ON / Etobicoke - Bloor & Islington / 2008-21

[carly]

In other news...I witnessed mating at our nest site today    Jack showed up and spent the day, lots of flying around and chupping and all that stuff.   

[carly]

Well despite having last reported that Jack was here...he's now not been here since last Monday morning when he was heard chupping to Angel.  He has been at TR nest site daily and Mathew has observed that mating season has begun over there in ernest.

Angel has been out the past week on top of the condos looking out towards the lake and I have heard some chupping from her but I'm not sure if she's calling for him or she's trying to let it be known that she's available.  Elsewhere at Sheraton and King nest sites, both pairs have been observed bowing to each other and doing nestbox maintenance but nothing here as of yet which is out of the ordinary for this site.

[carly]

Jack is outside right now flying around and chupping away to Angel.  She's just watching him from the web cam...third time I've spotted him this week.  No aerial displays yet but he's flying back and forth and gliding to the nest box and chupping...wish I could speak Peregrine!!

[bev.]

Well, he is a hustler that is for sure, but maybe he prefers Angel.

I have my fingers crossed as this has always been a good site and if does to want to be faithful hopefully he gives another guy a chance

[carly]

2010 NESTING SEASON

Had a Jack sighting today.  As usual he comes in with a flourish - guy has style, you gotta give him that.  He swoops in and rustles up all the pigeons and then catches one and glides in to present it to Angel...show off  

He didn't hang around long that I could see.  Mathew says he was MIA there most of the weekend.  I joked that perhaps he's trying for a third site...wonder if the William Osler male is still there?!!!

The powers that be are going to try and get the cam up earlier this year in anticipation of...well we don't know.  Possibly dual nest sites, new male, who knows ...but with the cam up we can at least be ready  

[Alison]

An update yesterday from the CPF site on the Etobicoke nest; it's good to know Angel and Jack have both been seen at the nest.

Angel and Jack are still on-site braving the cold weather and enjoying the sunshine when it comes.  I have not seen any juveniles since I last saw Elena on September 18th.  I suspect her departure coincided with Jack’s arrival back on the scene to renew his bond with Angel.

He was sighted daily for approximately 2 weeks at that time and I observed alot of bowing in the nest box together and heard them vocalizing to each other.  The last 2 months I’ve seen Jack visiting the nest ledge at least 2 or 3 times a week for short periods and I’ve observed them hunting the local pigeons together some mornings.

Since Fall migration has ended it has been relatively quiet on the home front and other than humans, no one is alarming the falcons much at this time of year.  They are quite tolerant of the window washers and maintenance crews - although Angel does like to supervise the workers, which usually means hovering over them in the air and making them nervous enough so they know who’s territory they are in 

I”m lucky to still see Angel on a daily basis but I suspect as the temperature drops, sightings will be less frequent based on the past two winters observations.

[bcbird]

I like Turkey vultures also.  They have that tipping glide in their flight that gives away their identity.

[Alison]

Very interesting report, Carly! I actually like Turkey Vultures - six sounds like a bit much for two peregrines to chase off at one time.

Sorry to hear about the dead bird you saw, no matter what kind he/she turns out to be.

[carly]

Saw Angel going nuts today as 6 Turkey Vultures were hovering right over our building and gliding by her nest box.  Holy, she went crazy!!!  Boy those vultures were huge, she looked like a spec next to them!  They just kept gliding by and ticking her off.  She'd get up high and come down and strike one and they just kept on annoying her by getting closer to her ledge.

Then Jack came out of nowhere and it was the two of them kacking and attacking but it didn't seem to phase these 6, they seemed to be enjoying themselves riding the wind!  Finally both Angel and Jack just spiralled right out of sight - way, way up as the vultures continued landing on the roof or hovering in the air.  Then suddenly they all seemed to decide to move along but I never saw the intrepid duo come back.

