The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

DOWNTOWN TORONTO ARCHIVES

May - June 2005

Thursday June 30, 2005
Jeff reports:
Today brought a marked change in juvenile peregrine behaviour. When the juveniles first started to fly, I said to my wife, "You'd think they would be fascinated by flight and would want to fly here, there and everywhere." Well, today they did, though I think they were inspired by Mandy. Yesterday Mandy and two juveniles came tearing around the Metropole in close formation but today all (or most) were flying with glee, mainly to the east of the King Eddy. Mandy was clutching food which, I imagine, gave the young birds an incentive to follow her but even when she wasn't around there was a good deal of flying. The east side of the King Eddy roof and the church at King and Church are much more popular hang-outs now. (I certainly saw some magnificent sights today, especially Mandy gliding around, wings out-stretched, really spectacular.)

Plumage on backs and wings looked much darker today: no longer light brown.

It seemed to me that there were just three juvenile falcons visible looking east from 7 King Street East today. The chimney falcon had abandoned its usual haunt. Obviously, Linda et. al. will know for sure whether I mis-counted or if the fourth juvenile is some place out of my line of sight.

As night drew in (20:45), a female youngster and a male youngster were perched on the spire of the church (King and Church) and a third youngster was feeding on the wall of the east side of the King Eddy roof. By 21:30, I could see just one falcon; it was perched in the church spire.

Bruce Massey reports: As I arrived at the parking lot at Church and King, two Immature Falcons were flying South of the King Edward Hotel and disappeared to the East out of sight. A third immature was flying by itself above the King Edward Hotel. At least one of the adults were in attendance.

Paul Marshman reports: Around 1:30 Neil and I watched from Leader Lane as the chicks staged a spectacular air show. The female and one of the males chased each other around the neighbourhood with lots of noise, making long flights and soaring frequently. Mandy, meanwhile, flew along with them. Looking closely, I could see that she was dangling a piece of food from one talon, apparently trying to get them to take it from her in mid-air. But there were no takers, even when she soared for some time over another chick perched on One Financial. All four chicks were present, plus both parents. As I left, two chicks took a seat on the St. James spire and were visited briefly by a third, while the fourth chick looked on from the roof of 92 King St., across the street.

Wednesday June 29, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
6:00 p.m.
On my way to Leader Lane for a "look see" I found two juveniles on the west side of the King Edward Hotel at the base of the chimney. As I approached the Leader Parker lot, Wendy was there and had two juveniles in view.

Not much activity, from the young ones. A little vocalization was heard an two juveniles appeared on the roof of the nest building. All are accounted for.

I suspect that once the heat breaks, we'll be entertained with evening air shows from the juveniles chasing the adults.

Jeff reports: Some activity around the King Eddy yesterday but I didn't see anything interesting. Until proven otherwise, I shall henceforth assume that what others have called the 'chimney peregrine' is the same bird every time I see a bird by the chimney. Having said that, this morning their were two falcons on the girder-ledge. The chimney bird was lying down most of the time and the other bird (which looked larger but my relative size perception is poor) was interacting with it by touching/brushing beaks. From time to time the chimney bird would stand up for a while then lie down again. Obviously it's not possible for someone like me to fathom a bird's motivations but it really looked as though the larger bird was worried about the chimney bird. All the while, an adult was perched on the ventilation window canopy. I didn't watch long enough to see what transpired but a little later all birds had left.

The King Eddy roof comprises many levels. Looking eastward at the King Eddy there is a central tower shape the culminates in the highest section of roof. To the left (north) there is the chimney and between the chimney and the highest roof section is a short stretch of elevated roof that I will refer to as the mid-section roof. Off entirely to the right (southern side of the King Eddy) is an isolated building which has a small roof that often collects rain water and is sometimes used by birds for bathing and is sometimes used by peregrines for drinking. I shall call this the bathing roof.

