What the Hell Happened?

Okay, first off, I must warn anyone reading this that the images below are very disturbing. Trust me! Take my word for it! If you cannot handle gruesome dead wildlife images, please back out of this blog upon reading the last paragraph and take my advice to slowly scroll down the page, ensuring you do not see the last images I posted. You have been warned.

So, last Thursday I get home from work and after a bit of puttering I am outside checking the yard, the feeders and changing the bird baths. It's pretty quiet, they must have emptied the feeders before noon and the baths are all muddy and barely any water left. The extreme heat has me changing the water many times a day when possible.

I'm walking towards the bird pole out in the middle of the garden. The pole puts 4 feeders about 12 to 14 ft above ground, with a metal umbrella 3/4's of the way up to keep the Squirrels from getting the bounty of peanuts hanging in the one feeder.

Feeders at the pole system high above the gardens. I use a claw rake to bring them down for filling.

I notice a bird on one of the tube feeders. But after a couple seconds of focus on it as I'm walking closer, I notice something is not right. For one, the bird is not moving. Another thing, the bird is not perched. At my view point I can see the body and it's seemingly hovering along side the feeder. And as I move in closer I see something is really wrong... the bird obviously dead, it's hanging, and the head is a couple inches away from the body, just hanging by a thread of muscle. It had been there for sometime today, the blood was dried and as I brought the feeder down, the head was dried and stuck to the top of the feeder. While House Sparrows are not high on my list of faves, they are enjoyable in the dog days of summer or any other time when no other birds are around. They add a soundtrack to the backyard and bring it to life. So I couldn't help but feel bad looking at this bird in such a horrible state, wondering what the hell happened.

I immediately thought Hawk or Kestrel, perhaps snagging the bird on the pole system as I noticed Sparrow feathers stuck to the black bar above the feeder, and maybe the bird of prey dropped it's meal. But there was little damage to the body, like talon tears or grab marks.

I buried the bird, washed the feeder, filled it again and up it went.

I watched the birds for a while after this, still puzzled at what happened while I was at work. I observed one particular Common Grackle chasing every Sparrow it saw. It was knocking them off the feeders, and occasionally flew to the ground and chased and pecked at them in the garden.

Common Grackle at one of the bird baths. They sure remind me of a T-Rex with their stare and their strut.

Grackles are a part of the Jay family and they can be a bit carnivorous. I've seen it before with the Jays, the Grackles and even the Starlings. If they don't eat the smaller birds, they sure don't have a problem killing them. Best example was watching a small mouse come running out from under my shed one afternoon at spilled bird seed. Two Jays took notice to it, shrieked and beat the hell out of the mouse. They pecked it and threw it around, pecking some more and so on for a couple minutes until the mouse lay still on the ground. Then suddenly this Starling flew in, grabbed the little mouse and flew off to the cedars with it and ate it!

It's the only thing that makes any sense of this all to me especially after seeing this one Grackle being quite aggressive to all the Sparrows that flew in.

Back in the early days of backyard bird feeding, we used to make a joke when the Grackles flew in and started picking on the House Sparrows, saying stuff like "snip snip" or "off with their heads". We at this time had only heard tales of such brutal behavior. Of course neither Angie or myself wanted to see it, and joking about it was better than sitting there saying "Oh my gawd, here come the murderers! Are we gonna see a slaughter?!?!" When you are new to something and you hear wild tales, your head can fill with crazy thoughts and visuals.

I'm still shocked by this but it's not going to deter me from feeding everyone. I don't hate the Grackles now because of this. The wild world can be brutal at times and us as humans, living where we do, must be thankful that our society is not like this, survival of the fittest (biggest and hungriest).

Okay, if you are still hanging on, here are a few photos to really put an image to what I found...

First visual of the bird, but between work exhaustion and the heat, it took me a few seconds to realize something was not right.

Um, ya, brain is really wondering what the heck at this point.

No joy was to be had taking these pics but how could I explain this to anyone?

It reminds me of some horror movie, like here is a warning sign that things are going to get worse if you continue. Yes I am quite imaginative.

Well, if you sat through all this, haven't screamed in horror, shed a tear, threw up all over your key board; I thank you for taking the time out for a not so great story I shared. Here is my thank you gift to you...

A dirty look from our princess Meadow. Haha! Its okay, she gives everyone this look except her daddy and mommy.

