By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A carbon copy of yesterday morning with some clouds,blue sky,sun and a starting temp of 61 (F) 16 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

As I pulled over on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) Dan told me that both boys had flown from nest box area earlier. Mercury was on the base of Mercury eating and he didn’t know where Nor’Easter had gone. He said Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) had been on the jail tower in hunt mode when Mercury flew off-the Beautyful one flew over and followed her son a bit until he landed. Dan said the last he saw Nor’Easter he was heading toward the Wilder building so i went down to the hole to take a look around. I found him on the north side railing below the Mercury statue.

I went back up to the BSB to let Dan know and then I parked on Broad St. by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) where I had a good view of the boys on Mercury. The crane that has been picking logs out of the river below the bridges pulled onto the BSB so I knew they would be closing it soon. Dan came down and Kathy pulled in behind me-we promptly left as they were starting to block us in at the intersection. We went to the hole and Mercury flew off Mercury going over to OCSR and tried to land on an ibeam but smacked into the window and spiraled down a few feet, gathered himself and continued flying toward Main St. behind the Wilder building. That’s where I found him on the northeast corner from my spot at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. Larry stopped for a short time.

Beauty and DC were on the top ibeam of OCSR-she was on the south corner and he was on the west corner-both were watching their son on Wilder. Dan left-I think he may have been upset by Mercury hitting the window, he’s told me on numerous occasions that he doesn’t like watching at this early stage in the fledglings life-too nerve wrecking. Any way, Kathy and Carol were in the hole watching as I could see all of our PEFA family except DC. Mercury started hopping up and down and then began running the roof edge making his way to the middle east side checking out a vent up there. He seemed perfectly fine after his window incident.

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Mercury ended up flying to the back of the TSB somewhere so I went back to the hole. Beauty first went to the well wall then to the roof above the well and Mercury joined her there after a while. Judy joined the watch and at about 8:45am Beauty flew past Nor’Easter who was still on the Mercury rail to chase off a Turkey Vulture (TV) and DC went to the Mercury money bag (MMB). Suddenly both parents were circling Mercury-Beauty was alarm calling like crazy and we thought they were upset with the crane on the BSB.  Dana arrived and told us there were people up on the roof of Thomson Reuters so that’s what they were upset about-way too close to Nor”Easter.

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Beauty flew off to the deck and left to stomp on another TV that came right in close to Times Square. After running around the railing on Mercury and flapping his wings a lot Nor’Easter flew off making a strong flight and got his talons under the southeast wing ledge but didn’t have enough lift to land. He spiraled down a short distance then flew to the Crossroads building southeast corner.

Nor’Easter ran around there for a bit then made a strong flight against the wind to the northwest wing ring of the TSB. The wind was giving him a hard time as he slipped off of it after a few minutes. New watcher, Dick joined the watch for a little while.

Approximately 10:45am Nor’Easter flew to OCSR landing on the window ledge of the upper round part of building. This is what used to be the revolving restaurant-hence the name we call it OCSR-Old Changing Scenes Restaurant. Soon after, Mercury flew out and up to the 2nd small  ledge below the northwest wing ledge. He stayed there for a while as Nor’Easter came shooting across toward and above us soaring in fine fashion then back to OCSR landing above the restaurant out of view.

Joyce joined the watch around noon-Dana had to leave and I decided since everything was quiet I’d take a break to come home and put my report together. So now that I’m done with it, I’m ready to go back downtown for some more exciting fledge watching which will no doubt put a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjpm

http://youtu.be/NBei2mU-R5M

http://youtu.be/h5oT_5fQw5g

http://youtu.be/8cVs8us95Bw

http://youtu.be/NywSWsLlu08

http://youtu.be/xtDNhvSnDW4

http://youtu.be/bdpvhvJUCHc

http://youtu.be/_cinrufgVJA

http://youtu.be/fl6PSe0Bt-s

http://youtu.be/5yLOTFhPt5U

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

While Mercury was buzzing around and perfecting his high flying techniques, Nor’easter made his way back to the nest box, joining his sisters Nettie and Tesh there.

Mercury landed in many different spots, including the Cross Rds Building, the wing ring at the top of the Times Square Bldg, on top of the disk on OCSR and, yes you guessed it, the Mercury statue!

