Manitoba Falcon Cam Forum
Other Peregrine Projects => Canadian Peregrines => Topic started by: The Peregrine Chick on May 23, 2008, 20:02
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2008 NESTING SEASON
Canadian Peregrine Foundation Etobicoke Falcon Watch
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm
nest location: Sun Life Financial Centre, Etobicoke
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The webcam seems to be off-air, but there is an interesting blog for yesterday June 13th about the adventure of all three chicks fledging for the first time and it turned out to be a very lucky Friday the 13 for all!
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I was out all day today at the site observing the juvies - I kind of invited myself ;D. It was exciting to say the least. The two young ones were released this afternoon and mom and dad immediately knew something was up and were circling the perimeter of the rooftop area quite aggressively and were reuntied with their young ones.
It was my first time being out in the field so to speak and I had a great time - although I admit it was nerve wracking at times...like watching your own kids leave the nest..hehe! I am hoping they do okay this evening and I plan on going out tomorrow to check it out again! Hopefully the evening is going well - I'll be looking for the evening post as well to see how it went!
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Since we can't watch ourselves, Carly, any updates you have will be greatly appreciated!
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Thank you and if anything exciting happens tomorrow I will let you know. I didnt' want to say too much about today because I didn't want to take anything away from the Etobicoke blogster Frank. I have met him and some of the other people that run the organization here in Toronto and they are a great group of people and they take great pride in their work as they should.
I of course don't profess to have any professional knowledge about peregrines but these people sure do, they seem to know everything and they really love what they do. I just kept my mouth shut, helped out when I could and I learned so much...at one point we were looking for one of the female peregrines to see where she landed as it was residential area with loads of tress and they were listening for other birds 'calls' as they said if she was nearby they would react to it. I of course would never have even thought to do something like that! They could even tell by the 'calls' what kind of bird it was...heh..so much to learn!
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So neat to read your update, Carly, especially after having only read about the 13th earlier today...what a relief to hear releasing the two juvies went well! When they're kept in 'overnight' where do they keep them (I've read a few different postings on different sites mentioning rescues of juvies, but because of the late hour of the day, I guess, and not wanting any more adventures to occur just yet, the rescued peregrine has been kept in and taken 'home' the next morning... Did they mention where those two spent the night last night and how they fare being away from siblings and parents and in a strange location?....what a great opportunity you took go down and hang out with the team! I hope tomorrow is as enjoyable for you, if you go!!
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Good morning! Am already for another day of peregrine watching! It's a nice sunny day so far but again they are calling for storms this afternoon, I don't know what it is this spring with all the violent storms but it's annoying!!
They kept the 2 juvies in a carrier box - it's like one of those kittie carriers but alot bigger - more like a medium sized bird cage in size so they aren't cramped together in a tight space. I'm not sure where in the security area they are kept as I've never been into that part of the building - it's in the same building I work in. I'm sure they are treated well though as security there loves the birds and they are always present at the bandings and over the years they've really been involved in helping rescue the little guys.
The little ones are not happy to be away from their parents and no doubt like most animals not too keen on being in any sort of confined space with funny looking creatures like us. But the guys said they aren't showing fear, it's more like they are mad and just want to get the heck out of there! At first they are a bit panicky obviously as they dont' know what's going on but they are given squirts of water to rehydrate them and it seems to calm them down. I would imagine having your sibling with you makes it more comfortable as well since you know you're not in it alone!
They were pretty happy to be home with mom and dad to say the least and pretty hungry as they don't get to eat while they're in there. I was pretty releived to see them reunited as mom and dad were both pretty stressed all morning, one was lost and 2 were missing so they were both circling the area and calling out everywhere. You could really see how relieved they were when the 2 were found again. The parents really put on a great flying show today - boy they are beautiful when they fly.
Sunny made some really good flights after her release and mom followed her from building to building while dad sat guard on Perry who was quite happy to stay on the roof! Then the parents took turns flying down to the missing Screech (who did eventually find her way home). The parents had their hands full today, can you imagine how we humans would fare in such a situation ;D
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Well the weather cut short my bird watching today at about 2 pm. Thunder, lightning and torrential rains on and off since then. The weather didn't seem to bother mom and dad though, they were trying to entice the kids off the rooftops and were putting on quite a show today...they were gliding and just kind of hovering in place..it was quite something to behold. One young one did take the bait eventually and both he and mom were at one point gliding but he quickly retreated to the rooftop. Hopefully they've done okay the rest of the day! I'll get to seem them all day at work tomorrow but had to actually do some work at home today..hehe..unfortunately the house work doesn't do itself!!
And I have peregrine gossip...apparently the male in Port Colbourne has been two timing his mate! While poor mom is on the nest raising their one surviving chick, he's been spotted at another site courting another female peregrine!!! He's going back and forth between the two of them! I was surprised but was told that one of the males at another site here in Toronto has been doing this for years...too much time around humans I guess!!
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What a louse! A heel!! A CAD!!!
Hope Sunny, Perry and Screech had a dry night.
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Why that scoundrel, how could he cheat on his lady with a youngin to feed?
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What shocking :o and juicy gossip! ;D Your two days out and about with the Peregrines has certainly been eventful and interesting!! I didn't know our 'mating for life' (at least in succession throughout their lives depending on who shows up each spring!) peregrine males could be so cunning! I just hope he's helping get food for his surviving chick -- that would be one redeeming quality, at least!
Thanks for describing so thoroughly what happened to the two rescued chicks. I was really interested in what had happened during the time away from mum and dad and the release, so thank you! You've also helped paint a fuller picture of what we miss from behind the computer screen -- all the interacting and guiding the parents do during this fledging time. What a treat to be able to see it in person.
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So it's been over a month since our chicks fledged and right now I'm watching them on the nestbox!! They usually go back between 3-5 pm when the sun is really high and strong. I'm guessing there isn't much shade on the roof because I've been surprised to see them back home so often but here they are! Sunny, the middle girl actually can be found sleeping right in the next box quite often which is strange but she seems to like it and I've even caught mom beak feeding her from time to time even at this late stage. They are all doing well and flying strong but I've been on vacation all week so I haven't been out to see them...kind of cool though that I can log on to the web cam and check in on them!
As for the cheating peregrine in Port Colborne, dad has been around but not alot. If you read the blog there, the poor little guy fledged and spent his first day being attacked by red tails and seagulls and no one was around to help him at all. he did survive though but not many updates except to say he's doing ok for now.
Another interesting story is from the Burlington site, apparently a third male entered the territory and fought the dad there and injured him quite seriously. The Mom peregrine apparently went after the intruder and tried to kill him...she drove him right out of the territory in defense of her injured mate which is unheard of as they usually don't interfere with the other's battles! Go Mom! Apparently dad is healing slowly and is now flying and hunting a bit but still not 100%. The watchers there are surprised he survived but I"m glad he did and according to the blog there he is still helping with the juvies though they are faster than he is at this point but still it's been 10 days so I'm hoping that means he will eventually get back to normal just in case the evil inturder comes back.
Peregrines just cotinuously surprise me, everytime you think you know a bit about them they go and push that extra mile and leave you astounded!
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Carly, thank you so much for that update..I've really lost track of the comings and goings of that nest...so surprising to hear the little ones are coming back...must check them out on the cam..as far as the story about the female going to the defense of her injured mate, a similar situation occured this spring with the Rochester New York pair. I'll have to go back and double check my story, but I believe the male was having extreme difficulty with an intruder..the female stepped in, took over, and drove the intruder out of the territory...
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Thanks for the updates Carly.
SGB, there's also that YouTube clip from the sites we were given in an old thread, showing the pair working together to get rid of an intruder.
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Oh cool, I'll have to look that up! Although I don't like to see our beautiful birds fighting each other, I don't like to hear when an intruder kills one and the other one just stands by and watches either. I know nature is cruel but I like to delude myself and think they all get along ;D
Just like I'm telling myself that my babies are going to fly south and live happily ever after...
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Thanks for the updates Carly.
SGB, there's also that YouTube clip from the sites we were given in an old thread, showing the pair working together to get rid of an intruder.
You are so right...I had totally forgotten about that!!! thanks for the reminder..I'll tell ya...my short term memory ain't what it used to be...What's today? :)
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Another webcam in GTA in Etobicoke, mum and dad just left . Not the closest view but looks like one chick and perhaps an unhatched egg Not sure if I can post the link but will try. www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/camview.html
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Im wrong looks like two chicks although it seems to be a rerunning video although it says live video feed
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Sheltie, that is the Etobicoke web cam - the building I work in. The 3 babies are all grown up now having fledged last month. They run the video on the side now as the juvies aren't home much anymore. You can still catch them though if you're lucky, on really hot days they will come to the nest box and chill out in the shade. They are Screech, Sunny and Perry and they are beautiful! I see them everyday flying around chasing each other and pigeons!
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Silly me, if I had been thinking it would have occured to me that the babies were way too little! ::) At least I know for future postings that I can get the link to show. Thanks Carly much appreciated
LuAnn(aka sheltiegirl)
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Screech is in the house!!!. The last 2 mornings our not so little girl Screech was spotted on dad's usual perch on top of the ADP sign - she was parked on the 'P' both mornings.!! She even went over to mom's ledge at one point and mom seemed okay with it :-* :-* It's been awhile since I've seen any of the young ones so this was a really nice surprise. She looked good, big and strong and she was munching on a pigeon this morning ;D
This afternoon dad was on mom's web cam perch and then a few minutes later mom flew in and they chupped at each other a bit (I could hear it from the street, they are so loud...lol) and then dad flew off to the condo next building over!
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This is great news! Thanks so much, Carly.
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Every time another pair is seen together at their nest site or described as chupping to each other, it makes me misty eyed at the hope and thought of the promise implied for next spring.
Isn't Mother Nature grand!
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Wow Carly ;D It is wonderful that you have seen Screech. Your descriptions of this family are wonderful. I recall seeing a banding pictures of her and her siblings. Are there any photos around of the grown up Screech?
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Unfortunatly I don't own a good enough camera otherwise I would have taken pictures of them. The only pictures of them as Juvies are the ones on the CPF site before they fledged :( :( If you go to the etobicoke site and click on the 2008 photos link, you can see all 3 there just before they fledged -they're all quite beautiful!
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I know we don't have a post for Port Colbourne but the sole juvie there, little Gunner was put down the CPF site says :'( :'(. He was the son of Millie and Freedom (one of Mariah's kids). Apparently he colided with either a car or structure and severly damaged one of his wings so they had to put him down. *sigh* Such a bad summer for the little boy peregrines.
Although I'm happy the females continue to thrive, it saddens me that we keep losing so many males - that means more nest box competition which is not good.
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I'm glad you posted this, Carly - I just came over here to post the same info. It is especially sad to lose Gunner since he was the only chick who hatched this year, and he had been doing so well. He was an extremely handsome little juvie. :'(
A few pics of Gunner:
(http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/GunnerJune2008a.jpg) (http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/gunneronledge3.jpg)
(http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/Gunner20after20hunting2.jpg) (http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/Gunner20gets20a20drink2a.jpg)
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Carly, thank you for the good news about Screech at Etobicoke! I am so glad you saw her, and that she looks good and is eating well.
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It's an interesting day today, lots of different birds starting the migration trip and are passing overhead. Angel and Marco are both by the nest cam today looking very alert and there is always one of them by the nest every time I've checked..not usual to see them so close together so often outside of mating/breeding season.
Then I noticed 6 red tailed hawks sitting over on a very high hydro cable..at first I thought I was seeing things but I went up closer and could clearly see they were hawks. I'm guessing they may be ever more vigilant in the next weeks with all the birds heading eastwards.
*Our offices are in the west end of the city but near the lake and this area is very green compared to the downtown area so we see alot of birds here that you normally wouldn't see or notice in the city core. I'm guessing they follow the lake area to head east which is why I can see red tail hawks at work!! I've never seen 6 together before, 1 or 2 flying by and that's usually because Angel will start alarming if one flys over her ledge..lol..then I notice!!
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Beautiful photos of a gorgeous Peregrine. So sad about Gunner. :( :'(
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Sunny is home!!! I went to do my usual morning check on mom before I came upstairs and imagine my surprise when I saw a brown/black bird instead of a white/black one!!! Immediately got the binoculars out of my pack and there she was! I can tell the difference between her and Screech just due to sheer size and Sunny is a bit rounder whereas screech is longer. No sign of my little Perry though, at first I was hoping it was him as I haven't seen him in so long but unless he's gained a ton of weight. Couldnt' see the leg bands but just a visual guess..I'd say Sunny.
Imagine that!! October 2nd! I wonder if she came by to say good bye? No sign of mom or dad at all today yet but it's still early, I will go out and check again in a bit. She flew off the nest box and over the buildings in a circle and then landed on the corner of our building where I got another good look at her face...so beautiful!!
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Mom is back on the webcam and Sunny is around the corner munching on a pigeon breakfast!!! Mom is not chasing her off, she's just basking in the sun in all her glory :D
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I did not realize you were so close to this site Carly. thought I would take a gander through the site and there you are :) :)
I have followed this site for a few years. I am glad you got Ito see 2 of your your juveniles. that is so cool 8) 8)
I wonder where they will end up.
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I wonder where they will end up.
Me too ;D ;D
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The web site is showing previously recorded video of the falcons this year..showing it right from eggs to babies... I did a double take when I put the cam on and there were eggs.. ??? !!
nice to see it again, and makes me anxious for spring.
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I was off work today but I wonder if they came to try and fix the cam as it's been out of commission for quite awhile and it needed a visit to determine the cause.
That is a nice little clip they run though isn't it :D :D
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Well we're at the start of an 'extra summer' here,gorgeous day today to be followed by a week of summer like weather and something is definitely in the air...could it be l'amour :D :D
Mom and dad have been hanging out on the nestbox today together!!! And..he brought her lunch and now he's out there doing some fancy footwork on the window ledge for her :-* :-* oh my !
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Well I am not sure but I think mom and dad may have left :'(. There hasn't been one day that one of them hasn't been on the ledge since February that I've been watching but it's day 2 and no sign of them anywhere. They were both here Monday through the blowing snow, cuddled up together on the ledge. Tuesday mom was in her nestbox and dad on the cam all day long but yesterday nada and today so far despite the rain ..nada. No feathers on the ground this morning, no discarded wings or pigeon heads :-X either.
I will keep checking but I just wanted to record it in case they did decide to go to warmer climates together for a vacation so I'd know which day they left.
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Yay..after 2 days of no sightings, this morning mom is on her nestbox again..whew :)
Also it's going to hit plus 13 today after a few days of frigid temperatures. I guess they must have a hiding place where it's warmer. I wonder if they go up on the roof near some of the mechanical equipement..would probably generate warmth for them!
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:P Someone is going to be distracted at work today.. :P
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Yay..after 2 days of no sightings, this morning mom is on her nestbox again..whew :)
Great news, Carly. 8) Glad that they are still hanging around :) It looks like some of the other Toronto residents are still around too, or at least were last weekend. Mathew Rossi reported the residential pair were sighted at the ledge, and exciting news via Rochester. The CPA reported to them that Linn (Rochester 2007) has been positively identified at the hack box site and has a banded male with her that they haven't been able to identify yet Let's hope that this means more chicks in Toronto next year!
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I just found the link Maggie about Linn! Isn't that fabulous!! More of Mariah's offspring in the city! She produces such strong offspring, this can only be good for the local population to have her genes sprinkled around ;)
And my pair was outside today, I checked on them first thing after yesterday's cold, snowy weather and there they were..mom in the nest box and dad in the cam looking as if they were on the beach instead of a cold ledge in the north!
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2009 NESTING SEASON
Frank tells me that they hope to have the webcams in Toronto up and working within the next 2 weeks.
Angel and Marco are in full 'romance' mode, lots of bonding stuff going on and she was pretty much velcroed to the nest box last week while he brought her food. This week she's been out flying and hunting alot more and I've barely seen him at all so not sure what point they are at now. I haven't witnessed mating personally but given how close they are, I've no doubt it is going on ;)
P.S.: Forgot to add, the CPF will be at the Sportsman Show starting today until Sunday down at Exhibition Place if any of you are in the area and would like to see the birds up close, here is your chance!
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Woohooo!! 10:10 am and just witnessed my first real time mating! Went out with binoculars for a quick look and there they were!!! ::)
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Isn't that quite something, seeing them mate, Carly. Glad you finally saw it in person!
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Isn't that quite something, seeing them mate, Carly. Glad you finally saw it in person!
Heh..yes it was exciting! Dad was on the webcam and mom on the nestbox, he flew off and around in a semi circle and then next thing I know there they were - and then he flew back to the cam ...lol...over in seconds! Wasn't quite how I pictured it..lol..I expected some canoodling first...hehe ;)
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Ok I think I just witnessed an 'escort' out of the territory. I went out quickly to check on my pair and mom was on the nestbox, dad on webcam and suddenly a third falcon comes from out of nowhere, passes directly in front of their ledge - sees 2 other falcons - screaming starts and interloper takes off behind condo, dad in hot pursuit, interloper flies out over road, dad on his heels, saw dad hit him...both flew out of range but interloper high tailing it..in otherwords he's not fighting back.
Mom has moved to cam but no sign of dad back yet...I will keep checking. So much for my sandwich..lol Must say, never seen dad move so fast except when he's hunting!
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Well...whoever flew through obviously hasn't dampened dad's spirits. I came out of a meeting and went out to check on them and witnessed another mating!! Should be some eggs coming within the next 4 or 5 days if they are on the same schedule as previous years! ;)
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I have been waiting for the cam also Carly. I am so glad you are seeing them.
I will be going down to Thursday to see if I can see anything at my site.
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Was hoping we'd have an egg here too but mom was actually out hunting today!! Saw her on the edge of our building looking for 'lunch' twice today..lol..I guess when you're eating for two.... :-*
Of course she could have one or two already and I wouldn't know although given that it was in the minuses with wind chill up until yesterday and she wasn't on the nest yesterday either, I'd guess not yet as I think she'd have to keep it warm in minus 7 weather wouldn't she?
Plus 10 for tomorrow so maybe ....
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Well poo, I just spent a half hour running around the streets to get a view of the ledge. Expected to see mom on nestbox but only 1 falcon for the past 2 days :( And she/he tucked in corner on top of web cam hiding from the wind chill. Last year by this time they had 2 eggs :'( I'm concerned cause I don't see 2, for the past few weeks they've been velcroed to each other and now only 1.
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They will decide when to lay eggs, don't worry until there is something to really worry about. :)
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Takes a week to get reacquainted if an established pair, more if a new or relatively new pair. Then a couple of weeks to "cook" ;) the eggs before laying. The birds will do what they want in the time they want. I've had birds hatching out in June, flying in August that have done very well, so they have plenty of time yet!
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Etobicoke cam is up now!! Mom on the box...woohooo!!
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Darn it, I keep waiting for her to stand up and after the refresh she is sitting facing another way and I keep missing it...lol..show me some eggs mama!!
Ack she heard me, blurred image but could be 2 or 3 under there!!
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Darn it, I keep waiting for her to stand up and after the refresh she is sitting facing another way and I keep missing it...lol..show me some eggs mama!!
Ack she heard me, blurred image but could be 2 or 3 under there!!
