By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I left the house today for the bus and halfway to the bus stop I realized I didn’t have my phone. So after walking back home to get it I managed to miss the 6:19 as I watched it go flying by I couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds from making it! Oh well, I waited an hour for the next one and got downtown around 7:40am- too late to see Dan or Larry and so the search was on for falcons. For a change of routine I walked up Main St. to check from it’s bridge. No bumps on any buildings I could see from there.

I doubled back and stopped by Tim Hortons for a decaf coffee(regular makes me shake too much for holding camera and binocs steady) on my way to the Broad St. Bridge(BSB). No falcons to be seen from there either. Next I walked over to City Hall to check FCT with no luck. I also went up to the top of the Sister Cities Garage to look around-nada! Hmm where could our elusive Peregrine Falcons be this morning!? I then walked down to Kodak Office to no avail. Yikes I was getting a workout on this day!

Back to the BSB I went enroute to the South Ave. garage for my best view of the city. Just before I opened the door to go up to the top of the garage I turned and took a look toward the river-SUCCESS there was a falcon on the base of Mercury! But not just any falcon, it was our young and handsome Orion.

I shared space with this very animated and photogenic Peregrine for almost 45 minutes. He took off and flew west out of view in the direction of FCT so I figured I would walk back over there to see if that’s where he went.

Click pics for full version

Upon arriving at Fitzhugh and Church St. I could see no bumps on the tower so I sat down on my bench and figured I would just stay put until it was time to leave. A very nice man came over and asked what I was photographing and when I told him as with many people he mentioned the Kodak falcons. I set him straight on their story and then I showed him some pics on my cameras LCD screen. He thought I was a great photographer and I assured him that it was the camera that made me look good. Then he told me that he used to be a photographer and that I had an eye for it and the equipment is only as good as the operator. Well I just set it on auto and click away. lol He introduced himself as Tom and I told him who I was and we shook hands and then he went to his van and brought a folder full of pics he had taken. One pic in particular peaked my interest and he gave it to me! And here it is:

While we were talking I heard Orion singing and as I looked up I saw him on the tail feathers of another falcon tho I’m not sure who it was I knew Orion by his lovely voice. They both landed on the north side of FCT where I had no chance of seeing them from where I was sitting. Just as quickly as they flew in they flew back out again heading south. I thanked Tom for this wonderful close up pic of an owl and the  knowledge he shared with me about picture taking. He went about his day and I packed up to end my watch. I used to be kind of shy but as I’ve said in the past these falcons compel me to do things that I never did before.  And  I am very thankful  for all the people I have met since I came out of  lurkdom as they all have made me smile for one reason or another!  🙂

Click the links below for my all Orion photo album and videos from the day

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrGkA

http://youtu.be/GqHljwKjdiY

http://youtu.be/FBLMC4hZSls

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I rounded the corner from Main St. and looked at the Times Square building I could see a falcon under the southeast wing. Of course it’s back was to me so I wasn’t quite sure who it was so I walked up to the Broad St. bridge(BSB) and still only it’s back shown. When I reached Dan on the bridge he said it was Orion. I noticed in my pic that he was clutching something with his left talon. At the time I thought it was odd that he wasn’t eating it. I guess he just liked the fact that he had it and nobody else was around to take it away.

Larry arrived and spotted Beauty flying to the nest box area and then Orion took off and flew across the river to Xerox circling above and around it and coming to rest on the southwest corner.

Orion left Xerox and flew around the back of the Times Square building(TSB) and Beauty flew up under the northeast wing. Dan and Larry left at this point and 10 minutes later Beauty and Orion did as well. I next spotted Dot.Ca on the top ibeam of OCSR south side and he was eating something. I walked down to the hole and a few minutes later Orion came flying in from the west singing his heart out and landed on the south corner. He didn’t stay long before he was charging dear old dad and stealing his tiny morsel of food. He flew to the TSB under the northeast wing with it.

