Just a reminder to join us tonight at midnight as we ROC Rfalconcam!

And, yes, we have a plan to win the $500 and $1,000 bonuses. You can read all about it at http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=15167.0.

The link to donate should be https://www.roctheday.org/rfalconcam (no confirmation yet).

We here at Rfalconcam want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving! We have much to be thankful for in 2015.

We are thankful for our downtown Rochester falcons Beauty, Dot.ca, Cadence, Genesee and Bronx, who we sadly lost.

We are thankful for our 2nd pair at Seneca Towers. Billie, Seth, and their two young sons.

We are thankful for all our Falcon Watchers. They are tireless in their commitment to watch over our young falcons when they take their first flights and they are there to help when needed.

We are very thankful for our Falcon Fans, friends and families who make this all possible.

This year was the first time we lost one of our young falcons, Bronx, after a successful fledge. We mourn his loss.

Cadence, Genesee and the two young tiercels from Seneca Towers all fledged successfully and have not been seen recently by our watchers. We hope that they stay safe and survive to find mates and territories of their own.

Beauty and Dot.ca have been seen checking out the nest box on the Powers Building, which is very close to their nest box on the Times Square Bldg. The Rfalconcam Team has been busy installing new cameras at this nest box just in case they move. At this time, it is uncertain which nest box they will choose.

The Fall/Winter months are busy for our Falcon Watchers. Many Peregrine Falcons are migrating through the Rochester area. Falcons are being seen at different locations, including a female that has been positively ID’d as Big Frank from Ontario, Canada. We were happy to let our Canadian friends know that she was safe and seen successfully hunting.

Beauty & Dot.ca and Billie & Seth have been very active in their territories. So far, none of them have migrated. Be sure to check out the Falcon Watch Reports for current news about the Rochester Falcons.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support! We hope that you and your families have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Rfalconcam Team

ROC the Day is December 1!

Are you as ready to ROC as we are? Join us on Tuesday, December 1 starting at midnight to ROC the Day for Rfalconcam.

Don’t miss it. Sign up for a reminder at http://www.roctheday.org/ and get the latest news on ROC the Day activities at our Forum.

Let’s ROC the Day together!

The Rfalconcam 2016 Calendar is now available and ready for sale at our Zazzle store just in time for the holidays! Our main camera captured many unbelievable images of our falcon family this year. There were so many to choose from!

Many thanks to this year’s contributors; Annette Bachstein, Patricia Carey, Donna Cook, Kristine Genagon, Eileen Karle, Linda King, Kathy Majich, Dana Mulhern, Carol Phillips, Ruth Rutty and Linda Schlaffer.

Please consider purchasing one for yourself to help support the Rochester Falconcam.

Link for New Calendar:

2016 Rochester Falcons RFalconcam Calendar

Special thanks to Merchandise Team Member Dana for putting this calendar together.

Rfalconcam Merchandise Team

Suzanna Lull’s and Valerie DellaCerra’s 4th Grade Class, PS 62, from The Bronx, NY, were so excited to be asked to name one of the Rochester eyases this year. They submitted the name Bronx with the following reason.

“Bronx is for Jonas Bronck who came to the New World in 1639. Bronck’s homestead later became known as The Bronx, a borough of New York City.”

When they heard the sad news that Bronx had been injured and euthanized, they all got together and made posters to honor the young fledgling they named.

Thank you all for choosing such a wonderful name!

June 23, 2015

Monday morning, June 22, DEC biologist Jenny Landry received a phone call from Rich Calabrese at the Times Square Building about a potentially injured juvenile falcon found in one of the wells on the outside of the building. Rich wasn’t sure if it was injured or just trapped. Following Jenny’s instructions, Rich placed the young falcon in the nest box well. There the DEC and many of us monitored its progress. We figured out it was Bronx and the DEC determined his injuries needed to be attended to. DEC Region 8 Staff retrieved the injured falcon and transferred it to the rehabilitator.

This is Jenny’s report:

I am very sad to have to report that the fledgling falcon had to be euthanized due to the severity of its injuries. There was an injury to the spinal cord resulting in not only the apparent paralysis of the legs, but also the impairment of other functions (digestive) of the lower body. It was relayed to me that neither the vet nor the rehabilitator in their extensive experience, have seen a bird recover (for release or as an educational bird) from such a spinal cord injury and the decision was made to not prolong its suffering.

