P is for Peregrine

Well it was a very busy week last week assisting in the fledge watch of our young Falcons at the Etobicoke nest site. Most mornings I was awake by 5am, at the site before 6am, spend 4 hours or so watching the birds, and then head home to recharge before starting work.

It was a pretty good watch this year. Only one of the birds, Ferris, got into enough trouble and needed rescuing. Everyone else stayed high up and has not hit anything. Let's hope it stays that way.

I did miss some action, which is par for the course when I can't be there from sun up to sun down. But those stories are not mine to tell.

I did find myself one evening hopping out of the truck and seconds later was dashing out into Bloor Street, escorting Mel as he took a low flight across the street. Traffic was well off and while I could not run along side this speedy bird, I hoped my presence in the street would slow any traffic heading towards us from either direction. And if Mel could not get any height, that I could be there to pick him up before he could possibly make a dash out into the street. He did get enough height to land on the concourse above Bloor, about one story up from the sidewalk, and that is where he spent the night. Next morning he was gone. He fledged on Friday June 19th and by Monday, he had found his way back up to the top of the nest building and on the ledge at that!

Not sure how long he could legally "park" himself there. LoL! No Peregrines allowed! *groan*

Close up of Mel.

Ferris took first flight on Sunday June 21st. He explored the area late in the afternoon and little by little came lower and lower to the ground. It seems he picked a better spot to spend the night. *wink wink*

Monday morning he was still in the same spot.

This shot gives you a better idea on how low he is to street level and how close he is to Bloor Street with passing traffic. I'm directly across the street from him, watching, waiting, growing roots under my shoes, collecting road dust as the hours passed us by.

P is for Peregrine!

About 2.5 hours later Ferris took flight. He jetted south, right over my head and the line of low buildings behind me. He did a circle and tried to get height, heading back to the nest tower. A smart move, realizing this was not possible, he turned again, headed south across the street, over my head again, over the buildings and had a time out in the neighbourhood somewhere. Bruce, Roger and myself searched for him without a sighting. So many trees he could have gone into and no birds were alarm calling to his presence. I remember last year with Skyla, she took a beating from Crows and Robins in a tree out front of someone's house all afternoon.

Anyways, a couple more hours of watching, occasional search for Ferris, and I had to leave to get ready for work.

A few more hours passed when Bruce spotted Ferris coming out from the neighbourhood, flying across Bloor, trying to get the height and once again not being successful. He did a bit of "Peregrine Ping Pong" as I call it, hitting the buildings as he struggled with what he was trying to achieve. And once again, being smart about things, backing out of this idea and now looking for a safe place to land again. Unfortunately his energy was quite spent. He missed a roof top, the Bell building to be exact, by about 4 feet. He caught the wall and tried to climb up but he dropped to the ground, less than 10 feet from where Bruce stood. Bruce quickly gathered him up, set him in a carrier and tucked him away in the ESL security area to rest the remainder of the day away. Ferris was released on the roof top after dark and got another chance at this flying thing the next day.

Ninja took his first flight on June 22nd, some point during the search for Ferris, Ninja snuck out. The most amazing thing happened that he found his way home, back on the nest ledge later that night. I've never seen or heard of such a thing in my 5 years of helping watch this site!

The week got blurry as the days passed, fatigue catching up with me.

Glider was the last to take flight and I cannot remember the exact day he did. Thursday June 25th I am thinking right now. He did stay high and mostly out of sight. To this day, he's still up there, doing great.

A cam shot on the 25th, Ferris first thing in the morning. Amazing to me that they are making it back on to that nest ledge so early in the days of flight.

Look up, way up, and you can see the nest ledge, right below the top of the building. Can you see the cameras up there?

