Fledge Watch – Lucy Alonzo, June 18, 8:00AM – 12:00PM
When I arrived for my watch, Lisa, Dan S. and Jeanne were there; they updated me on recent events. Ananta and Grace were in the playpen, Linn in the nestbox, Sacajawea on the perch, Mariah on the playpen railing and Kaver on the north stack of Beebee Station.
The watch was mostly uneventful – which was just fine by me since it was the first I had handled alone! Sacajawea made several hops from the perch to the nestbox and back; she exercised her wings vigorously several times on the perch. Wings were occasionally visible in the playpen. There was a great deal of kakking. At 9:45 Mariah dropped off food in the nestbox, where Linn was, and Sacajawea hopped back in to eat her share. Actually I could not see what was happening at all well from the ground – I saw an adult arriving, presumably with food, then lots of wings; then the adult had gone and Sacajawea had disappeared from the perch – the food might have been dropped in the playpen, and Sacajawea might have jumped down there to get some, for all I could tell! So I was very thankful for the brochure with phone numbers, and for Carol P. who was able to check the Falconcam and tell me what had really happened, when I called her!
Several other fledge watchers, including Jim P. and Dana, stopped by later. We could not see any more playpen activity and wondered whether Ananta and Grace had moved around to the shade on the north side. Maria returned and went into the nestbox with Sacajawea and Linn. At the end of my watch, Barb, Shaky and Carol P. had arrived. All the falcons were very quiet – perhaps taking a siesta in the noonday heat!
