Thursday Evening Fledge Watch – All Five on the Frontier Communication Tower – 7/18/13
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Due to the high temps, I again started my Watch a little later than normal. I arrived downtown after 6:00 pm. As I was leaving Rte 490 on the west side of the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT), I could see one falcon on the west side on the platform railing. I circled the tower and found two more falcons, one on the “box” on the SE side (below the platform) and one on the east side platform railing. At first I thought it was two juvies and an adult, but it turned out to be both Beauty and Dot.ca and one juvie. I parked in the City Hall parking lot and settled in for my Watch. Soon fellow Falcon Watcher Kathy O joined me. Kathy spotted a 2nd juvie on the lower communication, next to the FCT. Now we had 4 of the 5. Could #5 be up there too? All was quiet.
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Yep, we were right. A third juvie popped up with the one that had been on the west side platform railing, but now Dot.ca was gone.
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We were pretty sure the whole family was up there and just as Dana and Lou joined us we got the proof that all five were indeed on the FCT! The juvies started to stretch and spread their wings. Baron jumped on to the large drum on the north side of the FCT. We watched him spread his wings and hop around. Rosetta took off and attempted to knock Baron off. She landed next to him for a moment and then she was off and so was Baron! The chase was on!
It wasn’t long before Voyager launched herself off the tower and joined in the chase. Dot.ca flew in and remained high above his young ones. Beauty stayed where she was on the SE side of FCT below the platform. The four of us watching the young falcons tearing up the sky above us. It was usually two that would come together, but every now and then there would be three. We watched them and tried to snap some pictures while they were above us. Too soon, they tired in the early evening heat and they all settled back on the FCT with their parents. Here are some pics I took while they were flying above us.
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Larry O joined us as the juvies settled down on different parts of the FCT with Beauty and Dot.ca watching over them. As I was heading home at about 8:15 pm, two juvies flew a little bit and then settled back down. I was very happy to end my Watch with a sighting of the whole family, Beauty, Dot.ca, Baron, Rosetta and Voyager. Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger. Goodnight everyone!
