By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 70 degrees (F) 21 (C) when I arrived downtown at 5:15am  it was spitting rain on and off at the beginning. It turned out to be mostly sunny and once again humid

My biggest concern was getting downtown early before Tesh decided to depart her overnight window ledge. Mission accomplished-she was still there and after checking on her I whipped over to the Broad St. Bridge to let Dan know I would be watching from Main St.

I had an 11 hour watch today so a detailed report just isn’t going to happen-too much for that. The highlight of the day was Tesh making her way back to the Times Square building and more importantly, her family, landing under the southeast wing of Times Square next to her big brother Mercury after making her way via various buildings.

It was a pretty quiet watch after that until early afternoon when Beauty did some fine flying to get her kids to join in. Nobody wanted to play until Dot.Ca (DC) got into the mix-then there were falcons flying all over the place.

The only fledgling that didn’t go out to play with mom and dad was poor little Nor’Easter who was feeling the affects of his accident with the well wall yesterday. He was having trouble with his left wing on and off today. Thankfully he knew enough to stay put and hopefully with a few days rest he’ll be back in the air sharpening his flying skills.

Some random pics from my watch today

I waited til everyone was settled for the moment and ended my watch at 4pm. As I approached Seneca Towers (home) I spotted Luzerne on her favorite spot-the northwest corner thru an opening in the canopy.

That made me smile as I haven’t seen my Seneca Towers falcons in quite a few days! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and some videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjrM

http://youtu.be/E0G_7luPtZc

http://youtu.be/IqAlHi2bnII

http://youtu.be/NnSe9Ok34bo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today it was evident that Nor’easter has injured his left wing after hitting the wall above the well, next to the nest box yesterday.  The same day that Tesh was swept off the well wall by a strong wind gust.  June Summers of the Genesee Valley Audubon Society has been in touch with the DEC.  They will keep a close eye on the situation, as well as their many watchers both here in Rochester (NY) and the folks watching the Rfalconcam cameras.

After spending the evening on the nearby Thomson Reuters building, Tesh made a few short flights this morning before making it back to the top of the Times Square Bldg, rejoining her family around 9:00 a.m this morning.

When I arrived downtown after work this afternoon, I was greeted by high flying juvies.  Both Mercury and Nettie were tearing up the sky while Tesh and Nor’easter watched from the Times Square Bldg.  The watchers enjoyed watching both of these young falcons chasing Beauty, their mom, and each other.  Invaluable lessons for their future.  Hopefully both Tesh and Nor’easter will join them soon.

Watchers this afternoon/evening included MAK, Dana, Carrie, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Pat, Susan C, Larry O, Dan, Joyce and me, Carol P.

Here are some pictures from today’s fledge watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Yet another very warm, humid day in Rochester, NY.  I was at work when I received the call that Tesh had fledged.  It didn’t start out as a fledge, but it turned into one later.

Tesh was on the well wall next to Nettie when a gust of wind swept her off!  The Watchers that were downtown at that time were Dana, Joyce, Brian and Lisa McK.   They had seen Tesh drop off of the building at an awkward angle.  She fell down the face of the Times Square Bldg and was able to throw out her wings and fly across the street to the parking lot we watch from.  She turned and headed back across the street, ending up very low on the awning over the front entrance of the Telesca Bldg on the corner of Main and Exchange.  Kathy O (Tesh’s namer) and I arrived at the same time and joined the other watchers that surrounded the area, keeping Tesh safe.  Most of the folks walking below her had no idea she was there, but some would stop to take a picture.  We would ask politely that they move on and not get too close to Tesh.  Our fear was that she would take off into traffic and be hit by a car.

Lisa McK remained on the opposite side of the street letting us know when Tesh moved, or if she looked like she was about to take off.  A reporter from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle stopped to talk to us and we explained what happened.  I was confused at first on how it happened, not realizing at that time that it was a gust of wind that had caused Tesh to prematurely fledge.  Right after she came off the building, Nor’easter had made a bad landing near the nest box, hitting the wall and falling into the well.  He recovered quickly and climbed the stairs that had been built by our friend Tim for that very purpose.

