The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Friday, May 1
This past week has been hectic, trying to get the live video link working at both the Hamilton and Etobicoke sites. Add to that the openings on Wednesday and Thursday, there just wasn't the time or energy to keep up with the daily news. However, there are a lot of reports being kept at each site now, and eventually these detailed notes will be available via this site. As for the "daily update" stories, we're trying to make arrangements to get something to me each day from each location, and hopefully by Monday we'll be back on schedule.
-- Meanwhile, today was rather interesting. Early in the afternoon, Alberta was on the nest, and Toby arrived with some food for her. Very quickly, Alberta hopped off the nest, took the food from Toby, and flew off the ledge, leaving Toby standing there with an expression that said, "I guess I'm supposed to do nest duty now. So much for my plans to watch a baseball game."
-- About half-an-hour later, Toby got up from the eggs, and simply flew away. About two minutes later, Alberta returned to the ledge and took over the nest duty.

Tuesday, May 5
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Toby was on the nest when I came in, and Alberta (or maybe I should say "the female") came in around 9:15. She stayed until 2:45, and Toby was on the "L" of LAVA on the West Tower from at least 11:30 to 1:30. At 2:45, Toby returned, but he seemed very agitated as he sat on the nest. I went out to Bloor to investigate, and saw one female on the south roof of the nest building, and a second female dive-bombing it repeatedly. This went on for at least half an hour. Of course, we don't know which female is which, or even whether we are always seeing the same female at the nest (although I think we likely are)>
-- Based on what I was told the other day about two females, one with the red band on her left leg, and th oher with iton her right, I suspect that these were the two birds I saw yesterday. Now -- which one of these is Alberta? And can we find out who the intruder is?

Wednesday May 6
Stacey Withrow reports: Today was rather uneventful. Alberta was on the nest throughout the morning and early afternoon. Toby finally arrived at 2:55, and then spent the rest of the afternoon incubating. From roughly 3:30 to 4:30, Toby was asleep with his head tucked under his wing.

Thursday May 7
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The morning was quiet until Toby arrived for the first time at 11:40. He stayed for almost an hour, and he and Alberta exchanged vocalizations at times, but neither moved much. At 12:25 Alberta stood up and walked toward Toby, but then changed her mind and resumed incubation. Ten minutes later he flew off and went directly to the "L" on the LAVA sign on the west tower.
-- Toby finally left his perch at 2:10, and began to circle over the west tower, gaining altitude and drifting northwest. I lost sight of him and came back inside, but when Alberta began looking around nervously just after 3:00, I returned to Bloor St. Toby was circling over the centre and east towers, looking down as if searching for prey.
-- Toby again drifted north out of sight, but just seconds after he disappeared, a female Peregrine flew south through the gap east of the nest building, and swooped up to the nest ledge as if she planned to land there. At the last second she changed her mind, but then made two more close passes at the nest. After the third time, Toby came diving down from out of nowhere with tremendous speed, and nearly hit the other bird. He then chased her far to the north and returned to the nest briefly four minutes later, but did not incubate. Today marked the first time we have seen Alberta incubate uninterrupted for the whole day.
-- Interestingly, Stacey reported that during the visits from the intruder, Alberta remained on the nest and did not appear particularly agitated. This, combined with the fact that Toby stopped short of actually hitting the intruder made us believe that perhaps this second female is one of last year's young that has returned home, and is not willing to accept that it is no longer welcome.

