Lurkers Come Out Day! 2015

[Aafke]

I've been a semi-lurker since late 2004. I'm not big on writing, so I don't post often.
I got really hooked on the old Kodak cam watching the antics of Aconcagua aka "Little Bit".
Most of my question were always answered by reading what others wrote. That saved me the trouble of asking.

If I remember wel, isn't your name Linda?

greetings Aafke

yes it is

Hi Linda, nice to see you, you see we still know you.
greetings Aafke

[Aafke]

Okay - you've shamed me into leaving lurkdom.  I go back to the Kodak Birdcam and started watching after Cabot-Sirocco.  I don't know if that was 2006 or 2007.  So I must say that my favorite falcons are Mariah, Kaver, and their son, Havoc.  I loved watching M&K and their offspring when they nested on the Kodak Tower.  My office has a view of the former nest box and High Falls.  I really miss those times.  Our office will be moving this Spring to B&L (now Legacy Tower), so I'm hopeful I'll be able to see Beauty and DC and their offspring on my lunch hours!  As for our nature at home, we feed the birds (and squirrels, deer, rabbits, etc.) year round and truly enjoy watching them, especially when they're building their nests and raising their young.  We also have a red-tail hawk couple in our back yard, although my husband found a deceased red-tail up the road.  I guess we'll have to wait and see if one or both come back to the nest.  We also have a Coopers Hawk up the road, as well as hearing owls hooting in the morning while it's still dark.  I think they're barn owls. We also have ducks in our creek when it's not frozen and Great Blue Herons flying around.  Can't be sure.  Anyway, I check Falconcam every day, and confess I am a lurker.  I really enjoy all of the reports and all the other posts from our members.  Keep up the good work, and I hope to come out of lurkdom and into watching mode this Spring    Sue (Bess)

Thanks Sue (Bess) That sound very nice, we love to hear from you about all the nice birds and specially from Beauty and Dot.
I'm pretty sure you wrote before, because of your name Sue (Bess)
greetings Aafke

[Aafke]

Oops, nature, close to my house.  We feed the birds, have many cardinal families who breed in the woods behind our house.  I don't know what will happen if we ever moved as most of them think their natural food source comes from a grey haired man carrying sunflower seeds.  LOL. Also Peregrines at Niagara Falls, 7 miles away.

Thanks, vey nice what you are doing for the birds.
gretings Aafke

[Aafke]

Come one lurker, come all!  I lurked for a year before even signing up on the forum. Once I did that there was no stopping me. 

Very good!!! And vey nice picture.
greetings Aafke

[Carol P.]

Our office will be moving this Spring to B&L (now Legacy Tower), so I'm hopeful I'll be able to see Beauty and DC and their offspring on my lunch hours!  Keep up the good work, and I hope to come out of lurkdom and into watching mode this Spring    Sue (Bess)

Hi Sue(Bess)!  Nice to hear from you.  Make sure you tell them you want an office with a window on the west side of the building.  Miss seeing you and Al!

[bess440]

Hi Carol - I miss seeing you, too.  Unfortunately, our new office has only interior cubicles for the likes of me, but I'll be outside a corner office, so hopefully I'll be able to take advantage of it from time to time!  I'm not sure which direction it will face yet, though.  I really don't deal with change very well, but maybe it will turn out that I can see the B&D more often    Hope to see you then.  At least the weather should be better by then.  We can only hope!

[Carol P.]

Hi Carol - I miss seeing you, too.  Unfortunately, our new office has only interior cubicles for the likes of me, but I'll be outside a corner office, so hopefully I'll be able to take advantage of it from time to time!  I'm not sure which direction it will face yet, though.  I really don't deal with change very well, but maybe it will turn out that I can see the B&D more often    Hope to see you then.  At least the weather should be better by then.  We can only hope!

Well, I know you were able to see the M&K nest box from certain offices at the "button factory" building.  Let's hope you'll have the same opportunity at the new place.  I look forward to seeing you during the spring and summer months on a falcon watch.   

[patsy6]

Bess, what floor will you be on at B&L?  My company used to occupy all of the 4th and 5th floors there, and half of the 9th floor.  I worked in that building for seven years.  I think you'll like it there.  

[Falconatic1]

I began watching in 2007 I think. A friend referred me to a falconcam in downtown San Francisco, watching a pair named George and Gracie raising their brood at a monitored nest box. This was atop a skyscraper among many in the financial district referred to as "the canyon" because of all the tall buildings lining the streets. I was only watching the cam and not yet part of their forum when one day I saw . . . a man picking up the eyasses one by one in the nest box! I was shocked and frightened. It was at that moment I began searching online for a way to find out what was happening, joined their forum and learned what banding was, and also discovered there were other falconcams around the world.

This led me to the Kodak falcons, Mariah and Kaver. I joined the Rochester forum, and began watching every day. I also don't post often here, but I read every post every day. It's wonderful to feel like part of a community, especially from so far away! I live in the high mountain desert in Reno, which is in a valley at the base of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains, about 4200' elevation. Watching the Rochester and San Francisco falcons got me excited to get involved, and I did. I traveled the 200 miles to San Francisco that year to their fledge watch party with my sister, and met the falcon watchers there. Also attending was a lady from San Jose, who told us they had a pair of falcons hanging out at their brand new City Hall. We got excited hearing that, and arranged to visit her in San Jose with my other sister as well on the July 4th holiday.