Watchers today included, Dan, MAK, Larry O, Joyce, Pat, Debbie H, Dick, Kathy O, Dana, Lou and me Carol P.   I think that’s everyone.

The weather was warm with temps near 80 degrees (F) and bright blue skies and fluffy clouds.

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

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another nice weather day for a fledge watch with a starting temperature of 61 (F) 16 (C) clear skies at the start and partly cloudy as time went on

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

I met Dan on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) about 5:45am – he gave me the rundown saying that Nor’Easter had just been fed up on his ledge above the scrape (NB) by Beauty and there was a food drop on the deck. The girls Nettie and Tesh were on the deck and Mercury was on the nest box roof. When I took a look I could see that Mercury was actually on cam 4-from that distance it’s very easy to make that mistake. Dot.Ca (DC) flew in and landed on the southeast wing ring and Beauty was on the base of Mercury.

Nor’Easter had gone up to the southeast column but came back down on his ledge and flattened out above the nest box and Beauty flew to the deck. Mercury hopped down to the deck and had something to say to his mother. DC flew to OCSR landing on the 2nd ibeam west corner.

Mercury flew off just before 6:30am circled the Times Square building like a pro and landed perfectly under the southeast wing. A few minutes later Mercury tried getting up in the grating between the south and northeast wings but slipped off prompting a fly around TSB again a few times and landing on the back out of view. DC had been flying with him to safeguard him. Beauty landed on the column above the nest box and Nor’Easter on his ledge.

Dan and I found Mercury on the southwest column of TSB at 7am at which time Dan left and then Carol joined the watch. I was over by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) where I could keep an eye on Mercury and the front of TSB. Nor’E made his way up to the column above the nest box with Beauty and she flew off when he got too close. He then made his way around to the south side and up with his brother.

Mercury flew off soon after leaving his brother all by himself again and a while later flew out from the top of the grating failed at landing under the southwest wing then flew out and back making a great landing on a very small ledge below the southeast wing. Shortly after, he took off to the north landing on the south side roof of the Crossroads building then off to the top of the grating successfully this time then off the back of it out of view.

There was a break in the action for an extended time as the girls were holding down the fort up on the deck watching all that went on in there world.

Dan had come back to join Carol and I, we were in our chairs on Aqueduct St. by the Thomson Reuters building and we didn’t know where either of the boys were. I glanced up at the nest box area at about 11:45am and lo and behold I caught Nor’Easter come off the column above the nest box and flutter down to the well and disappear. Less than a minute later he arose from the well and joined his sister on the parapet. They were all kissee face with each other-it was so adorable to see.

Dan left and soon after Larry rejoined the watch, DebbieH and Pat also hung out with us for a few minutes on their lunch breaks. New watcher Dick also came by. Sis went to the deck and things would remain this way for the next hour at which point Carol spotted Mercury on the top of the grating on TSB. He hopped over to the northeast wing ledge then disappeared.

Carol and I decided to take a break at 2pm and get refreshed to go back downtown later. So as I finish this report I will be heading back downtown. By the way, just a little bit ago Joyce tweeted out that Pigott is alive and well in Syracuse with one offspring!

Oh HAPPY DAY-smiling for sure!!!! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjpE

http://youtu.be/SVteO-91v9k

http://youtu.be/Sb8lSy6f6ug

http://youtu.be/8QeETLQEogM

http://youtu.be/GbbQ6HpJK7U

http://youtu.be/lXccBP0z4vw

http://youtu.be/rp6T13ux4TE

http://youtu.be/ObNdrrNmCWg

http://youtu.be/ztxXJu9Ldjk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My Fledge Watch lasted 12 hours today and I plan on getting out early tomorrow morning.  So that being said, I don’t have time to leave a detailed report.  But I did want to leave you with a quick summary and some pictures from today’s fledge watch.

Watchers that came out today: MAK, Joyce, Dana, Brian H, Judy, Dick, Susan C, Shaky, Carrie, Christy, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Larry O, Dan and me Carol P.  Hope I didn’t forget anyone.  Thanks to all that showed up to help today!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Blue sky, temps in the 70’s with low humidity.

The highlights of the day were, both boys (Mercury and Nor’easter) fledged, but returned to the Times Square Bldg, the girls (Nettie and Tesh) made it to the top of the nest box and Nettie ran out onto the wall alongside Mercury.  Lots and lots of activity by the young falcons and the adults.