I arrived later in the morning on the 26th. I only saw mom, O'Connor, high up on the nest building, and she was screaming her head off to something in the east. What? No idea. I did not see any of the kids, nor did I see dad Lucky. I gave Tracy an update of this after spending 30 or so minutes looking around. I said I had to run some errands and would return in about an hour. As I got back to the site, I discover Tracy is now on scene. She had spotted a couple of the kids by this time, we did a search of the perimeter and found another. Great seeing them but now to get some tape colors. Tracy picked off Mel (white) and Ferris (yellow) but this third bird was in such an angle that we could not see his legs. Time for me there was limited, I had to leave for work soon. Tracy walked me back to my truck so we could talk about the birds and things some more. As we get to my truck, out come some of the young Falcons. The next 10 minutes, so high in the sky, was the reward of doing this watch. The kids were playing! It was Mel and Ferris! What a sight to behold! What sounds they made as they chased each other up there.

After I left, Tracy managed to get all 4 of the young birds, positively ID them by tape color and all was good.

The watch is done. Nothing we can do now other than spot checks and if a bird ever gets into trouble, there are enough people in the area who know who to call. One of our fellow watchers, Kathy, works in the building, so she is there 5 days a week.

I can't believe it is over. There was such a build up from their hatches early in May to this watch. The anticipation, the excitement, the stress... and now it's done until next year.

This certainly was one of the better watches in my time. While we stress about the birds there was no real stress this time. Nobody got hurt. And nobody died.

Wow! 11 months to go until this all ramps up again.

Lastly, curious people from social media stop in at the site. One or two a year come looking for me. I'm assuming it's people from the birding pages where I share the updates and am always seeking extra eyes to the skies. If I am not there, they ask if I am around, never say who they are and end up leaving. Introduce yourself and it would be nice to know who is coming out. Perhaps communicate with me about my times at the watch and we can coordinate a meeting time. Don't be shy you guys. :)

As always, I thank you all for stopping in. Back again soon with some great news!

Happy Canada Day!

Just stopping in to wish you all who pass by here today a very happy Canada Day!

Enjoy the day, whatever you do, rain or shine. Cheers, eh!

It's Falcon Fledge Watch Time Again!

Oh boy, oh boy!  Here we are just days away from the 2014 season of "Falcon Fledge Watch"!  Season really isn't the word I should use, since the watch window really is only 2 or 3 weeks, depending how things go.

I thought I would go over the watch once again, seems I do this almost every year now since Angie and I have become more involved in our Etobicoke Sunlife nest site.

We are always seeking others to come on down to the site, hang out and help monitor the young birds as they take their first flights.  Why do we watch over them, or rather watch from under?  Well, the nest is some 20 stories up the east tower of the Etobicoke Sunlife centre (formerly known as the Shipp Centre at Islington and Bloor).  The young birds need to build their strength in the first days of flight, and basically figure things out, like what is beyond the nest they spent their first weeks in, and once out in the world, how to get back home where it is safe.  Remember, this nest is some 20 stories up.

So in the first days of flight, we watch the young birds, and help them if they get into trouble.  And believe me, they can get into trouble.  Their first flights, with the lack of strength often have them coming low to the ground.  Some find their way back up to the nest, taking short flights, slowly making their way up.  Some, not so fortunate, end up on the ground, be it the sidewalk or perhaps out in the middle of Bloor Street.  That is where we come into play, or maybe action is a better word, doing our best to quickly retrieve the confused bird before he meets a truck grill as one deadly example.

Young birds sometimes end up on nearby condo balconies.  And most people living in these buildings have no clue about these birds nesting in the area, and how a young Falcon may need help getting back home once landing here.  We've seen cases where they come down to the balcony floor and look through the clear glass "fencing" that surrounds the balcony.  They don't understand how they can see outwards but cannot go anywhere.  Another rescue is needed where we communicate with the building management, the condo owner, and retrieve the bird.

These are just a couple examples of why the watch is needed.  It's all about helping the Peregrine Falcons.  Once a bird on the edge of extinction here in North America, they have come back in good numbers in the last couple decades.  They have gone up the list from endangered to species at risk, or special concern.

