The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Monday, June 1
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The past three days have been rather uneventful. The chicks continue to be fed frequently (6 to 10 times a day), and are growing noticeably. In fact, the oldest two chicks appear to be turning somewhat gray already, and are beginning to be able to stay upright for a little while without any support. Toby is still doing the bulk of the hunting, while Alberta spends most of the day on the nest, and does the majority of the feedings.
-- Fortunately the Peregrines escaped the worst of Sunday's severe storm, since they are on the southeast side of the building, and the winds were coming from the west. Nevertheless, it was windy, and Alberta spent much of the day shielding the chicks from the elements with her wings. There were also strong gusts of wind this afternoon, and for hours on end Alberta crouched down over the chicks, covering them almost completely. This is interesting, since for the past few days the chicks have tried to squirm away whenever she tried to cover them, but this afternoon they actually struggled to get under her. Presumably the reason for this difference is that it was much colder today than it has been recently.

Tuesday, June 2
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today brought some new developments, as well as a return to some old behaviours/occurrences. Most notably, the two oldest chicks are now getting quite mobile. During the morning, both of them began to stumble hesitantly around the nest box. Although they made progress only slowly and were at times restrained by Alberta, they did clearly demonstrate that they are able to move around on their own (and stay upright most of the time!).
-- The increased mobility of the chicks seemed to trigger some kind of motherly instinct in Alberta, since she was very protective of the chicks today, and stayed crouched over them for most of the day, even though (at least until mid-afternoon) it was neither windy nor particularly cold. At one time, Alberta reverted to digging in the gravel - something she has rarely (if at all) done since the chicks hatched.
-- Shortly after 2:00, Alberta surprised us with a new behaviour. She was standing on the edge of the nesting box, and suddenly tipped her head back and opened her beak very wide. At first I thought this might be the avian equivalent of a yawn, but she subsequently repeated it so frequently that it was more likely a vocalization of sorts. I went outside to see what she was reacting to, and arrived just in time to see an immature female Peregrine fly north between the nest building and the condominium to the east. Although we haven't seen her in well over a week, this is presumably the same bird that we were seeing daily for a while. Later in the afternoon, Alberta again did the strange yawning/squawking thing several times, but no other birds were flying around. Toby, however, was on the ledge near the camera, and it may be that she was communicating with him.

Wednesday, June 3
Marcel Gahbauer reports: For much of the morning, and part of the late afternoon, Alberta appeared to be on edge. She spent long periods of time on the edge of the ledge, staring out to the southeast, and occasionally squawking angrily. Once in the morning and again once in the afternoon, she suddenly left the ledge following some vigorous squawking, and presumably chased another bird away. Both times she returned within a minute. Toby meanwhile was nearby (either under the camera, or on the other side of the pillar) and was looking in the same direction, but remained in place as far as we know.
-- Today was the coldest day the chicks have experienced. They responded by huddling close together, and did not wander around the box at all. Feedings of course continue to occur several times throughout the day, and all of the chicks are being well fed, although not always during a single feeding. Their prey of choice is still starlings, although just before 6:00 this evening Alberta arrived with a fully feathered beige-looking bird. I think it was probably a female House Sparrow, but will have to examine the videotape more closely to be sure.

Thursday, June 4
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today's events served as a reminder of how difficult it is to predict the activities of the Peregrines. These days, one of the most commonly asked questions by visitors is "When will the next feeding be?". The answer is that we never know in advance. Today there were three feedings between 8:30 and 9:00, and then none until another set of three feedings between 1:20 and 1:50. Finally there were two more feedings at around 4:00 and 5:00. I'm certain that tomorrow's feeding schedule will again be radically different. Toby brought the food for half of the feedings, while Alberta flew in with it the other times. Toby only fed the chicks once, however, and spent most of the day watching the nest from near the base of the camera.
-- It was interesting to see how the chicks reacted to the multiple feedings. In both the morning and afternoon, the first feeding of the session was very busy - all of the chicks were boisterous and were trying to get as much food as possible. By the time of the second feeding roughly 10 minutes later, most chicks remained interested in food, but were much less pushy - they calmly waited their turn for the most part. Following this, the younger chicks were so full that they toppled over, and remained inert during the third feeding. Even the older chicks just nibbled at those offerings, and at times even turned their heads away. In both the morning and afternoon, the adults ended up eating most of the third meal themselves.
-- In the morning, with the sun on them, the chicks were quite active. All of them tried to move around the nest, some more successfully than others, but none could be said to be walking properly yet. At one point, Alberta was on the side of the nest box, preening herself, when one of the chicks staggered over to her, and collapsed in front of her, with its head on her feet. She was evidently not amused - she gave the chick a little nip on the head, and it turned around and headed back to rejoin its siblings.
-- In the afternoon, the chicks were quiet, except during the feedings. This may be because it was cooler in the shade, and this compounded with the brisk wind may have encouraged them to huddle together for warmth. The most interesting event of the afternoon occurred during the 4:00 feeding, when Alberta gave the leg of a starling to one of the chicks. It tried to swallow it, but could not. One of the other chicks took it away and also made an unsuccessful attempt to eat it. Finally, the largest of the chicks gave it a try, and with a considerable effort managed to down the leg. One has to wonder how they have enough space in their crops to hold all of the food they eat!

