Falcon Watchers Report - 4/7/11

[Yarak]

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
If you've been keeping up with the tweets left by the Watchers in the field, you know that we've been attempting to figure out what was going on at the two possible nest sites in Rochester (NY).- A team of Watchers including Kathy O, Dana, Joyce, MAK, Brian H, Lou,...

Link:
http://rfalconcam.com/falconwatching/?p=1563

[Joyce]

As Carol mentioned, we were all hoping to have another pair of falcons in Rochester this year.  When Carol and Dana spotted in the scope a white dot on the right wing of the 2nd falcon at KP, it raised questions.  Why were we only seeing 2 falcons at one location and only 1 at the other?  Was it a coincidence that Archer's absence had become more frequent and Beauty's egg laying behavior did not appear normal? Looking back, when Carol reported 3 falcons downtown, could Lady Pefa have flown in for a visit?  So many questions.  One thing for sure is that we are learning urban peregrine behavior from day to day.

    

Here are a couple pics of the tiercel where you can see the white feather in the same location as on Arthur.  In other pics I found additional comparisons of similarity: separated feathers in the middle of the breast, a tiny white above the cere (can only be seen in certain lighting), and the falcon is banded.  There is a silver band on the right leg, but unfortunately haven't been able to confirm the color of the ID band on the left.  The last photo appears to have a dark band, but nothing concrete.

~Joyce

[margaret]

WOW!  That certainly looks like Archer's white spot on the wing!   And you say he's banded?