The 2012 Rochester Fledge Watch Meeting Plus All Rochester Falcons Seen! – 7/21/12
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
It was a beautiful morning to hold the official 2012 Rochester Fledge Watch meeting. Fifteen of us met at Aqueduct Park at 9:00 am. The sprinklers were looping around and getting everything wet, including the picnic tables. So, the fledge watchers gathered 2 and 3 at a time, settling at the south end of the park. The only dry part at that time. The folks attending included Kathy O, MAK, Lynda, Tim, Larry O, Carrie, Shaky, Debbie H, June, Lisa McK, Pat, Jeanne, Dan, Joyce and me, Carol P.
There were three boxes of Tim Horton’s donut holes for those that were hungry. Carrie and Kathy O passed out the fledge watch buttons and brochure for this year. The brochure contained instructions and contact information in case our little guy Orion gets himself into trouble. Hopefully that will not happen!
As soon as everyone was settled, June spoke to us about how the fledge watch works and what to expect. We had two new fledge watchers this year; Debbie H and Pat. Thanks ladies! We were also missing some watchers; Brian H, Susan C, Dawn, Dana and Lou.
Shaky explained that we would all have to sign up for passwords for the Falcon Watch Blog, which MAK and I have been using. This is where the calendars for the Fledge Watch are now set-up.
As we were winding down, the sprinklers behind us turned on and there was a mass exodus. The falcon watchers all migrated to the now dry center of the park. But, there was one casualty to this unexplained, sudden explosion of water. Two of the three boxes of Timbits hit the pavement and scattered. Dan made a valiant attempt to herd the wayward spheres of yummyness back into their box, but it was a lost cause. They became gull food. The gulls were very happy. 🙂
After the meeting a few of us, Kathy O, MAK, Joyce, Brian H, Lisa McK, Karl and I moved to Aqueduct St to continue our Falcon Watch. Beauty was at the nest box and top IBeam of the OCSR and Dot.ca was on the 2nd IBeam down. We all relaxed and chatted and enjoyed the Puerto Rican parade as it passed by the end of the street down Main St. Lots of good music and beautiful floats and costumes.
After the roads around us reopened, I decided to go home for some lunch. On the way home, I stopped at KP, but had no luck finding KPT. Kathy O and MAK also left and they did find Pigott at the Brighton location.
At 7:00 pm, I decided to head downtown to check on things. Beauty was on top of Camera #4, guarding a sleeping Orion inside the nest box. Thanks Ei for letting me know that. I was not able to find Dot.ca, so after awhile, I headed over to the Brighton location. I found both Dot.ca and Pigott on the vent on the south side of the building. Pigott was doing her normal whining the whole time I was there.
Joyce and Brian joined me and we stayed until it started to get dark. Just as I was leaving, both DC and P took off and flew around to the front (north) side of the building. By the time I drove around, I found them both on windows near the scrape area. Pigott was still whining and it was time for me to go.
Of course I had to check KP one last time before I headed home. This time I was lucky. Just after I arrived at 9:05 pm, KPT flew in from the east and landed on his nightly roosting spot just above the catwalk on the east stack. Well, that was very nice!
I am happy to report that all 5 Rochester Falcons were seen today. Always love to report that at the end of the day. Always remember to keep your eyes to to the sky!
Here is a link to an album with some pics from today’s meeting and falcon watch.
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