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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