Monday, May 11
Marcel Gahbauer reports: What a miserable day to be a falcon! The rain was being driven in to the nest ledge by a gusty southeast wind, and Alberta became completely soaked. Her feathers were blown all out of place, and became stuck out of position by the water. By the end of the morning she looked more like a Harpy Eagle than a Peregrine Falcon. In fact, when she had her head down out of sight, it was difficult to make sense of what we were seeing on the screen - several concerned people came in to ask whether she was dead.
-- Three times during the morning Toby landed on the ledge briefly, took a look at Alberta, and left again within ten seconds. It's as if he was thinking "You're too ugly to be Alberta - I'll come back later when she's on the nest again".
-- Finally at 12:25 pm, Alberta had enough. She jumped up to the edge of the nest box and started to flap her wings madly in an effort to dry them off. She looked just like one of last year's fledglings ready to take flight for the first time. I happened to be outside at the time, and can report that her flight was also as shaky as that of a fledgling. Her wings were so waterlogged that gusts of wind sent her tumbling and fighting for balance. She flew to the safety of the east side of the nest building to dry off.
-- Toby came in to incubate within a minute of Alberta leaving. He stayed for more than three hours, and even when he finally left, he seemed to be reluctant to do so - Alberta had to stand behind him and coax him for well over 20 minutes before he decided to get up. He has become noticeably more comfortable with incubating in the past week, and likewise she has become more tolerant of him being on the eggs.

Tuesday, May 12
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today was rather uneventful for the most part. Alberta took over from Toby around 9:30, and he didn't return until after 4:00. At that time he landed near the nest box and appeared to be willing to take over, but Alberta would not move, and appeared to be scolding him - maybe for not bringing any food for her. He bowed meekly in submission and flew off again.
-- Just over a half hour later Toby returned carrying a whole Blue Jay, which looked untouched except that the neck had been broken. This is the first time we have seen him bring a whole bird to the nest. As soon as she saw this offering Alberta jumped up, took the Blue Jay in her beak, and flew off with it. As usual following such exchanges, Toby leaned back in shock and called out repeatedly, but to no avail. He then took his position on the eggs and remained there for the rest of the afternoon.

Wednesday, May 13
Marcel Gahbauer reports: At first, it looked like today would be quite interesting. At 8:15, just minutes after I arrived, Toby flew in with a large chunk of what was presumably a half-eaten pigeon. Alberta stood up and was clearly tempted, but she decided to sit back down on the eggs after a minute of deliberation. Toby, having learned from yesterday's experience, didn't wait around for her to change her mind, and flew off again with the food in his talons.
-- Toby finally returned shortly after noon, and incubated for almost three hours until Alberta came back. When she arrived, she landed between the camera and the nest box. Toby completely ignored her, so she skipped/ran along the edge of the ledge until she reached the far side of the nest box. Peregrines are certainly graceful in flight, but are very comical and ungainly when they run. Toby soon got off the nest and flew away, and Alberta settled down for the rest of the afternoon.

Thursday, May 14
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Toby is beginning to show a distinct preference for smaller prey. Today he was away all morning, and when he finally showed up at the nest at 12:40, all he had with him was a small sparrow. Alberta was not impressed and didn't want to leave the nest for that. Toby got the message and soon left with it.
-- An hour later he was back, with no food at all. This time he was remarkably assertive. He jumped up on the nest box before Alberta had even moved. She was somewhat taken aback, and started shuffling backwards away from the eggs. For a few seconds, both of them stood on the edge of the box and looked at each other - it seemed like neither could believe what was happening. Alberta then gave in and flew off.
-- All was quiet until around 2:10, when Toby started jerking his head around violently. From what we could see on the monitor, it looked like there was a fly buzzing around his head, and he tried to follow it with his eyes wherever it went.
-- Soon after that, he started squawking. I went outside, just in time to see a female Peregrine flying south from the direction of the nest building. At first I assumed it to be Alberta, but then I turned around and saw her perched at the base of the camera. As I watched, the other bird looped around and passed over the nest building a second time. I recognized it as the immature female that had visited the site last week. Alberta and Toby evidently did too - although they kept an eye on the intruder, neither made a move to chase it, and both remained silent. After making a third pass over the building, the intruder headed off to the southwest. Alberta remained on the ledge for the rest of the afternoon, and just after 5 pm she finally walked over to the nest box and relieved Toby.

