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Weekend Fledge Watch in the Gorge! – 7/25, 7/26 & 7/27/14

Monday, July 28th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Let’s see if I can remember all the watchers that were out with me this weekend.  Sorry if I forget anyone.  Dana, Dan, Kathy O, Jeanne, Joyce, Larry O, Pat, Lisa McK, Susan C, Shaky & Kelly.

Sorry that I have no time to write up a report, but I did want to post some pictures from a fabulous four days of watching our young falcons flying in and around the High Falls Gorge area.  It has been a treat for all the Rochester Watchers to again be able to watch from the pedestrian bridge over the Genesee River.  It brings back such wonderful memories of past falcon watches.  All 4 juvies have been seen over the past three days and all are doing well.  Beauty continues her molt, but has joined in to help supply food to her young alongside Dot.ca and we saw her flying with Tesh in the gorge.  It has been a joy to watch these juvies spread their wings and fly high.

Here are some pictures from my watches, including a few at the end by my friend Joyce.  You can see why we all enjoy this area so much.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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Here are three pictures taken by fellow watcher Joyce today of three juvies talon tagging above us this afternoon!

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Fledge watch 7-26-14

Saturday, July 26th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There was a sunsational sunrise as I stepped out my apartment this morning and looked out from the east side balcony. It was a bit hazy and cloudy with sun and a temperature of 60 (F) 16 (C)

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Please click on my pics to see the full version

I was surprised Dan wasn’t out this morning-as I made my way downtown via St. Paul St. which goes past the Genesee Brewery and the east side of the High Falls I check the parking lot to see if his car is there every day. Not there and not on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB). As a matter of fact, I didn’t see any falcons from the BSB either so I headed over to the east side and sure enough when I pulled over on Woodbury St. to have a look I spotted a juvie way up on the west side roof of the tallest building in Rochester-Xerox.

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Judging by the size I believe it was one of the girls-she flew off and gave me a nice show flying above Xerox and riding the wind currents,landing on the roof top antenna then seemingly floating off to fly around some more. All of a sudden I had 3 juvies in the air chasing each other ,talon tagging and landing on Bausch & Lomb. You can see it all on todays videos at the end of my report.

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They all dispersed and I didn’t see where they went as buildings were blocking my view, so I went for another drive ending up on State St. below Kodak Office where I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the cupola.

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I left the big guy to look for juvies and I found one on Mercurys’ head from the BSB. While standing on the north side of the bridge I couldn’t help but notice a Great Blue Heron all by itself down in the river, which was a bit higher than it’s been and covering some of the rocks. While I was taping him, the juvie whom I believe was Tesh slipped off of Mercury.

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It was a while before I saw another falcon-Larry was on the Pont De Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls so I joined him. Soon after I arrived I found my 2nd GBH on the north side of the bridge and Larry spotted DC on KO building #10 on what they call Acons’ peak from Mariah & Kaver days.

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Then Larry spotted who I believe was Tesh, in the Falcon Sucking Tree (FST)-she flew off over the falls and the east side park and trees back and forth a few times before returning to the FST. Moments later she flew under bridge to the north side, back under to the south side, then back under to the north one more time chasing a Kingfisher. She disappeared into the trees and we didn’t see her come back out.

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Meanwhile, DC flew off Acons’ peak circled around a couple times then landed back on the KO cupola-and there was a juvie on the southwest corner of the KO playpen that flew off as Dana joined the watch.

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I then noticed a juvie on the 17th floor of KO southeast corner. DC remained on the cupola and I got ready to end my watch around 9:15am.

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I said my good byes and left but my watch wasn’t over for as I drove down Seth Green Drive to my apartment at Seneca Towers I spotted Veteran on a roof top railing by 2 red lights that flash for airplanes. He was preening and looking south toward downtown most of the time I observed him. I do hope he doesn’t go downtown and mix it up with DC or any of the rest of the clan. After the sudden death of his 1 year old mate Luzerne I want him to find a new mate and stick to his own territory.

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Although it saddens me knowing Veteran is alone now, I must smile over the fact that he hasn’t moved on so far! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/_ph1iD_nf44

http://youtu.be/nAbi0YPE6sg

http://youtu.be/o-fxxIyp-fc

http://youtu.be/AjJ4aYzEyYY

http://youtu.be/–Vby-xD1Ww


Fledge watch 7-25-14

Friday, July 25th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The early morning was mostly cloudy but the sun broke thru later after a chilly start with a temperature of 52 (F) 11 (C)

Please click on my pics to see the full version

I would like to dedicate this report to Voyager and Luzerne…

Dan was on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) when I arrived-he told me that there were 3 juvies under the southeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB), 1 with food just before I got there. Soon after we watched Beauty fly from the west side,cross the river,fly behind Bausch & Lomb then return to land under the southeast wing and go to the back of the ledge out of view. No doubt there was food left up there as she spent quite a while back there.

