Canada Falcons: All but those hatched in Rochester

[Donna]

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 packingâ€� 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……

[MAK]

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 packingâ€� 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...

[carly]

We've got 3 in the air now as per Frank.  Regatta fledged this morning too and she's staying high and hanging with Euro.  Windward flew off somewhere and we can't locate her but she was up way high above the condos and Oconnor and Jack don't seemed concerned so likely she's safe up high.  She flew down far past the residential area so no way to go down there without wheels to look for her.

Poor little Olympia remains on the ledge, no flapping, nothing.  She's very quiet and is always hiding in the corner...hopefully she starts wingercizing soon. 

[~Sage~]

So much excitement in Canada right now!  And we're watching Yankee, an previous Niagara Gorge hatch and his mate BB, watching out for their brand new fledges at University of Buffalo!

Good luck to all the new fledges out there!

[Donna]

Peregrine parents now empty nesters

WINDSOR, Ont. -- All four peregrine falcon fledglings have left the nest at the Ambassador Bridge.


http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Peregrine+parents+empty+nesters/6765075/story.html

[MAK]

 

[Dumpsterkitty]

Whew, What A Whirlwind
June 11, 2012 - Burlington - Lift Bridge
Sue McCreadie Reports:

Oh my gosh what a whirlwind we have been on for the last few days.  Thanks goodness I have a girlfriend Sally who gets up really early.  This morning she beat us to the Bridge.  I had gone to the store to get a few groceries to make lunch and Bill had head down to the Bridge.  As I was making lunch, my doorbell rang and there stood Sally with a very wet baby peregrine under her arm.  When she had arrived at the bridge, Jimmy (green band) was apparently walking the pier and when she parked her car, she saw him take off and try to land on the hand railing of the lift bridge.  He couldn’t quite make it and landed in the canal.  He started swimming (the wing stroke).  She tried to snag him with a tangled up dog leash, and as she was doing so, she prayed that someone would come along.  Lo and behold, a fisherman came along and between the two of them, a fishing rod and net they were able to rescue him.  Now, Sally has a very wet baby peregrine under her arm and she wonders what to a do now.  So she grabs a liner from the dog bed in the car and stuffs baby Jimmy into a crock pot she has and off she drives to my house.  She and Bill must have passed one another on the way so she stuffs Jimmy back under her arm and back to the Lift Bridge she goes where Bill and David Williams were waiting with the rescue box and towels.  We put him in the garage to calm down.  A call was placed to Mark Nash.  Mark arrived shortly after lunch and after a quick examination Jimmy looks just fine.  He will be held over until this evening when Mark will examine him again and release him from the roof of the Lift Bridge Tower.  Thank goodness for Sally and her early rising and the unknown fisherman who answered her prayers.

Carrey spent the best part of the day still on the roof where he was released last evening.  Dad delivered a food packet to him there.  Around 3:00 this afternoon he decided to fly and with a couple of missed landings had to circle the towers a few times.  He landed safely on one of the beams on the Burlington Tower.

Port Hope is still hanging out in the nest box.

My goodness, what will this evening bring.

[MAK]

   Backstroke! 

[Kris G.]

  Backstroke! 

Crockpot! 

[Carol P.]

Thanks to all the Fledge Watchers out there keeping all those first time fliers safe.  Great job everyone!

 

[Donna]

  The Alberta kids! They have a ways to go! So cute!

[Donna]

Update on the North York Peregrines!!
May 18, 2012 - North York - Nest
Tracy Simpson Reports:

Bruce Massey has been watching a pair of peregrines in the Yonge and Finch area for the past several years but they have not raised any young nor settled on a territory.  It would seem that things may have changed for the pair as they have been sighted now using the Trans America building at Yonge and Sheppard with great interest as well as the North American Xerox building at Yonge and Finch.  What makes this new development so interesting is that there appears to be a change in the bonded pair as the female has been identified as a banded yet unnamed 2008 hatch from the Statler Tower building in Buffalo, New York and a full sister to the female who last winter lost her territory at MEC known as Infinity.  She is currently bonded to an unbanded adult male and is seen most often in the Yonge and Sheppard area.

To this point, the female has always been an unbanded adult and this change may herald a new interest in nesting.  Bruce believes that the pair did make an attempt this spring at the North American Xerox building but it failed to produce any young.  Right now Bruce is seeing only one adult at a time and will continue to work on pinning down just where the pair is showing interest.  NO updates on this site?


!!! WPFW Update
June 14, 2012 - Windsor - Ambassador Bridge
Dennis Patrick Reports:

Yesterday Freddie and Voltaire chased away a Turkey Vulture. All of the chicks were busy flying, eating, resting, what most kids do.
Today Eddy the youngest one made a good flight upon to the roof near the river followed by one of her siblings. All four of them were fed at least four times during our Watch. As the day went by it was fun to watch them fly around everywhere. We noticed that General Brock and Eddy hang around together and Viper and Twitter hang around together. Around 8:15 P.M. Eddy made a great flight from one end of the parking lot to the other end and landed with ease in the tree higher than the Bridge so we were all quie happy to see that. The chicks are doing great flying around the Bridge.
Gwen & Dennis Site Co-ordinators CPF

A Good Day at Etobicoke Sun Life
June 14, 2012 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:

While Frank is unable to reach a computer for a detailed update, I still wanted to share what I have been seeing at the close of the watch when I am on shift.  He will provide you with a full summary report in the next few days.

I arrived on site tonight at around 8pm to relieve Frank and found Regatta on the corner of the easternmost condo tower, Windward was on a weird ledge on the first condo tower, Euro was somewhere on the roof of the same building and Olympia was taking part in her most favorite activity which is napping.  O’Connor was on top of the first condo keeping her eyes on all 4 of her young ones and Jack was perched on the retaining wall on the roof of the nest building.  O’Connor took off and shortly returned with a huge pigeon which she enjoyed eating on the ledge to the right of the nest.  As you can well imagine, this created a ruckus amongst the kids who were all interested in a nighttime snack.  She took what she didn’t eat over to the nest ledge and shared it with Olympia.  This drew out Regatta from the second condo who flew over and landed on the ledge O’Connor had just left.  Oops.  Wrong spot for gettin’ eats.  She didn’t care much though.  She was so happy to return to the nest building that she laid down for a nap.  O’Connor left the ledge and headed back to her perch.  Within half an hour, Jack took off and returned with another small meal which O’Connor flew in and deftly removed it from his grasp and proceed up to the condo tower with it.  She then flew back to the nest ledge and in doing so, drew in Windward from her napping ledge and two minutes later, Euro from the roof of the first condo.  With the light of the day disappearing, 3 kids were now on the nest ledge and Regatta was one ledge to the right separated only by a concrete divider.

Just as the darkness became thick, O’Connor flew into the nest ledge and entered the nest tray where she beak tapped each of the three kids that were there and then settled into the tray beside them.  Unbelievable how attentive she is and how strong her connection is to her kids.  She was like this when she was at the William Osler Hospital site as well but the tray at that location is behind the sign and so this level of affection was harder to witness.  She really is supermom and as I have said over the last four seasons of watching her, she is one of the most incredible falcons I have ever witnessed.  I feel incredibly honored.

Check back for pictures of the kids over the last few days as they will be coming tomorrow.

[Annette]

The second eyas from Hamilton has fledged.

[Colleen T]

Great shot!

[Dumpsterkitty]

The second eyas from Hamilton has fledged.

Excellent catch!