We absolutely LOVE to hear about past young from the Rochester nest site.

Our friends at the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project posted pictures on their FB page on Friday (3/8/24). Rochester Falcon Watcher Dana Mulhern shared the pictures with our watcher group, including an enlargement of the intruding female’s band. We all agreed, Black 86 over Green BA.

After checking the banding list, we were surprised to see that it is Lilac from 2016! Lilac was last seen 8 years ago, after fledging from the Times Square Bldg nest box. Her parents are Beauty and Dot.ca.

So, where has Lilac been for 8 years after leaving Rochester in July, 2016? We’ll probably never know, but wouldn’t it be awesome if she could tell us about her adventures!

The following pictures were shared by Rochester Falcon Watchers from the 2016 Fledge Watch.

Many thanks to Deb and Matt from the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project for providing the following pictures of Lilac’s visit from the Utica nest box cameras.

We all hope that Lilac, Astrid & Ares (the current pair in Utica) all remain safe. Our friends in Utica will remain vigilant and report any further visits by Lilac.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Lost, but never forgotten.

Many hearts were broken on August 22, 2023. The day I received a text from our friend Mark Nash from the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. Quest had been found on the ground with very severe injuries by a couple of concerned folks. They remained with her until Mark arrived. He saw immediately that she was in trouble. The X-rays they took of Quest confirmed his worse fears, she wasn’t going to survive. Mark shared pictures of Quest’s injuries with us and explained that a decision was made to humanely euthanize her.

Quest began her life in a nest box on top of the Kodak Tower under the watchful eyes of her parents Mariah and Kaver. She was one of five young that hatched in 2008.

On May 30, 2008, Quest and her siblings were banded and given their chosen names. Mike Allen and Barbara Loucks, from the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation, banded each of the eyases and they all received their names. Three girls and two boys! Seneca (F), Diamante (m), Zephyr (m), Susan B (f) and Quest (f). Quest was given her name by students at the Hilton Quest Elementary School and they were there to see her banded. That was the 11th year that the Kodak Falcons had been banded. Her NYS band was Black 96 over Green V. Blue tape was placed over her silver USFW band.

Because Quest was the largest on banding day, the DEC chose her to receive a transmitter. On June 5, 2008, she received her transmitter. Because they did not have the proper glue to seal the harness that was placed on her to hold her transmitter, they used Mexican Red ladies nail polish.

Quest successfully fledged on June 21, 2008. Her Watchers were thrilled to see her take her first flight. She and her siblings flew in the Genesee River Gorge, near the High Falls, learning to chase prey and each other. Oh, and mom and dad too! So much fun! Those were the days!

She was last seen in Rochester, NY mid-August. Her transmitter readings were started on August 18, 2008. On August 22nd, we started receiving witness reports from Martha’s Vinyard, Nantucket and Cape Cod. I was in touch with many of the folks there. They were thrilled to have her during that Winter and shared many pictures and stories from her adventures.

Quest’s travels were followed by her many fans all over the world!

Some of the Rochester Falcon Watchers followed her when her transmitter readings placed her in Canada, on the other side of Lake Ontario. We actually found her and her mate flying around a power plant. Yes, you heard right. She had a mate!

In 2011, she was spotted with her mate. Kendal, on a building across from Harlequin headquarters on Don Mills Rd. She was given a nest box and the rest is legend.

On December 21, 2014, Bruce Massey, a member of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, confirmed with us that Quest had finally lost her transmitter. That was such great news!

From 2011 thru 2023, she raised 42 young. She was one short of her mom Mariah’s 43. Quest and many of her siblings went on to raise young and helped to increase the population of Peregrine Falcons in the United States and Canada.

We call it the Mariah and Kaver Legacy. Of course, this included Mariah’s first mate, Cabot-Sirocco.

An Untold Fledge Watch Story, June 21, 2008

Quest’s Fledge Flight took place 15 years ago, yet it seems like it was just yesterday. Kind of. So you can imagine my memory is a little foggy. There were many Rochester Falcon Watchers on duty that day and of course, I can’t remember everyone that was there.

When Quest finally spread her wings and took her first flight, she ended up landing on the ground in a parking lot on the north side of Kodak Office. When we arrived, she was just walking around and checking out all the new stuff in her world.

The Watchers kept at a distance and kept an eye on her. It was finally decided that she was in danger of being hit by a car, so a plan was hatched. It was decided that she needed to be rescued, but she had other ideas. No way was Quest going to let us get anywhere near her.