Friday, May 15
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Alberta spent almost the whole day on the nest today, but despite the hot sun did not seem particularly uncomfortable. Toby was on the nest in the morning, but when Alberta flew past at around 9:00 he stood up as if ready for a shift change. When she landed ten minutes later, he immediately left.
-- The only break that Alberta had today came just after 2:00 when she started squawking and flew off, but returned a minute later. We later heard from Ian that she had been pursuing our regular visitor, the immature female Peregrine. We also learned from Evandro that the intruder was present around 3:00 on Wednesday, which means that it has been visiting this area daily for at least the past three days. Any bird other than one which has this area imprinted as a home range would likely have learned its lesson by now. We have now observed this bird five times over the past week and a half, always between 2:00 and 3:30 in the afternoon. We are very curious about the identity of this bird, and hope that one day she will sit still so that we can read her bands, or that someone will report to us where she spends the rest of the day.

Sunday, May 17
Marcel Gahbauer reports: I watched the nest for about an hour in the early afternoon today. Throughout this time, Alberta was incubating, and seemed much more restless than usual. Don Barnett [Toronto Ornithological Club], who had been watching since mid-morning, told me that she was turning the eggs on average every fifteen minutes. While we spoke, she turned them three times in about ten minutes.
-- It's possible that she's beginning to feel movement inside the eggs, but I rather think that her restlessness was due to the heat of the sun. A few times before settling down, she stood over the eggs and shaded them for a minute. Throughout all of this, Toby remained over on his favourite perch - the Lava sign on the west tower.

Tuesday, May 19
Marcel Gahbauer reports: For the most part, events unfolded as usual today. Alberta took over incubation from Toby around 9 am and stayed until 1:45 pm. At that time she flew off the nest to chase off the immature female on her (seemingly) daily flight past the area - today the chase headed east along Bloor until they were out of sight. Toby came into the nest within a minute of Alberta leaving, and he stayed until she returned around 5:30.
-- However, there were three new developments today. Several times during the morning, Alberta stood up over the eggs. At first I thought she might be shading them since it was hot this morning, but she actually stood back and let the sun shine directly on them. My guess is that she either heard something or felt movement inside the eggs, and was standing back in response to that.
-- Also during the morning, Alberta began pulling at something in the base of the nest box. After almost an hour of nearly constant effort, she finally cut loose a chunk of material, which looked like very fine stiff mesh. She then dropped this piece near the corner of the nest box and started attacking the next scrap sticking up through the pebbles. She appeared to be completely obsessed with this activity - there were times that she leaned forward and the eggs rolled out behind her, and she didn't notice for several minutes. We can only hope this is not going to be an ongoing preoccupation of hers
-- Toby also did something we haven't seen before. Around 5:50, just 20 minutes after he had left the nest, he returned with a small bird (starling or sparrow) which he had already partly eaten. He appeared to offer it to Alberta, but she was not interested. He then took it to the side of the nest box and proceeded to eat some of it himself - this is the first time we have seen either bird eat at the nest. After a few minutes he flew off, leaving behind what he had not eaten.

Wednesday, May 20
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Alberta was on the nest for the whole morning today and was remarkably restless. There were long periods of time when she wouldn't sit still for more than a minute or two before rearranging the eggs again. She also spent much of the time crouched over the eggs rather than sitting fully on them. Although it's tempting to conclude that this is a sign the eggs are about to hatch, this behaviour could also have simply been in response to the hot sun. Both Toby and Alberta were much more relaxed in the afternoon when the nest was in the shade. As of 6:00 tonight, all eggs looked to still be entirely intact.
-- Around 11:45, Alberta seemed particularly agitated, so I went out to Bloor to investigate. Three Turkey Vultures were soaring 10 to 20 metres above the nest building. Just as I was wondering why Toby wasn't attacking them, I heard a loud call and looked up to see an adult male Peregrine directly above me. However, he was drifting southeast as he climbed on the thermals, while the vultures were headed northwest. I watched the Peregrine until he disappeared as a speck in the sky far to the southeast. Along the way it crossed paths with two more Turkey Vultures, but ignored them just as it had the first three.
-- I then turned around and glanced at the nest ledge, and was shocked to see Toby perched near the base of the camera. Obviously what I had observed was another adult male. So now we have (at least) four Peregrines in this area - Toby, Alberta, the immature female (which was chased away by Alberta today around 1:30), and this adult male. It will be interesting to see whether this male also makes repeat visits to the area.
-- In retrospect, the alarm call I heard when I first saw the second male may have come from Toby or Alberta - the intruder was at roughly the level of the nest, and was very close to it, since he was right over Bloor. I am surprised that neither of the resident adults chased it away. The only reason I can think of is that with the vultures also very near the nest, they felt safer staying near the eggs rather than chasing away any of the intruders.

