By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

The days are almost perfect right now.  Sunshine, blue skies, a breeze, and warm temperatures.  Loving this weather!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

I arrived downtown around 2:30 pm yesterday.  The only falcon I could find was Dot.ca on the Kodak Tower’s, south side arch ledge.  Directly above the old Mariah and Kaver nest box location.

Something told me to head to the gorge, so that’s where I went.  As soon as I stepped out onto the east end of the pedestrian bridge, I was greeted by a beautiful sight.  Two young falcons were playing in the gorge.  They were flying together and taking turns going talons up.  One of them was carrying a stick.  They were practicing the talons up, food transfer maneuver. Fantastic!

Make sure to click on this one to see the full picture.

I’m not sure which one had the stick.  I mostly just watched, enjoying the show.  I will never tire of watching juvenile falcons flying in the gorge.

After a few moments, first one and then the other landed on different spots on the east side wall.  The first one I found was Cadence on a rock not too far from the bridge.

It took me awhile to find Genesee.  Finally he came into view on the lower branch of the Falcon Sucking Tree, a tree appropriately named by my good friend and fellow falcon lover Dale.  This tree seems to become a favorite spot for all our falcons to perch.  It juts out from the east side gorge wall, hanging over the river below.  What a beautiful view they must have from up there!

Cadence then flew over to the Falcon Sucking Tree and landed below it on the rock wall.  That’s when Joyce and then a little later, Pat joined me.

First Genesee, then Cadence left the gorge.  One juvie ended up on top of the Kodak Tower.  It was pretty quiet for awhile, with a very brisk, cool breeze.  Lots of people stopped to talk to us to ask what we were looking at.  We me some nice folks from Ohio and Tennessee.  When there are no falcons to watch, there is usually  a lot of activity to keep our interest.  I do love when someone visits for the first time.  You always hear that gasp when they see the beautiful High Falls for the first time.  🙂

At 5:46 pm, an adult flew over the gorge.  It approached quickly and stooped down towards the river.  At the last moment, it flipped up into the Falcon Sucking Tree!  At first we thought it was Beauty, then Dot.ca, then back to Beauty.  lol  With bright sunlight, it’s sometimes hard to tell which one it is.  We settled on Beauty.

She stayed there for awhile, preening and snoozing.  About an hour later, Beauty took off and flew low around the gorge.  She landed on the gorge floor for a few minutes.

Beauty took off and a juvie flew up to meet her.  We believe the juvie was possibly down in a tree on the island, but can’t be sure. They flew around together for a few minutes before they both left the gorge.

It was very quiet after that.  Joyce and I ended our watch at 8:00 pm.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

I got a much later start today, arriving downtown at about 4:00 pm.  I checked all over downtown, but the only falcon I could find was again on the south side arch ledge of the Kodak Tower.  This time it was Beauty.  To the gorge!  lol

I checked the gorge wall, but could find no falcons there.  A falcon on this wall is very well camouflaged.  At 4:50 pm, Beauty came off of the Kodak Tower and flew over the gorge.  She soared overhead and circled between the gorge and the Frontier Communication Tower.  To me it looked like she was looking for (or checking on) her young ones.  She returned to the south side arch on the Kodak Tower.

Here are a couple pictures of Beauty as she flew over me.  You can really see her missing feathers due to the molt she is currently going through.

At 5:15 pm, a juvie came off of the east side gorge wall below the observation deck. So much for me checking that wall.  🙂

The juvie flew over the falls and train tracks, heading south down the river.  Based on size, I believe that this was Cadence.  She met a smaller falcon over the river.  It was Dot.ca, and he had food.  Cadence did a perfect talons up below her father (she’s been practicing) and he dropped the prey to her.  She flipped back over and carried it to the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg where she landed.  Dot.ca turned and headed back towards the east.  Beauty was still on the Kodak Tower and I could see another falcon standing in front of the nest box on the Powers Bldg.  Here is a picture showing Cadence’s flight.

I had to end my watch early today at 6:30 pm.  As I was getting ready to leave, I spotted two falcons on the east side railing of the Powers Bldg.  One big, one little.  I didn’t have time to check it out, but I hoped that it was Cadence and Genesee.

Good night everyone!

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