Around 13:00 I saw two juveniles fly in from the north-west, flapping vigorously with the intent of landing on the bathing roof. One of them alighted without difficultly but the other just couldn't get the elevation and flapped around on the side of the isolated building beneath the bathing roof for a couple of seconds then flew off onto the roof of 50 King Street East (CIBC office on ground floor). It stayed there for a while and walked up and down. It seemed to me that it was limping very slightly but then again peregrines can be so ungainly when they twaddle along that it might not have been limping at all! By now, the bird that made it to the bathing roof had flown over to the mid-section roof where it perched in the corner by the side of the 'main tower section'. I have never seen a falcon on that section of roof before. After a few more minutes, the less-skilled bird flew off the roof of 50 King Street East onto the very highest roof section, directly above the other bird. Then something vaguely amusing happened. A passing sea gull swooped down on the highest peregrine then circled back and swooped down a second time then flew off. Both swoops put the sea gull no closer than ten feet above the peregrine and the peregrine was unperturbed. I've noticed this sort of sea gull behaviour before and it still seems bizarre, given their obvious vulnerability in a falcon attack.

By 14:00 both birds had settled on the girder ledge. I wonder if the larger bird has taken the chimney bird 'under its wing'.

Tuesday June 28, 2005
Harry Crawford reports:
Arriving at Court and Toronto at 5:25am, I found one juvenile on the north east corner of the nest building roof, another flying over the CHFI building and a third on the CHFI cooling tower railing. A check of the hostel area didn`t find the fourth one, presumably the one originally on the lower church spire from yesterday. Even though the light was very poor (early dawn and lots of haze), you could tell the three were juveniles by their `hop and flutter` movements. At this time, I couldn`t see any adults. At 5:57am, approaching Church along Adelaide, I could hear a peregrine vocalising. I found her, the young female, on the south west corner penthouse level of the condo at 77 Lombard. This appeared to be a recreational floor and the bird was on the outside of the balcony facing the glass barrier. She was screaming her head off. I returned to the nest building just in time to see a food drop on the roof of the building. Two chicks were visible there and one was still on the CHFI building. Because the condo chick was a female, then the one from the hostel and church spire had to be one of the three on or near the nest building.

At 6:18am, I went back to the condo to find that the young female had left. I was concerned that she may have come to ground so I looked for a security or concierge person at the condo but didn`t find anyone. Instead, I left our card with the emergency numbers with the desk clerk at the Quality Inn next door and with the attendant at the parking lot at Church and Lombard. I then met up with Bruce and as we were heading north on Church, we saw a large dark peregrine flying north north west towards Victoria and Richmond -- hey, likely our missing female chick. We went back to the nest area and found the other three in the same vicinity as before.

At 7:50am, our juvenile female returned to the area, this time on the south west corner of the Church and King condo. Again, she was screaming, presumably for food. At 8:09am, dad made a food drop on the roof of the nest building, second time this morning. The three young brothers were visible there as well -- so again we have all four in view. Mom came by with food and flew past the young girl on the condo, trying to entice her off and perhaps join her brothers on the nest building. It didn`t work. So, at 8:45am, mom brought the food over to her. She stopped screaming then. At this time, we had the whole family in view: 4 chicks and the 2 adults.

Monday June 27, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
09:30- 12:30
When I arrived, Harry, Bruce, Neil, Zoe, Paul had counted all four juveniles in the area. Church bird remained on the north lower spire of the west entrance of St.James until 11:30ish. ( Times may be off a little) Flew off and out of my sight, Zoe and Bruce and Paul had tracked to south of King St. Bird rested for a few minutes and then off again, north of King St. and came to rest on the Hostel on Church St. Food drop was made around dinner time and the bird was still there at 7:120p.m. when we left for the evening.

He is flying very well, but seems reluctant to take extended jaunts around the neighborhood. The others were checked on frequently and are being fed. Flying skills for the other 3 are fine. The observation of these birds will decrease. They are flying well, and no longer need the dawn to dusk observations.

Harry Crawford reports: Arriving at Leader Lane at 5:20am, I found the adult female on the CHFI cooling tower, the adult male on the CHFI antenna, one chick on the south peak of 1 Toronto, and the chick still on the lower church spire. Just then, a chick flew from the King Edward roof over to 1 Toronto to join the one already there. This bird was smaller, indicating that the first occupant was the female juvenile. At 5:34am, a chick flew from the roof area of the nest building to the CHFI cooling tower to join his mother. A quick recount in the area indicated that at 5:50am, all four juveniles and both adults were in view. Home base for the chicks appears to be the roof of the nest building. They make frequent short trips to other buildings but return here. Mother took food over to this area at 8:20am.

