Very Early Broadwinged Hawk

After a nice cool night, Walter and I wanted to get down to the park to at least enjoy the nice weather. Allison and Berle had the same idea. We did see 4 Turkey Vultures kettle, but they are a local family unit. We also saw a local Redtailed Hawk hunting the park in the afternoon.

Redtailed Hawk(courtesy BIGFRANK) Our best bird by far was a very early Broadwinged Hawk. It gave terrific views and showed its bowed wings when it glided. We are 100% sure thats what it was., so its a counter! On arrival at about 7am there was a large movement of swallows. Many were Barn Swallows with some Northern Rough-winged as well. Today was just a teaser for whats to come! Ive just checked the weather for the coming week and Saturday looks like the most interesting day. Thursday also looks interesting,but the humidex is high. Please remember migration of raptors is just starting up,things really kick into gear in September. Dont expect hoards of birds in August.

And So It Begins Timbits and a Redtail

A few very keen raptor watchers officially kicked off the 2012 Rosetta McClain Raptor Watch for 2012. A ceremonial cutting of the feather(boa) began the day, followed by the annual eating of the first Timbit. Betty, Teresa,Terry and Phil were present.

A lone Redtailed Hawk went through to the west and didnt return,becoming the first raptor of many to be counted this season. There has to be one before there can be more,so onward and upward for this seasons count. 7000 this year gang??

Thanks to Terry for sending through the photos and report!

Its Almost Raptor Time!!! Plan To Join Us

Rosetta McClain Raptor Watch is soon to begin! Please read the information provided,then plan to join us,in watching birds of prey flying along the shoreline of Lake Ontario from atop the western end of The Scarborough Bluffs. Possible sightings of 15 species of raptors(birds of prey),includuing Osprey,Redtailed Hawks,Golden and Bald Eagles and Turkey Vultures. WHERE: Rosetta McClain Gardens in Scarborough Ontario Canada,at Kingston Rd and Glen Everest Rd. One stop-light east of Kingston Rd and Birchmount Rd. If you have them bring scopes,binoculars,cameras,folding chairs and bird books. The gardens are wheelchair accessible and have bathrooms and many benches. NOTE The following ARE NOT ALLOWED in the Gardens,dogs,picnics,bicycle riding or ball playing. When: From Aug15-Nov30 almost daily I will be present counting migrating raptors. Peak migration is from mid-September to mid-October. Peak time of day is most often 10am-2pm. Optimal conditions for large movements of raptors are on days with moderate north-west winds and nice white puffy clouds,though any day could bring great things. WHAT IS SEEN: Any given day,any or all of 15 species of migrating birds of prey can be seen migrating along the shores of Lake Ontario. Some birds will land briefly in the trees of the gardens,some circle briefly,while most fly past. Past years between 4000 and 7000 raptors have been seen,with our best day last year being 1305. Please check back often once fall migration season starts for daily reports. If you decide to join me,I will do my best to show you whatever comes our way and pass on information to you. We have a great band of regulars who are happy to help. We welcome everyone,beginners to expert. Contact me at raptor.watch@hotmail.com if U have any questions.

Thanks For Peregrine Falcon Fledge Help!!

Thanks to all my Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watch friends who took time this spring/early summer to help out the still threatened Peregrine Falcons and the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. It makes me proud to know you and on behalf of CPF and myself thanks,you made a difference. Ann and her daughter were at Harlequin watching. Murray and Deb helped at Harlequin, even showing up for the banding on their "honeymoon". (now thats dedication?? or just crazy?) Bill was at Yellow Pages,taking part for the first time. Luckily he was there when a young Peregrine took his first flight and called me to tell me,as noone else was present. I got ahold of Mark Nash and he attended to make the rescue. A long time friend and occassional Rosetta visitor in the begginning Lyn helped a ton at Canada Square, which is just across the road from where she lives. Bruce was all over Ontario doing watches/rescues and recon at nests. He of course was with CPF from almost the beggining and is a Rosetta watcher I drew from them rather than the other way around. Rob and Angie who many of us met through touring with Murray and Authentic Canadian Tours both attended fledge watches. Most of their time was spent with me at Sun Life at Bloor and Islington. Rob also pitched in at Harlequin when a youngster had been missing. They'll get to Rosetta this fall Im sure of it! I know Rob plans to pop into the William Osler fledge watch once its up and running soon too. (the birds there nested late). Cori took me over to Yellow Pages one day for awhile and also came out to help support the birds and I at Etobicoke's Sunlife nest. Im sorry if Ive forgotton anyone,it was not intentional. I know many of you attended bandings as well. Im glad you did, I know you enjoyed them. To date Ive been told CPF has done 24 rescues this season, with one watch we are directly responsible for and another we will be supporting yet to go. There were 22 rescues of fledglings and 2 of adults. Currently 3 still remain in rehabilitation. 2 of them are adults. One from the Hearn Generating Station (the female) and one from the Mississauga Executive Centre. One fledgling remains in rehab, she is from Mississauga at the Holcim nest. CPF coninues to monitor their progress. Much thanks to Toronto Wildlife Centre and The Owl Foundation for their continued great works on behalf of all sorts of birds and animals. On a personal note...one of the very first Peregrine's I ever rescued back in 2010, named DotCa is now the resident male in Rochester New York. He has one chick in this his first attempt to nest. So far its going very well as the chick is thriving. Fledging isnt too far off. I rescued DotCa from a glass balcony at Etobicoke's Sun Life Financial Centre nest. He has been the resident male at the Rochester nest and also keeping up a bond at another site(no eggs this year) with a female from Hamiton's Sheraton Hotel nest. Tracy and I were at Piggot's banding in 2011. Their prospective nest is in the Brighton area,which is a short flight away from his current successful nest. We are hopeful that she meets someone new and DotCa concentrates on his Rochester nest. There is another Canadian banded so far unidentified Peregrine in the area so with luck they will pair up! Tuesday I am off to Waterloo area with CPF to do a presentation to a group which hosts a new nest site. They are very enthusiastic. There is one chick at this as yet to be publically announced site. The first of many we hope! Raptor Watch time is growing closer and closer. I should be back at the helm in September but August look forward to any reports folks want to send me about what they see.

