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

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!

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.

Interesting comparison Donna.  Looks too small to be Beauty in today's Mercury pic.

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

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.

Oh, look.  It's snowing.   

No, you sure?? It's about time!!

It's been so long since we've had snow.  NOT!   

Oh, look.  It's snowing.   

Found someone at the nest a few minutes ago:

More good news!   

A short visit this afternoon:

     

  

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

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

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

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

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.

Happy Birthday Lynn!  Hope you had a wonderful birthday!

 

Thanks for the pictures MAK.  Everything looks so
snowy!!  I like the picture of the ice cycles by the river. 
They are really long.  A great picture.
                           
                              Lola

I'm not MAK, but thanks very much for the nice comments about my pics Lola. 

Happy Birthday Baerbel!

Hope you had a wonderful day!

 

Happy Birthday Aafke!

Hope you had a wonderful day!

Miss you for sure.

 

Thanks Lola!  So glad you're back here with us.