Earlier this morning, we were able to get a good look at the four eggs in the nest box. At 2:41 pm, the first of Nova and Neander’s eggs hatched. It looks like we won’t have to wait too long for our 2nd eyas to make an appearance! Stay tuned!

Early this morning, while most of us were sound asleep, Nova was busy laying her 4th egg! At approximately 3:36 am, Rochester Falcons Nova and Neander’s 4th egg arrived. Will there be a 5th? Probably not, since it looks like hard incubation has started. Stay tuned!

While the Rochester area was under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, Nova was busy laying her 3rd egg. Thankfully, the Tstorm stayed south of us, and the egg arrived safely in the Times Square Bldg nest box at approximately 4:12 pm.

The hours between Nova’s eggs has definitely changed this year. So, there’s no way to know when and if she might lay a 4th egg. We’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on the situation.

We were very eggcited to see that Nova laid her 2nd egg very early this morning at approx 1:33 am. Her usual time between eggs is 53-54 hrs. This egg arrived 101.5 hrs after her first egg! We’ll never know why there was such a long delay. Possibly an off camera intruder? Rochester Falcon Watchers did not witness any problems.

So we welcome this new addition to our Rochester Falcon family! If she goes back on her regular schedule of 53-54 hrs, egg #3 should arrive close to 7:00 am on Saturday morning. All we can do is watch!

Nova entered the Times Square nest box a few minutes before 8:00 pm, just as the winds were starting to strengthen. A few moments later, after shimmying a bit, an egg appeared beneath her at 8:00 pm. It was an amazing sight for those lucky enough to have been viewing the Rfalconcam streaming video just at that moment.

DT falcon rpt- from cam pic.twitter.com/AW2zo89Zun

— Dana Mulhern (@auntiewood) March 26, 2023

It was time for the Rochester Falcon Watchers to raise their glasses for their annual toast for a successful 2023 Season for the Rochester Falcons!

Fourteen watchers gathered on Broad St. in front of the Rochester War Memorial aka the Blue Cross Arena. From there we had a wonderful view of the falcon nest box on the Times Square Bldg and the surrounding area. One of the Rochester Falcons was even in attendance on the Wilder Chimney.

Just a quick aside, due to this being a new pair, we are unsure of their habits. So, is it Nova and Neander we’re still seeing during the Winter months? We all believe that Nova is still here, but that Neander may have migrated, and a new guy is hanging out. Both are unbanded, so it’s impossible to be 100% sure.

It was a cool morning, but not as bitter cold as it has been in the past. Temps in the 30’s and overcast. By the time we left, it was lightly raining and much colder.

Fourteen watchers came downtown for the 2023 falcon toast. Joyce, Brian H, Lynda, Carrie, Carla P, Jeanne, Pat, Dana, Lou, Shaky, Sue, Linda, Kathy O and Carol P. Rochester Falcon Fan Bob also joined us. Nice to meet you, Bob! Susan and MAK were on the phone.

Lynda brought special grapes; Carla P brought blue star cookies (from her son John Carlos) and I brought the toasting beverage. Shaky was our emcee. He walked around the group collecting Happy New Year wishes

After spending time catching up with each other, it was time for the toast. But the falcon on the Wilder chimney had other ideas. It wasn’t paying any attention to us. It took off, flew past the Times Square Bldg heading south. It wasn’t long before the falcon headed back carrying a pigeon. We all watched as s/he flew behind the Wilder bldg and out of sight. The watchers found the falcon eating on the lower roof of the Powers bldg. After taking a few pictures, we returned to complete our toast.

We all raised our glasses and wished our falcons good health and luck, hopefully adding many falcon babies to the Rochester family.

Here are some pictures I took and wanted to share with all of you. Happy New Year to all the Rochester Falcon Fans!

Carol P.

Zara was released yesterday afternoon (8/25/22) at approximately 2:45 pm at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. It was determined that she would be able to feed herself and survive.

Amy Mahar, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) sent us a video of Zara’s release which was very successful. Please click on the link below to see Zara’s flight to freedom!

We hope to receive some more pictures of Zara’s release. When we do, we’ll share them.

Here is a collage of still pictures from the video. Thanks Joyce!

Thanks to all that contributed to Zara’s second chance at a life as a free Peregrine Falcon! Who knows, we may hear about her again in the future, raising a family of her own.

Farewell Zara!

Zara is improving nicely. The soft tissue injury to her right shoulder is healing and she’s looking much better, eating well and fattening up. Zara also received her first West Nile vaccine. She’s VERY feisty, according to June Summers, President, Genesee Valley Audubon. June was able to share a couple pictures of Zara in her flight cage. She’s flying well and gaining height.

Now for some very good news! We are happy to report that Zara has started the next stage of her journey.

On Friday, August 19th, the DEC transferred Zara to a facility that can teach her to catch food in flight. She will be released as soon as she can do that.

We want to thank Gary Zimmerman from Black Creek Wildlife Station for all his hard work in caring for Zara. Over the years, we have brought many of our falcons to him, including Mariah and a few of our young ones. Please consider donating to the Black Creek Wildlife Station.

Black Creek Wildlife Station, Inc.

169 Burnt Mill Rd.

Churchville, NY. 14428

Here are a few more Zara pictures shared by our watchers.

June Summers, President, Genesee Valley Audubon Society, visited Zara today. She’s been in a smaller cage resting, due to her soft tissue injury and she’s put on weight.

Zara will get vaccinated tomorrow against West Nile. Then, depending on how she looks, she will be moved into a larger cage.

It’s so wonderful to see her doing well.

June visited Zara to see how she was progressing. She took this picture of her in the rehabbers flight cage.

There was a little worry, because she was holding her right wing slightly lower than her left wing. Zara can fly, but she isn’t getting a lot of height yet,

Zara got an X-Ray yesterday and we received very good news. There are no broken bones! She has some soft tissue damage, which should heal with time.

Zara continues to improve and she has a good appetite.

We’ll continue to post updates as we receive them.