So, What Does Everyone Think about the Rochester Falcons Situation?

[Carol P.]

Just one more thought...

Rochester's "lack-luster" year gave all of us the time to pay attention to Quest and Harlie.  Think about it  

That's exactly what I said to Dana the other day Janet.  Look at all the things we were able to see and accomplish this year because of NOT having fledglings to watch.  Helping out with two rescues at CT Buffalo and helping out with the fledge watch at the many nest sites.  Visiting and helping out with fledge watches with our good friends up in Canada.  Seeing Rhea Mae, Quest, Linn, and all their mates and young and attending all the banding days.  and Stormin!  How awesome was that!  He is a very special Tiercel and an M&K Grandkid.  This has been an outstanding year as far as I'm concerned.

But next year, I do hope we have young of our own again.  Absolutely nothing beats falcon fledge watching here in our home city.  As Dorothy said to the Wizard, "There's no place like home.  There's no place like home."  

[valhalla]

It is all part of God's plan, which includes helping the other watchers and helping other people.  Agreed, Carol - a good year!

[Bird Crazy]

The first Falcon love of my life was Kaver, I truly do not think he ever left Rochester (if you go back and read the old Kfalcon posts Mariah was hanging out in all of his old spots I think she was looking for him) I respect Mariah what a lady. I do not like what happened to her and was not thrilled with Beauty or Archer for that very reason. I wish we knew exactly where she is and maybe Mr T went and  found her (ya just never know.)

But then A&B gave us Calli and Jemison. They earned my "grudging" respect. Now it drives me crazy when everybody says how sorry they are for Beauty. She is a fierce falcon and not an object of pity. She has earned my loyalty and I care about her, but I love Archer he is Kaver's grandson. He has not slighted either of his ladies. I think the problem this year was not having two females, I think it was enviromental there seemed to be a lot of problems out there this year. Watching Beauty protect her eggs during that storm getting soaked, such dedication and all for eggs that were not fertile, now that you can feel sorry about.

In a perfect world each of "our" girls would have their own mates. But I fear if a tiercel moves in over the winter there will be a territorial battle. Archer will not give up some of his territory without one.

I hope next year, things work out that there are so many eyas in and around Rochester that the watchers don't know which way to look.

This year it  was a joy to watch Quest, Kendal and Harlie and not to forget the little Cinni mini

[Carol P.]

Kaver was seen by both Brian and I after the Tiercel was found at UofR.  I saw that Tiercel.  It was not Kaver.  What happened to him will forever be a mystery, especially since he is unbanded.  

Everyone on this forum has different opinions, different feelings about what happened in the past and what is happening now.  It's good that we all "talk" about it.    

The first Falcon love of my life was Kaver, I truly do not think he ever left Rochester (if you go back and read the old Kfalcon posts Mariah was hanging out in all of his old spots I think she was looking for him) I respect Mariah what a lady. I do not like what happened to her and was not thrilled with Beauty or Archer for that very reason. I wish we knew exactly where she is and maybe Mr T went and  found her (ya just never know.)

But then A&B gave us Calli and Jemison. They earned my "grudging" respect. Now it drives me crazy when everybody says how sorry they are for Beauty. She is a fierce falcon and not an object of pity. She has earned my loyalty and I care about her, but I love Archer he is Kaver's grandson. He has not slighted either of his ladies. I think the problem this year was not having two females, I think it was enviromental there seemed to be a lot of problems out there this year. Watching Beauty protect her eggs during that storm getting soaked, such dedication and all for eggs that were not fertile, now that you can feel sorry about.

In a perfect world each of "our" girls would have their own mates. But I fear if a tiercel moves in over the winter there will be a territorial battle. Archer will not give up some of his territory without one.

I hope next year, things work out that there are so many eyas in and around Rochester that the watchers don't know which way to look.