When I left tonight at 7:30 pm, all 6 were accounted for.  Nettie, Tesh and Mercury at the nest box and Nor’easter safely on the ledge above the nest box.  Tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day and I hope that we get to see Nettie and Tesh fledge successfully.

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

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A beautiful morning for a fledge watch with a starting temp of 61 (F) 19 (C) and a mix of sun and clouds

Click on my pics for the full version

I joined Dan on the Broad St. bridge at 6am and we had Beauty on the column above the nest box, an eyas on the main cam, cam 4 and the 2 girls on the parapet.

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The girls split up as one went to the deck and then both boys were on cam 4. These boys and girls sure do stick together!

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Dan left at 6:40am and I went to the hole-Joyce showed up at 7am and Carol about a half hour after that. Some of the activity was the usual stuff  leading up to a big surprise for us.

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Right around 7:33am I noticed an eyas on the roof above the well wall-it was Mercury and he managed to sneak up there while we were watching Dot.Ca (DC) with food on the deck. We had our first fledge and missed it!!! lol From then on it was a busy watch as we tried to keep track of him and his brother. Kathy and Larry stopped on their way to work around this time.

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Mercury came down to the deck but returned to the roof above the well wall once again. Beauty and DC kept track of him while we could only wait for him to show himself. Meanwhile Nor’Easter was running and flapping along the well wall before going back to the deck. Beauty caught a bird and took it to a small ledge on the southeast corner of Times Square.

<Mercury  Nor’E>

At 9am I was stationed by He’s Chinese and saw a bird that looked like a falcon fly from behind me to behind the Times Square building (TSB) with Beauty and DC following behind. A new watcher, Judy said she saw it too. Not sure if it was Mercury or Nor’Easter as it was reported that he was not on any cams. So now we had 2 fledges that we missed! Judy and I decided to go up on the South Ave. parking garage for a better view of the area. We could see the girls on the deck and Beauty on Widows Walk but neither one of the boys.

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Then I spotted Mercury on the southeast corner opposite side from the nest box and Beauty was above him on the southeast column. Judy left at 10:35am then Beauty left Mercury on his own and went to the Wilder green strip.

Mercury went west out of my view and Beauty returned to column with DC above her under the southeast wing so I knew Mercury was still over there somewhere.

At 11:48am I spotted Nor’Easter on the northwest corner below the roof at the well wall level

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There was a long period of time that went by as we didn’t see Nor’E and then Dana went to move her car and spotted him on the ledge 1 level above the nest box where Baron used to like to hang out. We all cheered to finally see him again! Beauty was on cam 1 and then she went to the southeast corner of the ledge Nor’E was on.

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Mercury had gone back to the nest box area at some point as we focused on his brother. Nor’E laid down for a rest and Beauty flew back over to the Wilder green strip. Mercury did some showing off on the well wall as he flew half way across it-a piece of cake for a new fledgling. The Beautyful one flew past Times Square and so did DC a couple times and they each took food to the deck but nobody was interested. Nor’E was looking very sleepy as I left to take a break and do this report just before 2pm.

That’s all she wrote with a big ole smile for we had 2 fledges today and now it’s time to get back downtown! 🙂

PS: Thank you to all the cam watchers who helped this morning-I didn’t report everything that I tweeted including when cam watchers helped us out but y’all know we appreciates ya!

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/5QKQdwmy4kc

http://youtu.be/Cro2vIEmI

http://youtu.be/dgjx56El-LM

http://youtu.be/chZwiLHOpzs

http://youtu.be/wiCXeGzaIcM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today it rained on and off most of the day and when I arrived downtown at about 3:50 pm, it was so foggy, I couldn’t see the top of the buildings.  Joyce was already on the watch when I arrived.  For the first half of my watch, it rained, finally clearing up a bit later on.

Watchers tonight included Joyce, Dana, Kathy O, Larry O, Brian H, Lisa McK, Dan and me Carol P.  Oh, and we were joined for awhile by a bunch of Rochester Fire Fighters who had just checked out a nearby building.