Thursday, May 21
Marcel Gahbauer reports: We still have no chicks yet, but it was an interesting day nonetheless. For the first time today we set the VCR to tape the early morning activities at the nest. Alberta was incubating as of 5:30 am, and was probably on the nest all night long. Toby arrived with breakfast (a starling) at 6:10, which Alberta grabbed and immediately flew off with.
-- Toby stayed on the nest for over three hours. During this time he was unusually restless, and he even pulled at the loose mesh a few times, just like Alberta did yesterday. When Alberta returned at 9:20 he took off immediately. Between that time and 4:00 pm, he returned to the nest site five times. Each time, Alberta refused to get up and leave. The last two times he actually got into the box next to her as if trying to nudge her out - she responded by crouching even lower over the eggs, and staring at him until he left. We hope that this change in behaviour is an indication that the hatching is imminent.
-- A day in Etobicoke would not be complete without at least one intruder invading the airspace around the nest. Today just before 1:00 a Turkey Vulture and Broad-winged Hawk drifted over the nest building together. Toby gave chase, but seemed to focus his efforts on the vulture - a greater threat I suppose. About twenty minutes later, we observed on the monitors inside that Alberta was very agitated - this may have corresponded to the daily flight of the immature female Peregrine, although we have no confirmation of that today.

Friday, May 22
Marcel Gahbauer reports: WE FINALLY HAVE OUR FIRST CHICK! Around 7:00 this morning Alberta stood up, and a crack of 1-2 cm was visible on one of the eggs. Over the next half hour, Alberta was very restless, turning the eggs (and herself) every couple of minutes. Finally, at 7:35 she stood back, and an eggshell, neatly split into two, was visible, with a tiny wet chick straddling the two halves of the eggshell. Alberta quickly covered it again, and over the next half hour only brief glimpses of the chick were visible. During this time, Alberta also consumed most, if not all, of the eggshell.
-- Throughout the morning we had quick glimpses of the chick as Alberta changed positions, and Toby made several brief appearances on the ledge, but was not welcome at the nest. Around 2:20 in the afternoon, Toby flew in with half of a pigeon. This proved too much to resist, and Alberta took it from him and flew off. Before Toby could get on the nest, however, Alberta returned, landed in the middle of the nest tray, and started to tear pieces off of the carcass to feed the chick.
-- After about five minutes she flew off with what was left of the prey. Toby then slowly made his way on to the nest, and seemed quite puzzled by what he saw. He stared at the chick for a full four minutes before finally settling down to cover it and the remaining three eggs - it was as if he was thinking "I know what to do with those eggs, but what am I supposed to do about this white fluffy thing?". This event was particularly interesting because at the downtown nest site Victoria has been observed keeping Kingsley away from the nest for several days following the hatching of the chicks. It seems this is yet another way that the Peregrines are showing us that they each have distinct personalities, and that it is dangerous to make generalizations about their behaviour.
-- Before he had really settled in fully, Alberta returned and took over again - Toby did not hesitate in leaving. She remained there for the rest of the afternoon, leaving only once. Around 5:40, she flew off, but within a minute she was back, and so was Toby. Both approached the nest, but Alberta was on it first, and Toby quickly flew off again. Alberta had a small bird in her talons, and gave the chick its second feeding of the day.
-- As of 6:30 pm, the remaining three eggs appeared to still be intact. We expect that they will all hatch over the next few days, and hope that by the beginning of next week we will be watching a nest full of hungry little Peregrines.