Yippee that the cam is back on ;D Now if mama would just cooperate and let us see what is going on ::)
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There are at least 2 eggs Maggie, possibly 3..image was blurry but I definitely saw 2 eggs!! Either that it was the longest single egg in the world! :P
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It's a full clutch!!!! 4 eggs!!! Saw mom and dad switch over on the live cam in the lobby downstairs just now!!! It's a huge 40 inch screen so I got a clear view and was to count while they did the switchover!!
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It's a full clutch!!!! 4 eggs!!! Saw mom and dad switch over on the live cam in the lobby downstairs just now!!! It's a huge 40 inch screen so I got a clear view and was to count while they did the switchover!!
Whoohoo Carly ;D They were quick off the mark. ::)
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I know!! I guess that explains why I thought mom vanished the past 4 or 5 days, she was there all along sitting tight!! I suppose it's good that I can't see her from the ground even with binoculars in the box, probably keeps them safer from predators.
Still cant' believe I missed the whole thing, here I was trying to spot the signs of a first egg and totally missed the boat.. ;D
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Thank you for the update, Carly! Four eggs - that's great! I haven't been able to catch her off the eggs yet on the cam.
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Some excitement here at the moment..2 Canada Geese just flew into the territory and landed on top of the Bell building across the street. Mom started yelling, dad is circling the air frantically alarming.... the Bell building has some huge puddles on it's roof so that seems to be what the geese are looking at..but parents are not happy! I have a birds eye view from the window ...
Well that was cool, even the pigeons were upset over the geese. The geese have been persuaded - I guess with all the sqauwking from both dad and pigeons - that perhaps this is not the place to puddle jump...
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Finally got a good shot of all 4 eggs in the nestbox but not allowed to access photo storage from work so will have to email to my home addy and I can post this evening ...
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In the meantime, here is a pic of the four eggs. She was back on them immediately. I'm sure Carly's pic will be a better one.
(http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/february%202009/etobicokeapr24a.jpg)
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Lol..thanks Alison, much appreciated! I cant' see your pic either as they completely ban any photos stored on those sites..all I see is a red x at work :'( but I'm sure it's great!
Thanks for posting it as I just wanted everyone to see my girl's eggs ;D
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i can't see those pictures either. Damn work. :-X
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Okay..here's my four eggs!
(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm140/peregrinegirl/Etobicokeclutch_2009.jpg)
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Great pic of the eggs, Carly! My computer is down now, so I won't be able to see much for a while. :(
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Great pic of the eggs, Carly! My computer is down now, so I won't be able to see much for a while. :(
Oh no, what bad timing :'( :'( Darn :(
It was a nice day here today for a change, plus 14 but now they are calling for wet snow and plus 2 by Monday. Tomorrow pouring rain all day and cooler. So I was lucky she got up and I was able to get the shot.
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I think Lara is ours!! I've emailed Frank to confirm but I remember he mentioned they had called about one of Angel and Marco's girls being down there...oh I hope so!! She would have been just shy of 2 years old last year.
http://www.ohio.com/news/42745572.html
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Woohoo she's ours!! She was bigger than Screech who was 958 at banding if memory serves me!!! And her mate Rocky is one of Buckeye's last offspring...wow how special is that!!!
Lara was indeed an Etobicoke-Sunlife chick hatched in 2006. At banding she was a very healthy 1105grams.
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that is great news CArly. you Can follow her now.
I wish one of ours would turn up somewhere. Maybe has but no one has reported them.
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The Etobicoke webcam has been 'stuck' for a week now, they are working on it and also trying to get the live cam running.
Based on a guestimate and some sleuthing: We didn't have a cam until April 1st and it was on the 31st I hadn't seen her for 2 days...however that was Mon/Tues and she could very well have started incubation on the weekend and she was hunting on the Friday with dad. The earliest we could have a hatch is next Thursday. I also looked back through the archives and except for one year, that was pretty much the date she had her first hatch.
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100kmh winds, severe thunderstorms and large hail happening here right now. I am worried about my falcons now on the ledge and the stupid cam is not working. I see Madame X in Hamilton hunkered down too >:( :(
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wasn't that a wild ride eh Carly? we were just on our way out for dinner. the wind was blowing SO hard, we saw some poor lady spread eagle against a chain link fence, and the wind blew two kids right off their bikes in front of us, thankfully not into the road but onto the grass.. scary stuff! the wind was kicking up so much dust it was hard to see.
hope everyone is well, safe and dry, both human and beastie.
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Ack..hope the poor lady and the kids are okay! That really was scary, we heard crashing, glass breaking and sirens going everywhere...hopefully nothing fatal.
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You must of had it worse then here in London. We had a sharp storm and the winds were up but don't think it was that awful here. Take care though when those storms hit, take cover and hope for the best.
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Hopefully mine are okay, the top of the ledge is covered and she's weathered similar years before but I hate that I can't see her on the cam and too dark now to go check.
Madame X in Hamilton was soaking wet, poor dear - she doesn't have a roof, she's on an open ledge like T&P are but she looks okay from what I saw on the cam. I guess they are used to it, it's the humans that have a hard time ::)
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Whew..glad to hear that everyone weathered the storm!
I know..humans are so emotional, I wish I could just go to every nestbox and protect them all.. :-*
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WOW! I didn't even know about this storm until I saw these posts. That's what happens when the weather patterns do funky things! Sorry to write this but, it will only guess worse, thanks to us humans and all the damage we have done. Yes folks, these weird weather patterns are just going to get worse!
I am a major weather lover... meaning, I would chase a tornado if I get the chance. I love storms and find them fascinating!
I'm very happy that no one or falcon was hurt!
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Angel is moving alot this morning, first time I've seen her fidget. She's listening to the eggs and chupping to them, also she's rearranging pebbles - first time she'd done that as well. Today is my busiest day at work...grrrrr... but I will be up and down to check. I'm excited ;D
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First hatch at Etobicoke!!! Just watched it, Angel just ate the shell too! Woohooo!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Wonderful news ;D ;D ;D Is this the first Toronto hatch?
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Yes I believe so!! :D ;D I feel like the proud mom this morning...lol!!
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Second hatch at Etobicoke!!!!! ;D ;D
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Congratulations Carly!!!!!
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Yes I believe so!! :D ;D I feel like the proud mom this morning...lol!!
Way to go Carly, and it didn't hurt a bit ;D
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And then there were 3!!!!! Caught a feeding before I left the office and the third one has hatched - wasn't there at the 1:30 feeding! Weeeeee!!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Wow! Very exciting Carly!
First hatch at Etobicoke!!! Just watched it, Angel just ate the shell too! Woohooo!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
Is it usual for the parent to eat the shell?
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Is it usual for the parent to eat the shell?
Yes. Saves on clean-up and is a great source of calcium and vitamins. Should be since she just gave them up to make the shell!!
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Now CArly, you are supposed to take your work down there and not miss the action ;D ;D
Great news :-* :-* :-*
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Oh that's great news! The cam still isn't working :( , and I was worried after that storm. More falcons...yay! ;D
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Just caught a shift change and 3 little eyases and 1 egg! I was actually concerned because I couldn't see the 4th egg and thought I was wrong but I saw it clearly this time..it's a nice resting perch for 3 little heads. Angel is sitting tight on them today as it's quite cold here although we have sun on the ledge right now which is good. That will help her keep them warm. :-* :-* :-*
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Any more chicks Carly???
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Nope just 3 little eyases and still 1 egg this morning. I caught the 7:00 am feeding and the 3 little ones were using the remaining egg for a pillow again :D Last year her fourth one didn't hatch either but I'm honestly okay with 3!
There are some Canada Geese in the area again, *sigh* the parents will get annoyed again. One of the geese just tried to enter the building through the doors downstairs, I guess they heard about our Food Court.. ;D ;D
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More excitement, I just witnessed another feeding and both parents aggitated, Marco stood guard right to the box while she fed the chicks - there is window washer without a helmet on the condo building next door!! They should know better!! Angel has calmed down now but she is sitting high and her head is swivelling alot.
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I am glad you are getting to see our wee ones get fed.
I remember at Edmonton ,when the window washers were brave enough to go up. They soon learned to wear helmets ;D ;D ;D
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Just caught another feeding!! Dad came in all proud with a pigeon so the chicks are stuffed now! It was a long feeding. Two of them finally fell over onto the egg and then mom started to tuck them in and get comfortable when she realized one of them was over to her side and not under her. She had wiggled her way over to the edge of the nestbox - I loved the look on her face when she looked over, like 'how did you get over there?' So she got up turned it over with her beak and then picked her up and plunked her down in the pile and sat on all of them. Gosh they are adorable!! ;D
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Great descriptions Carly 8)
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Thank you Carly! Great explanation for those of us that can't see ;D
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Especially ....
"Dad came in all proud with a pigeon..."
thanks for keeping us up on all the good details!
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thanks CARly.
Miss being able to watch from time to time
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Thank you so much for the updates, Carly! I miss being able to see the parents and babies on the cam. Any word on when/if it and the live stream might be fixed?
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No, no word on it at all. They are having major challenges with computer systems.
The family is doing great though. Saw a few good feedings today and I think that fourth egg will remain a pillow like last year but hey you never know! The three little ones are all very close in size up to now but one of them is showing signs of being the ring leader already...I bet she's a girl ;D
Today the window washers were on the next building (the condos) again. I was down watching a feeding when one of them came in - he said to me 'oh there are chicks', I said yes 3 of them, isn't it great! He said 'umm I am going to be on a chair washing windows today and last year when they had babies one of them got me in the neck soon as I stepped on the roof'. LOL! Poor guy, he was ashen. I said 'yeah well they are territorial when the babies are born, maybe a helmet would be in order next time'. He walked off looking very uncomfortable.
I did check outside a few times and Marco was on the next ledge watching the guy like a hawk but didn't see any attacks when I was out.
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Thanks, Carly! We are lucky you are there to provide updates - otherwise we wouldn't have a clue what is happening there.
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Monday Morning update:
Angel and 3 fast growing eyases are enjoying a bit of sunshine this morning. The fourth egg is still beside the young however Angel no longer seems to be bothering to incubate it. I expect the next few days will see the egg pushed off to the side as the young no longer use it to lean on. Two feedings have occured already and Angel is now sitting with a chick pile in front of her enjoying the sun.
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Thanks for the great update Carly. Nice to know that everything is going well for the 3 little ones.
I hope that the window washer went out and got himself a hard hat if he is planning on being on the condo today. ::)
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Excitement at Etobicoke: I was watching another feeding when mom suddenly dropped the food, started alarming and off she went. Three little heads all turned and looking like 'hey where did the food go ???'. So out to the front of the building I went and heard both alarming and saw them circling the condo roof tops - I thought the washers were done but apparently not as the rope is still there but on the opposite side now! But no sign of a human, they must have stepped out onto the roof and been dive bombed..lol! Both parents continued circling and diving for a few minutes, then dad flew to the top of our building and mom flew to the ledge but not into the nestbox. Finally dad was satisfied that whatever the threat was - it was taken care of for now and he flew to the ledge and is now standing guard as mom continued the feeding.
One of the chicks has been really feisty today, she moved right to the end of the nestbox earlier before mom got tired or her wiggling and promptly plucked her up and put her back in the pile ;D She's very inquisitive and won't sit still long...hehe!
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One of the chicks has been really feisty today, she moved right to the end of the nestbox earlier before mom got tired or her wiggling and promptly plucked her up and put her back in the pile ;D She's very inquisitive and won't sit still long...hehe!
She?
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I'm just assuming :P Angel and Marco tend to produce females with the odd boy thrown in every few years for good measure. I'd be excited if they had all males for a change!
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Funny thing about gender numbers in clutches over the years, our ratio is almost the same male to female since our first hatch in 1989, usually not more than about 5 birds either way. It would be interesting to see what is the ratio for Ontario - Angel & Marco may be been working very hard to keep everything in balance! ;)
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It's good to know the three chicks are doing well. Thank you for the updates, Carly!
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Excellent news! Again Carly, thanks for the updates! :-*
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Morning feed: It's a balmy 6 degrees here this morning so Angel was keeping the young covered this morning as best she could. The three are getting too big for her to cover completely so three bums were sticking out and an egg! Later on I went down and they were all alone while mom went for a break and dad flew in and gave them a nice long second breakfast. This is unusual as she almost always zooms right back in and grabs the food from him and does the feeding herself but perhaps this morning she needed to stretch her wings! All three were quite hungry and fed very well, once the meal was done they all snuggled up together in a little teepee and started to doze. Dad left and mom flew in a few seconds later and proceeded to try and cover them up to shelter them from the cool air. And that is how I left them. :D
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Window washers again, parents are extremely upset and going nuts take dives at the roof tops. Lot of views of the three wee ones as result, all three mobile now and scooting around the box..even saw some little wings come up for the first time :D
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Keep up the great work Carly! Thank you so much for all of these updates!
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Hey Carly, I can't seem to get a web that works for Etobicoke. Any suggestions?
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Neither can I :P. The cam has been down for 2 weeks now and no ETA on when it's back up online. The only way to see the nest now is for my invisible plane to come get you and fly you here so you can watch the live feed in the lobby of my work building.
But when it does work, this would be the link:
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/c/sightings/etobicoke-sun-life-centre/
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Frank must finally have gotten his PC fixed as he posted a blurb on Emma's visit to the site and 3 photos. The back of me with my backpack is photo 3...who knew :P
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Happy 1 week B-Day little ones :-* :-* :-* Too big for mom to cover now, she is standing over them and shading them from the sunshine. Little Missy Troublemaker is visibly bigger to me than her siblings now and will not sit still, she was even pecking at the egg!!! She's going to try my nerves like her older sister Screech did last year!! She's all over the nestbox, waddling right to the corners and of course mom is busy preening!! I was down there yelling at the monitor for her to pay attention before little miss wiggle worm goes tumbling out the nestbox... ;D The other two are dozing away peacefully! Just waiting on the window washer dudes next door to come and disrupt the day again :P
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Oh I hope this cam is fixed soon! I want to see!
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Day 9 and Mom has started hunting as of today! Dad stood guard for about a half hour while she went hunting and she came back in with quite a large sized pigeon! She defeathered in the nestbox which is not usual for her at this point however the guys are on the roof next door AGAIN!! Earlier when they stepped on the roof both parents were agitated, mom practically threw herself over the chicks while dad stood guard right beside her until they left.
The three are quite large now and very active although once this pigeon is done they will no doubt be stuffed and have a very nice long nap!! I had my binoculars down with me as I wanted to check their legs...no bands on mom as was expected. Dad was being very coy and wouldn't show me his legs at all - he stood with his back to the camera!
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Great updates Carly...thanks again for keeping us posted!
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thanks CArly. :-* :-*
These guys are elusive with their bands.
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Well I saw dad's black band today but he was in the shade so no go at reading it...and new glasses aren't in yet so couldn't see it clearly..grrrr..!! He's a beauty though, he's very much darker than mom is!
The young are doing well today, it's a balmy 20 degrees today so they are just hovering over them today and let them lay in the open. The window guys have moved over 1 building so they are much more relaxed now that they can't see them!
I cant' believe how big they are now :-* :-* :-* When they get hungry, all three of them peck at the egg now..lol ::)
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The window guys have moved over 1 building so they are much more relaxed now that they can't see them!
Hey, who do you think are more relaxed, the window guys or the falcons?
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Lol...probably both I'm sure!! I dont' mean to give the window guys a hard time, I know they just have a job to do and let's face it - no one wants poop on their windows. I expect it's good practice for the falcons too, keeps them on guard for other possible predators too. If they had it too easy, then they'd get lazy and complacent like us humans.. :P
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Try and take a picture Tracy ,even if it is from the lobby. I would love to see these guys. :-*
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Thank you for the continuing updates on the chicks and parents, Carly! It's good to know they are doing well. Just wish we could see them!
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I wish we could see them too Alison :(
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Try and take a picture Carly ,even if it is from the lobby. I would love to see these guys. :-*
Dad and chickpile yesterday afternoon from lobby!!
(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm140/peregrinegirl/IMG_4053-1-1.jpg)
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Thanks for the great picture Carly of handsome dad and the kids. ;D
It looks like these guys are being very well looked after.
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Thanks Carly!!! Looks like all is well over there ;D
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person from work said he'd bring camera again on Monday and teach me to use it...I will get some shots of mum and a feeding if I can so you can how big they are.. This was more of a practice shot to see if we could take pictures through glass windows, didn't turn out too bad at all considering..
Thunders showers today on and off...might have to take a run out to check on them later if it ever stops.. ::)
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My family looks good this morning! It's very cold out despite the sunshine but expected to warm up as the day goes on. Angel is hovering over her brood this morning helping them keep warm even though they are pretty big now! They are cuddling up to her breast all standing together :-*
Dad was right up above them on the top of the building when I came in standing guard as always!
I think I"m spoiled because these 2 are so experienced and efficient ;D
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Thanks for the photo Carly. You are so obliging. :-* :-*
It seems that the weather is going to be the pitts all over for a few days. We have nice today and then it goes down .
thank your person from work :) :)
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Lunch time - May 11th; Age of chicks - 13 days old today, check out the size of the crops!! :D
(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm140/peregrinegirl/EtobicokeFalcons_May11001.jpg)
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Greedy little buggers :o and so ugly they are cute :D
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Well put TPC.
There's that awkward looking time for baby falcons...they are ugly but sooo cute at the same time! :-*
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Really appreciate the pictures Carly. I always watched this site. :-*
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So before I left the office today I witnessed a double feeding!! Mom was feeding the sproglings and they looked stuffed and dad comes in with another fresh kill....and I thought for sure she'd tell him go put that away these kids are stuffed..look at their crops!! No :o :o!! She starts defeathering the new arrival and two of the little piglets start grabbing at it like they haven't been fed for days..the other one starts picking at the darn bird itself as if it's going to feed itself!! It was hilarious, they ate for another 20 minutes straight- their crops were sticking out past their tummies I swear!!
One of the security guards that has been there 10 years watching them is convinced it's 3 girls! He might be right, they are all pretty close in size...gigantor!! But two are very yappy and the third seems quiet so it's either a shy girl or a big boy..we'll see, they are still young yet.
Anyway one thing I did notice the last 2 days is these guys are way more active at this age than last years crowd was. I thought for sure the 2 yappy ones were going to jump out of the box a few times today! It's cute watching mom trying to control them and point them towards the back of the box ... I love them :D
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Just had a look at your 13 day old chicks photo, your security guard could be right. By 21-24 days when be band, the chicks are adult size except they don't have flight feathers. Those chicks are no too too far from the size of the adult that is feeding them in that photo ...
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I wish we could see this family...the cam (s) are still down in some areas :(
Thanks Carly for all of your updates ;D
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Thank you for the updates and the great pics, Carly!
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If any of you frequent the CPF site, you will notice a flurry of updates today for the past few weeks. That's just because the log-in setup didnt' happen until today and we had some catching up to do...you guys already know this stuff already :)
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10:45 arrive at site for a quick chick check and think ok this will be quick, eat my banana for breakfast thinking I"ll be home soon and can have brunch.
10:50 chick jumps out of box *sigh*
11:30 intruder alert
12:00 dad brings in snack and junior tries and tries and can't get back in the box and misses snack.
12:45 all napping in shade now including the jumper so will give it a few more and then head home. both parents are there so not worried about chick's safety...just would feel more comfy if she was back in da box!