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We were thrilled by a juvie that went after 4 crows near the Blue Cross Arena (BCA)-it then disappeared behind the building. Dan left and then Beauty flew over to the northeast wing ledge. The Jehovahs Witnesses were starting to make their way to the BCA for a 2nd weekend convention in a row and as I made my way down to the hole I stopped for a pic of the Rochester Knighthawks Mascot who was being interviewed at Exchange and Broad St. after I asked him for a pose.

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Around 7:30am Nettie and Nor’Easter flew in quite noisily and knocked the Beautyful one off her perch under the wing. She left the scene and they flew down to land on the north side of the roof above the well and nest box area. They were very vocal at first, then Nor’E settled down to do some preening while Nettie continued to shout out!

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Eventually Nettie stopped screaming and did some preening of her own. They stayed about 20 minutes then Nettie flew north and a half  hour later Nor’E flew behind TSB and disappeared.

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30 minutes passed before I found a falcon as I came across Beauty on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) below the platform on a north side beam. Dot.Ca (DC) was directly above her on the top arm of FCT.

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A juvie came flying out from the tower screaming and headed south. Beauty left or went in the middle of the tower where I couldn’t see her while I drove around trying to get a better angle on DC. I left to run an errand at this time. When I returned CarlaP was on the BSB. We checked around but couldn’t find any falcons so we went to the Pont De Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls. We spotted a falcon fly to the 2nd arm of FCT after about 10 minutes and then Tesh was chasing gulls in the gorge! She flew to the Falcon Sucking Tree (FST) and landed.

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Carly wanted to know how a Canada Goose over at the edge of the falls didn’t go over them-I’ve often wondered how shore birds can stand in the current and not get swept away myself. I guess it’s just another one of natures’ wonders. I spotted a Great Blue Heron down on the island below the bridge as Tesh remained on the FST.

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Our juvie boys Mercury and Nor’Easter flew into the gorge and Tesh joined them as they gave us quite a show flying around the gorge from one side to the other. When they finished Tesh went back to the tree and I spotted a falcon on the 2nd arm of FCT. I didn’t get in flight shots but I did get videos of them flying for y’all to enjoy. I’m new to watching falcons in the High Falls gorge as I wasn’t a watcher in the days of Mariah and Kaver- I must say it’s a whole different experience from watching them with buildings obstructing the view! Love it!!

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Dan joined the watch around 12:30pm just in time to see 2 juvies fly around on the north side of the bridge this time. Around 12:50pm Tesh flew under the bridge to the north then back thru to the south-as we ran from one side of the bridge to the other eo watch her I noticed people on the bridge looking at us strangely. lol Tesh continued south riding the wind above OCSR then stooping straight down by TSB and vanishing. Lisa came by on her lunch break and with no falcons in sight I ended my watch at 1pm after a fantastic 7 hour watch that made me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and many videos
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjyO

http://youtu.be/YRLdPJ53rI4

http://youtu.be/QlgOdVaXZoM

http://youtu.be/ElluUQ27HYw

http://youtu.be/FcI9-guWV9A

http://youtu.be/txiAwx-8nII

http://youtu.be/lwYc5p0YtyA

http://youtu.be/wFRAtAz-DUw

http://youtu.be/lLLLpjtnVSA





Evening Fledge Watch (6:46 – 9:00 pm) – 7/24/14

Thursday, July 24th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It’s with a heavy heart that I post my evening watch report, after hearing of the loss of Voyager, one of our females from 2013.  At this time last year, we were posting our fledge watch reports about Baron, Rosetta and Voyager.  Fly Free Voyager.  🙁

It was a gorgeous day today.  Low humidity and temps in the 70’s with a light breeze.  Perfect!  I really thought there would be a lot of flying by our juvies this evening,  But, it was a very quiet watch.  We started on the pedestrian bridge at High Falls and ended up on the Broad St Bridge.  Watchers this evening were Lisa McK, Joyce, Brian H, Dan, Shaky and me, Carol P.

