Rochester Falcon Watcher:  Carol P.

I was downtown, along with many other Watchers, for a good part of today. During that time, there was a lot of flying by Archer and Beauty and a lot of flapping by Callidora & Jemison.

After a dinner break, I returned to find a whole lot of Watchers in attendance, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Joyce, Willie, Dan S, Dana, Lou, MAK & Marcia, Ralph & his wife (sorry I forgot your name).  I’m sure I’m missing someone.  I wasn’t on official Watch, so I wasn’t keeping track of names.

By 7 pm, there were only a handful of Watchers left, Marcia, Joyce, MAK, Lisa and I.  I felt really sorry for those that had just left, because that’s when the fun began.

We watched as Jemison flap, flap, flapped on top of the main camera.  and then……………………..off he went (he was banded as a small female, but I’ve started to think of him as a him, just my opinion)!

Jemison took flight!  Real, long, sustained flight.  Not just the short flight over to the other side of the Times Square bldg.  Jemison first flew out to the east towards the river.  Beauty zipped in from the Mercury statue where she had been for a long time.  It looked like she was physically pushing him back towards the Times Square bldg.  Stopping him from heading for the river.

Jemison flew back to the long section of the Times Square bldg on the south side, landing quite well.  Beauty landed above and kept watch.

Jemison flapped, hopped and skipped his way to the taller, front part of the building, coming up against a wall, which he attempted to climb, jumping up on small ledges until there were no more.  This didn’t stop him.  Off he went yet again, this time heading south, then east.  Again, Beauty was there to guide him back to the Times Square bldg, where he landed on the same section he had first landed on, except this time on the north side.  The remaining Watchers hurried to the other side.

Jemison was not happy where he was and was in constant motion, again heading towards the taller part of the building where the nest box was located.  He tried to climb again with no success.  Finally attempted a short flight up, but missing his target.  This time he fell down the face of the building, threw his wings out and started flapping again, heading east.  Jeanne had joined me at this point and I quickly told her what was happening.

He headed towards the east, again towards the river and Beauty put up a block.  She followed him very closely towards the Wilder building, where he landed at the top, south side.  Whew!  Safe yet again

For the next 15-20 mins, Jemison paced, flapped and hopped back and forth, making his way to the top of the fire escape that his parents were seen many times.

Again, off!  This time towards the Times Square bldg.  He first landed on the level above the nest box, rested a bit and then headed down to the level he had been flying to for two days.  One more short flight and he was safely back at the nest box.  Archer had returned during this last bit of flying.

We were all so excited to see Jemison flying so well.  He was getting altitude easily and flap, gliding and landing well.  I have to admit that he is probably one of the strongest first time fliers I’ve had the honor to watch.  Truly outstanding!

It was starting to rain, so we headed back to our cars.  Carla P joined us and we told her what had happened.  Beauty picked up a cache of food somewhere and flew up to land on a lower level with it.  She seemed to want to stay out of sight.  For some reason, she wasn’t ready to feed them.

We checked our watches and saw that it was 8 pm.  Jemison had been flying around for an hour.  We were ecstatic that he had done so well and had returned to the nest box safely.  Callidora was very happy too!  🙂

I left as it started to rain harder, so I’m not sure when or if Beauty fed them.  Maybe Joyce or MAK will be able to report on this.

It was a long but very enjoyable day of Falcon Watching.  🙂

It was a gorgeous day yesterday.  By the time I arrived downtown at 11 am, Dana had already seen the Tiercel on the Powers Bldg.  We called Lisa McK to take a look at the cameras to see if they had caught him.  She had also seen them both sitting on the communication tower.

When I arrived, Mariah was up inside the elevator shaft and the Tiercel was on the top I-Beam of old Changing Scene’s Restaurant (OCSR).  They both took off and we were unable to find them.  So, we joined Dan S, Lisa McK, and Jim P on the pedestrian bridge.

Around 12:30 pm, Mariah flew in with food and landed on the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg.  Dana, Lisa and I drove over to the Andrews St. Bridge for a closer look.  Dana and I walked up to the building, while Lisa remained in her car.  She couldn’t stay for too long.

While Dana and I were photographing the fair Mariah, I heard the whinny call of the Tiercel as he flew in from the downtown area.  This little guy is very loud and well, whinny.  🙂

He attempted to land next to Mariah, but she wouldn’t let him, ee-chupping at him.  The Tiercel flew back to the OCSR and landed on top of the building above the elevator shaft.  He continued to cry while watching Mariah.  I have no idea if he is truly begging or if this is just his way of vocalizing.  Very different from Kaver.

After about a 1/2 hour, the Tiercel stooped off of the OCSR and chased a Coopers Hawk off to the west.  Mariah just watched for a moment and then continued to eat.  The Tiercel did not return.

When she was finished eating, Mariah took off heading towards the Kodak Tower.  She landed on the SE corner of the launchpad.  She then flew back to the communication tower.

Dana and I moved up to the Sisters City Garage.  Mariah flew off of the communication tower ee-chupping as she passed over heading towards the Cross Rds Bldg, where I believe the Tiercel was trying to sneak a bite of her leftovers.

She chased him off and he landed on the top I-Beam of OCSR, while she settled on the Cross Rds Bldg. and continued her meal.  I do believe that it was Mariah that reclaimed her meal, but without a scope, I can’t be 100% sure.

This is where I left them at 2:30 pm.  Dana remained for a little longer.

Kaver is due in next week.

Carol P.