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*sigh* is right..
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Well back home and starving!! Finally realized standing down in the lobby wasn't going to move the chick into the box nor was yelling instructions at the monitor..lol.
Mom actually went outside the box and woke up the chick and gave it a snuggle and some beak kisses and tried to nudge her over to the corner a bit more so I figured it's good. No doubt soon as afternoon food comes in they will get her back in the box - same as last year.
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I love those beak touches...so wonderful to watch!
Thanks for the updates Carly...Now you eat young lady :D
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Thanks for the update Carly. So, a little wanderer already ::)
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Just got an email from one of my co worker spies at work who I asked to check on my family this morning as I"m off today. She said all 3 are in the box this morning eating breakfast ... food the great motivator!!
They are 3 weeks old today so they will no doubt all be exploring outside the box this week 8)
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All 3 out of the box now enjoying the sun and warm day today..now the fun starts..few more days and it will be racing back and forth on the ledge while Carly is below with binoculars having a heart attck :-\
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:D
Then you'll post, and we will all have heart attacks with you ;)
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Etobicoke refresh cam fixed and back up finally ;)
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Hey Carly, thanks for the heads up. I just went to have a look and what a cute sight, a pile of huge chicks outside the box and a parent perched on the edge of the box, no doubt on guard. It is just amazing how fast they grow. Thanks for keeping us up to date on them for so many days. Now you won't have to go down to the building to check on them. ;D
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Thanks Carly, nice to see them although your descriptions were awesome 8) 8)
Hey Peggers and Albertans, did ya notice the leaves on the trees to the left of the picture? Want some of that.
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HOly...look how big they are - so differnet to see them outside the box with parent than inside, can now appreciate their size!!! Dinner time !
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My chicks are all at the other end of the ledge under the web cam no doubt..guess they don't like being watched.. :P
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It is a good thing that you know their habits. ;D Otherwise we might panic if we didn't see them.
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Lol..yes learned that the hard way last year when I DID panic.. ;D
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Awww...they're marching back to the nestbox..one by one.. :-* :-* :-*
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My big babies are all tucked into the nestbox snoozing for the night after another feast... :-*
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Updates are always wonderful Carly...thank you ;)
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Thanks CArly for all the updates and the heads up on cam being up :-*
I will check them all out tomorrow.
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Like clockwork,,,my kids come back to the box for their nightly tuck in :-*
The Banding date has now been confirmed and posted for next Tuesday at 1:30 pm...when I will once again attempt to foil the cranky ministry lady and touch the chicks :P
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All of my kids are on cam this morning at 6 am, Angel just gave them some food and now they are shuffling over to the nestbox area...our 2 days of summer are over and we are going back to normal temps today :-\
The kids are looking out over the area with mom, no doubt thinking 'uh huh, no way I'm going out there!
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So the web cam online crapped out over the weekend and I didn't see the girls til this morning. Now I'm nervous, tomorrow is banding day...they will be one month old and they are darker than I'd expect them to be at banding time!! The two I saw in cam range this morning have black wings with greyish down tufts on them....they were more white last year at this time. Underbellies still white though of course but wings....wow :o
I'll go down again after coffee...that's it, maybe more coffee is needed :-X
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Pffft...coffee didn't help, I saw little greyish heads!!
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Hey Carly, I hope that everything goes well at the banding. :) Will you be there? I haven't seen too much of these guys as they were usually out of sight, probably getting out of the sun, or the cam was down.
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Yes I will be at the banding front and centre. The cam is down again and the young are still under the web cam anyway so not much to see even if it was up. I will keeping running down to see if I can catch them :P
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So the web cam online crapped out over the weekend and I didn't see the girls til this morning. Now I'm nervous, tomorrow is banding day...they will be one month old and they are darker than I'd expect them to be at banding time!! The two I saw in cam range this morning have black wings with greyish down tufts on them....they were more white last year at this time. Underbellies still white though of course but wings....wow
Don't be too surprised if your "girls" are in fact "boys". Females don't fly until at least a week after the males (all things being equal) and have lots of white "fluff" on them well past the end of the first month.
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Heh..I'd be over the moon if they are boys, we need more boys :-*
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Ha, finally get to say it first .... boys, bah, boys :P (except for Trey of course ;))
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Well today is banding day for us, I got a good nights sleep and I'm a bundle of nerves this morning!
Today will be a bit different than normal ceremonies as the Ontario Minister of the Environment will be present so there will be a speech...one of my coworkers is bringing his camera for me so I will get as many photos as I can once the heart attack is over ;D
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Have a nerve wracking good time Carly :P Looking forward to the pictures and to finding out if they are boys. ;D
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Banding ceremony just ended and on my way home from office.
2 Boys and 1 girl!!!! Girl was 989 grams, one boy was 672 and other one was similar I think - kids were too loud for me to hear!!
Angel and dad were awesome!! Some great attacks and a few direct hits!! I froze my toes off but it was worth watching..go mom!!! She made Mariah proud today...I'm tellin ya!!
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Looking forward to your pictures Carly.
You right about needing more males and 2 is good start.
the female at Etobikoke is one of Maraihs. I did not know that.
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No she's not one of Mariahs, she's unbanded but I bet she's probably related to her!! They both have the same temperament...I think she's her long lost sister :P I just meant that she was so aggressive in her attacks, she reminded me of Mariah during bandings and I thought it was a nice tribute :-* to the queen ;)
The banding was a big PR event, government officials everywhere and quite a crowd. Lots of good news announcements for the CPF which I will leave to the CPF to relay as I really have no right to - although I think this will be on the news tonight as TV crews were everywhere. They even had a classroom of kids there! I spent my time hiding as I"m not big on the 'suits' thing but it was all good for the falcons so no complaints here!
They picked all the names (including a name we used last year for one of the boys!). They had trouble getting them off the ledge as they were quite feisty and mobile!! The little female screamed her poor little lungs out downstairs, the boys were quiet but they did bite the MNR guy a few times :P. The boys were dark as you'll see once the pictures are posted and they were all just beautiful.
This year I went outside to watch them go up and get the chicks because I wanted to see how the parents reacted and it was a show worth watching. I felt for them because they were really upset and you know first time I've really seen mom and dad up close and wings spread on top of each other parallel like and she look almost 2 times the size of him..she's a seriously big falcon.
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Great recap Carly. It must have been a sight seeing those parents in aggressive moves. I'd love to see the TV report of the banding, if you have an idea which network, when?
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I am glad they are feisty Carly.
and you right about your female being a tribute to Mariah.
the fledges are very good at Etobikoke
It is a different year without Mariah . I cannot remeber a year I was watching without her.
do you have pictures or are they on the site???
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I tried to see their logos but couldn't, the place was packed wall to wall. I will guess CBC or Global as they definitely were quite professional and huge cameras. I have global in 2 minutes here so I will check and then check CBC and see if I can let you guys know quickly.
I wanted to ask but it was all 'so official' I felt rather intimidated so I just kind of hung back..like a skulking bird lady.
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Where will the news be posted Carly. the one for the CPF(on the site)
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Bev, we took pictures on our own - guy at work has fancy camera so we will download them to my PC tomorrow morning and I"ll try to get them posted for you all to see.
Mark will be doing the 'official banding day posting with photos' for the site but not sure when. They are doing the Sheraton banding on Thursday and then Windsor on Friday I think.
Sheraton will be a good one, that is Rhea Mae - Mariah's daughter. Last year the banders said she the put her wings up in front of the chicks and stared them down-not an easy banding that one..lol ;D...she's a chip off the old block that's for sure!!
i did get to speak to some of the banders and the people who go up and collect they eyases and they had some scary stories and scars to share. One of them told me a funny story about one of the watchers downtown, apparently one year the female peregrine at the time down there glimpsed her through her peep hole that is near the nest area taking photos of her and her young. She said the mom just glared at her and she had a funny feeling like she was looking right through her. Well apparently about a half hour later after she had gotten down and out of the building and was walking down the street to go to her car, she heard this screeching and the mom had flown down to ground level and started chasing her and dive bombing her on the street!! Can you imagine!!
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Where will the news be posted Carly. the one for the CPF(on the site)
They will post it on the Etobicoke CPF site. If I see it before you do I will definitely let you all know!
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Nothing on 6 o'clock news so far but they didn't finish until 3:30 so maybe later.
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Wonderful description of the banding Carly. I am looking forward to seeing the pictures of today's events. And that story about Rhea Mae ;D ;D ;D
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Thank you for the great updates on the banding, Carly! Can't wait to see your pics!
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I'm so happy for you, carly! Glad it was a good day.
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Ha, finally get to say it first .... boys, bah, boys :P (except for Trey of course ;))
Good one, TPC! ;D
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Can't wait to see your pics. Carly!! Thanks for the updates about your day. Very happy that the banding went well.
Also happy to know that there are 2 males....However, that still doesn't mean that cloning Trey is out of the question :P
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Introducing.....
Alina Perry Mackenzie
(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm140/peregrinegirl/EtobicokeFalcons_May26011.jpg) (http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm140/peregrinegirl/EtobicokeFalcons_May26016.jpg) (http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm140/peregrinegirl/EtobicokeFalcons_May26023.jpg)
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Oh Carly, just did the big awwww,
Thanks.
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Beautiful chicks, thanks for these close up views, Carly!
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The pics are just great but that first one (Alina) really has that big attitude look.
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awwwwww some beautiful GTA babes ! hot hot hot !
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Beautiful chicks!!!
Thanks for the pics Carly!
Alina looks quite annoyed with the whole idea of banding!
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Oh she was not impressed at all. She kacked up a storm, the boys were quite but bit alot but her..she just screamed her head off at one point. When they first tried to take her out of the bag, she latched one of her talon onto the side of the bag inside and wouldn't let go. so the poor MNR guy takes his glove off as they are quite awkward to try and unhook a talon with and she bit him...lol...so back on goes the glove, try again, nope, take off glove and try and get talon off...bites him again...lol. Poor guy it took him 3 tries because everytime he'd get one talon unstuck, she dig into the bag sides with the other one.
She's her mama's girl that one ;D
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I think if we could translate...it would be:
"Get your #%&^* hands off of me" !!!
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Exactly allikat lmao
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Oh Carly, just saw those photos of the absolutely beautiful chicks. Wow ;D
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Wow, what a difference a day makes. Someone has taken my chicks and replaced them with Juvies! Three brown, black and not much white left -cept for the leggings- ;D juveniles on the ledge this morning scrounging for food, even Alina is suddenly grown darker!!. They must have seen mom or dad fly by because they all stood in a row looking out and following something with their eyes and beaks were opening and closing like they were yelling!!
*sniff* They grow up way too fast for my liking :-\
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Gloves? Gloves? ::) Someone doesn't play often with peregrines ;D
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Thanks for the shots of the gorgeous babes.
I am glad you got to see the banding and I know you will watch out for them. No pressure now ;) ;)
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Gloves? Gloves? ::) Someone doesn't play often with peregrines ;D
I think that banding is the only time 'the official folks' ever get near a peregrine unless it's on a big screen :P
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If you want to see my brown and black kids, go now. We rebooted the cam after work and it's working for now. They're going fledge in a few days so take a peek if you can!!
They are all on the nestbox ledge now. They flapped up a storm today! We are starting fledge watch on Wednesday!
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Thanks for the heads up on the webcam Carly. It sounds like an exciting week ahead there.
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Three kids and mom on cam at the moment, they've been hassling her for food all day..lol.. They ambushed her earlier and she flew off... ;D
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I just checked in in time to see the three kids. They must have scared mom off again. ;D They are beautiful. :-*
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I know, I can't believe it's that time already...*sigh*. I am scared and excited at the same time. I hope they will do as good as last year.
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Yay..my kids are getting a feeding too. Dinner is served!
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I will have cam up for sure tomorrow .
good luck CArly. I know how stressful a time it is.
last year I had my arms going
and saying,"No, over there. Not so far. Careful, Rest for a bit." then it was hold the breath. :) :)
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I have checked in several times this morning and have only seen one juvenile. I hope that the other two are just out exploring a part of the ledge that we cannot see.
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The other 2 are down at the other end...last time I was out there anyway. I'm trying to keep my eye on them and work at the same time..lol!
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Thanks Carly! Good to know that they haven't taken the leap just yet.
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Just went outside with the binoculars for a minute, the other 2 are on the ledge under the cam. One was standing right on the edge of the ledge....I instructed him to get back and he did..lol ;D
Told them not to get any ideas until my meetings are done this morning. Mom is right above them on the roof top standing at the ready.
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All three on cam at the moment...well part of one's head and 2 :-*
Wings up and flapping and down...
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I think your work should a lot you volunteer time Carly. You are doing a good thing
Will have the cam up :-*
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My boss is great, she lets me run up and down when I need to..lol! I'm lucky she loves them too :-*
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My three are on the nestbox at the moment, waiting for dinner no doubt! They didn't do much today except for lounge in the sun with mom and dad. One of the males did do a bit of flapping and actually got into the air a bit on the ledge...made me gasp for air..lol! But no major flapping sessions or bat winging up the wall as you'd expect to see if they were ready to go.
After work I watched them for awhile outside and mom and dad were gliding by the ledge back and forth...trying to give them a taste of what is to come no doubt. But they weren't trying to entice them off the ledge or anything...too early.
Tomorrow is another day however...
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Hmmm..dad is beak feeding the kids. You know what, I've not seen the parents drop off food for them and leave them to figure it out themselves yet...very strange. Totally different behaviour this year...mind you they might be doing it and maybe I haven't seen it. Even their diet is different this year, more Starling and less pigeon...not sure why at all.
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nail biting
Maybe they do not think they are ready to handle it yet(eating by themselves)
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Yeah could be, I have no clue. I noticed a piece of something sitting on the ledge for awhile there and mum just came in and fed it to them so maybe she tried and they just aren't going for it...lol. I missed that earlier. I think cause the cam has been out so much this year, I've missed alot. I run up and down to the lobby alot to view them but not the same as watching the cam steady..miss alot of stuff.
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The entire family is gathered on the ledge this morning! Saw the young female trying to self feed earlier when I came in, she was in a corner tugging away at something...one boy was napping in the box and the other was running up and down the ledge flapping...
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Well what started off as an energetic day for the kids turned into a day of lazing and napping. These birds are just far too happy watching mom and dad glide and bring them snacks ;D
Which means I get to eat dinner and watch other birds tonight ;)
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Happy watching Carly!
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How is it going Carly????
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Still on the ledge and eating now...lol! I can see them on cam and looks like food has been brought in! Too funny, Sumo has fledged before these 3..lol ;D There are people there now just in case, I'm so tired I took the evening off because my feet hurt and I have falcon neck!! So now I can catch up on posts and check in P&T and everyone else :D
The parents, hilarious, alarm calling at anything other than a pigeon or gull - I swear if it had wings it got smacked today! Even saw dad eyeing a red baloon that floated up behind the building ;D
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Great descriptions, carly - thanks! LOL
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Wonderful descriptions Carly. I am glad that they have you to keep an eye on them. ;D
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Thanks Carly! ;)
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Well of course we had first fledge today while I was on the subway to get there *sigh*, missed the first one again. Number 2 male looks ready to go now too but I had to come home - need to eat :P
Bayley posted two good pictures of the little fledgling on the CPF site, one of him sitting on the plastic owl on top of the condos and one of him in a tree - where he spent the day and I was down below in a lawn chair in a strangers yard watching him! That's the job the rookies get :P
He apparently had a nice first flight to some lower condos, when I got there he was perched on the owl and then he jumped down and ran around the roof a bit. Then he came flying through the 2 towers, turned and tried to gain height but missed the ledge and hit the glass - my heart skipped a beat! Two other birds - not sure what kind were on his tail, parents swooped down and drove one into the glass and that one didn't come back up. Our fledgling - I think it is Perry - flew up over the 4 lane traffic and I thought I saw him try to land on a roof but it was full of pigeons. I ran around the building and by that time Bruce had located him in the tree. Two crows were on him and it's the screaming birds that alerted us all to him so we ran over, got permission to enter person's yard and crows fortunately left.
He sat on that branch with his talons clamped to it while 2 jays kept trying to attack him. They harassed him on and off all afternoon while I sat there and kept an eye on him and that's how I left. I think mom knows where he is because I saw her circling way up high in the sky above the tree but he's down too low. Hopefully he will make a move out of there soon as high winds and rain are coming tonight.
The other one will no doubt fledge cause i'm not there now :P
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that would give me heartburn, carly! I sometimes envy those who get to see more than what I can on the cam, and other times am grateful I only have to read about stuff after the fact...
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Quite the afternoon you spent Carly! Excellant!
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Yay..I see mom on cam beak feeding the other 2. She must not want them to go out especially with other one not in a really safe place and rain coming. I love falcon parents, they are just the best :-*
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Bayley posted two good pictures of the little fledgling on the CPF site, one of him sitting on the plastic owl on top of the condos and one of him in a tree - where he spent the day and I was down below in a lawn chair in a strangers yard watching him! That's the job the rookies get :P
He sat on that branch with his talons clamped to it while 2 jays kept trying to attack him. They harassed him on and off all afternoon while I sat there and kept an eye on him and that's how I left. I think mom knows where he is because I saw her circling way up high in the sky above the tree but he's down too low. Hopefully he will make a move out of there soon as high winds and rain are coming tonight.
The other one will no doubt fledge cause i'm not there now :P
How is your "falcon neck" today, Carly? That job is probably tougher than you make it sound. Thanks for giving us this report.
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The neck is better, my nose is all sunburnt though...I could give Rudolph a run for his money ;D
I had it easy, the lady at the house brought me a nice lawn chair, some water and some cookies :D. It's the CPF staff that do all the hard work - really they do. One man, Bruce has been there pretty much from dusk to dawn for the past 3 days. He doesn't go home for dinner like me and get to relax. Honestly I don't have the stamina, I wilt like a flower but these guys are there at about 4:45 in the morning and stay until the sun goes down. And they will go to all the other fledge watches in the city and do it all over again.
I wanted to climb the tree and get him out, he looked so forlorn there and hungry too - he hasn't eaten today at all. But he sure is a beautiful bird, closest I've ever been to a juvie.
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Carly, do you know yet whether he made it out of the tree, or was fed there?
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When I left he was still in the tree. There are people there until sunset so maybe they will post something later. The parents won't go down that low to feed him. They did fly in the air with food in their talons to try and get him to fly out and follow them but he didn't budge. So he wasn't fed and fledged at about 8:30 so he must be hungry.
He is in a tree but on the lower branch. I'm not good at judging distance but he's about the same height up as Screech was last year when she landed on the Bell building - only about 2 stories up which is low for a falcon.
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Really? The parents won't feed him, just because he is too low?
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So now what happens Carly?
I guess he will have to get some courage and try to fly. Hope all is well!
Good luck little guy!
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Well hopefully he will get hungry enough to take flight and try to go back higher. If he comes down they will rescue him otherwise he may make it to a higher area - like a rooftop then the parents will feed him. That's what screech did last year. The parents generally stay out of sight for a few hours to get them to fly home but about now one of them is no doubt flying around with food in talon trying to lure him out.
The guys said he'll be safe in the tree, he just won't get fed.
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Really? The parents won't feed him, just because he is too low?
