Is someone could sent me the wonderful story when Mariah helped one of her/his baby to go up and return to the nest?
I remember the fact but not who was.
You can answer me on my personnal mail if you prefer.
Thanks.
Nicole
Hey Nicole! I believe you're talking about my Mariah and Isaura story? It was actually my first official Fledge Watch report. Here it is.
Some of you were not around when the Princess Isaura was born. She
was the only girl that year, with four brothers. She definitely had
Kaver wrapped around her talon. LOL
Here's a fledge watch I will never forget. I apologize to those that
have already read this, but I thought others might want to read it.
Isaura's First Day of Flight as Reported on Kodak Birdcam Discussion
Board – June 24, 2003
Fledge Watch - 4:00-9:00 p.m.
I'd like to start my report off by letting everyone know that all 5
babies are accounted for and well, as is Mariah. Kaver was there most
of the time, but took off. I'm sure he was off hunting and will
return soon.
Ok, on with the fledge watch.
As everyone knows it was Isaura's day for adventure. This morning,
Lisa spotted her in a fenced in area below the Bee Bee Station smoke
stack, where she stayed most of the morning.
I met Jim P in the visitor's parking lot across from the Kodak tower.
He had all the babies spotted, including Isaura on the cat walk of
the center smoke stack and Destiny on the NE corner of the 17th Floor
of the tower.
Jim had to leave, so I was on my own until 5:00 p.m. Marcia drove by
and said that she would be back as soon as she parked her car. Oh, by
the way, did I mention how hot it was? No, well, it was very HOT. OK,
on with the report. ;-)
While I was waiting for Marcia to join me, I watched Isaura, who
decided at that moment to take off. I followed her flight from the
stack to the tower. She stopped about 1/2 way over and then headed
back to the smoke stack. She was losing altitude and ended up hitting
the stack below the catwalk. After bouncing off of the stack she
headed north, past all the stacks and towards the gorge. I watched
for about a minute, but she did not reappear.
I went north down Mill St(?) to the end where it veers to the left.
Straight ahead is Falls St. This street leads down to the river to
the now abandoned Bee Bee Station. I checked out the area to see if I
could spot Isaura. No such luck. Darn, where could she have gone? :-
(
I headed back up to the visitor's parking lot where Marcia joined me,
and explained to her what happened. We both agreed to go down Falls
St. to the river (Genesee River) which is very steep. We went down to
the bottom and again looked around to see if we could spot the little
scoundrel. Still no luck.
I'm glad Marcia was with me at this point because (#1) it's scary
down there and (#2) she has eagle eyes. ;-)
She spoted a falcon flying in circles over a building on the other
side of the river, far away. We figured it must be Mariah circling
over Isaura's location. I just cannot believe that she went that far
on her first day of flying.
We headed back up this very steep road (did I tell you how hot it
was ;-) and walked back to the visitor's parking lot where we were
met by Lisa McK & Linda. We explained to them what happened and we
all headed out to the bridge to see if we could see anything from
there.
After a few minutes of looking, someone spotted two falcons heading
back towards the tower from across the river. Guess who it was!
Mariah was escorting Isaura back home. You could tell that Isaura
was really tired. As she lost altitude, Mariah would gently nudge
her from below, until, finally, Isaura landed safely on the tower.
Whew!
I have to say right now, that I have never seen a more beautiful
sight than this mom bringing her baby back safely from so far away. I
just can't imagine how Mariah found her so quickly. It's amazing to
me.
Well, we all headed back to the tower to see where Mariah and Isaura
landed.
Isaura took off at 5:00 p.m. and Mariah had her home at 5:40 p.m. We
were all very happy. ;-)
To this day it still amazes me how Mariah "escorted" Isaura back to
the tower. I didn't have a camera back then, so I never got any
pictures. I can still see Mariah gently "nudging" Isaura from
slightly below and behind her. Mariah is the best Peregrine mom
ever. ;-)
Carol P.
