10th - 2012 - PM report:
Some time after first light this morning, little Carrey had taken his first flight and ended up on the lift bridge cables. Despite some bumps and grinds on his second flight attempt, he ended up landing on the south tower. His third flight produced a much better landing, but in the end he lost altitude and ended up on a beam on the North tower well below the nest box level.
Yet another attempt, (well sort of), he jumped from the cross beam on the north tower to the upper steel beans of the lift bridge itself when the bridge was in the upper position,, - (not exactly a flight), but a jump. At approx. 5:20 pm he took flight again and flew just above the water in the canal towards and flew towards the Hamilton harbor, veered right and attempted to land on the face of a concrete support pillar about half way up to the Skyway bridge, (this time over land).
Unable to gain further altitude, he was stopped short in his tracks by the face of the concrete column, doing a face plant into the concrete, and clung onto the concrete support column face for several seconds before falling to the ground.
Once spotted, the fledge watch team members caught up with him and he was eventually rescued by Bill moments after he ended up in some leaves and branches in a small tree only feet from the ground.
With the support of the great staff at the Burlington Lift bridge , he was examined for injuries and then released under the cover darkness to the roof top of the south tower without incident.
Meanwhile, his two siblings still remain in the nest box, and have yet to take their first flights.
Both resident adults were clearly visible all day, and very active in hunting and protecting the territory.. Several successful hunts (and kills) were observed by both adults, and several feedings
took place.
Stay tuned……
It's all good so far...
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