They don't want the juvies to think it's ok to be so low, they are young and vulnerable to predators - those 2 crows could have hurt him because he can't fly well enough to get away from them or he could panic and fly into traffic or a building. They will alternately try to lure him out with food or leave him alone a bit so he might get hungry enough to try again. If they went down to him, he would think it's cool to be down there - alot of juvies die the first year by going down too low or to ground to feed and a predator gets them.
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Great fledge report. ;D Thanks Carly
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Thanks, Carly, that makes sense.
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#1 bird still in his tree and not budging it seems. Second male fledged at 6:05 this morning while I was in the shower and he had a great first flight and is now on top of the building - right above the ledge with the nestbox where mom and dad perch. So he scored some food for that feat!!
Hoping our other guy will try to take flight and leave the tree, Bruce say he's really hungry and was observed trying to eat the bark on the tree this morning :-X
I'm working today but I'll be out to check on them when I can. Oh and the next tower over is putting a swing stage up to wash windows during a fledging period...should be fun watching people get attacked this morning...hope they brought helmets :P
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#1 bird still in tree, had a bit of a standoff with a squirrel today. I went out after work for an hour and Bruce comes running out of the yard he's in and waves me in all panicky and I thought he fell or something. I get there and he's hissing...well if a falcon hisses..he was opening and closing his beak and the squirrel was acting all territorial with him.
We used 'Bev's clapping technique to ward off the squirrel..thanks Bev :-* So I had a little chat with the lad while I was there, he was pretty wet from our rain too so he was willing to listen or maybe it was the dancing squirrel. Anyway he had wedged himself into an area where he couldn't spread his wings to fly off so between the squirrel and myself giving him gentle directions and encouragement - I got him to move to a strong limb on the tree where - when he dries off - he will be able to pump his little wings and get some lift and hopefully take off.
Bruce was laughing at me because I was having a conversation with him..but hey he listened :P I hope he can make it out okay.
#2 male did well and landed on another condo parallel to our building..well they just recently put up plastic owls on this building which the parents seemed surprised by. They spent a good 15 minutes dive bombing the plastic owls because he was too close to them..I was actually afraid they would hurt themselves doing this. Poor parents, not easy being a peregrine :(
Not sure if the girl has gone yet, she hadn't when I left 1 hour ago.
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Great report Carly ;D ;D ;D That poor little guy is really being harassed isn't he? I watched the video on the CPF of the blue jays going after him. Once he has his hunting skills honed I wouldn't want to be a blue jay. :D
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Just called for an update and holy moly, the little guy that fledged this morning is back on the ledge!! Not only did he fly around and stay high, he landed on the web cam apparently-Screech took 6 days to manuveour that one last year..this boy is a champ!! And now he's back on the ledge with his sister eating! Wow..that's impressive for his first day flying!!
My other boy, still in the tree...
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Great updates Carly!!! Very happy to hear that Bev's clapping technique worked out for you ;)
I think you need to go back there and encourage him to fly out of that tree.
He listened to you so maybe he'll listen again :P
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Well I got to the yard about 7 am this morning and he was gone. Did a quick scan and no sign of my guy. Other 2 still on the ledge getting a good feeding so I thought ok he's got to be around somewhere.
Came to office and did a scan from window with binoculars and found him! He's on the mezzanine roof - about 1 story off the ground, far too low - right under the nest ledge. Both parents can see him and he can see them. He's looking up trying to figure out how the heck he's going to fly up 17 stories of glass to get home.
Bayley lives in the condos so she's got her eye on him and I'm watching when I can between duties. If he jumps down we can rescue him which what I"m hoping he does or if he can find the strength...he could fly to a balcony on the condos and balcony hop his way up... god I'm stressed :P
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Isn't it good news though that he is in a place where the adults can easily feed him and keep an eye on him? Maybe if he gets his strength back he can find a way to get back home. I still remember the amazing Boomer from Columbus last year who after fledging and hitting a window and ending up low down, somehow recovered by the next day and flew up the 40+ stories to the top of the Rhodes Building! These fledglings can sometimes do absolutely amazing things. ;D
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They wont' feed him there, it's too low. Unless they fly over and drop a piece of food down there. But they may try to encourage him up once he recovers a bit. The flight from the tree probably exhausted him. And at least now they see him and won't forget him which is what I was worried about.
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He's low in the tree, but if he stays there for any real time, the parents will get to him - probably very early in the day or later in the day when its quiet if they are twitchy about getting too close to the ground. And if he doesn't fly soon, he'll start calling which is going to get the adults all juiced up about protecting/feeding. Going to love to hear what happens with this young male until he gets up higher ...
Peregrines often feed on the ground, just tend to do it where its open so they can see what's coming. And its not that they don't sit in trees, just not what they prefer as our subspecies at least isn't a tree subspecies. Northern European subspecies will sit and nest in trees as I recall (may have to recheck this one) but the landscape is missing cliffs and the trees are not in a forest environment, more isolated ... amazing the behavioural diffferences between the subspecies though ...
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He left the tree TPC and he was on the roof below my window at work, only 1 story above ground. And l lost him again now he's gone. Heard parents freaking out and driving off every bird over on the next condo so they must have him in sight...they're keeping the other 2 on the ledge by feeding them. Probably til they get this one where he is safe. Where he last was - was only 1 story up TPC, a small ladder and he'd be easy to grab if someone was so inclined. We've got the condo people watching in case he comes to ground.
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We got him!! He jumped down to the terrace and Mark rescued him. We're going to put him back on the roof in about 15 minutes to join his parents!!
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We got him!! He jumped down to the terrace and Mark rescued him. We're going to put him back on the roof in about 15 minutes to join his parents!!
Whoopie Carly ;D ;D ;D So glad.
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ok carly.. take this opportunity to BREATH ! lol.. i can hear the 'breathless' right on the screen..
nice catch Mark.. ;D
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Great carly. Now try and relax. He will get a meal now
Way to go Mark.
You have a nice glass of wine when you finally get home tonight
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The male at the Sun Life Building has been identified. From the CPF site today:
Marion Nash Reports:
The watchers just got the band number from the adult male at the Etobicoke Sun Life building and called it into the CPF head office. It turns out to be Jack hatched at the Mississauga Executive Centre nest site in 2002.
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Ok well I just got home and Alison posted my news already. Here is the background...I was going through the CPF archives a few months ago and came upon an entry back in 2005 where someone realized that Marco was no longer the resident male at Etobicoke but they had no clue who the new guy was so they just kept referring to him as Marco..which I never would have known had I not read back through the history. There was only that one mention of it and no follow up which is why I was determined to read his bands this year. some guy brought a ...I dont' even know what you call it, it's used to see stars and planets with and is ten times the thickness of a scope. We could see everything up there!!
As you can see he's Jack, not Marco but we think Angel is still Angel as she has no bands, never did and she has a distinctive cry that residents there claim is the same. So we can now call him Jack instead of referring to him as our old boy Marco. Kind of sad as we will never know what happened to him but kind of exciting that it's been one of the MEC males here the past few years!
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I got the correct spellings/names today of the Etobicoke three, that Mark comes in handy! They are Elena (female), Perry (male) and Mackenzie (male) - so I messed up the females name but I was close :P. Mac is the one who was stuck in the tree and rescued today...
He is back on the roof and parents didn't seem to have a clue who he was *sigh*. Poor guy was starving and begging for food and they just looked at him like didn't we just feed you. Finally an hour later, Perry flies up onto the roof and runs right for him and they do the beak touch and cuddle and you could actually see the realization hit the parents..uh oh...crap go get food, it's our lost boy come home!!! Too funny!
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LOL Carly, too funny. I always love your reports. And how wonderful that they are reunited. ;D
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Well all the history I now tried to figure out is not quite accurate, well after 2005/2006 anyway, because Jack is the male here, no idea when he got here..but here's the interesting part.
His mom was never identified as far as I can find in the archives but his dad - Sal is Madame X and Percy's son in Hamilton born in 2001. Surge was born here to Angel and then Marco who was here back in 2002, which is in the archives. And now Surge is in Hamilton paired with Jack's grandmother.
It somehow always go back to the Hamilton site! You could get a headache trying to sort all this out..I give up. From now on, all PF's are related as far as I'm concerned!
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From now on, all PF's are related as far as I'm concerned!
(quote above from Carly)
LOL...I'm beginnin to think the same thing! ;D
There is something to this genetic theory after all :D
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Elena fledged this morning and came down to the ground shortly thereafter - she's a big girl!!. She is not hurt just a bit shocked at not being able to stay up and she was rescued by watcher Diana and is now all comfy waiting in her little cushy carrier to be put up on the roof later on today.
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Way to go Elena! Glad to hear that she was rescued and unhurt. Just another example of the importance of the fledge watch in these urban settings. Kudos to the team. 8)
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glad someone was there. Way to go team.
I hope she stays on the ledge while longer when she gets put back up.
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Is the Etobicoke picture frozen again? There are 2 birds and they appear to be in the same position as early this morning.
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Yes cam is frozen again. One boy is on the ledge, no idea where other one is at the moment as he's flying around and wee girl is still in a safe place. They probably won't put her back up til tonight so she can calm down. If they put her up in daylight she will panic and try to fly and may come down again.
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so carly, I wanted to check here before I left.
So you have another boy, who is off the ledge
Good Luck.
Will check when I gwet home
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Lara, born 2006 at the Sun Life nest in Etobicoke, and her mate Rocky, the last son of Buckeye of Hilliard Road Bridge, laid a second clutch of eggs this year. The first clutch failed.
According to Chad and Chris, they believe that there is now a hatch.
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Oh Alison, that is great news!!
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Hey Carly, how are your guys doing? I checked the webcam and it appears to be working again with one juvenile lying down in the nestbox.
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So far so good. Mackenzie still not wanting to leave the ledge after his escapades, Elena on top of building just getting fed a few minutes ago and Perry flying like a champ.
We just saw Jack (dad) put on a heck of a show. There is barely a ripple of wind today and yet he was up there in the air doing corkscrews - Mark said he counted 31 by the time I got there and he kept on going doing over 50 easily without flapping his wings once. He said in all his years of watching peregrines he has never seen one do that many without flapping ever! He jsut kept climbing and climbing and climbing and his dive back down was freaken awesome...like a rocket!!
Must be something in the pigeons out in Mississauga ;)
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LOL @ Carly.. our pigeons are nothing but the very finest flying poop machines,well fed by little old ladies on park benches.. we take our falcon fodder very seriously.. :P
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Glad to hear that "the kids" are doing well. And dad sounds awesome. Someone needs to get a video of his acrobatics. ;D
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here is a picture from the cam
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x135/fullbrandt/bev13/etobikokejune11-1.jpg)
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Mackenzie is missing now. He hit the glass building again last night and come down across traffic and landed on the sidewalk. We rescued him and he was put up on the building at dusk. He was supposed to stay there like they usually do at that time but he panicked and flew off into the dark...we tried to find him but it was dark. He's not doing well and can't seem to maintain altitude so I'm quite worried now. I'm going out early to search for him.
The other two are doing well, Perry of course has had no problems so far. Elena did well yesterday and mom got her to fly to the ledge last night, of course she flew to the wrong one but at least she got off the roof and she was quite pleased with herself!
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Oh , Carly I am so sorry. I had a picture of him last night.
they usually put them back up after dark ,do they not.
(http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x135/fullbrandt/bev13/etobikokejune12-1.jpg)
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Oh Carly, I'm so sorry...
I do hope you're able to locate him and get him cared for.
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Don't panic, we have fledglings that do that too and they are 9 times out of 10 back on/near the nest the next morning. I've been watching our cam late night the last few nights and our birds' days begin around 3:30 am so he has lots of time to get himself up and trying again in the quiet part of the day. When our birds have had a scary flight, they will just find a spot and hang-out for a couple of days - Mom & Dad will find and feed them until such time as they try again.
And fledglings are gliders for the first week, sometimes longer, so not being to gain altitude is standard for them - vertical flight takes skill and strength that the young birds just don't have. Fortunately they don't know that so they keep trying. Think postively that tomorrow morning he will be parked somewhere visible ...
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I think that we need a big group hug here for Carly who will be going out alone very early tommorow to try and find mackenzie. So BIG GROUP HUG :-*
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GROUP HUG!!!! :-*
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((((((GROUP HUG FOR CARLY))))))))
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Group Hug CArly.
think positive.
We are thinking of you all there
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I hope no news is good news CArly :-* :-*
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MY BOY IS HOME!!! Not only did he survive the night but he flew home to the rooftop to his sibs in one of the most spectacular flights I've ever seen a juvie make!! Dad saw him coming and came up and helped him out and he made it home!! Mom is now beak feeding him his second pigeon since he's back ...2 in 30 minutes!!! I was literally jumping up and down and screaming in the street ;D ;D ;D ;D
More to come, have to get back out there!
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GOOD NEWS!!!!
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Yippee ;D Great news Carly
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woohoo! That's outstanding Carly! we're all very happy for you and I'm counting on kittenface to find a cute graphic to show it!
;D
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Excellant news Carly!!!!!!
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:D So happy to hear the good news. :D
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MY BOY IS HOME!!! Not only did he survive the night but he flew home to the rooftop to his sibs in one of the most spectacular flights I've ever seen a juvie make!! Dad saw him coming and came up and helped him out and he made it home!! Mom is now beak feeding him his second pigeon since he's back ...2 in 30 minutes!!! I was literally jumping up and down and screaming in the street ;D ;D ;D ;D
More to come, have to get back out there!
When I was posting my "don't panic" post I will admit that I had my fingers-crossed (it was hard to type that way, let me tell you!!) because you really do have to hope for the best or you can't keep watching the little darlings ... glad the best is what ya got this time around!!
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GREAT NEWS CARLY!!!!!!!
Oh I'm so happy for him and for all watchers!
He must of been one hungry little falcon since he had two boxes of KD in 30 minutes! :D
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Great news, Carly!
Why do we watch? It is awesome but nail biting, thrilling and sad, yet, I am addicted.
Keep up the good work!
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Looks like a juvie up on the ledge tonight. Hopefully that is little Mackenzie and he has the good sense to stay put until morning. No more anxiety attacks for the watchers. :D
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Oh carly,
i have thought about Mackenzie all day. I am so happy that he had a good flight and has been fed. He probably needed the protein
You take care of you also.
i know how you must feel :-* :-*
We watch out of respect and admiration for these birds. We feel as only we can. And we hope for the best at all times And we gather strength form each other when things just suck. Glad we are all here for each other Group Hug
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Holy cow, what a ride Mackenzie has taken us on. If you knew half the things he did the past 2.5 days. He's hit the glass 2 more times, batwinged on a building, spent 2 nights and 1 day out in the open..like a beacon really with no respite from the sun, no place to hide from nasties. yesterday he was almost attacked by a redtail, he was buzzed continuously by gulls..it was awful. How did he get on this building? He hit the glass again and came down to the ground right over traffic and landed on the sidewalk and we rescued him 2 days ago-he had bit his tongue when he hit the building so his mouth was full of blood so he got water and we had to keep him over a few hours to make sure it was his tongue and not internal bleeding from an injury when he hit the glass. When we put him back up at night, instead of staying calm like they normally do at dusk - he panicked and flew...off into the dark! It took me 7 hours to finally locate him - he picks the condo with the green space of course, full of people!! So he ended up on like a metal tower at the very top near the mechanical eqiupment!
Angel tried in vain to get him off this building last night at dusk. It was awesome to watch her, she kept coming up next to where he was perched on this piece of jutting metal and she was kakking up a storm. She kept stopping, turning and flying off as if to say..follow me, this way home, over and over and he just hung on to that ledge for dear life and finally she gave up as it was too dark. And we thought ok he'll have to stay out here - it wasn't really safe as there was no cover for him..he was basically like a beacon to an owl. Just as we're about to call it a night..he takes off in the dark but the opposite way mom showed him and even further away from the nest site!!! Tries to gain height and he did but not enough..flies into window, panics and goes back to condo tower thing. Tries again, gets a bit of height and ends up on the side of a building wall..batting for dear life and then pushes off and flies into the dark over the hydro-subway transformers. I thought for sure we had lost him
Then I get there this morning and right out of the subway, I look up and there he was back on the condo thing!! Watched him for 45 minutes and then he suddenly just took off in the direction mom showed him, gained altitude..I ran so fast down Bloor after him and then I saw dad jump off our building and get up under him and then ahead of him and lead him around the condo next to us..he kept gaining height (dad) to show him - you know, instead of going straight for the building go around and as you do, go up steadily and dad led him up to the rooftop of our building! It was brilliant! He flapped a full city block..that's how far he was from home!! Hopefully that raised his confidence as I think that was also a huge part of the problem.
The challenge now is he's behind his siblings in skill, they are now playing and chasing each other in the air and that's what got him in this mess. He's missed 5 days of lessons! Mom did finally entice him up to teach him to glide today and he did well- it was short but at least he now gets the idea, glide using the wind! He didn't know how to bank either which he now knows. He did take a few really nice, short flights today and dad made him chase him for food in the air and he maintained altitude so that's good. I'm hoping he's know turned the corner but we're going to watch him a few more days just in case. I know watching his siblings today playing tag, he had his wings up a few times but thought better of it. If he can be patient and take a few days to work on his skills - I have no doubt he'll excel!
Sorry for the long post, didn't mean to run on like that but I thought for those who have never done a fledge watch = well now you know what you can expect! Thank you to everyone for all your support and the 'group hug', I really felt it today!!
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wow! that was an amazing read, carly! Here's hoping he decides to finish his lessons before going out on his own again...
Thanks!
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Great report CArly
I think he will be O.K. now. Like you said. He needed some confidence.
fingers and toes still crossed.
Now have a glass of wine and relax until tomorrow :-*
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What a wonderful fledge report Carly, thanks.
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Your report was great, Carly. We have felt your fear and anxiety, and now it is wonderful to hear your excitement and relief. You certainly describe a devotion from the parents towards their wayward little one that must be remarkable to witness. Thanks for letting us almost be there with you.
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Oh my goodness thank-you Carly for your descriptive report. It felt like we was there with you!
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Thanks for the amazing read, carly.
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Great report. I could almost see what you described in my imagination. My toes were curling up! Thank you for both your brilliant description and your dedication to these birds.
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What a report Carly!!!! Well that is certainly a lot of excitement for the humans and the falcons...
I love your descriptions of mom kakking up a storm to entice him to go home and didn't work. I also loved the description of dad coming in underneath so McKenzie could gain altitude and then dad goes in front to direct him home. Talk about devotion....
That was a great read!
Hope all goes well in the next couple of days and I'm sure you'll keep us posted.
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So far so good today, 3 juvies up on the roof tops. Just went out for another check and saw 2 of them chasing dad around for food in the sky. One of them got under dad and took the food then flew off, dropped the food..dad zooms down and catches it in mid fall!!! Then races off, another grabs it from dad and heads straight for the glass windows - carly's heart stops for the 100th time! Not sure what happened after that as trees obstructed my view but 3 kids back on roof screaming for food. So either he dropped it to regain altitude and get back up or dad got it again.
