I couldn’t make it to the Broad Street Bridge until after 7:00 PM tonight. The watchers were arrayed on the sidewalk next to the Blue Cross Arena, so I joined them there. Orion was pretty well settled on his windowsill on the East side of the Times Square building, one story down from, and south of, the nest box. This is a video of him screeching, scratching and walking to the other end of the windowsill.

I’m so glad he flew so well today!

Marcia L.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

What a day I had on fledge watch!  Joyce and I joined LarryO and Dan who were on the Broad St. bridge. We barely said hello when Beauty come whipping in and stooped on a pigeon coming inches from the surface of the water. She missed the lucky Rock Dove and as we were talking excitedly about how great that was Larry yelled Orion is fledging! We all looked just in time to see him land on the ledge across from the nest box on the same spot that  sweet Jemison fledged to in 2010.

Joyce and I left the guys on the bridge to follow Orion as he went to the south side of the Times Square Building(TSB). Walking and flying to the back of TSB and flying around the back out of sight. Carol had arrived and tweeted that he was in the front perched on the ledge above the nest box.

Beauty was spotted on the base of Mercury and she was watching her young fledgling. Things stayed this way for over an hour when Beauty flew over and landed near Orion and then flew off to OCSR top ibeam west corner. 45 minutes later Orion took off from TSB and flew over the Wilder building and continued on to the Crossroads building. He attempted to land on the top roof but didn’t quite get that high and ended up fluttering down to the lower roof(which isn’t low at all).

He walked back and forth taking short flights as well along the south side ledge. Carol and I were sitting in the hole and suddenly the blur of a fast moving peregrine streaked over us from behind the Thomson Reuters building stooping on something on the Philipone building roof. She came up and around and did it again right over and in front of us without success and came to rest directly above us on the Thomson Reuters building.

The Beautyful one took one more stab at whatever was on that roof  then returned to the base of Mercury as Orion slept over on Crossroads. Beauty flew past Orion twice with a large package trying to tease him off the roof but all he did was sing very loudly.They both made their way around to the  northeast corner where he got something to eat. Beauty took it from him before he could devour all of it and cached it on Widows Walk, then she flew to her west corner on OCSR.Orion finally flew off Crossroads and went to the TSB south side and made his way around to the north side where beauty tried to direct him to the front where the nest box is located. He flew around eventually landing on a window ledge lower than the nest box.

Dot.Ca who was not seen most of the day came in with food and landed on the deck by the main cam seemingly looking for Orion then flew back to OCSR where he stayed a while before leaving the area. Beauty was stationed under the southeast wing above Orion on his window ledge right next to MarkBs office. Pictures and video were taken of Orion by Mark while he was there and that’s how the night ended. Another long 13 hour watch that flew by with all the action and excitement that took place. Many watchers took part in todays fledge watch and here are the ones at the end minus me who took the pic! lol

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So there you have it folks our young Orion has turned into a fledgling and now we will be off to the races keeping up with him smiling along the way! 🙂

Click the links below for more pics and videos

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I got a break today from the bus and dragging my cart around all day cuz Joyce picked me up for a fledge watch. Thanks! As soon as we arrived on the Broad St. bridge there was action. Dot.Ca was a stooping maniac as he excited us with 4 stoops including  down the front of the Times Square building for Orion to see! Also he and Beauty chased a crow out of the area together! Woohoo what a way to wake up!!!  After things settled down Beauty ended up on the base of Mercury, DC on the Wilder fire escape and Orion front and center to see all.

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Pat and DebbieH came by for a bit before work. DC went to the heel of Mercury where Beauty barked some orders at him as Orion watched them. KathyO stopped for a quick look/see. Both adults fed Orion a tiny bit trying to tease him into fledging with no luck. They both flew back and forth in front of the Times Square building to get him to follow and no luck with that either. So what’s a pair of falcon parents to do? Hang out on Mercury together and discuss things, well Beauty did all the discussing! She did a lot of talking today. lol

They would also go to OCSR and under the wings of Times Sqaure to wait it out- and wait they did! Most of the rest of the day was spent waiting and waiting for this kid to fly but he would have none of it! He explored the top of cam 4 where his mum likes to perch at night while he sleeps and from there to the top of the main cam. He ran around the well wall and flew from one spot to the next in the nest box and well areas.

He’s ready to go he just doesn’t know it…yet.

Carol joined the watch around 11 :30am. We met Newbie(Suzanne) who works in the Bausch&Lomb building.  Dana joined us as well. Things stayed quiet in the afternoon. Willie and Dan and SusanC were with us into the evening hours. Orion did lots of flapping throughout the day but no fledge. At the end of the fledge watch Jeanne and Lisa came to see Orion flying from cam 4 to the main cam and back. We thought for sure he would slip off and have to fledge but that little daredevil  caught himself every time ending up at the nest box. As we got ready to end the watch and leave Dan brought the full moon to our attention-of course I took a pic!  So another 14 hour fledge watch was in the books for me. I have to say it’s nice to see the Beautyful one and DC  displaying team work where Orion is concerned, certainly something I would never have thought would happen back in the spring. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully a fledge will take place which will make all of us smile! 🙂

Pics and video below just click on

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I was downtown from 11:30 am till after 9:00 pm. I took a 1/2 day vacation because I had really hoped to see Orion fledge today. But that didn’t happen and this is a-ok. Each day he takes to spread his wings and run and flap and stretch, will make him that much stronger when he does decide the time is right. When he’s ready, he’ll take that next step to becoming a Peregrine Falcon.