This year it  was a joy to watch Quest, Kendal and Harlie and not to forget the little Cinni mini

[Donna]

Don't get me going on Kaver, I miss him...BIG time. I just can't see him leaving and not coming back for his Mariah. Nothing would keep him away from his lair. Not Archer and not Beauty. So what happened to him? It was time for him to Migrate when he disappeared...after that, will always haunt me. I actually thought that was him at U of R and people were just keeping it quiet, I honestly did but if Brian, (he knows his birds) and Carol saw him after, then I'm just gonna have to believe he is still out there looking for his Love, Mariah.

[Kris G.]

Kaver was seen by both Brian and I after the Tiercel was found at UofR.  I saw that Tiercel.  It was not Kaver.  What happened to him will forever be a mystery, especially since he is unbanded.  

Everyone on this forum has different opinions, different feelings about what happened in the past and what is happening now.  It's good that we all "talk" about it.  

I don't remember reading that you and Brian saw Kaver after the dead tiercel was found.  The story I remember was that you were asked to look at the dead tiercel and didn't think it was him but took pics to other watchers to look at to see if they thought it was him. Then one of the watchers said she saw Kaver that same day and had taken a pic, the pic had a timestamp on it that indicated that the picture of Kaver was taken after the dead tiercel had been reported found at U of R.

[Carol P.]

Kaver was seen by both Brian and I after the Tiercel was found at UofR.  I saw that Tiercel.  It was not Kaver.  What happened to him will forever be a mystery, especially since he is unbanded.  

Everyone on this forum has different opinions, different feelings about what happened in the past and what is happening now.  It's good that we all "talk" about it.  

I don't remember reading that you and Brian saw Kaver after the dead tiercel was found.  The story I remember was that you were asked to look at the dead tiercel and didn't think it was him but took pics to other watchers to look at to see if they thought it was him. Then one of the watchers said she saw Kaver that same day and had taken a pic, the pic had a timestamp on it that indicated that the picture of Kaver was taken after the dead tiercel had been reported found at U of R.

That was the picture that Kathy O took with her phone.  The timing was determined to be too close to say.  Brian and I separately saw Kaver well after the Tiercel had died at the U of R.  I believe it was a day or so later.  My sighting was Mariah and Kaver on the communication tower and Brian's sighting, if I remember correct, was somewhere downtown.  Both M&K on Midtown maybe, can't remember.  I'll have to ask him.

Both of us are very sure we saw him.  As I said, I'm afraid we'll never know what happened to our Kaver.

Donna - I agree that Kaver would have returned if he could to his Mariah.  I also like to think he's out there somewhere, flying free.

[Nic1Pic]

I am sorry for you that you dont have babies this year. It is for next year for sure.
And like Patti said, there are things very much hard to live in our lives, I can tell you.
Falcons dont tell us what to do. We do not have to tell them what to do.
Good luck to Archer, Beauty and/or Unity
Nicole

[Vandrefalk]

Obviously, I don't check in too often anymore, but I like this topic.  I think those of us who experienced the Mariah and Kaver years will always miss them.  There was a long history there and we thought we knew them so well!  Nothing will ever be quite the same, but life is full of good-byes and changes.  I've had a bit of trouble "warming up" to Beauty, but it is what it is.  The triangle in Rochester is certainly interesting and Archer is quite a guy  and, of course, Mariah's grandson!!  I know I loved watching the babies last year and was as worried about Jem as any of M&Ks offspring  -- let's hope for more success next year!
One thing I do miss is keeping up with all of you -- somehow it seemed a bit easier on the KFalconcam board, but I do love this site.  I'm sorry to hear of Patti's losses and I know several other members have had some sad times.  I think of you all so often and am so grateful to all of you that keep the home fires burning!!
Vandrefalk

[Carol P.]

Obviously, I don't check in too often anymore, but I like this topic.  I think those of us who experienced the Mariah and Kaver years will always miss them.  There was a long history there and we thought we knew them so well!  Nothing will ever be quite the same, but life is full of good-byes and changes.  I've had a bit of trouble "warming up" to Beauty, but it is what it is.  The triangle in Rochester is certainly interesting and Archer is quite a guy  and, of course, Mariah's grandson!!  I know I loved watching the babies last year and was as worried about Jem as any of M&Ks offspring  -- let's hope for more success next year!
One thing I do miss is keeping up with all of you -- somehow it seemed a bit easier on the KFalconcam board, but I do love this site.  I'm sorry to hear of Patti's losses and I know several other members have had some sad times.  I think of you all so often and am so grateful to all of you that keep the home fires burning!!
Vandrefalk

Hi Karen!     Miss you so much my friend.  Hope all is well.  Thanks for your thoughts about this.   