Back inside to work now as I need to calm down...lol ; :-\
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Work does interfere doesn't it :) :) but it is a diversion.
good to see that they are cacking for food
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Just wanted to give a little update on my little guys. All three are doing well since Mac came home. Saw all of them gliding with mum and dad yesterday and flying between condos. This morning I saw them playing tag together! Mackenzie is very cautious now, Elena is a bit of a big bully and she likes to charge her brothers. He took off to a ledge when she came at him..lol. I think all his misadventures last week have made him a smarter falcon. He faced alot of things he normally wouldn't have until later on in his life. I think the squirrel stand off was a bit much myself!
It's pouring rain out now so they were all hunkered down in the various ledges around the building. So I get a break too since I can't stand in the pouring rain all night and keep my eye on them ;D
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Thanks Carly...I love how you describe everything down to the falcon's behaviours. I can literally picture it. Thank you!!!! :D
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yup, you paint a great picture! :D
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thanks Carly. I was waiting for your report.
I am so glad that they are doing well.
Now yu get some rest also
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Carly, do you have any updates on your falcons? Just wondering how they are doing. I love your reports!
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I was just coming in to ask the same question??? :) :)
Hope they are doing well
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Well fledge watch is officially over now so I'm pretty much just watching for them while at work.
I've seen two of them together alot, both on cam and in the air but not the three together which is why I haven't said anything - I think it's Elena and Perry. They are mostly hanging on the roof where no one can see them or off for training with mom and dad way off in an area where the parents like to hunt. I know Elena is fine, she's so big and loud - you always know when she's up there. ;D The boys, assuming both are still here and I think they are but they're harder to find. I did see 2 tails hanging over the roof yesterday and Elena on the condos yelling for food but without my binoculars I couldn't tell who was who...i'd like to think it was both Perry and mac but I can't confirm.
The last time I saw all 3 playing tag was on Thursday and no one has reported anything so I'm hoping all three have made it. I'm so busy at work now that it's hard to go out when I can and I spent so much time outside during fledge watch - well I don't want to push my luck at work.
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Thanks Carly. I hope all are O.K. also
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Yay..all three monkeys hanging out on the condo rooftop next door - I can see them from my office window!!!
I think Mac was hiding from me, must be the trauma of seeing me twice when he came to ground. Not to mention I had to untangle his talons from my jacket which we used to cover and scoop him up the last time...!
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great news, carly!
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Wonderful news Carly!! Great to hear they are doing well!!
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Great news CArly :) :) :) :)
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I'm so glad you saw all three juvies, Carly! Wonderful news!
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Went to check on the family this morning for about 2.5 hours. Mom and the kids were all in sight and doing quite well. No sign of the 'rogue' for the entire time I was there, I checked all his hangouts so he must have been out visiting his girlfriend :P
Elena and Perry were flying around screeching and playing tag and diving, it was great to see. My little Mackenzie took a few flights but he's definitely the loner of the group. He spent most of the time perched on the web cam in mom's usual spot. She spent her time trying to get him to move to which he responded simply by turning his back on her and preening...he's cheeky 8)
I'll have to wait til Monday now and see if I can catch Dad. Mathew says he's starting to come around there more now than he did before..no doubt since the kids are fledged he has time on his talons....assuming it is him and not his secret twin brother whom he was separated from at birth :P
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Thanks Carly for keeping us updated.....
Love the comment...he's cheeky
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Thank you for the great update on the whole family, Carly! Good to know the kids are doing well.
So is Jack another Windwhistler?
Chad and Chris posted this evening on the Cleveland site that Lara (born at the Sun Life Building, Etobicoke, 2006) and her mate Rocky (last son of the great Buckeye of Hilliard Road Bridge, Cleveland) have four chicks!
Some great news here today! This was the first day that we saw the chicks-- we could see when they were huddled together that there were two heads at first, then we saw a third head, and a little while later (right before feeding) we saw a fourth!! So, four chicks for first-time parents Rocky and Lara after reclutching is pretty exciting (the "Buckmaster" would be proud)! The oldest chick is about three and a half weeks old and looks to be a female.
Photos by Chad and Chris:
(http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/July%202009/laraandrockyfourchicks.jpg) (http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/July%202009/lara.jpg)
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Thank you, thank you Alison for this great news! I feel like the proud grandma..lol ;D
As for Jack...pending confirmation from the MNR, we think it's the same male. I did some research online yesterday and found a few papers on bigamous falcons - apparently this does happen and the one really good article was from the US Midwest biologists. Apparently from what I was able to find out - it's a territorial thing not really about having another mate. It happens in cases where the male either wants to expand his existing territory or where the nest site is already considered a part of his territory. And that is a possibility as TR site is only 2 years old so perhaps this was a part of Jack's territory before or he sees an opportunity to go bigger!!
They said that in these situations the male will try to woo the female in hopes of adding to his territory but that the second nest usually fails because the male will spend more time with his 'alpha' female (their words). They did cite a successful case down there where a male had 2 successful nest sites and raised 8 young in total to fledge however in most cases they said one nest site fails due to the male not being as attentive to his second mate. For me that speaks to our situation at Scarborough here this year where Reuben stepped out on long time mate Lawrie with Linn from Rochester. Both territories are side by side and unfortunately both sites failed this year...so not sure what the full story is there but I know Lawrie's clutches both failed and not sure if Linn even laid eggs but they did mate.
Windwhistler as we know did run 2 sites for 4 years but he had alot of human help! As it's not 'mating' season the situation may correct itself. Apparently if a new male comes along that is strong enough to hold his own against Jack and he tries to woo the TR female and she accepts him then Jack will go back to his existing boundaries. If the TR male recovers and comes back, that should probably do it as the TR female has been with her mate for several years so no doubt she would be happy to take him back.
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Well Angel finally showed up around 2:30 this afternoon. She may have been around earlier but I was busy at work trying to get caught up from the past few days and running outside at every opportunity I could get! On lunch, mom was not around however no doubt she was out hunting. I have seen the juvies chasing birds but I have no idea if they've actually caught any yet and are capable of feeding themselves. I suspect the 45 minutes of crying for food I heard today with no parents in sight ... probably means not so much!
I did not see the resident male at all today and did check out his regular haunts. Mom was home like I said about 2:30 and still there when I left after work. She has not been on her cam all her day...normally you'd have to pry her off that thing with a crowbar especially first thing in the morning!! If Jack is the same Jack at TR and he's now there more - I dont' know if that means he's going to hang there until he bonds with the female and then go back and forth or if he's just abandoned Angel. My understanding is the 2 sites are too far apart to have 2 nests going, it's not like the Windwhistler situation where they were a few flocks apart.
I'll keep watching. I am hoping there is some sort of error with bands and maybe I'm just missing dad when he's there. Until the MNR confirms those bands - all I can do is keep an eye on the site and hope for the best.
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It is the juveniles I worry about in these cases. so lets hope they are being fed and tit there are 2 adults here.
this might have to be monitored
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Thanks Carly...we appreciate all this feedback. Keep us posted!
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Mom has been on the ledge since I came in this morning. She's sitting in front of the nest box looking out - it's cold and grey here today. Saw all 3 kids as well earlier, actually saw one take a run at a pigeon but the prey got away :P. One of the boys can now be seen on dad's perch on the ADP sign on the opposite side of the building.
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Just witnessed one of the males successfully catch his own breakfast !!! It was awesome and well done!! All three kids are up on the rooftop now and were yelling up a storm as our young male caught his prey!
Mom is standing guard as they enjoy a rooftop breakfast in the sun..cant' see up there but hope he's sharing :P No sign of dad today yet but mom was on her webcam perch for the first time days so maybe he finally put in an appearence or she's adjusted to his absence...
Good to see the chicks progressing as they should, a few more weeks and they'll be venturing out into the big wide world!
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So nice to read good news.
I am always afraid to read these posts for other sites because so often it is sad news.
But today this was good happy news.
thanks
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Thanks Carly....very happy to hear that the kids are doing well and Mom is standing guard...proudly!
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So far so good here the past few days. I've seen alot of great flying from both Elena and both boys, even Mac. I've seen a few more successful hunts and one kill that unfortunately didn't get caught in time and kept getting run over in the middle of the road...eww :-X
Mom has a new perch spot in addition to her usual webcam spot. I've noticed that if one of the kids is in dad's spot on the other side then she will sit on the cam or on the ledge but when they are gone she goes to the condo roof top where she normally never, ever perched before. The only thing I can deduce is that with the male gone...she can't see the other side of the building from the ledge..normally one would be on each side to cover the area. So when she is right on top of the condos which has a nice metal thing she can perch on and puts her even higher than her building ...she has a view of the entire perimeter.
Amazing how fast they adapt to protect their homes and young.
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Male adult falcon sitting in his usual spot one ledge over to the nest for the past 15 minutes. Mom on the cam appearing relaxed. Can't see bands or feet as his back was to the outside...but saw part of his chest and can definitely confirm it's a male adult and not a juvie...
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Ohhhhh....hmmmm. Can't wait to hear more! :D
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Since Jack was apparently at the Toronto Residential site two days ago, does this mean he is continuing to try to hold two territories?
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9:15 am and Jack was just on the ADP sign - his other perch when he's home.
Not sure what's going on Alison or what to make of it. Maybe now that he's established a bond with the TR female - he will go back and forth? This is the third day in a row I've spotted him, but it's been a once a day kind of thing. It's possible he was here before that and I just missed it as he doesn't seem to stick around long.
I will see if he and Angel rebond once the young are gone. Last year they rebonded in late September/October as the kids were still here until mid September.
This is all new for me but the good thing is I work at the site so I will be able to see what happens and document it. Stay tuned!
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Thank you for the update, Carly! I wonder what will happen here.
Lara and Rocky's four chicks are ready to fledge any time now, and they are beautiful.
Photos by Chad and Chris:
(http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/July%202009/lararockychicks1a.jpg) (http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/July%202009/lararockychick1a.jpg)
(http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o337/quintara2/July%202009/lararockychicks3a.jpg)
Many more wonderful photos of the family here: http://www.falconcam-cmnh.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?40039.60
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This is so interesting..I'm curious to find out more. Thanks Carly for the update!
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TPC, I have a question for you. Today mom was on the ledge by herself echupping to herself...quite loudly. This went on for about 15 minutes and I was kind of puzzled as she usually only echups to her mate when he is around. As the cams don't have sound save for a very few, I've only ever heard them echup when there are two of them.
Does it have any meaning do you think?
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Are you sure the male wasn't around? Trey and Princess "talk" to one another at a distance as well as when they are together ...
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Well I can't be sure. I did have the binos with me and scanned his usual perches however if he was on the rooftop or in the nestbox hunkered down then you wouldn't be able to see him from the ground.
I have seen him a few times this week briefly - guess he's going back and forth between Angel and the TR girlfriend.
I just wondered if there was another reason for them to echup..like an expression of contentment or something.
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Usually they talk to someone but hey maybe she was talking and hoping he was paying attention ...
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that would make it a common cross-species happening, then. 8) bet he doesn't read her emails either.
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Usually they talk to someone but hey maybe she was talking and hoping he was paying attention ...
Hmmmm....like human, like falcon :P
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Usually they talk to someone but hey maybe she was talking and hoping he was paying attention ...
;D
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Well dad a.k.a Jack has been around alot lately, I think they've been strengthening the bond as he seems to be hanging out with mom on the ledge from time to time.
Last night when I left work...always when I have no binoculars handy of course!!...I came out and dad was alarm calling and chasing someone. I couldnt' tell what it was but I honestly think it may have been another falcon but can't be sure. He was going nuts, mom jumped down off her cam but didn't alarm or join him in the chase..she just watched intently. One of the boys joined dad and the three of them raced through the skies way down out of sight. The interloper got hit by dad at one point in the distance and I saw him fall downwards and both dad and son were on him...then I saw him gain some height and race off with both in hot pursuit. Mom and Elena, who was on an adjoining ledge just kept watching until all three vanished from sight. I watched for about 10 minutes after that hoping to see them come back but they didn't and I had to go for food.
I will do a check on them all this morning and make sure everyone is okay but it certainly looks like they had the best of whoever it was. The third one was the exact same size as dad and for sure it was no pigeon. Interestingly they zoomed off in the direction of Jack's 'other' site so I'm wondering...what happens if he flew into his other territory and his son came fact to face with his stepkids or the girlfriend...lol...I wonder what they'd do. It would be like the Brady Bunch....my three kids, your three kids...stay tuned for the next episode of As the Falcon World Turns :P
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Dad on his sign preening this morning as I arrived to the office. No sign of Mom or the kids...must be out getting breakfast :P
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Thanks Carly for your updates on this soap opera....This is very interesting, very interesting indeed.
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Great report, Carly! I wonder who the other falcon was - it does sound like another male.
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No idea. But today Mathew is reporting 'Jack' was down at his site echupping with the TR mom and he was MIA this afternoon but this morning he was here.
I saw dad engage again this morning with what looked like another falcon..it was weird and they were quite far but it was definitely another falcon...at first I thought it might be the TR female come into the zone but he was alarming again unless he was panicked cause she came here..lol!. They seemed to knock talons in the air and then they separated, he came towards our building rooftop alarming and the other falcon/bird?? landed down the street on a condo tower and then took off in the opposite direction. I ran upstairs to get my binoculars but of course by that time both had vanished. I have no idea what to make of it at all.
I'm concerned about my Angel, she's an older gal and this would be the time a younger female might try to displace her if he's only here half the time. Every morning I sit at the bottom of the nest ledge tower and chat to her..trying to talk her into finding a new mate...lol..she's not buying it :P
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No idea. But today Mathew is reporting 'Jack' was down at his site echupping with the TR mom and he was MIA this afternoon but this morning he was here.
I saw dad engage again this morning with what looked like another falcon..it was weird and they were quite far but it was definitely another falcon...at first I thought it might be the TR female come into the zone but he was alarming again unless he was panicked cause she came here..lol!. They seemed to knock talons in the air and then they separated, he came towards our building rooftop alarming and the other falcon/bird?? landed down the street on a condo tower and then took off in the opposite direction. I ran upstairs to get my binoculars but of course by that time both had vanished. I have no idea what to make of it at all.
I'm concerned about my Angel, she's an older gal and this would be the time a younger female might try to displace her if he's only here half the time. Every morning I sit at the bottom of the nest ledge tower and chat to her..trying to talk her into finding a new mate...lol..she's not buying it :P
That is so cute Carly! :-* Try an assertive falcon voice.. :P
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Yeah, I have to practice my echupping and cacking :P Really I don't want a bigamous male ... I don't have the constitution for all the emotional challenges it will bring if he mates with both of them next Spring.
So we either need a new male or the old TR male recovers and they release him to his longtime mate. I really find it strange that they haven't even released any information on the TR male and his progress...is his wing healing? Is he okay? Nothing...since that first report.
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I hope everything resolves itself at this nest - I have been wondering about the injured TR male too. I hope he is doing well, but why no updates?
Maybe if you keep trying, Angel will start to listen . . .
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I don't know Alison, Mathew posted that he's contacted them several times but he gets no response at all. I do hope he will be okay, not just because of the Jack situation but because he's a beautiful falcon and I'd hate to see him grounded. Honestly I don't know much about injuries like that, but when I read that his bones were shattered in his wing..my first thought was that he'd likely never fly again. It was more that it sounded so serious, not any knowledge on my part what so ever because I"m clueless in that department.
I will keep talking to Angel...as I don't think it's good for the survival of the species for males to run two nest sites. It can result in multiple nest failures, lone females being vulnerable to predators or territorial takeovers and eyases dying all of which we've seen here in past situations. Their lives are difficult enough as it is, no need to add to it.
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I do hope he will be okay, not just because of the Jack situation but because he's a beautiful falcon and I'd hate to see him grounded. Honestly I don't know much about injuries like that, but when I read that his bones were shattered in his wing..my first thought was that he'd likely never fly again. It was more that it sounded so serious, not any knowledge on my part what so ever because I"m clueless in that department.
I will keep talking to Angel...as I don't think it's good for the survival of the species for males to run two nest sites. It can result in multiple nest failures, lone females being vulnerable to predators or territorial takeovers and eyases dying all of which we've seen here in past situations. Their lives are difficult enough as it is, no need to add to it.
I had read Mathew's posts, and wondered what was going on. The injured male there is a beautiful tiercel. I don't know about the injury - it depends which bones, and what someone's definition of "shattered" is. Not enough information to tell what the prognosis might be.
I agree with you about the "two nests" problem. It is too hard on the female when the male decides to control two nests. I always think of the hard time Wind had raising her babies almost on her own.
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Let's hope that all will work out the way it's supposed to.... and hope the best for the TR male!
I do find it strange that there has been no news of the injured tiercel but as we all say, "no news is good news"...I guess we will just have to remain positive and hope that it's true!
Keep talking to Angel Carly....she might just listen to you! :D
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I was saying to bccs last night that for the past few mornings I hadn't heard any of the kids especially my loud girl Elena and that I missed them.
Well guess who I just heard and saw screaming up a storm and scaring all the pigeons ;D ;D Happy to say my girl is still here and I saw one brother on the edge of the building as well...so still around!
Angel was tucked in her corner on the back of the web cam napping and probably wishing the noise would stop...lol ::)
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Great news Carly. There's nothing in the world like that sound is there? ;D
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Great news Carly. There's nothing in the world like that sound is there? ;D
Hehe..nope - it's like pure joy ;D
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Great news Carly. There's nothing in the world like that sound is there? ;D
Hehe..nope - it's like pure joy ;D
Always brings a smile to my face 8)
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It's good to hear you saw two juvies and Angel, Carly! Hope the other juvie is doing well too.
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Not sure if we will only need one more thread for this site, but that's where will start. If we start accumulating sufficient posts, I'll split them out by month ....
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Just catching up on a few things .
glad you are still seeing the kids. I hope things work themselves out for you. Maybe the male that was in the territory was your old male, coming back.
Has happened before. I am assuming it was a male that your guy was on the defensive.
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Got an email from Frank this morning, well late last night. Apparently my Mackenzie :-* may have been spotted around the Burlington lift bridge area this past week. Elena is still here, I see her every second day or so and I hear her in the early mornings sometimes. I have only seen 1 boy and that was last week so they are starting to spread out and explore the world.
Dad has been around whenever there is a storm - he seems to come home and check on things. Angel is around, I see her daily but she's not as visible as she used to be...changed her routine I guess now that she's on her own most of the time.
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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. :(
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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 :-\
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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 ;)
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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.
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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!! :o
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You always know the right thing to say, I'm silly to worry about something that hasn't even happened yet. ::)
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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 ::)
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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.
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I like Turkey vultures also. They have that tipping glide in their flight that gives away their identity.
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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.
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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 :P
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 :-\
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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 :)
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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!!
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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.
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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.
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Angel has spent the past two days either in the nestbox or velcroed to the side of it. I can't see her when she's in the box but Jack has been coming in to visit and then I can hear them both chupping so I know she's in there. It's usually now she starts laying her eggs so we will see...well we won't see cause the computer needs fixing to view the cam.
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I've had reports of sightings of possibly up to 4 falcons in the territory including one report of two tiercels having an aerial battle last week further in the territory from a long time CPF watcher.
Tomorrow after work Frank and I will be going to a nearby building to the top (with special permission) to see if we can get a look at the birds and the nestbox. Some strange things have been going on the past few days and we're not sure now if Jack is at both sites or we have a new male possibly. I personally saw three falcons in the territory on Friday and thought I was mistaken until I went to the sportsman show and learned of the other reports.