Friday, June 5
Marcel Gahbauer reports: In yesterday's report, I commented how unpredictable the behaviour of the Peregrines is. Today's events underscored that fact strongly.
-- At around 8:30 this morning, one of the larger chicks tried to hop up on to the edge of the nest box, to sit beside Alberta. Unfortunately, its coordination and balance are still only poorly developed, and so it toppled forward and landed outside the box. While it was fairly easy for it to reach the edge of the box from the inside because the gravel was fairly deep, the chick could not climb back into the box from outside because the obstacle was too high.
-- A few times throughout the morning, Alberta climbed out of the box, and tried to lift the chick up. However, she seemed to sense that it was too heavy, and that she might hurt it if she grabbed on to it more forcefully, so she left it where it was. The chick itself made several valiant attempts to scale the wall, and came close to succeeding when it tried to support itself on the vents at the back of the box, but never quite made it.
-- Feedings today were quite spread apart - they occurred at roughly 8:00 am, 11:45, 2:30, 5:30, 7:00, and 8:00 pm. All chicks were fed at the first feeding, but in all other cases only the chicks remaining in the nest received food (except for one leg which Alberta brought over to the escapee).
-- Many visitors to the Falcon Watch Centre expressed concerns about the fate of the wandering chick. These ranged from worries that it would fall over the edge of the ledge to the fear that it would starve or freeze as a result of being ignored by the parents.
-- In all likelihood, however, the chick will be fine. We expected from the beginning that around two weeks of age, the chicks would begin to leave the nest box and explore the rest of the ledge. The oldest chick today was two weeks old. It may well be that within the next day or two a second chick will join it outside the box. This is simply a natural step in their growth toward adulthood.
-- The risk of them falling over the edge is minimal. Peregrines have always nested on high cliffs, and if they were prone to walking over the edge, they would have become extinct centuries ago - obviously they, like humans, instinctively know to stay away from the edge of a high cliff (or building ledge, in this case).
-- Similarly, it is not likely that the lone chick will starve. The fact that the parents did not feed it today is simply typical Peregrine behaviour - they were likely trying to coax it back into the nest. This behaviour will again be evident around the end of June, when the parents will begin leaving food on neighbouring buildings rather than bringing it to the nest, in an attempt to convince the chicks to take their first flights. All of the chicks have been fed enough at this point that they could likely survive a couple of days without food, therefore there is no need to worry about the chick having gone hungry since this morning.
-- Finally, although the night may be rather cool, there is not much risk of the chick suffering from exposure to the cold. Their down is actually quite insulating, and Peregrines are often found in much colder climates than this. Furthermore the building gives off some warmth, and the chick appears to have discovered this fact already this afternoon as it pressed itself up against the vents.
-- In short, while we can't guarantee the chick's safety, we feel confident that Alberta and Toby know what they are doing, and that all four chicks will continue to thrive. Nevertheless, we will be monitoring the nest particularly closely over the next couple of days, and are prepared to intervene if necessary. Hopefully, by the time of the next update on Sunday we will have some good news to report.

Sunday, June 7
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Yesterday and today were very uneventful. The chick which climbed out of the box on Friday morning has remained on the far side of the nest box ever since. It is being fed regularly, and if anything is getting more food than the chicks still in the box - at one feeding today it was the only one to get any food, while at another Alberta fed him half of the starling before taking the remainder into the nest for the other three chicks.
-- A couple of times today the second oldest chick (assuming that it was the oldest which climbed out on Friday) made an attempt to climb up to the edge of the box, but each time it backed down. Clearly the intent is there - probably within the next day or two it will join its sibling outside.

