By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

What a busy 4 full days of falcon watching.  Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July Holiday.  Mine was spent watching the Rochester Falcons and loving every minute of it.

There were lots and lots of watchers out to help keep an eye on the juvies that started their PEFA training and one juvie who injured his wing and was grounded at the nest box for a few days.  Today was Nor’easter’s day to fly high again.

The highlight of these four days was this morning when Dana and I witnessed Nor’easter spread his wings and take his first flight since injuring his wing.  It was very early this morning when he made it up to the top of main camera.  Beauty was nearby, on top of Camera #1.  First he stretched his wings and flapped them and then he was off!  Nor’easter flew over us heading east.  His wing beats were steady and strong and he was maintaining altitude.  Just as he passed Mercury, Beauty took off and easily caught up to him.  She gently nudged him from behind and stayed by his side.  Over the river, on the east side of OCSR, he turned back towards us.  Beauty led the way.  Nor’easter was a few seconds behind her, still flying strong.  He flew up to the roof of the Wilder Bldg and landed safely on the east side.  WOOHOO! We were so happy that he had successfully flown, turned and landed safely.

Nor’easter walked around the perimeter of the roof line and ended up on the north west corner where he found some food.  Nettie joined him and they shared some breakfast.  Later, Dot.ca, who had been keeping guard from the south side of the Wilder Bldg, brought more food in just for Nor’easter.

During the day, Nor’easter flew again to the ledge above the nest box area and then returned to the nest box before evening.  That is better that any of us could have expected.  🙂

I would like to thank all the Rochester Falcon Watchers that were out this weekend to help keep an eye on them.  Dan, Dana, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Joyce, Brian H, Larry O, Lou, Pat, Linda, Shaky, Carrie, Jeanne, Susan C, Kris, and Bill.  I really apologize if I forgot anyone.  Thank you all!

Here are some pictures from my watches over the last four days.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK-

This mornings starting temperature was 70 (F) 21 (C) with overcast dark conditions and light showery activity on and off

Make sure to click on my pics to see the full version

When I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge Dan had a guest with him-a young man from his church named Matthew. He’s interested in being a falcon watcher and we could use some young people to get into it. Nettie was on cam 4 and Nor’Easter on the parapet, Tesh and Mercury on the roof above the well, Beauty was on the column above the nest box and Dot.Ca (DC) was on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR.

At 6:41am DC came flying in with food and landed on the deck-Nettie came down off cam 4 and took it while Mercury flew thru to check it out on his way by landing on a tiny ledge on the southeast side under the wing ledge. Exceptional job landing on such a small ledge for a new fledgling!

Tesh came in and landed on cam 1 for a short time then flew up to the roof above the well while the Beautyful one came in coming to rest by the main cam then up to cam 1. Mercury whizzed thru again

Dan and Matt left at 7:15am and I went down to the hole for closer viewing. DC came in with a food package and landed on the well wall with it. Beauty flew down and took it from him-he flew off to the Wilder green strip and she went to the base of Mercury with the food.

Tesh then flew over to the Wilder chimney prompting Beauty to go there with the food-she stayed briefly then took it to the deck where she started feeding Nor’Easter beak to beak. Mercury flew over to the southeast corner of Crossroads and Tesh joined him after flying to the northeast wing ledge on Times Square first-a nice flight and landing.

Let me tell ya, they kept me hopping this morning!  Beauty finished feeding Nor’E and went to the base of Mercury with it about 7:45am. Kathy joined me on watch and Mercury flew to the column above the nest box. Right after that Beauty flew to the southeast column that’s one level higher than the nest box and Mercury went up under the southeast wing. Tesh flew around the back of Times Square then returned to the Crossroads building. DC got up on the fire escape ladder on the Wilder building.

Around 8am Beauty flew to the top ibeam west corner of OCSR and Mercury joined Tesh on Crossroads. At 9:10am Beauty flew to the column above the nest box and Mercury quickly buzzed her trying to knock his mom off and continued on flying north. Tesh came in landing under the northeast wing and a few minutes later Beauty came flying thru with a prey item which had wings dangling down. Mercury was chasing after her squawking the whole time. They ended up on the base of Mercury where Beauty fed him beak to beak .

