William Osler Fledge Watch Wed June 25th
June 25, 2014 - Etobicoke - William Osler
Tracy Simpson Reports:
While yesterday did not end in a fledge at the William Osler nest site, it sure was very active with lots of exercising and running of the ledge. Today was no different in that the chicks were raucous the minute that I arrived and were calling to the adults for food. The first feeding arrived at around 8am to a chorus of song and Chessie opted to beak feed even though the young ones were now being quite rough with her and jostling about for position. They each ate their fill but continued to vocalize and one calling would easily start up any others that had become quiet. Even after Chessie left the ledge for some peace in the tower, the kids kept it up. Hurricane was perched on the top of the antenna on the roof where he couldn’t be seen and it was there that he rested comfortably for the morning. Playing and exercising were on the to do list for the morning and at one point, Big Red decided that she was going to take all of her energy and run flap the entire south ledge to the next “H” sign. Her siblings followed suit and they were all off in a mad flap-dash down the ledge. It was little blue though that decided he would cross that magical boundary beyond the southern sign towards the west corner and that finally moved Hurricane off of his perch. He could hear the excited calls of his kids and I’m sure knew exactly where they were based on where the calls were coming from. He flew the length of the south ledge and when he got to little blue he swooped and vocally chastised him which sent him back to the proper side of the sign. Within 20 minutes they had all bounded back down to the southeast corner and flumped down for a good nap. The significance of this activity is important to note as the young ones are exploring the ledge further, gaining confidence and building muscle. This level of exploration is usually a precursor to a fledge and one of the signs that we look for.
The four chicks spent the afternoon as feather pancakes, flat out on the ledge sound asleep. Every once in a while Hurricane and Chessie would drop in to the ledge for a head count and leave seconds later after waking them all up and getting them to their feet. The day was very hot and humid and as mid afternoon approached more rain was on the way. This was certainly much tamer than the day before but as it began to roll in the adults were pretty keen to get the kids rounded up and settled. Chessie flew in to the southeast corner with a large pigeon and began the beak feeding frenzy. It wasn’t two minutes into the feeding when Hurricane showed up with a Blackbird and the young ones didn’t know what to do. Mom or Dad? Who’s got the best goods? Hurricane left the prey with Big Red who had now commandeered the entire piece that was not prepped as of yet. She pulled on it a little but had never dealt with a meal not cleaned first. She fussed and played with it and then gave it up for some beak feeding with the rest of her siblings. After the pigeon was all gone Chessie retrieved the Blackbird and continued the food fest. The rains were now coming down quite heavily and the food was doing its job of keeping the young ones on the ledge today. With very full crops the four chicks played and slept the evening through. We are getting very close to our first fledge and it may be tomorrow is the day!