Right on schedule, Beauty laid her 2nd egg at 11:14 am!

Dot.ca had offered her breakfast this morning, which she declined. 🙂

If you fell asleep last night before midnight, you missed the arrival of Beauty and Dot.ca’s first egg of 2018! We had our first view of the newly arrived egg at 12:02 am. Of course we’re all very egg-cited to see it this morning. It’s a sure sign of Spring!!!

We had a nice look at the egg when the sun came up.

Dot.ca brought a food gift to Beauty. While she left to eat her breakfast, Dot.ca watched over the egg.

It didn’t take long for Beauty to return. Both Beauty and Dot.ca will take turns guarding the eggs.

Congratulations to Beauty, Dot.ca, the Rochester Falcon Watchers and Fans!

We’ve received some bittersweet news from our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation. Sweet because Aria, one of our young falcons from 2016, has been spotted in Etobicoke, Ontario, CA at an established nest site with a male named Lucky. Bitter because O’Connor, the female at this nest site for the past five years, has not been seen in quite awhile. Many of us have followed O’Connor for a very long time and have come to love her. We all hope that she is ok and that we will see her again in the future.

Here is the post on the Canadian Peregrine Foundation’s Facebook page:

“It is with sadness that we must report a change in the resident female at the Etobicoke nest site today. O’Connor is no longer present. A few weeks ago now, a cam watcher noticed that the female on camera at Islington and Bloor that did not look like O’Connor and had what appeared to be a silver USFW band rather than the anodized purple that OC bears. We did not want to post any news regarding this until the situation could be confirmed by one of our great volunteers and Lucie took up the task along with Kathy to ferret out the truth of the matter. Kathy continued to monitor the oddities in the pairs relationship and Lucie came down with camera and scope in hand. We can now confirm that the resident female currently on site is Aria, banded black / green 85/BA from Rochester, New York, daughter of Beauty and Dot.Ca. While we welcome Aria to Canada, we also are thinking about our fabulous O’Connor. It is important to note that this is not the first time O’Connor has abandoned a site as a result of pressure. Lately there has been workers on the rooftops of all three Etobicoke towers as well as this young female on the fringes. This is a carbon copy of what happened in 2011 at the William Osler site that O’Connor used to call home. She left Osler as a result of the exact same pressures and headed south to ESL where she took over the site from Angel, the long standing unbanded female there. We may see O’Connor return to ESL in the spring or even re-emerge at another site in Ontario or beyond, her lack of presence not in any way confirmation of her demise. We hope to see her again some day. Thank you to all who alerted, monitored and participated in this recent discovery. I apologize for not publishing sooner but we will never post something of this magnitude without confirmation from the ground first as this is a serious change. Once again, thanks to all for your help in this.”

Aria is the daughter of Beauty and Dot.ca! She hatched on top of the Times Square Bldg in 2016, along with siblings Matilda, Lilac and Leo. They were all banded on 5/24/16. Here’s Aria on her banding day.

Aria, which means wind and, in some meanings, bird, was named by Rochester Falcon Watcher Jeanne Yamonaco. She was banded with a Black 85 Over Green BA NYS band and blue tape over her silver USFW band.

Kathy Majich, an Etobicoke Falcon Watcher, sent us a couple pictures of Aria taken by photographer Roger Leekam. She is a beautiful sub-adult! Thanks for sharing these stunning pictures Roger and Kathy!

Kathy has also shared some observations of Aria’s behavior since she’s arrived in Etobicoke:

“It’s such a learning experience having a one year old on site – well 17 month old! I’ve watched 1 year olds raise kids on cam but never had the pleasure of having one here in person to watch. She’s very much like a juvie in some ways, she chats a lot, announces it to the world when she’s caught food..lol! People keep asking me if she’s okay, is something wrong – why is she yelling..lol! She sits on the nest ledge sometimes and gazes up at Lucky adoringly and other times she flies around and entices him to go flying with her – very sweet. I don’t underestimate her though, whether or not she and O’Connor met – she’s here and she’s holding the territory. As you know there are many singles around that would love a home, so the fact that she’s holding her own so far is good! And she can hunt really well, pigeons, gulls, etc. She was well taught that’s for sure. And she flies like a daredevil ..which I admit makes me nervous. But she’s not careless that I’ve seen…just young and enjoying being a Peregrine. Talons crossed she settles in well and next year we have some B and DC grand-kids to watch!”

Also, did you know that this is where Aria’s dad, Dot.ca hatched! His parents Jack and Angel were the territorial pair at Etobicoke before O’Connor and Lucky arrived. We had this same thing happen here in Rochester when Archer arrived. Archer was the son of Freedom, who was the son of Mariah and Kaver. It’s a small Peregrine Falcon World!

Here is the link to the webcam at Etobicoke Sunlife. You just might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Aria and Lucky!

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/Web_Cams/Etobicoke/index.htm

I’ll end this Imprints by adding a picture of Aria at her new nest site. We all hope that O’Connor is safely off somewhere and that Aria, with her new mate Lucky, successfully raise young in 2018!

We are so happy to post this good news update about Seabreeze and the juvie rescued near Seneca Towers.

Jenny Landry, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), reports the following:

Seabreeze (Eyas that fell from the Times Square nest location, banded 25 Black Over BA Green, which lost nearly half of its retrices (tail feathers)

By mid July, his tail feathers had grown in over half way and he had become an excellent flyer. He was flying the length of the flight cage and making excellent turns. He was easily catching live prey and ready for release. He was released near Phoenix, New York.