Right after that Carol showed up to help Kathy on watch as I had to leave-ending my watch at 9:30am. Unfortunately I won’t be on watch for a few days as I have to house/animal sit for my nephew south of Rochester (paradise). I hope everyone has a nice 4th of July/Independence Day weekend and keep smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos from todays fledge watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjru

http://youtu.be/q_llPnzlFwM

http://youtu.be/-t_r699r2zE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 70 degrees (F) 21 (C) when I arrived downtown at 5:15am  it was spitting rain on and off at the beginning. It turned out to be mostly sunny and once again humid

My biggest concern was getting downtown early before Tesh decided to depart her overnight window ledge. Mission accomplished-she was still there and after checking on her I whipped over to the Broad St. Bridge to let Dan know I would be watching from Main St.

I had an 11 hour watch today so a detailed report just isn’t going to happen-too much for that. The highlight of the day was Tesh making her way back to the Times Square building and more importantly, her family, landing under the southeast wing of Times Square next to her big brother Mercury after making her way via various buildings.

It was a pretty quiet watch after that until early afternoon when Beauty did some fine flying to get her kids to join in. Nobody wanted to play until Dot.Ca (DC) got into the mix-then there were falcons flying all over the place.

The only fledgling that didn’t go out to play with mom and dad was poor little Nor’Easter who was feeling the affects of his accident with the well wall yesterday. He was having trouble with his left wing on and off today. Thankfully he knew enough to stay put and hopefully with a few days rest he’ll be back in the air sharpening his flying skills.

Some random pics from my watch today

I waited til everyone was settled for the moment and ended my watch at 4pm. As I approached Seneca Towers (home) I spotted Luzerne on her favorite spot-the northwest corner thru an opening in the canopy.

That made me smile as I haven’t seen my Seneca Towers falcons in quite a few days! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and some videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjrM

http://youtu.be/E0G_7luPtZc

http://youtu.be/IqAlHi2bnII

http://youtu.be/NnSe9Ok34bo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today it was evident that Nor’easter has injured his left wing after hitting the wall above the well, next to the nest box yesterday.  The same day that Tesh was swept off the well wall by a strong wind gust.  June Summers of the Genesee Valley Audubon Society has been in touch with the DEC.  They will keep a close eye on the situation, as well as their many watchers both here in Rochester (NY) and the folks watching the Rfalconcam cameras.

After spending the evening on the nearby Thomson Reuters building, Tesh made a few short flights this morning before making it back to the top of the Times Square Bldg, rejoining her family around 9:00 a.m this morning.

When I arrived downtown after work this afternoon, I was greeted by high flying juvies.  Both Mercury and Nettie were tearing up the sky while Tesh and Nor’easter watched from the Times Square Bldg.  The watchers enjoyed watching both of these young falcons chasing Beauty, their mom, and each other.  Invaluable lessons for their future.  Hopefully both Tesh and Nor’easter will join them soon.

Watchers this afternoon/evening included MAK, Dana, Carrie, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Pat, Susan C, Larry O, Dan, Joyce and me, Carol P.

Here are some pictures from today’s fledge watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Yet another very warm, humid day in Rochester, NY.  I was at work when I received the call that Tesh had fledged.  It didn’t start out as a fledge, but it turned into one later.

Tesh was on the well wall next to Nettie when a gust of wind swept her off!  The Watchers that were downtown at that time were Dana, Joyce, Brian and Lisa McK.   They had seen Tesh drop off of the building at an awkward angle.  She fell down the face of the Times Square Bldg and was able to throw out her wings and fly across the street to the parking lot we watch from.  She turned and headed back across the street, ending up very low on the awning over the front entrance of the Telesca Bldg on the corner of Main and Exchange.  Kathy O (Tesh’s namer) and I arrived at the same time and joined the other watchers that surrounded the area, keeping Tesh safe.  Most of the folks walking below her had no idea she was there, but some would stop to take a picture.  We would ask politely that they move on and not get too close to Tesh.  Our fear was that she would take off into traffic and be hit by a car.