Monday, June 8
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Monday was fairly uneventful at the nest. Early in the morning or sometime Sunday evening, the second chick left the chick and joined the one which had been outside since Friday. Throughout the day, Alberta alternated between feeding the "outside" and "inside" chicks. At times it looked like the third chick was going to climb out too, but didn't quite make it all the way ... yet.
-- A couple of notes on questions raised in earlier updates. Last Tuesday (June 2) we observed Alberta doing a strange yawning/squawking move. In fact, what she was doing was forming a pellet, in the same way as an owl would do - this is apparently not uncommon in most birds of prey. Thanks to John Triffo for this information.
-- Also, we now have identified the mystery bird which Alberta brought to the nest last Wednesday (June 3). The key features of the bird were a slim black bill, fairly long black legs, brownish back, almost entirely white and unmarked below, and with a small white streak over the eye. We have concluded that it was a sandpiper, and specifically, think that it was a Semipalmated Sandpiper. Thanks to Ian Dalton and Glenn Coady for helping with the identification. This raises an interesting question - was the sandpiper migrating up along Mimico Creek, or did Alberta fly down to the lakeshore (Humber Bay or Colonel Sam Smith Park) to pick it up. I suspect the latter, since it isn't that far, and the sandpipers would be more plentiful and easier to hunt there; however, we will never know for sure where the bird came from.

Tuesday, June 9
Marcel Gahbauer reports: First some more on yesterday's events. Around 5:15, Toby flew in with some food, and started to feed the two chicks outside the nest box. The other two chicks still in the box went over to the edge and looked down eagerly. The larger of the two vaulted over the edge within the first couple of minutes of the feeding. The other one made several hesitant attempts to follow, but each time turned its back and walked to the other side of the box. Finally, after about ten minutes, it settled down beside the edge of the box overlooking the feeding. Suddenly it went up and over the edge and joined the other three - it happened so quickly that even when looking at it on the video replay, it still seems so effortless that I wonder how it did it so easily.
-- Today all four chicks spent the entire day on the far side of the nest box. There seems to be an imaginary line extending from the front of the nest box which the chicks don't dare cross -- they clearly want to stay far away from the edge of the ledge. Alberta also spent most of the day either on the ledge or on the front of the nest box, as if she was guarding the chicks in case they started to wander.
-- Surprisingly, we saw only two birds brought in for food between 8 am and 6 pm today. One, around 10:30, appeared to be a starling, and it disappeared quite quickly - the chicks now have ravenous appetites. Following this, we waited more than four hours for another feeding.
-- At around 3 pm, Alberta flew in with a pigeon - only the second time we have seen them bring in a pigeon for the chicks so far. The chicks ate roughly half of the pigeon at this time. Alberta left the remains beside the box, and around 4:30 she stepped down from the nest box to feed them the rest. It's interesting that although the food was right beside them, the chicks made no move to the food while Alberta was away, although they were certainly eager during the feedings. It's only a matter of time until they try to eat it on their own - in fact, maybe the fact that she left it within reach (unlike previous occasions) was the first lesson in teaching them to try to feed on their own.

Wednesday, June 10
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today the four chicks again spent the entire day on the ledge on the far side of the nest box. Most of the time they were huddled together in the corner, and generally only moved when there was a feeding.
-- One interesting development today was that we noticed the chicks are starting to change colour. The two older chicks now have some black showing behind the eyes, and all four chicks are beginning to show some black around the wings and tail, indicating that the flight feathers are beginning to grow in.

Thursday, June 11
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Although the chicks continue to grow noticeably day after day, they are still all "trapped" on the far side of the box, since they can't climb back in, and refuse to walk around it.
-- Several times today, Alberta picked up a scrap of food and dropped it at the feet of the chicks, then flew away. This seems to be a clear indication that she is trying to teach them to feed themselves. In most cases, the chicks ignored the food completely. However, in mid-afternoon, one of the larger chicks picked up a small piece of flesh and walked ~20 cm with it, but then put it back down and ignored it. Oh well, it's a start...
-- For the past several days, we haven't seen much of Toby. When he is at the nest, it's usually just to deliver a bird to Alberta, after which he flies off. Each day this week, he has fed the chicks once while Alberta was away, but never stayed for more than 10 minutes. That being said, Toby is paying much more attention to the nest than he did earlier. During the incubation period, he often spent most of the day on the LAVA sign on the west tower. However, we now get reports throughout the day of him perched beside the camera, on the nest ledge. It seems that while he doesn't spend much time at the nest or with the chicks, he does like to keep an eye on them all. Alberta is still spending most of the day on the edge of the nest box, but does fly off at times for up to 45 minutes at a time, during which time Toby presumably acts as guard from a distance.