Then suddenly out of nowhere Beauty came screaming in knocking DC off the ibeam and landing on the south corner. As I tweeted it out both Beauty and Orion left. I waited a bit before going over to City Hall to see if anybody went to the FCT as has been the routine lately. If there was a falcon there I couldn’t find it. I went up on the Sister Cities garage top level and had no luck finding a falcon on FCT or the surrounding buildings but I did for one fleeting moment saw a pefa flying near Kodak Office before it flew to the north out of sight. Next I decided to walk to the east side and try my luck on top of the South Ave. garage where I would have a broader view of downtown. As I reached the intersection at Main and Fitzhugh Streets I could see a bump on the jail tower. After looking at my pic I would guess it was the Beautyful one tho I couldn’t say for sure.

She was on the west side just above the dish. She took off as I kept my southern trek closer to the tower so I went to the BSB and checked out the river area. No falcons but I saw a Cormorant that was diving in the river and a Great Blue Heron who was looking for a bite to eat. 10 minutes after I landed on the South Ave. garage I spotted a falcon fly on to the base of Mercury and immediately leave flying out of sight. 15 minutes or so after that I spotted a falcon on the FCT under the platform on the north side.

The distance was way too far to determine who it was. I watched a Turkey Vulture soar high above the river to the east near Midtown and HSBC where it put more than one flock of pigeons into panic mode. It was nearing time for me to leave for the day so I came down off the garage to the BSB on my way to the bus stop. I stopped to have one last look around when fellow falcon watcher Barbara pulled up in her mini van. I gave her the low down and said I had to go catch my bus to which she offered me a ride home. This was a good thing and most certainly made me smile!  🙂

I have only a small album today but click on the link below to see more than just our beloved falcons

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrGfg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Just as I was pulling out of my parking lot at work, I received a text from Donna.  Seems that our friend Mark, who works in the Times Square Bldg (TSB) heard a bit of an altercation outside his windows around 2:00 pm.  So, I texted Donna and told her I was on my way downtown to check on things.  First stop the Frontier Communication Tower and Kodak Office, since Mark reported seeing the falcons fly off heading north.  Kodak Office was quiet, no Falcons there.  As I was driving towards the FCT, I saw a falcon take off from the center of the framework and fly towards downtown, heading SE.  I made a quick stop on the Andrew St Bridge to get a better look at the FCT and the north side of the OCSR and other buildings.  Nothing.  Onward.

My next stop was the Broad St Bridge (BSB), where I found both Beauty and Dot.ca chilling on the top IBeam of the OCSR, south side.  They were just a few feet apart from each other and both had their backs to me the majority of the time I was there.  Beauty was on the left and Dot.ca was on the right.  He was doing a lot of preening.  I spent some time on Aqueduct St where I had a good view of both of them.  I was hoping that Orion would fly in to join them.  No such luck.  I decided to go back over to the FCT.  This time luck was with me.  Orion was fussing around in his play-nest, moving sticks here and there, getting it us right.  lol

I was soon joined by Joyce and Brian.  We continued to be entertained by the very playful young Tiercel.  He came off of the nest and sat on a nearby railing.  The City Hall Crows were making a ruckus on top of the building and they had caught Orion’s attention.  Oh, more playmates!  Orion was off in a flash.  He flew over us and chased the Crows as he passed over the roof.  We lost sight of him at that point.  Time to head back to the BSB, where we were joined by Kathy O, Dan S, Carrie, Shaky and Lisa McK.

Beauty had taken off and only Dot.ca remained on the top Ibeam of OCSR.  The river below us was alive with all kinds of birds and critters.  When falcon watching gets slow, there are a hundred other things to watch.  Dan yelled “he’s off!”.  Some of the Crows were streaming into the city past the TSB and Dot.ca didn’t like that.  He took off heading towards the TSB and then looped back towards us, now heading SE, right on the tails of the Crows that had already passed by.   Smart, he now had the sun behind him.  The chase was on, and it wasn’t just Dot.ca, there was a 2nd falcon giving chase.  Joyce actually got a picture of both falcons, one smaller than the other, but there was no way to know for sure if it was Beauty or Orion.