Highlights of the watch were, Mercury made it to the top of the main camera for the first time, and the two girls made it out to the first bump on the well wall closest to the nest box where Beauty brought a meal just as it was getting dark.  Beauty prepped the meal on the base of Mercury and brought it to the bump on the well wall where Nor’easter and Mercury waited for her.  While she was feeding the boys, Nettie and Tesh vocalized quite loudly from the nest box platform, showing their displeasure at not being fed.  After awhile, Nettie got the courage to jump over to where Beauty fed.  It got very crowded on this small section of the wall, so first Mercury and then Nor’easter made their way back to the platform.  Now, just Tesh remained unfed.  Finally, she stepped down onto the wall and joined her mom and sister, where she finally ate her share of the evening meal.  Nettie went back to the platform while Tesh continued to eat.  Kathy O, Dana, Lisa McK and I remained past dark to make sure Tesh returned safely to the nest box platform.  At approximately 9:30 pm, she finally did.  All four eyases  were safe and under the watchful eye of their parents, Beauty and Dot.ca.

Will tomorrow be fledge day for one or more of our eyases?  We’ll have to wait and see!  Goodnight everyone!  I’ll leave you with a few pictures from today’s watch.  Enjoy!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The weather today was abysmal-it never stopped raining in my 7 1/2 hour watch-it was foggy, humid and dreadfully dark with a starting temperature of 70 (F) 21 (C). Put simply -the air was as thick as pea soup

Dan was on the Broad St. bridge in his chair with an umbrella over his head-I got mine out as well.  There was an adult on the top ibeam south corner of  OCSR and 2 eyasses were visible on the deck. Dan told me that both Beauty and Do.Ca (DC) had been hunting off the jail tower prior to my arrival.

At 6:20am Beauty (unbeknownst to us) flew off the well wall-we thought it was an eyas! Phew, she flew up to cam 1 so we then knew it was not an eyas. DC was now on the 2nd ibeam south corner and we had the girls up front on deck and the boys were on the wall.

Click on my pics to see the full version

Around 6:35am DC took off to the southeast and Beauty followed behind-as I turned in that direction I spotted a single pigeon flying over the Rundell Library. It went out of sight with Beauty and DC on its tail-seconds later DC came flying back over the library with a pigeon in his talons. He took it to the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR and Beauty went to the top ibeam west corner. Dan left at 6:30am after saying that he was impressed with DC for carrying that pigeon all that way. A flurry of feathers cascaded down as he went to town plucking them.DC then ate some and flew off at 6:58am to take it to the wall to feed his kids.

Beauty had gone to cam 1 and left before DC arrived with the food. He started feeding one of the boys and then the other male came in and had a tug of war with daddy DC and won the prize. DC had enough and flew off  as the 2 boys also had a tug of war. One of them almost slipped off the edge and then they settled down and shared it while the girls watched it all from the deck.

I then spotted Beauty on the heel of Mercury and DC over on OCSR top ibeam south corner. A few minutes later the Beautyful one was gone and DC was under the northeast wing.

The kids were doing kid stuff for a bit as the next few pics will show, including Nor’Easter walking around Mercury on the wall and almost slipping off!

At 7:34am Beauty flew to the wall and after a bit of a struggle got the food from Mercury and then started feeding him beak to beak-the girls were screamimg as they watched.

Mercury finished and went to the parapet then the deck and Nor’E was now getting a few bites, he started to scream at his mother and she quickly exited. He then went to the parapet and started flapping his wings.

Beauty ended up on cam 1 watching the antics of Nor’E on the wall-he ended up at the end of the wall hanging his tail feathers over the edge and his siblings stuck together at the other end.

There was a lot of quiet time on my watch as the rain came down. Donna and Annette let me know Nor’Easter was on the nest box roof at some point and later Mercury was flying back and forth from cam 4 to the nest box roof. Boys will be boys! Thank you for the help today ladies!! DC spent most of the late morning on OCSR and Beauty moved around  from the column above the nest box, to the main cam,to the deck and wall.

Nor’Easter was out on the wall at one point in the pouring rain flapping so hard I thought he would take off as I could see his feet rise off the wall but then he settled back down. I had some business to take care of and had to leave at 12:45pm-I could see 1 eyas on the north end of the deck and Nor’E at the end of the wall at that time. I believe the boys will be flying tomorrow-stay tuned and keep smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see some videos from todays watch

http://youtu.be/2HNBKMXlHa8

http://youtu.be/2v0-LOHdFA4

http://youtu.be/Zp90vqYI3II

http://youtu.be/rNfChO5xBsU

http://youtu.be/RH7V09GYhHU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

3:50 – 7:15 pm

When I arrived downtown it was raining and very warm, with temps in the mid 80’s (F).  I found Joyce down on Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”) .  I grabbed my umbrella and my binoculars and joined her.  No camera while it was raining, because I didn’t want to get it wet.

