Rfalconcam Forum

This one is from 6/22/08.  Ahhh for the good old M&K days.   :happy:

Let me start by saying that all is well at the Kodak Tower. All five
eyases/fledglings were accounted for when I left at 8:00 p.m. Seneca
has made her leap into the playpen and I'm sure she will fledge
sometime soon. Quest, Diamante and Zephyr are doing very well,
especially Zephyr who is the guardian angel of this group. He checks
on all his siblings to make sure they're ok. Susan B is a little
tentative about flying after her rescue yesterday. She was seen
resting on a lower building just south of the Kodak Tower. I saw her
flapping her wings and running around. She looks well.

Zephyr has become his mom's shadow, harrassing her every chance he
gets. He even followed her out to the communication tower south of
the Kodak Tower.

I had a close encounter with Mariah and a Mourning Dove. Mariah was
flying above the High Falls Smokestack where Zephyr, Diamante and
Quest were arguing over who would finish the meal supplied to Quest
earlier by Mariah. I was watching the very noisy game of tug-of-war
when I spotted Mariah stoop (high speed dive) behind the building in
front of me. I looked to see where she went when I was buzzed by a
very low flying Mourning Dove. Right on the MD's tail was Mariah,
who also buzzed me. I could hear wind whistle though her feathers,
that's how close she was. She paid no attention to me, her sights on
the Mourning Dove frantically racing to keep ahead of her.

I watched in amazement as the Mourning Dove swerved to the right,
causing Mariah to break off her chase. That was one lucky Mourning
Dove!

I will forever be amazed by Mariah and Kaver's hunting abilities.
They are truly unbelieveable.

Lots and lots of Watchers were out today. Brian H says hi to
everyone and thanks them for all there Birthday Wishes.

Carol P.

Awww, this is precious!  After Susan B was rescued, wasn't it Zephyr who stayed close to her on the building across from Kodak?  I forgot he was such a protector!

Sure miss all of them

Love this report.  I remember it so well as it was the end of the school year, and I actually got to go downtown and on the bridge and see Quest, Seneca, Diamante, Zephyr and Susan B flying all around.  Something I will never forget.  I think that is why I love to follow Quest and her adventures. 

Well let's add this June 23rd (2008) Report from Jeanne since it isn't all about me after all.   :laugh:

All accounted for!!! When Seneca is not in view, she is on a back
floodlight so she has not fledged yet.

This morning, when I arrived, Dan S. was concerned that a baby had
gone down the High Falls stack. He thought it was a male who had
been playing with the antenna on the stack. We looked around and at
one point, I thought I had counted five babies. There had been a
baby falcon flurry when an adult, I think Mariah, had come in.
Chasing and flying that would have made even the best Blue Angels
pilots jealous, ensued! Precision flights!

We did see juvies on the smoke stack, apparently eating. We really
were only sure of Quest with the antenna. Kaver and Mariah were on
the tower. We also had a juvie on the 16th floor corner and one had
flown to the peak of the building next to Kodak at one point.

My friend Kathy had come down and thought she saw 3 juvies on the
stack which meant we had all 5 juvies. Lisa McK came by and
confirmed this. So all 4 fledged juvies were seen and Seneca was
looking out at the world!

A parent came in and wild chasing took place!

Jeanne

Carol, this must have been one of the rare reports where I didn't have to call you cause I panicked :rofl:

Thanks for these blasts from the past Carol.  As a fledgling falcon fan, I now know I'd be very happy to know where Orion is, as you know where Quest, Rhea Mae, Linn and Diamante are.  Reading these reports of tiny Quest and Diamante and their sibs makes them all the more special to me.  I've also read all of the 40-some pages of posts on their sister Seneca, her mate Cheyenne and little Warrior.  What a sad tale!  Hopefully she'll be spotted again somewhere. 

11/16/08 - A Falcon Watch Report from Lisa McK.

Falcon Watch Sunday 4:00-5:15 p.m.

Hi Everyone,

I headed out for a little birdwatching today. After checking out the
pier for the snowy owls reported there and finding nothing, I headed
downtown. I arrived around 4:00 p.m. and found a falcon sitting
between the rockets on the south side of Kodak Tower. After watching
for a few minutes, I headed downtown to look for more falcons. My
first stop was on Andrews St bridge, nothing on Changing Scenes or the
communication tower. I looked back at Kodak Tower and the falcon was
gone. Hmmm, where did it go?

I headed to the Sister's City Garage and drove to the top. Again
nothing on the communication tower and nothing on the Powers Building.
Once again I looked back at Kodak Tower and now there was a falcon
perched by the rocket on the southeast corner. Time to head back to
Kodak.

I parked on Plymouth Ave by the ballpark and when I looked up at Kodak
Tower, the falcon was gone. Ok! Is someone playing a game with me?!