Three of the Watchers volunteered to rescue Quest and put her into a carrier. I came in behind with a blanket and two other Watchers kept her attention from the front. Everything was going great until she turned her head around and saw me. It was like, no way! That’s when Quest took off and landed on a low building in the back of the parking lot. That’s all we wanted. She was off the ground and now under attack by a Kestrel. Quest wasn’t happy and neither was the Kestrel. In those days, we had a family of Kestrels that nested on the BeeBee Station. The Peregrines and Kestrels were always going at each other.

Again, we settled in to keep watch over Quest. After a while, she was annoyed enough to take off again, this time heading east, towards the Genesee River. One of our new watchers took off, sprinting. He was able to follow her and see where she landed. When we all caught up, we saw that she was on a much higher building. From that point on, Quest joined her family and continued her journey.

FLY FREE QUEST!

Pictures of Quest Shared by many of her fans.

It is with great sorrow that we have to report the loss of Quest from 2008.

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation reported on their Facebook page that Quest was found on the ground with a very badly injured wing. Our good friend Mark Nash from the CPF arrived and took Quest immediately to the vet. X-Rays were taken and it was determined that she was too badly injured to ever fly again and that she was in a great deal of pain. The decision was made to euthanize her.

We would like to thank Mark Nash, the Canadian Peregrine Foundation and all of those involved with helping Quest get the care she needed.

Fly Free Beautiful Quest. ♥️

It is with a very heavy heart and much sadness that we have to report the passing of our young tiercel, Genesee.

The Rochester Falcon Watchers have been watching him since his return to the Rochester area last year. He was mostly seen in the Charlotte/Summerville area, but there were reports from birders seeing him along the lake shore hunting as far east as Sodus. We were all very happy to recently learn that Genesee had found a mate.

Yesterday, 1/7/17, Rochester Falcon Watchers Dana Mulhern and Carol Phillips were out checking the lakeshore, hoping to find Genesee and his mate. When driving over the Irondequoit Bay Bridge they spotted a falcon down on the road. They contacted the DEC and Officer Snowden retrieved the falcon. He kindly let us know that it was in fact Genesee and it looked like he had been hit by a car. There was a dead Merganser nearby and he thought that may have been what caused Genesee to come down to the roadway.

Genesee made it thorough that very hard first year which a large majority of young falcons do not survive. He found a mate and we had high hopes that, with her, he would raise young of his own.

Fly Free Genesee. We will miss you.

Well, you know we love to hear news about our Rochester falcons, especially when awesome pictures are available!

Jerry Anderson posted a picture of a Peregrine Falcon he had watched hunting at Gallagher Beach (Buffalo, NY) on the Buffalo-Niagara Rare Bird Alert. He reported the following:

“This is one of the Peregrine Falcons I regularly photograph at Gallagher beach. There is usually a pair.”

Gallagher Beach is not that far from Central Terminal, where Diamante and Gleig nest. It would be interesting to know if Gleig is the 2nd falcon that Jerry has been seeing.

Jerry kindly gave us permission to post his pictures of Diamante. We knew you would all love to see him!

We have received some very good news from our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. Quest no longer has her transmitter. Rfalconcam Forum member Donna Cook was able to capture some pictures of Quest taken by the Harlequin falcon cameras. She immediately noticed that something was missing. The transmitter antenna we were so used to seeing on her back was gone. She shared the pictures with other members of the forum and members of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation (CPF).

– Picture of Quest from the Harlequin Falconcam

Many thanks to Donna and CPF Member, Bruce Massey, who positively identified that it was Quest at the Don Mills nest site and that she no longer had her transmitter! Here is Bruce’s report.

Quest Has Shed Her Transmitter and On Site with a Potential New Suitor
December 21, 2014 – Toronto – Don Mills

Bruce Massey Reports:

With the nest camera back online and showing us views of the adult peregrines active around the site, I decided to venture out to do a quick check in. One of the most conspicuous things about Quest these days is that in the camera shots taken of her at the box, the antenna of her transmitter could not be seen at all. I set out to try and confirm whether the female was Quest and if she was now backpack free.

I found her in and around the nest box soaking up the sun and with my scope was able to get excellent looks at her back. I can say without doubt that the backpack harness and transmitter she has been wearing for the past several years is no longer there. Quest was looking quite fabulous, all her feathers sitting neatly preened across her back and chest. I was also able to confirm her recovery band number as Black 96 over Green V as she sat sunbathing. The male was also quite active in the area and the two met at the box a number of times bowing and vocalizing together. I set the scope on the male and turned my attention to the task of confirming his identity.