The falcons and the crows headed SE and the falcons did not return.  At 7:30 pm, I called it a night and said goodbye to everyone.

The other Rochester Falcons:

Pigott was seen by Kathy O before she joined us on the BSB.

Joyce and Brian saw Pigott and Dot.ca both later tonight.  D.C. didn’t stay long.

On my way home, I found KPT at KP on his favored night roosting spot above the catwalk on the east stack.

So, all 5 Rochester Falcons were seen today.  🙂

At 8:30 pm, I received a tweet from Lisa McK that one falcon was on the south side of Xerox, and a 2nd on the NW corner of HSBC.

Tomorrow is expected to be another beautiful summer day and I sure plan on being out there with my eyes to the sky!

Here is a link to a few pics in a Shutterfly album I took today.  No sign on needed.  Enjoy!

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2AcsmzZk4ctWEG

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well I saw my first start to finish stoop this morning. I’ve seen many stoops but the ending where they actually get the prey has always eluded me. Wowee wow wow it’s a beautiful thing!

When I arrived on the Broad St. bridge(BSB) Dan and Larry were there and Orion was on the south side of the Times Square building(TSB) and he was off almost as soon as I looked.  Beauty and Orion both flew to the jail tower and then Beauty went into a stoop across to the river where she scared up some pigeons near the Freddy-Sue bridge. She and Orion chased them, broke it off and went after another flock of pigeons where Beauty grabbed one and flew to the roof top of the Cornhill landing building. It’s usually covered with pigeons but they were more than happy to disperse when she landed.

After she caught her breath she took off with her catch and landed on the Rundell library on the river side and Orion landed down at the northeast corner.  She started plucking feathers and then a crow showed up making her stop and pay attention to it.

Fire and rescue trucks showed up on the Court St. bridge and the Freddy-Sue bridge and we feared someone had jumped in the river. They stayed about 10 minutes and left so we figured it was a false alarm.After cleaning and eating a little to lighten the load she took off down river with Orion on her tail. A food exchange was attempted a couple times between the Radisson and OCSR before they both flew out of sight behind OCSR.  Dan and Larry left and I made my way over to City Hall where I found Beauty and Orion on the north beam of the lower red section. He was patiently watching her eat and pluck when he finally could take it no more and a food fight ensued.

Beauty eventually gave up and let Orion have it as she retreated to the east side of the same beam. Beauty managed to get the last bit of prey from Orion and finished it off. They both had full crops and settled down for nap.

They moved around some more within the tower and when I ended my watch I could see Beauty on the west side of the lower red section. I had lost track of Orion and I never did see Dot.Ca today. As I left the city I couldn’t help but smile for all that I had seen on this mornings watch! 🙂

Click the links below for more pics and videos including the food tug of war between Beauty and Orion

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrGXA

http://youtu.be/n2GdQcIKZug

http://youtu.be/EgI-bgJNoOA

http://youtu.be/rt-r5It1TeY

http://youtu.be/WJzUfbJC14E

http://youtu.be/QoUHsOytK38

http://youtu.be/y_kdZVTlwOw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another day done at work.  Time to get out and find me some falcons!  🙂  I arrived downtown just before 4:00 pm.  After checking the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) and Kodak Office, I headed straight for the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  There I found an adult falcon on the top Ibeam, south side of OCSR.  Looked like Dot.ca to me.  Onward to see if I could find Orion and Beauty.  After circling the downtown area, I came up empty handed, no falcons in sight.  So back to the BSB I went, just to find out that Dot.ca had left while I was searching for the others.

