Fledge Watch/No juvies seen 7-14-17
By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
Another cloudy damp morning with a little fog and a temperature of 65 (F) 18 (C)
Click on the pics to see the full version
It’s been a couple days since I last saw the Seneca Towers juvies.
I started my watch this morning on the east side as I have the past week, but this morning Beauty wasn’t on the bank so I joined Dan on the Court St. bridge (CSB). I immediately spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of the Powers building and then it went into the nest box. I checked the archive at 5:20am and it showed Dot.ca (DC) there. When I checked again a few minutes later he was on the cam and then he was gone into the darkness.
That would be the one and only Peregrine Falcon I would see today. I was entertained by the shorebirds on either side of the CSB. A juvie and adult Great Blue Heron (GBH) on the south side where the ducklings reside and the Black-crowned Night Herons on the north side of the bridge.
Thankfully the herons didn’t capture any of the ducklings while I was on watch. Recent rain had the river flowing very strong and the north side of the CSB was flooded giving the herons to hunt close to the library where the flow of the water was much slower. The cloud formations above were quite interesting this morning.
The juvie GBH was standing in some still water that was reflecting his image beautifully even though there was no sunshine this morning.
Two families of ducks were staying clear of the herons which I was grateful for. The BCNH’s were hunting amongst the logs on the north side of the bridge.
At 6:45am Dan and Larry left to start their day and I went in search of falcons but was unsuccessful. It’s that time of year when juvie sightings are sparse as they are venturing further away from their birthplace. Hopefully tomorrow will bring at the very least, a glimpse of our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons which would definitely make me smile! 🙂
If you like the river residents then you will want to click on the link below to view my snippet video
July 14th, 2017 at 8:15 PM
great photos as usual – I especially liked the clouds. I had no idea that herons sometimes prey on ducklings, which is not a happy thought.
July 14th, 2017 at 8:34 PM
No it’s not Dot! Dan had the unfortunate experience of witnessing a GBH taking a duckling a couple years ago. Since then he doesn’t like them-they are nasty birds! 🙂