No hatches this year, but images of Beauty and Archer together in the sunrise still do wonders for me.

Paul

Member Siobhan Ruck wrote after a loss in San Francisco in 2009, "Hi's life may have been brief, but every single minute of it was spent as a peregrine falcon. You can't do much better than that..."

Paul

Most of the tricoloreds that we see a bit further north on Ocracoke Island, NC, look like that.  I don't think it's a hybrid.

Paul

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/parrots-named-by-parents/

Paul

Thanks, Carol!

With a single juvenile at my site and no hatch in Rochester, I've had no talon tag this year.  I long for the day when the Rochester sky is once again filled with a bunch of young birds at play.

Paul

Here's a good way to cool off among snow-capped mountains.  Got a fast connection?  Try full screen and HD (720p, or even 1080p)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vij7xYMU_5g

Paul

That's nothing.  My pigeon used to meet us at the entrance to our condo in the Bronx and ride up in the elevator to our apartment on the fifteenth floor.  Wish I had a picture of that.

Tony better watch out for the Jersey City falcons. 

Must be why he takes the ferry instead of flying. 

Paul

It's good to hear that Kestrals are about. 

Paul

I'd hoped to find the hunting territory of my falcons this season, but no luck.  The unfortunate result is that I don't get to see any of the forms of spectacular fledgeling behavior like talon tag, food exchanges, and family hunts.  What I was able to see was all three members of the family.  While waiting for falcons to appear, I took some shots of other wildlife, landscapes and structures.  I'll explain why.

It's always a thrill to see the peregrines as they return to their nest area.  The falcons are wise to me; they know where I am long before I see them.  Most of the time, I don't find them -- they find me.  So many times, I've felt I was being watched, dismissed the thought as silly, and then heard kakking overhead or from some hideout. 

That's why I've included some non-falcon images that are very much a part of my falconwatching experience.  I urge everyone who has not watched wild peregrines in person to visit their nearest site.  You can see amazing things on web cams, but it's just a tiny peephole into the peregrine's world.  Rhen, you go to visit them.  After a while, you realize that what you observe while watching them in person is still a tiny fraction of their world, which is played out on an unimaginably large stage.

Here are some pictures related to my experiences yesterday, as this year's peregrine season  enters its last month.  When you look at them, imagine that there are unseen peregrines about, watching.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=3096810310103%3A526118412&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Top

Paul

!!! Baby H is learning very quickly and starting to look at the world very differently!
July 14, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills

Mark Nash Reports:
July 14th - 2011 PM watch report.

Once again today, the watchers had many updates of the days activities with Murray and Debbie starting out the day this morning around 7:30am while on their way to work, and Murray continued to do spot checks throughout the day right up to 9pm. Caroline was out around the mid day and Bruce shortly after 2:30pm until after 7pm. Marion and I joined Bruce and closed the watch around 9:15pm with Murray and Debbie and Caroline.

Baby H made many strong flights today and is well ahead of others fledglings at this age!! With just under a week out of the nest ledge, she is doing incredibly well and was back to the nest ledge today for he first time.

While she has long since gained much higher altitudes than the nest ledge level earlier in the week, this is the first time that we have seen her actually back on the nest ledge (the very one with the nest tray) since her departure. It is at this time in the watch that we usually tone down the intense monitoring and street watch, as this action of returning to the actual “nest ledge itself� is a huge mental boost of confidence builder for the fledglings.

At this time in her development, one of the only things that the fledglings lack, is the confidence, as she is more than capable in holding her altitude and able to escape any perceived dangers. She can actually fly now like an adult big bird 

Today, Baby H made some soft hits and bumps to the windows and concrete walls of the building, which is exactly what we were hoping for! At this stage of her flights, she is still slow and cumbersome, and these hits are usually soft,,(which they were),, and these minor collisions are “leaning experiences� , ones that will not be repeated in the future.

