Unofficial Fledge Watch Report – Saturday June 23 1-5 p.m.

Having received a call about some problems with Linn’s first flights, I took the 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. Fledge Watch. Upon arriving I was updated on the situation. Linn was on a window ledge on Kodak Tower about 3-4 floors off the ground– a higher level than the patio area (ground level) she had been on after an unsuccessful flight toward the smokestack and back to Kodak Tower. It was also thought that one fledgling, possibly Sacajawea had gone down the center smokestack. The other two fledglings– later identified as Grace and Ananta– were at the top of the center smokestack.

Early during the watch Mariah and Kaver signaled an intruder alert and where off to vanquish a Red-Tailed Hawk that made the mistake of entering the “no fly zone” around Kodak Tower. Eventually the two fledglings on top of the center stack took off. Grace flew to the 16th floor on the south side of Kodak Tower. Ananta flew around to the north side, apparently landing on the roof of a lower building. Two other watchers, Brian and Kevin, headed to the north side to look for her. Meanwhile, Linn remained on the ledge of the lower window. Mariah was perched on the southeast corner of the 13th floor and Kaver was perched near the main camera. Sacajawea was still missing in action.

While we watched from the Kodak parking lot, east of Kodak tower a fledgling flew from the north side of the Kodak building and landed on the catwalk of the High Falls Smokestack. Shortly after that a second fledgling also came flying from behind the Kodak Tower. I did a quick check of where the others were. Grace was still on the 16th floor ledge, Linn was still on the lower window ledge, the third fledgling was still on the High Falls catwalk, so this was our fourth fledgling! She had not gone down the smokestack but instead was hiding on a lower building north of Kodak Tower. She too landed on the catwalk of the High Falls smokestack.

The two other highlights of the watch involved Grace. At one point Kaver was soaring over the Genesee River gorge. Grace decided to fly out towards Kaver. Perhaps sensing that she was going too far, Kaver approached her as she reached the edge of the gorge and turned her around back towards Kodak Tower. Shortly after that Grace again left the 16th floor ledge and flew towards the west and around the north side of Kodak Tower. Soon she was dive bombed by Mariah, causing Grace to chase Mariah as mom gave her some lessons in quick maneuvering during flight.

What started as a anxious fledgling watch, ended with beautiful flights and all four fledglings accounted for.

Lisa McK.

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