I started to head towards downtown, but at Morrie Silver Dr & State
St. I saw Joyce's car parked on Platt St. So I parked near her car
and followed Joyce and Brian out on the bridge. They reported that
the falcon flew southeast toward the Midtown area. They had seen her
before she flew off and did not believe it was Mariah. No split wing
tip and a real dark head. After seeing nothing from the bridge, we
all stopped at the High Falls Museum to say hello to Sally.

When we left the Museum around 4:30, Brian reported seeing the falcon
flying between the Hyatt Hotel and Xerox. I decided to head to the
Broad St bridge, followed by Joyce and Brian. Upon arriving at the
Broad St bridge we saw the falcon flying around the south side of
Xerox Tower, so we headed over to the Frontier Parking lot.

Now for the best part of the watch!!!!

There were two, yes two falcons, flying around the top of Xerox Tower.
A male and a female. They were both showing off for each other.
Neither falcon had the split wing tip and it was definitely a male and
a female. It was "young love", it felt more like a March watch with
the male and female performing courtship rituals than November. We
watched until first the female, then the male stooped out of our sight
behind the building to the south.

It was the most exciting watch I have had all fall. Looking forward
to tomorrows lunch time watch, despite the cold temperatures.

Lisa McK.

Is this perhaps the first sighting of Beauty and Archer in Rochester?

Patsy - This was too early for Beauty and Archer.  Beauty was actually first spotted at the BS location and Archer was Mariah's mate for a short while before she lost her territory.

Here's a real blast from the past!

Jim P's Noon Hour Falcon Watch Report from August 8, 2002.  The juvie in this report is Freedom, Archer's dad!

I got out to the bridge late today, arriving about 12:40.  Andrea, Kathy R and Dan were clustered at the east end of the Pont du Rennes bridge.  I thought nothing of that as I waved a hello, until they began beckoning me with urgent arm flapping and pointing.  Instant intrigue and excitement gripped me, and I shifted into high gear, sprinting the last couple hundred feet and reaching back into my lumbar pack for binoculars and camera (not an easy feat, let me tell you! :-D )

My fellow watchers eagerly indicated Freedom sitting on a sumac branch, in nearly an identical position to that which Chris reported on several days ago.  I turned on my camera, but it balked at my urgent desire to take a picture.  Checking the LCD status display, I saw the reason why-- Low Battery :-( .  Muttering muffled curses at Mr. Murphy and decrying this downside of digital photography, I doffed my pack and reached quickly for the spare battery which I always carry.  In a few seconds, I was powered up and ready to shoot.  I got this closeup of the Juvenile while Dan recounted how he'd watched Freedom take a bath in the pools below the bridge before flying up to his present perch.

Wow!  This was even closer than the pictures I took of Freedom a couple weeks ago on the railroad trestle.  What a treat!  I took dozens of shots, just for the sheer joy of observing this terrific bird so closely.  He seemed alternately to be drowsing (his eyes were often closed, and alert.  He didn't miss any of the birds that flew by either, swiveling his quickly, even tilting it at some pretty odd angles.  Some strident chirping presaged the arrival of a robin which quite brazenly approached and challenged Freedom (who looks rather bored and unimpressed).  Perhaps the raptor had invaded its territory, or perhaps the robin simply had a daredevil complex.  In any event, it chittered at the juvenile for a while, then flew up into the foliage and out of sight.

Soon after that, Freedom apparently decided he'd had enough rest.  He began to rouse, providing us a good look at his leg bands .  Here you can see the red and black band on Freedom's left leg, and the faded orange tape covering his US Fish and Wildlife ID tag on his right leg. Then he stretched his wings , in what we took to be preparation for a flight.  A final look around , and he was off, soaring over the gorge.  I caught a short video clip of the end of his flight, where it appeared he landed in the trees near the top of the gorge.  It was not until we moved west on the bridge that Eagle-eyed Dan located first Mariah, then Freedom on the gorge wall itself.  It is practically impossible to pick out the falcons on the gorge wall unless you see them actually land.  Mariah was particularly hard to spot, perched as she was in a shadowed cleft in the wall with her head obscured by intervening foliage.  Had there not been wildflowers growing on the wall near Freedom's location, I would likely never have spotted him.  As it was, Dan had to describe his location to me twice before I found him.  Then, until I memorized the details of the rocks and tree branches, I kept losing sight of them whenever I switched from camera to binoculars.

I'm convinced that many of these days we have not seen the falcons they have, in fact, been nesting nearly under our noses.  They are simply so hard to spot on the gorge wall that if they are napping, or just not moving, our chances of finding them are next to zero.  Nevertheless, we were quite fortunate today, and our watch was a real treat!