Friday, June 12
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The life lessons continued today. Alberta continued to leave food behind at the side of the nest, and at least two of the chicks today began to pick away at this food at times. They weren't very successful yet, since they aren't yet strong enough to rip the flesh away with their beak while holding it down with their talons, but at least they tried.
-- During one of today's feedings (a pigeon around 4 pm), two of the chicks did a little tug-of-war dance with a piece of meat. A little bit later, we saw another one swallow a leg and foot whole. We've seen them do this with starling feet, but I was amazed that a chick could swallow a pigeon foot (much larger than that of a starling) with such apparent ease.
-- The adults spent most of the day away from the nest. Toby was seen near the nest only once after 9 am, and that was for less than a minute. Even Alberta was not as attentive as in past days. Three separate times, she was away from the nest for an hour or more (at one point for nearly 100 minutes). I think this was partly because the wind today tempted the adults to fly more than they normally would - twice in the afternoon I went outside and saw Alberta hanging in the air over Bloor, playing in the wind. However, I think it's also an attempt by the adults to make the chicks feel more independent, and to encourage them to begin to fend for themselves (e.g. eating the food scraps left behind, rather than waiting for a fresh feeding).
-- Alberta also gave us a surprise in the morning. At 10:28, she left the nest, looking completely normal. At 10:36, she landed on the nest box briefly, and appeared to be completely soaked (especially underneath). Clearly she didn't fly through a downpour, or she would have been just as wet above. We also doubt that she would have gone down to Mimico Creek for any reason. Most likely, she had immersed herself in a puddle on the roof of one of the buildings. While this seems an odd behaviour for a Peregrine, Victoria (at the downtown Toronto nest) has been seen doing this in previous years, presumably in an effort to cool down on hot days. It will be interesting to see whether Alberta does this again in the future.

Sunday, June 14
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Not much has changed in the past two days. The chicks continue to grow daily, and all now have a mottled black and white appearance. I noticed for the first time today that the larger ones are quickly approaching the size of Toby - at least 2/3 of the way there already. This is becoming particularly noticeable because they are standing upright for ever longer periods of time - it won't be long now until they start running back and forth along the ledge.
-- The chicks have apparently learned that the food scraps left behind are for their consumption - several times today they picked at the remains of previous feedings. However, I still get the feeling that they aren't getting much food from these scraps - the tearing/ripping motion just isn't developed yet.
-- The most exciting development today was that one of the chicks finally learned how to climb back into the nest box. As of this morning, they had all been out of it for between 6 and 9 days. One chick (at least I think it was the same one - currently it's hard to tell them apart) climbed in and out of the box three times within an hour. Each time, however, it returned to the far side where the other chicks remained. Nevertheless, this is a start. I'm sure the others will also soon learn they can climb back into the box, and one of them will eventually jump out on the near side of the box, and discover the rest of the ledge.

Monday, June 15
Marcel Gahbauer reports: At least two of the chicks have now learned to eat on their own. In the early afternoon, we noticed them holding down old scraps of food with their talons, and ripping away at them with their beaks. While they were still far from efficient, they did have some degree of success, and managed to tear off pieces small enough to gulp down.
-- At one point in the morning, I thought that one of the chicks might finally discover the east part of the ledge. It was in the nest box when Toby arrived between the box and the camera. All of the chicks suddenly became very alert and moved in his direction (although he had no food). However, by the time the chick reached the edge of the box, Toby too had come as far as the box - had he stayed away a bit longer, I'm sure it would have jumped out on that side. Maybe tomorrow...
-- Over the past few days, we've noticed that feedings are becoming less frequent. Where they used to have 8 to 10 feedings a day of starlings and sparrows, they now seem to be averaging 4 or 5 meals a day. Generally this includes at least one pigeon, and the rest are still usually starlings. The pigeons, however, keep them fed for a long time - most pigeon feedings last at least 20 minutes (compared to an average of 10-12 minutes for the starlings), and even after this there are scraps left over for later consumption (either for the parents to feed them, or for the chicks to go at on their own).

