Falcon Watch Report – 7/1/09 – Catch-up!
From Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Wow! It’s July already. Happy 4th to everyone this weekend.
Some catch-up observations.
Sunday – 6/28/09 – Mariah landed on the gorge wall in front of the observaton deck. I was able to get a really good look at the wound on her chest. It looks like it’s healing very nicely and it doesn’t seem to bother herl.
Monday – 6/29/09 – There were a few of us on the bridge during the noon hour Watch (Lisa McK, Lynda, Carrie, Shaky and Carol P). We saw some flying earlier in the Watch. Mariah flew by the Kodak Tower and then headed north. There was a bit of a lull.
Lynda stood up and said she was pretty sure there were two birds flying way out to the west. As we all checked it out, Lisa and Carrie yelled, “there’s two Falcons above us!” Yes, there was.
We watched the two Falcons flying together and then splitting up. One, Mariah, flew to the Kodak Tower and landed on the 15th floor, east side and the other one, flew towards downtown and met a 3rd Falcon over the river near the Times Square Bldg. One of them landed on the Times Square nest box and one continued on to the communication tower, 1/2 way between the KTower and Times Square.
OK, you’re probably thinking it must have been Archer flying with Mariah, right? After checking my pictures, I’m pretty sure it was Beauty! There was no aggression between the two and no vocalization. Your guess is as good as ours about what is going on.
Monday – 6/29/09 – Evening – and for those worried that Mariah isn’t hunting, Dan S. reports that he saw Mariah carrying a pigeon over the Genesee Brewery. She carried it across the river and to the Kodak Tower where she enjoyed dinner. He missed the hunt.
Wednesday – 7/1/09 – A peaceful Watch. Both Archer and Beauty were sitting side-by-side on the old Changing Scenes Restaurant, north side, 3rd I-Beam down from the top. At 11:30 am, Mariah flew into the gorge and landed on the wall in front of the observation deck. I decided to get my scope for a closer look, but by the time I returned to the bridge, she was gone.
I’m hoping that there will be Watchers out this holiday weekend.
July 1st, 2009 at 6:39 PM
Happy 4th to you as well! And thank you for that very intriguing update. Perhaps there is no tension between them since it is no longer breeding season, is that possible?
July 1st, 2009 at 7:22 PM
Maybe Archer and Beauty have an open marriage ;).
July 1st, 2009 at 8:53 PM
that was a good report, thank you to you all. Sounds like all is okay, and I hope it stays that way.
July 1st, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Maybe Mariah plays both sides 😉
Or maybe she has started to identify with the granny role 😀
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:28 AM
Two birds flying west and then 2 falcons overhead. I read this as 4 bird/falcons. I assume the ‘west’ birds are the overhead falcons?
I was hoping maybe **sigh** Kaver had shown up.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:09 AM
I was had had the hopeful thought that it was Kaver too!
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:36 AM
I was hoping also that it was Kaver – – but…am still pleasantly surprised and the peace treaty is still on. I stated before that ‘we’ should learn from them LOL!
Thanks again for the wonderful report and hope you all realize how important they are to us. Happy 4th!
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:58 AM
I too was hoping Kaver was here….ah well, it seems that the falcons have “moved on” and so must I. I’m happy to hear there is peace in the gorge!
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Could one have been Zephyr? Earlier this spring Zephyr was identified flying with a female in the South Wedge-Brighton area and then just seems to have dropped off the radar. Are they still around?
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:44 AM
I recall that Zephyr was hanging out with the falcon we now know is Beauty in an abandoned (hospital) complex on the outskirts of Rochester.
Zephyr may have just moved on, been chased off, or (worst case) lost a battle with Archer.
I would not hope for Kaver anymore, just as we cannot hope for Cabot-Sirocco.
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:21 PM
The birds seen in the distance may have been hawks. We really didn’t get a good look at them and they were really far away.
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:43 AM
So much for our wild imaginations 😀
July 4th, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Archer showed up this morning at 5:36 and at 5:40 Beauty appeared for a short courting scene – the nest box was empty at 5:41 and remained so for the rest of the day as far as I could tell.
Happy Fourth of July
July 8th, 2009 at 7:32 AM
what is happening? Anything new to report?
July 9th, 2009 at 10:39 PM
Nothing new to report Barb. All is still very peaceful. Although Brian H did report seeing Archer on the High Falls Stack catwalk this evening.