Neil spent his time watching the juvenile on the church spire. This one hasn`t gained height yet and could still come to ground. Bruce agreed, and joined Neil after arriving. This is the bird from 10 Toronto and hasn`t been fed now for two days. Meanwhile, at 8:30am, dad made a quick trip to the food stash at the King Edward, retrieved some food, and made a drop on the roof of the nest building. Paul dropped by for a quick update before I went off to work at 8:50am.

Sunday June 26, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
All four juveniles were accounted for ( again ) by 6:30p.m. At one point in the afternoon, when the watchers were slowly going home for dinner, it was hard to keep track of the juveniles. We have all been fooled more than once this year by the activity of the juveniles.We even so much had to pull out a scope because we were not sure of the maturity of the bird we were watching. I must say this is a good sign that the juveniles are staying high and not floating to the ground.

The Downtown Toronto Watch Crew are the most experienced in observation skills of nesting peregrine falcons, and a few times today, the juveniles had us guessing. But the landings give them away.

The chimney bird, so affectionately named, stayed at the base of the chimney of the King Edward Hotel most of the day. I really thought something was wrong with this bird, for not getting out of the blistering sun. The bird eventually got up, walked to the edge of the roof and flew off towards the nest building, staying high, and flying and flying and then turning , turning and went back to the spot at the base of the chimney.So much for that. I gave up. If she can do that, then we can lighten up on observing this one.

Zoe, Neil and I turned our attention to the bird that was on the roof of # 10 Toronto St. It eventually flew off and ended up on the north spire, outside the south west entrance to St.James Cathedral. The two resident Kestrels did not like this intrusion and quickly started stooping the peregrine. I was hoping this stooping would give the peregrine some encouragement to get higher. But as of 7:30p.m it hadn't budged from the spire. The juvenile must be very hungry as it has not eaten in over a day.

The juveniles for the most part to day went from the roofs of each neighboring building and back again. At 7:30 p.m. there were two juveniles on the nest building roof -top, on juvenile on the railing of the CHFI water tower and one juvenile on the spire of the church. One adult on the bottom ledge of the Scotia Tower.

Harry Crawford reports: At 5:25am, three of the juveniles were found in the same approximate location as they were in when Linda and Paul left the area last night: one was on the lower ledge of 10 Toronto, one on the terrace level of the condo at Court and Church, and the third, on the roof of the King Edward Hotel. I wasn`t able to find the fourth, last seen on the lower roof ledge of 20 Toronto. At 5:45am, the adult male was on 20 Toronto and the adult female on First Financial. Later, at 7:48am, an adult had moved to the St. James spire. It was repeatedly being attacked by a pair of angry kestrels. The peregrine finally had enough and flew west. At 7:25am, the adult female took food from the roof of the King Edward over to the nest ledge, stopped for a moment, and then flew back to the hotel still carrying the food. I think she was trying to show the juveniles how to get back `home`. Neil saw this behavior yesterday as well.

The rest of the early morning had Bruce, Neil and myself chasing all over the area trying to locate the quickly moving juveniles. We still only had a count of three. Linda, Zoe and Paul arrived and joined in the chase. By 9:34am, we had all four juveniles in view at the same time: two were on the CHFI cooling tower, one on the King Edward and the fourth, now on the upper roof level of 10 Toronto.

Jeff reports: Pretty quiet today. This morning, the juvenile that seems to have spent the night on the girder-ledge of the King Eddy was joined by one of its siblings but by the afternoon there was just one bird left again. I didn't see any evidence of feeding all day and in the late afternoon the bird finally flew off. I noticed a juvenile perched atop the cylindrical structure on the top of 50 King Street East (I've never seen a peregrine up there before).

This evening just after 21:00, Mandy was feeding a juvenile on the very top (small) roof of the King Eddy. They flew off (Mandy carrying the food) towards the nest site after a few minutes but when I checked the web-cam there were no birds to be seen. I guess they have found a new place to hang out.