My, what rookies we were back then.

Ah, okay, thanks Carol.  I didn't know Beauty once made BS her home, and I think I forgot on purpose that Mariah and Archer were mates at one time (don't want to think about that grandmother/grandson thing).   :o

Someone had mentioned in one of the comments...before Beauty was ID'd at BS her nickname was Clarice. And if memory serves me correctly, she was hanging out there with Zephyr. Or at least he was spotted with her once. Winter 2008-2009. And as much as I love her now & hate to recall it, she is the female who took down Mariah.

Ah, that's the way of the wild world, I'm afraid.

Indeed it is. At least we know Mariah survived...and we've grown to love Beauty...

Have you known Cabot-Sirocco, Carol? He is my first falcon. I remember the news on Toronto TV many years ago.

Here's another one from a few years ago.  Ahhh for the good old caveman birdwatching days...

"Sun come out. Me go to river edge. Me stand near big water. Look up on rock. See bird! Me happy.

Me then joined by Anad, Nad, Oul, and Yatch. Me say, "Look at bird! On rock!"  We all happy then.  We see deer in gorge. We more happy! Quick lunch.Me eat leg.

Later, more tribe come out. We joined by Asil, Inbra, Amk, and Shaky. Bird fly off. Fly over big water. Bird land in tree. Bird poop on Amk.  We laugh.
 
Bird fly back to rock. We see turkey in gorge. We have quick dinner. Me have wing. We all happy.

Sun go down. Me go home. Me have good day!

- Lorac"

I do remember Cabot-Sirocco Penelope.  I was more a lurker back then though and wasn't involved with the Falcon Watch officially. 

My friend and long time Watcher Dan has told me many wonderful stories about watching Cabot-Sirocco, Mariah and their young.  He told me C-S was a very large tiercel and that he and Mariah were incredible together.  He was missed by many when he did not return.   :heart:

His and Mariah's daughter, Ranger, continues to be seen in Toronto, very close to where her father was born.  That is so amazing.

Zephyr was seen at the end of March, 2009, in his juvie plumage doing lots of fancy flying and vocalizing for Beauty when she was still at the BS location.  Of course at that time, we had not positively ID'd her.  I think I have a video out there on Youtube showing Zephyr flying for Beauty.  Since then, there has not been any reported sightings of Zephyr.

Shakymon remember cavemon.

I thought he was seen once after that...for some reason I'm thinking near Buffalo

There was some speculation that the tiercel at the Buffalo grain elevators (I think) might be Zephyr-someone maybe saw yellow tape-but it was never confirmed.

Based on what I saw Zephyr do as a fledgling, his flight display for Beauty must have been amazing! I'm surprised that they didn't become a pair.

Paul

So many things might have been different had they become a pair.  He was just a bit too young at that point.  I remember how exciting it was to see him.  I hope he is off somewhere flying with his dynamic skills and with a mate.

Lou, please tell Lorac I found his falcon watch report very enjoyable!  :rofl:

Okay Patsy. Will do.

By the way, has anyone figured out the descendents of the watchers in the caveman report?  All can be identified...

Lou

Dana, Dan, Lou, Lisa, (Shaky) was a given. Cathy??  Brian, Carol.....one looks like MAK, was she there in the caveman days?? Watchers alunda Falcons!! :heart: :heart: :wub:

Shaky must have been a family name that endured all these years.   ;)

The Shakymon Dynasty

Here is another Blast from the Past Watch Report!  This one is from Rochester Falcon Watcher Dawn from June 29, 2008.  Not from the cave man days, but old enough.   :lol:

"A Long Post on a Short Day"

No gorge or tower flying today for these five when I was there today.
I went to the tower at 10:30 am. No falcons to be found. Off in the
distance we saw them flying above the tall downtown buildings. Joyce
showed up and Brian & I took a ride with her to the communication
tower where there was a juvie (Seneca maybe). We looked at her for
awhile and then drove near the Xerox building. Up we went in a
parking garage to the top level, right across from the Xerox Tower
and Bausch & Lomb building. BTW, I'm now calling that Pizza Stone II
(after Shaker's high rise garage parking in Cleveland). It was so hot
there! There were at least 3 juvies and M & K. Quest was very easy
identifiable with her transmitter. We were thinking Zephyr was on the
edge of the B & L building. Not sure who the third juvie was. They
played a little talon tag a couple of times and then disappeared
around the opposite side of Xerox. On the way back to falcon
headquarters I spotted our little gal still up on the communications
tower.

Anyway, I'm thinking that's very likely they may not go to the gorge
area this year. A lot of variables around the tower. New construction,
two less stacks, etc. It seems like Mariah is heading them right
downtown. I don't think it's the first time, however. I think this
has happened before from what I've heard. I hope Mariah gets them
back to the tower tonight. She's such a good mom!