Back to Tesh’s predicament.  She walked back and forth on the awning, between Joyce and I and Dana and Kathy O at the other end.  The Rochester Police Officers working on the corner of Main and Exchange had been spoken to by Lisa and Dana.  So they were ready to help out if needed.

At about 4:45 pm, Tesh started to bob her head and spread her wings.  She wanted to go and she did!  Tesh took off heading east, across Exchange and heading down Main St.  Before she turned the corner onto Main, I could see that she was gaining altitude and flapping her big wings.  The watchers sprang into action and followed the best they could.  By the time I got to the corner, Tesh was out of sight.  I spoke to the police officer on the corner who had been watching her and he told me that she had landed on the roof of the red brick building, just east of the Wilder Bldg where the Subway shop is located.  That was great news!  I thanked him for his help.  We spread out and checked out the area.  I met Pat and Lisa down on Aqueduct St.  Pat was pretty certain that a falcon had flown off the building and headed towards the Mercury statue.

Dana caught up to me and she said she had seen Tesh take off from the roof, and head in the same direction Pat had.  So the search area grew larger.  Pat went into the building she worked in to check from there, Kathy and Lisa crossed to the other side of Main St, Joyce jumped in her car to do a search and Dana and I checked out Aqueduct Park and the surrounding area.

Lisa called us over to the other side of Main.  She had spotted Tesh on a windowsill on a building near the river.  We immediately texted out our good news!  Tesh had fledged and flew well, gaining altitude and landing safely.  An adult had escorted her on her 2nd and 3rd flights.  They knew where she was.

During the evening watch, we were joined by MAK, Larry O, Susan C and her friend, Lynda and Shaky.  Shaky showed us the video showing how the wind had just swept Tesh off of the well wall.  She was there and then she was gone.  Nettie, who was right next to Tesh, didn’t even have time to react.

The evening ended with a shared pizza (thanks Lisa!).  At 9:15 pm, we ended the watch.  Beauty was up on the base of Mercury keeping an eye on Tesh.  We think Dot.ca was over on the OCSR and Nettie, Nor’easter and Mercury (the falcon) were all up at the nest box.

Another long day for the watchers, but it is always worth it.  Keeping an eye on these young falcons is what we all love to do.

Here are some pictures from today’s watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

For the 3rd day in a row the temperature was 73 (F) 23 (C) with mostly sunny skies and humid

This would be a day to remember as Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) went on high alert , swooping on men that were on the back lower roof of Times Square. They were out there securing a piece of medal that was flapping in the breeze before the thunder storms that were forecast to come. This was the mornings highlight.

<DC in flight during the assault on the Times Square workers

The afternoon highlight was when Tesh fledged by accident as the wind blew her off the north end of the wall. Poor Nettie was perched right next to her and watched as her baby sister plunged down the side of Times Square and to an awning on the Telesca building. Tesh left there and landed on the Canandaguia National Bank building at Main and Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park and then to the north side of the Thomson Reuters building coming to rest on a window ledge.

<Click it

Beauty went to the heel of Mercury and I’m pretty sure she could see Tesh from there. Mercury flew to the base of Mercury too but I don’t know if he quite realized his sister was down below. He returned to the nest box and Beauty left as well, but the Beautyful one returned and I believe she will stay there all night to watch over her youngest fledgling.

We missed a near disaster when Nor’Easter came flying in and slammed into the well wall and fell down in the well for the 2nd time. He emerged a few minutes later none the worse for wear using the ladder that was built to assist any falcons that might fall down in there. This is kind of an incomplete report but has the most important parts of todays fledge watch. We can all smile tonight knowing our Rochester Peregrine Falcon family is safe! 🙂

Check out my photo album and videos by clicking on the links below

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjqq

http://youtu.be/L5_0ynygVbo

http://youtu.be/NGKpM1uQbNM

http://youtu.be/eyjmN21Odtc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Nettie chose the hottest, most humid day to take her first flight.  When she took off from the building, Kathy O and I first thought it was one of the boys.  But after a quick check, we found that it was Nettie who took off from the north end of the well wall.  She headed north, flapping and losing altitude, until she landed on the roof of the Wilder Building.  After a few moments, she showed herself on the east end of the building.  This is the same building that Baron (from last year) fledged to.  She stayed on this building all morning, running around and ending up on the south side where she could see the nest box and her sister Tesh above.  MAK returned from running an errand and Larry O stopped by for a quick look.

