By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers: Dana, Kathy O, Linda, Larry O, Dan, Pat, Lisa, Brian (During my watch.)

6:00 am – 2:30 pm

Happy Father’s Day!

I made it downtown early this morning to check on Golden’s progress. Dana was already there when I arrived. Golden was still on the lower ledge where he spent the night and Freyja was above on the north side wall.

It wasn’t long before Golden started flying back and forth across the lower bumps on the east side of the Times Square Bldg. He paused for a moment on the south side bump and looked up intently at the nest box above him. Freyja was there looking down at him. It was now or never.

Golden started to flap his wings and he leaped into the air. The strong beat of his wings carried him up to the ledge next to the nest box and his sister. Dana and I let out a cheer, that was heard by our friend Jackie who was jogging by with a couple of her friends. They had seen Golden’s flight too.

Kathy and Linda joined us on the watch. Beauty brought food down to Golden as a reward for a job well done. Of course Freyja got some too.

Now that Golden and Freyja were reunited, our watch was fairly calm. There was a lot of activity by Beauty, Dot.ca and the two young ones. Golden discovered the well and became quite curious about it. Freyja loves to stand or lay down at the north end of the wall. She loves to lean over to watch the activity below her, including the comings and goings of her parents.

Dan joined us around noon. It was wonderful to see him doing so well. I was going to leave at 1:00 pm, but that all changed when Freyja took flight from the north wall. At the time, I wasn’t sure if it was her or Golden. We all watched as she flew out from the building heading north. She circled back, towards the Times Square Bldg, wing beats strong and sure. Her altitude was good too. We lost sight of her just as she approached the back of the building. It looked like she was heading for the back section of the Times Square Bldg or maybe beyond. Time to call in the watchers and spread out to look for her.

Pat, Lisa, Larry O, and Brian joined the search. I found Beauty on the south side of the old City Hall. She didn’t seem concerned and it was usually safe to take the parents lead. Beauty took off heading north.

The watchers continued to search, but we had no luck finding Freyja. I had to end my watch, but I later got word that Joyce found her on the back of the Times Square Bldg, looking great. It was so wonderful that she was ok.

A huge thank you to all the watchers that joined the search for Freyja on a Sunday afternoon.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from today’s watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers: Dana, Kathy O, Lisa, Larry O, Ron and Sue. More Watchers through the day and evening. Hopefully they will leave their own accounts.

6:45 am to 1:00 pm.

Oh, what a beautiful day for a fledge flight and Golden did not disappoint. When I arrived at 6:45 am, I had just missed Golden’s fledge flight from Cam #4 to the south side well. It’s not a long flight, but he did a great job! The first thing I saw when I arrived, was Golden on the south side well wall, looking over at the nest box, and Freyja on the north side well wall being fed by Beauty.

Dana and I spread out and we found that Golden had walked around the perimeter of the building, ending up on the NW corner. Although he was on the same level as the nest box, there was no way for him to return without flying.

Kathy O joined us and she set up to keep an eye on Freyja, just in case she decided to go. Larry O was watching from further out at the Court St Bridge.

Golden made his way back to the south side of the well wall and looked longingly at the nest box, where his sister was watching from. He made an attempt to fly back across, but could not keep the altitude he needed to land there. Instead he landed on a lower ledge, just below the nest box.

This is where he remained for the rest of my watch. Golden did a lot of practicing, so hopefully he’ll soon make another attempt.

Lisa McK, Sue, and Ron joined the watch while I was there.

Other watchers will be there for the afternoon and evening watch. Will Freyja take her first flight? Will Golden return to the nest box? Stay tuned!

Here are some of my favorite picks from today’s fledge watch.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers: Dana and Carol P from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm

There was a lot of activity by our two young eyases. Both were running the wall and flapping their wings, strengthening them for their soon to be first flights. Golden actually knocked Beauty off of Cam #4 and took her place for a few seconds. She brought in a small snack to entice him to come down from the camera. Freyja is a bit younger, but she’s keeping up with her brother.