A bird that normally nests on cliff sides has taken to skyscrapers in the city.  Why?  A great food supply is my guess.  Pigeons everywhere!  Although their kills may include European Starlings to local Ducks.  One of our watchers witnessed our resident female O'Connor bring home Mallard Duck on more than one occasion through the summer of 2013.  You have to agree that Peregrine Falcons do a very good job of population and species control in our cities.

It is estimated that 80% of young Falcons do not survive their first year.  The chances of survival rises each year for a bird until they reach adulthood, when then on they hopefully live a long healthy life with all the growing up and learning stuff mostly behind them.  So in one season, where I've been a part of 3 separate nest sites, with a total of 10 chicks to help watch over...  according to statistics, only 2 of the 10 would live to see the next Spring.  I know us participating in these watches surely helps bring up the chances of survival into the next year!  Just simple rescues in the first weeks, getting them home again, to try another day, and hopefully learn from the experiences.

Angie and I are entering our 4th season of Falcon fledge watching.  It's grown a little each year, but last year was more like a leap and bound with ESL losing it's key senior watcher Frank Butson, aka: Big Frank.  He passed away mere weeks before the watch.

With us and many other Falcon watchers at sites across the city having jobs, mortgages, families, etc; it becomes difficult to devote the time needed to look out for these birds.  That is where having more eyes to the sky is needed to help.  Not everyone works 9 to 5 jobs.  The flexibility these days with work hours can bring willing people in any day of the week, any time, from dawn to dusk.

There is no set amount of time required to come to a watch.  We ask others to do what they can, when they can.  Be it 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3, 4, 5, whatever.  Even just giving someone else a break to grab a coffee, use the washroom, or just hanging out and offering some company during the slow periods where nothing is happening.  Believe me, there are times when there is absolutely nothing going on.  But when things start happening, look out.  These are wild animals and unpredictable.  A young Falcon so high up on a building ledge, flapping his wings, running back and forth....  when is he going to take that first flight?  And as we watch, it may go like this...  "Oh my goodness, he's right on the edge, he almost went off.  Here he comes again!  Shit!  He stopped himself!  Oh no, there he goes!"  And away goes one of four young Falcons.  Now which way did he go?  Did he go around the building, did he make it across to the next building, did he spiral down losing altitude and end up on the concourse?  We never know.  And having extra sets of eyes on them surely helps.

It's fun but incredibly stressful time with the birds.  Some people can't handle it.  Especially when you put names to the birds, personalizing them.  But for me, as stressed as I am, I take it all in, and love to watch them grow.  They develop personalities rather quick and you can see who is who at times without needing visual confirmation of the colored band tape we normally use.

This year we have four chicks.

Sunni who has a yellow band.
Heaton who has a white band.
Pierre who has a blue band.
Skyla who has a red band.

The colors make good for quick spotting.  The colors stand out even without binoculars or scopes.  And it's easier to remember red, blue, white and yellow instead of the birds' names in the moment.

I fell in love with a green band at Etobicoke Sunlife last year.  Her name is Layton.  She blew us all away with all she did through the watch and the months after.  Here she is playing with her sister Shania high above us.  Never in my life prior to this did I believe that young birds might play.  Silly of me to think that.  It's moments like these that are a real pay off after hours upon hours of not a whole lot going on.

Not convinced, how about Layton doing a food transfer above us with mom?

Or this, Layton playing with her dad Jack.  See how much bigger she is than her father?  Female birds of prey are always bigger.  I think Layton got some real good lessons in flying by chasing her father, and copying his every move.

Jack was awesome, taking Layton back home every time, showing her where and how to land.  Once home again, Layton would stay there, almost like realizing she needed to rest after the big work out she just had.

If I may take a moment to talk about the other kids from last year...

