It was a hot and very windy night…and I knew there would be a change in the weather soon, as I struggled with a sinus headache. At first glance, there was a very quiet visitor lot and lots of parking. I was nervous that I would be the lone watcher but of course not! This Rochester crowd is way too dedicated and I located Susan, Joyce and Marianne on the sidewalk walking towards the bridge. (more…)

Just wanted to share some pictures that I took of Mariah retrieving a pigeon that dropped after an unsuccessful food exchange last evening. It was late evening and the lighting wasn’t that great for taking photos, but the series of shots is worth viewing. Enjoy!

Lou

As I was driving East on I490 a little before noon for my very first Fledge Watch, I had quite a thrill when I noticed a car speeding past on my right with a license plate that read “Shakymon!” I didn’Â’t want to risk a speeding ticket trying to keep up, but when I parked at High Falls and walked onto the pedestrian bridge, there he was! After spending hours
everyday for weeks on his website, I was very excited to meet him!

We didnÂ’’t see any activity over the gorge or around the smokestacks (except for a mylar balloon floating across the gorge) so Shaky, Carol P. and I walked down Mill St. behind the red Rochester Plumbing Supply building. From that vantage point, (more…)

When I arrived for my “official watch” at 5:15 am Dan was in his chair in the parking lot as usual. I first noticed the infamous headless pigeon was still in the parking lot from last night. (in Lisa’s report 6/26). Dan updated to the whereabouts of all the 4 juvies and the 2 adults–two juvies were on the Kodak tower and two were on the smokestacks, Mariah was on the launchpad, Kaver on the North smokestack. He also informed me that he was going to take his position on the bridge tomorrow because they are getting closer to flying over the gorge. Mike arrives shortly thereafter.
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Highlights:
Juvies change neighborhood.
Ananta does a power dive.
Mariah provides training lessons close up to the juvies and us.

Today’s morning watch was well worth the effort to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 in the morning.

First the important stuff:
– all four juvies were sighted and accounted for
– we’ve moved out of the parking lot and onto the Pont De Rennes pedestrian bridge.
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I arrived downtown before 6:00 a.m. for a very early morning Fledge Watch. It was a wonderful watch with lots of activity. Hope you enjoy the pictures included in this Kodak EasyShare Gallery Album. Plus, as an added bonus, I’ve included two video snippets

Fledge Watch Album

Video Snippets (in Kodak EasyShare Gallery Albums)

Sacajawea and Grace Cry for Their Breakfast (Size 6,963 KB)

Grace and Ananta Fly Together (Size 9,211 KB)

The Tale of the Headless Pigeon

I was greeted by a symphony of kakking from the smokestacks and a headless pigeon in the Kodak Visitor parking lot when I arrived at High Falls around 6:40 p.m. Susan and Brian relayed the story of the dropped food exchange, hence the headless pigeon in the parking lot. Mariah and a fledgling (Grace) were on the catwalk of the center smokestack. Kaver was at the top of the north smokestack, with another fledgling on a pipe at the top of BeeBee Station, later identified as Linn. Ananta was quietly perched on the south east corner of the 17th floor of Kodak Tower. Soon we found the fourth fledgling, Sacajawea, perched on a light pole at the corner of Mills St. & Platt St.
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I went out right from work, too early for most of the folks so I sat in the shade in the parking lot for a while, scanning for quiet juvie falcons. 2 were easily visible sitting on the ledge on the SE corner of the 17th floor. Another one with her back to me was more difficult, even though she was just one floor below and one window over. I couldn’t find the forth, but wasn’t worried. Brian soon joined me as the juvies came to life.

First one, then another, flew off – then there were 3 in the air. I couldn’t tell if all 3 were juvies or if there was an adult – it turns out it was an adult and she had some food with her. She tried for a food drop and one of the juvies got it! The one with the food flew back to the tower with her prize.
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Fantastic flying from three of the fledglings at lunch today, and I had a front row seat! Here’s the report.

Watchers Dana, Susan C, Larry O, Shaky and I enjoyed a warm noon hour watch. Even with the high temperatures and warm breezes, the young fledglings were enjoying short flights around the Kodak Tower. At one point we had three of them playing talon-tag over the visitor’s parking lot, east of the tower, while their sister watched from a lower building north of the tower. They are truly a joy to watch. Everyone that passes by can’t help but look up at the cries of the young Peregrine’s as they cavort across the blue sky.

Early in the watch, one adventurous fledgling followed an adult out towards the city (south). Both of them soared, circled each other and eventually returned to the tower.

At the end of my watch, they had all returned to the shady side of the tower.