Canadian Peregrine Foundation -- Etobicoke Archives: 1998

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Etobicoke

Daily Reports - September 1998

Tuesday, September 1
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Last night Alberta apparently spent most of the evening perched on the edge of the nest box, looking out over the street below - as if she was waiting for the window washers to reappear so that she could launch another attack.

Today she was not at the nest as much as she has been in recent days, but when she was there she again went through the gravel-pushing routine that has become so familiar. Toby made only one appearance, in the mid-afternoon. Although Alberta did not chase him off this time, she was clearly unhappy with him being there, and kept clucking until he gave in and dove off the edge again.

I did not see any of the young birds today, nor did anyone report having seen them last night. It seems that if they have not already left for the winter, they are certainly getting close to doing so.

Wednesday, September 2
Marcel Gahbauer reports: For most of today either one adult or the other was on or beside the nest box. Toby was there for about half an hour in the early afternoon, and again for less than an hour between 4 and 5 pm, while Alberta spent most of the morning on the nest, and was also there in the afternoon while Toby was away. Both adults again scraped the gravel while at the nest, but not quite as much as most recent days. Once again today none of the juveniles were seen.

Thursday September 3
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Today was very quiet in Etobicoke. Alberta did not put in an appearance until mid-afternoon, and remained fairly quiet while she was there, only performing her gravel-pushing routine twice in over two hours. Toby flew past the nest at one point, but did not land.

Again last night and all day today the young birds remained unseen. The last confirmed sighting of any of them was Sunday August 30. It seems more and more likely that they have already started to head south for the winter. Observers will be watching the area throughout the weekend, and by the time of the next update on Tuesday we should have a good idea of whether any are still around or not.

Tuesday September 8
Marcel Gahbauer reports: With the fall raptor migration in full swing, Toby and Alberta are getting a steady stream of visitors. Yesterday shortly after noon I saw Kestrels, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and Broad-winged Hawks flying west past the nesting building. Most were fairly high up, but the Kestrels in particular were flying relatively low (around the top of the buildings). At the time I saw these birds flying past, Alberta was on the ledge east of the camera, preoccupied with staring down at the window washers below.
Neither of the adult Peregrines were on the nest ledge in the morning or afternoon yesterday. However, around 3 pm, a Kestrel landed right beside the nest box! It stood there for about a minute, and seemed to be looking around very nervously. It then flew off, and did not come back. I couldn't tell whether it left because Alberta was attacking, or just because it wanted to continue on its way.
Over the past few days, Alberta and Toby continued to use the nest ledge regularly, and at times were even seen together. One local resident reports having also seen one of the juveniles at the nest on Thursday and Sunday, but it appears that all of the others are gone.

Thursday September 10
Marcel Gahbauer reports: The past couple of days have been fairly uneventful. Toby and Alberta continue to both visit the nest box, scraping the gravel at times but mostly just standing on the edge.

One more kestrel visited the nest ledge Wednesday morning, but again did not stay long. Given that kestrels have been streaming west on their migration for the past few days, it is likely that this was a different bird from the one seen on Tuesday.

The last time an immature Peregrine was reported in the area of the nest was on Sunday night. Given that four days have now passed with Toby and Alberta being spotted regularly, but none of the young birds ever being seen, I think it is probably safe to assume that Marco, Abby, Ridge, and Windwhistler have now all headed south for the winter.

Tuesday September 15
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Since last Thursday both adults have been seen regularly at the nest site. On Saturday, Alberta was reported to be standing on the nest box while Toby repeatedly flew past her, as if trying to coax her off. Today Alberta put in only a very brief appearance, flying off in pursuit of something less than a minute after landing.

Today's more interesting news was a reliable report of three Peregrine Falcons over the nest building shortly after noon. This is the first time in a week and a half that a Peregrine other than Alberta and Toby was seen here. Given that no chases were observed, the third bird was likely one of this year's Etobicoke chicks. If this is the case, then it is obviously spending most of its time somewhere else - far enough away that it is rarely seen here, but close enough that it can come back again once in a while. It will be interesting to see whether it hangs around its 'new' territory, or eventually heads south as its siblings presumably have.

Thursday September 17
Marcel Gahbauer reports: This week Alberta and Toby continued to return to the nest ledge on a regular basis. On a few occasions they both rested there together for up to half an hour. This is in contrast with their behaviour in previous weeks, when they were always seen alone.

Another difference was that Alberta has generally spent much more time at the nest ledge than Toby, but today he was the one who made repeated trips back to it. What was also odd was that in the afternoon he made four brief visits to the nest, and they were all exactly 53 minutes apart. On each occasion he briefly hopped up to the box, looked around, and flew off again after about a minute.

Tuesday September 22
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Alberta stayed at the nest for a really long time yesterday. She was there the whole time I was (i.e. noon to 5 pm), and security told me she had been there for most of the morning too. She did all of her regular gravel-pushing behaviour several times.

Wednesday September 23
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Alberta was acting differently today. She was much more animated and nervous than she has been in many weeks - most noticeably, I didn't see her doing her standard stretching / gravel-pushing exercises at any time today. Although she again spent most of the day on the nest, there were times when she paced back and forth, clucking at something. At one point in the afternoon she twice flew off from the nest within a ten minute period, only to return each time and continue clucking. Toby put in a brief appearance in the middle of the afternoon, and although she did cluck at him too until he left, she didn't seem particularly bothered by his presence. This makes me think that something else was around that was bothering her, but I don't know what.

Thursday September 24
Marcel Gahbauer reports: Alberta and Toby continued to act strangely today. Both at 12:50 and at 2:15, Toby was on the nest box alone, when Alberta flew in and walked with hunched shoulders toward him. Both times he backed up until he reached the edge of the nest box, then flew off. The first time Alberta was not satisfied with this - she actually flew off and chased him some more!
Later, around 3 pm, both adults landed near the nest within seconds of each other. Toby was on the far side of the box, and Alberta on the near side. For a couple of minutes they stood there glaring at each other. Alberta eventually won the war of nerves, and Toby flew off again.

Soon after Toby left, Alberta did her usual gravel digging exercises, then went to stand on the front edge of the box. After a few minutes, she coughed up a sizeable (~2 cm long) pellet. Although we have seen her go through the motions before, this is the first time we have seen her (or any of the falcons here, for that matter) actually produce a pellet.

Outdoor observations suggest that Toby is back to using the "L" of the LAVA sign on the west tower as his favourite perch. In fact, their behaviour in general over the past few days is reminiscent of the incubation period. At that time, Alberta was generally aggressive toward Toby, and only occasionally tolerated his presence for an extended period. Also, both adults seem reluctant to leave the nest unattended - Alberta is spending most of the day there every day, and twice today when she left Toby landed within minutes. Their behaviour certainly seems peculiar, but maybe it is normal for a pair which chooses to winter at their nest site. We will continue to check on them throughout the winter to see whether their behaviour changes with the seasons.

Saturday, September 26
Bruce Massey reports: Dropped by the Etobicoke nest this afternoon, and saw both adults out there around the nest site. Didn't see any juveniles.

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