Well, my first ‘official’ watch was pretty exciting and Quest kept us running! When we arrived a group of watchers were in the parking lot on Frankfurt St. and Brown St. across from building 10, about a block away
from the tower, where they had followed her on her bumpy flight.

Apparently a male American Kestrel lives in the neighborhood and wasn’t too happy with her arrival! She was up on a rooftop for quite awhile (about an hour) when she decided to fly North.  We located her on the top of a building at Jay St. and Frankfurt St. – we tried to tell her that she was going the wrong way – the Kodak tower was in the other direction!

She stayed there for a short time until she heard one of the other juveniles kak-ing on the tower so she turned herself around and flew to a rooftop a couple of buildings away, but at least this time, she was headed in the right direction!  She found her visit unwelcomed again, this time by a group of house sparrows. She took off again towards State Street and off we went running…..luckily one of the new watchers, Chadwick, was a fast runner! He was able to keep an eye on her as she just barely got over some pine trees and then got enough lift to get over State St. and on to a rooftop antenna (go figure!) on the corner of State St. and Brown St…..she certainly was on a quest in those 2 hours and I enjoyed every minute of it!!

It was a very eventful 2 1/2 hours.  Lots and lots of flying by Mariah, Kaver and three young fledglings.  While Seneca still lingers in the nest box and Quest still runs around the playpen strengthening her wing muscles, Diamante gave flying a try.

All day, we wondered where Diamante was.  We could only count four eyases on the tower.  Did he fledge?  Was he hunkered down somewhere, snoozing?  I believe that he did fledge early that day, as reported by Dan S.  A very short flight out of the playpen and back on. 

At 5:30 p.m., we finally saw all five eyases/fledglings!  Yes!  Seneca in the nest box, Quest in the playpen, Zephyr on the left side of the nest box perch, Susan B on the southwest corner of the 19th floor and (drumroll please!), Diamante was located on the southside 20th floor of the Kodak Tower.  I was so happy to see all five young Falcons.

During my Watch, Susan B finally made it out to the High Falls Stack.  Zephyr followed her and they remained there for quite awhile.

It was a gorgeous evening for once, and I was joined by many Watchers, too numerous to name (because I know I’ll forget someone!).  😉

Tomorrow should be an interesting day.  I’ll bet Quest is ready to be free of her playpen.  She’s ready to fledge and I’m sure Seneca won’t be far behind.

Carol P.

Highlights of my watches today included the year’s first talon tag game and a pair of lunch drops from Kaver.  Read all about it and view the pictures!
http://marchlords.com/birdblog/2008/06/four-talons-two-lunches-and-wings.html

Jim

I was down this afternoon from about 3pm until 5:30 – what a beautiful day with wonderful flying!

Not too much different to report, I wasn’t planning on filing a watch report since I wasn’t signed up for the day, but right before I left we finally had all 5 eyases identified so I want to let people know –

• Zephyr on the ‘dolphins’ (20th floor) ledge on the south side towards the east end
  
• SusanB on the ‘scallops’ (19th floor) top of the railing on the south side, also toward the east end
• Quest in the playpen (big wings!)
• Seneca in the nest box (of course)
• and finally (!) Diamante on the ledge next to the nest box, where I bet he’s been close to all day but he finally showed himself to the watchers when Kaver came flying in with food.

[edit: we now know that it was Diamante on the 20th floor, and Zephyr on the ledge  -sc ]

Yay! All are accounted for, I was glad to see Diamante – even though Mariah and Kaver were calm, it’s still nice to be able to identify all 5.

As for the time that I was down there, Zephyr flew out to the High Falls stack once, walked around the edge a bit and just as I was going to walk out to the bridge to check on him (since he had walked around to the east side of the stack) he flew back to the tower. At that point SusanB had flown a bit and ended up on the ball at the SW corner of the 19th floor (after trying a number of unsuccessful landings – at least she’s practicing on the tower and is smart enough to do a touch-n-go when she can’t land) so Zephyr flew up to the same point one level above her.

SusanB eventually walked her way over to the SE side of the tower along the scalloped railing, while Zephyr eventually ended up above her in about the same place on the 20th floor. With both parents taking short flights around the tower and landing at various points throughout.