Hopefully, we will find them next season with the new move and all.
And I'm hoping they don't take up residence in the heart of downtown!

A few out of towners still here today that I saw....Judy, Ei, Kapi,
the three gals from Kentucky. Sorry I'm bad at names. Our regular
watch people Carol P, Joyce, Brian H, Ginha, Dave, Kelly, Shaky,
Carrie, Lou, Dana, Linda (our tatooo woman). Great fun, great people!!

Dawn

A blast from the past Falcon Report from 7/15/09 by my friend (who we miss seeing very much) and Fellow Falcon Watcher Carla P.

10 seconds with Mariah and an hour chasing her around town!

My daily ritual when I leave work:
1) Pull out of the Civic Center Garage, turn right, head east on Broad Street,
cross the bridge, make a U-turn, park on the bridge and check out the TSB nest
box for A/B.
2) Turn right onto Exchange Blvd. and head north to the K Tower, check south
side launch pad while driving. Turn right onto Platt Street, check the
pedestrian bridge for Watchers, scan the east gorge wall for Mariah, turn left
on Brown Street, cross State Street and turn right into the little alley to
check out the north side of the K Tower. Then I turn left behind the Tower to
check the west side, left again to check the south side, and so on and so on,
etc., etc., etc.!

Today, as I pulled into the alley to check the north side, I saw Mariah pulling
up for a landing on the east side of the launch pad. With absolute glee, I
threw my car into gear and sped off to circle the K Tower and get my Mariah fix
for the day. Unfortunately, by the time I made my way back to the east side,
Mariah had either taken off or was playing Hide-and-Seek! I continued my frantic
search, and finally caught a glimpse of her flying east toward the gorge, but I
lost sight of her as she flew behind a building south of Platt Street. I checked
the east gorge wall one more time, but I couldn't find her - which certainly
doesn't mean she wasn't there. (Finding falcons on the gorge wall is NOT one of
my strengths!)

So there you have it, my 10 second Mariah Watch and an hour chasing after her!!!

Carla P.

This does not make sense, Carla said she saw Mariah in July of 2009, when in fact, Mariah was in rehab since April 13, 2009! Carol, is this the date of the actual report?

.

 Is this a separate watch report? Am I missing something?

Mariah was released from rehab on May 26th, 2009.

Ok, thanks, gee, I get confused with this stuff. Makes sense now. Just me being  :stupid:

It's been awhile since I've posted one of these old Falcon Watch reports.  Enjoy!

Kaver and His Shadow - Tuesday - July 29, 2008 (Morning)

First, let me start by saying that all 7 Falcons have been seen in the past 24 hours.  The Fab Five are doing great.

I arrived downtown around 6:00 a.m. this morning.  Dan was already out on the bridge.  He told me that he had not seen any falcons earlier, so we settled down for the morning watch.

We saw Mariah leading two juvies on a hunt run over the High Falls Brewery.  Quest was one of them.

Next Kaver flew through on a food run.  As he flew towards the city, he picked up one, two and three juvies as he flew by.  Dan and I watched him flying around Xerox, followed by three young Falcons.

Kaver headed back towards the old Changing Scenes Restaurant.  One juvie stayed near Xerox.  He lost #2 juvie before reaching the old CSR.  #3 juvie kept following Kaver, both heading towards the Kodak Tower.  Kaver did all kinds of maneuvers, the juvie kept up.  Dan and I were quite amazed by this young Falcon’s flying abilities.

They continued towards the tower.  When they reached it, they both started looping around the tower.  Each time they came around, Kaver gained speed.  Soon they were on opposite sides.  That’s when Kaver dove into the playpen on the north side.  When the juvie lost sight of Kaver, she gave up.  Yes, it was definitely a female.  She made her way back to the communication tower and landed on the middle arm.

Another juvie flew to the tower and landed on the northeast corner of the 20th floor.  It was time for me to walk to the tower to see if I could ID the juvie on the tower.  It was an easy ID, it was Quest with her antenna.  I walked around to the north side of the tower and saw Kaver at the base of the playpen railing on the north side.  He was eating.  We hadn’t realized until then that Kaver was actually flying around with prey and that he had led his young ones on a merry chase.

I was unable to positively ID the female on the communication tower, but our suspicions were that it was Seneca or possibly Susan B.

They are all gaining the skills they will need to succeed.  All seem to be doing very well.

Carol P.

Lovely to read that, Carol P.!

Good souvenirs Carol... thanks!

Oh, the memories...