At 21:20 a small juvenile had taken up position on the girder-ledge and Mandy was looking on from the north-east corner (the other end of the girder). Shortly after 21:30, Mandy flew off westwards leaving the young peregrine on its own. At 22:00, the bird was still on that ledge but shortly after that it became too dark to tell whether the bird was still there.

Saturday June 25, 2005
Harry Crawford reports:
Arriving at Court and Toronto Streets at 5:25am, I found the juvenile female and an adult on the nest ledge. Neil was already on-site. By 5:41am, both adults were now on First Financial. The juvenile male that spent the night on the roof of the nest building took flight at 6:38am and flew south past the east side of the building to the south east corner, missed the landing, and had to flap his way up the last foot or so to the roof area. He then disappeared from view. He performed a beautiful glide with very little flapping. Shortly after, the roof male flew again (second flight for today so far), this time to the CHFI cooling tower. He moved around the structure quite a bit throughout the morning.

By 8am, both birds from 20 Toronto were now visible on the south roof ledge. They had spent the night under the cooling tower and Linda was not sure they would be able to get out on their own. Now, all six birds could be seen for the first time today. By 10am, only the 20 Toronto pair had been fed by the parents.

Linda Woods reports: Lots of activity today at King St. nest. What we thought was going to be somewhat of a quiet day turned a little hectic by the close. Harry, Zoe, Neil and Paul were all on hand to follow the young ones. The two trapped fledglings had made their way out of the cooling tower area of #20 Toronto St. Thank Heavens!

All four juveniles have now fledged. It was like "follow the leader" and they were all aiming for the roof of the King Edward Hotel. We had lost track of one of the birds, but it made an appearance on the cooling tower of the lower roof level of the King Edward Hotel in the evening. Three juveniles had the pleasure of dining on the roof of the Crystal Ball Room this evening. After dinner the excitement began and they all decided they would much rather be somewhere else. One juvenile flew over to #1 Toronto, sat for a while then went off towards the nest building, was a little too low, did the Bat maneuver, released and dropped low towards Court St. and landed on the now infamous "Peregrine Travel Inn," the Conrad Black building.

A second juvenile left the roof of the King Edward Hotel and landed on the terrace area of #20 Toronto St. A third juvenile, the first fledgling, and the one flying so well, was seen on One Financial Place later it came down to the roof of the building adjacent to the Conrad Black. The peregrine obviously had seen his sibling and decided to join him. Paul had stated it was comical after he landed, he looked over the roof level and down onto his sibling, as if to say, "What are you doing down there?" And this bird almost got into trouble. After leaving that spot he flew north and batted up against the lower area of #20 Toronto, hung onto the wall like a moth, released and scouted down Court St. only to end up on the garden roof-top terrace of the condos on the corner of Church and Court St. Silly, silly bird. The fourth bird was just not interested in taking any evening flights and decided that the roof area, snuggled up against the chimney, was just fine for the night.
Lets hope the birds gain some height tomorrow.

Jeff reports: This probably relates to Linda's post of yesterday. At 18:35 on June 24, a juvenile peregrine flew onto the top-most roof of the King Eddy and proceeded to hop around up there until about 19:05 when it tried to fly onto the top of the chimney. Unfortunately it wasn't able to attain sufficient altitude and flapped about a bit on the side of the chimney before flying off in the direction of the roof of 7 King Street East (Metropole). Moments later, Mandy flew onto the roof of the King Eddy where the juvenile had just been.

Incidentally, for almost all the time that the juvenile was on the roof, it kept dipping its head up and down (not backwards and forwards like many bird do when they walk). This motion was frequent (once every second or two) and persistent. Odd.

Saturday, June 25, at around 14:20, I spent 20 minutes watching two juveniles on the slightly lower roof of the King Eddy (on a steel girder aligned off to the north from the base of the chimney). One bird was significantly bigger than the other. The smaller bird seemed to have difficulty holding up its left wing and I wondered whether it had some damage. My wife thought it might be shading itself. Anyway, it turned around to face my way and extended its wings fully: the sight was breath-taking. After another minute or so it flew off westwards: what a sight! Absolutely perfect. Just magnificent...not a sign of any damage! An adult than came tearing around the Metropole from the south-west and flew off after the smaller bird.