There was a lot of activity up at the nest box and on the well wall that runs north from the nest box platform during my whole watch.  It stopped raining and we found some shade to watch from.  Dana joined us.  Dark clouds moved in from the west.  Loud thunder, lightening and torrential, wind driven rain, made us run to our cars.  Pat had just joined us and she jumped into Joyce’s car.  We all parked in different spots to keep an eye on the eyases during the rain storm.  I believe that it was Mercury that was running up and down the well wall, flapping like crazy.  Beauty had moved to a lower ledge and was keeping an eye on the whole situation.  Finally it stopped raining and we were able to watch again from our shady spot near what used to be the Key Bank.

Lisa and Kathy O joined the Watch, and later, after I left, Larry O.  We witnessed a whole lot of wing exercises by the eyases, flight  lessons by the parents and a successful hunt of a pigeon by Beauty over the parking lot on the north side of the Times Square Building.  Lots of activity this evening.

Another thunder storm is approaching, so I’ll leave you with some pictures from today’s Fledge Watch.  Goodnight everyone!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Be sure to click on my pics to view the full version

It was a very humid, warm morning with a temperature of 75 (F) 24 (C) at 6am and overcast dark conditions

As I arrived on the Broad St. bridge Dan was there in his chair, Beauty was under the northeast wing, 2 kids were on the deck and 2 were on the well wall. Dan told me that Dot.Ca (DC) was on the jail tower prior to my arrival and had flown off and not returned. A couple minutes later, Beauty flew to the heel of Mercury, DC came in and took her place under the northeast wing and all the kids were now on the deck as it started to rain. We could see lightening in the western sky as well.

A few minutes after that Beauty flew off to the east side across the river, behind Xerox and returned coming to rest on the base of Mercury.

Next, Beauty stooped on 5 or 6 pigeons over the river-they split up going in different directions, she missed and flew up under the southeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB). DC flew to the Mercury money bag (MMB). Beauty was off again after a moment flying east once more behind Chase and Bausch & Lomb then hovered high above Xerox just riding the winds scoping out the area.The Beautyful one went into a stoop to the south out of sight. As I turned around to face TSB I saw DC on the north corner above the nest box just before he took off and showed up next on the top arm south side of the jail tower.

DC quickly flew off into a stoop to the northwest out of sight. While we were watching for him to resurface, a food drop occurred at the nest box which we missed-reported by both Donna and Annette. Thank you ladies!  DC was now on the MMB and all four eyasses were in our sights.

<Click it

Just before 7am Annette announced Beauty was on deck feeding the family-thanks! Dan left and I went down to the hole for closer viewing and where I can see the north end of the wall, as is my usual routine. It was raining a bit harder at this time.

One of the boys went to the north end of the well wall flapping his wings-he turned and walked a few feet, then turned and went the other way, repeating it several times before going to the parapet to yell something at Beauty prompting her fly off and land up on cam 1. They are so fun to watch!! Annette reported that an eyas was on the nest box roof (probably Nor’Easter as he likes it up there). From my position by Aqueduct and Basin St. I couldn’t see him, so thanks for the heads up Annette! .

DC flew off Mercury around 7:40am and came back around 8am with food-landing on the deck to feed one of the kids. When he was done he went to the top ibeam west corner of OCSR while Mercury did some wingercising on the wall.

DC flew over to Times Square 10 minutes later and landed on the southeast wing ring and Beauty remained on cam 1. The kids had all settled down up on the deck and nest box and things remained this way for an hour at which time DC flew north to the OCSR top ibeam west corner.

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A couple minutes later an eyas went to the parapet and another came to the front of the deck-then another surfaced replacing the one on the parapet as he set out to go north on the wall as Beauty watched.

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Around 10:45am there were 2 eyasses sleeping on the parapet

It was quiet time again until Beauty flew down to the nest box as reported by NCAfalcons-I missed Beauty fly down to it. Thanks!! The sun came out and the kids got active as one went to the parapet flapping its wings and one to the north end of the wall. A minute later they went to the deck.