Tuesday, June 16
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The morning was foggy and rainy, and there was very little activity at the nest - Alberta stood motionless on the box for over two hours, while the chicks all slept on the far side of the box.
-- Finally, just before noon, Alberta flew off and Toby soon arrived with a House Sparrow. He fed this to the chicks and then flew off again. Alberta then returned and fed them part of a starling, then left the remainder of it there while she took off. Within minutes Toby came back with another starling. By this point only one chick was still hungry, and Toby fed it for several minutes before leaving again. Three feedings in half an hour - no wonder the chicks look as tubby as they do!
-- The chicks were alone for most of the afternoon. Toby at times was on the roof above the nest, and I saw Alberta on the south corner of the Centre Tower for the first time this afternoon. However, there were also times when neither adult could be seen. It seems that the chicks are being left alone for increasingly long periods of time. The chicks meanwhile continue to progress well - today one of them preened its entire body very thoroughly, and at least three of the four were eating on their own at one time or another. Also, with every day that passes, they are becoming more steady on their feet - it won't be long now until they will explore the rest of the ledge.

Wednesday, June 17
Marcel Gahbauer reports: It may sound silly, but I'm convinced that the chicks grew considerably overnight. Most of them now look as large as Toby, and given their bulk are probably already heavier than him. Interestingly, there's still only one chick with a lot of black; the others are still mostly white, with black feathers poking out along the wings and tail.
-- Several times during the morning, one of the chicks climbed into the nest box. Twice it looked like it was going to come out on the near side of the box, but it always backed off and climbed back out on the far side, where the other chicks were.
-- Alberta and Toby were away from the nest for most of the morning. Alberta finally reappeared around noon, and landed on the nest box, which the adventurous chick happened to be in at the time. Within a couple of minutes, the oldest chick joined them in the box. It paused there only briefly, before climbing out on the near side of the box. The chick took a good look at the new world on this part of the ledge, but didn't travel too far.
-- Not much later, the third chick climbed into the box from the far side. The chick on the near side then also went back into the box, and soon the last chick also climbed back in. This is the first time that all four chicks have been in the box together since June 5. Alberta was also still there during this time, making the box very crowded. All five birds stayed in the nest for most of the afternoon, sleeping much of the time (and completely ignoring the thunderstorms that lingered for over an hour).

Thursday, June 18
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Banding day in Etobicoke! Around 9:30 am, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources staff descended on a swing stage from the roof and approached the nest ledge. Yesterday evening and earlier this morning, the chicks had been running up and down the ledge, but when the stage approached, they all seemed to be frozen in place. Collecting them proceeded without incident. We had expected that Alberta, and possibly even Toby, would attack the people on the swing stage, but they never did. We received reports that initially Toby was on his old "LAVA" perch, but was pushed off by Alberta. I've never seen Alberta there before - maybe she was telling him to go do his job and take care of the nest visitors. Toby flew around the building several times, but never came close to attacking.
-- Meanwhile, the excitement unfolded inside as the chicks were brought into the lobby for banding. Each chick was taken out of the bag, weighed, banded, and then had a few feathers plucked for it for later testing. After this, it was placed in a second bag. The procedure took an average of five minutes for each chick.
-- All of the chicks were very vocal while being held, but were quiet as long as they were in the bags. They were also very lively - trying their best to scratch the banders with both talons and beaks. Overall, however, they were remarkably calm and well-behaved. As a result, it was possible to briefly walk around with them before returning them to the roof, to the delight of the large crowd that had gathered.
-- The chicks, as determined by weight, are three males (23, 24, and 27 days old) and one female (26 days old). Their names, as determined by the draw for the Canadian Peregrine Foundation / Etobicoke Guardian "Name the Chicks Contest" are: Windwhistler, Ridge, Marco (Polo), and Abby. Details on the weight and band number of each chick will be posted here shortly.
-- After returning the chicks to the nest ledge, the swing stage was taken back up to the roof. Within five minutes, Alberta landed on the nest box. The chicks at this time were all on the far side of the box. There did not appear to be any interaction between them and Alberta. Alberta remained on the box for a couple of hours, then flew off again. The chicks eventually all climbed into the nest box, and slept there for much of the afternoon.
-- Finally, around 4:30, Alberta returned with a bloody mess of a carcass, large enough that it was likely a pigeon. She fed them for roughly ten minutes, then took the remainder of the bird to the northeast side of the nest box and tried to stuff it under the box. After this she flew off. Was she trying to encourage them to come out and go at the food themselves? If she was, the chicks didn't pass the test - they all went back to sleep soon. This seemed surprising, since they had no food all day (at least not since I arrived at 7:30 am - they may have had an earlier feeding or two). I would have expected them to be more hungry, but maybe they were still distracted by trying to deal with today's events. I expect that tomorrow things will return to normal (...if there is ever such a thing as a normal day out here!)