Might be nothing but you can't ignore reports from separate people especially when they are seasoned birders..unlike myself who is an amateur! I only watch the nestsite and can't see what is going on in the rest of the territory so I wouldn't even realize if something happened several blocks out.
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Sun-Life Financial Centre
3250 Bloor Street West, Etobicoke, Ontario
webcam: www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm (http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm)
website: Sun-Life Centre Peregrine Home Page (http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/tops/sunlife0607.html)
The nest is on the east tower, on the southeast face of the building on an 18th floor ledge.
Resident Pairs & Offspring
- more info hopefully coming soon
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Where to start? After our rooftop visit last night - I am more perplexed than before. After last Wednesday - things have changed alot here. It's been a bit like a ghost town as far as peregrines go.
We stood on the rooftop last night for an hour until the male showed up, he basically stared at us staring at him for awhile and then he took off. He did call for his mate but no one came. No eggs in the box but we couldnt' see over the lip of the box..safe to say that after the past few days there is nothing as no one was guarding the site at all.
First time in a week I saw them together this morning, they had a quickie on the condo and then she went to eat - saw her backside and saw ...brown mixed in with the black?? That was a shock. Both flew off in separate directions again and that was that. Saw one or the other today but never together at the same time and other times - the site was desserted. It's been that way since mid week last week.
The male looks like Jack to me, did a photo comparison and his stripes, everything lines up and he had a black band but couldn't read the numbers. He's pretty big when you stand across from him I must say. Female, she never showed up in the 1.5 to 2 hours we were there until we hit the ground again. Then she showed up alone and when I did see her -I thought she's not my girl.
It's like everything stopped suddenly and they show up to eat, have a quickie and go. Mathew says it's strange at his site too..so we keep watching.
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Many thanks for the updates, Carly. It sounds as if things are very confusing at your site. I hope everything is okay with Angel.
Please keep us updated. I do miss being able to watch the cam at this nest site.
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First time in a week I saw them together this morning, they had a quickie on the condo and then she went to eat - saw her backside and saw ...brown mixed in with the black?? That was a shock. Both flew off in separate directions again and that was that. Saw one or the other today but never together at the same time and other times - the site was desserted. It's been that way since mid week last week.
Don't fret about the brown, some birds just keep the brown longer than others - Jules had more than I'm used to seeing last year and we know she was at least three last year so all the juvenile plumage should have disappeared.
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Well both falcons were on site today - most of the day. Mathew reported that Jack went over there too and mated with TR mom as well so things are back to normal after a few days of weirdness. I guess whatever happened threw them off for a few days but today was much better.
Saw a few mating sessions, some chupping iin the nestbox a few times and saw him bringing her food as well. As soon as he'd leave she'd take off down towards the lake though. I had her on the condo today and from my office window I could see her pretty well but it was so cold and so windy I couldn't get a look at her legs to see if they were indeed bare. I don't know something about her just seems different..can't put my finger on it yet but I will!!
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Here is my other question: I have for the past few days been wondering if Angel is really Angel...not just because I saw brown on her but because she seemed different somehow. She seems darker than Angel normally is and a bit smaller. Now I will be honest that I've not seen her up close in person like I have seen Jack and he's got some physical attributes that are quite noticeable from the ground not to mention he's banded so that helps. And can I just say that Jack from the ground and from directly across the ledge - as compared to the cams is different. The cam really distorts some things, well our cams do.
Yesterday I was watching her from my window at work and I kept thinking she's somehow different but in the end couldnt' put my finger on it. When I was folding my laundry last night it finally came to me, a week ago she was bottom heavy, you know how they get when they are going through mating and egg laying and this female wasn't bottom heavy. It just hit me like a flash and I could see it clearly in my mind. Sadly I couldn't see her legs to see if they are bare and given another female unbanded has been photographed in the area - I can't rule out anything.
Would the stress of defending the territory affected her somehow and she'd not be errr...swollen there ? Sorry I know that sounds strange but I don't knwo the proper biology to describe it.
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Specific shapes of bird parts (nice scientific wording I know) isn't an accurate descriptor for anything, so I wouldn't include that in your identification criteria. The peregrines can do so many things with their feathers and posture that it is really impossible to get a handle on their shape and use that for identification. Size is something different, particularly when you are in the field, you can get a sense of size in relation to things and other birds, but things is better, as they don't change. So for example, he looks bigger in the nestbox, that's a pretty good warning flag. My suggestion would be to go back through photos and webcam images and look at Angel and look for things like Princess' head patter, the breadth/depth of the white on Trey's chest, Trey's black cap, Princess' speckles etc. Don't look at the pink/salmon coloured wash on the breast though, that changes through the season. Sometimes you can look at the width of the malar stripe, but that can change depending on how the bird is sitting/looking. Try to look at images where the bird is in different postures too - and in different locations and look for relative size in the box, on this sign etc. My question about the male at the Radisson is based on those kinds of assessments - and considering your familiarity with Angel, you are probably right, its not her - peregrines tend to get lighter with age, not darker so that is your first warning flag. Now break it down, feature by feature.
Oooooo, homework for Carly ;D Lucky Carly!!
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Thank you TPC, I will do my best and thank you for the pointers on what to look for. I know what you mean about the malar stripes, Mathew and I had that challenge with Jack photos the other day - in one photo you would have sworn it was another bird if not for the band number!
I wish the darn cam worked, that would be a good indicator but in the mean time I will go through old photos. Thanks again TPC.
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Good news here today. Jack and mom have resumed their attempted nesting activity - since yesterday anyway. She's back in the nest box and this time he's patrolling the perimeter instead of taking off on her. He's feeding her too and she just flew to the condo rooftop and he flew over to mate with her. So we're back to where we were last Monday before the whatever we didn't see happen happened. We'll see what happens!
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fingers crossed Carly
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I must have missed alot over the past weekend because I think incubation may - may have begun here. I waited an hour outside (on my lunch break) and witnessed 'a shift change!'. Mom has been laying in the nestbox all morning ;) And it's hot here today, t-shirt weather so no need to keep eggs warm unless there were 3 at the very least - I"m hoping. Will have to come down on the weekend to spend more time observing!
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So is Jack hanging around lots now Carly???I hope so. I think there are a few males that would gladly take his place at Residential ,if he lets them :) :)
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So is Jack hanging around lots now Carly???I hope so. I think there are a few males that would gladly take his place at Residential ,if he lets them :) :)
He's here more than at TR this week for sure but he was there mating with his other wife this afternoon! He spent all morning with my mom though and I caught that shift change at about 1:23 today. Once she was done eating and all settled back in the box - off he went to the other site! I'm going to go down on the weekend and spend a few hours observing to see what I can see. Mathew doesn't think there are any eggs there yet and that makes sense as he was here more this week.
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Incubation continues here and at TR as well. Seems he timed it so both nest sites will hatch at pretty much the same time - maybe 1 week apart at the most.
No cam access sadly at either site so who knows how many eggs they are on but based on Angel's record - probably 4. If they can't fix the cam, we won't know at all. I will have to observe closely and try to catch first hatch so we can estimate when to band the young as well. Full time incubation started on April 1st however I did catch a mating during one of the shift changes on the 3rd right at the nest box - next to it so could be she had 3 and that the was the to encourage egg 4, purely a guess at this point.
I'm using April 1 as my countdown date though. Hopefully behavior will tell me when a hatch has happened.
Interestingly at TR site, they are nesting on a different ledge - one that has a direct line of sight to this location. And suprisingly Jack has been spotted at my site a good number of times so he is keeping up with feeding and relieving mom. I have seen Angel haul herself up off the eggs to go yell at Canada Geese and anything else that gets too close to the building though which is nerve wracking when she's on her own but she seems to be handling it all in stride.
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Many thanks for the update, Carly! Glad to hear everything is going okay at both sites. Any word on whether they will be able to do anything to fix the cams, without of course approaching the nest?
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Well the cam guy was supposed to show up last week but bad weather messed that up. Mark says he's trying to chase him down again to see if they can't get him out to the site. They've tried everything as far as software goes so it's either the cables or the cam itself - if that's the case then we won't be able to do anything until banding.
It will be sad if I can't even get to enjoy watching them grow up this year - that's kind of the pay off for standing out in the cold and wet but what can you do.
I must say it's been a real learning experience and quite humbling. I'm still not sure it's still my 'Angel' that is up there. Everything has changed especially her behaviour - however that might be self preservation due to his bigamy. Even their mating sites and cache locations have changed and everything seems to be set so he can see both sites unobstructed. When Frank and I went up to the condo rooftop - I finally got to see what they see and it was quite an eye opener.
You watch the cams and you watch the nest site location from the ground but you realize that you're only getting a snap shot of their lives - most falcons behave pretty much the same during nesting time so it's easy to think you know them but once you see how large their territory is you realize you know nothing at all. She doesn't even alarm call anymore so I can't tell if it's her from that - she has a distinctive voice so that would be a give away but it's almost like she's trying not to attract attention to the site.
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So with all the sightings lately of our juvies down in Ohio and here last week, guess what tried to land on the nest site ledge here today... Yup a sub adult! YOu could have knocked me over with a feather! Mom was on the eggs and I heard a half hearted alarm call so I looked up a young huge falcon was about to land on the ledge when mom obviously popped up and started alarm calling but she didn't get out of the box. Just yelling and the youngster kind of fumbled in midair to change course and flew around the building a few times and then took off.
Of course I had to run back in for a meeting and by the time I came back out a half hour later - all was quiet. I wonder who it was, obviously mom was concerned but not enough to jump off the eggs and the visitor seemed as surprised as mom at the presence of another falcon! :-*
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Good reporting Carly.
I hope you get your cam but you are right about the sites.
That is why when people wonder where the adults are at our site, I usually know. Peter and I have walked so much of it. It is much different than downtown Edmonton.
It is so interesting to see what they see.
WE are trying to familiarize ourselves with a few more sites, around here. But I really only give my all to 2.
I really hope all goes well. He will be one tired dad.
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As we await a hatch here within the next week potentially, TR Male is set to be released in the next few weeks so that should be interesting.
I will be here this weekend both days to see what's' going on as Day 30 of heavy incubation is this Friday. Wish I could give you more details but honestly I have no idea what is going on up there.
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Wish they could get the cam up and running.
I am hoping the TR male stays safe. too bad he was not ready to be released earlier. Then Jack may have stayed with just one site.
Or maybe , they think his hormones will not be in mode and this was a better time
good luck CArly :-*
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Thanks to Alison letting me know about Rhae's hatches - I was waiting for that because she was only 2 days or 3 at the most ahead of our site this year and I was planning to be down at the site this weekend as today is Day 30 of heavy incubation.
Jack was around alot more than usual today and I had to run a few blocks down to get alook at the nestbox and did see mom's tail sticking out with my binoculars but no food deliveries which is pretty much the only way I will know if there is a hatch now.
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Spent the morning down at the site today. jack was back on his old sign perch again. He was there yesterday too for the first time since last years juvies left so I figured my timing is spot on. Saw him catch a pigeon in mid air again, that's only the second time I"ve seen him do that and it's so cool! The funny thing is he was on a ledge defeathering a prey he had just caught and this poor pigeon was coming in to land on the ledge, realized the bird there was NOT another pigeon and tried to back out in mid flight, Jack just reached out and grabbed him and I heard a goodbye squak and I think that lunch went to TR mom as he briefly left and headed towards there and came back 15 minutes later.
He gave mom a nice long break today, she ate, she preened and she relaxed. She was awfully squirmy in the nest box and could actually see her moving around in there today so something is up!
Something interesting happened today, Jack noticed me and actually came over to where I was - which was in the middle of the street about 1 block down from the nest site - and he came down lower than usual and circled three times above me?! I'm not sure if that's some sort of falcon voodoo curse but I think he was trying to tell me he's onto me :P I did what any respectable coward would do and I bowed my head in submission and then he flew back up to the ledge.
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I did what any respectable coward would do and I bowed my head in submission and then he flew back up to the ledge.
;D ;D ;D ;D
I hope Jack can keep them both well fed. He is going to be quite lean by end of season.
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Wow, Carly, that sounds like a jackpot of an afternoon observing.
It must be quite a feeling to be acknowledged by a falcon!
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I kinda of wondered if it's because I went up on the rooftop a few weeks ago and I was right across from him and the nest box and we were watching each other.
Linda told me that is why Wind keeps attacking her because she caught her up on the ledge one day so now she's public enemy number one!
All I kept telling myself was 'I'm an ant....!'! He didn't kack at me or anything but I must admit I did get a bit nervous as there was nothing else I could see near me that he might have his eye on except for a few nice looking cars in the driveway :P
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I had to stop wearing a favourite windbreaker because T-Rex (Ivy's grand-dad) could spot me blocks away and would come circling down on me - did at both his territories in Winnipeg. Darn bird was a wee bit fixated on eliminating "problems" ... :o ... he came by his name honestly (can still find the scars if I look)
Not sure the same thing isn't happening with Jules and Beau - Jules knows me a bit, Beau I think recognizes I'm going to be trouble for him in the future. Just what I need, his territory in West Winnipeg has no protection what's so ever ... ::)
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Next fundraiser?
Armour for the Chick.
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Next fundraiser?
Armour for the Chick.
;D ;D
Jack did come down to see me again yesterday as soon as I arrived on site and even made a point later of coming all the way out to where I was to fly over and circle around me before he ascended to the ledge where the nest is.
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Well I know it's Angel up on the ledge now for sure. Just saw her leave the nestbox..kacking her brains out with that smokey voice of hers. I look down the road and three turkey vultures are in the air. She hit 2 of them quite hard and the third one just flew for his life. Boy was she upset!
Not sure what is going on here otherwise. Thought we were close to a hatch given weekend behaviour but now it's all quiet again and honestly I'm more confused than ever. Just goes to show you how much you rely on the cams when you don't have them. Twice I've seen Jack here the past two days but not consistently like Friday through Sunday. Both times he came out of the nestbox and Angel was still in there, was he checking for chicks, did he bring food in? Usually he just lands on the ledge and she jumps out and takes her break!?! Never saw food go in or out by either of them except for on Saturday the one time. I know most females don't leave leftovers in the nestbox but in the past I've seen Angel keep food in the corner of the box when the chicks first hatch so she can feed them when they get hungry.
Going to give it a few more days and then see if we can go up on the roof again to check.
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I think we have had a hatch here today or first time I've seen food go in anyway! Saw food go directly to the nestbox at 11:40ish am today and mom's head going up and down a bit. It was a brief feed and saw her go and stash the leftovers. Jack has been onsite all day that I have seen and very territorial, he's sticking right to the ledge with the nest.
It's currently turned cold and pouring rain. I will stick it out a bit more to see what I can see and then head home.
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You're right, Carly, it seems there is a hatch!
From the site:
!!!We have a hatch?!
May 07, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
11:40 am and observed female flying around and male was in the nestbox quite visible. Female came in with food a minute later and they switched places and could see her head bobbing up and down, she did not lay down but looking more like she was giving food to someone. It was a quick feed and she then went to drop off leftovers to one of their cache locations which I clearly saw. She went straight back to the nest box and was fussing about and then alarm calling started from the nestbox. Female immediately went to roof ledge and touched beaks with male as he took off southward. She then went back into the nestbox but I could seeing her watching Jack, he headed towards some vultures and they took changed course. He returned to the ledge and to his perch. All is quiet for now.
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I just got home after standing in the pouring rain and cold. Jack was on the cam guarding mom and the box when I left. I will go out tomorrow and see what I can see.
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Toronto Residential Male was released today...great timing....let's hope he doesn't head straight home and fight Jack for his territory back!!
http://www.asic.ca/peregrinefalcons/
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Nuts...I just escaped the storm and came home thinking I had left Jack and Mom safely at the site. I jsut got an email from Mathew and TR Male has just arrived back home on site... :-\
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Mathew has a photo up of Milton on his old ledge this morning at TR site. He says he can't see any falcons now but hears mom on the ledge, she is expected to have a hatch as early as today.
Just waiting on the phone to ring now if Jack and Milton meet up :(
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Let's hope the males distribute nicely.
Such drama you have there, Carly.
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Very cold morning here so my visit was only an hour today and it's Mom's day too! Mathew emailed this morning to say that Jack was there giving TR Mom a break and then was seen heading to our site.
I arrived 10:30 am and Jack was there and mom in the nest box. I must have just missed a meal as there were rather errr..fresh and gruesome looking leftovers on the ground. Watched for an hour but not much action, Jack did fly out after some pigeons but other than that he was south facing and quite relaxed.
I mention 'south facing' because our nest box faces south which means he can't see his other site from that ledge. Prior to this past week, he usually perched on top of the building so he could keep an eye on both at the same time but now with chicks here - he's right on the ledge. That explains why yesterday while I was watching him - Milton was being photographed in plain view at the other site.
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I received a report last night at 6:30 pm that 3 falcons were seen fighting at TR Site at approximately 6 pm. By the time someone went out to check no falcons were in sight.
This morning no sign of Jack so far, I will keep watching when I can!
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oH CRAP!!
Today it appears Milton is trying to take back his territory, Jack is defending.
730AM I watched what I believe to be Jack trying to chase what I will guess was Milton off site. I recognize Jack's unique flapping, and will review photos to confirm who was who.
More observations to follow, but the bottom line is these guys are going to have to work it out.
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Jack is wounded in the chest, he is still flying though. Sorry to keep posting but it's the only thing tht is keeping me from crackin up right now. :'(
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All is quiet at both sites now, no signs of any falcons anywhere..so we wait.
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Jack is wounded in the chest, he is still flying though. Sorry to keep posting but it's the only thing tht is keeping me from crackin up right now. :'(
The wound may not be bad - one year Zeus (I think) had a big dark red (dried blood) spot on his breat that was probably from some tussle or another. It looked much worse than it must have been - or it might just have been dried blood from a meal (but it seemed kind of high). He's got more than one nest to "protect" in his mind, so he may not push his luck if he's injured ... particularly if Milton is only interested in one of Jack's two sites rather than the whole territory including both sites ...
And do keep us informed Carly! One can almost never post too much information about these kinds of events ... and it helps to have a record to go back and check ...
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Still no word. Mathew saw what he thinks may be Jack looking around the old ledge but other than that all is quiet. He's gotten permission to go onto an adjoining balcony and is going to see if TR Mom is there and if there is a hatch and they should have one by now - they were about 2 days behind us.
No sign of Jack here and mom is sitting tight on the box. I saw her head up and she was looking around a bit and heard a call but no one has come in. I know she will have a cache of food but I wonder how big the cache would be given he's supplying two sites? It was minus 4 here this morning and it's still quite brisk out there. Hopefully she can zip to the cache and then just keep some food next to her which I'm sure she would as I've seen her tuck food in the corner before for the wee ones.
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12:45 went out for quick smoke and caught mom on the next ledge over, she did a poop shoot, looked around and went right back into the box.
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TPC, I need your help. AT 3:45 two male falcons came into my territory and both were clearly in battle, hitting each other and circling each other in the air and kept heading south. I was on the ground down the road and tried running down the street, saw them up in the air battling and then they seemed to go into the sun..it was a hit, chase, circle, hit, chase..you get the picture..no locked talons or anything. Suddenly I hear alarm calling from the ledge, I look over and Angel is clearly upset as she can now see all this. She keeps calling, jumps in and out of the nest box several times - then she suddenly takes to the air, vaults off the ledge is more like it. She zooms over to where they are and I see her chasing a falcon off and diving to hit it..once again blinded by sunlight.
