By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Watchers today: Dan S, Larry O, Donna (from NJ), MAK, Eileen, Joyce, Aaron, Jeanne, Shaky, Carrie, Lynda, Tim and me, Carol P. Sorry if I forgot anyone!
Today’s all day Watch was an exciting one. Not only one fledge, but two! First Rosetta fledged this afternoon, then Voyager, early evening. Rosetta took her first flight over MAK and I heading east towards Mercury. She then U-turned back towards the Times Square Bldg, gaining altitude. She ended up landing on the NW end of the ledge directly above the nest box, right next to Baron! An outstanding first flight for Rosetta.
Voyager’s first flight took a different direction. Beauty brought food in and Baron flew out to meet her. They both ended up on the SE corner of the ledge 2 levels above the nest box. Baron grabbed the food and immediately mantled it. Beauty attempted to get it back, but he was having none of that. In the meantime, Rosetta was running down the ledge she was on until she reached the end. Now she was one level below, maybe a couple feet. She ran back and forth until finally she jumped-flew up to the ledge that contained Baron and his meal. During all of this, Voyager was screaming and running back and forth on the nest box platform. Then she was off! She flew across the front of the building and landed on the ledge on the SE side of the building, same level as the nest box. Now she was two levels below Baron, Rosetta and the food!
Meanwhile, both Rosetta and Baron were having a tug-o-war/food fight above her, and Beauty attempted multiple times to grab the food. She finally gave up and landed on the NE short column above the nest box. Voyager was loudly vocalizing and she ran down the ledge she was on and ended up on the NW side, 1/2 way around the building. When she could go no further, she ran back to where she started on the SE side, no closer to the food she wanted to share with her siblings.
Again she spread her wings and ran along the ledge. This time she took off for a 2nd time. Voyager headed north towards where we were watching from. She turned around just before she reached the Wilder bldg and headed back to the Times Square bldg and mom. She spotted Beauty and that’s where she headed. She gained a little altitude and just missed landing next to Beauty. Voyager fell down the face of the building towards the nest box below and into the well (below the nest box). I immediately called Shaky to let him know what happened so he could search for her in the well. That’s when Voyager popped up onto the nest box platform. She had climbed the ramp that our friend Tim G built for us. A ramp that went from the floor of the well back up to the nest box platform. Voyager made her way up the ramp quickly. This is the first year that the young falcons used the ramp. It worked just as we had hoped it would!
When I left around 9 pm tonight, Rosetta was on the SE corner of the ledge (two above the nest box) and Baron flew over to the NE end. Voyager was on the left side of the nest box. Not sure where Beauty and Dot.ca were, but I did find out from the folks on the live streaming video chat that Beauty brought food to Voyager before it got dark.
I and the other Watchers will be up early and out to Watch the three fledglings, Baron, Rosetta & Voyager tomorrow morning.
Here are a few pictures I took today. Please click on any pics you would like to see larger. To see a description of what the picture is of, just hover your cursor over it. Enjoy! Goodnight everyone!
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When Rosetta first fledged and joined Baron on the NW side, both Beauty and Dot.ca started to kak an alarm call. They then dove over and over again on a Crow that had somehow landed on the back extension of the TSB, way too close to where Rosetta and Baron were located. The Crow remained on the ledge and was attacked periodically throughout the day. When I left this evening, I did not see the Crow, so hopefully it finally got out of the area. Here are a few pics from the attack.
