Long Awaited Updates are Here. Tuesday June 17.
June 17, 2014 - Etobicoke - Sun Life Centre
Tracy Simpson Reports:
I headed down to try and see which of the three young ones would be the first to travel up to the retaining wall on the nest building to start the day. When I arrived shortly after dawn, Pierre was the first to show up while Sunni and Skyla remained out of sight. Little Heaton remained on the nest ledge and when Rob arrived food was just going into the ledge brought in by Jack. Kathy arrived shortly after Rob and at 7:30am, food went to the nest ledge again and to the retaining wall as well. Pierre was still the only visible bird on the nest building roof by the time I left for work and left the watch with Kathy and Rob. Shortly before 8am a second bird popped up on the retaining wall and they were able to identify it as Sunni by his yellow tape. He sat on the retaining wall next to Pierre eating but still no sign of Skyla as of yet. Jack had taken up position on top of the camera and O`Connor was over on the east tower of Kingsway on the Park. By 9am all remained quiet as the family all had full bellies and the day was beginning to get quite warm. It stayed relatively calm and quiet throughout the morning and in the early afternoon Pierre took flight over to the Kingsway on the Park condos. He veered off rather quickly and headed back west towards the subway station. As he flew over he made for the west tower and landed fairly well on the roof. Sunni was eager to follow and made a spectacular flight around the buildings before finally landing on the west tower with Pierre. At 3pm Jim arrived to help Kathy and Pierre took a flight around the back of the west tower disappearing from sight. His flight was good, strong and high so Jim was confident but he set to seeing where he was nonetheless. When I arrived around 4:30pm we picked up Pierre`s location on the west tower where he was occupying the southeast facing window ledges. What made this rather delightful to watch was that a pigeon had landed up there with him and was roosting on the other end of the window ledge while Pierre tried to figure out what to do with his new found friend. I had parked on Eagle Road when I arrived but the best viewing was from Lothian so I decided to move my car before the severe thunderstorms they were calling for arrived. As I walked down the laneway towards Eagle Road I could see a bird in the middle of the road that was a fair size and dark. I instinctively dropped EVERYTHING in my hands and ran down the laneway just as a car went whipping around the corner towards the bird. I was seen by the driver who stopped right away while I gathered up little Heaton who had obviously just come off of the nest ledge. I walked him over to security and placed him in a carrier before calling Mark right away. Something was not right with Heaton as he was terribly thin even after all of the feedings we had watched on camera and from street level. I checked his mouth for signs of Trichamoniasis but all looked clear. After consulting with Mark and deciding to let him rest while the storm passed through, we discussed arranging for a health consultation while I headed back out to the south side of Bloor Street to make sure that our other chicks didn`t get blown off by the high winds. The rain and wind whipped around the street soaking me and birds alike but we all managed to weather the storm; except for little Heaton. Just as the rains were calming down I received a call from security that when they went to check on him that he didn`t look well. I raced back in but it was too late. Little Heaton was gone.
As difficult as it was I headed back outside to maintain my vigil on the other three. Sunni and Pierre were still on the west tower and we had yet to see Skyla all day. I stayed until dusk when I was joined by a new watcher, Stacey, and we chatted and watched until the sun was fully down. I then gathered up little Heaton and took him back to the CPF Raptor Centre for holding and it was then that I was able to really look him over. There is no way to know for sure but I believe that there was definitely an underlying health issue with Heaton that was not readily obvious on camera. Leading up to this he was flapping, running, calling and eating and so nothing seemed out of the norm except for his very tiny size. We were all shocked and very saddened at this loss and this was a difficult time for all of the watchers and his fans. While we deeply regret that little Heaton did not survive, we are all grateful that we had gotten a chance to get to know him. We are now all turning our attention to the three remaining fledglings that are still in need of our help and I can`t thank the Etobicoke Sun Life team enough for their strength, vigilance and efforts. You are the best.