Most of the flying happened between the Frontier Communication Tower and downtown.  At one time we had three juvies together on one arm of the Frontier Communication Tower.  Two landed on top of the OCSR.  One juvie decided to do some talon tagging with a Kestrel over the old Midtown Plaza!  There was a food drop at the Times Square Bldg on the southeast wing ledge by, we believe, Beauty.

The river water level was way down, showing big slabs of rock that many gulls, ducks and two Black-Crowned Night Herons occupied.

I’ll leave you with some pictures from my evening watch.  Enjoy! and goodnight everyone!

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Fledge watch 7-24-14

Thursday, July 24th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

After yesterday the temperature of 62 (F) 17 (C) seemed downright chilly and no issues with humidity

Remember to click on my pictures to see the full view

Dan was on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) when I arrived for my watch. There was a juvie on the base of Mercury.

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It flew off to the northwest and 10 minutes later Dan left, so I took a ride and found a juvie on the Wilder building chimney and one on the south side roof of Crossroads.

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A few minutes later the chimney juvie flew over to join the Crossroads juvie. I was able to ID one of them as Nor’Easter.

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They hung out for about 15 minutes-one of them did some serious stretching and then Nor’Easter flew off to the southwest.

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The other juvie took off half a minute later. I flew that direction myself and ended up on Woodbury St. on the south side of Xerox where I found Dot.Ca (DC) on the 8th column from the southwest corner.

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DC left while I was enroute to observe him from a different angle. I caught up with him 10 minutes later on OCSR where he was perched on the top ibeam west corner. In between, I spotted 2 juvies flying past the Hall of Justice (HOV) heading south as I was coming down Broad St. by Falcon Watcher Central (stairs down to the hole).

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I went back to Broad St. and spotted a juvie on a cage type structure on top of the Hall of Justice and another juvie was circling above it. They both flew in and out of view above the HOV stopping to perch on the cage for a few seconds then flying off again. I was able to ID one of them as Tesh. Eventually, they didn’t show themselves anymore, so I moved on.

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It was a long while before I saw another falcon but it was well worth the wait as I found Beauty after not seeing her the last 3 days. She was on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) under the platform near the southwest corner.

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Suddenly a robin started buzzing the Beautyful one-she kept ducking and had a few things to say to it. Another one joined in and then she had a pair to deal with when all she wanted to do is preen and pluck feathers as she is molting.

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Beauty finally had enough and flew north toward Kodak Office-I went there looking for her but was unsuccessful. I saw at least 2 different juvies and the adults on my watch but seeing Beauty is what made me smile as I ended my watch at 10:30am. 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/jNXwP3WVAXc

http://youtu.be/sf1UGfqUjTc

http://youtu.be/yihQGECW3fE

Fledge watch 7-23-14

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Very humid conditions and overcast, dark skies made the weather this morning with a starting temperature of 73 (F) 23 (C)\

Click on the pictures to see full version-because of dark conditions I tried to brighten up some of  todays’ pics

My first sighting this morning was a juvie on the base of Mercury-it was eating and there were no other falcons in sight from the Broad St. Bridge (BSB). The juvie finished eating 10 minutes later and flew off to the west.

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A few minutes later I spotted a juvie on the base of mercury again-not sure if it was the same one but it flew off seconds later to the east above Xerox.  This started the best part of my watch- an aerial display by this juvie and a few minutes later another joined it. There was obviously a size difference so a boy and girl gave me a wonderful show for the better part of an hour.

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Mostly silhouettes but I added some contrast and color to spruce them up-the lower juvie on that last one looks like Batman to me! lol

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After they disappeared I went for a ride and ended up over at the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) where I had a juvie on the west side platform railing. and another one on the platform eating near the southwest corner just a few feet away from its’ sibling. I had to move around until I had the right angle on both of them-a few minutes later the juvie on the railing flew south.

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While the platform bird ate I took a ride looking for more falcons and I found 2 on the bottom arm of the jail tower from the BSB. I drove to Troup St. for closer viewing. These were the only juvies I was able to ID during my watch today-it was Tesh and Mercury and I have a feeling they are the ones that gave the flight show earlier. Tesh flew up to the arm above Mercury, a few minutes later and soon after that,  Tesh, followed by Mercury a minute later flew north.

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I flew to the north as well ending up on Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities ramp garage. I could see a juvie on the south side platform railing. DebbieH came by on her way to work telling me that she saw 3 falcons flying near FCT- there was another juvie on the east side platform railing but it flew off as soon as we spotted it. Deb left for work and I left to look for falcons.

