Fledge Watch/Through the fog 7-13-17
By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
It was a foggy, damp, dreary morning with a temperature of 68 (F) 20 (C)
Click on the pics to see the full version
*Poor quality shots today due to weather and Picassa had issues-no videos because they were lost due to a problem with Picassa
As I left Seneca Towers at 5am it was clear but when I arrived downtown it was foggy at the top of Xerox and Legacy Tower. However, I was able to find Beauty near the southeast corner of the 5 Star Bank.
I left the Beautyful one preening and joined Dan on the Court St. bridge as I knew I could see Beauty from there. Dot.ca (DC) was on the top I-beam west corner of OCSR when I got there. Around 6am Beauty and DC left and I could see one falcon by the Powers nest box. After checking the archives I discovered that they met in the box for some bonding.
It was quick and then we had no falcons so I checked the river. There was a Great Blue Heron on the south side of the bridge looking for the ducklings but they were all hiding thankfully. Over below the Broad St. bridge was a juvie and an adult Black-crowned Night Heron. The Great Blue flew over there as well, leaving the coast clear for the cute little ducklings to come out and play.
I don’t know how but Dan spotted Beauty on the top I-beam southwest side of OCSR through the fog. I then spotted 2 families of ducks out and about.
Larry and Zeke joined us around 6:20am. It was quiet until just before 7am when I spotted a juvie on the southeast corner of the 5 Star Bank. I decided to go check it out and the guys were going to end their watch. I believe it was Rachel on the bank and just as I pulled over on East Broad St. she flew off to the northwest out of view.
I had seen a juvie fly from the south side of Xerox on my way back to the CSB. Once there, I saw that Beauty was on the south corner top I-beam of OCSR looking east. I was in the hole and could here a juvie whining as Beauty was looking up-I saw the juvie for a split second before it flew east out of my field of vision. I then headed over to the east side again.
After a few minutes I spotted a juvie on the northwest corner railing of the 5 Star Bank. I parked on Elm St. where I could keep track of it. It looked small to me so perhaps it was Ontario. He started whining and then I spotted Beauty on the bottom rung of the RGE antenna. I barely got a shot of them when first Beauty flew off heading north and then the juvie from the bank hot on her tail.
I wasn’t able to find any falcons again after that so I left downtown. On my way home I spotted an adult falcon on the Hawkeye plant perched on the ring railing that the dilapidated nest box is attached to. No way of knowing who it was but most likely one of the Seneca Towers birds. This officially ended my watch at just about 8am.
It was a quiet fledge watch in which I may or may not have seen both downtown juvies. Regardless, I saw at least one of them and both adult Rochester Peregrine Falcons which is enough to make me smile! 🙂
