Falcon Watch – Orion Becomes Orion the Hunter! – 9/2/12
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Well, by now, you’ve all read MAK’s report with the exciting news that we saw Orion successfully hunt this morning. Jeanne, Dana, MAK, and I were thrilled to see him catch his own breakfast this morning. We all watched Orion come in and land on the base of the Mercury statue. In the bright sunlight, he looked in every direction, but especially down below him where there were a couple starlings hunting bugs on the Thomson Reuters Bldg (TRB) below him. He watched and watched and stooped! Off he went, diving down the face of the building just missing the startling. He chased the small bird north, but soon gave up on his pursuit. Orion flew back towards the OCSR and then back along the front of the TRB.
Orion flew around to the back of the TRB (south side) where we lost sight of him. We waited, hoping he would come out from the other side. Finally he did. He flipped around the north end of the building and grabbed a starling with his talons. His flight took him over the TRB, this time heading south, over the Blue Cross Arena, back over the TRB towards OSCR and then back again, this time towards the TSB where he landed on the ledge just above the nest box but at the SE corner. At first he was harassed by a 2nd starling and a very curious gull that followed him, wondering what he had and whether he’d like to share. lol No way! Orion was not going to share this well deserved meal.
Orion the Hunter moved further in on the ledge and we walked around to the south end to get a better look. Yep, there he was, and he was enjoying his breakfast.
We all walked back out to the Broad St Bridge (BSB) to watch from there . Every now and then, we could see Orion poke his head up and then back down. We all high fived each other! Our little Orion was learning his lessons well. Today was a huge step to his becoming a successful Peregrine Falcon. We were all very happy! 🙂
There isn’t much to report from the evening Watch. Watchers: Dan S, Jeanne, Larry O, Brian H & Carol P. (downtown) and Joyce (out at BS location). Beauty remained at the nest box the whole evening, until it got dark and she flew to the Xerox bldg. We did not see Orion, although Suzanne and Don from Ithaca saw and heard him on the Frontier Communication Tower for most of the afternoon before they had to leave. This evening Joyce checked out the BS location and was pretty sure that it was Dot.ca she saw there and not Pigott.
I definitely plan on getting downtown early tomorrow morning and my eyes will definitely be watching the sky above me!
Here are a few pictures of Orion’s hunt. 1 – Shows Orion on the base of Mercury, where he hunted from. 2 – Orion right after he caught the starling, skimming the top of the TRB. 3 – Orion flying up towards the Time Square Bldg. Be sure to click on the pictures for a larger view.
