Extremely Special Post!

Remember Big Frank, the baby Peregrine Falcon that was banded on May 29, 2013 at the Sun Life building in Etobicoke (Islington & Bloor) and named in honour of Frank (who fledge-watched at that site for ten years)?

 

I'm happy to inform you all that Big Frank has been seen, photographed and confirmed in Irondequoit (Rochester), New York!!!  Story and photos can be viewed on the Canadian Peregrine Foundation's website and on Rochester's RFalconCam website.  If you remember, there was some confusion as to the sex of this bird at the time, which is normal when banding such young birds.  Well it turns out that Big Frank has likely grown up a female bird.  No problem, we'll take him either way! 

I'd like to thank Rob Mueller for informing me of this fabulous news.

Walter

Aug 29th - An Osprey for Lee!

Even with the lousy still air that we had today a few folks took their chances and went to the park in hopes of seeing a raptor fly by.  Lee was the only one who saw a countable bird - an Osprey.

Currently, it doesn't appear that we'll get any decent wind over the next few days (theweathernetwork.com)

Walter

Aug 28th - Three Kestrel Day!

Yep, that was it...3 birds!  With low to almost no wind today, I was surprised to even see them.  Thank you Lee for getting photos of the first (aka 'mystery') bird that flew over before I arrived.  Easy to ID on the computer screen as a Kestrel.  They're not always the easiest to identify even on the best of days.

Today:
American Kestrel - 3
Total - 3

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 4
Osprey -17
Bald Eagle - 10
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 0
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 0
Broad-winged Hawk - 7
Red-tailed Hawk - 6
Rough-Legged Hawk -0
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 18
Merlin - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 68

Birds:
Merlin - 2 hanging around today, will add them when they leave
Warblers - some still hanging around

Magnolia Warbler (Lee)

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Lee)

juvenile Northern Cardinal (Lee)

Butterflies:
Clouded Sulphur - 1
Monarch - 24, Terry caught and tagged 10 of them today

Mammals:
Eastern Chipmunk - 1
Eastern Cottontail - 1

Hawk Watchers:
Lee, Carol, Peter, Norm, Dave, Leon, Terry, Betty, Pat & Nancy, and Berle.  Thankyou!

Weather Prediction:
Aug 29th - Much the same as today (theweathernetwork.com)

See you at the park,
Walter

Aug 27th - NW Wind Makes a Difference!

Although maybe not as strong as we all hoped but today's NW wind brought us a few more birds and a few nice sightings.  We had two Bald Eagles, one after the other fly by to the north.....three Osprey in a row directly overhead.....four Red-tailed Hawks (two locals) and a Broad-winged Hawk interacting with one another as they circled and flew overhead.....and a Peregrine Falcon which appeared to be focused on taking out a passing Osprey out over the lake.  It's only going to get better!

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 1
Osprey - 9
Bald Eagle - 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 4
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 20

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 4
Osprey -17
Bald Eagle - 10
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 0
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 0
Broad-winged Hawk - 7
Red-tailed Hawk - 6
Rough-Legged Hawk -0
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 15
Merlin - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Total - 65

Eagle Time (DST):
1:25pm - BE (? age)
1:27pm - BE (? age)

Birds:
Chimney Swifts - many again today
New species today included - Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Nashville Warbler, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Canada Warbler, and Scarlet Tanager

Butterflies:
Monarchs - 21 moving along the bluffs

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawk Watchers:
Leon, Bruce, Berle, Allison, Betty, Carol, Lee, Arvo, Liz, Gary, Manny, plus a few others.  Thankyou for a wonderful day!

Weather Prediction:
Aug 28th - mainly sunny, SW 5km/h switching to S 10km/h in the afternoon (theweathernetwork.com)

Walter

Aug 26th - 4 More Birds

Again, another long but enjoyable day at the park.....thanks to beautiful weather and great friends.