Friday, June 19
Marcel Gahbauer reports: In sharp contrast to yesterday, today proved to be very uneventful. We observed a few feedings, but outside of these, the adults were away from the nest for most of the day. The chicks spent much of the day together in the nest box, although at times one or two stepped out for a while to explore the rest of the ledge.
-- The only other note of interest today is that they continue to grow and change colour at an incredible rate. From day to day, we can see the amount of black on each bird change noticeably. For example, Marco Polo now has more black than white on him, while the youngest (Windwhistler) is still ~90% white. Presumably, by Tuesday (when he is the same age as Marco Polo was today) he will be just as dark.

Monday, June 22
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The chicks continue to grow at an astounding rate! Marco Polo is now mostly black, having already lost most of his down, and all of the others also have significant amounts of black as well. Throughout the day today, we saw small clumps of down being blown around the ledge.
-- The adults no longer spend time on the nest ledge. Both Toby and Alberta continue to visit to bring food - at times they simply drop the food off and let the chicks go at it themselves; other times they still feed them as they have been doing. In all cases, however, they leave again as soon as the feeding or delivery is finished. It appears that Toby is more likely to still feed them, while Alberta tends to encourage them to eat on their own - there have been several instances where she has arrived without food, picked up a scrap from the ledge, dropped it at the feet of a chick, and then flown off again.
-- We anticipate that we are now as little as a week away from the first flight of our oldest chick, Marco Polo. Already today we saw him running along the ledge, madly flapping his wings. Incredibly, for a split-second, he became airborne! The other chicks have all started to exercise their wings as well, and are now moving up and down the ledge quite frequently. The nest box appears to be a minor inconvenience - they hop in and out of it now with little effort. Interestingly, the chicks seem to stick together most of the time - there are periods when they are all in the nest box, while at other times they are all out of sight at the base of the camera.

Tuesday, June 23
Marcel Gahbauer reports: For the first time today, we noticed that one of our chicks really looks like a Peregrine! Until now, they have always been round balls of fluff with patches of black. Today, however, we suddenly noticed that Marco Polo has developed the facial pattern of an adult Peregrine, and has a streaked brownish breast. I continue to be amazed at how much these birds can change in a single day
-- Activity at the nest was minimal today - the rain, humidity, and heat combined to make the chicks very lazy. For most of the day, they slept in or beside the nest box. The adults dropped off food a couple of times in the afternoon, and the chicks ate on their own. Pigeons appear to have overtaken Starlings as the prey of choice in recent days.
-- The chicks are preening more and more every day, trying to pull out their down feathers. The oldest two chicks have already lost most of theirs. Abby today stood with one leg pulled up, just like the adults often do. She and Marco Polo both stretched their wings and legs a few times, in the same way that Alberta frequently does just before flying off. All four of the chicks are already flapping their wings strongly, and Abby did so from the southeast edge of the nest box, overlooking the street. I'm quite certain we will have our first flight within the next week.

Wednesday, June 24
Marcel Gahbauer reports: There is no question that the first flight of our chicks is fast approaching. Both Marco Polo and Abby now really look like Peregrines, and the other two are not far behind. Although they spent much of the day resting (probably due to the heat), when they did move they did so very much like adults.
-- Early in the morning, Marco Polo ran toward the box, flapping his wings, and hopped flew on to the edge of the box and down on the far side. He then came back up in the same manner and stood on the northeast edge of the box facing the camera for close to a minute before flapping his wings and flying back down to the ledge. How long until he realizes he can also fly off the ledge?
-- Even Alberta and Toby seem to realize that the chicks will soon be flying. For much of the morning, both adults were flying back and forth along Bloor. Toby in particular appeared to be making loops in front of the nest. Although the chicks ignored this activity much of the time, there were a few instances when Marco Polo responded to a parent flying past by vigorously flapping his wings and looking out over the street. He isn't yet flapping frequently enough or long enough to suggest that his first flight is imminent, but it may occur by the end of the week.