Lisa McK remained on the opposite side of the street letting us know when Tesh moved, or if she looked like she was about to take off.  A reporter from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle stopped to talk to us and we explained what happened.  I was confused at first on how it happened, not realizing at that time that it was a gust of wind that had caused Tesh to prematurely fledge.  Right after she came off the building, Nor’easter had made a bad landing near the nest box, hitting the wall and falling into the well.  He recovered quickly and climbed the stairs that had been built by our friend Tim for that very purpose.

Back to Tesh’s predicament.  She walked back and forth on the awning, between Joyce and I and Dana and Kathy O at the other end.  The Rochester Police Officers working on the corner of Main and Exchange had been spoken to by Lisa and Dana.  So they were ready to help out if needed.

At about 4:45 pm, Tesh started to bob her head and spread her wings.  She wanted to go and she did!  Tesh took off heading east, across Exchange and heading down Main St.  Before she turned the corner onto Main, I could see that she was gaining altitude and flapping her big wings.  The watchers sprang into action and followed the best they could.  By the time I got to the corner, Tesh was out of sight.  I spoke to the police officer on the corner who had been watching her and he told me that she had landed on the roof of the red brick building, just east of the Wilder Bldg where the Subway shop is located.  That was great news!  I thanked him for his help.  We spread out and checked out the area.  I met Pat and Lisa down on Aqueduct St.  Pat was pretty certain that a falcon had flown off the building and headed towards the Mercury statue.

Dana caught up to me and she said she had seen Tesh take off from the roof, and head in the same direction Pat had.  So the search area grew larger.  Pat went into the building she worked in to check from there, Kathy and Lisa crossed to the other side of Main St, Joyce jumped in her car to do a search and Dana and I checked out Aqueduct Park and the surrounding area.

Lisa called us over to the other side of Main.  She had spotted Tesh on a windowsill on a building near the river.  We immediately texted out our good news!  Tesh had fledged and flew well, gaining altitude and landing safely.  An adult had escorted her on her 2nd and 3rd flights.  They knew where she was.

During the evening watch, we were joined by MAK, Larry O, Susan C and her friend, Lynda and Shaky.  Shaky showed us the video showing how the wind had just swept Tesh off of the well wall.  She was there and then she was gone.  Nettie, who was right next to Tesh, didn’t even have time to react.

The evening ended with a shared pizza (thanks Lisa!).  At 9:15 pm, we ended the watch.  Beauty was up on the base of Mercury keeping an eye on Tesh.  We think Dot.ca was over on the OCSR and Nettie, Nor’easter and Mercury (the falcon) were all up at the nest box.

Another long day for the watchers, but it is always worth it.  Keeping an eye on these young falcons is what we all love to do.

Here are some pictures from today’s watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

For the 3rd day in a row the temperature was 73 (F) 23 (C) with mostly sunny skies and humid

This would be a day to remember as Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) went on high alert , swooping on men that were on the back lower roof of Times Square. They were out there securing a piece of medal that was flapping in the breeze before the thunder storms that were forecast to come. This was the mornings highlight.

<DC in flight during the assault on the Times Square workers

The afternoon highlight was when Tesh fledged by accident as the wind blew her off the north end of the wall. Poor Nettie was perched right next to her and watched as her baby sister plunged down the side of Times Square and to an awning on the Telesca building. Tesh left there and landed on the Canandaguia National Bank building at Main and Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park and then to the north side of the Thomson Reuters building coming to rest on a window ledge.

<Click it

Beauty went to the heel of Mercury and I’m pretty sure she could see Tesh from there. Mercury flew to the base of Mercury too but I don’t know if he quite realized his sister was down below. He returned to the nest box and Beauty left as well, but the Beautyful one returned and I believe she will stay there all night to watch over her youngest fledgling.