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I discovered a juvie on the base of Mercury eating the leftovers the earlier juvie left behind.

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I had to leave for an appointment-parked in the South Ave. ramp garage and when I was done I went up to the roof for a look around. The only falcon I saw was a juvie on the Main St. side of the Wilder building-east side roof eating.

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I ended my watch at 9:30am having not seen an adult falcon and the 3rd day in a row of the Beautyful one eluding me, but that didn’t stop me from smiling for I had seen some high flying by 2 of our talented juvies! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and many videos of  those juvies in flight!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjxg

http://youtu.be/L363m6PGbkA

http://youtu.be/VYuK4N6R_zI

http://youtu.be/_AvJrgzKcgo

http://youtu.be/d-hSlblYQJk

http://youtu.be/gCq3Vb7zi4U

http://youtu.be/RXFUVPydfgw

http://youtu.be/AkKNWlWOxc4

http://youtu.be/fRru2zaZYjU

An Evening Fledge Watch at Kodak Office and the Gorge – 7/22/14

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

7:00 to 9:00 pm

Another warm summer evening here in Rochester, NY.  I arrived downtown at about 7:00 pm, meeting Brian and Susan C at the east end of the pedestrian bridge.  Dana had reported that Beauty, Tesh and Nor’easter were on the Kodak Tower on the 17th floor with food.  We hoped they would make it to the gorge this evening.   We walked towards the Kodak Tower and joined Dana on the east side of Kodak Office.  Beauty, Tesh and Nor’easter were right where Dana reported they were.  Beauty was attempting to control the food and the feeding of her two young ones.  That was proving to be difficult.  At times she was able to beak feed Tesh and Nor’easter, but most of the time, Tesh tried to keep the food to herself by spreading her large wings over the prey to mantle it.

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While feeding both Tesh and Nor’easter, Beauty ate her fill too.  She flew to the south end of the ledge and grabbed a wing, taking off with it.  Not so fast!  Nor’easter was off after her.  He attempted to grab the wing and it fell towards the lower roof below.  Nor’easter dove down, chasing the wing as it fell.  Because he went behind a building, we didn’t see what happened until he rose above the building holding the wing in his beak.  He caught it! Nor’easter landed on the southeast corner of Bldg 10, where he checked out his “catch”.  There wasn’t much, if any meat on the wing, so he soon picked it up with his beak and flew back up to the southeast corner of the 17th floor, where he returned the wing.

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After dropping the wing, Beauty had landed up on the southside top ledge where the large KODAK letters were located.  She was hanging out in front of the “A”.

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While all this was happening, we were joined by Shaky, Larry O and Joyce.  A before and after pic of the gathered watchers that I took.  🙂

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As we were losing light, first Tesh and then Nor’easter took off and flew over us heading east towards the gorge.

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We all headed in that direction.  From the west end of the bridge, I spotted something in what we all call “the falcon sucking tree” and it was moving.  Could it be a falcon?  We all moved down to the east end of the bridge, where we had a better view.  Yes!  There was a juvie falcon sitting in a dead tree that juts out over the river on the east side of the gorge wall.  It seems to be a spot that many of our falcons have found over the years.  It was a favorite hiding spot for Mariah.  The lighting was really bad, but here is a picture I was able to get.

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It was so nice to see a falcon there again.  We were not able to get a positive ID on this falcon, but Shaky was pretty sure that the feet were blue.  So probably Tesh or Nor’easter.  After awhile, the falcon flew out and back in, closer to the gorge wall.  We were all thinking that this juvie might be roosting there overnight.  I did call Dan to let him know that he might be out early enough to see this juvie tomorrow morning.

Oh, and while we were keeping an eye on the falcons on the Kodak Tower, Nettie was hanging out on the Frontier Communication Tower on the north side of the platform.  Dana had seen her earlier and she said that Nettie had a very full crop.  We did not see Dot.ca or Mercury this evening.

It was a wonderful evening to watch falcons again at Kodak and the gorge.  Goodnight and have a very nice evening everyone!  Happy Birthday Shaky!  🙂

Fledge Watch 7-22-14

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The air was thick when I arose today-fog had formed above the canopy and made for a very cool sunrise.  The temperature was a balmy 63 (F) 17 (C)

Click on the pictures to view the full version

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As I looked around first thing when I arrived downtown I could find no falcons or Dan. I parked on the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) and watched 3 juvies fly over the Federal building on State St. heading east across the river and out of sight. They were flapping their wings the whole time so it happened very quick.