Thursday, June 25
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today was very much like yesterday. The chicks continue to show a growing confidence in moving back and forth along the ledge, yet again remained resting for most of the day, probably due to the continuing heat wave.
-- There were only three new developments today. One was that for the first time, Marco Polo walked past the nesting box along the front of the box. He also stood on the corner of the box, bobbing his head up and down after flapping his wings furiously. This indicates that he is beginning to focus on distant objects, and suggests to us that his first flight is fast approaching, even though he is still only 34 days old.
-- The parents were again absent from the nest ledge for most of the day. Both dropped off food at times, and Alberta once fed a couple of the chicks briefly, but usually they left quickly. What was interesting was that several times in the afternoon Alberta landed on the ledge in front of the chicks, and immediately left again. It seemed as if she was encouraging them (or at least Marco) to follow her.

Friday, June 26
Marcel Gahbauer reports: With every passing day, the tension mounts. Although the oldest chick is still only 35 days old (and males rarely fly before 38 or 39 days), his appearance and actions suggest that there is very little chance of him waiting until Monday or later to take flight. Several times today he flew short distances along the ledge, and once gave us a good scare when a gust of wind appeared to blow him sideways toward the edge.
-- Later in the afternoon I turned my attention away from the monitor for a couple of minutes and when I looked at it again could only see three chicks! Even stranger, Alberta was standing quietly on the ledge - and we hadn't seen either her or Toby there all day except for brief 5-second visits to drop off food. As I was pondering what was happening, I saw a blur fly vertically through the air in the background. With panic setting in, we checked the ledge thoroughly with the camera. Just as we were becoming convinced that Marco Polo had flown, he popped up from behind the nest box - he had simply been lying down out of sight, the little devil! Upon replaying the videotape, I then discovered that the vertically moving object was in fact Toby flying straight up over Bloor. However, I still have no explanation for Alberta's presence.
-- Although it may sound like there was a lot of excitement today, the reality is that up until around 4:30 very little happened - the chicks slept for most of the day, trying to find what little shade was available (primarily the shade cast by the camera itself). In the late afternoon they finally seemed to wake up, and all of them flapped their wings at time. They've certainly lost their fear of the edge of the ledge - both Marco Polo and Ridge have now walked past the front of the nest box, and I wouldn't be surprised if the other two have as well when we weren't looking.
-- Over the past couple of days, several people who watched last years chicks at this site have visited the Falcon Watch Centre. One of the most common comments from them is how much less active the chicks are compared to the ones last year, and also how much quieter the adults are. The lack of activity of the chicks for most of the day I would have attributed to the heat this past week, but as I recall the weather was similar at this time last year. It will be interesting to see whether the actions of the chicks upon first flight will share any similarities with those of their older siblings, or whether they will be different in this way too. We'll soon see...

Saturday, June 27
Marcel Gahbauer reports: For the first time since the chicks hatched, we seem to have come to a point where there are few changes from day to day. While the chicks are still maturing physically every day, the changes are now only slight - all of them have been fully feathered for at least a few days, and have lost most of their down (all of it in the case of Marco, and 90% or more in Abby and Ridge; Windwhistler is around 70 to 80%).
-- In terms of behaviour, it was the same routine again today - the chicks spent the morning in the corner of the ledge below the camera, then moved to the area around the box in the afternoon. All of them took turns flapping vigorously at times, although Marco continued to be the only one who seemed to truly be interested in leaving - at one point he stood about 5 cm from the edge, staring out over the landscape without moving for over half an hour.

Sunday, June 29, 1998
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Another day has passed, again with little change in the activities of the chicks. As they have done since Thursday, they spent some time flapping their wings and looking out over the landscape, but much more often they were standing quietly or sleeping. Aside from their physical appearances, there doesn't seem to be anything which suggests an imminent departure by any of them.
-- Alberta and Toby, however, have other ideas. Both of them continue to land on the nest ledge beside chicks and immediately fly away again, as if they are coaxing the chicks to follow them. So far the chicks haven't shown any interest in this game at all. Alberta is also reprising her game from last year of sliding down the windows of the buildings - what she does is fly toward the top floor of offices on the nest building, and then slides down against the windows until she is about halfway to the ground, at which point she recovers and flies away again. We have no idea what purpose this serves, but it's interesting to note that both last year and this year this behaviour was observed primarily around the time the chicks began to fly.
-- Also today, Naish McHugh reports that a Ring-billed Gull made the mistake of flying too close to the nest. Alberta was on the southeast side of the nest building at the time, and attacked the gull directly. It wasn't clear whether she actually hit the gull or not, but it let out a loud yelp, and was chased to the north and out of sight. Until now, both Toby and Alberta have generally ignored the gulls that periodically fly past the nest building. This attack suggests that they (well, at least Alberta) are becoming more protective of the chicks.