He spent a great deal of time up on the Harlequin building sitting in the sun and I waited for him to do some stretching and reveal the look I was seeking. At first glance I was able to only see the USFW band and it was covered in blue tape. This was not consistent with Skye, the male that was with Quest this past nest season. I continued to watch and finally got the look that I was waiting for. The band number that I could clearly see was a solid Black Y over 72 with blue tape which turns out to be a bird hatched in 2013 at the Amexon nest site named Lucky.

We are unsure when this change took place and where Skye is currently. We will have to wait until spring to clearly understand whether Lucky or Skye will be Quest’s mate for the 2015 nesting season.

Posted on December 21, 2014 10:53 pm

Here are some images of a young Quest with her transmitter in 2008. She did a lot of wandering her first year and made lots of friends, especially in Nantucket and Cape Cod.

Good News! Ihteram, daughter of Mariah and Kaver from 2005, has been found again after an absence of five years.

Here is a link to the April 14, 2008 Imprints posted when Ihteram was found nesting at historic St. Joseph Catholic Church in Detroit, Michigan with her mate, an unbanded tiercel (male).

There was very little news posted about Ihteram and her mate, so we lost track of them.

Now, we are very happy to report that five years later, Ihteram has again been positively identified.

Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce Miller had been corresponding with Barb Baldinger of the Macomb Audubon in Michigan. She is a volunteer who helps monitor the Peregrine Falcon nest sites in Michigan. Barb told Joyce that there was a new nest site in Detroit and the female was banded, *2/R (black/red). Joyce immediately recognized the band numbers as one of our own, Ihteram. She notified Barb with the good news.

Ihteram and her mate have established a new nest site in downtown Detroit (MI) on the roof of a skyscraper. The nest has 4 eggs in a partially protected corner. If all goes well, there will be some new additions to the Rochester falcon family.

Many thanks to Joyce and Barb for sharing this wonderful news! Stay tuned. Hopefully there will be more news to share soon.

Here is a picture of Ihteram that Barb took yesterday (May 20, 2013). She attempted to get a picture of the tiercel, but he took off before she could take it.

Photo courtesy of Barb Baldinger, Macomb Audubon

Also, a couple pictures taken, one by Marcia Lyman and one by Louis Capuano of Ihteram after she fledged.

Sadly, we have to report the loss of another Rochester Falcon. On Monday, January 23, 2012, a falcon was found dead on top of a school in East Aurora, close to Buffalo, NY. The DEC was notified and they confirmed that it was Valiant, a Rochester Falcon hatched on top of the Kodak Tower in 2006. It is assumed that he hit the building.

Valiant aka Sabrina was one of three falcons that hatched in 2006. As many of you know, that was the year that Mariah badly injured her leg and Kaver became a super dad. Rochester Falconcam Watchers, anxiously watched Mariah’s struggle to brood, feed and raise three young eyases. We were in awe when we saw Kaver bring food to Mariah at the nestbox to feed her and the eyases. Out of what could have been a tragic year for the Rochester Falcons, three young falcons grew and flourished on top of the Kodak Tower in Rochester, NY. Rhea Mae, Aura and a tiercel named Sabrina.

On banding day, the DEC collected the three eyases. Second to be banded was the smallest eyas. After careful measuring of the leg and further examination, it was determined that this was a small female. Long time Rochester Falcon Watcher Dan Stiehler had been given the honor of naming this eyas. He had submitted two names, Sabrina for a female and Valiant for a male. That day the name Sabrina was given to this small eyas. This was the name submission from Dan. Sabrina – Latin: Vibrant, Full of Life. These are just two characteristics so highly evident in matriarch Mariah.

As time went on, it was more and more obvious that our Sabrina was actually a male. He was much smaller than his two sisters. But, until it could be proven that she was a he, the name Sabrina would remain for this handsome tiercel.

Sabrina, Rhea Mae and Aura thrived under the care of their doting parents and fledging was near. Mariah healed and Kaver continued to hunt and care for his family. Falcon fans around the world nervously watched the camera at the nest box on top of the Kodak Tower. Three young eyases flapped their wings furiously, strengthening them for that first flight. Sabrina was more advanced than his bigger sisters. Smaller, he was after all a tiercel and would take flight first. He did!