Nora in Florida

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Wonderful memories :heart: :heart: :heart:

Thanks, Carol.  Boy - I miss those days  :)

Happy Days!  Thanks Carol!   :heart:

Happy days now too! We have a wonderful, beautiful pair now also. I will NEVER forget Mariah or my best boy Kaver  :heart: they will always be in my  :heart: but to lose 100's of members over it, I find it kind of strange. If Kodak "had not" ordered the nest removal, things may have been different today. Mariah and Kaver may have still been here but with Mariah's age being a factor, any female could have done what Beauty did, fight for the nest. We will always have the memories of MK and all their beautiful offspring and we also have Beauty and DC and their offspring. I wish so many members didn't leave because of it.  :(

These are happy days with Beauty, Dot.ca and their young.  This small section of the forum is for remembering the falcons that we lost. I just wanted to keep them "alive" in some small way.   :(

I totally understand where you are coming from Carol, I just don't get why people left after when we do have a great pair here now! Mariah and Kaver  :heart: will never be forgotten! I know moving to this forum hindered a bunch from coming over but it's fine and we are doing OK with it. Change happens and will probably happen again but we adjust to these changes.  :handshake:

We are all here and that's all that matters.  We care about the birds no matter who they are !!  We're one big family !!!!

I really enjoy your stories Carol.  We know that the modern world can be quite challenging for them but they seem to face their lives with a courage I often marvel at.  They live their lives to the fullest, no matter how short or long, they make the most of it and that's something to be admired and respected.  They deserve to be honored and remembered for their contributions, not only to the species but for the compassion they've awakened in us and for the lessons they can teach us about survival  :yes:

I too enjoy the reminders thanks for bringing it back. There was something special about that year... Seneca was daddies little girl. I remember she didn't want to fledge and Kaver went and had the "talk" with her in the playpen. Next thing you know she was flying around like a pro. Kaver  :heart: was such a good dad and mate. I am happy for what we have now. But I don't want to forget the ones out of our sight but still in our hearts.

A Funny Memory from the old Kodak Birdcam days.....

I forget what year it was, but it was before the old KFalconcam forum or this one existed.  It was during the time that there was a discussion board on the Kodak Birdcam.  Jim P and I were co-moderators of that board.  One day, something really funny happened.

For some reason, the discussion board decided to post EVERYONE's posts under Jim's name.  Suddenly Jim P became quite chatty.  Later that day, all the posts came in with my name on them.  Somehow that wasn't as hysterical as Jim posting that the falcon eyases were soooooo cute!   Hahaha!   :2funny: 

Does anyone else remember that?

Just a fond memory of the old M&K days.   :happy:

That's funny!  Whatever happened to Jim?  Haven't seen him on anything in quite a few years.

Jim's life got busy and took another direction.  His contributions are definitely missed. 

Yes, it was in March 2003.

The KFalconcam message board did exist at that time. It was started by mtwoman in July 2002. It was very active in the off-season period while the Birdcam discussion board was closed.

I've gone to his Peregrinations site and all his beautiful Falcon pics are gone..that's really sad.

We will have to remove that link.  Thanks for the reminder Kris.   :wave:

http://jkpisello.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=29 (http://jkpisello.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=29) It's still up, well, the stories.

Yeah, looks like his blog is still there, minus the falcon pics.  Thanks Donna.

He did have a good blog, but like everything - it takes time, which there seems to never be enough of.

Amen.

I don't mind that he didn't keep up with the blog because we've had fantastic watch reports to read from MAK and Carol but I enjoyed seeing all the past pics he took of M&K and all the eyases..my thought was it's too bad they're not available anymore.

An excerpt from a 5/31/09 falcon watch report by me.  It seems that Dot.ca isn't the only falcon that likes to snatch a mate's meal.   :laugh:

7:35 pm - Back to Midtown. Now this was a little crazy to watch. Archer came in with a Starling sized, headless bird clutched in his talons. He landed on Midtown and started to pluck feathers. Beauty wanted the food. She flew to him, expecting him to hand it over. Nope! Archer grabbed the food and landed on top of Midtown, plucking again. Beauty tried again, Archer took off with the food. This went on for quite awhile.

7:54 pm - Archer finally lands with the prey on the NE corner of the lower section of Midtown, very close to the nest ledge. Beauty landed next to him and FINALLY snagged her dinner.

8:02 pm - Beauty took the prey to the B&L building and enjoyed her meal. Archer took over on the nest ledge, jumping down into the gutter.

This was during the time that Archer and Beauty were hanging out on Midtown Plaza and Mariah was still at Kodak Office. - Carol P.

                        (http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae233/ElveeKaye/Smilies%20and%20emoticons/cacklesmiley.gif) (http://s975.photobucket.com/user/ElveeKaye/media/Smilies%20and%20emoticons/cacklesmiley.gif.html)

Sadly the latest blog post I could find for Jim was in the fall of 2011?  He does have the live cam on though and it almost looked like a falcon to the left side of the deck, but could have been the way the snow melted.