Shania, with her red band, freaked me out so many times as she struck the reflective glass of the Sunlife building.  There's a big downfall to this site, and a few others in the city...  reflective glass.  The birds in this young age don't realize that glass is a solid object.  To them, it would appear they could fly right through it.  And a young Peregrine Falcon, being the fastest animal on the planet in a dive, still can go pretty darn fast flying straight, or trying to make it up to her home being that nest ledge.  Shania hit the glass at least 6 times that I witnessed, sometimes spiraling down and out of sight, other times losing altitude momentarily, before getting her bearings straight and saving herself, then flying to a nearby landing spot for a break before trying again. 

Unfortunately Angie witnessed one young Falcon 2 years ago hit the glass, break her neck instantly and spiral to her death.  Her name was Regatta.  I was watching Regatta just hours earlier and she appeared to be doing so well.  All it takes is one mistake like this and it can be fatal.  It is the mot horrific thing to witness, even with me not being there, I can just imagine.  And us watchers can do nothing at this point but watch in horror and then recover the body.

But then we had a similar incident with Lizzie.  I made my first rescue with her.  And while things didn't look the best for Lizzie in the hours afterwards, she did make a full recovery.  She had a lot of catching up to do with her siblings but as far as we could tell, she did fine.

Then there was little "Big Frank".  A Falcon named after our fallen friend. 

Talk about stress from all those who watched this little guy try and become a self supporting Falcon.  Frank was rescued a couple times through the watch.  One morning he was found sitting on a set of steps along Bloor Street, reeking of garbage.  Lord only knows what kind of trouble he got into after we closed the watch for the night, the evening before.

All four of our chicks survived the summer at ESL and moved on come Fall migration.  We hope to have reports of one nesting somewhere in North America in the coming years.  My bet is on Layton if her brazen cocky attitude doesn't get the best of her.

Here are just a couple success stories from the watch at ESL that I can think of in this moment.

First, we have Skye.  A young male Falcon who happened to be one of the birds we watched our very first year.  He was rescued once or twice as a chick and is currently a resident male at the Don Mills nest site...  you know, the famous Harlequin nest site.  You may have read about it in the Toronto Star through the last couple years.  Skye wasn't always the male there though.  The former resident male, Kendal, got into some trouble last summer with the wicked storms (so we suspect) and is recovering at The Owl Foundation right now.  We hear he's doing very well.

Then there's Windwhistler.  A Falcon in our city, who was born at our ESL site many years ago.  Windwhistler turns 16 this year!  And according to others familiar with his young days, he too was a bird in need of rescue during the fledge watch.  But now, here is he is, still the male at 18 King Street in downtown Toronto....  AND with well over 80 Falcons to date that he has called his children!  Think about that one for a moment.  And one of his sons, Tiago, nests at the Sheraton Centre downtown, mere kms from where he was born.  Even with this dual nest sites, it's an incredibly rare thing.  How many of you know of Peregrine Falcons nesting less than 2 kms from each other in a city?

These are just a couple of so many success stories out there with the Falcons across North America and the watches from the people.

The Falcon Fledge watch begins this weekend, June 14th 2014.  There will be people around most times, doing the best they can, with the time they can give.  Keep an eye out for any of us usually at the corner of Bloor and Eagle, directly east of The Longest Yard, sitting on the steps to the Bell building.

There is paid parking all around the area.  It's $2.25 an hour to park, Sundays are free up until 1pm.  We are mere steps from the Islington TTC subway station. The restaurant options are many along Bloor Street and in the ESL buildings, a variety store is steps away also for various needs. Or just pack your own lunch. There are washrooms in ESL too.

If you have any further questions, you may contact me right here on this blog in the comments section below (I promise to get back to you asap).  Or you can email Angie and I at birdbuds@gmail.com

We, and especially the birds, appreciate any time you may give to help watch the kids over the next couple weeks.  Even our over protective mom O'Connor does even if she doesn't act like it.  LoL!