As I write this (~14:45), The larger juvenile, which did not fly off with the smaller one earlier, has been joined by another juvenile: I cannot tell if it's the original smaller bird (they often look quite different from different angles). An adult is perched on the ventilation window canopy.

The juveniles will obviously be learning to fly now. If anyone it interested in observing them from my condo then they will be most welcome. People can give me a call and I'll tell them if it's worth coming up for a look or they can leave their telephone number and I can call them when something happens. People will have to take pot-luck though! Sometimes the peregrines are around for half an hour or more and, less often, they are around for just a few minutes :-)

Wow-wee! Just checked back again (15:10). Both juveniles look to be the same size and one of them is eating a pigeon that wasn't there before. Dunno which bird caught the pigeon but it's a pleasing sight!


The two juveniles I spoke of earlier today took up a 'hidden' perching position. The girder that stretches out north from the base of the King Eddy's chimney actually extends about 16" along side the base of the chimney forming a ledge a few inches wide. Both juveniles have taken up position there, the chimney possibly serving as a wind-break or offering a hiding place or both (or neither...what do I know!).

At 16:00 today an adult flew onto the north-west corner of the King Eddy's slightly lower roof (north end of the girder) clutching a pigeon. Both juveniles hopped over! The adult then proceeded to spend about 4 minutes plucking the prey: feathers flying everywhere. The young finally got restless, approached closer and started to peck at the pigeon. Interestingly, the juveniles were hopeless at feeding themselves! There was much tugging but, despite overbalancing and having to flap to restore there posture, meat was not removed from the carcase. The adult easily pecked off chunks of meat and fed the young. This proceeded for a few minutes but one of the young seemed to be getting most of the food so the other started pecking at the carcase. At this point the adult flew off onto the top-most roof and the young were left to figure out what to do with the pigeon on their own...with very little success. After a while the juveniles returned to their secluded spot by the chimney base, leaving a pigeon with what looked like much meat still available :-)


16:30. It's difficult to get a good handle on the size of the peregrine juveniles because they hold their wings in different postures. Anyway, there are now three juveniles: two of the same size being fed by an adult (Mandy looks so slim at times I cannot figure out if I am seeing her or Windwhistler). The third juvenile looks smaller than the other two and is off by the chimney.

Much happening today. I get the impression that they may be in residence at the King Eddy for a while. Get over here for a gander, if you like.


This evening around 19:00 I saw a fourth juvenile peregrine!
Unfortunately, it was somwhat lost! While its siblings were on the King Eddy upper roof, it was on the huge air conditioning units on top of the lowest roof (maybe 12 floors high). I saw if flutter across the west-most wooden unit then fly over onto the middle metal unit where it stayed until about 21:40. I didn't see where it went after that. The three juveniles on the upper roof didn't seem to notice the one on the air conditioning units and the one on the A/Cs seemed to be unaware that it was so close to the others. The stray bird seemed to be having a hard time: it was moving over the steel mesh of the metal A/C at one point (with difficulty) and was generally hopping around with no real purpose. All the while there was no sign of adults.

Around 21:00 one of the three juveniles that had been perched on the upper roof (i.e. not the upper-most small roof) of the King Eddy flew across to the roof of 50 King Street East (CIBC office on the groung floor). I really find it hard to get an accurate comparison of sizes due to different postures but it seemed to me that one of the three was smaller than the other two and it seemed to be a loner, the two larger birds spending much time together. It was the smaller bird that flew onto the roof of 50 King Street East. Shortly after 21:00 the two larger juveniles hopped over to the narrow girder-ledge beside the base of the chimney and at around 21:30 one of them flew off in the general direction of the nest site as had the smaller bird a few moments earlier. When I checked the web-cam, neither of the young were visible but, to my suprise, I saw an adult. After the 16:30 provision of a pigeon (reported earlier), an adult put in an appearance by darting up past the King Eddy roof then out towards the Novotel where it hovered pretty high in the sky as though looking for prey but then drifted westwards out of my line of sight. Oddly enough, though I watched throughout the evening, neither adult appeared again so the young went without food for the remainder of the day. I dunno what the adults are supposed to do but I reckon they were delinquent after 16:30 today :-)

