By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

and what a glorious day of flying it was for our young tiercel. I missed his first flight over to the south side of the building, but I got to see the five other flights he took throughout the day.

His flights have been very strong and except for a few mishaps, he has landed very accurately. He’s young and he tires easily causing him to come in low and to bounce off the building before landing lower than he really wanted. For example, on his flight from the Cross Rds Bldg. to the Times Square Bldg, he attempted to land on the base of the SE wing, way at the top of the building, but he was too low by about a couple feet. He came up against the wall and circled to the left (south), losing altitude. He landed badly on a lower ledge (nest box level), but he was just fine. I saw him bounce up and run around and flap his wings.

I arrived just after his first flight, joining Larry and Dan out on the BSB. MAK and Joyce had gone in closer to the building on the south side. Larry, Dan and I could see flapping from the south side. Then Orion was off! He headed south first, over the D&C bldg, banked to the left, heading back towards the TSB (north). He flew past the TSB and banked left again, turning back to the south and heading straight for the TSB, landing extremely well on a very narrow ledge on the level above the nest box. I give him a 10! I was very impressed. After seeing many flights by young Falcons learning to fly, Orion quite impressed me.

Throughout the day MAK, Joyce and I stayed on watch, being joined by other watchers when they had time. Orion made a total of 6 short flights today and was fed once by Beauty on the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg. Not much though.

Orion Flights:

1 – Fledge Flight from nest ledge to south ledge, same level.

2 – 2nd Flight from south ledge to east ledge above nest box.

3 – 3rd Flight from east ledge of TSB to south end of Cross Rds Bldg.

4 – 4th Flight from south end of Cross Rds Bldg. to north end of Cross Rds Bldg, for a small meal.

5 – 5th Flight from north end of Cross Rds Bldg. to the south ledge at nest box level on the TSB. Attempted to land on base of SE wing but came in too low. Rocky landing.

6 – 6th Flight from south ledge of TSB to a windowsill on the east side of the TSB near the south corner. Our friend Mark B works in these offices!

When I left around 8:30 pm, many Watchers had gathered to keep an eye on Orion. When I left, Orion remained on the windowsill. Beauty above him on the base of the SE wing. Dot.ca no where in view.

OK, this is going to be a hard one. I hope I don’t forget anyone.

Today’s Watchers while I was on watch: Larry O, Dan S, Joyce, MAK, Mark B, Debbie H, Pat, Jeff, Diane, Susan C, Brian H, Jeanne, Lynda, Carrie, Shaky, Marcia, Dana, Lou, Gayle and Carol P. I really should start writing down names.

It was a wonderful day for a fledge and Orion did darn good for his first day of flight. Tomorrow will be another day of adventure for him and his parents. Stay safe little one. The Rochester Falcon Watchers will all have their eyes to the sky looking out for you. 🙂

Oh, and on the way home I checked on KPT at KP and found him on his normal nightly roosting spot above the catwalk on the east smokestack.

Here is the link to my album of pics from today. No sign on needed. Enjoy!

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at 12:42 AM and is filed under Fledge Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.