[rushhen06]

Hi everyone,  I have been off the board for some time.  Just catching up.  Several things have keep me from signing in.  The changes to the board have been too complicated for this "old soul". Plus I lost interest when the nest box was changed to the new location.  I have no clue where it is downtown, as my knowledge of downtown is very limited and I'm hesitate to venture down there alone. As for the Kodak location, I don't have a clue.  Have been reading this discussion and found it to be very informative.  Thanks for updating me as to the many changes that have taken place.
 Helen R

[Dumpsterkitty]

Hi everyone,  I have been off the board for some time.  Just catching up.  Several things have keep me from signing in.  The changes to the board have been too complicated for this "old soul". Plus I lost interest when the nest box was changed to the new location.  I have no clue where it is downtown, as my knowledge of downtown is very limited and I'm hesitate to venture down there alone. As for the Kodak location, I don't have a clue.  Have been reading this discussion and found it to be very informative.  Thanks for updating me as to the many changes that have taken place.
 Helen R

Hi Helen!  Posting is the first step in figuring this place out-and you did just fine!  I know there was a sea of mixed emotions when the nest box was moved.  But we've come to love Beauty and Archer.  It's not the same as M&K, but I do believe we're re-building our community from a very hard time. 

As to the location of the new nest box-I don't know what you know of downtown, but it's on the building catty-corner across Exchange & Broad from the Blue Cross Arena.

There's a map of all the locations linked on the bottom of the page and

here

[Carol P.]

Hi everyone,  I have been off the board for some time.  Just catching up.  Several things have keep me from signing in.  The changes to the board have been too complicated for this "old soul". Plus I lost interest when the nest box was changed to the new location.  I have no clue where it is downtown, as my knowledge of downtown is very limited and I'm hesitate to venture down there alone. As for the Kodak location, I don't have a clue.  Have been reading this discussion and found it to be very informative.  Thanks for updating me as to the many changes that have taken place.
 Helen R

Hi Helen!   

Thanks for posting your thoughts.  We should meet sometime and I can show you where the two new nest sites are.  Ei posted a nice map of the Times Square area where the new nest box is located.  The other is located at Kodak Park off of Ridge Way between Lee Rd and Mt. Read.  Take care and hope all is well with you.

[Paul Hamilton]

A lot of us have forgotten that Archer did a great job of incubation.  What if one or more eggs had hatched?  That likely would have ensured that he had little time for Unity.  He was a good father last year and might have been an even better one this year.  We might even be comparing him to Kaver.

I had a good falcon summer.  I got to experience courtship, egg-laying, and incubation through  rfalconcam.  Afterwards, I got to experience the post-nesting life of a peregrine pair through the reports by MAK, Carol, and others. I followed Quest, Kendal and Harlequin, and got to see a fuzzball become a falcon. Finally, I spent lots of time with my own pair.  Even though they are far more experienced and in a milder climate, they only hatched one out of four, so that there could have been an nest failure here as well.

I missed out on seeing my falcon friends again during Fledge Weekend.  With only a single juvenile at my site, I also missed out on talon tag.

I keep thinking of the poetic passage by Glenn Stewart of the SCPBRG, which I have posted before in its entirety:

...The strong and the lucky are the ones that end up on an eyrie ledge, face into the wind. And their annual production of young--their courtship, 33 days of meditative attention to their eggs, and 60 or more days of care and feeding of their young--is a hedge against the spring when they are no longer at that eyrie. So they each get this chance. They push their way out of an eggshell and struggle to hold their head up in a cold world. They grow and they fly. With strength, determination, and a measure of luck, they are out there each day, face into the wind.

I love that phrase.  As long as they face into the wind, I'll be there, too. It's the least I can do.

Paul

[Donna]

Well said Paul!!