Morning WOW Fledge Watch 7-23-15
By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
Sunshine and blue skies prevailed this morning with a temperature of 54 (F) 12 (C)
I think I saw more flying by the Seneca Towers juvies today than all the rest put together-it was a WOW watch!
As I checked the north end of the building to start my watch at 5:45am Seth wasn’t on his window ledge but as I looked up there I saw 2 falcons flying and one was whining so I knew I had at least one juvie. I went out to Seth Green Dr. in my spot by the visitor parking for a broader view. There was a juvie on the west side railing near the northwest corner and one on the railing above the west side balconies. That one flew off and buzzed the other then we were off to the races.
They would fly over and around Seneca Towers and daddy Seth would join the fray at one point so I had 3 flying falcons to dine on!
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They were into landing on the elevator shaft and surrounding area and the antenna at the south end of the building (or at least trying to land on antenna). Taking a break in between flight shows landing in various places. The sun was behind them as it came up so most of the pics are silhouettes.
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Seth showed his boys how to land on the antenna before stooping into the river gorge. One or both had food on the roof at the south end-not sure if a food exchange was made or if there were scraps found but I could see one of the juvies eating. Soon after they flew off out of view then everything went quiet.
After about 45 minutes of action I left for downtown as the show was over here for now. Arriving on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) at 6:45am I spotted 3 falcons right away. Dot.ca (DC) was on the southwest wing ring of Times Square, Beauty was on the top east side railing of the Powers building and Genesee was on the north side platform railing of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT).
I went over to the City Hall parking lot to watch Genesee-he didn’t stay long before flying off to the northwest. Soon after that while I was watching Beauty from the Hochstein School of Music parking lot Cadence showed up on the northeast corner of City Place. So, in the span of about 20 minutes all 4 downtown falcons showed themselves-it doesn’t get any easier than that on watch.
Cadence flew west after a few minutes and the Beautyful one was gone as well at 7:15am. For the next 45 minutes I was falconless as I searched all over downtown.
While I was on the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge checking I could barely see DC up on the south side arch of Kodak Office (KO). I left High Falls for State St. to observe DC-he started on the west side of the arch and then he switched to the east side and after a couple minutes moved to the back of the ledge in the shadows. I had to drive over to Verona St. on the west side of KO to see him.
I couldn’t locate any other falcons downtown so I left for home, stopping on the way to check out the Lower Falls near the Driving Park bridge. They were flowing pretty hard and there was a mist rising from the river below.
It was just about 9am when I arrived at Seneca Towers-I pulled over on Seth Green Dr. same spot as earlier where I could see a juvie on the elevator shaft. He flew off and was joined by his brother as they flew off to the north out of view. They came back into view a few minutes later-one of them landed on the west side railing then off again to fly with his sibling. It was break time as Bith landed on the roof above the west side balconies and Sellie above him on the elevator shaft.
Sellie flew off and buzzed Bith who walked halfway to the northwest corner before flying off. He landed on the west side railing near the corner then took off after Sellie who came whizzing through and they both disappeared to the north. Bith returned to land briefly on the elevator shaft and west side railing then he left and didn’t return.
I ended my watch at 9:30am smiling all over the place after the fantastic fledge watch I had just encountered! 🙂
Click on the links below to see more photos and today’s videos-the snippet video has a lot of flying on it
July 23rd, 2015 at 7:38 PM
Glad it was a good day, MAK! Loved the flying videos! 😀
July 23rd, 2015 at 10:31 PM
Glad you liked them-too bad you didn’t join me this morning! It’s hit and miss with the juvies these days and today was a big HIT! 🙂
July 23rd, 2015 at 11:28 PM
Mark this day on your calendar, MAK! I can’t imagine a better fledge watching experience. Wonderful report, stills…and thanks for taking us along via your videos.
July 24th, 2015 at 5:07 AM
Barb, I’m all about bringing y’all along with me-I only wish it could be in person!