Just imagine being a part of this and learning of one of these young birds reaching adulthood, having an active and successful nest site somewhere in North America. Wouldn't that be a great feeling, knowing you helped look out for that bird way back when?

Etobicoke Sunlife definitely isn't the only Falcon site in Ontario that seeks others to come assist with the watch, but for the moment, I am only speaking of our local site and it's need starting this weekend. Please consider coming out?

I've been very fortunate to have some upclose moments with the Falcons in recent times, this past winter was my first ever opportunity to share the species with the general public at the Toronto Sportsman Show, talking to others about these amazing birds.

Here's some other links about the PEFAs if interested...
wikipedia, the ROM or how about one of many fantastic YouTube videos seen here or this

Meet Layton the Falcon

Well lookit this, I might actually key out another blog this week... two in two days! Lets hope for no interruptions and get this one going now.

Most of you are aware of our Falcon watching adventures through June, mostly at the Etobicoke Sunlife buildings at Islington and Bloor. I kinda got lost in the summer and some Falcon events, back and forth with some work hours going from a morning shift to an afternoon shift, which has really messed things up. But I got to finish the tales of the watch, from my point of view sooner than later (it's already a blurry bunch of bits now).

I want to tell you about the first bird to fledge from the nest this year, her name is Layton, and she is named after Jack Layton. Seems famous Canadians was the theme at some of the sites. If you have been following my blog, you might remember her from the last and probably only blog I did of the Sunlife Falcon Fledge Watch of 2013. If you missed it, here it is.

Like that blog tells, I spent about 5.5 hours face to face with Layton the day she took her first flight. She was rescued that one time and has been a star flier ever since. I recon she never wants to touch ground, be handled by humans or put in a cat carrier ever again. What has amazed me with her, is that from the day after her rescue and release, she suddenly was learning really fast on what it takes to be a great Falcon. She flew fast, hard and was agile in no time... and vocal too! In mere days we'd be seeing her out and about more so than on the nest ledge.

The first real notice of how quickly she was learning was when I showed up after work early the next week to help with the watch and heard her screaming above me. Why was she screaming? She was playing with her father, Jack! Jack is an amazing dad and an amazing Falcon. I will tell stories about Jack one of these days. I was in awe to watch Layton right on Jack's tail high above us. She was having a blast and keeping up with him. They flew about the buildings for a couple minutes and then Jack lead Layton right to the nest ledge. He landed. She landed right in behind him. Jack took one look at her and then flew off, and Layton stayed there on the ledge. It was almost like Jack knows Layton is young bird and she needs to build her strength and endurance over time, so him leading her home, was like he said "okay kid, time for a rest". Layton chilled out for a few hours after that. I was so happy I got to see this occur between dad and daughter.

Jack being chased by Layton, notice how the much larger the young female is over her dad?

Jack on his way out after dropping Layton off.

Dinner time for the 3 other chicks as Layton was layed out after the big flight with dad.

A few days later I was rewarded in seeing Layton and Jack having another go at it in the sky. The show was longer this time and they were lower at some points, higher at others, and disappeared behind the Sunlife building too. It was spectacular!

Seeing Layton's progression was thrilling. But we always have concerns about a young bird growing up so fast and perhaps getting a little too over confident in their ways. Fortunately for us at ESL, we never had an issue with Layton getting into trouble again.

We were more focused on her 3 siblings now but it was always a blast to see what Layton would show us next. And a couple days after her last play time that I saw with Jack, she showed me something new, something I have heard about with Falcons but never witnessed... food transfers! Basically an adult comes in with dinner and gets the young Falcon to fly up to the parent, upon which they release the meal, and the younger bird catches it. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But we watched Layton do two food transfers over 3 hours and both were successful. I missed taking pics of the first one because I was too blown away and wanted to see it all with my own eyes and not through the camera. Of course after the fact I was kinda wishing I got something to share with others and keep for a memory. So how great it was for a second transfer to happen mere hours later! We heard the screaming, saw mom O'Conner come flying in with a kill and thought she'd be bringing it to the ledge for her siblings. As she neared, we heard Layton and saw her race after mom. And the transfer happened. Angie, Bruce and myself were cheering her on from the street below. Here's some of that action that I am delighted to share with you all.

