ON / Toronto - Apartment Block - 2008-14

[The Peregrine Chick]

Thanks Alison - I figured collisions with buildings for at least some of the chicks, its what gets them.  In the "wild" it would be cliffs instead of buildings but nonetheless ...

[carly]

Thanks Alison!  And holyy cow, these kids are flapping up a storm right now!!  It's pouring buckets outside at the moment...hopefully they will stay put until it clears up!!

[Alison]

How did last years' fledglings die Carly?  I ask because other than death by airplane (from which there is rarely much left), airports are really popular locations for peregrines, not alot of buildings and great hunting much of the time.  For fledglings, that lack of building thingy is a bonus.

Not Carly, but I remember what happened last year.

Spartacus was lost in a collision with an airplane at the airport on August 22, 2008.

Vega died in a collision with a building, also at the airport, on August 25, 2008.

Mascota's body was found in Toronto on October 28, 2008. No details were given on the cause of death, and the information was not posted on the site until December 3, 2008.

[carly]

Not sure TPC, they were all found on the road sides at or near the airport.  I can ask Mark for details next time I speak to him, they are all in Burlington for the fledge there this week. 

[Loriann]

seems to me they bounced off buildings.. i know thats how we lost our chicks in mississauga last year..  updrafts and cross winds and glass buildings don't mix well with new flights...    

[The Peregrine Chick]

How did last years' fledglings die Carly?  I ask because other than death by airplane (from which there is rarely much left), airports are really popular locations for peregrines, not alot of buildings and great hunting much of the time.  For fledglings, that lack of building thingy is a bonus.

[carly]

Thanks TPC.  It will be interesting to see what happens here.  Part of me wants her to have a new mate to help with the kids but another part of me hopes she moves on and finds another location and mate away from here.  It's not a good location because it's so close to the airport and last year all 3 juvies were found dead in and around there - they didn't even make it past two months after fledge I think.  I hope this years kids can stay away from the airport. 

[The Peregrine Chick]

TPC, if you have a minute or two can you go to the site and have a look at the photos of the so called intruder? It's a full blown adult not a sub adult and mom isn't ripping it's head off.  I tried to blow the photos up on my desktop but it's hard to tell if said falcon is smaller due to positioning.  Would she tolerate another female so close to her young?  Is she bowing at one point or is she fuming?  I left a message asking Mathew if mom chased him/her off as the post gives away nothing.  I'd be interested if with your experience you can notice something an amateur like me wouldn't notice.  Like the posture or stance maybe tells a story.

My amateur guess is it's a male but that might be wishful thinking 

Not wishful thinking, the bird on the right of the photo is a male to my eye based on size - he's smaller and finer overall.  Could be why Mom is standing her ground rather than fighting.  Just because a male appears doesn't mean she will solicit.  She could in fact be keeping her tail feathers away from him in a peregrine version of "thanks but no thanks" ...

[carly]

Update from Mathew:

Our non-resident falcon made another appearance today and Fred was fortunate enough to snap some shots during the brief visit. We still can't determine if it's a male or female, nor can we get any band info.

The youngsters continue developing and losing their white fluff. First flights are getting more likely with each day, but for now we probably need to see a lot more wing-flapping before they're ready.


TPC, if you have a minute or two can you go to the site and have a look at the photos of the so called intruder? It's a full blown adult not a sub adult and mom isn't ripping it's head off.  I tried to blow the photos up on my desktop but it's hard to tell if said falcon is smaller due to positioning.  Would she tolerate another female so close to her young?  Is she bowing at one point or is she fuming?  I left a message asking Mathew if mom chased him/her off as the post gives away nothing.  I'd be interested if with your experience you can notice something an amateur like me wouldn't notice.  Like the posture or stance maybe tells a story.

My amateur guess is it's a male but that might be wishful thinking 

[Liz]

Prior to her arrival they were all sitting at the edge of the ledge, heads all swivelling around in unison.  Perhaps they were watching mom catch dinner.

You mean, like people watching tennis?  LOL -- that's sounds so cute. 

[allikat]

Any word on her injured mate?

[maggieblue]

For anyone worried about these chicks, that feeding that mom just did was 20 minutes and at the end she couldn't find any takers, so she dropped the leftovers in the middle of the ledge and flew off. These guys are looking good, and boy are they fast when they want to get from one end of the ledge to the other.

[maggieblue]

Mom just arrived with dinner and was eagerly met by the 3 big chicks.  From the size of them mom must be doing a good job on her own of keeping up with the feeding for this threesome. Prior to her arrival they were all sitting at the edge of the ledge, heads all swivelling around in unison.  Perhaps they were watching mom catch dinner.

[carly]

Update...
Friday info was received that at least one non-resident adult falcon has again been seen around the building.
The young are apparently eating very eagerly.

Afternoon update - female watching over the nest ledge from nearby peak, no further sightings
of other adult falcons.

[maggieblue]

The live cam is up and running here again.  It was a great relief to see the three healthy looking youngsters being fed by mom.  The chicks have changed a great deal since the cam went down and are in varying stages of transformation. One still has a lot of white fluff but the two others are looking quite dark now.