Today:
Turkey Vulture - 1
Osprey - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Total - 4

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 3
Osprey - 8
Bald Eagle - 8
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 0
Cooper's Hawk - 0
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 0
Broad-winged Hawk - 6
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
Rough-Legged Hawk -0
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 15
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 0
Total - 45

Birds:
Cooper's Hawk - local
Chimney Swift - lots overhead again today
Red-tailed Hawk - 2 locals
Trumpeter Swan - 2 on the lake
Turkey Vulture - 2 locals

Great view of the park! (Ann)

Heading out over the bluffs (Arvo)

female Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Ann)

Butterflies:
Clouded Sulphur - 2
Monarch - 10

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawk Watchers:
Manny, Carol, Ann, Donna, Lee, Peter, Leon, Berle, Arvo, and a couple of others.  Thanks all!

Weather Prediction:
Aug 27th - mix of sun and clouds, NW15 km/h (theweathernetwork.com)  Hope the wind is strong enough to blow some birds our way!

See you tomorrow!
Walter

Aug 25th - A Few Hundred!

Betty, Carol, Terry, Leon, MC, Pat & Nancy, Manny, Lee, myself, and a few others watched a few hundred Chimney Swifts flying westward over the park today.  Not much else happened.

Walter

Aug 24th - Not Quite What I Expected!

Well, when I woke-up this morning and read the weather forecast, I really thought today would be the day.  That didn't quite happen.  The clouds appeared to be moving from the WNW at first and then from the W.  I kept thinking that we were going to see birds up there.  Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow.

Today:
Osprey - 2

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Osprey - 6
Bald Eagle - 8
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 0
Cooper's Hawk - 0
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 0
Broad-winged Hawk - 6
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Rough-Legged Hawk -0
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 15
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 0
Total - 41

Birds:
Nothing of note

Butterflies:
Black Swallowtail - 1
Giant Swallowtail - 3!
Monarch - 19!  Terry was able to tag 4 today with the help of Liz and her grandkids.

Monarch (Paul)

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawk Watchers:
Ann, Hugh, Betty, Paul, Allison, Leon, Terry, Berle, and Carol.

Weather Prediction:
Aug 25th - much the same as today! (theweathernetwork.com)

See you at the park,
Walter

Aug 23rd - Another Eagle!

Another 5 birds seen today including our 8th Bald Eagle of the month!

Today:
Osprey - 2
Bald Eagle - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 1
Total - 5

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Osprey - 4
Bald Eagle - 8
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 0
Cooper's Hawk - 0
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 0
Broad-winged Hawk - 6
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Rough-Legged Hawk -0
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 15
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 0
Total - 39

Eagle Time (DST):
10:52am - BE (imm)

Photos courtesy of Ann...

Birds:
Cooper's Hawk - local.
Double-crested Cormorant - flocks filled the sky over the park early today.
Red-tailed Hawk - 2 locals.

Butterflies:
Monarch - 11 moving through the park and heading west.

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawk Watchers:
Ann, Phil, Dave, Pat & Nancy, Mark, Bruce, Lee, John, Berle, and several others.  Thankyou all!

Weather Prediction:
Aug 24th, mainly sunny, SW 15-25km/h and gusting (theweathernetwork.com)

See you at the park,
Walter

Aug 22nd - Two More!

With no humidity and a light breeze blowing in off the lake, today was another gorgeous day to be at the park.

Today:
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 1

To Date:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Osprey - 2
Bald Eagle - 7
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 0
Cooper's Hawk - 0
Northern Goshawk - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 0
Broad-winged Hawk - 6
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Rough-Legged Hawk -0
Golden Eagle - 0
American Kestrel - 14
Merlin - 1
Peregrine Falcon - 0
Total - 34

Eagle Time (DST):
11:42am - BE (imm)

Birds:
Cooper's Hawk - local
Mute Swan - 1 flying low out over the lake.
Osprey - 1 heading east, not counted.
Red-tailed Hawk - local

Butterflies:
Clouded Sulphur - 2
Monarch - 7, a few appeared to be moving west.
Summer Azure -1

Mammals:
Nothing of note

Hawk Watchers:
Allison, Freida, Norm, Pat & Nancy, Susan, Sheldon, Paul, Berle, and a few others who stopped by.  Thankyou!

Weather Prediction:
Aug 23rd - mainly sunny, E 10km/h switching to SE 15km/h (theweathernetwork.com)

Walter