Layton coming up under O'Conner.

Great release by mom and catch by daughter!

Layton races off with her prize.

Here's mom O'Conner after the second food transfer. What a Falcon she is! We have many stories about her.

As fellow watcher Bruce put it, "we just had our reward for all the hours we've put in with these birds".

Another day or so later, I'm down at the watch. It's pretty quiet until these old guys from the condo to the east of the nest building decide to come up to the roof top and enjoy some sun. Well, O'Conner was not having any of this and immediately flew in on these guys, screaming her disapproval at them and swooping down over their heads. The guys were waving their arms up in the air at mom, and one guy jumped a few times trying to hit her with his hand. A stupid move on this guy's part and mom's talons sure could do some damage to him. But mom didn't let up. I wanted to yell and scream at these guys but I'm in the alley behind The Longest Yard, so I am across Bloor Street from them and 20 some odd stories below (no way they could hear me). And there I am without my camera! Argh! So I could do nothing more than watch. Moments after mom flew in on the defense, I heard a familiar scream and soon had my visual of young Layton joining the fray with O'Conner. I could tell she really wasn't sure what to do but she just followed mom and repeated everything she did. So now these guys had two Falcons strafing them and neither were giving up. Like mother, like daughter I guess. The guys were now high tailing it for the door to get inside again. But just before they did, there were more Falcon screams, and Layton's smaller sister Shania was now off the nest ledge and coming to help. I was mind blown by this! I won't forget this but am sorry I have no images, crappy and cropped as most are that I get from this watch, but something to share. Oh well. I'm sure you all can paint a better visual in your head than what my shots could have shown you.

Ya, that was pretty awesome and the fact that Shania, who fledged a few days after Layton, was out and on the attack too. The other 2 siblings were slower to get motivated and fledge but they have their own stories I hope to share before the fall.

And as we waited for Lil Big Frank and Lizzie to take flight, we enjoyed Layton and Shania's playing in the sky above us.

Here is Shania on Layton's tail. They were having a lot of fun up there.

And they took turns on who was chasing who. As you can see here, Layton is now on "the attack" after Shania. I forgot to mention that Layton has a green tape band, Shania has a red one. It makes for easier and quicker identifying during the fledge watch.

We are now about 6.5 weeks since I took those last shots. And though the watch has ended, I still visit the site, even momentarily every couple weeks. I see the young birds high above us and it's hard to tell who is who most times due to the height and angles. I've discovered a favorite roost of Layton's, or so I think, since I've found her there a number of times in the recent times. It warms my heart to see her doing so well (so are her siblings but this blog is about Layton).

I tell people that I know without any doubt Layton will be a recognized nesting mother in the next couple years, somewhere in North America. I only hope it's somewhere not too far off that we can go and visit our girl.

Please wish Layton all the best when she leaves home come fall migration!

Layton and Shania, first to fledge

I can't believe almost 3 weeks has gone by since we started the Peregrine Falcon fledge watch at Etobicoke Sunlife.  And so much has happened throughout.

I had no idea what this watch was going to be like, how it would feel with Big Frank gone.  But with a mutual friend named Bruce stepping into Frank's big shoes, he sure made it a lot easier than what I had been envisioning.  Bruce put in 14-16 hr days for nearly 2 weeks!  I racked up over 40 hours in 10 days myself and Angie also put in more hours than ever before.  The Falcons had even more support from others as they have for a number of years with Kathy and Bailie in the area a lot throughout the days.  Others deserving mention include Sandra and Rene, plus our friends Dave and Andi made a couple stop ins, and Cori all the way from Scarborough another day,  to see how things were going.

