Im Back..an update

[Kris G.]

Merry Christmas, Big Frank!

[BIGFRANK]

Well Im home from a visit with my Mom over Christmas. We had a great time and I even got in some birding! Best find was a Northern Pintail. A less than common duck. Its a real beauty. Interestingly,on the 24th I saw 2 birds of prey circling and all of the pigeons in the area of Moms appartment building going crazy. At a distance there were 2 birds of prey circling. I ran to my pack and got my binoculars. I soon saw it as 2 Peregrines. One went into an incredible dive,dropping like a stone after prey. I lost it as it disappeared over the residential neighborhood. Soon the male sailed over our building and out of sight. I waited for the bird that dove to reappear and soon it too sailed over the building,clearly the female. Both views of her were quite quick. Both birds were adult,but thats all I could really see. Shame I hadnt gotton better views of the female as Id like to have seen if it had the tracking device. Moms building is tall,I can see 2 sites from it(very very long distance..Canada Square and the general area Quest and Kendal are) and our Yellow Pages site is quite nearby. Knowing they hunt the area,Ive asked Mom to keep her eyes peeled. She will know it isnt a Redtail or Vulture.
  On a personal note,I visited my dietician for a weigh-in too,and I had lost 10 pounds since my last visit 3 weeks earlier. I am now under 400 pounds at 396,a weight I havent been in at least 15 years!! Onward and downward!

[MAK]

Pretty duck Big Frank! Congrats and keep at it. After the next knee replacement I hope to be way more active and losing a few myself. Thanks for posting your experiences! Say hi to the gang at CPF for me! 

[Paul Hamilton]

Congratulations on the weight loss -- that's a particularly good accomplishment during the Christmas season!  Also, thanks for the great Pintail picture.  Those ducks are uncommon around here also. It reminds me that I should spend at least one day during this break down by the river, looking for waterfowl.


Paul

[Kris G.]

Love the Pintail pic too, BF, and I also congratulate you on your weight loss!  Keep up the good work and keep us posted on your progress!

[Wing Goose]

Wonderful news Big Frank.

 
                    Lola

[Carol P.]

Good for you Big Frank!  Keep up the good work!   

[BIGFRANK]

Thanks gang  all the support and being accountable to everyone helps me. Here are a wack of Christmas Past photos of me and Santa! Enjoy http://www.winkflash.com/photo/public.aspx?u=bigbirderfrank&ic=10019332
Tracy and I are meeting Bruce today for lunch and will likely pop in on at least one of the city pairs of Peregrines while there! Will be sure to let U know if we do and post some pics.

[Donna]

Thanks gang  all the support and being accountable to everyone helps me. Here are a wack of Christmas Past photos of me and Santa! Enjoy http://www.winkflash.com/photo/public.aspx?u=bigbirderfrank&ic=10019332
Tracy and I are meeting Bruce today for lunch and will likely pop in on at least one of the city pairs of Peregrines while there! Will be sure to let U know if we do and post some pics.

Wow, nice you have the memories. I have none of me and Santa, not sure where they all are. This was great BF. Thanks for sharing and good luck today.

[MAK]

  Hey Big Frank thanks for sharing your memories! Blond hair when you were a kid I see! Tell Tracy and Bruce I said hi and I hope you find some peregrines!  

 

[Carol P.]

Frank - That's neat that you have all those pictures of you and Santa.  Looks like the same Santa and Santa chair in a few of the pictures.

[BIGFRANK]

Happy New Year  Tracy and I send along our best wishes to everyone on the Rfalcon board. May your 2012 be filled with health,hapiness and plenty of Peregrines!
We enjoyed a fun late evening and early morning(till 3am) of cards with our neighbors. The ladies vs the men. The ladies beat us silly after 3 hours of Rumoli and we narrowly beat them at Euchre in a best of 5. Dumbluck had alot to do with our victory. With the ugly cold weather done for awhile,many of our educational birds are happy to be in outdoor pens again. A few nights of wicked temps meant being indoors was a necessity for some.  The next few weeks hold a few more social engagements as well as Project School Visit starting up for 2012.  We have already arranged to meet Ann who is another CPF volunteer and amazing photographer,in a week or so. We will be trying to capture photos of the King St birds and ID the resident male. 
Not far from our Yellow Pages nest site,we saw a male Peregrine chasing a ball of paniced pigeons. The Peregrine was right in amongst them. As we were in a moving vehicle on a city street,under less than ideal driving conditions,we were not willing to cause a car wreck(Tracys) to enjoy the excitement as we would have liked to.  Time seems to fly,before long it will be time for the Ottawa Sportsmans Show in late Feb.  I hope I can contribute plenty of fun,informative and exciting observations to the site again in 2012.

[BIGFRANK]

Well many of you have by now read Tracys latest posting to the CPF page about our visit to King St to see Erin and her man of mystery. There is some speculation that it may still be Windwhistler/Spike from many years back. Similar behaviors and his black band are the reason for that. Tracy has only this moment told me we will be back down next weekend,whether pending to try again. We will try to have a scope for that visit. We also popped in at William Osler to check up on Oconnor but neither she or her mate were present. 
  We also went to "another spot" which must remain unmentioned to get shots of the resident pair. We drove up to find both male and female very near to where they nested last season. We watched the male retrieve some very recently stashed food, a pigeon. He called at the female like a baby for part of our visit,which was really quite sweet. At one point he entered the nest area before emerging in quick order.

 Today Ann,Tracy and myself are going to look for a Snowy Owl which is about 10min from home. Others may join us,making it another enjoyable day. We may venture further afield and look in another area for other Snowy Owls that are being reported. Not too many dull moments around  here!

[Carol P.]

Well many of you have by now read Tracys latest posting to the CPF page about our visit to King St to see Erin and her man of mystery. There is some speculation that it may still be Windwhistler/Spike from many years back. Similar behaviors and his black band are the reason for that. Tracy has only this moment told me we will be back down next weekend,whether pending to try again. We will try to have a scope for that visit. We also popped in at William Osler to check up on Oconnor but neither she or her mate were present. 
  We also went to "another spot" which must remain unmentioned to get shots of the resident pair. We drove up to find both male and female very near to where they nested last season. We watched the male retrieve some very recently stashed food, a pigeon. He called at the female like a baby for part of our visit,which was really quite sweet. At one point he entered the nest area before emerging in quick order.

 Today Ann,Tracy and myself are going to look for a Snowy Owl which is about 10min from home. Others may join us,making it another enjoyable day. We may venture further afield and look in another area for other Snowy Owls that are being reported. Not too many dull moments around  here!

Hey Big Frank!  So glad to hear that the King St pair and the "another spot" pair are doing well.   

[carly]

Glad you guys got out there, can't wait to see if it's Windwhistler..wouldn't that be something!!