ImprintsThe Journal of Rfalconcam |
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.
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.
There are many abbreviations the watchers use when posting tweets and reports. It can be confusing. So here is a list of those off the top of my head. I’m sure I’ll miss some and they will not be in alphabetical order, at least for now. We can work on a better list for reference purposes. Ok, here goes! Let’s start at home.
TSB = Times Square Bldg, home of the Rochester Falcons nest box. Topped by the “Wings of Progress”. First known as Genesee Valley Trust building.
OCSR = Old Changing Scenes Restaurant, the tall building with the disk on top. It used to be a revolving restaurant a long time ago. I was told not to set my purse on the window ledge, you might not see it again! Official name: First Federal Plaza Building
TR = Officially called the Aqueduct Building, but Thompson Reuters occupied it most recently. Home of the Mercury Statue. We have been calling it TR, but it should probably be AB for Aqueduct Bldg.
BCA= Blue Cross Arena aka Rochester War Memorial, home of the Rochester Amerks. Go Amerks!
KO = Kodak Office or KT = Kodak Tower
FCT = Frontier Communication Tower
JCT = Jail Communication Tower
WW = Widows Walk aka Old City Hall Building. Most recently called Irving Place.
Bridges
ASB = Andrews St Bridge.
BSB = Broad St Bridge, the city wants to close this bridge to traffic, making it a pedestrian only bridge.
CSB = Court St Bridge.
Directions
N, S, E, W = North, South, East, West and all the combinations, ie NE = Northeast, SW = Southwest, etc.
We may call some of the downtown buildings by their old names. Here are some that have new names.
Xerox Tower now called Innovation Square.
Midtown Plaza now called Tower 280.
Bausch & Lomb now called Legacy Tower.
The Chase Tower (the Lincoln First Tower before that) now called The Metropolitan.
I’m sure there are more. Post any others you would like to know in the comments.
ETA: Also check out the Glossary Page on the Forum.
June Summers, President, GVAS, spoke to the rehabber this afternoon about how Zara is doing. She’s doing really good!
Zara is eating well and putting on a little weight. She’s in a flight cage where she has plenty of room to fly. She has no broken bones!
This is wonderful news!
June Summers, President, Genesee Valley Audubon (GVAS), received a call from the owner of the Wilder Bldg last night. They don’t go down to the basement frequently, but a member of the staff had to go down there and was startled by a large bird. June and the owner went down to the basement and found a juvenile Peregrine Falcon with a red band! Zara was quite feisty, but they were able to capture her.
June immediately took her to a local rehabber. Zara is thin, but seems to be in good shape. She was fed and will see a Veterinarian today.
You can imagine our total surprise! Zara had been missing for nearly 2 weeks. The Rochester Falcon Watchers now believe in miracles!
We’ll post updates as we receive them.
Zara was last seen by the evening fledge watchers either landing on or flying near the Wilder Bldg on Friday evening. She has not been seen since.
Today we contacted the owner of the Wilder Bldg and were given permission to check the building. Zara was not seen in or on the building or on the surrounding buildings.
We will continue to search for her.
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