We missed a near disaster when Nor’Easter came flying in and slammed into the well wall and fell down in the well for the 2nd time. He emerged a few minutes later none the worse for wear using the ladder that was built to assist any falcons that might fall down in there. This is kind of an incomplete report but has the most important parts of todays fledge watch. We can all smile tonight knowing our Rochester Peregrine Falcon family is safe! 🙂

Check out my photo album and videos by clicking on the links below

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjqq

http://youtu.be/L5_0ynygVbo

http://youtu.be/NGKpM1uQbNM

http://youtu.be/eyjmN21Odtc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Nettie chose the hottest, most humid day to take her first flight.  When she took off from the building, Kathy O and I first thought it was one of the boys.  But after a quick check, we found that it was Nettie who took off from the north end of the well wall.  She headed north, flapping and losing altitude, until she landed on the roof of the Wilder Building.  After a few moments, she showed herself on the east end of the building.  This is the same building that Baron (from last year) fledged to.  She stayed on this building all morning, running around and ending up on the south side where she could see the nest box and her sister Tesh above.  MAK returned from running an errand and Larry O stopped by for a quick look.

In the meantime, the boys, Nor’easter and Mercury, were tearing up the sky.  They were busy chasing mom and dad and landing on different buildings close to the Times Square Bldg.  By afternoon, the weather hit 96 degrees and boy was it humid!  Shade was at a premium.

It wasn’t til afternoon that Nettie took her 2nd flight.  She flew over me and ended up on the base of the Mercury statue, moving around to the shady side.  I found Nor’easter below her on the railing.  While Nor’easter took a mid-day nap, Nettie was busy checking out the odd pieces of cached food that Beauty had placed there. During the afternoon, the temperatures continued to rise.  Susan C and Brian H joined me for about an hour.  During that hour, Nettie decided to take off and head towards the Times Square Bldg.  She gained altitude nicely, but came up short on the landing on the southeast wing ledge.  Nettie turned back towards the building, this time aiming for the well wall, where her sister was.  She JUST missed the landing and turned towards the north.  By this time, she was tired and losing altitude.  She flew over the Wilder Building and out of our view.  Susan, Brian and I split up.  After not finding her, both Susan and Brian had to leave.

I continued the search on foot.  While I was crossing the Sister Cities Bridge, about half way over the Genesee River, I heard a juvie vocalizing loudly.  Beauty flew in and landed on the 2nd IBeam down (north side of OCSR) and was looking west.  I took that as a clue and checked out the roofs of the buildings.  There she was!  Or at least I was pretty sure it was her.  I took a quick picture of the roof line and headed over to the Sister Cities Garage,  From the top, I was able to find the roof that Nettie had landed on.  She was on a round metal vent on top of a building just north of the Powers Building, across from the Cross Rds Building.

Nettie was looking back towards the Times Square Bldg and bobbing her head up and down.  She was getting ready to fly again.  Her wings spread wide and she was off, heading south, back towards the Times Square Bldg.  I quickly texted that she was heading that way and walked back to Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”) as quickly as I could.  By the time I got back there, I could see no falcons anywhere.  I quickly checked my texts and found one from Shaky.  Nettie had returned to the nest box!  Woo hoo!  That made me very happy!  🙂

I was soon joined by fellow Watchers Kathy O, MAK, Pat and Lisa McK.  At 7:00 pm, I ended my watch.  Tomorrow is supposed to be another very warm humid day, with a chance of thunder storms during the afternoon.

There was a lot of activity by all the Rochester Falcons today.  Three fledged, one to go!  Here are some pictures from today’s watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The conditions and temperature were exactly the same as yesterday 73(F) 23(C) with partly cloudy skies

It was a rough day in the heat and humidity and quite frankly I haven’t the energy or desire to write a detailed report tonight so it will be brief.

There was plenty of flying by the boys-they are doing great on the wing and landing. Nettie flew well as she fledged this morning ad spent a lot of time on the Wilder building just like her brother from last year, Baron. We saw a Turkey Vulture get a hard thumping from Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC). Watchers while I was downtown were Dan,Kathy,Carol,Pat,DebbieH,Dana,Lou,Dick and a cute family-Mom-Sherry,Grandma-DebbieC and 3 little kids named James,Libby and Collin.

Nettie on Wilder below

The highlight this evening was when Mercury flew to the back lower roof of Times Square and starting at the very end made his way hopping and flying from one bump to the next I believe looking for food scraps. Below are the pics I took of him.