It's been a difficult watch at times, very exciting at others, and a lot of the time just boring as all get out waiting for something to happen.  The company was great, the weather was perfect, so that certainly helped.  But after hours and hours of nothing some days, it's just exhausting.  And then when the stress hits when the young birds start bouncing around...  hoo boy!  I had a few moments where I was gasping watching them.

I wish I took notes throughout this as so much is crammed in my memory now and with this sudden heat wave, I'm just plain exhausted, but really need to get some of this out of me and to whoever cares to give this a read.

The first chick to fledge (take flight from the nest) was Layton.  A female, the heaviest of the bunch, and named after Jack Layton.  It was agreed with those involved to name these birds after some famous Canadians.  I was at work when Layton took flight, actually I was just getting ready to pack it in for the weekend, as it was about 1:55pm on Friday June 14th when she flew.  It was no surprise that she ended up in need of rescue from the watchers later that evening.  Females are the heavier of the two sexes and almost always need help the first flights out, it's just the way it is.

But I raced down there in high excitement knowing we had a fledge that day.  I had bet the first fledge being on this day, and on Big Frank going first, since usually the males do take flight first; but whatever, we finally had one off the ledge.  By the time I got there around 3:15pm or so, Layton had got herself into a spot where she would spend the next 5 hours with me, face to face, before I left for the day.  She was just to the side of the south entrance to Sunlife, about 15 ft above the walk, and maybe 20 ft away from Bloor Street.

The funny thing through our encounter was all the passersby that wondered what the heck I was looking at, or we if Angie or Kathy were there with me.  It was Kathy who gave me the idea to stand in front of her along the way, hopefully keeping her from getting the idea of flying down into the street.  The ledge she was in was pretty tight and if you weren't looking right at it, you missed it.  So here I am with the big Sigma pointed up a few times, towel over my shoulder, and for the most part just looking right up at her.  I'd say 3 in 20 people asked me what I was so focused on.  And then they were quite thrilled at the sight.  One guy though, he was really curious but wouldn't ask.  He kept looking around the area to the right of me, and of course he was missing the bird completely.  He then leaned on the wall in front of me, totally clueless a Peregrine Falcon was over his head.  I could tell he wasn't playing with a full deck so I kept my focus on Layton, or appeared to be, just not making eye contact with this man.  Next thing I know he's leaning on the same light standard that I am, opposite side to me of course, and still out of eye line with the bird, and suddenly he starts singing "Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head"!  What the hell dude?!?!

Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Crying's not for me
Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothing's worrying me 

I wanted to laugh out loud.  But I stayed quiet and on the bird.  Eventually the guy walked away, still turning every now and then to look in my direction.  8:30pm was coming up, both Angie and I had been up since about 4:15am, and with Bruce and Kathy still on watch, we said "goodnight" to them and of course Layton as well.

We were barely home half an hour and we get a call from Bruce that Layton came down to the sidewalk and they picked her up, with a bit of chase across Bloor, and up it too.  She was released back on the roof about 10pm that night.

We spent a lot of the weekend at Sunlife, probably 6 hours each day.  Not much happened through those days with the young birds.

But come Monday June 17th, it was Shania's turn to take flight.  She had a rougher go of it than Layton, a few more bounces and tumbles, many hours on some condo window ledges, Pigeon netting, a flight over the houses south of Bloor Street and tried to make it up to the nest ledge without success and I watched her strike the reflective glass.  My heart was in my throat as I watched her struggle to make the climb to get up there, not realize the glass is a solid structure, hit it and tumble down the side of the building, trying to grasp at the glass without any luck of course and come to the ground out of sight of us due to the mezzanine on the second level.  I knew the strike wasn't fatal and she worked hard to stay in the air, which helped break her fall.  But I still felt some panic when she disappeared.

Here is Shania hanging off someone's balcony.  

Shania around the other side of the condo, just above Bloor Street, hanging off someone's screen window.  You can see the look of "what the hell am I doing?" on her.