Toward 5:30 Mariah came off her perch – Kaver had been gone for a while – and started flying west to meet Kaver as he returned, presumably with food. He was not going to give it to her, however, despite the fact that she chased him around the tower a few times…! I’m not sure if she ever got it, I think that it was Kaver that went in with food but it might have been her – and at that point we saw the wings flapping in the playpen, knew where Z and SB and Seneca were, and finally saw an eyas next to the nest box. Hooray! All accounted for.

Down watching today were (and I hope I don’t leave anyone out): Carrie, Lisa McK, Linda (of the tattoos ), Kat from GVAS, a first time watcher who was very nice and I should remember her name – I think Diane (sorry!), Dawn, Brian, Joyce, and finally Carol P. We were visited by Tom the Kodak guard and Karen and Doc (Roch Mounted Patrol) along with many folks who just stopped by to either ask what we were looking at or knew about the falcons and wondered how they were doing.

Such a great time of the year!!! It was even sunny and sort of warm today, can’t beat it.

susan c

When I arrived, Lisa M was at “Headquarters” and told me about recent events – Seneca still in the nestbox, Quest in the playpen, 2 fledglings seen flying recently, Mariah and Kaver possibly on the north side of the tower. One fledgling was visible perched on the west corner of the slate roof; we thought it looked large enough to be Susan B.

I walked up State Street for a view of the north side. One adult, probably Mariah, was perched by the NW rocket, the other on the north side playpen rail. Both were calmly peering down as if watching a fledgling (or more than one) at a lower level – possibly on the 19th floor ledge.

Back at Headquarters Lisa reported that the fledgling (? Susan B) had flown from the roof peak to the SW corner post of the “dolphin” railing just below the KODAK letters, then fluttered along the west side of the railing, out of sight. Some wing flapping was visible in the playpen.

Around 10:40, both adults came around to the south side, Mariah first to the top of the nestbox, then to the arm of the main camera, and Kaver to the SE rocket.  At around 11:00, Kaver flew toward downtown, apparently hunting.  In the playpen, a large-appearing eyas, probably Quest, traveled back and forth stopping on each floodlight to flap her wings vigorously. Another set of wings was visible periodically,
confirming that at least two youngsters were in the playpen. Dana stopped by and walked around the west side of the building, where she saw the fledgling (? Susan B) lying on top of the dolphin-rail post next to the SW corner, possibly napping. Since Seneca was still in the nestbox, at this point 4 youngsters were definitely
accounted for. Mariah remained calmly perched on the main camera arm.

Dan S arrived by 11:30 and stayed for the rest of my watch. We could see one youngster on the SE floodlight  and one outside the playpen railing beside it. We could not identify them but knew that Diamonte and Zephyr had previously spent considerable time there, with Zephyr on the outside. Nothing else happened until after my watch ended at noon. Then Larry and Shaky arrived, and the fun began! The consensus was that first a fledgling, possibly Zephyr because he flew very well, made 2 loops around the tower and landed on the west side of the playpen railing. Flapping wings were visible in the playpen. Then Kaver arrived with food, which Mariah took and prepared on the east roof peak; she then took it to the nest box, where 2 youngsters were visible. At that point I had to leave. So I’m hoping someone will be posting news of further events!

Lucy A

I decided to head out at 8:00 a.m. for my Watch, since no one was
scheduled until 9:00/9:30 a.m. I met Dan S, Jeanne and Larry O,
sitting near Falcon Watch HQ and received their report of that
morning. All 5 eyases were accounted for, plus Mariah and Kaver.

I was left by myself for awhile, with a quick visit by Jim P. During
the 8-9 a.m. hour all you know what broke loose. Mariah and Kaver took
turns trying to entice the young ones into flight and there were two
takers, Susan B and Zephyr. The sky was full of kakking and wonderful
flying. The eyases on the tower were flapping their wings in support,
with hopes that they would soon join their siblings. At one point
Susan B and Zephyr flew together in play. They are such a joy to watch.

Quest chose that moment to migrate into the playpen, leaving Seneca by
herself in the nest box. Mariah flew in with some food and a little
TLC for her reluctant daughter.

