Yeomanfalconer

So today I witnessed something rather odd and I am hoping someone here will be able to shed some light on what I saw.

I came out of the office today and there were 4 raptors flying circles over the parking lot.  They were maybe 150 feet up, I could see good detail on the birds.  However I have no idea why kind of birds they were.

There were as I said 4 of them, 2 circling at around the same height maybe 150 feel up, the other two were below them circling, maybe 100 feet up.  I stood and watched them circling for a good 10 or so minutes.  Then the largest bird broke off from the group and started making hunting passes over the parking lot.  The other 3 birds moved off north, still circling.

The big bird I watched for another 10 minutes as she (assuming it was a she as it was very large) did gliding passes over the parking lot and adjoining field.  She came down really close, maybe 60 feet off the ground as she was just clearing the 5 story office building.  Then she moved off to the south.

I thought at first they were Red Tails, but their markings and colour were wrong.  They were uniformly dark, on the top and bottom, with light coloured feet, maybe yellow but hard to tell.  Overall colour I would say was brown, the largest bird was almost chocolate in colour.  Also the birds shape was wrong for a Red Tail, the wings were rather long and more rectangular then the usual broad short wings.  The tail was also longer then a Red Tail and not quite as broad.

I checked in my copy of A Falconry Manual and the descriptions don't match any of the birds listed.

Unfortunately I didn't think to take out my camera phone for a picture or two, else that might have been helpful.  So I am hoping that my descrpition will be enough for someone to take an educated guess.

As for location, the office is in Toronto, Canada.

Hi there,
Just joined.  I've been into raptors for most of my life, doing rehab, banding, studies, as well as personal study.  My life is finally estabished enough where I can seriously entertain falconry.  My main interests are in Red Tails and Great Horned Owls (neither of which are falcons, I know, but...)
Anyway, I live in California, but in the mountains, so its quite cold in winter and hot in the summer.

I've been looking into mews construction, but most of the stuff I've seen looks mostly like cages, not well insulated, easy for wildlife to get into and out of.   (I've been thinking, which is dangerous...)
I've got goats that live in a gutted travel trailer, and chickens that live in a cabover.  They're well insulated, I covered the insides of the windows with various things to protect both the animals and the glass.  IT seems to work better than a building, its cheaper, and its faster, and totally secure from the elements, etc.  Additionally the floors come with lino, which is super easy to clean, even when covered with straw, shavings, foam shop flooring, or wha thave you.

So, will the DFG laugh thier heads off if I try something like this with raptors?  Is there some problem with this that I don't see?

And if "yes"; what will I need to build that will be adequate for snow, 110 degree temps and predators of all types?
Somehow a cage with one solid wall and hothouse plastic for a roof seems inadequate.
Thanks!  and glad theres a community for falconry on LJ.