(http://rfalconcam.com/gallery/processed/Camera2_Thumbnail/20150128/Camera2_Thumbnail_20150128-170100.jpg) (http://rfalconcam.com/gallery/processed/Camera2/20150128/Camera2_20150128-170100.jpg)(http://rfalconcam.com/gallery/processed/Camera1_Thumbnail/20150128/Camera1_Thumbnail_20150128-170100.jpg) (http://rfalconcam.com/gallery/processed/Camera1/20150128/Camera1_20150128-170100.jpg)(http://rfalconcam.com/gallery/processed/MainCamera_Thumbnail/20150128/MainCamera_Thumbnail_20150128-170100.jpg) (http://rfalconcam.com/gallery/processed/MainCamera/20150128/MainCamera_20150128-170100.jpg) It is snow melt but it does look like tail feathers!!

 :hysterical:  I tried......

Yes you  did!!   :2thumbsup:

Hi Nora!  Jim has been "retired" from the falcon watches for quite a few years now.  But you can read the current Falcon Watch Blog at.....

http://rfalconcam.com/falconwatching/ (http://rfalconcam.com/falconwatching/)

 :wave:

It's been awhile since I've posted anything here.

From June 26, 2008 (5-6pm), here's a fledge watch report by Falcon Watcher Kelly W.

Another beautiful evening for fledge watching! I arrived to find a number of watchers downtown. Carol P. was also on official watch. There were a couple of falcons in view. Closest to us was Seneca who had been hanging out on one of the lower buildings for most of the day. She seemed content to stay put while an adult flew in with what Brian said was prey. Immediately we saw 3 juvies where the food drop was on the east
side of the tower.

Around 5:30 Mariah started flying around the tower and it took no time for Zephyr to launch into the air. For the next 15 minutes we were treated to a lot of fun flying and talon tag by at least 3 juvies in the air at once! Seneca kept her on eye on her family but showed no signs of moving.

Approx. 5:45 Carol P. heard one of the adults sound the kak alarm. Kaver or Mariah was off to the east above the river. We grabbed the binoculars and spotted a very large, dark bird that was not a Turkey Vulture. The consensus was that it was a juvie bald eagle and it was escorted out of the area rather peacefully.

At 6:00 I got ready to go but still had my eye on Seneca who had started to exercise her wings. She started off the building into flight and in the breeze, up she went! She was a little unsteady and I think a draft or two caught her off guard. We all held one collective breath as she went across State Street but then made her way back to the building. Her first landing did not stick so another small flight and she came in for a second attempt– she knocked her mom off her perch–but she stuck the landing! It was great to see what must have been only her second or third flight.

Kelly W.

Wow!  I actually remembered this report.  2008!  Almost like yesterday.

I know Janet! Some day I'll have to tell you the story of Mariah and Sponge Bob.   :laugh:

The mind boggles...

Not two names you would ever expect to see in one sentence.   :confused:

The Tail of Mariah and Sponge Bob

There were a few of us watchers out on the pedestrian bridge that crosses the Genesee River Gorge.  I know Lisa McK was with me, not sure who else was there.  Mariah was up on top of the Kodak Tower watching over eggs? or eyasses?  I really can't remember.  (Getting old!  hahaha!)

We were watching Mariah and she was watching over her territory.  That's when an intruder floated in on the winds.  At first, we didn't see the threat, but Mariah did.  She started first with a loud, warning kak kak kak!  Intruder alert!  We looked around, but still could not see what had her so upset.

Mariah launched herself from the tower and sped towards the gorge.  We looked up to see where the Red-tail Hawk or maybe a Turkey Vulture or Eagle might be.  Mariah gained speed!  Faster and faster!  She stooped when she reached the gorge side of the BeeBee Station!  Almost faster than the eye could follow!  She lowered her talons, reaching for the intruder. 

We were frantically trying to see what her target was!  What could have her so upset! 

Then we saw it!  Mariah screeched to a halt just before she would have grabbed a Sponge Bob Mylar balloon that was floating lazily in front of the BeeBee Station.  I swear that she looked around, hoping that no one had seen her attack on Sponge Bob, and then headed back to her tower to continue guarding her territory from ALL intruders.

That, my friends, is the tail of Mariah and Sponge Bob.  and no, I did not make this up!   :laugh:

 

Good story, Carol P!

 :wave:

Wonderful story!!!  Mariah :heart: :heart: :heart:

Thanks Bobbie and Jeanne!   :wave:

Great story! Thanks for sharing! :2thumbsup:

Too bad no one has a picture of her expression, which I'm certain was priceless!

Here is a report from 6/29/10, the day we "lost" Callidora and she literally became a jail bird!