Time to search again.  At 4:40 pm, I parked on the Andrew St Bridge and found a falcon on the top arm of the FCT.  Looked like Dot.ca had moved over there from the OCSR.  It wasn’t long before Dot.ca took off yet again, stooping off to the south.  I took a quick break and drove over to the FCT.  At 5:30 pm, I found Beauty underneath the platform preening.  While I watched Beauty, I heard a very familiar, very loud vocalization approaching from the south, coming in fast!  Seemingly at supersonic speed, first Dot.ca flew in and landed on the FCT below Beauty.  Hot on D.C.’s tail was a little spitfire, no slouch in the speed department himself.  Orion approached the FCT, he threw up his landing gear and made a perfect landing just to the left of D.C.’s position.  D.C. didn’t miss a beat as he plucked the small Starling sized bird he caught.

Beauty remained, very attentive to what was going on.  Orion continued to wail at the top of his lungs, sounding like he was going horse.  Dot.ca continued to pluck.  Finally, it must have been to his liking.  Dot.ca took off with the small package held in one talon.  He flew south for a very short distance and then did a U-turn back towards the FCT, landing a couple feet to the left of Orion, who sprinted towards his dad and grabbed the offering.  Silence.

Beauty must have been pleased with this outcome, because she spread her wings and took off heading south east.  Dot.ca followed, leaving the now quiet Orion to his dinner.  I was sorry not to hear the “nom nom nom’s” we heard from him when he was younger and being fed in the nest box.  I was ready to video just to get that sound which I loved so much.  Now Orion was a big boy and he could feed himself, which he did on the platform containing the old Crows nest.

At 6:30 pm, Orion was finished eating, time to play.  First on the agenda, play in the old Crows nest.  Rearrange some sticks, tidy it up a bit.  Next, run down the length of the platform a couple times before settling on the railing looking south, the direction both Beauty & Dot.ca took after he started to eat.  See, he was paying attention!  lol

There must have been something going on and City Hall tonight.  Lots of folks coming in for something and it seemed that every one of them wanted to know about the falcons.  I love that they are so interested.  But, it has its’ consequences.  While I was answering questions, Orion disappeared from view.  I wasn’t sure if he laid down out of sight for a nap or if he flew off of the FCT.  I waited awhile to make sure he wasn’t up there.  After awhile, I got in my car and drove over to the BSB where I found Dot.ca on the top IBeam of the OCSR, south side (6:40 pm).  I stayed there for awhile before going in search of Beauty and Orion.  At 7 pm, I found Beauty on the SE corner of HSBC, looking east.  No sign of Orion.  So back to the BSB, where I joined Kathy O and Jeanne.  Larry O soon arrived and we amused ourselves by watching Dot.ca and the critters on the river below, which included a baby raccoon, playing at the waters edge.

Larry drew our attention to a small bird that landed on the IBeam below Dot.ca.  It kept flying in front of the windows, probably getting bugs.  This was not a very smart location to be doing this.  As we watched, Dot.ca stooped down the face of the building and almost snatched the small bird.  Just missed the very lucky little bird!  Dot.ca flew around a bit and ended up back on the top IBeam.

At 7:40 pm, I decided to end my Watch and leave it to my fellow Watchers to finish the evening Watch.  On the way out of downtown, I checked the FCT, but could not see Orion up there.  I let them know and headed home.  But of course, I had to check KP on the way home.

I was really happy to see KPT on the catwalk of the east stack.  He was very alert, head turning in every direction, doing his best Linda Blair imitation.  🙂  If this is the same falcon we’ve been seeing all along (and I have no reason not to think it is), he has really lost a lot of juvie plumage and is turning into quite the handsome adult.  Very white chest and dark helmet.  Hope he sticks around and we’re able to positively ID him soon.  All we know is that he has a black over black band, which means he was hatched in Canada.  As I watched, KPT stooped off of the catwalk and then flew around to the north side of the building.  He was definitely in hunt mode.

It was finally time for me to head home.  It had been a very long day, but it ended with me doing my most favorite thing, keeping my eyes to the sky and seeing FALCONS!  🙂

Here is a link to my Shutterfly album with some pics from today.  No sign on needed.  Enjoy!