Okay, how about this? Meet Tiguaq the Snowy Owl. He's the newest addition to the team of educational birds at CPF. I had the pleasure of finally meeting him last Wednesday. What a beauty! I was helping our friend Tracy do some upgrades at the wing of the barn.

Blog about a Frog

Yesterday afternoon I got home from work and took notice to a tiny little Frog sitting on our front steps. And when I say "tiny", I do mean tiny, like really tiny.

It was near +39c with the humidex, and I can only imagine how hot the concrete felt beneath the little creature. I wondered where he came from as well. We don't have any ponds that close to our house. And with his size, his journey must have been a long one already.

I scooped him up and brought him inside, putting him in a small plastic container I have for our Fire Belly Frogs when I clean their tank. I put about half an inch of water in it along with a water dish I use for the crickets' in their container, which this guy could use as an island if need be.

He swam and fussed for a little bit, probably terrified of his new surroundings. I had to go out for a few hours and in that time he settled down.

This morning I tried to feed him the smallest cricket I had, which was probably half his size. He just looked at it. I tried some thawed out blood worms that I feed our newt, dangling them in front of his face. He used his little hands to push them away.

I had no intentions of keeping him and knew relocating him was best; our yard is no place for him. So at 5:30am I pulled into a park nearby with a few big ponds and swampy areas, and set him free in the grass near one of the ponds. I wished him the best of luck in his journey and drove away.

the end

Here is a pic of him, and that's my thumb nail behind him holding up a quarter to give you some perspective on his size (or lack of). I am really curious what kind of Frog he is. If any one reading this knows... please let me know.

Whatever Happened to Smudge?

A couple of months ago I was really on the push to find this cat "Smudge" that I used to call Beggar a home. Some of you may remember him, my blog, and my regular postings about him through Facebook and Twitter. Maybe you saw him on the Toronto Humane Society's "lost and found" page where I posted his mug as well? I was also pleading for some kind of help, any help, from a few cat rescues in the GTA as well.

A number of people, friends and strangers alike, put the word out about him needing a loving home, getting him off the streets. He certainly wasn't starving thanks to us and some other neighbours but just feeding him wasn't enough. There be lots of danger to a cat living on the streets. And a cat on the streets is danger to many other living creatures. We all know this but had a reminder one morning when Smudge here came trotting through the backyard with a European Starling in his mouth. Sure it's only a Starling, a pest bird really, but most likely not the only bird he's killed like so many other cats do that roam free outdoors. We can't blame them, it's instinct, but we can help prevent more deaths by being responsible pet owners for both the cat's safety and other wildlife.

Smudge is a great cat. A young adult I'm guessing and so full of love. He just doesn't fit in our household having 2 Budgies who are family as well, and both Ang and I agreed it would not be fair to keep the birds locked up in another room and bring in another cat. Sorry, just the way it goes. Birds are very social creatures and like I said, ours are family.

I was not having any luck with these rescue places I made contact with, err, attempted to contact. And let me tell you, it was really frustrating, confusing and at times just plain upsetting. I get it these no kill rescue places are normally full, especially during late Spring and high season for kittens. But being completely ignored on Facebook, telephone, emails by some of these places really bothered me. Hell, a simple "sorry we are full and cannot take him in" would have been nice, any sort of reply, or maybe some advice on who to try next would have been appreciated. But being completely ignored sucked! And in future perhaps the spare change in my pocket will not go into the donation boxes for some of these places because of this. Not meant as a threat, just I'm a little bitter about it, and there are so many animal places that could use it, not just these couple that I won't name on here.

What was confusing is that some of the places tell you to contact the Toronto Humane Society about situations like this, as that is where they get their cats from. So I call the Toronto Humane Society. And what do I get? More voice recordings, no live speakers, and in the end THS doesn't take animals in like this anymore, they pass you on to Toronto Animal Services. Seems they are all connected and the cats come from one place now... TAC. I've always heard that they will euthanize animals like no tomorrow, it's always been like that, or so the rumors go ever since I was a little kid. It was even in many of the cartoons I watched. Ya go to the pound and they gas you after a week!

