Busy With The Falcons

The last few weeks just flew by thanks to the annual peregrine falcon fledge watch.  I have blogged about the watches in the past so here is a little bit about this year from our nearby site at Islington and Bloor.

This year was different because the web cameras have not been working.  So keeping an eye on the nest has been very difficult.  We knew the time was near but not exactly how near until *BOOM* it was happening.  A friend of sorts who lives in a condo across from the birds sent us some photos just days before the first bird fledged.  We were like "oh shit, here we go!"  The birds did not get banded this year either.  Things went wayward ever since the Canadian Peregrine Foundation folded after the passing of one of the founders just over a year ago.

We had four young like usual this year.  Two ended needing rescuing from glass balconies where they landed on, got stuck only because the glass is a confusing thing to a bird.  They can see out but do not understand why they cannot fly out.  It can be a very stressful situation for the birds and they can harm themselves as they try to escape, and end up panicking.

Here is the first bird.  Watchers on site at the time were Lucie and Cathy.  They saw this bird take flight from somewhere nearby, fly to this balcony, and end up on it.  They counted the floors up to where it was, and took note of which balcony.  They then ran to the building, spoke with security and got permission from the condo owner to access the unit (they weren't home) and get the bird.

I went down in the early evening for a look around the site and got to see the bird before they took him to get banded.  The ladies asked me if I wanted to name him.  We were certain it was a male but how small and light he was.  Male birds of prey are smaller than the females.  Initially I said Lefty.  They kinda laughed and asked me why.  I said it is because he left the nest ledge first and managed to get to the next ledge just over to the left, and that is where he sat all through my morning watch.  So Lefty seemed suiting to me.  I was asked to try again.  They suggested to think of my favorite car, or something to do with a band or metal music which I am a huge fan of.  My next thought was Beaumont.  One of my favorite cars is the Pontiac Beaumont.  I owned a 1967 convertible for a few years.  Man, I loved that car!  Both Cathy and Lucie liked that name and the reason why.  So, yeah, here you go.  Meet Beaumont!

Beaumont getting banded.

Last I saw of him, he was doing great.  He's is easy to identify thanks to the banding info along with the temporary strip of blue electrical tape wrapped around on of his bands.

And here is my old 1967 Pontiac Beaumont.  What a car!  They sure don't make them like they used to.

A few days later one of Beaumont's siblings ended up stuck behind another glass balcony.  This story played out quite differently.  See, the condo owner was home when the bird ended up stuck on their balcony.  

To make a long story shorter, the owner contacted Toronto Wildlife about the situation.  They, TWC, in turn managed to get a couple of rescue volunteers who live in the area to assist in containing.  Then once contained in a box, they left it with security and had TWC find a driver.  I was home when the shout out hit the texts and emails.  It said "falcon" at Islington and Bloor, and I just knew it was one of our peregrines.  I quickly took the call and got the bird.  I ended up taking it up to the centre for an assessment to ensure it was not injured.  Thankfully the vet gave the bird two thumbs up and we got back down to the site ASAP.  The bird was also going to get banded before being released.  And just like last time, I was asked for a name suggestion.  I threw out Cyclone this time.  Why?  Because the falcon was extremely aggressive in the carrier, and thrashed around.  It reminded me of the Tazmanian devil in the cartoons where it is trying to break out of the wood crate.  My first thought was the name Taz but I shot that one down myself rather fast and Cyclone came up next.  A cyclone is a rather violent storm.  Also Cyclone is another old muscle car.  So, yeah, let's go with that one.  Everyone loved that name.

Here she is getting banded.

She's been doing well also.  I saw some great flying and landing from both her and her brother Beaumont in the following days.

During the week long watch, my days were beginning before 6 AM.  Id' be at the watch by 6:30 or soon after.  I'd stay until 10 AM on average.  I would then go home for a couple of hours before heading off to work my regular 8 hour shift.  I'd be home and in bed by midnight to 12:30 AM.  Repeat.  It takes its toll on a body!

There was other things happening with the birds but I'll leave it at these two for this blog.

Let's wish them the best as they learn from their parents over the summer before heading out on their own by late summer or early fall.

See you all again in here soon!

Spring Birding Break May 2025

We are coming to the end of our first vacation for the year.  We always take at least one week off in early May and much of that time is spent birding.    It has been an exhausting but great week off.  And I just wanted to share some of our sightings from home and beyond.

A ruby-throated hummingbird spent a few days in our yard because it was still pretty cold much of the time and there was nothing in bloom yet, so he was depending on our nectar feeder for survival.  His behavior tells me that as he pretty much ignored us outside and would fly close to us to get to the feeder.  We gave him his space so he could feed but there was a few close run ins with the bird while doing things out back.  Once the blooms started in our golden current shrubs, he started spending a lot of time in there.  This provided a nice photo opportunity.