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2AcsmzZk4ctX-Q

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Dan and Larry were on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) when I arrived this morning at 6:34am. Dan told me that Beauty had been under the southeast wing until 6:29am. Shoot I just missed her but not to worry she came flying in 10 minutes later from the east. She crossed the river and came to rest on the Times Square building(TSB) under the northeast wing. Orion came screaming in right after and landed up there near her but we couldn’t see him. When I took the pic of her flying off I didn’t know at the time that Orion had knocked her off. When I got it on my computer screen at home I realized Beauty and her shadow were in the air and Orion was under the wing having chased her off. lol

The pic is blurry but you can clearly see that’s what happened. Oh that boy! Beauty flew north, Orion vanished and Larry and Dan left. I stayed a few minutes more and saw a starling fly out from near the nest box so I knew there were no pefas around. I walked over to City Hall to check the Frontier Communications Tower(FCT). Orion was on the 2nd arm north side and Beauty was on the lower red section on an east side beam.

Orion flew off the arm taking his flight right over me on the Sister Cities garage circled around OCSR and returned again flying above me and landing on the FCT. While he was gone Beauty moved to the north side of the beam she had been on and Orion was directly below her now.

They stayed this way for a while with Beauty taking a nap and Orion playing hide and seek with me. He kept going around the corner where I couldn’t see him until he left and woke Beauty while he was at it. I came down off the garage when I had nobody in sight so I could walk around and check from all sides of the FCT. I found tail feathers hanging over the east side edge of the platform and whoever it was looked like it was eating something. I caught a glimpse of it’s head and thought it looked like Dot.Ca but couldn’t confirm. People working at City Hall kept stopping and asking me about the falcons and in the process I didn’t see where that pefa went cuz now it was gone.

I got a report from Donna that Beauty was at the nest box so I opted for walking over to the TSB. Shortly after I got there the Beautyful one flew out heading straight down Exchange St. between the Wilder and Telesca Center buildings over the Powers building in the direction of FCT. I was ready to catch the next bus home and decided to walk down to the bus stop past Fitzhugh on Main St. so I could take one last look at FCT. I didn’t see any bumps on the tower and so I proceeded to the bus stop. I checked again from the bus as I left the city and still saw nothing but it didn’t stop me from smiling to myself for every day I see Orion is a happy one! 🙂

Click the links below for more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrGOg

http://youtu.be/tsP3NKu9RDc

http://youtu.be/o7ESyyQJadQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Evening Watchers: Kathy O, Larry O, Jeanne, Carrie, Shaky, Lisa McK and Carol P.

I think it’s time to switch over to Falcon Watches vs Fledge Watches.  Orion is above and beyond fledging at this point!  WooHoo!  🙂

Well, it sounds like MAK had a nice morning Watch with lots of activity by Orion.  The nighttime Watch was much quieter, but we did have a little bit of flying by both Orion and Beauty (and maybe DC, we can’t be sure) before they tucked into their respective roosting spots for the night.

Got a late start tonigh, so I didn’t arrive downtown until about 6:00 pm.  The sun was shining with barely a cloud in the sky.  But there was just a hint of coolness in the air.  Just a reminder that Summer was drawing to an end and Fall was waiting to make an appearance.  I first checked out the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  All was very quiet, no falcons there.  Next stop Kodak Office (KO).  It wasn’t quiet, but for a different reason than a very loud juvie falcon.  They were working at the base of the last remaining smoke stack at the BeeBee Station, the High Falls Stack.  Not exactly sure what’s going on there, but I did notice something I hadn’t expected to see.  Half of the catwalk was missing from the middle of the smoke stack.  Too many places with memories of falcons past are disappearing.  Oh, well.  We have new falcons to Watch, and that is a good thing.

I checked other known Pefa hangouts and ended up on the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  Absolutely no falcons were in view from the bridge.  OK, time for a ride around the downtown area.  Finally, I found a falcon sitting up on the south side of the Xerox Bldg, 5 columns in from the SE corner.  I drove around for a better view and saw that it was Beauty.  She was in the spot she usually loved to roost at night when she wasn’t in nesting season.  This was her fall/winter spot.  I hadn’t seen her up here in quite awhile.  I ended up parking in the parking lot near the Geva Theater.  Figured I’d keep watching Beauty for now.  Usually when you found Beauty, you found Orion.

