[Etobicoke]

Etobicoke

A few pics from today:

O'Connor left William Osler under similar circumstances - construction.  She's not a fan of humans, not that any falcon is, but it's possible she may just have had enough.  You are right, she is very strong so I can't see her just going quietly into the night unless something happened to her offsite.  Falcons have accidents, we've seen that even with the most experienced birds.  Or maybe she decided to go on holiday while the work is going on and she'll be back when it's done.    

As for Lucky and Ivy knowing each other - that's just me speculating and responding to the comment about her getting along so well with Lucky .  Many falcons go hunting all along the lakeshore here - we are quite close to Lake Ontario (can see it from the office) - so I expect many of them run into each other and may be familiar with each other.  I don't expect once they are off territory hunting down there that they fight over the area as it's not part of their territory.  Look at Tommy Thompson Park and how many of the young ones are caught and/or sighted hunting there...

I can't fault O'Connor for not liking humans. Very few peregrines have any reason to do so, except maybe those who have been rescued and treated gently and well in rehab.

There have been cases in which peregrines have been driven away from their nest by construction. Usually they do not abandon their nest site unless they are harassed in some way by humans. At the Waukegan nest, back in 2015 there were large cranes very close to the nest. For some reason, the cam went down around that time, and when it came back up the birds were no longer at their nest. The following year, they did not return, but raised one chick in a makeshift nest elsewhere. This year, they still did not return, so construction can certainly cause a lot of problems for peregrines.

I would not be surprised if Lucky and Ivy had run into each other outside of the breeding season. Tommy Thompson Park seems to be a very popular place with peregrines.

This barely counts as a visit, and yet they were both there:

 

The 41st peregrine falcon survey is under way at South Padre Island.

https://www.facebook.com/PadreIslandPeregrines/

A short video on Padre Island from a different source:

http://www.rgvproud.com/news/video/the-peregrine-falcon-fall-migration_20171017221511/838393711

[Beach birds: Falcons occupy coast following gales]

Beach birds: Falcons occupy coast following gales

Some unusual visitors to the Golden Isles took up residence along the beaches recently, as rarely seen peregrine falcons blew in from the ocean.

They came in numbers birders and wildlife biologists said they have never seen previously.

“When we had that really strong northeast gale blowing for almost a week, we just had some really spectacular numbers — several different estimates ranging at over 160 peregrines on a single day, coming through,� said Tim Keyes, state Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist. “It’s most likely birds which typically would be migrating well offshore. Falcons are one of the few birds of prey that don’t mind migrating over large bodies of water. Most of our birds of prey catch thermals, so they need to basically be over land so they can catch the warm rising air masses.�

For the rest of the article:

http://thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/beach-birds-falcons-occupy-coast-following-gales/article_338cb1a6-7bc3-5f58-8204-d0f576685076.html

I changed it to 'various parks' as Lucky gets around, found another reference to him at Humber Park..so as not to start falcon rumour..lol..they could have met at the lakeshore area somewhere given Ivy had no nest site..she's likely roaming around.

Anyway we're getting ahead of ourselves since we don't know who we have up here yet

I guess we have to wait and see . . . I hope O'Connor is still there, but if not, I hope she is safe somewhere. She has always been a very strong falcon. Interesting that Lucky and Ivy may know each other; makes it even more difficult to determine who is at the nest.

Ralphie:

The bird in the screen shots - some days the USFW looks silver, some days lilac and some days black and yes even yellow once or twice.  That's the reflection of the light which makes it hard to get a good match on.

The girl in the tree - the real photo - I cut off her bands as I didn't want it to influence you.  And yes she is Ivy, Jersey City Ivy who came here 2 years ago and tried to oust Erin but got pushed off by Stormin.  She would be 4 years old now and has been seen around the lakefront area as recently as last year.  Her USFW is 'black' though but in some of the photos I've seen it was rubbing off in some spots and you could see the silver underneath. 

The reason I posted her photo is for days I couldn't let go that something about her was familiar and it wasn't until day before yesterday I realized that she reminded me of Ivy.  That being said, this new female - if not OC - could be anyone.  We get Rochester, New Jersey and Michigan birds here and they are black/green so who knows.

I too have seen all the colors you mention on the right leg band at different times and in different lighting conditions on the webcam.