We also encountered a Cape May warbler one morning in some cherry blossoms.  It too had little care for anything as it tried to feed on a very chilly day.  We just stood in one spot and watched the bird, giving it space and not disturbing it.

A couple of Cape May warblers have been hanging around our neighbourhood the last few days.  We saw both at our water fountain one afternoon.  The moving water brought them to it but then also scared them off.  They have since braved up to the fountain as well as have discovered our other water sources in the yard like this small basin in a decorative chair.

We've had some other warbler species in and around the yard but they've all been high in the trees and there's been no photo opportunities.  But we have seen them in our travels this past week.  One of the species is this, a northern parula.

Another is the black and white warbler.  They're fun to watch as they go up and down the trees like nuthatches.

We were also blessed to see a number of blackburnian warblers; one was in the yard too!  What a stunning little bird.  They were difficult to photograph as they just kept moving and feeding.  The photo does it no justice.

Our highlight bird(s) were a hooded warbler which took us about an hour to finally see in some woods instead of just hear, and the other was 2 Canada warblers.  We hadn't seen a hooded warbler in 7 or so years just because they aren't one to come through Toronto.  Canada warblers are hit and miss for us each year.  So seeing both of these warblers while on vacation was great!

Hooded warbler.

Canada warbler.  It looks like it is wearing a necklace.

We have been enjoying a variety of sparrow species at home.  We had one off visits from both a fox sparrow and a Lincoln's sparrow.

Fox sparrow.

Lincoln's sparrow, seen with a white crowned sparrow (we still have 2 of these hanging around).

We have never had white crowned sparrows spending as many days in a row here with us.  I am assuming it is the same couple of birds.  The same goes for up to 4 white-throated sparrows on any given day.  They're one of my favorite sparrows.

During our week off we saw just over 100 species of birds.  Overall the birding was pretty leisurely but still exhausted us with a lot of early mornings and a lot of walking.  Hey, it is still better than being at work!  Here's just a few more highlights from the week off.

Scarlet tanager.  We saw 3 today!

Eastern towhee.  We saw a few and heard many more.  It's another bird we just don't see a lot of or every year.

Bald eagle.  We saw a nest near one of the birding area parking lots.  How convenient!

Killdeer on nest.

And one more, Angie spotted a screech owl in a tree cavity.  We were so busy looking for warblers and other migrants that screech owl was not on our radar, so it was a lovely surprise.

I'll end it here.  It was a great week off with lots of bird sightings.  I'm going to be a mess in the coming days as I adjust to my work schedule once again.  *sigh*  Wish me luck there.

Thanks for stopping in.  Cheers!

Nice Surprise

I haven't blogged since December of last year.  It was a real downer of a blog too.  I thought to re-read it as I am not sure if I wrote about the pigeons and how they disappeared.  If I didn't, well, they did disappear.  This happens with some of my pigeon buds during the winter and I always blame the increased hawk activity.  Not all disappear, just some; but this time they all disappeared.  I didn't have a pigeon visit me since before Christmas.  None in January.  None in February.  None in March.  Honestly I gave up hope on seeing any here again by mid-February.  I still made sure I had shelled sunflower chips on hand if I ever saw one again.  Thank goodness that I did as Friday morning when I was just getting settled at the kitchen window with my first coffee of the day in came a pigeon.  The bird landed on a flat roof bird house that I have set up not far from our back deck.  Instantly I thought of my last buddy that we named Piper.  He normally would land on this bird house as I often would place food up there for him when I was done playing with him...  hand feeding and taking photos of him.

I quickly got myself together to go outside and see if it was him, with a handful of seed.  As soon as I stepped out the door, the pigeon flew right to me.  I put my hand out and it landed on my finger tips without any hesitation.  I was shocked!  And very happy at his return.

As he ate, I talked to him.  I asked him where he's been for the last 4 months.  I told him that I missed him and how happy I was that he returned.  Piper gobbled up the food and took brief moments to stop and look at me.

After a couple handfuls of seed he flew away.  I said something about not taking so long to come back.  I'd like to think that most of you reading this can relate to my ramblings to Piper.  Who doesn't talk to animals?  Whether Piper understood me or not, he came back about 3 hours later and had another feed.  He's also been back Saturday and Sunday a few times.  It is like no time had passed.

If only he could talk and tell me where he's been, why he left, what happened to all of his flock, etc.  A second bird showed up with him today.  Hmmm?  Will there be more soon?

I've been mingling with pigeons for over a decade now.  To suddenly not have any, and for so long, hit me hard, especially with how I already was mentally late last year.

I think it's very special when these birds come back to me after a number of months.  Sure they may be just pigeons to some people but for me, they are my friends.  If you aren't familiar with my friendship to pigeons, you can catch up in this blog here that I did a few years ago for Bird Canada.

Spring is finally here.  My pigeon has come back.  Life is good.