I also saw a dead bird on one of the lower rooftops today, it wasn't a pigeon but it looked like some sort of hawk.  I couldn't see it's head so I have no idea what or who it was but I reported it to security so hopefully they will go up and get it.  For awhile I actually worried it might be a juvie but I think it's too small.  Gotta love migration time 

[carly]

You always know the right thing to say, I'm silly to worry about something that hasn't even happened yet.   

[The Peregrine Chick]

I have to say I'm not looking forward to next spring now, I know that sounds awful but the thought of him trying to run two nest sites and all the problems that entails doesn't excite me.  I'm going to hope that either the TR male recovers or another male comes around before then.

I wouldn't worry about it at this point Carly, there is no way to know if he will try to run to nests again next year or even if the two females will let him run two nests next year.  Yes peregrines mate for "life" but life is until one doesn't return or can be if the pairing isn't successful.  And one or both of the females may not feel he's devoting enough time to his "duties" and choose another male in his stead.  And from the number of birds roaming around southern Ontario and the northern New England states, his ladies will have other choices if that is what they decide.

Going to be an interesting spring that's for sure!! 

[Alison]

What a great update, Carly! Thank you! Glad to hear things have been going well there. I do miss the cam, which used to be active all year.

Yes, Lara and Rocky did a wonderful job with their two sons, Towpath and Canal. They did such patient, intensive training with them. If only their beautiful sisters had been able to survive too, everything would have been perfect. I've been meaning to post a summary of this year's events at the nest - haven't had time yet.

[carly]

I've been meaning to do an update for weeks now but I'm usually so tired when I get home and I'm glued to the panda cam now...lol!  But I still check on my guys several times a day.

I haven't seen Elena since September 17th, on that day she had breakfast with both Jack and Angel and that was the last I saw of her.  Hopefully she's somewhere safe and I have a feeling I'll be hearing about her again someday - she really turned into a strong, impressive female I must say!

Jack spent about 7 days glued to Angel and the nestbox for a change.  They did their rebonding and in between all the echupping, they cleaned the nestbox as was evidenced by all the bones, wings and other assorted pieces of 'prey' that came flying off the ledge.  For the past week though he's been here and at his other site as I've read on Mathew's site.  I guess he's splitting his time evenly between both sites now.  I saw him defending against something with Angel yesterday but no sign of him today at all. 

I have to say I'm not looking forward to next spring now, I know that sounds awful but the thought of him trying to run two nest sites and all the problems that entails doesn't excite me.  I'm going to hope that either the TR male recovers or another male comes around before then.  We had enough nest site failures this year, I hope next year will be better.  They haven't released any stats for this year but I can guess we had about half the eyases than what we had last year, if even that.

I've been meaning to go over on your board Alison so I can thank C&C for their wonderful photos of Lara and Rocky and the two boys.  Honestly I felt such pride when i was reading about Lara trying to feed them even after they had dispersed, it reminded me so much of something Angel would do.  Even though Elena obviously was doing her own hunting when she came to hang out with Angel - Angel would still stand guard over her while she was eating and chase any pigeons off the rooftop near her.  Nice to see she inherited her mom's protectiveness 

[carly]

Mom and dad both on nest ledge today....first time since the kids were little I've seen them together on the nest.     He's been here two days in a row now...all day...wonder what he's up to 

[carly]

Forgot to mention I saw Angel attacking something today.  I was on my way to the office after getting my lunch and I was actually worried as I hadn't seen her all morning when suddenly I heard the kacking.  When I looked up she was very high up in the sky diving at another bird - it was too far to see what it was but the other bird was much larger than her.  She struck it a few times and it barely flinched..which kind of freaked me out.  It didnt' immediately take off either, it just continued moseying along it's way while she whirled around it kacking her head off.  She followed it about a half block down the street and then she turned back and I finally found her at the back of the building on a ledge looking quite perturbed.

Not that I think she can't handle herself, I know she can but this is one of things I'm concerned about.  With Jack being MIA 90% of the time and migration coming up...I'm worried that another pair will come through or another younger female and she will be vulnerable.