Around the neighbourhood....

[Anonymous]

After seeing just how nice the weather was, I decided a drive around the neighbourhood was in order to see if the usual suspects were out and about.  

Sure enough, at my first stop behind a warehouse on the NE corner of Milner Ave. and McCowan Rd. was the local RTH scoping out the scene....

Picture 1 - http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Attil ... ots%21/RT2

Picture 2 - http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Attil ... ots%21/RT1

I then travelled East along Milner Ave. to Executive Court and the surrounding factories hoping for more sightings.  Sure enough, at the SKF building along the 401, there was a RTH sitting on one of the signs in the adjacent field.  As I rolled down the car window to take a picture, he flew off (note to self:  turn camera on BEFORE you stop..lol).  I followed him accross Milner to the Hydro Utilities building on the NW corner where I saw him perched on a condo unit to the north of the parking lot.  I zoomed in as close as I could, but the picture still came out fuzzy due to the distance.

Condo RTH - http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Attil ... ots%21/RT3

I then travelled West along Milner to McCowan and then South to the little forest located on the NW corner of McCowan Rd. and Ellesmere Ave.  Parking is free on Sundays on Borough Drive, located 1 light North of Ellesmere on the West side of McCowan.  After parking the car and walking around the forest without seeing much of anything but squirrels, I decided to walk West along Ellesmere on the sidewalk to see if there was any activity.  Sure enough, I saw a large spot in the distance.  As I approached, it didn't move and actually allowed me to take a couple of pictures of it as it lounged on a branch.  I believe this is a Sharp Shinned Hawk, but I could be wrong - if anyone could tell me for certain, I'd appreciate it.

Sharp Shinned Hawk? - http://outdoorontario.net/Gallery/Attil ... hinnedHawk

While walking back to the car, I also saw a RTH soaring over the Scarborough Town Centre heading West.  I travelled North to Progress Ave. in hopes of locating it, but never saw it again.  I then continued travelling West along Progress Ave. looking for some birds in the factory units along the way.  Seeing nothing, I swung into Kennedy Commons and proceeded to the laneway behind the Brick furniture store along the railway tracks to see if anything was roosting.  Sure enough, I saw at first what I thought was a Kestrel in a tree.  Camera on, I put the car into park and opened the door.  As usual, he took off North towards Hwy. 401.  I then went back onto William Kitchen Rd. and then onto the 401 Eastbound Ramp from Kennedy.  Sure enough, there was the Kestrel sitting in a tree on the Highway side of the on-ramp.  After waving as I went by, I headed back home to the McCowan/Invergordon area.

I think that next week, if I have some more free time, I'm going down to Thompson Park at Brimley and Lawrence to see what might be around.

Cheers, Attila

[Iain]

Attila, that last photo is of a Merlin.  The stout falcon bill and light eyebrow are good indicators.

Iain

[Anonymous]

Iain,

Thanks for the information!  I've changed the caption on the photo accordingly.

Are Merlins a rare sight in Toronto these days, or are they usually mixed into the same areas as Sharp Shinned Hawks??

Attila

[Anonymous]

Over the last couple of weeks I've spent some time doing some observing of my little neighbourhood in Scarborough, and thought I'd share what I've seen and ask some people their thoughts on something.

Lately, every Sunday evening, I've seen a Cooper's Hawk (have a photo - VERY blurry and poor quality) and a couple of Red Tails come into the area at about 5:15pm or so, just in time for dusk, and land in spruce and pine trees nearby to spend the night, or so I assume.  Today I saw the Cooper's again, and saw the Red Tail get blown all over the place before nestling into the pine tree accross the street.

My question is this - is it common for birds of prey to roost in different places throughout the week, with certain locations being preferred on certain days so as to not disturb their forage base?

Sorry for being a noob, but I'm just beginning to develop a deeper understanding of the birds that we all appreciate.

Attila

[Ron Luft]

I was just pondering a similar line of thought. With all the reports of RTH's and other raptors in the city they appear to be quite common. My question is how many RTh's can be sustained within the city? Is there a concensus of the winter population? I see RTH's daily from Bloor & West Mall, Bloor & Dixie, Hurontario & Dundas, Lakeshore in Pt.Credit, Clarkson and Eastern Oakville. I just wonder how many are the same birds? Is there any idea as to a territory for such a bird in urban centres? I know they scare the heck out of Pidgeons so they must opportunistically prey on them as well as squirrels etc.  Dare we hope they prey on tea-cup-poodles et al. Just kidding. I sometimes fantasy that there's a Secret Raptor Society that Raptors apply to for rights to a certain light standard, snag or wire on the 401 or QEW etc. Do they pay tolls to hunt the 407? Sorry, bored at work....

[Jaedon]

I know if you drive up Kennedy on any given day you can see one RTH hunting at every main intersection from Eglinton to Steeles.  There seems to be one every 2 KM or so.  Factoring in teh amount of pigeons and the hydro field locations for open flight area it seems that quite the population could easily be supported in the city.  Someone smarter than me needs to do a raptor survey for the city birds VS country birds and find a co-relation.