Well, a couple weeks back, we made the decision that unfortunately, for the sake of Smudge and for the sake of the wildlife around us, he needed to get off the streets. I called to him one rainy morning and he came to me in an instant, all happy lovey and trusting of me, his friend. He wasn't impressed as I shoved him in Meadow's cat carrier and we went for a drive across Dundas Street West. He looked at me through the holes in the carrier and cried a lot. I talked to him the whole way, promised him everything would be okay, and I put my fingers through the bars so he could feel me with him. He licked and rubbed his nose on my fingers. I had hoped and prayed in the final blocks to TAC that my phone was going to ring, and it would be one of these rescue shelters finally returning my call or emails; as some demand to be contacted by email or they won't reply. But it didn't happen that morning, and to this day, weeks later, it still hasn't happened.

We get to Toronto Animal Control in Etobicoke, on The East Mall. I go inside to talk to them, leaving Smudge in the truck. We had a brief conversation and then they asked me to bring him in. Nobody is really certain his story so far besides living on our street, being fed by some of the neighbours. I figure he's been abandoned, his family moved and left him behind. He's a very social cat, not a wild feral like I see in other street cats. Once inside, the lady pulled him out of Meadow's carrier and had him on the counter giving him a quick examination, checked for a microchip and then totally violated him as she checked for neutering. And all through this, Smudge just went with the flow. I could see the confusion on him, but he didn't put up any fight. I thought the lady to be brave to just grab a strange cat as how she did, but bravo to her. And more so, bravo to Smudge for behaving himself.

He was taken to the back and placed under quarantine for the next week. I was told to call back anytime after that if I wanted an update. I don't know how many times I told her he is a sweet cat and deserves a home, not a life on the streets, and not to be put to sleep. She never talked about euthanizing but I couldn't help shake that thought.

I gave Smudge one last rub on the chin before I left. It tore me right up inside looking into his face. And then I walked out the door. It was a long drive home.

I reminisced about the last couple months with him in our lives. The affection he poured out to us, and how submissive he was to Meadow even when she hissed, snarled and swatted at him.

Life got pretty busy with the Falcon watch I've blogged about recently but after that first week with Smudge gone, it was in my head to check up on him. I didn't though. I was busy. But I was also afraid. I feared I'd get the story of him being put down.

Finally today, July 4th, I made the call at work. I had to! I needed to know. I ate my lunch, then stepped out to the truck to make the call in private. I dialed the number, it rang a couple times, then a woman answered the phone, said "Toronto Animal Services, please hold". I was on hold for probably 2 minutes but it felt like forever. I kept thinking the news was going to be bad. She finally came back to the phone and I said "I'd like to inquire about a cat that was turned in a few weeks ago". She asked for the ID, I gave it to her, and a second later her voice raised in a happy tone, she went on about this cat, what a character he is, and actually the favorite at the shelter these days. This woman in particular looks forward to coming in the mornings and goes right for him, they have a great session of affection before she starts her day. Actually a few of the workers have gotten quite attached to Smudge. At this point, he didn't have a name, he was going up on their adoption website today and she asked me for a suggestion. Of course "Beggar" came to mind first, since that is what I first called him; but I know that's not right for him and I said "Smudge". She loved the name, talked about the black spot on his nose, and said it was perfect; and that a home was certainly in his future.

Tonight I looked him up through Google and found him on their adoption page. And there is his name now with the profile and not just an ID number.

I really hope the best for Smudge, and that a good loving person will take him home soon. He certainly deserves it and will put a smile on someone's face every single day.

I didn't share what has been going on with him with my family and friends just because I wanted to have more information to give than just "oh, Smudge went to a pound... the end". And also I felt horrible for doing it even though it was the best for him.

Here he is sleeping the sunny days away in my ornamental grass out back.

I'm going to start pushing his need for a home again. I swear if one of my friends would take him in, we'd pay the adoption fees... in return we'd just like to hear about him and have a visit once in a while. If any of you can help him out, contact me, or the adoption centre in the above link. Or at the very least, send some well wishes his way. He is better off now; not on the streets, is in air conditioning instead of this humidity, and is getting a lot more attention/affection from people daily. I always worried the longer he was out there homeless, the wilder he would become. But, he still needs a family and a home.

What's Wrong Pierre?