New Yellow Pages Banding Date and Time

JUNE 8TH at 130pm festivities get started. Banding is to start at 2pm. Get there early for a good seat! We will also be looking for people to help at fledge watch at Yellow Pages. I know this one is about as close as it gets for our Rosetta Raptor Watchers,so I do hope a few of you will put in a few hours. There are sites all over metro Toronto that need your help. U can volunteer for an hour or a day or as often as you wish. Training is provided. I know many of you love seeing the raptor pass by, why not help out the Peregrine Falcon, a threatened species. Bring and old towel,your binoculars and maybe a comfy folding chair. Wear good headgear and sunscreen! Bring your enthusiasm! We appreciate all the help we can get,even if its just long enough for another watcher to run for a bathroom break and meal. Bring a friend or child to learn,watch and make a difference.

Changed Date BUT Yellow Pages Banding Day: Come On Out

Everyone is invited to the banding at Yellow Pages at Markham and Milner in Scarborough. Rueben and Linn from Wisconsin and Rochester respectively have had 3 chicks. I know several folks joined us last year and enjoyed the day. June 8th time to be determined. I will make a separate post to tell all the time and date again ASAPP. MNR changed the date not CPF. Please join us if you are able. Each chick is weighed sexed banded and checked for overall health,then returned to the nest. I may be able to attend. Hope to see some of you there.

Calling All Falcon Watchers

It's banding time around Toronto and beyond. I invite you to any or all of the following public bandings. Sunlife Centre ..Islington and Bloor May 24th 1:30pm Sheraton Centre ..Downtown Toronto May 23rd 1:30pm 43rd Floor Yellow Pages TO BE ANNOUNCED at Markham and Milner (some bandings because of where they are are closed to the public) Shortly after the bandings, CPF will be starting Fledge Watch. We have a team of volunteers on the ground at each nestsite we monitor. This year we have a happy problem. With the success of the Peregrine Falcon recovery, we have 30 sites to monitor(some we let the folks on site do as they are busy work places which arent safe for us to run around), so we will need as much help as we can get. Fledge watching involves being on site to watch over the fledglings when they are learning to fly. Often they come to the ground and need to be rescued. We need your help this year to do the best job we can to help. Please contact me or The Canadian Peregrine Foundation if you are interested in helping in your area. Each watch lasts about 10 days. Any amount of time you can spare would help, the more the better of course! No experience is necessary there is always a senior watcher present. You will help by watching fledglings and keeping track of them as they learn to fly. Rescue training will be provided. No amount of time is too small! A few hours would be appreciated, it will give someone a break or cover an important time when help is most needed. The difference you can make is stunning. We have the best example of what a difference a fledge watch can make to an endangered species, right here in Toronto. Back when Peregrine's first returned to southern Ontario to nest, a young chick named WindWhistler was hatched at what is now Etobicoke's Sunlife Centre nest. He is now legend and never would have been had it not been for fledge watchers. Windwhistler was rescued after his first flight and is the best example of "so what U saved one bird,what good does that do?" Well...Windwhistler is now 14 years old and the resident male at our 18 King St nest. He double dipped for a few years being resident male at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto too. He is as far as we know Canadas most prolific nesting male, with this years brood of 4 bringing his total to 41 young. Several of those young are now producing chicks in Ontario and a few US states. This season his Great Grandchicks have been hatched at Canada Square (Yonge and Eglinton) in Toronto. We are trying to construct a full family tree. We are somewhere between 80 and 100 Peregrine Falcons being related to Windwhistler. So there my friends is the difference saving just one bird can make!!! I hope U will strongly consider joining one of the many fledge watch teams around southern Ontario. Check www.peregrine-foundation.ca to see where you might get involved.

