And just because I need a break from the weather :-):
The Harlequin lovebirds are going to be parents.
Quest — one half of a pair of rare peregrine falcons, who fell in love on a ledge across from the headquarters of the largest producer of romance novels in the world — laid her first egg Tuesday afternoon.
Burnt orange and speckled, it was spotted by the executive assistant to Harlequin’s CEO. Employees at their offices in North York set up telescopes to watch over the birds last week.
“Delight and hysteria!” said CEO Donna Hayes of the mood. The avid bird watcher was the first person to spot the flirting falcons.
On Tuesday, Quest, who hails from Rochester, N.Y., sat close to her egg. Her mate, Kendal, born across from Toronto’s King Edward hotel in 2009, has been bringing her meals of swallow and pigeon, as well as chasing off unwanted suitors. Earlier in the day, another male peregrine encroached on their scrape, the equivalent of a nest.
“The boys fight over the girls,” said Mark Nash, founder of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. “Kendal drove him off very successfully,” by fighting with him in the air.