Saturday, May 23
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The second chick hatched early this morning. Our videotape started recording at 5:30 am. Just a minute later, it revealed the day old chick sitting beside a very wet looking chick - it had obviously just hatched very recently, probably within the previous hour.
-- Just before 6 am, Alberta suddenly abandoned the nest. Within two minutes, she returned, carrying a fully feathered Mourning Dove. She deposited it in the nest box, and began to rapidly pluck away the feathers. Within a couple of minutes she was finished, and started to feed the chicks. The feeding lasted for approximately five minutes.
-- Over the course of the morning, Alberta covered the eggs and chicks quite closely - there were only a few instants when both were visible. There was another feeding around 12:30 pm. By this time, the second chick had dried out and fluffed out, and it was not really possible to tell the two apart.

Sunday, May 24
Marcel Gahbauer reports: I arrived in Etobicoke this morning expecting to find the third chick hatched, since the first two had been roughly 24 hours apart. However, there were still only two, and it remained that way all day long.
-- Over the course of the day there were several opportunities to observe both chicks during brief periods when the adults were off the nest. There were also a few feedings, including half a pigeon, a scrawny House Sparrow, and a young starling. Most of the feedings were done by Alberta. However, early in the afternoon Toby arrived with the starling. He started to eat it himself, but then he noticed the two chicks craning their necks up at him. After a couple of minutes he hesitantly reached forward with a bit of meat, and fed it to the first chick. He then tried the same with the other chick, and soon was busy feeding both of them like a seasoned pro.
-- Around 11:20, Alberta turned the remaining eggs, and it appeared that there was a crack in one of them. For the next several hours, I waited for another clear look at the eggs, but either Alberta or Toby blocked the view, or in some cases one of the chicks was leaning up against the eggs. It was only after 4 pm that we again had a clear view of the eggs, albeit only briefly. It did appear that there was a crack of a little more than 1 cm near the end of one of the eggs. Hopefully by tomorrow morning this chick will have emerged.

Monday, May 25
Marcel Gahbauer reports: As of today, we have three healthy young Peregrine chicks at the Etobicoke nest. The third chick hatched at some point during the night when it was too dark for us to tape the event. At 5:20 am Alberta was only beginning to eat the eggshell, suggesting that the hatch had been fairly recent - perhaps an hour or two earlier. By noon, she had eaten almost the entire eggshell.
-- Between dawn and 4 pm, we observed four feedings. Two of these were definitely immature starlings, while the other two were more difficult to identify, but were likely also starlings. All chicks were fed at each feeding, although in some cases only the older two chicks were fed for the first few minutes, and the third chick was only given food once they were full. Based on Sunday's observations, the chicks likely also had at least two more feedings in the late afternoon and evening.
-- Some patterns of behaviour are beginning to emerge. All of today's feedings were done by Alberta. In two cases Toby brought in the food, but immediately left the ledge again. The feedings were all close to 10 minutes in length. After this time, Alberta flew off with the remainder of the carcass, presumably to store it on another ledge for retrieval in the future. In most cases, Toby flew in almost immediately, and stood guard over the chicks until Alberta returned two or three minutes later, at which point he immediately flew off again. Based on these observations and the few reports we had from outside, it appears that Toby spent almost the entire day on the south or southeast side of the nest building, although he was rarely at the nest itself.