The longest minute passes and I see two falcons head back to the building, one clearly our girl and she heads immediately to the nest box and the other a tiercel who heads to the ADP sign on the opposite side. All is quiet and I look up at what I think is Jack and think wow he looks rough and then I check the ledge and all is calm again. I run upstairs to email Mathew and tell him what I saw. Come back out and no one on the ADP sign so I though okay Jacks' left for the other site. I walk down the street a bit and turn around and a tiercel is back on the ADP sign. I run over to the lane way to get a better look and see wow is that a juvie? He looks like he's molting or someone threw him in the dryer. Preen, preen, he's more interested in his appearance. I hear Angel chupping - not rapidly, no alarm calling and think ok it's either a break or she wants food.
Suddenly she leaves the box, flies over the building and dive bombs him! He takes off, she follows on his heels and almost drives him down to the ground. I'm thinking...ummm..okay is she upset cause he's left her so long with no food for the kids??? She is clearly chasing him off at this point, she flies back to the nest box, he follows her, tries to land on ledge and I dont' know if she gave him a look or what but he decided to back up and went over the building and back onto the ADP sign.
I watch some more and all is calm again. I go in to email Mathew and he says oh I think Jack is here on the ledge but it could be mom too and by the way the rehabber told me Milton is ready to molt???!!!
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Forgot to say what my questions were..heh! Angel knows this falcon is on the other side, would she chup to a stranger? Would she attack Jack? I know that Wind attacked Windwhistler when she felt he neglected her for his other nest site.
Perhaps she's only taking short runs at this guy because she can't leave the chicks for long? Honestly what a day!
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Carly, I'm so sorry about everything that has been happening today with Jack and Milton. I hope the injuries are not serious, and that both will be okay.
Please keep us updated.
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Carly, I'm so sorry about everything that has been happening today with Jack and Milton. I hope the injuries are not serious, and that both will be okay.
Please keep us updated.
Thanks Alison. I don't know what possessed them to do a release now and how in the world they could think that Milton wouldn't go home. I feel awful for the little guy, they sent him into chaos. They were well aware that both sites were incubating and due to hatch any day...honestly...I don't know what to think anymore.
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Toronto Residential Male was released today...great timing....let's hope he doesn't head straight home and fight Jack for his territory back!!
You did predict this might happen, didn't you, carly. :(
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Just got a late night report from my friend who is watching our site from her balcony. Apparently mom has left the ledge several times to go after 'Milton' and she hit him twice. He is flying okay but is having trouble landing. He's now settled on a nearby building on a sign and hopefully will be safe there tonight and can rest and get the heck out of there in the morning.
Jack seems to have abandoned mom and is still at TR Site with the TR Mom. Mom is there alone defending and looking after whatever is in the nest.
I'm off to bed, up early tomorrow and going to take a half day and see what we can do about this nightmare.
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Well, we'll all be waiting for any news from you, carly. So much drama! I do hope that Angel hasn't been left all alone at the nest site. Are there eggs or chicks in this nest right now? :-\
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Well, we'll all be waiting for any news from you, carly. So much drama! I do hope that Angel hasn't been left all alone at the nest site. Are there eggs or chicks in this nest right now? :-\
We think the eggs have hatched but will require a visual to confirm. Supposed to go up today and check however if she is still stressed and this other male is there I'm going to recommend they don't as they might send her over the edge.
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What a a mess, Carly.
I sometimes wonder what thee guys are thinking. they are supposed to be the experts, you would think. but sometimes they lose touch with what is going on. they should have known better, than to release Milton.
Let us hope for a good outcome. utmost concern for me ,would be the chicks ,right now.
But my heart is thumping for poor Milton, who would not know where else to go.
Been through it with Miss Edmonton but no chicks were involved.
Tough , tough , tough
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Hey Carly,
First thing, keep in mind that you can't watch everywhere all at once. Jack may very well be coming back to Angel but using the TR site as his base of operations - perhaps because he has better lines of sight from there. And if he's close enough to be involved with both females then he is close enough to know what is going on at both sites. I had a male at the Radisson that I almost never saw - for two years. Freaked me out. And the first year T-Rex arrived, he actually used to crawl under tiny overhangs (he was small) when he needed a break, he'd crawl under and go to sleep knowing no one could spot him, I found him one day, purely by chance, and an extraordinary one at that!
And the territorial defense you saw, that's pretty standard. Since Milton isn't all hopped up on hormones right now, it could be that he was reticient to get himself in to deep since it sounds like Jack was in a 'roid rage at the time. And yes, females will join in on the chase though actual fights tend to be gender-specific.
Milton, hmm molting. Molting won't make him look like a juvie. Not in a million years. And peregrines like all birds of prey don't lose enough feathers at one time to imperil their ability to fly or hunt or anything else, they lose a feather at a time. The "spin-cycle" look you saw on the bird, when they've had a set-to, with humans or anything else, its very usual for them to puff up like that when they come to roost. It can be a quick way of seeing how stressed/harrassed a bird is after a visit, watch and see how long it takes them to flatten out their feathers so they look sleek again or until they start preening.
Would Angel be chupping at Milton? Guess it depends on whether she recognizes him as the mate she wants to be with. If Jack is decreasing his visits to her, she may very well be happy to see Milton if he starts to slip into his "provider" role. T-Rex took over a clutch of his father's in mid-incubation so I know for sure that its possible. Why would she fly after him but chup at him on the nest. One theory (note the word theory, I just don't know your birds well enough to say for sure) could be that when he's being chased by Jack, she joins in to protect the site. When he's sitting quietly outside the box and Jack isn't there protesting, she might recognize him as not a threat. Just a theory though.
Hope some of this helps ... even if it only gives you more things to look out for ...
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Thank you as always TPC for your perspective and experience, I'd be lost without it!
You are no doubt correct about Jack sneaking in without us seeing as when Frank went up today - he saw food in the one cache he could see from up there! Jack was outside today at about 11:30, I had just come out so don't know how long or short his visit was as he left within 5 minutes of my spotting him and headed up in TR direction.
Milton was not on site, I checked everywhere this morning so he hopefully got to a safer place at first light.
What I meant about the juvie comment...was he had brown on him and he was puffy as you said - I sometimes have trouble articulating what I see especially when I'm wound up on nerves! Mathew confirmed today that he did have brown on him too. I think I was just over excited and freaked out about the way he looked..I was worried he was hurt but what you have explained helps me understand now what I was seeing and why - thank you for that!. And he was preening later on, in fact he seemed overly concerned with his appearance to me. Poor guy!
When Frank went up to the rooftop today, it was 10 degrees and really windy and cold wind chill. Angel did not budge, would not move out of that nest box...not surprising given the weather. He said she glared at him the entire time but was not giving up any secrets. He did some leftover food he thinks. He got some photos and will send them to me tonight when he gets home and perhaps I will see something that indicates a chick(s) presence.
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Many thanks for the updates, Carly! What a stressful situation for all the birds involved in this mess - not to mention the humans.
I hope tomorrow will bring better news, and that meantime, Jack and Milton will stay away from each other. I don't like the sound of Milton having trouble landing - maybe a leg injury?
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All quiet here today, things are back to normal. Saw Jack 3 times today and he stayed awhile. Saw food in Angels' talons come off the ledge this morning but caught the tail end of what was happening.
Without further ado some photos from yesterday that tell us..well something is under her judging by her body but until we see a fluffy it's all speculation!
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/4602593332_9cf73eb10f_m.jpg) (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4602593322_2f4e0a42d3_m.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/4602593302_8f0aaedf0a_m.jpg) (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/4602593298_191a8080ea_m.jpg)
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Three Eyases just confirmed!!! Both parents on site dive bombing Frank..!! More details later when I get home!!
;D ;D ;D
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Two parents dive bombing a good thing. Sorry Frank :-* :-*
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Three Eyases just confirmed!!! Both parents on site dive bombing Frank..!! ;D ;D ;D
Who is Frank and why are the parents dive bombing him? :o
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Video of Jack, Angel, the babies and a Turkey Vulture..sound is off by default so click on the red X to hear it but turn down as they are quite loud once they start yacking!!
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2vteasz&s=5 (http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2vteasz&s=5)
Kinderchick: Frank is a CPF member who went up on a nearby roof to try and get a look in the nestbox today. Parents were NOT impressed... ;D
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Thanks for that clip, Carly.
Oh, I do love to see the action and hear the noise, spoken as one who hasn't yet experienced the full magnificence and volume in person.
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First Sighting of Chicks from the Ground
May 31, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
What a great day!! I’ve had my first sighting of two of the chicks from the ground level! I could see one set of black and white wings flapping in the corner next to the nest box. Mom is directly seated in front of the nest and was keeping her eye on me as I watched. And I saw one head peeking around behind her! Hopefully we still have three chicks and the other is just napping or out of viewing range.
I’ve had word this morning that Milton, the other male is back at the TR site. Both Jack and TR Mom are there and are aware of his presence. The female seems to be confused and is going between them but no sign of hostility yet.
The past week has seen our female pretty much on her own, save for sporadic visits by Jack she is feeding them, hunting, guarding and defending the territory on her own. The other day during the extreme heat I saw her at one point looking quite exhausted and she undershot the nest ledge and almost hit the glass coming in with food. Thankfully, although still hot and sunny, there has been a nice breeze the past few days and she looks much better today. She is doing an amazing job on her own and at least now the young are old enough that she can leave them when she has too.
Fledge will be challenging as she can’t be in three places at once if they decide to go at the same time but hopefully we can muster enough volunteers to give them a helping hand should it be required.
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It's Banding Day here today - 10:00 am! The swing stage guys are setting up now and mom is in attack mode! Jack did come in briefly, mostly to squawk like a girl and then he went back to TR site probably to advise his other wife that he's going to be busy this morning!
I'll keep you posted ;D
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Okay we have 3 big, healthy BOYS!!! From 660-690 grams, all beautiful, healthy, pink throats (yes we checked)!! Poor mom defended all on her own. Apparently Jack showed up again for 5 minutes, made alot of noise and left while I was inside with the babies.
I'm not crazy about the names, in fact I hate them and I wish they'd stop let the kids pick these names and try to guide them to more distinguished names. The first one is dot.ca - yes you read that right, who the heck names a chick after a domain name?? The second name is Blackberry - not even going to comment on that one. And the last name is Mercedes..after the car.
I had someone doing photos and once he uploads them I will give you all a peek!
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Great report, Carly. You sound excited!
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Thanks bcbird! I was excited to see them and make sure they were healthy and strong. Given mom has pretty much been on her own most of the time, she's done a great job. And I'm thrilled they are all boys as we need more boys and I'm hoping that makes fledge a bit easier on her as she won't have the usual heavy girls to deal with and worry over as they tend to come to ground more often.
Jack I'm very disappointed in today - I know the female largely takes care of defending the nest but the male is the back up, he clears the air space - in other words he should have her back. That's the kind of falcons I want these boys to grow up to be, strong, feisty and fierce so they have a decent chance at survival.
At one point today when mom was attacking the humans as they were extracting the chicks from the ledge a kestrel was actually attacking her! Okay the kestrel is small in comparison but it kept dive bombing and hitting her - had Jack been there, his job would have been to ensure no one disturbed her as that stressed her out more and distracted her. What if that had been a bigger bird looking for a fight? She would have been at a disadvantage. the fact that he came in twice but almost 3 hours apart and then just left her there to fend for herself disappointed me but perhaps I expect too much.
So without further ado, here is a preview of the boys! From oldest to youngest!
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4669264421_2f527855c7_m.jpg) (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4669264451_7b0d9fb93f_m.jpg) (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4669264477_a5a7e486f3_m.jpg)
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Gorgeous photos, Carly. It is always good to hear your enthusiastic reports.
Are you calling the eldest to youngest, based on weight? How would it otherwise be known?
Those names, I agree, just not very dignified!
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Yes I am and also on color - the youngest is quite white compared to the other two. That being said the two other ones could very well be reversed! Angel's eggs typically all hatch the same day, usually 2 within an hour or two of each other and the last one a few hours later.
I just couldn't bring myself to say those names :-X
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Wow Carly, you got to be there and saw the kiddies first hand. Yes!!!!!.
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Maybe they could be morphed to Canada, Black and Merc. The hard C adds a bit of panache, don't you think?
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http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2010/06/sightings/life-on-the-43rd-floor-ledge/
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Now, that is cool! Oh sigh, if only I could!
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Here is FRank's video from our banding:
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=jqgobr&s=6
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Thanks Carly, that was wonderful. Were you, by any chance, in the video too?? ;D
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Thanks Carly, that was wonderful. Were you, by any chance, in the video too?? ;D
Lol...no I dive at the site of cameras!
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Thank you so much for that link to the video! That was incredible to watch!
Permanent grin on my face! ;D
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The kids refuse to fly :P
Still Waiting
- Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Frank Butson Reports:
It seems everyone else has flyers. Today the 3 boys were left alone alot. Mom stayed just out of their site. Blackberry,DotCa and Mercedes were flapping abit more today,gaining wing strength. All day they were not fed,prompting alot of screaming every time an adult was in view. Angel did many touch and goes trying to urge the boys into flight but she got no takers. Finally at 820pm they were fed a big meal. This settled them down for the night. These guys are still being babied by Angel. She was beak to beak feeding them again today.
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Day 42 and we have a fledge!! Blackberry has left the building! He's taken three good strong flights and was back on the condo next to the nest ledge at the same height as the ledge. He gained altitude with each flight he took and has done a great job!
I'm just home for a quick dinner break and then I'm back out there!
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Day 42 and we have a fledge!! Blackberry has left the building! He's taken three good strong flights and was back on the condo next to the nest ledge at the same height as the ledge. He gained altitude with each flight he took and has done a great job!
Hooray for Blackberry! ;D Safe flying, little guy!
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:-*to Blackie nice he had strong flights
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I just realized I never came back and updated on my boys..lol..sorry but fledge watch takes its toll on you!
The boys all fledged successfully, all three at various times had to be rescued from a glass balcony - they learned the hard way you can't fly through glass! But none were hurt and all stayed high up - the balconies were all on the top levels so they certainly flew well!
The first few days after they fledged, Jack spent time with them and they all got some flying lessons but mom does most of the work and training from I can see lately. We had a big storm here last Sunday and since then I've only seen 2 of the boys at any given time so I don't know if we lost one or he's just elusive.
It's very different with all boys, they are much bolder than the girls which is a bit hard on the nerves. It's so strange not seeing them always playing in the air and chasing each other like the past few years and I don't know if that's because of Jack's absence or it's a male thing but we had 2 boys last year and they were much more visible so I'm just attributing it to mom being more protective given she's the lone support most times.
Today I arrived at work and saw dead birds all over the road so I knew 'hunting' lessons had started. I heard them screaming from the roof but only saw mom on the ledge of the roof. About a half hour later I came out and saw a dead hawk on the road..but at the time I thought it looked like a juvie so I had a minor cardiac until I saw some white on it and of course soon as I saw his talons I knew it wasn't a peregrine.
A half hour later I got a call from CPF that someone called in a dead falcon and they asked me to go see the security guy so I grabbed a large plastic bag and out I went. Turns out he saw the same bird I did and by then traffic had slowed so I ran out and picked up the poor guy and checked over what was left of him and placed him in the bag and we laid him to rest. Mark said from my description it sounds like it was a Sharpie or a Coopers and probably mom took him out. So I will be out scanning the roads and sidewalks for the rest of the week as this is the time they could hurt themselves or worse - it's exciting but the boys fly so fast it's nerve wracking too!
Anyway heat wave has come to the city big time so I didn't see any of them after this mornings adventure, it's way too hot for even the birds :-\
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Great reporting Carly.
I hope you find that three boys are still around, not just two.
It has been very interesting hearing your reports of Jack and his families.
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Great reporting Carly.
I hope you find that three boys are still around, not just two.
It has been very interesting hearing your reports of Jack and his families.
Yes! :D
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So we are back to three boys again. Mercedes actually turned up within minutes of Jack 2 days ago but it was such a chaotic event and at one point I thought perhaps that one of Jack's other 'sons' had followed him here from his other territory so I wasn't sure what I was seeing. Luckily I had witnesses who were just as perplexed as I was... ::)
I won't go into the harrowing details but it involved a mother not recognizing her son after being gone for almost 2 weeks...we won't mention what she tried to do to him but it wasn't pretty! Fortunately his brothers knew who he was and rescued him from mom and a bit of smooth talking by Jack seemed to calm her down. At the time it happened so fast and falcons were flying everywhere, one was trying to kill one it seemed so I wasn't really sure what the heck was going on so I waited a few days to scope out the situation!
Mercedes seems to be a bit behind in skills than his two brothers. While they are out trying to hunt, he seems to be sitting near mom and crying for food nonstop since his return..and I mean nonstop!.
Hopefully he will catch up soon as the other two are moving closer to dispersal with each day and spend a lot of time flying, playing and chasing pigeons together!
I feel bad for Mercedes as he seems to be on his own and just hanging out with mom now while the other two are going farther out and exploring. other than the reunion 2 days ago, I've not seen three in the air together since then..two together over on another building and little guy velcroed to mom.
I wonder if he was with Jack the entire time or if he was somewhere in a situation and Jack was watching over him as he wasn't seen at his other site the entire time either. The last 2 days I've seen jack here alot again, back to his old routine.
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I am so happy that Mercedes is back Carly. :-* :-* With some good feeds form mom , he will right in no time.
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Your reporting is never dull, Carly. You sure have the drama at that site!
Thank goodness Mom was talked into taking little guy back. It would be nice to think that Mercedes perhaps had Dad looking after him during his absence.
Hope things calm down a little from now on.
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'Tis the time of the year when fledglings, and therefore future rivals, start moving greater and greater distances ... these kinds of things happen pretty much everywhere. Even though Chinook & Mistral (2007), Vesper (2009) and Isis-Kali (2010) weren't gone for long, it is one of the reasons I try to put them back in the nestbox and slowly/quietly re-release them. Hopefully they don't rush out of the box but rather are sort of back where Mom/Dad last saw them.
Not sure where or how Mercedes was released, maybe not so easy to access the nestsite at this time of the year without causing problems for the adults/sibs ...
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I can't begin to tell you how happy I was to read this today! My boy, my little stuck in a tree Mac that I sat under a tree and babysat is alive and has a potential mate!!! :-* :-*
McKenzie Banded May 26, 2009 Spotted
August 06, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Sue McCreadie Reports:
Since July 26 Bill and I have been following the goings on of a couple of adults peregrines who have been hanging out on the hydro towers at Brant and Ghent Streets in downtown Burlington, ON. Yesterday I was finally able to see a band number, black band 29 over Y. Mark Nash has advised that this is none other than McKenzie who was banded May 26, 2009 at the Etobicoke Sun Life Centre at Bloor and Islington. The female is unbanded.
I wonder if we are going to have a new nesting pair in Burlington, Ont???
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That's wonderful news, carly :-* :)
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Carly, that is such great news.
I remember your tales of this little guy from last year.
How thrilling for you to know he has thrived, and may be on his way to a nesting in the next season.
