Canada Falcons: All but those hatched in Rochester

[AlisonL]

Etobicoke

There have been more frequent visits to the nest recently, usually by O'Connor, but today I found both birds at the nest.

[carly]

The past 6 weeks have been hard on O'Connor and Lucky.  There is major construction going on at the site, men on all three towers, large cranes lifting steel girders and huge concrete slabs, demolition of parts of the lower levels as they add a second level above the lower mezzanine, etc...  They are also resealing all the glass panes as they have started to come apart at the seams and this will take quite awhile to do

This past week - due to the rain and wind the workers haven't been on the swing stages so finally OC and Lucky have had their home back and they are enjoying it to say the least.  I saw lots of tandem flying as they renew their bond.

Yesterday a kettle of 15 TV's came through and it was spectacular!  They landed on the rooftop of the nest ledge riser, went in and out of all the ledges and even perched on the swing stage levers.  All the while Lucky sat on the web cam preening..lol! 

[AlisonL]

The past 6 weeks have been hard on O'Connor and Lucky.  There is major construction going on at the site, men on all three towers, large cranes lifting steel girders and huge concrete slabs, demolition of parts of the lower levels as they add a second level above the lower mezzanine, etc...  They are also resealing all the glass panes as they have started to come apart at the seams and this will take quite awhile to do

This past week - due to the rain and wind the workers haven't been on the swing stages so finally OC and Lucky have had their home back and they are enjoying it to say the least.  I saw lots of tandem flying as they renew their bond.

Yesterday a kettle of 15 TV's came through and it was spectacular!  They landed on the rooftop of the nest ledge riser, went in and out of all the ledges and even perched on the swing stage levers.  All the while Lucky sat on the web cam preening..lol! 

Thanks for the information, Carly! A few signs of construction have even been visible on the cams; swing stages, cables, humans etc. It's good to know that Lucky and O'Connor have handled all the disruption well.

I would have liked to see the kettle of TVs.  I really like TVs and all other vultures.

[Donna]

Grrr construction! Glad they took a break so the birds can bond!! 

[MAK]

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. 

[AlisonL]

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.

[carly]

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.

[MAK]

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.

I don't know about you guys but that pic with the babies looks like a different bird from the other two pics. Lighting can make a world of difference so I'm hoping someone can get her band numbers soon. 

[carly]

Yeah she does look different MAK.  I suppose I've been in denial some but you always have to have hope you know and we've been wrong before so until we get a read on the bands I don't know what to tell you.  The construction here has been ongoing and OC was never a fan of humans, for two weeks I saw no one on site really and then suddenly we have two on site courting away.  If something happened it was off site out of our view. 

[AlisonL]

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.

[carly]

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?

[carly]

Here are some recent screen captures I have that you can compare that top photo with:

[AlisonL]

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.

[carly]

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 I am just guessing but boy she reminds me so much of her.

[AlisonL]

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.