Today’s Falcon Watchers while I was downtown: Joyce, MAK, Dana, Willie, Susan C., Aaron, Dan S., Jeanne, Debbie H, Pat, Suzanne, Lisa McK and Carol P. Hope I got everyone.

Today was a gorgeous day, with just a little bit of rain. When I first arrived, I joined Joyce & MAK at Falcon Watch Central (FWC). They needed to leave for a just a short while, so I kept an eye on Orion and Beauty and Dot.ca. All three were within my view. Orion at the nest box, Beauty and Dot.ca both on the OCSR.

J&M returned and joined me at the top of the stairs leading down to Aqueduct St. We were soon joined by Dana and then Susan C and Willie and lunchtime visits by Newbie aka Suzanne, Debbie H and Pat. We kept following the shady spots around, setting up our chairs in the shade and moving when it moved.

There was a bit of flying by B&DC in front of the nest box area, exciting Orion when he saw them. He was last fed this morning, so he is definitely being prepared by his parents for that first flight. This evening, we were joined by Dan S, Lisa McK, Aaron & Jeanne.

Just as it was getting dark, Orion decided it was time to get some wing practice in. He was all over Camera #4 and jumped up to Main Cam twice! We thought he might do a nighttime fledge, but he finally settled on the ledge that runs along the left (south) side of the nest box. I just checked the cameras and he’s sound asleep in that same spot. Beauty was up on the top IBeam of OCSR in the center. Not sure where Dot.ca ended up.

The most exciting thing today was when Beauty was up at the base of the SE wing of the TSB. We watched as a pigeon flew past the TSB on the south side, just below Beauty. I had just remarked that was one crazy pigeon, when Beauty stooped off of the building and hit the pigeon below her. It was the pigeon’s lucky day. S/he flew off of safety and Beauty flew over to the OCSR landing on the top IBeam.

Lots and lots folks stopped to ask us how the “birds” were doing. It seems that we are getting less “whatcha lookin at?” questions. 🙂

A little after 9:00 pm, we decided to end our Watch and call it a day, since Orion had finally settled down and was laying down next to the nest box.

Tomorrow is another day. It will be much warmer, so if anyone decides to come down to help with the watch, be sure to wear your sunscreen and bring lots of water to drink.

There will be Fledge Watchers out and about around the Times Square Bldg with their eyes to the sky, watching for Orion’s first flight. Maybe tomorrow will be the day, but if not that’s ok too! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Jeanne

I arrived to a still rainy downtown at 6:30. I met up with Joyce and MAK who were watching from the car. I joined them. I saw Beauty fly off and we found her beneath the Widows walk. She appeared to be eating. Back on the bridge, we got a tweet from Dana saying Orion was perched on the nestbox. The watchers had felt he was ready to fledge earlier in the day but the storms and his parents put an end to that! Beauty brought in food but made 3 passes in front of Orion. We weren’t sure if she was carrying something heavy causing her to not get lift or if she was trying to entice Orion to fly. It looked, at that time, like the prey was heavy. She flew off. She returned again making 4 passes in front of Orion (that looked like an enticement) and finally went to the platform to feed him. DC arrived at that time also and went to his spot on the rings of the Times Square building. Beauty went beneath the wing. He moved around quite a bit and at one point went toward camera 4 but went back from it. It looked like the wind pushed him back. We were joined by Carrie, Shaky and Diana R. Dotca went to Mercury, the statue across from the building, after eating some of the leftovers on the platform. Orion did a lot of pacing back and forth on the wall. And lots of screeching! Beauty kept an eye on him from above. (Every now and then we could see Orion look up at her and she would look down at him). Her tail feathers were quite wet and straggly.

Finally he went into the nestbox and we left!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I always check the livestream before leaving the house to check out what Orion is doing.  He flew up to can 4 and perched there for the first time just like his mom. I thought at the time he was going to fledge before I could get there. So when I arrived downtown I fully expected Dan to be telling me he was on a building somewhere. Orion was on the wall and shortly after he flew up and landed on the main cam. I was having trouble deciding whether to stay close by or go up on the Broad St. bridge with Dan and Larry. I walked the bridge and as I got them in sight Larry started yelling excitedly and pointing south over the river toward Court St. I thought for sure Orion had fledged but when I got past the Blue Cross Arena where I could see I instantly knew it wasn’t him but Beauty flying with prey dangling from her talons. They had witnessed her stooping on a pigeon and Larry was so excited! She took it somewhere to clean and pluck and eventually returned to feed Orion. The guys left and Carol and Joyce joined me on the bridge. We ended up going down to the hole for a closer look.

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After being quite active Orion settled down and most of the watch was quiet with Beauty and Dot.Ca hanging out mostly on OCSR  and under the Times Square wings. Visits by DebbieH  and Patsy on their lunch breaks. Carrie and Dan joined us in the afternoon as we searched for shade on a very hot summer day.

Rain moved in late in the day just after Orion had been wing flapping hard and we thought he would go. The rain put an end to that ubtil afterwards when Beauty tried enticing him off with prey scraps. Nothing doing,he wasn’t fledging on this night. I am sure he will be going today sometime. Jeanne,Carrie,Shaky and Diana were on watch with Joyce and I at the end of the night. Again I’m sorry for the short report but time is not in the program while fledge watch is taking place. I must be leaving soon for downtown. I did have a smile on my face for much of the day due to my great falcon friends and the antics of Orion. 🙂

Click the links below for pics and a very short video

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