During the afternoon and evening there was much removal of old down (it's amazing how they can twist their heads around and stretch their necks even to preen their tail feathers) and much stretching of wings and vigourous flapping. At one point a peregrine flapped so much it lost its footing and fell off the girder (which forms the top of a wall about one metre high around the main upper roof) onto the main part of the roof. This was one of the larger juveniles and its friend looked on, its head tilting to the side, probably wondering what the first bird was doing. After a few minutes the fallen bird flew back onto the girder. All the while the loner (smaller juvenile) was over by the base of the chimney lying down. There were some magnificent views of outstretched wings and I noticed how they fold their wings much like I fold paper before putting it in an envelope, i.e. in a three-section concertina fashion. Fascinating.

As darkness fell, the only peregrine in sight was the remaining larger juvenile that was perched on the girder-ledge by the chimney base.

Friday June 24, 2005
Jan Chudy reports:
What a morning. Driving by 18 King at 7:10, I saw one of the juveniles was hanging on to the louvers on one of the ledges. I got to my club and thought that this must have meant he had somehow come off the ledge. I decided I should get back to make sure he was OK, so I borrowed a towel from my sports club (in case he needed to be rescued) and ran back along to Toronto Street. It was now about 7:30, and no-one was in sight. Five minutes later, both adults criss-crossed over 20 Toronto Street. I waited another 10 minutes and seeing and hearing nothing, I went back to my office. At approximately 9:30 I called Linda to advise what I had seen. She agreed that we must have had our first fledge. I went to the east side of First Canadian Place to see what I could see - miraculously, I found our guy sitting on the east side of the rooftop of 18 King. As I watched he "skimmed" along the roof to the north side and out of my view. I called Linda back to say I had found him and she advised she was on her way. I went back to the window and he was back in sight. I decided I had to go out there to keep an eye on him until Linda arrived. Arriving on King Street at 10 am I spotted him on the SE corner of 20 Toronto. The he flapped across the roof out of sight and the next thing I knew he was on the top NE corner of 18 King! At 10:10 a second juvenile appeared on the ledge at 18 King and began flapping and screeching. An adult appeared and landed on the east side of the roof of 18 King facing inwards. At 10:15, with much screeching the chick on the ledge jumped down behind the ledge out of sight. When I looked, the juvenile on the roof had vanished and an adult was flying to the CHFI antenna - I believe it was Windwhistler. I scoured the block between Toronto/Adelaide/Victoria/King. Arriving at Leader Lane I found the juvenile on the SW corner of 20 Toronto Street! Moving slightly west to see if Linda had arrived at Court Street, I found a second juvenile half way along the roof of 20 Toronto Street!!! As I watched, the one on the SW corner walked along to join his sibling, who then moved to the SE corner of the roof, followed once again by the other juvenile. At 10:45 an adult flew over towards the King Eddie and I supposed it was the one from the antenna. However, on checking it was still there so both adults appear to be keeping a keen eye on the new fledglings. At 10:50 both chicks were settled on the SE corner of 20 Toronto and I had spent the longest 50 minutes of my life. Linda and I met up shortly after that and I handed over to her.

Linda Woods reports: I was pulled from the Etobicoke site to race downtown to King St.
Apparently construction noise of sorts was occurring on a lower near by roof-top which may have spooked three juveniles to fledging. The construction crew were hauling gravel to a near by roof top. Very strange because I don't think it was so much of the activity, but the squeal and squeaks of the pulley that was very loud and somewhat disturbing. Jan was on the scene first and called me immediately. Please see her notes for details.

Two juveniles that were on the roof of #20 'Toronto disappeared. After an extensive search from every possible street level angle and upper level viewing vantage points, I came to the only explanation, that possibly they have dropped down to the cooling tower area. Marion and I were given supervised and escorted access to this area and that's exactly were the two juveniles were.

Although not in immediate danger, they will need to be carefully monitored. They are not visible from any advantage point, with the exception of, perhaps, the upper office area of First Financial Place. It is very stressful knowing where they are and not being able to do anything at this point except wait.