I was soon joined by Kathy O and Larry O.  After awhile, we received a tweet from Jeanne, who was up on the BSB.  There was a falcon eating on the Times Square Bldg (TSB), one level above the nest box, and feathers were flying!  Carrie and Shaky arrived and we all decided to go to the BSB.  We arrived just in time to see the falcon there for just a few moments before it flew around to the back of the TSB and out of sight.  Then we saw two flying over the river and library heading east towards the Xerox bldg.  We were unable to ID any of them, so have no idea who was eating on the TSB.

Lisa McK arrived and she, Kathy and I decided to check out the Xerox area where we saw the two falcons flying.  One falcon was sitting on the SW corner of the HSBC bldg.  Looked like Beauty to me.  It wasn’t long before a 2nd falcon flew in and landed above Beauty on the railing.  There was no doubt whatsoever that this was Orion.  He announced his arrival loudly to all.  lol  Beauty took off and flew around Xerox, finally settling on the 5th column she had been on when I first arrived.  Orion decided HE wanted to join his momma.  Up he went!  Flap, flap, flap, higher and higher, until he finally made it up to the top.  He attempted to land on the same column as Beauty, but missed.  He ended up landing for just a few seconds on the SE corner of Xerox and then coming off and around to the east side, where we lost him.

It was getting dark when Jeanne tweeted from the BSB that Carrie had just spotted Orion land on the top IBeam of the OCSR.  He did his usual sprint down the length of the IBeam and ended up tucked into the elevator shaft.  So at 8:30 pm, Beauty was on her favorite nighttime spot on the south side of the Xerox Bldg and Orion was on his, on the top IBeam of OCSR south side.  Kathy and I joined Jeanne, Carrie and Shaky on the BSB and compared notes about what was seen tonight.  Not a whole lot of activity like there usually is during the day, but that’s ok.  Sometimes, it’s nice to have a calm and quiet Watch.

As it got darker and we could barely make out Orion, ducks and geese started to move up and down the river.  They were flying over us, back and forth, very low.  Very cool to see!

So, whether it’s morning, afternoon or evening, you should ALWAYS have your eyes to the sky.  You just never know what you’ll see!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I was surprised this morning when I rounded the corner and didn’t see Dans car on the bridge. Larry came by on his way to work and saw a pefa on FCT. There were no falcons around the Broad St. bridge and Times Square areas so after Larry left I started off for City Hall. As I got on State St. near Church St. I looked up at the FCT just in time to see Beauty fly off the 2nd arm to the east where Orion met up with her and then they both went into a stoop before going out of view. Orion came over and landed on the platform railing southeast corner. And a few short minutes later Beauty landed on the top arm of the FCT on the west side.

5 minutes later Beauty flew to the west followed by Orion and together they did another little stoop over Plymouth Ave. Beauty flew to the  north side of FCT landing on the top beam of the lower red area. Orion went to the east side landing on the lower catwalk railing.

30 minutes later Orion jumped down to his stick nest and Beauty remained. Things stayed like this for an hour or so.

I had gone up to the top of the Sister Cities garage and during that time Orion moved to where I couldn’t find him. 10 minutes later I saw movement and found Orion just in time to see him fly out and stoop seriously on a crow. Well let’s put it this way-that crow didn’t stick around for any more hits like that one. After that he flew right over me on the garage and circled around and back to FCT landing on the south side platform railing and then he left. This would be the last time I saw him before ending my watch.

Beauty moved from the north side over to the east side of the ibeam she was on and that’s when I left the garage to check the tower for Orion before I left for home.