May 12th International Migratory Bird Day A Success

Northern Parula Warbler from Nancy and Blackburnian Warbler from Pat Saturday May 12th was International Migratory Bird Day. It was the first time that a number of us gathered at Rosetta McClain Gardens to celebrate. Walter and I arrived pre-7am and began by scouring the lake. Before long our birding friends began to arrive. Betty,Pat,Nancy,Carol,Berle, and Bob joined us for several hours of watching birds and enjoying one anothers company. Phil stopped in with his children briefly too. 55 species of birds were seen in total. We enjoyed the challange of spotting as many warbler species as possible. Warbler species seen included Black and White, Northern Parula, Tennesee, Yellow, Yellow Rumped, Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Palm, American Redstart, Ovenbird and the very beautiful Blackburnian. Hermit Thrush and Veery were spotted in the shadows. An Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood Pewee and Eastern Kingbird were all seen. A Least Flycatcher and Red-eyed Vireo were spied too. The beautifully coloured Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Scarlet Tanager were seen enjoying the clouds of midges swarming around the park. One unique sighting some of us caught was an American Kestrel snagging its breakfast. It grabbed a Bank Swallow from the air and sped away being mobbed by a large number of the colony. It was a beautiful day to enjoy all the spring had to offer us. I do hope Bob will send along a few photos. Thanks to the gang for coming out and sharing the morning with Walter and I. Rosetta McClain Gardens rarely disappoints us. Several years ago in the fall, the last family to live on the parks property visited and were thrilled to see that folks were using their families gift to the city to view birds. When they called Rosetta McClain Gardens home, they enjoyed Warbler watching just as we all did on Saturday. Thanks to the generous gift from their relatives, we will have this beautiful little park to enjoy in all seasons for many years to come! See you again soon gang!

Join Us For International Migratory Bird Day Sat May 12th

On Saturday May 12th please join us at Rosetta McClain Gardens to enjoy all the great birds that can be seen. We will try to point out everything in,around,above and below the gardens. I will be present from 7am onward until the early evening.

A Few Nice Surprises

Nancy and I met up with Walter, Murray,and Debbie today at Rosetta to see
what we could find. While we stood beneath the boughs of a Spruce tree, a large Redtail swooped in and circled overhead, around
the park and then perched in one of the Poplars by the bluff. While we
were distracted by the Redtail, a beautiful adult Bald Eagle soared
heading east just along the shoreline and disappeared as quickly as it
arrived. After the breathless encounters enjoyed by all, we headed up
towards the parking lot and were distracted by several flocks of Cedar
Waxwings (total of about 60+ birds) in the almost bare mountain ash
trees which still had lots of dried berries. They gorged on the dried
berries while we watched until we left the park about 1:00pm. (sorry no eagle pics)
Obviously, Rosetta likes our company so get down there in the next few
days as it looks like the signs of an early Spring are bringing lots
of feathered friends for us to enjoy. There are lots of Robins, and we
also saw some Golden Crowned Kinglets flitting about.Thanks to Pat and Nancy for this account of activity at Rosetta and use of their photos.

CPF At Toronto Sportsmens Show

Ann,myself and a few other Rosetta McClain Gardens Raptor Watchers will be at The Metro Convention Centre again this coming week, to show The Canadian Peregrine Foundation's educational birds of prey. March 14-18th is the show. This year we will be doing a flight demonstration this year. Max and Boo will be showing off their flying skills. I hope some of you will attend the show and stop by the booth and say hello.
We just finished the Ottawa show near the end of Feb and it was a great success. Folks in Ottawa were very generous! Tomahawk our newest feathered educator made his debut.

For Information:
http://www.torontosportshow.ca/visitors/
Hope to see there!

Mike 3's Winter Raptor Shots

Mike 3 sent me some great shots he's taken this winter. Like Colin2 he saw and photographed the Peregrine Falcons at Tommy Thompson Park(The Spit),which was great to see. He also sent along a very different shot of a Redtailed Hawk that was stretching Mike wrote: I included some Coopers shots and one RT hawk. Flying Coop shots taken at Presquile in early Jan. Sitting Coop shots taken at Thickson Woods in the meadow area late Jan. snd one interesting RT shot at Presquile Provincial Park late Jan.
Thanks again Mike, I encourage Rosetta raptor fans to keep sending sighting and photos over the winter and spring.