Between work and nearly a solid month down at Etobicoke Sunlife with the Falcon watch; I feel like I've lost touch with my backyard friends.  All of a sudden none of the Squirrel gang have names.  Junior's visits are so few and far between now which boggles my mind (he's a very personable gray Squirrel).  And then there's Pierre.  It wasn't that long ago we were all happy to see him coming around with Maggie, showing her how things are done around here to get the best grub and not have to fight the other Pigeons for it either.  But something is up with him, and Maggie too.  They aren't together anymore for one thing.  And both are very skittish now.  Pierre is even snubbing the peanuts.  He took in a bunch the other afternoon and within 20 minutes or so, he was hacking them back up all over the grass.  Is he sick?  He flies well and quick like the rest of the flock, but he's not the guy I once knew.  And Maggie is back to her very shy self, unsure of me and comes so close but backs off with the slightest movement.

It's so hard in this sense with the wildlife, you just never know what exactly is wrong, when something is (or if it is).  They can't tell us.  Or we just can't understand.

The bond with a few of the critters out back makes the yard all the more special; but it also hurts a lot more when things suddenly change, be it they get sick, they die or whatever is the reasoning to what is happening right now.

I hope to have a better tale of them all in the coming months as we spend a lot more time out back.

Pierre and I on Canada Day weekend.  He wasn't acting himself even though this shot doesn't depict that.  And his visit was brief too. Photo by our friend Patty.

And in other news, a quick bit about what we experienced early this morning before work.  Seems I had the idea to give the feeders a top up around 5:15am.  I turn on the back light, step outside with a bag of seed, and my eyes fix on something large and white moving along the fence.  I'm thinking "Cool, it's an Opossum!" but then I get more focus in the dim light, separating the darkness from the black fur, and realize it was a large, but beautiful, Skunk!  I quickly turned back inside, told Angie and got my camera.  How I thought I could get a photo at this time of the morning but I tried anyways using the picnic table as a tripod for starts, cranking up the ISO, and turning on the flash.  The Skunk acknowledged me, and a couple times I thought he was going to head in my direction, but he didn't.  He checked out every nook of the yard from the back deck to the bird garden, stopping for a drink at the bird bath, which is where I got this shot.

We haven't seen a Skunk out back in many years.  This was quite exciting for us, observing him from a safe, respectable distance.  I hope we see him again over the summer, from a similar distance, and perhaps just a wee bit more light for my camera.  Hey, I'm allowed to want a better photo of our backyard visitor!

Thanks for stopping in.  Soon will be my next entry about the Sunlife Falcons.

Cheers!

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!

A Momentary Leave of Absence

Hi Friends,

Sorry I've not been around lately. We are in full swing with Peregrine Falcon watches. Angie and I are focused on the Etobicoke Sunlife nest site, home of Jack and O'Conner.

I started a blog about the watch but there just isn't the time to finish it. I've put in approximately 28 hours of watch time in the past week, add 8 hour work days, time in for house chores, pet care, sleep, etc. and computer time just isn't there.

I will return next week with a full tale on the goings on. It's been very exciting and very stressful. Anyone remember my stories from last season?

There are 4 birds up there and one is named after our friend Big Frank. I don't want to give away too much of the coming blog but lets just say if it wasn't for the people watching over these young Falcons, as of right now, 3 of them would not be here with us as I key this.

Please check in next week with more on this all. Thanks for stopping by and I trust you are all doing well.

Cheers!

A couple photos from the watch. And here's a link to why we do this.

5 days with Rob and the Animals.

I feel like I've got some sort of blockage lately, ever since my last entry regarding a friend to many... Big Frank. From his passing, it was about a week and a half until many of us gathered to mourn, honor, laugh, cry, reflect on our lost friend. The time in between has been a daze. Now closing in on a week since the funeral, my head is scrambled with so many blog ideas and don't know where to begin.

I could start up with what has happened since last Sunday, which has been a lot actually.

Sunday morning Angie and I went and grabbed some breakfast and coffee and sat down at the Etobicoke Sunlife Peregrine Falcon nest site. We're a little early for the Falcon fledge watch on this day but with Frank gone, CPF naming one of the chicks after Frank, we are finding this time around to be all the more meaningful.

Meet baby Big Frank.


It was a quiet morning. We saw both mom and dad, O'Conner and Jack, buzzing around a little bit but no sight nor sound of the chicks. I believe it was Jack who caught a Pigeon over us and paraded with his kill for a little bit before disappearing to clean it, most likely eat some and then return to the nest with the remains for his kids.

Jack on the hunt.


Score!  Pigeon in his talons.


After an hour or so, we headed home and rested up for the big adventure to happen later that afternoon out in Binbrook, Ontario.

