By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

3:30 – 9:00 pm

Hot and Humid were the weather words for today with temps in the mid-80’s and hardly a cloud in the sky to block the sun.  It’s only going to get worse over the next few days with temps going up to 90 and 90+.

Afternoon/Evening Watchers: Lisa McK, Joyce, Shaky, Larry O and Carol P.

Just after Lisa and I arrived at the pedestrian bridge we received a tweet from Shaky.  CADENCE AT TSB NEST BOX: 15:27 PM. At 5:23 pm, Donna tweeted that Cadence was still at the nest box by main cam (Wailing). She’s so cute!  We were so happy that she was visiting the nest box and that all her fans were able to see her up close and personal. 🙂

We were spotting falcons at different locations around the city.  But it wasn’t until 6:00 pm that an adult flew into the gorge and landed on the falcon sucking tree (FST).  We are pretty sure that it was Beauty.  Joyce had joined us on the watch.  We thought that Beauty had food, but she didn’t stay long.  She took off heading south towards the Powers Bldg, where she landed on the east side railing.

At 6:30 pm, I noticed movement on the lower branch of the FST.  It was Genesee and he was eating.  We had to wonder if he had been hidden in the tree in the shade where we couldn’t see him, and that Beauty had dropped off food for him.

After finishing his meal, he settled down, watching everything that flew around him.  There were a lot of small birds, including Robins and Gold Finches that were flitting about near him.  He took off and stooped down low toward the river.  He flew into the tree line on the island and then back to land low on the gorge wall.

Genesee then again took off and flew into the island trees.  It looked like he was on a hunt, or at least practicing for one.  He flew back up to the end of the falcon sucking tree and grabbed a small nub of a branch with one talon.  Then hung like a bat.  lol He really likes to do this.  Genesee flapped his wings and finally righted himself on the branch.  We’ve seen him do this multiple times.  It’s like he’s playing.

At 7:15 pm, Genesee took off and flew over the High Falls heading south down the river towards downtown.  It was fun spending time with Genesee in the gorge.

Shaky joined us.  At 7:50 pm, we received a tweet from Larry O.  He had spotted two falcons on a chimney on the southeast corner of the old City Hall, which is connected to the Widow’s Walk.  Of course that’s where we headed, meeting on Broad St, southwest of the Times Square Bldg.  It was Beauty watching Genesee eat.  When she moved towards him, he would vocalize very loudly.  After eating in the falcon sucking tree, he already had a very full crop, so it wasn’t long before he was finished.

Shaky spotted this falcon fan waving from a nearby window.  🙂

Genesee finally stepped away from the food and let Beauty eat her fill.  He took off heading southeast.  After finishing her meal, Beauty took off heading south.

At 9:00 pm, from the Broad St Bridge, we found Beauty on a lower arm of the jail communication tower.  There was a falcon flying over Xerox that landed on the SW corner.  It then took off heading southeast.  By this time, it was too dark to ID as adult of juvie.

A Black Crowned Night Heron was hunting on the river below us.

Earlier on the river below the pedestrian bridge, we saw a busy beaver collecting greens from the island and swimming down the river heading north.

It’s always amazes me what we see while on our falcon watches.  Goodnight everyone!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2015 at 11:21 PM and is filed under Fledge Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.