Monday, June 29
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Several close calls, but still no first flights. The dawn-to-dusk volunteer fledgling watch is now officially under way in Etobicoke, and watchers (both on the street and in the Falcon Watch Centre) observed several heart-stopping near flights over the course of the day.
-- The most memorable, in my opinion, took place around 5 pm. Alberta had just flown in to the far end of the ledge, which caused all chicks to rush toward her. Alberta took off again, and a minute later landed near the camera. The chicks then all charged toward her again. However, they did not run - for the most part they flew, touching down only every metre or two. Surprisingly, all four chicks did the same! The scary part was that they bounced back and forth sideways as they flew, and two of the chicks, when they touched down, found themselves right on the edge of the ledge, with their right foot treading air, and only the left foot with which to propel themselves back onto the ledge. The chicks were so close together as they ran that it would have been easy for one to knock another over the edge.
-- A little bit later in the evening, one of the males was standing on the ledge, then backed up toward the edge. When it reached the edge, it perched there like an adult would, then started flapping its wings madly and leaned backward (i.e. out!). After what seemed like an eternity, it finally settled down and walked back toward the nest box. Although it looked kind of like Marco, this could have also been Ridge - over the course of today, Ridge lost so much down that the two birds are now virtually indistinguishable.
-- The adults brought food three times between 5 and 6 am, but then did not return with more until around 8:30 at night. The withholding of food over the course of day suggests that the adults are attempting to coax the chicks off of the ledge. However, the carcasses from the morning remained on the ledge all day long, and were substantial enough that even in the early evening the chicks were still able to find food on them. For the first time today, we observed the chicks fighting for food. Several times two would grab hold of opposite ends of a carcass, and play tug-of-war -- this made us nervous too when one of the chicks was backing up toward the edge of the ledge.
-- Overall, the level of activity of the chicks was noticeably higher today than in the past few days. Maybe tomorrow we will finally have a flight.

Tuesday, June 30
Marcel Gahbauer reports: If anything, the activity of the chicks stepped back a notch today in comparison to yesterday. This was probably largely due to the heavy downpours that thundered through the area for much of the morning and again in the early afternoon.
-- Like yesterday, the adults delivered food to the chicks first thing in the morning, and then stayed away for much of the day. Breakfast consisted of one pigeon and one gull - we didn't see the gull being brought in, but while scanning the ledge with the camera, we spotted webbed feet in one area, and a mangled corpse with long white and gray feathers not far away. Alberta was seen harassing a gull on the weekend - maybe this time she just went one step further.
-- By late afternoon, the activity on the nest ledge was beginning to pick up again. Around 4 pm, Alberta landed near the camera with a small scrap of food, and all of the chicks (which were beside the box at the time) ran toward her. There wasn't much to feed on, and they soon returned to the area of the box, and remained quiet again for more than an hour.
-- Between 7 and 8 pm, Toby landed near the middle of the ledge with a small bird (probably a sparrow, but maybe a starling) in his beak. The chicks all rushed toward him with Marco in the lead. Marco ran right up to Toby, ripped the bird out of his beak, and then ran toward the camera. Toby stood there for a moment and seemed shocked, much like he did during the incubation period when Alberta did the same - I could just imagine him thinking "First Alberta, and now the kids have turned against me too - what did I do to deserve this!". Toby then flew west out of sight.
-- After Toby left, a truly comical sequence unfolded. Abby ran after Marco, who then reappeared running toward the box. However, he then saw the other two chicks blocking his way, and turned around again, still carrying the prey in his beak. We lost him from sight again for a few seconds but then he reappeared again (presumably trying to avoid Abby). This repeated itself several times, until Abby and the younger males were only a couple of metres apart, and Marco was going crazy trying to avoid them all. Finally he ran past the younger two males and into the far corner, where he was able to eat some of the food, but it looked like the others also got some.
-- Around 8:15 pm, Alberta came in with a pigeon. All four chicks were together at the nest box when she arrived. This time Abby took charge - she carried the pigeon back to the vents, and started to pluck it, while the others stood watching. Eventually Abby and Windwhistler ate from it, while the other two males stood on the box watching them. Ridge eventually joined in the feeding, but Marco evidently had enough from the previous meal. The feeding continued for about 45 minutes.
-- Just past 9 pm, all of the chicks climbed into the box. The three males positioned themselves lying side by side, with their heads resting on the southeast edge of the nest box, while Abby came up behind them, and lay down between two of the males. It seems that for now at least, this is still a very close-knit family.

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