Moving forward to 4pm now, us in Binbrook, meeting the founder of Hobbitstee Toggenburgs & Wildlife Refuge and a friend of hers to release 5 young Red Fox back into the wild. Seems mom had her den, and these kits, a few months back, some development started nearby and mom abandoned all out of fear. Thankfully some people took action to help the young Foxes, and even more thankful that such wildlife centres exist to help our wildlife friends in need. It was an exciting brief moment watching them all return to the wild, and quite happy to do so. They are young but already skilled hunters. Really there is not much more us humans can teach them once they know how to track and catch their own food. We all wished the little guys and one girl a great life, getting a second chance at it, as they disappeared one by one into some woods on a large farm.

The last of the 5 Foxes tasting freedom once again.


Here is a great video made by the fine people at Hobbitstee telling the tale of them going home with the photographs I took of the occasion. Please ensure you have sound on, the music is very befitting to it all.

After a long chat with our new friends at Hobbitstee, we headed for home; but at last minute decided to stop in Burlington at the lift bridge where another nest of Peregrine Falcons are located. What a change of scenery at this nest site compared to what we are used to in Toronto. Instead of big buildings, we got one big bridge and a lot of water being Lake Ontario. We met some of the volunteer watchers and saw the Falcons (both adults and 3 of the 4 chicks).

Burlington lift bridge.  Nest is near the top and centre of the back tower.


A closer view of 3 of the 4 chicks and Cirrus the adult.


Monday rolls around, back to work, and in my time at home I take it really easy. I enjoy our backyard with Meadow and the Budgies. I stopped at one of the local parks briefly before work and enjoyed the sights of a new family of Mallard Ducks.

Local momma Mallard Duck a her kids, she's got 6.


Something odd happened on my way to work. I missed my turn onto Britannia in Mississauga and ended up going further south on Hurontario. I see a dark spot on a certain building and to my joy and surprise it's a Peregrine Falcon! Why the joy? Well, I spent all last summer watching this bird numerous times a week. It then disappeared come October, migrating obviously. Come April of this year, the bird returned. It disappeared for the whole month of May and now has shown itself again. Of course I don't have my camera with me but that's how it goes. There's more to the story about this bird but it's a blog all on it's own.

Tuesday I make another stop at Etobicoke Sunlife in the morning to check on our local Peregrine Falcons. I am treated to mom and dad hanging out together on the cameras. I then hear some loud squawking, even with me being 14 floors below on street level and across the street I might add. I watch and watch, and suddenly I see the wings of a baby Peregrine Falcon moving about the ledge. And then I see it's head! A fellow watcher told me that Big Frank the Falcon is growing up fast and moving around a lot more than his 3 sisters. So, I'd like to think this is Big Frank saying "hello" to the world.

Jack (top right) and O'Conner from Etobicoke Sunlife.


Is that Big Frank the baby Falcon?


I return home after an hour, entertain our Budgies and Meadow for a few hours while I do chores and get ready for work. I planned on leaving early to hopefully scope out the Pepsi Peregrine Falcon as I call it even though it's not hanging out on our plant. And guess what! I see the bird again, and I swear on my precious parts that the bird is still in the exact same spot as a day earlier. I have my camera this time and take a few photos. It's 1:30pm, just like yesterday when I saw it. I also saw it in the same spot at coffee break around 8:30pm too and with that I do mean both Monday and Tuesday. So I am concerned. I compare my 1:30 to 8:30 photos and I am quite certain the bird still has not moved. Or is this Falcon that particular to sit on the same ledge, the same spot between flights and hunts? I dunno. I suppose. But for me, not giving away of too much of his story for another blog, but this is quite different behavior for this bird compared to the past year.

Suddenly, while I am watching him at the 1:30 mark on this Tuesday afternoon, a couple Turkey Vultures show up, circling the field across the street from the Falcon. I am thrilled at the flight show they put on, gliding with ease when suddenly they shift over to the building the Peregrine is sitting on. And they land on the roof top, one level above him! And the birds are aware of each other. I'm wondering what is going to happen, even through the big stare down... but nothing did. When I see Turkey Vultures, I see death. They don't kill things but do enjoy feasting on the dead. Ya, sounds kinda gross, but they are nature's natural clean up crew of our deceased animal friends. My imaginative brain starts wondering if the Vultures smell death on my Falcon? Like his perching for 24+ hours at this point is a sign of illness and the Vultures know it. And a bit later, the Vultures took flight, leaving the Falcon to his thoughts still on the same ledge.