The watch started out chilly and mostly cloudy. It did warm up and by the time we left, just before 2:00 pm, it was raining steadily. Both eyases had settled on the wall, so we decided it was a good time to leave.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from today’s fledge watch.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Well, here we are again. It’s almost time for the Rochester Falcons Fledge Watch to begin. Golden & Freyja are quickly losing their white fluff feathers and both are wingercizing like crazy. As of today, both have made it out to the wall. It won’t be long before they take their first flights!

Here are some pictures of our favorite couples, Beauty & Dot.ca; Billie & Beau. I can verify that Billie and Beau have successfully nested, but cannot say where.

I truly hope that all Rochester eyases fledge safely and successfully!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Larry O, Linda & Carol P.

Weather: Nice morning with a cool breeze and low humidity. Temps expected to go up into the 90’s later today.

After a very loud evening of fireworks everywhere, I wanted to get downtown early to take a headcount of our Rochester Falcons. A big thank you to Pat, Jeanne and Larry O for checking on them yesterday afternoon.

My watch started when I spotted Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower. Next was Hope with food on Thomson Reuter. A dark headed juvie was sitting on Mercury’s head. I couldn’t tell if it was Roc or Geraki.

Later during the watch, Hope was sitting on Widows Walk when Beauty flew in with food. Hope tried to grab it, but Beauty wanted to beak feed. That lasted a few minutes before Beauty gave up and left the food with Hope. Hope does love her food. lol

Geraki flew in from Mercury’s foot and wanted a bite. Beauty grabbed the food from Hope, who was just sitting on it, and gave it to Geraki. Hope moved in to try to get it back, but Geraki was mantling the food. Hope finally gave up and walked to the other side of Widows Walk, leaving Geraki to her breakfast.

I was checking out the Frontier Communication Tower, when Roc flew in, crying loudly. He landed below the platform. Hope flew in and landed on the north side railing. Dana had Geraki on the west side of Widows Walk. That made all three juvies seen this morning.

All three took off and there were four falcons flying above City Hall. Dot.ca was up there with them. I didn’t see any food, but there may have been.

The sky was filled with flying juvies, talon tagging and chasing each other. Love it!

Two juvies landed on Cross Rds, and Dot.ca landed on OCSR. Maybe the third juvie was somewhere with food?

The temps started to rise and we ended our watch just before 10:30 am.

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Watcher Pat C.

Watchers Larry, Jeanne and Pat met downtown for a late afternoon Independence Day Falcon Watch. After searching most their favorite spots, they began to make themselves known to us. Larry spotted Hope on Thomson Reuters. She then flew off and headed in the direction of FCT. Off we went. At FCT we found one adult, Beauty, and two juvies, Geraki and Hope. Shortly after, Dot.ca flew by with prey, and Roc followed. One of the juvies from FCT also followed Dad. I lost sight of all three, but was glad to have seen all five of our falcon family.

Happy Independence Day!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Larry O & Carol P.

Weather: Beautiful morning! Warm with low humidity. Love it!

My watch started when I found Geraki on a building behind the Civic Ctr. She was sitting on the corner. I saw another juvie fly over heading east.

A little later I saw both Hope and Roc on the Widows Walk railing. Beauty and Dot.ca were also seen this morning, so that makes all 5 Rochester Falcon Flying on this July 4th!

We’ve noticed that Hope is very possessive of her food. If she has it, it’s hers. lol She will protect it and carry it around. She will sometimes share it too. She’s a healthy eater. Beauty and Dot.ca make sure that all their young ones are fed well.

During the morning watch, all five falcons were seen. All are doing well.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Larry O & Carol P.

Weather: A beautiful start to what promises to be a very warm, hot and humid day, with temps in the 80’s forecast for later today.

It was a beautiful morning for a falcon watch. Hardly any traffic at all downtown due to the Fourth of July holiday.

I started my watch in the hole, but all the action was happening on the other side of Widows Walk on Fitzhugh. Three juvies were flying and having fun over there, so that’s where I headed.

Hope was eating up on the Civic Ctr and Roc joined her there. Geraki was on top of the old Church. Dot.ca and Beauty were nearby, Beauty on the Jail Communication Tower & Dot.ca on top of the Times Square Bldg’s wing ring.

