Watchers Weekend – Monday 19-Jul-2010
Monday 19-Jul-2010
Joyce reports:
The falcons are the reason we come together…but it is the people who make Watcher’s Weekend! I had a wonderful time sharing this weekend with all who attended. Thanks to everyone who came from out-of town…great seeing you again! And, it was a pleasure meeting those who joined us for the first time.
Kris G reports:
Bill and I had a really nice time on Saturday-seeing watchers that we had met before and meeting so many new people that I only knew by name on the Forum. We tried fifty ways to Sunday (our GPS was going crazy rerouting us) to get to the Planetarium for the movie and ran into police barricades everywhere! We got so frustrated that we ended up going home earlier than we had anticipated. We watched TV that night to see what was going on and found out that it was the annual Pride parade that prevented us from getting through. Unfortunately, we couldn’t attend on Sunday due to a prior commitment but we want to thank all of you for all that you do.
Brian reports:
To all the visitors…I enjoyed spending time with you this past weekend.
Dawn reports:
A few pictures…………
Huddiecat reports:
Glad to hear everyone made it home safely! It was great to see everyone, and what a welcome the falcons provided the group! The trip to the Planatarium was somewhat of a challenge, but the falcons made up for by performing a food exchange, a stoop on a duck, and some nice flying around above us. ~Suzanne
Lou reports:
Nice weekend! I think we had almost 15 out of towners and there were some new local faces in the crowd. I tried getting pictures of those who weren’t already in the Falcon Watcher’s album. Hopefully, I got everyone’s name correct. If not, let me know.
I wanted to send a big ‘thanks’ out to my fellow Rochester peeps and to others who brought food to the Tailgater Breakfast – we had enough food for both days. I sampled everything! (BTW, I give the homemade pastry blue ribbon to MAK for her Pumpkin Roll.)
I think Aqueduct Park worked out great. I knew it was going to be good as soon as the Rochester Falcons themselves gave us a Saturday morning welcome fly-by directly over the river in front of us at exactly 9:00 am. The old pedestrian bridge was nice, but it was as if the new family was formally welcoming us to a new era. And it was nice to be close to the hotels, the restaurants, restrooms, etc. The lunch walk to the Dinosaur Bar B Q worked out well – some people were able to get a table and eat inside (with the air conditioning) and the rest of us just brought our bagged take-out meals back to the park to eat in the shade. The Planetarium trip was somewhat thwarted by the fifteen thousand people blocking the streets near the Planetarium but most people managed to get through the crowds to see the Falcons of Toronto movie. Oh well, we’ll do better planning next year!
Saturday night was just plain beautiful though; we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect summer evening. And although I couldn’t avoid getting roped into Brian’s Falcon Dance, Sunday was just as nice!
At any rate, It’s a different venue with a different family of birds, but Watcher’s Weekend has always been one of my favorite parts of the season here in Rochester and this year was no exception.
Glad everybody made it home safe and sound. Hope to see even more visitors next year!
Kapi reports:
I guess I am the last out-of-towner to make it home. After an easy drive, the predicted thunderstorms that never showed up in Rochester hit here in Vermont. It was a small cell, though, and the sun is out again. I haven’t had time to read through all the posts as yet, so this may have been reported, but I need to add that the “stragglers” spent Sunday afternoon and evening on a nostalgic trip to the pedestrian bridge. We were treated to a visit from a mysterious falcon who flew in from the north. This was followed by Beauty and Archer flying down to check things out. No aggression but definite watchfulness. Since the bridge seemed to be a sort of boundary line, we were positioned for a good show.
The welcoming local watchers, the other out-of-towners, the weather, the new location, and the awesome flying all contributed to a memorable weekend.
Tags: archer, beauty, callidora, Watchers Weekend
July 21st, 2010 at 10:01 PM
Well, it looks as if I chose to travel to Rochester a week too late and missed all the fun. But, if I am in luck there will still be falcons and I know a couple of watchers from the early days will be on hand to give me a tour around the old and new haunts.