ImprintsThe Journal of Rfalconcam |
A 3rd young falcon has arrived in the Rochester Falcons nest box! Here are a couple pictures captured by our main cameras this morning at 7:32 am! The first picture shows the moment the young eyas came out of the egg!
At approximately 10:43 am, Beauty and Dot.ca’s 2nd eyas hatched! Here is a series of pictures taken by Rfalconcam’s main camera showing the “break out”!
Later in the day, Dot.ca brought food to Beauty in the nest box and he watched as Beauty fed the two young falcons.
Sharp-eyed Rfalconcam watchers have spotted a pip in one of the two remaining eggs. A 3rd eyas should be arriving very soon!
We are happy to announce the arrival of the first eyas to hatch here in Rochester, NY in 2015!
At 12:28 pm, we got our first good look at a pip, a small hole in the egg.
Falcon Fans around the world were thrilled at the appearance of the young falcon at approximately 1:47 pm.
Both parents, Beauty and Dot.ca, welcomed the new arrival.
There are 3 more eggs in the nest box, that should hatch within the next day or two.
As many of our readers may recall, a pair of Peregrine falcons became frequent guests at Seneca Towers last year. One was a banded female from Luzerne County, PA. The other was an unbanded male. Two naming contests were held, and the winning names were Luzerne and Veteran.
Sadly, Luzerne was found dead in July, but another female, Billie (formerly Billy) from Buffalo, was spotted with Veteran in August. The two remained together until September when Veteran disappeared, presumably migrating south for the winter. A 2nd tiercel was soon spotted with Billie. He was banded and still wore yellow tape on his USF&WS band indicating that he was fairly young. His other leg sported a black over green band with 99/BA printed on it. A bit of investigating uncovered his banding records, which showed that he was not given a name at that time.
Of course, not having a name didn’t stop our watchers from calling him something other than “banded tiercel with yellow tape on one leg and black over green on the other” (the 99/BA part wasn’t determined until later). He was temporarily referred to as Mr. Yellow Tape, but given that the tape could fall off at any moment rendering this name obsolete, another name was needed. We could have chosen to hold another naming contest, but that would have been a lot of effort for a falcon that may have just been passing through on migration. Another option was to call him Seth, the runner-up in the contest that named Veteran, but we did not want to “use up” that name on a visitor that could be leaving in a few days. So instead, he came to be known as 99, a good temporary name for a migrating falcon that surely would be leaving soon, or at least in early spring when Veteran returned.
Well, 99 didn’t leave. He stayed all winter and is now Billie’s mate, which raises the question of what to call him. Do we stick with 99, or should we change his name to Seth? Or should we run another naming contest? We decided to ask the falcon watching community for their opinion.
We created a poll on the Rfalconcam Forum and asked members to choose one of the following:
The poll ran for two weeks, and today we are pleased to announce that the community has decided to change 99’s name to Seth.
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By the way, the name Seth was originally submitted in honor of Seth Green, the namesake for the road that Seneca Towers is located on, and the nearby park. Seth was a well known fisherman in the Rochester area and instrumental in the fish hatching industry.
This afternoon at approximately 6:16 pm, Beauty laid her 4th egg in the nest box on top of the Times Square Bldg in Rochester, NY.
Here are a couple of images of the moment captured by our main camera.
Beauty laid her third egg today. It happened at approximately 9:19 am EDT, a few hours later than her fans’ predictions but well within the normal range .
Both Beauty and Dot.ca have been on the eggs most of the day. This could signal the start of “hard” incubation. If that’s the case, then we should be able to expect one more egg, for a total of four. Since Beauty’s eggs have come at a more-or-less typical peregrine pace, if she does lay another egg we should see it in the next 2 to 3 days.
We are happy to announce the arrival of Beauty and Dot.ca’s 2nd egg, which arrived at 10:47 pm!
At approximately 2:46 pm this afternoon, Beauty laid her first egg of 2015 in the nest box on top of the Times Square Bldg. in Rochester, NY.
Peregrines usually lay their eggs 48 to 72 hours apart, so sometime on Sunday or Monday we should see egg #2.
Last year Beauty laid a total of four eggs. We’re expecting about the same number this year, but who knows. There could be five! Dot.ca has proven himself to be an apt provider for his family so we have no doubt that if we get a clutch of 5 eyases, (falcon hatchlings), they’ll be well fed and taken care of.
So, if you want to keep an eye out for the next egg, here are some signs that Beauty may be getting ready to lay the next one. She’ll spend a lot of time in the nest box, sitting over the bowl-like scrape that she and Dot.ca have dug into the gravel. She may look tired and disheveled, and have a heavy, gravid appearance. She can be in that condition for as little as a couple of hours before laying, to as much as a day. Then, when she’s actually delivering the egg, she’ll be restless, changing her position frequently.
The actual moment at which the egg is deposited can be hard to spot, but thanks to our live video streams you should have an unparalleled opportunity to share in the excitement. And of course, we’ll keep our eyes open too, and announce the happy news as soon as it happens!
The Rfalconcam 2015 calendar is now available and ready for sale at our Zazzle store just in time for the holidays! There were some stunning images captured by our main camera this year. So many to choose from.
Many thanks to this year’s contributors; Annette, Ginny, Pat, Donna, Teresa, Kris, Ei (Dumpsterkitty), Kathy, Lisa, Dana and Carol.
Please consider purchasing one for yourself to help support the Rochester Falconcam.
Link for New Calendar:
http://www.zazzle.com/2015_calendar_main_cam_collages-158789746649432508
Special thanks to Merchandise Team Member Dana for putting this calendar together. All your hard work is much appreciated!
If you’ve been following the RFalconcam Falcon Watch Blog, you know that all four of the young falcons that hatched on top of the Times Square Building have fledged successfully. Nor’Easter, Tesh, Mercury and Nettie have left the area. We wish them well as they begin their journey and we hope to hear about them in the future.
We would like to thank all the folks that came out to help with the fledge watch this year. To keep an eye on the young Peregrine Falcons as they took their first flights and trained with their parents, Beauty and Dot.ca.
There were a few anxious moments, including a premature fledge when a strong gust of wind swept Tesh off of the wall near the nest box. She ended up on a low awning above the sidewalk on the corner of Main St and Exchange. The Rochester Falcon Watchers gathered to surround the area and keep her safe until she was strong enough to fly again. When she did take off, she gained altitude and landed on top of a taller building where she remained for the evening. The next morning Tesh was off and flying well, eventually making her way back to the nest box and her family.
We had more good news, this time from Syracuse, NY. Pigott, who had been hanging out for the last few years on a building south of downtown Rochester, was positively ID’d as the new female at the Syracuse nest site. She left Rochester in March and it didn’t take her long to find a new territory and mate. We were thrilled to hear that she successfully raised a daughter.
2014 was a very successful year for the Rochester Falcons!
The following is from June Summers.
Thank you to the Falcon Watchers for putting in thousands of hours tracking the Peregrine Falcons, fledglings and those falcons just passing through. It’s amazing to learn the number of falcons that pass through Rochester on migration that our Falcon Watchers find and often identify by the band numbers. The Falcon Watchers are great ambassadors to the public for the falcons and GVAS. They are frequently asked what they are watching with binoculars. Their reply is always, “Peregrine Falcons.”
From Genesee Valley Audubon Soc.
June Summers
President
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