Tuesday, May 26
Marcel Gahbauer reports: All four chicks have now hatched. The last one emerged just before dawn this morning. At 5:25 am, Toby flew in with a female House Sparrow, and as Alberta stood up to retrieve it from him, the youngest chick - still looking very wet - was visible beside the three older chicks. Over the next few hours it dried out, and soon looked just like its older siblings. The eyes of the two oldest chicks have now opened, and there is a very slight size difference among the chicks, but it is already becoming hard to tell them apart.
-- Between dawn and 4 pm, there were six feedings. All but the first of these were starlings. During the morning only the three older chicks were fed, while the youngest flopped back and forth, not knowing where to go to get food. However, during the 12:50 and 2:20 feedings, all four chicks stood side by side, and all were fed. During times when Alberta was absent, the four chicks collapsed in a heap near the centre of the nest box - it was impossible to tell where one ended and the next began.
-- Alberta today handled all but one of the feedings. Toby was only on the nest alone briefly, but there were several times during the morning when he perched on the edge of the nest box for up to half an hour, while Alberta continued to cover the chicks. Even when he was off the box, he was normally not far away - he spent much of the day either on the south face of the nest building, or on the roof above the nest.
-- As she has done regularly, Alberta ate the latest eggshell. By mid-afternoon only a small piece of it remained. In general she has been much more relaxed since the hatch. Where she once turned every fifteen minutes on average, she now often sits for an hour or more facing the same direction. She also seems to be spending more time preening herself than before, but this may be simply because she has hardly left the nest in the past couple of days. On the other hand, some of her old habits are still evident - she still digs in the gravel from time to time, and her preoccupation with the mesh below the gravel continues.

Wednesday, May 27
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The activity today was for the most part similar to yesterday. Feedings were generally one to two hours apart, and were mostly done by Alberta, although Toby continued to bring in most of the birds. All of the identifiable prey items were starlings.
-- One new event occurred today, however. In mid-morning, Toby flew in with some food. Alberta remained in the box, but stood back somewhat from the chicks. Toby started to tear at the flesh of the starling, and proceeded to feed not only the chicks, but also Alberta. This is apparently not all that unusual among raptors, but it is the first time that we've seen Toby and Alberta engaging in this behaviour.

Thursday, May 28
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Just when we thought Alberta and Toby were settling into a routine, things have changed again. Over the past couple of days, the chicks have been fed six or seven times a day, with feedings usually one or two hours apart. Today, however, we had only 2 feedings between 8 am and 4 pm.
-- The first feeding we observed was around 8:30, when Toby brought in part of a Starling. For the rest of the morning, Toby stayed near the nest, but did not bring any more food. Alberta also did not fly off to get food.
-- Beginning around noon, both adults became agitated and restless. Between then and 2:30, the chicks were left alone and unguarded for the bulk of the time. Alberta made several forays into the area south of the nest building, flying quite low at times, but not hunting. Toby disappeared for much longer periods of time, and when he was visible, was just a speck in the sky - he must have been at an altitude close to two or three times the height of the nest building. Finally around 2:30 Alberta flew determinedly west, past Kipling, and returned five minutes later with a Starling which she fed to the chicks.
-- Three possible explanations for this change in the behaviour of the adults come to mind. One is that they were disturbed by the presence of a window-washer platform on the side of the condominium facing the nest. However, every time I looked at it, there were no people around. Another possibility is that Toby and Alberta were simply enjoying the gusty wind - Alberta in particular appeared to be playing with the wind. It could also be that now that the chicks have grown to the point where they are difficult to cover up, the adults will regularly be spending more time away from the nest.
-- Although we only observed two feedings, the chicks were likely also fed before and after we were there to watch them. They certainly all appear to be lively and healthy, and have already grown noticeably. The oldest chick today started preening itself for the first time, and managed to briefly stand upright without any support, before flopping over on top of the other chicks again. When left alone, they always huddle together in a confusing pile of heads and bodies - it's almost never possible to see all four of them at once, except when they are craning their necks upward at feeding time.

Friday, May 29
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The chicks continue to grow at a very fast pace. The oldest two were attempting to stand alone today, although they usually flopped back down after a few seconds. Both of them were also seen preening themselves several times.
-- As usual, feedings occurred throughout the day. Like yesterday, Toby came in around mid-morning, and fed both Alberta and the chicks. However, this time we were able to see that in most cases Alberta did not eat the food she received, but rather passed it on to the chicks.
-- By mid-afternoon, the chicks had been fed so much that when Alberta arrived with a starling late in the afternoon, the two youngest chicks didn't even react. Even the older two ate for less than ten minutes, after which their crops were fully engorged. To this point at least Alberta and Toby are certainly providing amply for their family.

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