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(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab39/sheilahavoc/oct%202009/emotions/af7a4213e0a98ad522c601e7dd87d5c0.gif) Oh carly that is such wonderful news please keep us in the loop when you hear anything(http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab39/sheilahavoc/oct%202009/emotions/af7a4213e0a98ad522c601e7dd87d5c0.gif)
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This is absolutely fantastic news Carly!!! This is the news we want to hear! ;D
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Always great when one of the chicks turns up later. ;D
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Great news about your McKenzie, carly! :D
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A Roadtrip to Burlington is being planned already - I'm going to find him!! :-* Sue posted 2 little photos on the CPF site - one of Mac and one of his lady! He looks so much like Angel now :-* :-*
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Happy seeking and finding, Carly!
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Yahoo Carly, fantastic news, thanks so much for keeping us in the loop. :-*
Happy hunting ;D ;D
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Such happy news Carly. I know we are not supposed to get attached but when you hear of one of the Peregrines showing up that you watched from eggs to fledging...it is like one of your kids have come home. Must be even a better feeling when it is one you actually baby sat for awhile.
Just makes a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart.
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More great news!! Dotca spotted and photographed in a tree by a lady in a boat up near Barrie in cottage country!!
Will post photos if I can once we get permission to use them!
Mom is all by her lonesome these days..no sign of our boys anywhere the past week and obviously we can confirm at least one is out exploring the great wide world! :-*
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Here is our little dotca!!
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2010/08/sightings/likely-dot-ca-sighting/
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More great news!! Dotca spotted and photographed in a tree by a lady in a boat up near Barrie in cottage country!!
That is great news, carly! ;D Imagine that! Dotca photographed by a woman in a boat! 8) There are "phanatics" all over the place! :-*
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My little blackberry didn't make it :'( Fly free little guy :-*
!!! More sad news to report! Blackberry has been found dead.
August 25, 2010 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
CPF Postmaster Reports:
While we don’t have any details as yet of little Balckberry’s demise, we have received sad news from OMNR Guelph district of a dead juvenile peregrine falcon havaing been reported to them wearing a black band 14 over Y. After a quick check of this years banding details, the band has been confirmed belonging to Blackberry, produced this year at the Sun Life centre nest site at Bloor & Islington in Etobicoke.
We hope to get more details and will post it as the information becomes available
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Sad news, Carly. So sorry.
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My little blackberry didn't make it :'( Fly free little guy :-*
Oh carly, I am so sorry to hear that! That is so very sad! :'( My heart goes out to you.
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Very sad news Carly to hear of another loss.
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How sad, Carly. There just seems to have been so many losses this year.
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Oh carly I am so sorry honey,
I wish there were words to help the pain just know we are here for you
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Thanks guys, I'm okay. I kiind of had a 'feeling' something was up - we had some violent storms that weekend and I kept worrying about dotca up there in cottage country and for some reason I couldn't get it out of my mind but turns out if was little BB that didn't make it. I just hope it was quick and that he didn't suffer.
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2011 NESTING SEASON
Sticking Close to Nest Box
March 25, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
This morning when I arrived Angel was sitting by the nestbox and then she flew over to one of the towers. I assumed she was on her own but a few minutes later jack jumped out of the nestbox and flew off to head to his other site and Angel immediately flew back to the ledge and got into the nestbox. I watched a few minutes and then she came back out but she’s been on the ledge right next to the nestbox every time I’ve checked for the past 4.5 hours. She does seem a bit lethargic this morning and looks like she’s having a bad hair day on top of it all !
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Still sitting and waiting..
March 28, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
More of the same today with Angel, just sitting by the nestbox on the ledge and waiting.. There was some excitement that was reported to me after lunch that involved Angel screaming her head off from the ledge and Jack chasing someone out of the territory..by the time I was able to get outside and take a look, all was calm. When I left Angel was..you guessed it..sitting by the nestbox and Jack was on the next ledge over watching the window washers set up for tomorrow. So the next week will have workmen right next to them - if there is an egg or two up there we should see some interesting behaviour so I guess that should give me a clue.
I told her today that Rhea Mae at the Sheraton is already 2 eggs ahead but she seems nonplussed about it all ::)
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Something is Going On Up there!!
March 29, 2011 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
Angel has been inside the nestbox - I could see her head and she has been alternating between standing and laying down - all morning. When she stands up in the box, I can see her head over the side of the nestbox ledge with my binoculars. Jack has been standing guard on the cam keeping his eye on the window washer who is on the second building over from us.
Earlier this morning when I arrived, he was already on the cam and she was in the nestbox. She has only left twice, when he brought her food. She took it to the mating corner and he immediately stood by the nestbox until it was time. Two lengthy mating sessions were observed, after which- both times she immediately returned to the nestbox. He continues to stand on the cam watching over her while keeping one eye on the poor window washer.
There is no way at this time to confirm the presence of eggs however all activity and behaviour is pointing to it - things are on track at least!
Update @ 1:50 pm: More food and another mating session. I checked last years notes and when this much activity happened all day last year as it has today, she was in full incubation a few days later!
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Update @ 1:50 pm: More food and another mating session. I checked last years notes and when this much activity happened all day last year as it has today, she was in full incubation a few days later!
That's great news carly! 8)
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Incubation has started at my site..meant to update that earlier. From what I could see - it started on Sunday but I waited until I saw an actual 'shift change' - which I did late yesterday afternoon to be sure.
I'll start the count from Sunday as I have to rely on behaviour to determine a hatch again this year and only those two know if she was at 3 eggs on Sunday or 4...but she has in the past started incubating at 3. Given the change to below zero temperatures overnight, she has no choice now regardless.
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Thanks for reports Carly :-*
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Well nothing to report here. Still no hatch despite incubation having seemed to start the same time as Rhea Mae who has already hatched out all 4 of her eggs this week. Only thing I can think is that Angel started warming the eggs as she laid them due to the unseasonably cold weather we've had as you can usually set your clock to her and predict when the eggs will hatch - so maybe she's a week behind RM . So the wait continues...
TR female (Jack's other wife) also seems to only have 2 eggs this year instead of her usual 3 or 4 so we'll see what happens. Milton has also been located at a new nest in Brampton with a female from Ohio named Truss so that's good news if they can find somewhere decent to nest on that building.
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TR female (Jack's other wife) also seems to only have 2 eggs this year instead of her usual 3 or 4 so we'll see what happens.
Do you think that's because Jack was spreading himself too thin, running (flying) back & forth btw his 2 wives, carly? :-\
Milton has also been located at a new nest in Brampton with a female from Ohio named Truss so that's good news if they can find somewhere decent to nest on that building.
That's great news about Milton. :) I do hope they are able to find a good place to nest.
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:D :D :D :D
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2011/05/sightings/mothers-day-hatchs/ (http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2011/05/sightings/mothers-day-hatchs/)
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We got three!!! :-* :-* :-*
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2011/05/sightings/three-hatchlings/ (http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2011/05/sightings/three-hatchlings/)
Kinderchick: NOt sure as to why only two eggs at TR site, could be Jack running low on mojo or could be the cold spring we've had.
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2012 NESTING SEASON
From their page on the CPF website ...
March 16th - 2012
Another quickly update on the Sun life peregrines. A very nice day indeed, sunny and very warm! No eggs as yet, but the resident adult female was on hand roosting on the nest ledge when I arrived. No sign of Jack, (the resident adult male) during my visit.
Stay tuned for more updates………..
Jack and Angel have been around all winter. First sign of mating was on March 15th this year ... Jack was also making overtures to his second wife nearby ...
The cam is not active however and no information on whether it will be for this season I'm afraid (or at least not yet)
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2013 NESTING SEASON
As of Feb 20th, things are off and running, or rather, canoodling, at the Sun-Life Building in Etobicoke!
These birds have been around since the start of the new year.
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You can read all the updates for Jack and O'Connor at this link. :)
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/tops/ettop.html
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You can read all the updates for Jack and O'Connor at this link. :)
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/tops/ettop.html
Looks Like a Hatch at Etobicoke Sun Life Yesterday May 3rd
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The cam is live now with a 30 second refresh. :)
Link to cam = http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm (http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm)
We’ve got Four!!
May 27, 2013 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Kathy Reports:
What great news to wake up to this morning, our cam is live! I was lucky enough to catch a feeding at 5:30 am this morning and counted 4 kids! One took off down the ledge out of sight after she ate but definitely 4!
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/w/2013/05/sightings/weve-got-four/
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(http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy320/Blondechik_2010/Misc%20Canadian%20Falcons%202013/etobicoke002.jpg) (http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy320/Blondechik_2010/Misc%20Canadian%20Falcons%202013/etobicoke.jpg)
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2014 NESTING SEASON
It's snowing in Etobicoke and one very full cropped falcon is hanging out at the nest. :)
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm (http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm)
(http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy320/Blondechik_2010/Canadian%20Falcons%202014/SunlifeCPF.jpg)
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That bird does like sitting in that spot - whether it's winter or summer!!
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That is pretty full there. TY for the shot RCF
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Yikes! And it's very cold down there this winter! :o
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First hatch tonight for O'Connor and Jack! Still 3 eggs to go.
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First hatch tonight for O'Connor and Jack! Still 3 eggs to go.
:-* 8)
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Well false alarm, no hatch. Feel stupid now..I hate refresh cams. It looked like half a shell laying in front of her even when you blew it up but this morning I see all 4 eggs intact...grrrr >:(
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Lol..Okay real hatch this afternoon. She was preparing me 8)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5448/14124293195_63df009316.jpg)
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Lol..Okay real hatch this afternoon. She was preparing me 8)
Just like her to psych you out carly!! ;) Yayyy about the hatch!! :-*
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#2 hatched overnight, #3 hatched this afternoon and big pip in egg #4 so he/she should be with us by morning I'm hoping. ;D
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#2 hatched overnight, #3 hatched this afternoon and big pip in egg #4 so he/she should be with us by morning I'm hoping. ;D
;D :-*
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#4 hatched yesterday so Jack and O'Connor have a full house! ;D
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Four chicks have hatched, the most recent one to have hatched was May 8th. :-*
Post by carly at BCAW http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?p=298603#p298603 (http://www.peregrinefalcon-bcaw.net/viewtopic.php?p=298603#p298603)
Cam link - http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm
(http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/yy320/Blondechik_2010/Canadian%20Falcons%202014/etobicoke002.jpg)
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It seems that Jack, the resident male at this site, has been replaced by a new, young male named Lucky. Lucky was born in 2013 at the Amexon Don Mills and Eglinton site in Toronto. He is banded black/black Y/72.
Jack, now 13 years old, has had two nest sites for some years; the Sun Life nest and a second nest at a private residential site. It is not yet known if he is at his residential nest site. I hope he is, and that he is okay.
O'Connor is still the resident female at this nest, and yesterday she laid her first egg.
(http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa393/falcoperegrinus1/April%202015/etobicoke-april-4-4a_zps01w0nnk0.jpg) (http://s1195.photobucket.com/user/falcoperegrinus1/media/April%202015/etobicoke-april-4-4a_zps01w0nnk0.jpg.html)
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm (http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm)
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A gift for O'Connor:
(https://picload.org/image/rlpigpia/etobicoke-mar-23-2a.jpg)
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Congratulations to O'Connor and Lucky on their first egg today:
(https://picload.org/image/rlwlpaow/etobicoke-mar-27-6a.jpg) (https://picload.org/image/rlwlpalr/etobicoke-mar-27-8a.jpg)
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Yesterday evening, preparing to lay the second egg, and the two eggs this morning.
(https://picload.org/image/rcgrplwr/etobicoke-mar-29-13a.jpg) (https://picload.org/image/rcgrplwa/etobicoke-mar-30-2a.jpg)
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hi Alison,
Egg 2 arrived at 6.49 pm yesterday :-* :-*
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Finding a tiny sliver of shade (left) and an evening visit.
(https://picload.org/image/rwgcpgpl/etobicoke-july-25-3a.jpg) (https://picload.org/image/rwgcpgwr/etobicoke-july-25-11a.jpg)
A visit from two juvies; Apollo (red tape, banded black/black Y/37) and Lashay (white tape, banded black/black Y/36).
(https://picload.org/image/rwgcpgpi/etobicoke-july-25-8a.jpg) (https://picload.org/image/rwgcpgpw/etobicoke-july-25-9a.jpg)
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I've been meaning to post about this site. It was previously called the Sun Life Building but new ownership has renamed it the Bloor Islington Center.
This new management have removed almost every bit of greenery on the property, paid for pigeons to be removed from the site and netted off any area where a small or medium sized bird would nest. They have also embarked on massive reconstruction to utilize every single speck of space and turn it into a rental space.
Last year they started construction on the towers mid August before the offspring of O'Connor and Lucky had dispersed resulting in early dispersal and the disappearance of O'Connor. She was never one to tolerate human presence in her space and was constantly stressed out and upset and the last time I saw her she was attacking the workmen and then suddenly - poof into thin air she vanished.
A little while later an 18 month old sub adult appeared on site - she was the grand daughter of Angel and Jack, our previous pair and we were excited to have her on site. She seemed to tolerate the workers just fine at first and we were hopeful for a new start.
In February the workers again resumed work on the nest tower and continued right through what would have been courtship and mating in March - needless to say Aria - perhaps due to her inexperience was not comfortable with them in her face all the time. And in fact they were on all three towers which left the falcons no place to do their business. Then came the cold weather and the ice storm which at least drove the workers off the tower.
In mid April we saw hopeful signs that things might be getting on track when a large female came in and displaced Aria. This new female is the largest female we've ever had on site and in short order she laid 2 eggs. Two weeks later one of the eggs collapsed and she consumed it. The last egg looked like it might be good as she brought food into the nest to feed it and all signs pointed to an imminent hatch. Then the humidex hit the mid 40's right at that time and I suspect the chick perished due to the heat - it was 44 to 46 c with the humidex so I imagine trying to peck your way out of an egg in that heat may have been too much for the little one.
So for the first time in 20 years we have a failed nest. We'll see what next year brings but I"m not optimistic. The entire area surrounding us is now under construction with several 35 to 45 story condos going up across the street so it will be interesting to see if this nest continues or they move on to somewhere better.
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Question for you Carly (and anyone else who might know) ... the peregrine folks that watch this site, do they refer to it as the Bloor Islington Centre or Sun-Life or something else? We could go with a street address if there isn't a consensus and include a note on the name change ...
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hi TPC - Well it has changed hands again in the past 2 years and has been renamed 'Bloor Islington Place' by the new owners. I'd go with the new name as it does accurately reflect the location. It is literally on the corner of Bloor Street and Islington Avenue.
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Thanks Carly!
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This year we have D'arcy and Lucky. D'arcy took over the site late last April - she did lay 2 eggs at that time but neither hatched. She is 3 years old this Spring so hopefully a better year. Lots of construction in the area and work on the towers though, not to mention unseasonably cold weather so no sign of eggs yet. The cam has been out since January but I try to keep an eye out from the ground.
From TPC - just updating the subject line
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Well we have no cam this year but I'm confident we have eggs now and incubation has started as of this past weekend. All behaviors from last Tuesday on wards indicate eggs. I've seen a few shift changes yesterday and today - I think she may have laid egg 4 yesterday as I did witness a mating before he took his turn in the tray and she was looking quite puffy. Best 'guesstimate' is the week starting May 8th for a hatch as I'm just going by behavior and not visuals.
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Definitely one hatch here so far, maybe more but with no cam hard to say. A friend I know in the condos went up and took photos and I see one baby with Darcy...looks to be a few days old at least.
Hopefully CPF can go check the cams from inside as they can still view there even though it's not transmitting via the web.
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Four hatches here confirmed. Banding will be on June 3rd :)
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So great to hear of all the hatches going on😃
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Our banding was today at 3.30 pm. Three boys and one girl. All a good size,the girl was 900 grams! Names are Avro, Aries and Griffin for the boys and the girl was named Bliss.
Bands and photos should be posted in the next day or so!
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Just a quick progress update. The kids have all fledged, sadly we lost Griffon to the dreaded glass towers shortly after his fledge. Avro has been rescued 3 times but I have high hopes for him. Bliss and Aries continue to do well and stay high in the sky :)
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The names and band numbers for the four chicks are as follows:
Avro, male, banded 01/AW
Griffon, male, banded 02/AW
Aries, male, banded 03/AW
Bliss, female, banded Z/29
It is very sad that Griffon was lost in a building collision on June 21.
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Today brings more very sad news from the Bloor/Islington nest:
Bliss no longer with us
Marion Nash Reports:
Bliss band number Z 29 was spotted in a construction in the Distillery district on the ground with a broken beak. CPF got the call and Bruce went out to try to find her. Her wings were not broken or fractured and she was able to fly so although he tried he could not find her anywhere. Bruce then went to the nest site hoping she may come home but she did not. Some kindly person did find her and took her into Toronto Wildlife but she was so malnourished she was just skin and bone and her beak was very badly broken. TWC made the decision to put her down. Sad but at least she is no longer suffering.
Poor little Bliss; I wish they had been able to save her. :'(
(https://i.ibb.co/61BrRZH/etobicoke-aug-13-1a.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
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The cams at this site came back online on December 2. However, a few hours later they were down again.
Today one of the cams is live, and a peregrine visited for a few minutes.
(https://i.ibb.co/VWS9h7Y/etobicoke-dec-25-3a.jpg) (https://ibb.co/LztRqLd) (https://i.ibb.co/8D4WVkJ/etobicoke-dec-25-4a.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qMFtw6z)
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm (http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm)
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2020 NESTING SEASON
A lone visitor? has been in view for the last hour. Not just a frozen cam. ;D Really!!!!!
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Darcy and Lucky still the resident pair here, no eggs yet. Toronto Sheraton - cams are offline a few months now so no idea what is going on there.
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Darcy and Lucky still the resident pair here, no eggs yet. Toronto Sheraton - cams are offline a few months now so no idea what is going on there.
Who is who? Darcy male & Lucky female? or vice versa?
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Darcy is female, she hails from Buffalo. Lucky is the male, born at our Amexon, Don Mills site.
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First egg laid overnight for Darcy and Lucky! :-*
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Incubation has been in full swing since last weekend. A clutch of 4 as expected.
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1st hatch just happened for Darcy and Lucky :-*
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Two babies here this morning :-* :-*
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Three babies and one egg today :-* :-* :-*
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#4 hatched out yesterday so we have 4 babies :-* :-* :-* :-*
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#4 hatched out yesterday so we have 4 babies :-* :-* :-* :-*
8) :-*
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They won't be banding here this year due to it requiring a swing stage, which involves more people to assemble the stage and then of course you need 2 people on the stage plus a CPF person which wouldn't work with COVID restrictions. Only sites that are easy access or require a climber are eligible for banding.
If the kids come to ground during fledge they could be banded then. I'm good with it, better safe than put people at risk.
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First egg for Darcy and Lucky late this afternoon! :-*
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Second egg arrived today while I was out doing a food run. :-* :-*
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Egg #3 arrived yesterday morning. :-* :-* :-*
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Egg #4 arrived at 8.54 am this morning!
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First hatch for Lucky and Darcy this evening :-*
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Second hatch around dinner time last night, she didn't show me until later in the evening.
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8) Thanks carly! ;D
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Well it's been 3 days since the last hatch so I expect we may be done here - 2 babies and 2 eggs as of right now.