The third juvenile was on the roof of #18 King and had not made itself visible. No one has seen it take off and not sure it is still there. Around 8p.m. a third peregrine was seen high in the air in the around the Yonge and Dundas area (can't be sure of the location). It was missing a tail feather. It returned later and was chased off to the south by Mandy and Windwhistler; I don't think it was Wind from the Sheraton.

At closing the site at 10:00 p.m. we may have seen the silhouette of one of the juveniles on the south-west corner roof-top of #20 Toronto.St. The bird was looking very much like a juvie. Food was taken to the juvie on the roof.. but not sure if it was there to eat. Food was also brought into the nest ledge to screaming juvenile. But the two on #20 have not eaten today, and I did not witness the adults flying food over that area to entice the young ones to come up to roof level. Hopefully tomorrow morning they'll have gotten themselves up to roof level to join their siblings.

Many Thanks to Jan, for being there. She is just an amazing and dedicated person. We all appreciate what she does and will do for the downtown peregrines.

Wednesday June 22, 2005
Paul Marshman reports:
The chicks were visible much of the afternoon and evening. They still have a fair amount of white down, and aren't showing a lot of activity. This may be due to the heat. Neither they nor the parents seem concerned about some workmen doing a project on the rooftop of one of the buildings in King St., just east of the nest.

Tuesday June 21, 2005
Paul Marshman reports:
About 1 p.m. Neil and I spent a few minutes watching the Victoria St. nest, and found all four chicks in sight. They were pretty quiet, with little flapping or running around, and all still showed a significant amount of down. Around 1:30 a couple of the chicks began to vocalize, and one flapped a little, although without much conviction. Mandy then appeared with food, and they all disappeared to the back of the ledge.

Sunday June 19, 2005
Paul Marshman reports:
Passing the nest at 9 a.m., I found both Windwhistler and Mandy sitting in front of the louvres south of the nest ledge. No chicks were visible. About 6:30 p.m. I looked again and found two chicks sitting on ledge. Both seemed quite large, so I assume they were females. One chick had a prominent white Mohawk on its head, while the other had streaks of white down on its breast. Still some growing up to do.

Saturday June 18, 2005
Paul Marshman reports:
Passing the nest about 11 a.m., one of the chicks could be seen sitting on the nest ledge. The chicks have just begun to be visible from the street; possibly the recent windy and cool weather has kept them down.

Webmaster's note: The 2005 banding ceremony page has been created
and includes a full report and photo gallery of the event.

Sunday June 12, 2005
Bruce Massey reports:
I arrived at about 0700 hours, and within 10 minutes saw all four eyases. I didn't see an adult on the nest, however again I saw the tercel perched on the CHFI antenna.

Wednesday June 1, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
We are sorry that we are not able to get an image up on the internet with any regularity . After numerous glitches, we are still experiencing technical problems. We are doing our very best to get the image back to all those who are supporting us and who take a great interest in watching the young peregrines. Please continue to follow the daily reports and we will post a note as soon as we are live again. Many thanks for your understanding.
The 4 chicks continue to grow quickly. Windwhistler is consistent in visiting both nests and supplying food to all the growing birds. Banding date is in the final stage of confirmation and the date will be posted on this page.

Jeff reports: Faintly amusing incident: about twenty seagulls were gliding around above the King Eddy around 19:00 this evening when, all of a sudden, they fled en masse: Mandy had just flown onto the King Eddy roof! This contrasts with the seagull 'attacks' on the local Peregrines earlier in the year (which didn't scare the falcons as such but it seemed odd that seagulls would challenge a falcon).

Monday May 30, 2005

Webmaster's note: Webcamera photos have been added to the Photo Gallery.

Sunday May 29, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
10:55am
Walking along King St. I saw Mandy shoot out of the nest and head east. Repositioned myself to see the action, she repeatedly hit a Turkey Vulture that was floating off in the distance. She hit the TV hard enough for it to drop a few feet straight down. Did not see the end result, but Mandy quickly returned to the nest area and sat on One Financial Place.
Windwhistler was not in my view at this time.

Saturday May 28, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
Upon arriving at King St. Mandy was on the south east corner of CHFI, and Windwhistler was on the south east corner of #18 King St.
All is well.