In the meantime, the boys, Nor’easter and Mercury, were tearing up the sky.  They were busy chasing mom and dad and landing on different buildings close to the Times Square Bldg.  By afternoon, the weather hit 96 degrees and boy was it humid!  Shade was at a premium.

It wasn’t til afternoon that Nettie took her 2nd flight.  She flew over me and ended up on the base of the Mercury statue, moving around to the shady side.  I found Nor’easter below her on the railing.  While Nor’easter took a mid-day nap, Nettie was busy checking out the odd pieces of cached food that Beauty had placed there. During the afternoon, the temperatures continued to rise.  Susan C and Brian H joined me for about an hour.  During that hour, Nettie decided to take off and head towards the Times Square Bldg.  She gained altitude nicely, but came up short on the landing on the southeast wing ledge.  Nettie turned back towards the building, this time aiming for the well wall, where her sister was.  She JUST missed the landing and turned towards the north.  By this time, she was tired and losing altitude.  She flew over the Wilder Building and out of our view.  Susan, Brian and I split up.  After not finding her, both Susan and Brian had to leave.

I continued the search on foot.  While I was crossing the Sister Cities Bridge, about half way over the Genesee River, I heard a juvie vocalizing loudly.  Beauty flew in and landed on the 2nd IBeam down (north side of OCSR) and was looking west.  I took that as a clue and checked out the roofs of the buildings.  There she was!  Or at least I was pretty sure it was her.  I took a quick picture of the roof line and headed over to the Sister Cities Garage,  From the top, I was able to find the roof that Nettie had landed on.  She was on a round metal vent on top of a building just north of the Powers Building, across from the Cross Rds Building.

Nettie was looking back towards the Times Square Bldg and bobbing her head up and down.  She was getting ready to fly again.  Her wings spread wide and she was off, heading south, back towards the Times Square Bldg.  I quickly texted that she was heading that way and walked back to Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”) as quickly as I could.  By the time I got back there, I could see no falcons anywhere.  I quickly checked my texts and found one from Shaky.  Nettie had returned to the nest box!  Woo hoo!  That made me very happy!  🙂

I was soon joined by fellow Watchers Kathy O, MAK, Pat and Lisa McK.  At 7:00 pm, I ended my watch.  Tomorrow is supposed to be another very warm humid day, with a chance of thunder storms during the afternoon.

There was a lot of activity by all the Rochester Falcons today.  Three fledged, one to go!  Here are some pictures from today’s watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The conditions and temperature were exactly the same as yesterday 73(F) 23(C) with partly cloudy skies

It was a rough day in the heat and humidity and quite frankly I haven’t the energy or desire to write a detailed report tonight so it will be brief.

There was plenty of flying by the boys-they are doing great on the wing and landing. Nettie flew well as she fledged this morning ad spent a lot of time on the Wilder building just like her brother from last year, Baron. We saw a Turkey Vulture get a hard thumping from Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC). Watchers while I was downtown were Dan,Kathy,Carol,Pat,DebbieH,Dana,Lou,Dick and a cute family-Mom-Sherry,Grandma-DebbieC and 3 little kids named James,Libby and Collin.

Nettie on Wilder below

The highlight this evening was when Mercury flew to the back lower roof of Times Square and starting at the very end made his way hopping and flying from one bump to the next I believe looking for food scraps. Below are the pics I took of him.