Dana joined me when Hope finished her breakfast, all three took to the sky again. We had a blast watching these young falcons fly together. I really wish others could see this in person. We would have had our Falcon Watch Weekend soon, but due to the Corona Virus, it was cancelled this year. This is the weekend that falcon fans would visit Rochester and watch the young falcons fly.

All three juvies landed, side-by-side on the Widows Walk railing. Another family portrait, minus mom & dad.

Beauty flew through with more food, and all three joined her near the Thomson Reuters Bldg. Hope was on the base of Mercury, Beauty on the railing, Dot.ca at the top of the TSB and Geraki & Roc on top of TR. Geraki was the lucky recipient of this meal.

Roc took off and Larry O, who was out on the Court St Bridge with Zeke, witnessed some incredible flying by Roc, low over the Genesee River. By the time Dana and I walked up to the Broad St Bridge, Roc was out of sight.

Dana and I returned to the hole where Geraki had finished her meal. Hope took off from the base of Mercury and ended up on the east end of the Wilder Bldg. She had food up there. We spotted Geraki on top of the fire escape on the Wilder Bldg. She was so intently watching all the little birds flitting around her. They were not happy at all.

For the next hour we watched her up there. Hope took off heading northwest. Beauty came off the railing on Mercury and headed northwest. Geraki followed. We thought maybe they had headed over to the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).

When we arrived at FCT, we could see both Hope and Dot.ca in the red section under the platform. Hope had a very small bird that she shared with Dot.ca.

It was starting to get really warm, so Dana and I ended our watch at 10:00 am.

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Kathy O, Larry O, Alyssa (thanks for the help finding Beauty today!) & Carol P.

Weather: Hot, hot hot & humid. Hardly a breeze or a cloud in the sky. Temps going up to 90 degrees today.

When I first arrived, there was one juvie on Widows Walk. S/he took off and all of a sudden there were three flying around the Times Square Bldg (TSB). Two landed under the northeast wing. I believe two juvies, and there was food up there.

Other watchers joined me in the hole during the morning watch; Alyssa, Dana, Larry O & Kathy O.

Twice, Geraki hunted over the parking lot in front of us. It was wonderful to see her chasing the pigeons around the Times Square Bldg. She doesn’t quite have the speed to catch one yet, but she’s getting very close.

Alyssa returned from riding around on her bike and said she thought she found Beauty over on the old School on Fitzhugh St. I followed her over there (on foot) and yep! There was Beauty. Where we were standing, we had Geraki and Hope behind us on Widows Walk. We started to hear a juvie crying and it wasn’t from the girls. Roc popped up his head on the Monroe Bldg (corner of Main & Fitzhugh).

Roc had just finished eating breakfast and Beauty flew down to have a bit for herself. Roc took off and landed on top of the old Church (corner of Fitzhugh & Broad). He took off and there was some flying by the juvies overhead. Beauty finished her meal and headed north with the leftovers.

During all of this, Dot.ca was on the SE corner of the Powers Bldg. We had all five Rochester Falcons in view this morning.

So far, their training is going well. We’ll keep watching. 🙂

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Happily I was able to get a picture of Roc’s Wings, so now I have all three! Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Larry O & Carol P.

Weather: Cool and beautiful! Clouds and Sun with temps going up to mid 80’s later today. 70’s during the watch.

Happy July 1st! June has ended. It was a very dry month here in Rochester, NY.

My watch started on the Court St Bridge and ended near City Hall. All 3 juvies were in attendance, along with both Beauty and Dot.ca. I didn’t see much of Hope yesterday, but she was up front and center today.

Lots of flying and talon tagging by our three young ones. Hope is very close to hunting on her own. She stooped on a Robin twice today. The Robin was very lucky that she is a hunter in training.

At one point Beauty brought in breakfast and all three had a good meal from it. Dot.ca sat above them keeping watch on the Frontier Communication Tower.

Their flights took them far to the north and east. When all three juvies headed towards High Falls, Larry O and Dana headed over there just in case they were flying through the gorge. Our favorite place to watch!

All three ended up back at the Frontier Communication Tower. Dana and Larry did not see them in the gorge.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from today’s watch. Enjoy!

I just love when the juvies spread their wings…so beautiful!