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Falcon Watch – 6/27/09 – Strange Behavior?

From Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a beautiful day in Rochester.  Sunny, warm with a nice breeze.  I arrived downtown just before 11 am.  A quick check of the Times Square nest box showed Archer inside the box, moving about.  I didn’t see Beauty.

Off to the east end of the High Falls pedestrian bridge.  I joined Joyce and Dawn .   They had spotted Mariah on the gorge wall, east side, near the falls.  She was enjoying the cooling spray.

We were soon joined by Dan S, Larry O, Jeanne, Suzanne, Don, Kristen, Scott and Jeannette.

From 10:30 am until 2:20 pm, all was peaceful.  That’s when we spotted a Peregrine flying along the east side gorge.  At first I thought it was Mariah.  The Peregrine flew up into the Shady Tree.  A quick check through the scope showed that Mariah remained in her spot near the falls.  Hmmm, who was this 2nd Falcon?

A few of us walked down the path leading to the observation deck.  From there, we got a very clear view of the Falcon in the tree.  We’re pretty sure it was Archer.  This is the 3rd time in the last few weeks since Mariah’s return that I’ve witnessed Archer visiting Mariah in the gorge. 

Mariah turned towards him and they both just watched each other.  Absolutely no aggression by either of them. 

At 3:25 pm, over an hour later, Archer took off from the tree, he flew past Mariah, then headed west over the river.  He then flew towards the west end of the pedestrian bridge, turned back towards the falls, up and over the observation deck and then high over the Brewery.  The last time we saw him, he was soaring very high off to the south east. 

Mariah remained in her spot, preening, stretching, dozing and looking every which way.

Joyce and I left her on the wall around 4 pm.

Carol P.

19 Responses to “Falcon Watch – 6/27/09 – Strange Behavior?”

  1. Shaky Says:

    Mariah finally left the wall at 6:30 and flew north over the brewery.

  2. bluhawkk Says:

    Testing boundaries?

  3. Carol P. Says:

    Thanks Shaky! Glad I didn’t hang around another 1 1/2 hours to wait for her to take-off!

  4. Vicki in IL Says:

    Maybe Archer is just a flirt – two females to check out. He was “involved” with both Beauty and Mariah in the spring.

  5. Maureen in MA Says:

    Any ideas on where she spends her evenings?

  6. Barb C Says:

    Maybe he’s visiting his grandmother to make up for the way he treated her earlier. Maybe he needs advice on decorating the new nesting site. Or maybe (and more likely) he’s just reminding her of the Territorial boundaries.

  7. Debbie H. Says:

    Where do they go in the rain. I don’t see anyone in the nest box.

  8. Carol P. Says:

    @Maureen in MA – We think that Mariah may be spending her evenings on the Kodak Tower.

    @Debbie H – They just sit in the rain and get wet. 🙂 It rained most of the afternoon here in Rochester. Archer actually entered the nest box for a short while this afternoon.

  9. Maureen in MA Says:

    Thanks, Carol P.!

  10. Debbe L Says:

    Great update – I can visualize it all in my mind – is anyone taking pictures for us to view?

  11. ei Says:

    Thanks for keeping us up to date, Carol! Hopefully Archer is just “keeping his options open” for next year!

  12. diane m Says:

    Where has Beauty been during this? Has she been around as much as Archer? Also, I’ve seen more of him in the nest box than her. What’s up with that?

  13. Alison in Indiana Says:

    Normally the male chooses a couple of likely next sites and the female decides which one she wants, so it does not surprise me that he is keeping the homefires burning.

  14. Melissa in MA Says:

    I was so happy to find an update today….happy to hear
    there is some sort of truce going on and all is peaceful.

  15. Barb Says:

    I hope that they are spending the rest of this year getting used to each other. So that next breeding season they will be willing to split the town and get along.

  16. Alison in Indiana Says:

    Well, as posted elsewhere, it works in Toronto with more than two pairs. There are two pairs in southern Indianapolis, and there were two pairs reported in Brisbane, so it could work here.

  17. Kathy Villone Says:

    Thanks for the info…do you think Mariah is staying clear of Archer, after her encounter with Beauty?That is who she had the battle with…right? I hope she doesn’t fall for Archers flirting, and have another battle, do you think its possible?

  18. Carol P. Says:

    @Kathy V – Mariah pretty much ignores Archer.

  19. chrissy Says:

    I wonder if Archer notices a family resemblance in Mariah. Does Freedom have a white cere?

    I have a question: does the Times Square nestbox face South, same as the old kodak nestbox?


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