The bird on the webcam does look quite a lot like Ivy, whom I watched grow up in Jersey City. She is a real beauty, and I have wondered what has happened to her since she was last sighted in the Toronto area. Whether this turns out to be Ivy or not, I hope she is doing well.

[Mississauga]

Mississauga

This cam has been down for some time, but it came back for a few minutes the other day and there was a partial view of a peregrine at the nest. I think this looks like a male. The bird left, the cam went down again and stayed down.

Thanks for your feedback Alison, I was hoping for it as I know you have a good eye for detail.  What are the odds of a green black replacing her...tell me if you see a similarity with this female in the photo I'm attaching?

That bird looks familiar, Carly. She has the speckles, and the overall heavy markings. Also a black/green band on the left leg. She has a pale cere and eye ring, also consistent with the bird on the webcam. The legs are pale yellow, but am I also seeing yellow tape on the right leg? If only there were a little more visible at the bottom of the photo . . . it is a possibility that this could be the bird at Etobicoke, although the facial expression is different. Do you have an ID on this bird?

I have also seen a bird who looks very much like this one visiting a Minnesota nest on occasion.

Hopefully it's still O'Connor at that site. There's been some speculation as to whether it's her or not. Fingers crossed for a positive ID.  

MAK, do you have any update on this possibility? I can't read bands on this site, but I thought this was still O'Connor; a somewhat faded purple band on the right leg, and black/green on the left with two digits on the lower part. O'Connor is black/green M/87. I hope she is still the resident female.

Alison, Bruce went out over the past weekend but the rain and wind hindered his getting a read on the bands.  The plan is to try again this coming weekend.  O'Connor has a predominantly white chest and what we're seeing is a female with major speckles on her chest.  The purple band is faded - you are correct on that but it looks silver more than purple but that could be lighting as a few times I caught a purple hue.  Here are some photos we've caught to show you what I mean about the chest.  The last photo is a real photograph taken by one of our longtime watchers Bailey back in 2015 so you can see what I mean about her chest.  She is behind the babies.

The cam does distort things, there are other photos I have where she does like herself more and the photo obviously is taken in the summer light hence we have to be wary of saying it's not her - I've seen her look very different many times hence why we are going to scope her and see if we can confirm her bands .  I have other screen captures from last year same time and no speckles and from earlier this year and with the kids and again no speckles like this.  She does have some speckles but they aren't on the upper breast like these other 2 photos.

Carly, love that photo you posted from 2015.

Yes, the camera does distort, and the lighting varies greatly. In some of the recent pics, her feathers have a rose pink tinge, and yet in other pics five minutes later they are white again. However, none of this accounts for the speckles. I went through my archives for this year and as far back as last December, and I think now that this is not O'Connor. She has a much whiter bib in the older pics I have. I always thought of O'Connor as having a fairly long, tapered malar stripe, although depending on the pose, her malar stripe could also look shorter and more rounded, like this bird has.

And yet this bird seems just as comfortable at the nest, and with Lucky, as O'Connor, and what are the odds of another black/green banded bird replacing O'Connor?

I hope someone will be able to confirm the band numbers soon. I hope it is still O'Connor, but there is definitely doubt.

DC; Beauty was around, but declined to go into the nest.

(movie)

Yesterday the chicks were already out of the box, being well cared for by Mom.

They have been well fed, but one of the chicks became ill, and when I checked the cam this afternoon, the little one had not survived. Poor little chick, lost far too soon. Mom was trying so hard to get a response from the little chick. 

Hopefully it's still O'Connor at that site. There's been some speculation as to whether it's her or not. Fingers crossed for a positive ID. 

MAK, do you have any update on this possibility? I can't read bands on this site, but I thought this was still O'Connor; a somewhat faded purple band on the right leg, and black/green on the left with two digits on the lower part. O'Connor is black/green M/87. I hope she is still the resident female.

Heh...board went down and I couldn't post it earlier but here he is...handsome boy    Photo by them of course and link to Facebook for those that have access:  https://www.facebook.com/tommythompsonpark/photos/pcb.929265130555376/929265007222055/?type=3&theater

Thanks, Carly! What a beautiful little juvie he is! So great to see him show up at TTP.