And a few more from tonight

This guy Mercury really makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a photo album from the day and some videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjqI

http://youtu.be/of-0C48sx54

http://youtu.be/yEAxnkx7Y7g

http://youtu.be/6mdkHMXUTso

http://youtu.be/VcnF0qlasCs

http://youtu.be/w2s20GndU-M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The humidity is starting to get oppressive here in Rochester-it was 73 (F) 23 (C) at 6am with a mix of sun and clouds as I started my watch

Joining Dan on the Broad St. Bridge he gave me the rundown when I got out the car-Dot.Ca (DC) had brought a small package earlier and all 4 kids were present on Times Square (TSB) and DC was on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR. I turned around to face the nest box area and caught Beauty flying in from the northeast with a large, pigeon sized package-it’s like eating  Wheaties for us to start the day! lol The Beautyful one landed out on the well wall by the boys and started plucking feathers as they watched and learned-everything is a lesson learned to help them become self-sufficient for when they venture out on their own.

Make sure to click on my pics for the full version

As Beauty fed the boys, Nettie decided she wanted in on the action and started making her way down the wall.

Our attention went from her to DC as Dan yelled out-he’s off and after something over the river! Sure enough DC snatched a small bird out of the air near Cornhill and took it to the deck. He started feeding the girls as Beauty continued to feed the boys.

DC finished feeding them and flew up under the northeast wing as Beauty flew to the base of Mercury to cache leftovers on the side we couldn’t see from the bridge. Mercury flew up on cam 4 and Louise joined Dan and I.

One minute you see a bunch of them and then they all disappear, Beauty flies in and lands on cam 1 and they start coming back out of hiding. What fun!

During this time period watchers were joining the watch 1 after another-Lisa,Dana,Kathy and Larry. As it was time for Dan to leave we all made the move down to the hole, set up our chairs and waited for some action. Judy,Jay and Dick also came by to have a look as well. At 7:48am we got our action in the form of Mercury taking his first flight of the day over to the southeast corner of Crossroads and DC flew off right after and went to OCSR to keep an eye on his first fledgling.

Like his brother, Nor’Easter did yesterday, Mercury flew across to the other side and started walking around up there only to disappear for a long stretch of time. Jeanne came out for her first fledge watch of the season just in time to see Nor’Easter fly up under northeast wing where he too, left our sight going to the back of the ledge. The girls in the mean time hung out on the wall and deck.

<Nor’E

Around 10:15am Mercury appeared and after preparing himself at length to take off , flew over and tried to land next to his brother under the wing but didn’t quite make it and ended up on the column above the nest box and promptly disappeared. The girls continued to mess around on the wall.

I left the watch somewhere after 11am to take a break and get my report done so I could get back out late afternoon. I came across this young buck in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery as I cut thru there to run an errand. There was a doe with him but she ran off when I stopped the car.

Falcons and deer on a quiet Sunday morning-what better reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/E3LfczrEfZ8

http://youtu.be/9IqEvLEWcfc

http://youtu.be/xn3DbW1dObQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A very hot, humid day here in Rochester, NY, with temps near 90 degrees.  Makes it hard to watch the falcons, especially in the middle of the day when there is no shade to be found.

Today’s Watchers: Dan, MAK, Kathy O, Dana, Larry O, Joyce, Pat, Debbie H, Dick, Lisa McK, Lou and me Carol P.  Sorry I missed seeing Lynda and Tim!

After hitting the OCSR building while trying to land on one of the Ibeams, Mercury rested for a little while on the Wilder Bldg and then continued to fly like a champ the rest of the day.

Nor’easter had finally left the Times Square Bldg.  He was on the lower base of the Mercury statue when I arrived.  He spent a lot of time there this morning before taking off.  All day long, we were thrilled to see both Nor’easter and Mercury start their lessons under the watchful eyes of their parents Beauty and Dot.ca.  I wish I had more time to post the wonderful details of these first flights.

Now, we wait for the girls, Nettie and Tesh, to join their brothers.  Stay tuned!

Here are some pictures from today’s fledge watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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