And a few more from tonight

This guy Mercury really makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a photo album from the day and some videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjqI

http://youtu.be/of-0C48sx54

http://youtu.be/yEAxnkx7Y7g

http://youtu.be/6mdkHMXUTso

http://youtu.be/VcnF0qlasCs

http://youtu.be/w2s20GndU-M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The humidity is starting to get oppressive here in Rochester-it was 73 (F) 23 (C) at 6am with a mix of sun and clouds as I started my watch

Joining Dan on the Broad St. Bridge he gave me the rundown when I got out the car-Dot.Ca (DC) had brought a small package earlier and all 4 kids were present on Times Square (TSB) and DC was on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR. I turned around to face the nest box area and caught Beauty flying in from the northeast with a large, pigeon sized package-it’s like eating  Wheaties for us to start the day! lol The Beautyful one landed out on the well wall by the boys and started plucking feathers as they watched and learned-everything is a lesson learned to help them become self-sufficient for when they venture out on their own.

Make sure to click on my pics for the full version

As Beauty fed the boys, Nettie decided she wanted in on the action and started making her way down the wall.

Our attention went from her to DC as Dan yelled out-he’s off and after something over the river! Sure enough DC snatched a small bird out of the air near Cornhill and took it to the deck. He started feeding the girls as Beauty continued to feed the boys.

DC finished feeding them and flew up under the northeast wing as Beauty flew to the base of Mercury to cache leftovers on the side we couldn’t see from the bridge. Mercury flew up on cam 4 and Louise joined Dan and I.

One minute you see a bunch of them and then they all disappear, Beauty flies in and lands on cam 1 and they start coming back out of hiding. What fun!

During this time period watchers were joining the watch 1 after another-Lisa,Dana,Kathy and Larry. As it was time for Dan to leave we all made the move down to the hole, set up our chairs and waited for some action. Judy,Jay and Dick also came by to have a look as well. At 7:48am we got our action in the form of Mercury taking his first flight of the day over to the southeast corner of Crossroads and DC flew off right after and went to OCSR to keep an eye on his first fledgling.

Like his brother, Nor’Easter did yesterday, Mercury flew across to the other side and started walking around up there only to disappear for a long stretch of time. Jeanne came out for her first fledge watch of the season just in time to see Nor’Easter fly up under northeast wing where he too, left our sight going to the back of the ledge. The girls in the mean time hung out on the wall and deck.

<Nor’E

Around 10:15am Mercury appeared and after preparing himself at length to take off , flew over and tried to land next to his brother under the wing but didn’t quite make it and ended up on the column above the nest box and promptly disappeared. The girls continued to mess around on the wall.

I left the watch somewhere after 11am to take a break and get my report done so I could get back out late afternoon. I came across this young buck in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery as I cut thru there to run an errand. There was a doe with him but she ran off when I stopped the car.

Falcons and deer on a quiet Sunday morning-what better reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/E3LfczrEfZ8

http://youtu.be/9IqEvLEWcfc

http://youtu.be/xn3DbW1dObQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A very hot, humid day here in Rochester, NY, with temps near 90 degrees.  Makes it hard to watch the falcons, especially in the middle of the day when there is no shade to be found.

Today’s Watchers: Dan, MAK, Kathy O, Dana, Larry O, Joyce, Pat, Debbie H, Dick, Lisa McK, Lou and me Carol P.  Sorry I missed seeing Lynda and Tim!

After hitting the OCSR building while trying to land on one of the Ibeams, Mercury rested for a little while on the Wilder Bldg and then continued to fly like a champ the rest of the day.

Nor’easter had finally left the Times Square Bldg.  He was on the lower base of the Mercury statue when I arrived.  He spent a lot of time there this morning before taking off.  All day long, we were thrilled to see both Nor’easter and Mercury start their lessons under the watchful eyes of their parents Beauty and Dot.ca.  I wish I had more time to post the wonderful details of these first flights.

Now, we wait for the girls, Nettie and Tesh, to join their brothers.  Stay tuned!

Here are some pictures from today’s fledge watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A carbon copy of yesterday morning with some clouds,blue sky,sun and a starting temp of 61 (F) 16 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

As I pulled over on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) Dan told me that both boys had flown from nest box area earlier. Mercury was on the base of Mercury eating and he didn’t know where Nor’Easter had gone. He said Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) had been on the jail tower in hunt mode when Mercury flew off-the Beautyful one flew over and followed her son a bit until he landed. Dan said the last he saw Nor’Easter he was heading toward the Wilder building so i went down to the hole to take a look around. I found him on the north side railing below the Mercury statue.