She spent maybe 15 minutes on this window before darting off and flying south across Bloor into the neighbourhood.

As the minutes passed, which seemed like forever, waiting for her to pop up somewhere, all sorts of crazy worrying thoughts went through my head.  You can probably nail a few of them if you think about it.  And then suddenly she popped up, almost exactly where her sister Layton did a few days earlier, just on the opposite side of the entrance way.  Go figure!  Maybe she watched her sister from above on Friday?  I'm drawing a blank on how long this went on for, I just know it wasn't nearly as long as Layton's stay up there, as it was later in the day.  In the end, the bird beat me in the staring contest, and I just had to get my butt home and to bed for the 4:30am wake up.  And just like Layton, Shania came down to the sidewalk less than half an hour after I left the nest site.

Oh Shania...  you and your siblings are giving me gray hair!

Stay tuned for more on our local Falcon family!

Euro had a big day out!

I've been trying to visit and contribute some time at the Peregrine Falcon fledge watch at the Sunlife financial building at Islington and Bloor almost daily since the watch started last Wednesday. Be it an hour or two before work or an 8 hour day as I did on Monday with my day off.

Euro, the only male in the group of four "newbies" took flight first. I missed his first flight(s) but was fortunate to witness some bigger exploring by this very young Falcon.

With the nest being 18 stories up (give or take); it's rather difficult at times to know who is who up there when one of them is on the move. A scope is a necessity. Or take lots of photos and blow them up on the computer when you get home as I do.

We knew one of the chicks left the nest ledge and ended up on the condo building to the east of Sunlife.  We noticed him on the railing of the condo through a reflection on the Sunlife building.  He spent some time on that rail, sitting, walking a bit, stretching his wings and repeat the same process.  At this point, we were speculating it was Euro despite knowing Windward and Regatta (two of the three females) had since also taken some flights as well in the last day.

It was a long wait, probably an hour, from when we first noticed him on that rail before he decided to make a move.  And up he came from the railing as you can see below...

and began to take flight south, out towards us on Bloor Street.

Once out in the open, who knew where he was going to go next?  South, across Bloor, over us and to?  But he turned and began heading west...

lifting himself as seen here below, passing the nest ledge and his siblings.

He got right up over Sunlife and headed towards the next building west, and slightly north.

I was half a block up Bloor Street now, heading towards Islington, trying to keep an eye on him.  I nearly "sacked" myself on a bicycle post because my main focus was on him and not exactly what was in front of me.  Most people down in the area know about the Falcons and the volunteers who keep watch over the young for about two weeks each June; but for those who don't, seeing people moving up and down the street with binoculars and cameras, constantly looking up at these big glass buildings, may have other speculations.  Some do ask us, some just look at us rather oddly.  Anyways...

Euro sat atop this building for a short bit.  He seemed rather proud of himself and what he accomplished.  Stretched his wings a few times, some good hard flaps and then a rest.  Moments later I could see him triangulating as he began to think about where he was going next.

And then he took flight once again.  Almost like a jump up and off the ledge...

a very slight dip down, then taking air and rising high as he began flying east again...  oh, and with this shot below, upon viewing it at home is when I got my positive ID on who this young Falcon is.  Notice the green band on one of his legs?  They chicks get a color coded band for easier ID purposes during the watch.  The band does wear off and eventually fall off over time.

back towards his home building at Sunlife...

and then he flew in and onto the ledge above this window, right below the ADP sign where the adults often enjoy hanging out.

This may not seem like a lot to some, and maybe it doesn't seem like much to Euro either; but it sure did to me.  He has only begun his lessons in flying over the last 48 hours and being hundreds of feet in the air, circling these large buildings, flying over the traffic of Bloor Street way down below.  I would have to say this was a very big day out for him.

A reminder, if you click on each photo individually, you should get a full screen photo, which is far better than the smaller versions you are probably viewing.

Thanks for looking!