I returned to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) and had Nor’Easter on the base of Mercury as Dan pulled up next to me. He said he had started on the east side and ended up on the Pont De Rennes pedestrian bridge where he saw all 4 juvies flying over the Genesee brewery earlier. I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR after we went to the other side of the bridge.

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Mercury left and so did DC-I crossed the bridge again to check the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) and Kodak Office (KO). I started watching a Black-crowned Night Heron by the rocks below the RG&E substation. A mink ran past it to hide in the foliage-at first the heron starting running toward it but went back to looking in the river for breakfast. You can see it on one of my videos today. I also saw a falcon on the northeast corner of the KO launchpad-probably DC, that’s his favorite spot over there.

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Another juvie appeared on the base of Mercury again and stooped off of it and resurfaced empty taloned and fly over the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) and disappear behind Times Square (TSB).

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Next I found Nettie and Tesh on the northeast corner of Widows Walk (WW)-I watched them from the hole and Fitzhugh St.

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Tesh flew off first followed by Nettie a few minutes later.

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Down Fitzhugh St. toward FCT I went and found 2 juvies on the tower-Tesh on the  southeast cube and Nettie behind her hiding in the red beams. DebbieH came by on her way to work and said she had seen 3 of them flying around the area. Tesh had food and Nor’Easter came in to land next to her.

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Nor’E wanted some food but Tesh wouldn’t share-he got in her face at one point and she merely flew off with it followed by Nettie and eventually Nor”E.

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I found Nettie and one of the boys on the north side railing of WW-they both flew off at the same time soon after-she went south and he went east.

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Next up-Tesh was on fledge ledge (across from nest box) with her treasure. Nor’Easter landed there a few minutes later and tried to share it with her again. If he got any it wasn’t much-he walked off and back, then went to the deck. Tesh finished up and joined him/

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They both left minutes later as I got a report from Donna that it had been our 2 blue footed juvies, Tesh and Nor’Easter. Thanks D! I ended my watch at 9am after another morning watch without seeing the Beautyful one. Thankfully she was seen on camera at the nest box yesterday. As I made my way down Seth Green Drive to my apartment at Seneca Towers I spotted Veteran for the 3ed day in a row on the northwest corner railing.

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Another falcon watch worthy of a smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see more pics and videos
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjxC

http://youtu.be/LMrSk9-PtkA
http://youtu.be/WErh_HghJN0
http://youtu.be/_bPD4sbqEv8
http://youtu.be/tacQwICvzjU
http://youtu.be/c4SS7MtG5rA
http://youtu.be/Cg1YceuhGWA
http://youtu.be/INH93TwH4ts


Balmy Evening Fledge Watch – 7/21/14

Monday, July 21st, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I got a late start, arriving downtown just a little before 7:30 pm.  It was a balmy, beautiful evening.  When I left downtown at approximately 9:00 pm, the State St clock said it was 75 degrees.  Nice!

When I arrived, I spotted two falcons on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  There was a juvie, that I believe was Tesh (but can’t be 100% sure) on the south side of the platform railing.  On the second arm, was an adult that I believe was Dot.ca.  I parked on the north side of the tower for a better look.  That’s when a juvie flew in and knocked Dot.ca off.  Dot.ca headed south towards the Times Square Bldg (TSB) and the juvie landed on the east side platform railing.  I was not able to positively ID this juvie.  In fact, due to low light, I was not able to positively ID any of the falcons this evening, except to say they were juvie or adult.

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Right after Dot.ca left, Larry O joined me.  He decided to head downtown to see if he could spot any other falcons.  From the Broad St Bridge (BSB), Larry reported seeing one falcon on the jail communication tower.  It wasn’t long before the juvie on the east side of the railing took off and headed south towards the Times Square Bldg.

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Larry tweeted that a juvie landed on the southwest wing ledge on the Times Square Bldg.  Since the juvie on the FCT seemed to be settled in for a nice preening, I headed over to the Times Square Bldg where I found the juvie located there.

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I met up with Larry O on the Broad St Bridge, where he was checking out one of the adult Black-Crowned Night Herons that have been hanging out on the river.  There were also a whole bunch of Cedar Wax Wings there.

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The falcon that had been on the Time Square Bldg joined the other one on the jail communication tower.  Then both took off and flew towards us and over us heading east.  We last saw them as they passed by Midtown Plaza continuing east.  From the other side of the BSB we could see that there were now two falcons back on the Frontier Communication Tower.