The young fledglings do in fact “learn� through these minor bumps and grinds with windows and concrete walls at these early stages of their flights,, and avoid them in the future. It is our hope during the fledge watches is that the young fledglings have these bumps early in the first flights while they are still slow and cumbersome, and these bumps are usually nothing more than learning experiences that rarely result in serious injuries. Several weeks out of the nest, and the fledglings get over confident and are now building up a great deal of speed in their flights, and their recklessness usually results in far more serious injuries (and even mortality) if they start hitting windows and concrete walls. You know what they say,, “Speed Kills�,, and for a young fledgling peregrine, this holds very true when you start hitting solid objects!

This evening, we watched Baby H take a run at a Starling that passed by below her while she was roosting on the east side of the upper ledges of the nest building, and although she never came close to actually catching it, she did make the attempt to chase it. The Starling flew into the cover of the trees to the north of the nest building and Baby H quickly veered away from the thick branches and tree cover. She has also learned that these areas are not good places for peregrines! Her landings are almost adult like now, no longer hap-hazzard “do drop ins� and it appears that she’s got it!!

This evening, both Quest and Kendal were absent at bed time when darkness fell, and Baby H was noticeably stressed. She made several flights around over the three buildings unable to locate her parents. She finally landed on the upper south face of the nest building and was more than restless as she was very unsettled and noticeably stressed as she scanned the air and buildings to locate her parents. She stood up and layed down more than a dozen times frantically looking around for her parents before she finally layed down. She tucked herself in tight to the building wall, but was still very alert while looking around with her neck and head scratched out trying to get a sight line on her parents. We left just as darkness fell also feeling a little stressed that neither of the adults were anywhere to be seen in any of their usual roosting or hiding spots, and that they had been absent from any of our views for more than 40 minutes.

This was baby H’s first real night alone! Another lesson!
Stay tuned……

Posted on July 15, 2011 9:39 am
Observation for Toronto - Don Mills

!!! Every one is accounted for!!
July 15, 2011 - Toronto - Don Mills
CPF Postmaster Reports:
Friday July 15, 2011-8:00 a.m.

Good Morning All

Murray and I just left the Don Mills nest site. Daddy Kendall was sighted back hanging at the Westin Hotel. Harley was on the pink building and then Quest was observed flying in to the nest building and Harley flew over to her. Quest was on the very far left of 220 and Harley was 2 ledges over in front the of the nest box. Every one is in view and accounted for!

Have a great day.

Debbie and Murray

Posted on July 15, 2011 9:53 am
Observation for Toronto - Don Mills


Paul

Beautiful pictures! 

Thanks,

Paul

(Was just thinking, where the heck is Jim P?) Did he move?

He is on vacation in Hawaii.

Paul

Wow!  It's like watching a fireworks display with feathers.

Thanks,

Paul

I wonder if the parents behavior is because of the more rural location, as opposed to urban Rochester??

They don't behave at all like either Archer and Beauty or Mariah and Kaver.  For one thing, they never hunt near the nest.  For another, all three of them like to hang out together near or in the nestbox. 

In past years, there typically would be one juvenile at the nestbox and the others would be hunting somewhere downriver.  Last year, I thought that only one of them had survived fledging until Ricardo showed me his notes and photos that showed that, although there was always only one juvenile near the box, it was a never the same one for more than a few hours at a time.

I think that their behavior may have a lot to do with lower prey concentrations than the downtown Rochester pigeon buffet.  The Herberts wrote, of the New York Palisades falcons, that a favorite strategy was to surprise small corvids like Blue Jays over the river, where there were no trees to hide in.
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v082n01/p0062-p0094.pdf
I know that our pair return from their downriver hunting forays with Blue Jays.  I'm starting to think that the "secret hunting ground" is the airspace over the river itself, rather than Rosslyn or Georgetown.

Paul

"... a shortage of butterfly-specific gender neutral pronouns..."

English is very limited in some ways.

Paul