Webmaster's note: A photo has been added to the Photo Gallery.

Monday May 23, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
3:00p.m.
A fourth hatchling has been spotted at the King St. nest. I did notice that the fourth egg that had been pushed outside the nest bowl was no longer in view. I had assumed that the egg was removed or eaten by Mandy, or just out of camera view. But this afternoon a fourth chick was seen during a feeding. WOW!

Sunday May 22, 2005
Webmaster's note:
The 2005 photo gallery has been created and now contains images captured by the CPF's own webcamera. You can access this photo gallery from the main link at the top of this observations page.

Thursday May 19, 2005
Webmaster's note:
The webcamera has been activated, and you can now access live images from the nest site here at 18 King Street. Click on the link at the top of the page, go through our Webcamera Menu, or click here.

Wednesday May 18, 2005
Brian Medeiros (Staff, #18 King St.) reports:
1:35
Third chick has hatched. We were unable to see the third chick earlier in the day, as she was shading the brood from the sun. During this time we watched her munch on egg shell indicating that their might have been a third hatch. Another egg is pushed away, Linda stated that this egg might not be fertile. We had to wait until the female moved off the nest during a feeding and there it was, the third white chick. I also noted that they do fall over a lot. Very interesting watching on the monitor.

Tuesday May 17, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
Second Hatch as of today. One egg has been pushed outside of the nest bowl and is ignored by the adults. While I was there, Windwhistler brought a snack for the kiddies and promptly flew off. The chicks are so cute to watch, and so small that when they open their beaks for food, the one falls over. One un-hatched egg remains, hopefully tomorrow.

Monday May 16, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
09:15
FIRST HATCH for King St.
Mandy very attentive to her first hatch of the season. Three more to go.

Sunday May 15, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
10:00 - 10:45
No hatch as yet, but Mandy was very restless during the time I was there, She must have changed positions every minute. When she finally settled down, I decided to leave.
Her behavior today, is indicating a hatch is soon.!

Saturday May 14, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
10:00
From street level a Peregrine was seen on the hoop antenna of CHFI.
11:05
After watching the monitor for approx. 20 minutes, finally a changing of the guards. I thought I was watching Mandy on the eggs, Turns out, it was Windwhistler. And he wasn't too keen on moving off the eggs when Mandy arrived. But he eventually got up and flew off. Mandy turned the eggs and then settled down.

Thursday May 12, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
11:00 - 2:00p.m.
Mandy remains in incubation. Did not see Windwhistler during this time watching the monitor. We are closer to getting an image to the internet. A few more adjustments to the computer and to the camera and hopefully by the week-end we should be up and running. STAY TUNED!

Wednesday May 11, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
09:50 - 10:10
Full incubation continues, Mandy does seem to be more restless these past two days. She did get up off the eggs for a few minutes this morning and leave them exposed to the sunshine. On returning, she went back on the eggs and did not stop to listen for pips.
I'll check again in the morning.

Tuesday May 10, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
Mandy still incubating, Windwhistler appeared on the ledge to relieve Mandy, and had a difficult time pulling the eggs under him. I would have thought with all the experience this little guy has at incubating, he wouldn't have a problem.

Monday May 9, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
10:00
I finally reach the 19th floor of #18 King and Mandy was on the eggs. Approximately, 10:20 I could see Mandy vocalizing and finally Windwhistler made an appearance. It didn't take Mandy very long to come off the nest and take off. Windwhistler settled down on the eggs.

Wednesday May 4, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
09:00
A quick peek at the monitor and Mandy is seen still in incubation. She did get up once and shift her weight, turned the eggs and settled back down. Momentary lapse of memory had me thinking "Where is Spike"
I quickly remembered that he is over at the Sheraton doing his time on the eggs for Wind.

Monday May 2, 2005
Linda Woods reports:
09:30-10:10
Mandy remains in incubation. No unusual activity worth noting at this time. An attempt this afternoon to get a live image of the nesting activities on the internet, resulted in a permanent hard drive failure. We are now working on reformatting another computer and obtaining the software needed, as soon as possible, because it's a wonderful experience to watch a peregrine falcon come out it's shell and the interaction of the adults with hatchlings that are only a few hours old.

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