I went back up to the BSB to let Dan know and then I parked on Broad St. by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) where I had a good view of the boys on Mercury. The crane that has been picking logs out of the river below the bridges pulled onto the BSB so I knew they would be closing it soon. Dan came down and Kathy pulled in behind me-we promptly left as they were starting to block us in at the intersection. We went to the hole and Mercury flew off Mercury going over to OCSR and tried to land on an ibeam but smacked into the window and spiraled down a few feet, gathered himself and continued flying toward Main St. behind the Wilder building. That’s where I found him on the northeast corner from my spot at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. Larry stopped for a short time.

Beauty and DC were on the top ibeam of OCSR-she was on the south corner and he was on the west corner-both were watching their son on Wilder. Dan left-I think he may have been upset by Mercury hitting the window, he’s told me on numerous occasions that he doesn’t like watching at this early stage in the fledglings life-too nerve wrecking. Any way, Kathy and Carol were in the hole watching as I could see all of our PEFA family except DC. Mercury started hopping up and down and then began running the roof edge making his way to the middle east side checking out a vent up there. He seemed perfectly fine after his window incident.

<Click it

Mercury ended up flying to the back of the TSB somewhere so I went back to the hole. Beauty first went to the well wall then to the roof above the well and Mercury joined her there after a while. Judy joined the watch and at about 8:45am Beauty flew past Nor’Easter who was still on the Mercury rail to chase off a Turkey Vulture (TV) and DC went to the Mercury money bag (MMB). Suddenly both parents were circling Mercury-Beauty was alarm calling like crazy and we thought they were upset with the crane on the BSB.  Dana arrived and told us there were people up on the roof of Thomson Reuters so that’s what they were upset about-way too close to Nor”Easter.

<Click it> 

Beauty flew off to the deck and left to stomp on another TV that came right in close to Times Square. After running around the railing on Mercury and flapping his wings a lot Nor’Easter flew off making a strong flight and got his talons under the southeast wing ledge but didn’t have enough lift to land. He spiraled down a short distance then flew to the Crossroads building southeast corner.

Nor’Easter ran around there for a bit then made a strong flight against the wind to the northwest wing ring of the TSB. The wind was giving him a hard time as he slipped off of it after a few minutes. New watcher, Dick joined the watch for a little while.

Approximately 10:45am Nor’Easter flew to OCSR landing on the window ledge of the upper round part of building. This is what used to be the revolving restaurant-hence the name we call it OCSR-Old Changing Scenes Restaurant. Soon after, Mercury flew out and up to the 2nd small  ledge below the northwest wing ledge. He stayed there for a while as Nor’Easter came shooting across toward and above us soaring in fine fashion then back to OCSR landing above the restaurant out of view.

Joyce joined the watch around noon-Dana had to leave and I decided since everything was quiet I’d take a break to come home and put my report together. So now that I’m done with it, I’m ready to go back downtown for some more exciting fledge watching which will no doubt put a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjpm

http://youtu.be/NBei2mU-R5M

http://youtu.be/h5oT_5fQw5g

http://youtu.be/8cVs8us95Bw

http://youtu.be/NywSWsLlu08

http://youtu.be/xtDNhvSnDW4

http://youtu.be/bdpvhvJUCHc

http://youtu.be/_cinrufgVJA

http://youtu.be/fl6PSe0Bt-s

http://youtu.be/5yLOTFhPt5U

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

While Mercury was buzzing around and perfecting his high flying techniques, Nor’easter made his way back to the nest box, joining his sisters Nettie and Tesh there.

Mercury landed in many different spots, including the Cross Rds Building, the wing ring at the top of the Times Square Bldg, on top of the disk on OCSR and, yes you guessed it, the Mercury statue!

Watchers today included, Dan, MAK, Larry O, Joyce, Pat, Debbie H, Dick, Kathy O, Dana, Lou and me Carol P.   I think that’s everyone.

The weather was warm with temps near 80 degrees (F) and bright blue skies and fluffy clouds.

Here are some pictures from today’s fledge watch.  Enjoy! and Goodnight!

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