As I waited at the bus stop I got a tweet from Donna that Beauty and Dot.Ca were in the nest box bowing and renewing their bond which made me smile all the way home! 🙂

Click the links below for a photo album and a bunch of videos from the watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrGGA

http://youtu.be/06C3dFslYEQ

http://youtu.be/8ofbnun4TJg

http://youtu.be/cHSDHoLxaWE

http://youtu.be/eIg1-0H8e3g

http://youtu.be/maOKFn1fMCU

http://youtu.be/u_RnRX9iLOs

http://youtu.be/-DzZ5adgE_A

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

This morning was a bust for the early riser Watchers.  Dan reported seeing a food exchange between Beauty and Orion around 6 a.m. and that’s the last time he saw any falcons.  Joyce, MAK, Larry O and I joined Dan for an early morning falcon-less Watch.  Dan, MAK, Larry and Joyce went home after a couple hours, but I decided to drive around the area, intent on find one of our falcons.  Around noon, finally, I found Beauty very low on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  She eventually flew off of it and landed on the MCCP bldg, just south of the FCT.  While I was parking my car, I heard Orion vocalizing nearby.  He flew in and knocked mom off of her perch.  She flew back to the FCT.

This went on for quite awhile, they went back and forth between the MCCP bldg and the FCT.  During that time, I was joined by Don and Suzanne from Ithaca, good friends of ours that help with the fledge watches.  Then Joyce, Brian & Dana arrived.

Beauty took off and landed on the Widows Walk, and Orion ended up back at the nest box where all his fans were able to get a good look at him on camera.  Beauty even made an appearance at the NB. Beauty was seen heading NE and DC also flew in that direction.  Seems that DC was hidden up on the TSB where we couldn’t see him.  We all hung out in front of the War Memorial aka Blue Cross Arena, where we had a great view of Orion at the NB.  Susan C joined us there.

I decided to take a break at that time, so  I said my goodbyes with a promise to be back for the evening Watch.

During the time I was gone, Dana, Susan C and Brian H reported that all three, Beauty , DC and Orion were on the Kodak Office Tower and that Beauty stooped over the river with Orion on her tail.

At evening watch I was joined by Brian H, Carrie, Shaky, Joyce, Dan S, Larry O, Dana, Lou and Jeanne.  It was a little chilly, but otherwise a gorgeous evening for a Falcon Watch.  Beauty was up at the NB the whole time, sitting on Cam #4.  At one point, Larry found D.C. on the Kodak Tower.  He flew off heading east and ended  up going past the Xerox Bldg.  We did not see him again this evening.  We had no idea where Orion was during the watch, but just as darkness descended, Joyce saw Orion fly in and land on the top IBeam (south side) of the OCSR.  He sprinted down the length of the Ibeam, until he was next to the elevator shaft.  This seemed to be a favorite spot for his nightly roost.  It was 8:30 pm, and getting too dark to see much, so we all called it a night.

We were very happy to see Orion fly in.  We were also glad to see both Beauty and Dot.ca hanging out with him during the day and continuing his training.  It was a very nice day for watching falcons and keep our eyes to the sky!

Here is a Shutterfly album of pictures from today.  No sign on needed.  Enjoy!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

As most of you have heard, our friend Orville has left the building and fledged, Orion Style!  Jeanne, Kathy O, MAK, Dana and I were on the Broad St Bridge (BSB) watching Orion at the nest box wrestling with something at the front edge of the nest box.  I kept saying!  It’s Orville!  He’s got Orville out there!  I started to walk towards the TSB but turned back when Orion took off, heading north.  By the time I made my way back to my fellow Watchers, we all received a tweet from Donna, “Orville’s gone!  Check the street!”  I immediately headed back towards the TSB, this time on a mission, find Orville!

I started my search on the sidewalk under the nest box, where I found 3 pieces of Orville scattered about.  Oh, poor Orville.  My search continued.  There had to be more.  Yep, out in the middle of the street, I found the largest piece of Orville, thankfully untouched by passing cars.  I made sure no cars were coming before I carefully went out into the road and scooped up the 4th and final piece of Orville.

Orville is currently in rehab and will be cared for, hopefully to return to the Rochester Falcons nest box high above the city, where he will continue to guard young eyases in the future.  🙁