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Larry had to leave, so I decided to get a look at the area near Midtown.  As I passed Geva Theater, I found a Red-tailed Hawk (adult) on a light pole near the park.  Next to the hawk was a Robin and a Finch.  They were shouting their displeasure at having this big bird of prey in their territory.  The Crows got in on the act when the hawk decided to leave chasing it and cawing loudly.

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Continuing on, I found two juvies talon tagging over HSBC.  They both landed on the west side of the building.

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They didn’t stay there long.  By this time it was getting dark and my camera does not work well in low light.  I really thought I saw four flying above Xerox, but I never captured a picture of four.  Here’s one really blurry picture of three juvies chasing each other over the top of the Xerox Tower.

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They flew together for a few moments and then took off in different directions.  One landed on the southeast corner of the Chase Lincoln Tower.  I headed back to the Broad St Bridge, arriving just in time to first hear and then see two juvies chasing an adult.  Pretty sure it was Dot.ca.  When he got close to the OCSR, and the two juvies were directly behind him, he flipped up into the elevator shaft.  It was kind of funny seeing the reaction of the two juvies as they flew past and back around.  Trying to figure out where their dad went.  🙂

I believe they landed on the OCSR somewhere, but it was too dark to see where.  Another falcon flew up to the Times Square Bldg and landed on the southeast wing ledge.  I thought another falcon had landed on the northeast wing ledge, but I could not verify that it was up there.

A little after 9:00 pm, I ended my very active fledge watch.  Although I can’t say for sure that I saw Beauty during my watch, I do know that she spent some time at the nest box, where she was seen on camera tidying up the scrape.  Goodnight everyone!  Enjoy your evening!

Fledge watch 7-21-14

Monday, July 21st, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This mornings weather was mostly cloudy with a temperature of 66 (F) 19 (C)

Make sure to click on the pictures to see the full view

As I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I could see Dan turned and facing the east side. When I got parked I could see that he was watching 4 falcons (all juvies) flying above Xerox. I got to see a few seconds of it before they broke up and flew in different directions. One of them landed on the Bausch & Lomb (B&L) building below the spire and another under the northeast wing of Times Square (TSB). A few minutes later the B&L juvie joined it and the other 2 flew to parts unknown.

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Dan told me they had been at it for half hour before I got there. The B&L juvie flew straight down in a half stoop position and ended up on the north end of the well wall as the other juvie flew over to the base of Mercury.

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Next the wall juvie flew east across the river out of view behind Xerox. Minutes later the Mercury bird flew across the river going in between the Radisson Hotel and Andrews Place apartments out of view. Pigeons were scattering in different directions when nobody returned Dan decided to leave.

I spent the next 15 minutes looking in every direction until I spotted a falcon on the jail towers’ 2nd arm-just as I was about to drive over to Troup St. for a closer look another juvie flew out from the tower followed by the one on the arm. They met up with 2 falcons near the Wilder building and disappeared behind OCSR. There may have been a food transfer because Nor’Easter and Mercury showed up on Crossroads and were tugging and sharing a small piece of food.

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Nor’Easter gave up early and walked back and forth before joining Mercury again. They spread out a bit then Mercury flew off very low over the river to the southeast and out of view from my vantage point at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. I took a look at Kodak Office and spotted a falcon on the Kodak Office cupola.

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I drove over to find it was Dot.Ca (DC) with a full crop-so had he left that smell bit of food for the juvies after eating the lions’ share of it? Hmm-could be!

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I left him to look for juvies and found Nor’Easter was gone from Crossroads and I had a juvie on the south side platform railing of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) with its back to me. I tried 3 different angles to see the leg bands with no luck but it had yellow feet and looked big to me so I believe it was Nettie. She flew southeast after 20 minutes passed.

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From the BSB I spotted a falcon on the 2nd arm of the jail tower-I arrived just in time to ID it as Nettie before she flew off to the east.

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As I made my way down Plymouth Ave. toward FCT I spotted a falcon on the south side platform railing but it left before I got there. I then checked KO with my binoculars and saw a falcon on the southeast corner of the launchpad. Getting a closer view I was able to ID it as DC.

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I ended my watch just about 9am but I wasn’t done yet for as I approached Seneca Towers I saw Veteran on the northwest corner. He  walked down the railing out of view after a few minutes.

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I could go up to my 16th floor apartment smiling after a 6 falcon watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/pbrh0vPWml0

http://youtu.be/Zs5-b95kgW8

http://youtu.be/JwpyGmHk0W0


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