The young fledgling falcon that was recovered near the Seneca Towers building:

This bird was a newly fledged male that appeared to tangle with a fence. It did not appear to have any broken bones; however, he did seem to have a lot of bruising and soreness. It appears that all he needed was some rest and then some practice flying. He is currently flying very well and being tested with live prey. He has been fitted with bands (27 Black over BA Green) so he will be released as soon as he is ready.

This is such wonderful news and we thank Jenny very much for the update.

We’ve just received an update on Seabreeze’s progress from our friend Jenny Landry from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The rehabbers say he is doing great and is currently in a flight cage. There seems to be no damage to his tail, so his feathers should regrow.

We were very happy to receive this good news!

It is with a very heavy heart and much sadness that we report the loss of Charlotte. This morning, at approximately 8:45 am, she was hit by a car on State St. She did not survive her injuries. No one witnessed what happened to cause her to land on the street. Watchers MAK and Carol P were on fledge watch this morning and saw all three juvies and both parents flying.

We would like to thank Mary, who reported to us that there was a falcon down. Also, the Rochester Police and Animal Control who attempted to help her. All of you are so appreciated. Thank you.

Fly Free Charlotte…..

As many of you already know, Seabreeze accidentally fledged early Wednesday morning. He was found on the sidewalk on the south side of the Times Square Bldg by Watcher Carol Phillips, with the help of Debbie, who works in the Times Square Bldg.

Seabreeze was checked out by a local vet, where they determined that he lost five of his tail feathers, and broke some blood feathers. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) was contacted.

We just received this update from June Summers, President, Genesee Valley Audubon Society.

“Due to the loss of 5 out of 12 tail feather, Seabreeze will be going to a rehabilitator to regrow his feathers, learn to fly and catch prey. Unfortunately, we will not be able to return him to his family. His feathers will take longer than three weeks to grow back and his family wouldn’t recognize him.” – June

We are very sad that Seabreeze will not be returned to his family, but happy that he was not too badly injured from his fall.

The remaining three eyases, Ontario, Charlotte and Rachel, are getting ready to fledge. Ontario made it to the well wall and is running back and forth, exercising his wings. The Fledge Watchers will be out starting this weekend, keeping an eye on our young falcons. If you are able to spare some time to help out, please come downtown to join the watch. We could sure use your help!

It was Banding Day for our Rochester Falcons today. Our friends from the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) arrived this morning around 10:00 am. On hand, to help out, were RFalconcam members June, Shaky and Carol P. Also helping out to moderate the forum and live streaming video feed were Donna and Eileen. The Rochester Falcon Watchers arrived to watch from the front of the Times Square Bldg.

Let’s meet our four eyases. (Pictures by Carol Phillips)

Seabreeze (Male)
25 Black Over BA Green
No Tape over USFW Silver Band
Named by Judi Miller’s 6th Grade Class, Enrico Fermi School #17, Rochester, NY
“Named for the our local area (and park) near the lake where some of the falcons have been drawn.”

Ontario (Male)
26 Black Over BA Green
Blue Tape Over USFW Silver Band
Name submitted by Susan Meyer of Rochester, NY and George Niessing also of Rochester and selected by RFalconcam forum members.
“Ontario is for the lake falcons fly over and to remember the year Lake Ontario rose to some of its highest levels in recorded history!”

Charlotte (Female)
87 Black Over BA Green
Red Tape Over USFW Silver Band
Named by Donna Cook
“A neighborhood in Rochester in the U.S. state of New York, located along the western bank of the mouth of the Genesee River along Lake Ontario. It is the home of the Port of Rochester and a great place for past Falcons to rest before migration or to just hang out for the watchers to enjoy!”

Rachel (Female)
88 Black Over BA Green
Yellow Tape over USFW Silver Band
Named by Mark Bezinque
“Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring, was important to the public’s early understanding of the dangers of pesticides. As a boy, I learned about the accumulation of pesticides in peregrine falcons and how it threatened their very existence. Her work helped save our favorite raptors.”

It took about an hour to retrieve the four eyases, band them and return them to the nest box. All under the watchful eye and swooping by both parents, Beauty and Dot.ca. The DEC Technicians checked the eyases to make sure they were all healthy. All of them had full crops.

Here are some Banding Day pictures.

Welcome to the Rochester Falcon Family, Seabreeze, Ontario, Charlotte and Rachel! Many thanks to those that chose these wonderful names!

Our friends from the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) will be coming to Rochester this morning to band Beauty and Dot.ca’s four eyases. Banding should happen at approximately 10 am. When they are banded, they will be given their chosen names!

It’s time to vote for your favorite names for one of Beauty and Dot.ca’s Eyases!

The polls are open! From the many excellent suggestions that were received, Rfalconcam’s Naming Committee selected 10 names in each of the three categories: male, female, and gender-neutral. Thank you to everyone who submitted names.

Three polls have been created for members of the Rfalconcam Forum to vote for their favorite in each category. One of the four eyases will be given the winning name from either the appropriate gender-specific poll or the gender-neutral poll, depending on which winning name receives the most votes.

You must be a member of the forum to be able to vote for a name. Join the forum now if you’d like to participate! Use this link to register:

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?action=register

A questionnaire will be sent to the email address you supply during registration. You must reply to this email in order to have your membership approved.

If you are already a Forum member but don’t remember your password, use this link to reset it:

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?action=reminder

Once you have logged in  to the Forum, use these links to vote:

Male Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=16327.0

Female Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=16325.0

Gender-Neutral Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=16326.0

The polls close at 11:59 pm EDT on Sunday, May 21, 2017.