The Rochester Falcon Fledge Watchers were down below, waiting. Flap, flap, flap, flap! Flap, flap, flap, flap! He’s off!!!!! Sabrina was first to fledge that year and he flew strong and sure.

That Spring/Summer of 2006 was a very special year for all of us. Six eggs were laid, three survived to fledge. Two of these three went on to nest in areas where they were seen and reported. We have had no word of Aura, but Rhea Mae is currently nesting on the 43rd floor of the Sheraton in downtown Toronto with her mate Tiago and Sabrina was nesting at the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge over the St. Lawrence River.

But wait! Sabrina was observed that first year and guess what? We had our first “official” proof that Sabrina was in fact Valiant!!! Yes, Valiant was definitely a tiercel. During the years that he and his mate Zanar from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada nested there, it has been reported that they laid 7 eggs and 2 young falcons fledged. This is not a very safe nesting area since it is under a bridge over water. Rochester Falcon Watchers Dan Stiehler and Lisa McKeown had actually visited this nest site but were unable to see Valiant or Zanar.

RFalconcam Forum member Janet, a first time Rochester Falconcam watcher in 2006, told me that had been the first time she watched. She only viewed the cameras, never visited the discussion board, so she had no idea what this small falcon’s name was. She called him “Red”, because the DEC had wrapped Sabrina’s USFW silver band in red tape, to make it easier for the watchers to ID them.

2012 has started with the loss of two of our Rochester Falcons, Callidora and Valiant. With the celebration of sending new Peregrine Falcons out into the world, we must also deal with their loss. Fly Free Valiant and Callidora. It is with sadness and fond memories that we say goodbye.

We here at the Rochester Falconcam, hope that 2012 will be successful and that Beauty, Archer and Unity will raise young that will continue the legacy of the Rochester Falcons and help to raise awareness of an endangered species. We learn something new every day about these beautiful birds. Thanks everyone for continuing to watch and support the Rochester Falcons.

Rochester Falconcam team members have spoken to Beth Shoaf & Lisa Vezzani, volunteers at Wildlife Works in Youngwood, PA. With their help, we were able to find out more about what happened to Callidora on Friday, January 20, 2012.

According to Beth & Lisa, Callidora was found inside the ArcelorMittal Steel Mill in Monessen, PA on January 20, 2012. She was spotted by workers inside the mill on the ground with her injured right wing hanging low, unable to fly. They were able to catch her and contact Wildlife Conservation Officer Beth Fife, who took Callidora to Wildlife Works, located about 40 miles from Pittsburgh, PA.

Callidora’s wing was badly damaged. Both the radius and ulna were shattered in three places. The breaks were severe. The Antebrachium is the middle portion of the wing, consisting of the radius and ulna. The secondary feathers attach to the ulna.

Later that day, after further inspection of the wing by the rehabber consulting with an orthopedic surgeon, they found it to be totally shattered and non-repairable. They decided the kindest thing to do was to euthanize her. They are saddened by this as we all are.

There is no way to know what happened to Callidora to cause the injury to her wing since there were no witnesses as far as we know. The one thing the rehabber was able to say is that she was not emaciated and that she had a full crop. She also had her adult plumage.

Callidora was found in Monessen, PA. Click on this link to see a picture of the area.

http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc59088.php

Here is a link to the rehabber’s (Wildlife Works) website:

http://www.wildlifeworksinc.org/home

We here at Rochester Falconcam and all the folks that watched Callidora and her brother Jemison grow to fledge from the Times Square building in downtown Rochester, NY, want to thank Beth, Lisa and all the good folks at Wildlife Works that helped with Callidora’s care. A big thank you to the workers at the ArcelorMittal Steel Mill in Monessen, PA, who rescued Callidora and contacted Wildlife Conservation Officer Beth Fife, who we also thank. Also, thanks to Kate St. John for contacting us to let us know what happened and Juanita Woods for helping to identify Callidora.

Fly Free Callidora. You will be missed by many.

we must report that Callidora has passed away. This afternoon, we received a call from Beth, the rehabber that had been caring for Callidora. She informed us that Callidora’s injuries were too severe and there was nothing that could be done for her. Because of this, last night, Callidora was euthanized.

We here at Rochester Falconcam are heartbroken, but we know that everything that could be done for her was. Callidora is at peace now and no longer suffering.

We are trying to find out what happened. When we do, we will share that information here on Imprints.

Thanks to all that cared for our beautiful Callidora.

Fly Free Callidora!