Lisa McK and Linda joined me around 9:00 a.m. and we attempted to find
all five eyases, with no luck. The most we could get was 4 at a time.
Has Diamante fledged? Is he hunkered down in the playpen somewhere.
We’ll keep watching for the 5th. Since Mariah and Kaver aren’t
worried, either am I.

At one point, Kaver was flying around being chased by (we believe)
Susan B. He landed on the peaked metal roof on the west side of the
tower and Susan B eventually joined him, father and very large daughter
sitting side-by-side. It was a Kodak moment! 🙂

I had to leave at 9:30 a.m. but promised to be back at noon, leaving
Lisa, Linda and now Lucy on Watch. I can’t wait! I wouldn’t give this
up for anything. If you live close-by, you should join us. You have
no idea what you’re missing.

Carol P.

I got to see more flying from Zephyr and Susan B on a couple of occasions this morning and afternoon. I’ve compiled pictures and a report for your viewing pleasure:
http://marchlords.com/birdblog/2008/06/more-flying-for-first-fledges.html

Jim

This was a fairly uneventful watch  –  probably the eyases and fledglings were taking their morning naps most of the time!

When I arrived,  Joyce M was already there; she shared the whole watch with me.  It is always so helpful to have additional watchers!  Joyce said she had seen a fledgling walking along the 17th floor.  We did not see her again before noon, but she was later identified as Susan B.   We did see a juvenile, probably Zephyr, make a short flight from the tower and return to it, accompanied by Mariah.   By 10:30 we had located all except Susan B:  one on top of the nest box, one inside it, one on the ledge east of it, and one (presumably Diamante) in the SE corner of the playpen.  Kaver was by the SE rocket and Mariah on the ledge of the arch above the nest box.  

By 11:00 we could see Diamante on the spotlight in the SE corner of the playpen, but the others were back inside the nest box, hardly visible from the ground.   We were glad when Joyce heard on the phone from Barb that Zephyr, Seneca and Quest were in the nestbox, and that  Zephyr was eating the scraps from an earlier food drop.  Kaver had made a short flight and returned to the rim of the cupola.  Mariah had followed him briefly,  then landed on the white pole at the SE corner of the playpen.   I don’t know how she could maintain her balance on such a narrow surface!  After several minutes she moved back to the arch above the nest box.  Kaver chased a turkey vulture, returned to the rocket, then moved to his lily.   At about 11:30,  Mariah and Kaver put on a soaring demonstration.  Soon afterwards, vigorous wing-flapping could be seen, traveling along the south side of the playpen.   Mariah moved to the SE corner of the 19th floor and Kaver returned to the lily.  

At 11:45 Kaver took off toward the south;  Mariah moved to the SE white pole.  Kaver returned and briefly visited the nest box before  landing on camera one.   Just as my watch was ending at noon,  and a whole group of watchers were arriving, a fledgling (probably Zephyr?)  made a quick flight to the east,  followed by Mariah, and looped back to land rather roughly on th rail of the east side of the playpen, then hop down inside the playpen.   It was a pleasant watch even though it was uneventful.

When I heard that Zephyr had fledged this morning, I headed out to search for him on the tower.  I quickly found him on the 20th floor, eastside of the Kodak Tower.  After about an hour, Zephyr took off and flew around to the southside of the tower.  Kaver soon joined him, escorting him back towards the building, where he landed on a slanted metal roof.  After sliding 1/2 way down, Zephyr spread his wings and was soon airborne again.  This time he made a pinpoint landing on the 20th floor, southside.  That was just his 2nd flight?  Wow!  He’s going to be a wonderful flyer.

I grabbed some lunch at noon and missed Susan B’s fledge flight at 12:30.  By the time I returned to Watch, she was safe on the 19th floor, southside.  Good for her!

When I left at 6:30 p.m., Zephyr was back in the playpen with Diamonte, Quest and Seneca remained in the nest box and Susan B was located on the southeast corner of the 19th floor, where she had found a tidbit of food earlier.

All was well, hopefully it remained so after I left!  I’ll be downtown early tomorrow morning.

Carol P.

Here are some notes and pictures from my noontime fledge watch, featuring Susan B’s inaugural flight!
http://marchlords.com/birdblog/2008/06/zephyr-and-susan-b-take-plunge.html

Jim