Callidora Takes Being a Jail Bird to an Extreme! - 6/29/10
Rochester Falcon Watcher: Carol P.

What a day!  I’m not even going to mention Watcher names.  I think every Watcher that could make it downtown came to help search for Callidora, even two ladies from Watertown!  :-)  Even the Falconcam team held their meeting near the Times Square Bldg.  Everyone wanted to help.  In all the years I’ve been a Rochester Falcon Watcher, we’ve never lost a bird during fledging, and it wasn’t going to happen now!

As both Larry O and Jim P reported, at 12:30, Callidora took flight from the Talesca bldg aka the Four Corners bldg.  All day, Beauty had been bothered by workers on a building just north of the Times Square bldg (TSB).  They couldn’t have chosen a worse day to start working on the roof of this building with Callidora just fledged.

When Callidora took off, she headed towards the TSB, gaining altitude.  She landed on the metal grid work at the top of the TSB, clinging like a bat.  She never did land on a ledge.  When she let go, she flung out her wings and headed towards the river and then swung around the Blue Cross Arena aka War Memorial.  Her intentions were good, she really did try to return to the TSB, but she was tired.  We lost her somewhere over the Civic Center.

Watchers spread out and attempted to find her with no luck.  All afternoon Watchers began to gather.  Everyone was really concerned for Callidora’s safety.  I think most of us walked a few miles today, checking building roofs, getting inside taller buildings to check the roofs below.  No one was able to find her and it was starting to get dark.

Around 8:30 pm, Larry decided to take one more walk around the area.  With Cleo by his side, he headed west down Broad St, crossing Exchange St.  At the same time I heard him yell something out from across the street, I noticed that Beauty was skimming the tops of the buildings in the area that we thought Callidora had landed.  I quickly caught up with Larry and Cleo and we continued to walk west.  Other Watchers joined us, walking and in cars.  By this time Beauty had continued west and we thought maybe she had been on a hunt and nothing else.

Larry and Cleo were first around the the corner on N Fitzhugh, now heading south.  The rest of us were hanging back, checking the buildings.  This is when Larry yelled out, “I HAVE CALLIDORA!”  “I SEE A RED BAND!”  We all ran towards Larry’s position and one by one we saw what he saw.  A beautiful brown just fledged juvenile name Callidora!  and Beauty was flying just above her!

The Rochester Falcon Watchers arrived, gathering in the dark on the corner of N Fitzhugh and a no-name one-way street, next to a very old, beautiful church.  She was on the roof of the Monroe County Jail on the north side, not very far from the TSB.

We were all so relieved.  WooHoo’s! echoed through the night.  Both Larry and Cleo got lots of hugs tonite.  :-)

For 8 hours we had lost our wayward traveler.  But now she was safe and we were happy.  I had drained 3 camera batteries tonite and didn’t have even enough power to take one picture of Callidora.  But, it didn’t matter.  My long lens friends were clicking away.  There will be plenty of pictures for everyone to see.

It was a long day of Falcon Watching, but it was all worth while.  My thanks to everyone that made it out to help find Callidora.  What a great group you are.  and special thanks to Larry O and Cleo.  We can all sleep easier knowing that she is safe.

When I left, Jemison was safely on top of the TSB and Beauty was on Mercury’s foot.  I’m not sure where Archer was.  What a wonderful way to end this day.

I remember this!  Great "history" story!   :clap:

 :thanx:

I remember that day well.  Although not there in person, we followed the saga as it was happening and were so relieved that Larry had finally found her that night. So sad to know she's no longer flying the skies but she brought so many smiles to us who watched her daily antics with Jemison.  Her pre-fledge pacing and first flight off the nest box was one of the funniest things I've ever seen!  :heart:

Wow, what a great description of what must have been a very tense and exhausting day! 

I remember that day well-we did a lot of walking to find Calidora. It was such a relief when Larry reported that he found her-there were lots of high fives and cheering. It took the rest of us a long time, even with Larry coaching us to find her because she blended in so well. I have much respect for Larry to have spotted Cali up on that jail roof.  ;D

On such a cold day, it's time to post a falcon watch from a HOT July day.  It was 90 degrees and Callidora had finally found the Gorge........

Callidora Finally Discovers the Gorge - 7/28/10

It was a very warm day in Rochester, NY today, high near 90 degrees (F).  After leaving work at 3:30 pm, I went in search of Callidora, Beauty and Archer.  Especially Callidora, because she hadn’t been seen that morning.

I quickly found Archer and Beauty together on the top I-Beam, south side of the Old Changing Scenes Restaurant.  A quick drive around to the north side and there was Callidora on the top I-Beam on the north side.  Yay all three!  I decided to settle on the Andrew St. Bridge to keep an eye on Callidora.