An hour later one of the boys went to the very end of the wall and leaned up tight against it as he took in the sights and started getting sleepy. Pat came by on her lunch break for a few minutes and Beauty flew up under the northeast wing.

KrisG reported around 1:15pm that there was an eyas in the box, one on deck, one on right side of the nest box and one on  the north wall. Thanks! Lisa came by on her lunch break around 1:30pm and at 1:38am Carol tweeted that Beauty was on cam 4-I could just barely see her head poking up.

Everybody was quiet again as Joyce relieved me just before 2pm. I drove off smiling after an 8 hour fledge watch with our beloved downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcon family! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjoi

http://youtu.be/dImB9Bn2riM

http://youtu.be/g_uAzw8p8MY

http://youtu.be/Rt5UCRCWVvA

http://youtu.be/pQwJId-3n94

http://youtu.be/_z8cbIce3rQ

http://youtu.be/3VI66ZubHKA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Fledge Watch from 3:50 to 8:00 pm.

Today was the official start of the Rochester Falcon Fledge Watch.  The two boys, Mercury and Nor’easter are raring to go.  The females, who are bigger and heavier will need more time.  All have lots of white fluff left under their beautiful, brown juvie feathers though, so it may be another day or two.  But one this is for sure, you can never know for sure when they will take their first flights.  We have had our share of  “accidental” flights, so as I always say, expect the unexpected!

It was a very warm day, with a nice breeze.  Temperatures reached the mid 80’s (F).  When I arrived down on Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”) at 3:50 pm, both girls, Tesh and Nettie, were on the nest box platform and both boys, Nor’easter and Mercury, were at the north end of the well wall.  Beauty was up on the northeast wing ledge on top of the Times Square Bldg and Dot.ca was over on the OCSR, 2nd Ibeam down, west end.  There was lots of wing exercising going on up above.  I could see bits of white fluff falling off of the 4 eyases and drifting away on the breeze.

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My first job was to look for somewhere to set-up my chair where I had a good view of the nest box and surrounding area.  I found the perfect spot, in the shade with a nice breeze.  It looked like darker clouds were approaching, but I was assured by our “official falcon weather watcher” Susan C, that there was no rain moving in.  Thanks Susan!  🙂

Soon after I started my watch, Beauty took off and soon returned with food, which she took to the nest box platform.  While she was feeding Tesh and Nettie, Nor’easter and Mercury edged their way closer and closer, finally getting their share.

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After she finished feeding the eyases, Beauty took off with the food and landed on Mercury, then headed back to the nest box, fed some more and returned to the heal of the Mercury statue.  Was she giving them lessons on how to take off while clutching food in her talons?

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Beauty remained on Mercury for quite awhile and Dot.ca flew up to the southeast wing ledge on the Times Square Bldg.  The eyases all returned to the nest box and platform.  In the heat of the afternoon, it seemed that it was siesta time.  All was quiet and there wasn’t much movement by any of the falcons.

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While it was still quiet, Beauty took off and flew around a bit before landing on Camera #1 (aka Pan Cam).  Even after she landed there, the eyases remained quiet.  At least for a little while.

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Finally, I started to see the eyases and their wing exercises continued.  Both Mercury and Nor’easter ran out onto the well wall.  Kathy O joined me on the watch at about 6:30 pm.

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Dot.ca moved to the top IBeam of the OCSR, south corner.  While he was up there, we heard the chittering sound of an irate Kestrel.  We used to hear them all the time when we watched Mariah, Kaver and their young at the Kodak Tower.  This Kestrel was not happy that Dot.ca was nearby.  It dove on Dot.ca a couple times, hovered above and then took off heading northwest.  Dot.ca just sat there, mostly ignoring the Kestrel.  I was happy to see the Kestrel get away safely.  I really like these spunky little falcons!

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During my 4 hour watch both Beauty and Dot.ca did a lot of flying around the Times Square Bldg and the surrounding area.  They were definitely giving flight lessons to their young and the eyases were paying close attention.

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When Kathy and I were getting ready to leave, Larry O tweeted that he was up on the Broad St Bridge.  He had arrived in time to see Dot.ca fly up to the top of the Mercury statue.  When we left at 8:00 pm, the eyases were still moving around, flapping their wings and strengthening the muscles they would need for those first flights.  Goodnight everyone and please consider helping out with the fledge watch if you have a little bit of free time.