The City of San Jose got involved with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group and their biologist, Glenn Stewart, who was the man I had seen on the San Francisco cam doing the banding. An agreement was reached, a falconcam installed, and the rest is history. This will be the 9th season for our falcon Clara. She and her third year mate Fernando are already doing their bonding behaviors, and have been regularly mating, so we expect early egg laying again this year. My sisters and I go to San Jose for fledge watch every year. We have made valuable friendships with our fellow watchers there. One sister retired last year and the other is not working at present. I will be retiring this spring, so I plan to have more time for falcon watching!

We have reports of a peregrine in a local city park, and I will be there this weekend trying to locate it. Sorry to mention this to our winter-weary friends in the northeast, but the west coast is suffering from our fourth year of extreme drought, and an extremely mild winter. Today will see a high of 72. But we have no mountain snowpack, our source of water for the coming year. But I digress.

I plan to participate in the great backyard bird count this weekend, and hope to be able to report that peregrine! In my front yard I have an enormous holly bush next to the house, and it is still loaded with red berries. I think I have a robin nest in there. We had an active nest there two years ago. I have birch trees in the front yard, so naturally have a bajillion goldfinches. In the back yard I regularly feed house finches, sparrows and western scrub jays, similar to your blue jay. I also put up suet feeders, so I have downy woodpeckers and northern flickers. And I live within a mile of downtown! Once in a while I will find an American kestrel sitting on a phone pole surveying the neighborhood. Around town I see lots of red tailed hawks, and a few Coopers hawks. At a local park with a small lake we have a family of black crowned night herons.

Hope I haven't expounded too much; probably feeling the need to catch up from not posting! I post on the bay area forum about the happenings in Rochester, and refer people to this forum and falconcam all the time. It's great to feel always welcomed here!

Oh yes, Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow too!      

Debbie

[Carol P.]

Hope I haven't expounded too much; probably feeling the need to catch up from not posting! I post on the bay area forum about the happenings in Rochester, and refer people to this forum and falconcam all the time. It's great to feel always welcomed here!

Oh yes, Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow too!      

Debbie

Hi Debbie!  Nice to hear from you.  Sounds like you are very busy with watching the falcons out west.  I envy you that you will soon be retiring and able to spend more time with them.  I dream of that day.   

Thanks for catching us up on what is happening in your falcon world.  Good luck finding that new Peregrine in the park!  Where you live, sounds lovely, except for the long drought. 

Take care and please keep us up to date with your falcons.  I'd say, keep warm, but it sounds like you are already doing that!   

[Dumpsterkitty]

I began watching in 2007 I think. A friend referred me to a falconcam in downtown San Francisco, watching a pair named George and Gracie raising their brood at a monitored nest box.

The City of San Jose got involved with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group and their biologist, Glenn Stewart, who was the man I had seen on the San Francisco cam doing the banding. An agreement was reached, a falconcam installed, and the rest is history.

Hope I haven't expounded too much; probably feeling the need to catch up from not posting! I post on the bay area forum about the happenings in Rochester, and refer people to this forum and falconcam all the time. It's great to feel always welcomed here!

Oh yes, Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow too!      

Debbie

And happy Valentines day to you too!

I remember watching George & Gracie  and the year the falconcam started in San Jose. It seemed like I had more time to watch all the cams back then. Now I seem to only have enough time for Rochester.

There's never too much chatter here, in my humble opinion!

[Dumpsterkitty]

So I must say that my favorite falcons are Mariah, Kaver, and their son, Havoc.  I loved watching M&K and their offspring when they nested on the Kodak Tower.  My office has a view of the former nest box and High Falls.
Keep up the good work, and I hope to come out of lurkdom and into watching mode this Spring    Sue (Bess)

I always enjoyed your posts of what you could see from the Button Factory! Good luck with the move...hopefully you'll have good views from there!

[Donna]

I began watching in 2007 I think. A friend referred me to a falconcam in downtown San Francisco, watching a pair named George and Gracie raising their brood at a monitored nest box.

The City of San Jose got involved with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group and their biologist, Glenn Stewart, who was the man I had seen on the San Francisco cam doing the banding. An agreement was reached, a falconcam installed, and the rest is history.

Hope I haven't expounded too much; probably feeling the need to catch up from not posting! I post on the bay area forum about the happenings in Rochester, and refer people to this forum and falconcam all the time. It's great to feel always welcomed here!

Oh yes, Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow too!      

Debbie

And happy Valentines day to you too!

I remember watching George & Gracie  and the year the falconcam started in San Jose. It seemed like I had more time to watch all the cams back then. Now I seem to only have enough time for Rochester.

There's never too much chatter here, in my humble opinion!

I remember back then having 15 cams open at one time!! Very hard now and I don't know why!! 

[bess440]

So I must say that my favorite falcons are Mariah, Kaver, and their son, Havoc.  I loved watching M&K and their offspring when they nested on the Kodak Tower.  My office has a view of the former nest box and High Falls.
Keep up the good work, and I hope to come out of lurkdom and into watching mode this Spring    Sue (Bess)

I always enjoyed your posts of what you could see from the Button Factory! Good luck with the move...hopefully you'll have good views from there!

As soon as a tour of the new space is allowed, I'll let you know what my view is.  In any event, there's always lunch hours and binoculars! 

[bess440]

Bess, what floor will you be on at B&L?  My company used to occupy all of the 4th and 5th floors there, and half of the 9th floor.  I worked in that building for seven years.  I think you'll like it there.  

Hi Patsy - We'll be on the 18th floor, so the view (when I can see it) should be pretty awesome.  The location should shave off around 5 minutes of my commute time, and hopefully I'll run into some watchers as well.  As you can tell, I'm trying to look at the good points of moving versus leaving the High Falls and wildlife in the gorge.