At approximately 4:30 pm, Callidora took off flying north over my car, heading for the gorge.  I grabbed my binoculars and saw that the brewery pigeons were up! and Callidora was calmly flying in their midst.  I jumped into my car and got myself over to the east end of the pedestrian bridge as quickly as I could.  I was so afraid that I would miss her!

I parked my car, grabbed my camera and binoculars and made my way out onto the pedestrian bridge.  Callidora was still flying above the Genesee Brewery, but she was heading north, down the river.  Drats!  Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait very long for her return.  For about 15 mins, she entertained me, chasing pigeons, diving on gulls, swooping down the gorge wall, over Skye’s bldg.  It was just like it used to be with Mariah and Kaver’s fledglings.  This is what I had been waiting for.  I quickly texted out that she was in the gorge, but no one was able to join me.  Here’s just a little bit of what I saw.

Callidora Discovers the Genesee River Gorge - 7/28/10 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL30CSlkwkc#)

Callidora eventually headed back towards the city (south), flying over the river and the buildings along the way.  She chased pigeons and anything else that flew into her path.  Eventually she landed very low on the Frontier communication tower.

Later in the evening, I was joined by MAK, Dana and Lou.  Before it started to rain, we had the pleasure of watching Callidora, Beauty and Archer flying together over Midtown, HSBC and Xerox.  Callidora was very vocal as she chased her parents around the area.  Just as it started to rain heavily, all three left the area, heading west.

I said my goodbyes and did a quick check of the area on the way home.  I found one falcon on the top I-beam of the old Changing Scenes Restaurant, south side.

I’m so glad that Callidora finally discovered the wonders of the gorge that so many fledglings before her enjoyed.  I really hope it won’t be her last visit and that other Watchers will be able to see her gracefully fly above the High Falls.

 :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart:

I love this, Carol!!!  I like to think that somewhere in the heavens this baby is flying free like this. 

Me too Jeanne.  She beat the odds and survived her first year.  Now she is flying free with all the others that we've lost over the years.   :heart:

And she's showing her sister Voyager the way.   :heart: :heart:

I also remember this report.  Callidora was my birthday egg....

Here's a different type of report from the blast from the past files.......The first report of Quest's travels after she had not been seen in Rochester for a week.  Quite amazing!   :o

Quest's Journey Begins!  8/12/08

Now that sightings of the fledglings are getting to be few and far between, we thought we’d try to get some more use out of the FledgeWatch Blog.  And what better use could we put it to than keeping track of Quest’s travels?  So we’ve decided that the FledgeWatch Blog will be the place where we’ll update you on her movements.

We’re happy to report that Quest’s transmitter is sending good data on it’s pre-programmed schedule.  Quest hasn’t been seen in the Rochester area in more than a week.  So we were quite surprised to receive some data points that placed her well north of Rochester.  In fact, our most recent locations for her include the state of Maine and most recently, just over the border in Quebec, Canada!

This is certainly great news!  To have traveled that far, Quest is most certainly hunting on her own, so she seems to be off to a good start!  Of course, as we’ve often mentioned, life for a first year Peregrine is hard, so these early successes aren’t necessarily an indication of her long term success.  But the early news is promising.

We hope to begin publishing maps of her travels very soon.  We’re working on automating the data feeds to cut down on the amount of manual analysis that needs to be done with each set of received data.  So keep watching these pages for more news!

-Jess

Haven't been here in a long time -- like so many of us, life gets busy.  Just want to say I miss all of you and the old days of the Kodak board and kfalconcam.  But I'm so glad you have all kept this up and I do remember to check now and then this time of year.  Still miss Mariah and Kaver, but know Beauty and DotCa have captured your hearts as well!
Vandrefalk

It's good to see you! I'm glad you're still visiting once in a while!  :handshake:

Hello, hello, hello!!

 :wave:

Welcome back!

Karen!  So nice to hear from you!   :wave:

I will forever remember and miss Mariah and Kaver.  They were the reason why so many of us came together.  Now we have Beauty & Dot.ca and they are a pair to be reckoned with.  Especially now that Pigott has moved on to find a new mate and raise young of her own.  The magic of new life in the nest box continues on.

Mariah and Kaver's legacy also continues.  Billie, their granddaughter has made Rochester her home.  I do hope that she and her mate 99 select a safe location to nest and raise babies of their own this year.  That would be wonderful!   :heart:

Take care my friend.  Hope to hear from you again soon.   :happy:

Wow, hello, nice to see you here again!!  :handshake:

Y'all are so sweet!  I'll try to be better about checking in and watching the board.  Hope it will be a wonderful year for the Rochester falcons -- all of them!  :thumbsup:
Vandrefalk

 :clap: