Branching, “Ledging” & Fledge Watch Followup
The girls are taking their first steps out of the nest box. Beginning this morning, first Grace (on the left in the picture above), and then Anata made the short hop onto the perch rail just in front of the scrape. Though she wasn’t the first to leave, Ananta has proven to be the more adventurous sister, spending nearly all day out of the scrape even and venturing onto the ledge to the right of the box. So far, Sacajawea and Linn have approached the edge, but haven’t yet followed their siblings out of the nest.
In the wild these journeys away from the scrape are called “branching”, because they often involve the eyases moving onto branches of nearby trees. Since there are no branches on the Kodak tower, regular falcon watchers here in Rochester have coined the term “ledging”, for obvious reasons. The first photo above gives a good indication of the girls’ size. They’re pretty much fully grown now, every bit as big as Mariah, who has just dropped off some late breakfast. All that’s left to do now is for them to build up their flight muscles and endurance. If Ananta sticks to her venturesome ways she may hop down to the catwalk soon. The others will follow at their own pace. These falcons have different personalities, and some are more daring than others. Linn, who was most likely the last to hatch, will probably be the last out of the scrape, but that’s by no means certain. Now’s the time to dust off our unofficial Imprints motto, Specto Subitus— Expect the Unexpected!
Once out of the nest box, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the eyases will return or not. In past years we’ve seen them stay outside in all kinds of weather, including heavy rains and high temperatures. There’s no need to be overly concerned about that, though. These falcons are well protected against the elements, and Mariah and Kaver will drop food to the eayses as needed to ensure that they stay fed.
For those who wanted to attend the Fledge Watch orientation meeting yesterday but were unable to, all is not lost! You still have an opportunity to sign up for the fledge watch. We’ll be posting the schedule of available watching timeslots just as soon as we get it compiled. Even if a shift is already filled, feel free to show up then. More eyes are always helpful when the juveniles start flying. We’ll also be posting some helpful instructions for a successful fledge watch, including some downloadable quick reference documents. Meanwhile, keep your eyes on the eyases!
June 17th, 2007 at 6:10 PM
This is absolutely exhilerating to watch ! Thank you so much for all of this.
June 17th, 2007 at 9:27 PM
It looks like three are out right now. Guess there’s no stopping them now!
June 17th, 2007 at 10:49 PM
I’m so happy, yet so sad to see the girls getting ready to leave the nest… Feels like my daughter getting ready to leave for college all over again!!!
June 18th, 2007 at 6:15 AM
Oh, to miss them over the weekend and arrive this morning to not see Grace and Ananta. What big girls we have now. I’m so proud. Thank goodness for the bands, they are getting more difficult to tell apart. I am so happy to have found this website. Thank you.
June 18th, 2007 at 8:04 AM
I missed them actually flying are there any snapshots? Yesterday morning I logged on to see if they had taken off yet but they were as the photo shows out on the perch railing to the box. So I guess that is it once they strat to fly they dont come back? Are they being taught to hunt or do they figure this out for themselves?
June 18th, 2007 at 8:38 AM
I spotted Ananta and Grace in the playpen this morning….very exciting to see them “move on” to the next stage!
June 18th, 2007 at 10:11 AM
your news has made my day…that i can still participate!!!! i can’t wait. what an odd mixture of joy and sadness this point in time is….i can’t imagine how it feels for all of YOU…..(sigh)
June 18th, 2007 at 11:22 AM
ev1, go to shakymon.com, and then to the “quick and dirty 30” on the left hand side of page. This will show you thirty minutes of pictures. You can use the -30, +30 to go back and forth 30 minutes at a time. Then hit the and it will play continuosly. Its great for seeing what you have missed.
June 18th, 2007 at 11:24 AM
sry, hit the forward and backward arrows to play continuosly.
June 18th, 2007 at 12:04 PM
Why are the parents now being seen with more frequency inside the nest box? Is it because there is more room available, or are they giving encouragement to those remaining?
June 18th, 2007 at 3:27 PM
No sooner has fledge-days begun, and out they went! This is terrific to witness, and as I’ve said before, I’m saving pictures and putting together PPT presentations in series. I worked on one yesterday when the girls were still little balls of down. I’m amazed at how they have grown in so short a time. I’m assuming that I’m not the only one collecting snapshots. I hope we’ll be able to see them flying to and from the scrape sometime this week.
June 18th, 2007 at 4:02 PM
Sacajawea is being such a good “big sister”, staying with Linn and encouraging her. Another successful family for Mariah and Kaver!
June 18th, 2007 at 5:04 PM
Please someone help me to decide about binoculars I should buy so that can see them better. My bg day was yesterday when i was able to see them from the street below!!! A man by the name of Brian let me use his. How nice.
June 18th, 2007 at 10:57 PM
My students loved watching the falcons this season. Your commentary on what was happening was excellent and they learned so much. Thank you for provide such a wonderful educational opoportunity for all of us.
June 19th, 2007 at 6:21 AM
What a treat this morning when I opened my screen to see Linn with her wings outstretched. She’s standing on the edge with that “I think I can” look on her face. It does seem that Saca is tending to her baby sis. How nurturing. All too soon will my days of falcon watching will be over, what shall I do then?
June 20th, 2007 at 10:08 AM
where will you be posting the list for the fledge watch? do we just come down to kodak to help? thanks!!!