Morning Fledge Watch 7-18-15
By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
There was a thunderstorm happening when I got up at 4:30am today and it was done by the time I left making it very humid and dark outside. The temperature was a balmy 71 (F) 22 (C)
I found Seth in his favorite roosting spot- the top north side window ledge of Seneca Towers. He was pretty mellow all scrunched down and there were no other falcons around so I didn’t stay with him for long.
My downtown juvie sightings have been sparce this past week so I wanted to get there earlier today to see if I could find them. My first stop on the Andrews St. bridge bagged me an adult whom I’m pretty sure was Beauty on the middle arm of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). It was a bit dark out so I couldn’t tell if it was a robin or a kestrel that was buzzing her. She eventually had enough and took off .
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I started driving south on Fitzhugh St. and as I came up to Main St. I spotted a falcon on the north side railing of Widows Walk (WW)-it flew east before I could pull over. I went east as well, crossing the river and finding Beauty on the southeast corner railing of HSBC. I stopped to watch first from Woodbury Blvd. then Midtown Manor Apt. parking lot. I got off a couple pics and then she was gone.
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Next I parked on Chestnut St. to check the south side of Xerox and Beauty appeared above it, circling the Midtown Plaza building, Legacy Tower and Xerox before disappearing momentarily behind HSBC. Half a minute later Beauty came back into view with Cadence right behind her whining. They did some nice flying together above and around Xerox for a few minutes then vanished to the west.
I went to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to have a look around and just as I pulled over saw the Beautyful one fly to the Hyatt Hotel and land on the southwest corner. She seemed to have given Cadence the slip so I went looking for her after observing Beauty for a few minutes. I noticed in my travels that the Court St. bridge was closed for crews to start removing the log jam in the river.
Beauty seemed to point me in the right direction to find Cadence for I located her on the southeast corner lower roof of WW around 6:40am. I pulled into the parking lot next to Times Square to watch as she was picking at a small piece of food.
She mainly just stood there with it fixed in her talon occasionally whining and then flew off with it heading southeast.
The search was on to find a falcon but it wouldn’t happen as I made my way to High Falls for a look before heading out of downtown. I found Seth on the north end top window of Seneca Towers from East Ridge Road near St. Paul St. He too had a small package in his talon and was standing over it. I guess it was share your food day in falcon land or take it with you so nobody else gets it-whatever the case, he flew off with it to the east.
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Seth started looking down at something before he took off and I think he may have been taking the food to a juvie.
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I decided to take a ride down East Ridge Rd. and have a look around the 2 high rises along the way, Rochester General Hospital since I’ve been told falcons have been seen there and also Medley Center which has had falcons visiting it in the past. No sightings were made so I returned to Seneca Towers where I saw no falcons at first glance. I tweeted as such and ended my watch or so I thought. As I made my way down Seth Green Dr. I spotted 2 falcons near the northwest corner. Billie was on a pipe behind a juvie whom I believe was Bith, on the west side railing.
I wanted to stay and hang out with them but had to get something to eat as my blood sugar was low so I called it a watch officially at 9am. I made my way up to my 16th floor apartment smiling after seeing half of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons. 🙂
Click on the links below to view today’s videos
July 18th, 2015 at 3:02 PM
So glad you got to, at least, see one juvie from each family. Nice video tracking of Beauty!
July 18th, 2015 at 4:01 PM
Thanks Barb! I sure am having fun watching both sites! 🙂