Carol P. – Kaver and His Shadow – Tuesday – July 29, 2008 (Morning)
First, let me start by saying that all 7 Falcons have been seen in the past 24 hours. The Fab Five are doing great.
I arrived downtown around 6:00 a.m. this morning. Dan was already out on the bridge. He told me that he had not seen any falcons earlier, so we settled down for the morning watch.
We saw Mariah leading two juvies on hunt run over the High Falls Brewery. Quest was one of them.
Next Kaver flew through on a food run. As he flew towards the city, he picked up one, two and three juvies as he flew. Dan and I watched him flying around Xerox, followed by three young Falcons.
Kaver headed back towards the old Changing Scenes Restaurant. One juvie stayed near Xerox. He lost #2 juvie before reaching the old CSR. #3 juvie kept following Kaver, both heading towards the Kodak Tower. Kaver did all kinds of maneuvers, the juvie kept up. Dan and I were quite amazed by this young Falcon’s flying abilities.
They continued towards the tower. When they reached it, they both started looping around the tower. Each time they came around, Kaver gained speed. Soon they were on opposite sides. That’s when Kaver dove into the playpen on the north side. When the juvie lost sight of Kaver, she gave up. Yes, it was definitely a female. She made her way back to the communication tower and landed on the middle arm.
Another juvie flew to the tower and landed on the northeast corner of the 20th floor. It was time for me to walk to the tower to see if I could ID the juvie on the tower. It was an easy ID, it was Quest with her antenna. I walked around to the north side of the tower and saw Kaver at the base of the playpen railing on the north side. He was eating. We hadn’t realized until then that Kaver was actually flying around with prey and that he had led his young ones on a merry chase.
I was unable to positively ID the female on the communication tower, but our suspicions were that it was Seneca or possibly Susan B.
They are all gaining the skills they will need to succeed. All seem to be doing very well.
Carol P.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:16 PM
Great..I am so glad to hear they are all doing well. Sounds like they all had a ball flying and chasing each other. Must have been so nice to see.
Can you tell me if any of them have been back to where the nesting box was?Do they seem confused?
July 29th, 2008 at 5:51 PM
GREAT to hear!! Thank you very much for the update! 😀
July 29th, 2008 at 9:01 PM
Wow, what a great tale of some great flying from the juvies!
July 29th, 2008 at 9:09 PM
Kathy – The nest box is still where it was on the Kodak Tower. It has not been moved yet. Yes, the juvies and M&K are still visiting the tower and the nest box now and then. – Carol P.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:26 PM
Carol,
Has anyone seen any of the juvies do their own hunting? If so, has any of them been successful?
Also, at what point will the juvies take off on their own and leave the area? This is such an exciting but sad time, as the family will soon be breaking up and the nest box will have to be moved.
Thanks to everyone who has made this season so exciting for us all with your comment and pictures.
THANKS, Becky
July 30th, 2008 at 8:17 AM
I keep seeing the communications tower being mentioned. Where is the communication tower that they speak of? I know one where Time Warner is, and the ensemble on top of the hill next to Hillside Childrens Center.
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:32 PM
Thanks Carol..thought I had heard it was taken down..
August 5th, 2008 at 7:40 PM
Becky – No one has witnessed a successful hunt yet, but Susan B got darn close the other day. She missed a pigeon by inches! I would not be surprised if some of the juvies have hunted successfully.
By end of August, the juvies will probably be moving out of the area near the Kodak Tower. It will definitely be interesting to follow Quest’s travels.
Barry – The communication tower just south of the Kodak Tower is owned by Frontier.
Carol P.