The Pepsi Peregrine.


Incoming pair of Turkey Vultures.


Falcon and Vultures take notice of each other.


Not interesting enough for one Vulture, perhaps not dead is more the reason, and away it goes.


Second Vulture departs, making an impression of Prince of Darkness.  Haha!


8:30 that evening, as I mentioned, the Falcon is still on the ledge. I'm wondering out loud via social media to my friends on what to do. I knew the answer but needed to vent, which is nothing can be done, not with him 10 stories up from us. We gotta wait it out and see what he does. If he comes down to the ground, then hopefully we can help.

Wednesday rolls around now. I decide to get out to 3 of my haunts that have brought me and Raccoon babies together in previous years. I'm desperate for some cute baby photos for our 2014 calendar. I come up empty once again, only finding an adult sleeping in a tree. I did see a lot of birds that morning, mostly common stuff around here for this time of year. The coolest bits were a nest of baby Red-winged Blackbirds, 2 Yellow Warbler nests, a couple vocal Red-tailed Hawks and after some help from others on identifying, quite certain a Willow Flycatcher gathering nesting material.

Willow Flycatcher.


3 baby Red-winged Blackbirds.


Can you spot the Raccoon?  They blend in well at times.


Despite all this running around, I'm still home with a few hours to spare for chores, entertain our own pets as I ensure, and get ready for work. As you can see, Meadow is quite delighted to be out back Wednesday morning, enjoying her favorite shrub that is now blooming. It's some kind Weigela bush.

Meadow loving her shrub and reminding us all to stop and smell the flowers.


I leave a little early for work again, checking around for the Peregrine Falcon, but I don't see him. I check again at break time and still no sighting. I enjoy a few Rabbits grazing about the industrial area and find it strange that some Mallard Ducks are settling down for the night along a sidewalk.

One of many Rabbits near work in Mississauga.


Mallard Duck pair.  They were asleep until someone walked by them (not me).


So close to the main roads, glad he never crosses them.


I think about these creatures above and how they've adapted to being around people, especially in an industrial area. I see them all through the warm months here.

Thursday is here and it's another day gone in 3 minutes, now being 11:57pm. I ran errands this morning, getting my comic fix up at my friend's store in Vaughan, and do some sneaky birthday stuff for Angie's upcoming birthday on Monday. Wow, am I taking a break from the wildlife? I mean, it's 11am already, and I need to be home and prepare for work, and hang with our animals a bit too. It sure was looking that way until I'm less than a kilometre from our house when the next wildlife adventure occurs and unfortunately it's not a good one.

Someone hit a Deer that decided to cross the road. I know why it chose to cross the road, I have my own thoughts on how the accident happened, but long story short... it was a terrible and very sad moment. I watched this big beautiful animal kick and convulse, gasp, bleed and die on the street. There was nothing anyone could have done for it. People just looked on in shock and sadness, some even cried. I went home sad and angry. It was 5 minutes to noon and I felt like cracking the 40 Creek and chilling out. But I sucked it up, got ready, gave Meadow and the birds a great hour with daddy and then went to work. The Deer incident consumed much of my thoughts, whenever I wasn't thinking about work. Even as I did a quick check on some spots in the area for the Peregrine Falcon, not finding him, the Deer was still there in my mind.

I've been home for almost 2 hours now. I've filled the birds feeders for sunrise. Smudge, formerly know as Beggar met me out back while I did the feeders. It seems to be our night time ritual with the warmer weather upon us. He follows me about the backyard in the middle of the night and tells me some great adventures he's had while I've been working. I like to believe none of the stories involve him killing song birds. Sometimes I think he wants food, other times I think he just wants the company. I give him kibble offerings and some days he's devouring it while others he prefers the pats (a couple other neighbours are watching over him as well). I still hold out hope we're going to find him a home. I come inside to a waiting Meadow, and a jealous one at that. But as I lock the backdoor and pick her up, all is right in her world once again. Purr purr purr.

I know tomorrow when I get to work, a co-worker of mine is going to ask me again, like he does most days, "What did you do before work? Did you go birding? I don't know how you keep going with all you do."  As I skim this blog over, and all that's happened in the last 5 days, I wonder that myself.