Beauty Returns to Times Square With A Friend
Beauty’s been spotted around the downtown area all winter, but today is the first time this year that we’ve seen her on the Rochester Falconcam’s cameras. As expected, our new Main Camera got a great picture of her. This is about the time of year we’d expect to see the falcons begin to make their return to the nest box, so everything seems to be on track. Or does it?
Beauty had a friend with her today. Here’s a shot of him at the left, next to the Main Cam, munching on some prey. Beauty is looking on from the perch of the nest box on the right.
Looks like Archer right? Only, it’s not. This guy doesn’t have any leg bands! In this picture you can see his left leg, and there’s clearly no band. Archer had bands on both legs, so this can’t be him.
Beauty seemed comfortable with this newcomer. Our Falconcam Archive Viewer (new for 2010!) shows her waiting patiently while the tiercel devoured his brunch. They both left the nest box shortly afterward. So, as the 2010 Falconcam season gets under way, we may have a new drama brewing here in Rochester. Where’s Archer? Is he just late returning home, or is this new tiercel going to be Beauty’s new mate? We usually get a healthy dose of drama at the Rochester Falconcam, and it looks like 2010 is not going to disappoint in that department!
February 21st, 2010 at 12:00 AM
It’s about time for whoever to get off the dime and fix this password mess on Imprints. I know three people who would like to post and can’t because we can’t get in.
February 21st, 2010 at 8:48 AM
I was afraid of this as sooon as I heard he had migrated…*sigh*.
February 21st, 2010 at 2:40 PM
I wish Mariah would come back. ;-; I’ve been watching her since I was five.
February 21st, 2010 at 2:42 PM
Er, seven. Maths fail. : D;
February 21st, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Do we name him “Beast?”
“Beastie?”
Paul
February 21st, 2010 at 7:54 PM
Any chance this tiercel is Kaver?
DianaR
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:09 AM
Yes, we usually do get a good dose of drama at the Rochester Falconcam – I love a good soap opera!! 😀 The new Falconcam Archive Viewer is great!! Thanks for your efforts in creating that, and the great post!
February 22nd, 2010 at 1:26 PM
Diana, my thoughts exactly.
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:15 PM
Ooh, finally some potential action at the nest box. With a twist!
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:40 PM
For long time observers the archive is not such a new feature, but this is the integrated version that was lacking previously. Initially it was the lynchpin of Shaky’s private falcon-watching site and what a mother lode of information it was. (Or still is, you can find it at shakymon.com)
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:57 PM
WOW! That picture of Beauty’s back is just stunning! The details
in the feathers, the clarity of the whole picture; just fantastic!
Sure hope this camera captures 2010 nesting!
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:33 AM
Poor old Orville (the pale rock in the Times Square Scrape, a companion of the Rochester Falcons for years) seems to be teetering on the edge of a depression.
There also seems to be a mini-depression in the gravel in the Powers box. But it could be an optical illusion (there have been such last year – illusions, I mean).
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Beauty’s buffy tummy makes me wonder if she’s got Peale’s blood in her ancestry. I’ve found some pictures of the subspecies with the same colour on their breasts. Do we know anything about her heritage?
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:47 PM
It is great to just see them back!!!!!
February 24th, 2010 at 11:22 AM
Ashira, many of the falcons that were reintroduced into the wild after their practical extinction from DDT east of the Mississippi were raised by falconers who were less concerned with pure blood lines. So an anatum and pealei mix is very common. We also once (must be 5-6 years ago) discussed some Peale blood in Mariah on account of her coloring.
We know Beauty’s immediate parentage, it must be somewhere on the site, and chose to keep the name given her at banding. But where she came from many generations back could be harder to trace. However, I do not doubt that there are some experts out there, citizen scientists, who can come up with a pretty good family tree.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Beauty’s history. http://rfalconcam.com/imprinting/?p=719. Her mom, Dorothy, is out of Wisconsin and all her chicks have that buffy borst. She and E2 are already in courting mode at Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning Kate St. John’s blog. Love is in the air!
February 24th, 2010 at 8:20 PM
Alison – ooh, really? Thanks. : D
Chrissy – Thank you! ^_^ I don’t know how I missed that post before. D : And that’s a cool blog – I’ll have to explore it. :3
February 24th, 2010 at 10:37 PM
The fact that both of Dorothy’s parents were hacked, indicates to me (without my being sure) that they were birds from a falconers’ stock like I referred to above. Chrissy’s report of them all having the same coloring that got Ashira’s attention is interesting and possibly indicative.
So now we have three generations in this falcon Beauty’s line; may there be a fourth this season!
February 25th, 2010 at 10:48 AM
: D That’s pretty cool. I hope Mariah has better luck this year, too. D : Poor old girl had a rough 2009.
February 25th, 2010 at 6:27 PM
Me too Ashira. Me too. 🙂
February 26th, 2010 at 9:08 AM
Has anyone seen Mariah lately? Hopefully she’s hunkered down somewhere safe.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:51 AM
I have not read any reports on Mariah sightings for some time. This is not necessarily a cause for concern. In Mariah’s first years in Rochester she did leave the area in the winter and even in later years would not be seen for days and weeks. I always had greatest respect for the faithful watchers (among others, Carol P.) who would nevertheless go out, braving the elements, and search the usual places in case she put in a showing.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:57 AM
Snowdrifts in the nest box at Times Square. The snow in the Powers Building nest is considerably less. I noticed this when the last snows came through Rochester, too. If I were Beauty, this might make me change my mind about choosing TS for my scrape. But, of course, Beauty probably does not have a long memory for such things – so by March, this may all be forgotten and the basic geographical configuration of TS may still look more attractive.
February 26th, 2010 at 7:59 PM
Alison is correct. There have been no positive ID’s of Mariah since end of October, 2009. We keep looking for her and will report if we see her. 🙂
February 28th, 2010 at 10:44 AM
Thanks Alison and Carol for the reply!
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:06 PM
Soooooo, how about what DianaR asked? Any chance that this bandless tiercel could be Kaver?
March 4th, 2010 at 9:26 AM
A small chance – the tiercel is unbanded, so we cannot know. Even if he hung around all summer and raised eyases with Beauty, we would probably never know for sure. But since he has not put in an appearance for several days, he may have just been flying though.