We are all sad to have lost Bronx and need to keep in mind that we still have two more young falcons to watch over and enjoy. We have so much to be proud of for the number of young falcons that Rochester has added to the current Peregrine Falcon population.

June Summers
President
Genesee Valley Audubon Society

Bronx was found in another well on Times Square building this morning around 9:30. He was moved to the nest box well by the building owner who also contacted DEC. Bronx was described as lethargic when he was found.

DEC is monitoring him and will take him to a vet if need be.

UPDATE: 6/22/15 2:20 PM

Bronx was taken by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the authority in charge of protecting Peregrine falcons in New York, to be examined by a qualified veterinarian. The DEC made the decision to take him after carefully monitoring the situation and observing that he appeared to be injured.

Online falcon watchers keeping a close eye on Bronx via our streaming video feed noted that he was not moving his legs but otherwise seemed alert and able to move about the floor of the well by use of his wings.

This morning our friends from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation arrived to band the three young eyases from the nest box on top of the beautiful Times Square Building located in downtown Rochester, NY. The tools needed were laid out and preparations were completed.

At 11:15 am, the extraction team was ready. All three eyases were quickly and safely removed from the nest box and taken to the banding room.

Their parents, Beauty and Dot.ca, were aggressively defending their young. Both were flying around and close to the building.

Each eyas received two bands; the US Fish and Wildlife Band and the New York State Band. Color tape was placed over two of the USFWS bands. This color tape will aid the Rochester Falcon Watchers when identifying them after they fledge (first flights). They were all checked over and given a clean bill of health.

They were also given the names that were chosen for them. Please join us in welcoming the three newest 2015 Rochester Falcons.

CADENCE (Female) – New York State Band – 91 Black over BA Green. Blue Tape over USFWS band.

Named by Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce Miller
Cadence means flow of rhythm and grace in movement, similar to a musical chord sequence moving to a point of rest and giving the sense of harmonic completion. There is nothing more rhythmic and graceful than a Peregrine Falcon in flight.

BRONX (Male) – New York State Band – 20 Black over BA Green. Red Tape over USFWS band.

Named by Suzanna Lull’s 4th Grade Class, PS 62, The Bronx, NY.
Bronx is for Jonas Bronck who came to the New World in 1639. Bronck’s homestead later became known as The Bronx, a borough of New York City.

GENESEE (Male) – New York State Band – 24 Black over BA Green. No Tape over USFWS band.

Submitted by Kristine Genagon of Batavia, NY and David Sabo of Chili, NY.

Genesee is for the river and valley over which he will first soar. Also, the Times Square Building was once the home of the Genesee Trust Company. The Genesee River flows through the heart of Rochester. Flowing northward from PA through New York, it is a tributary of Lake Ontario. It was seen in the early days to be a hydropower bonanza, providing original power to the 19th century mills and still provides hydroelectric power for downtown Rochester. The Genesee is also known for its beautiful and powerful waterfalls. High Falls is a famous part of the Genesee and is where many young Falcons have trained to fly before leaving Rochester.

Banding was completed quickly and the eyases were returned to the nest box. Beauty landed on top of the main camera and kept a very close eye on her young. Dot.ca remained close by.

Many thanks to the NYSDEC Team who did a wonderful job. We would also like to thank all the folks that chose names for the eyases. Thank you!

Banding will take place Friday morning at approximately 10:30 am. There will not be live camera coverage of the actual banding. However, we plan to keep our nest box cameras running and post updates to our Forum, Facebook, and Twitter throughout the event.

Local watchers will be able to view the banding from the Broad Street bridge. We ask that people refrain from going onto rooftops of nearby buildings as this would further stress the adult falcons attempting to protect their eyases.

It’s time to vote for your favorite names for one of Beauty and Dot.ca’s Eyases!

The polls are open! We received 77 terrific name suggestions. Rfalconcam’s Naming Committee evaluated all submissions and pared them down to 11 names in each of the three categories: male, female, and gender-neutral. (The committee had planned to narrow them down to 5 in each category, but there were just too many great suggestions!) Thank you to everyone who submitted names.

Three polls have been created for members of the Rfalconcam Forum to vote for their favorite in each category. One of the three eyases will be given the winning name from either the appropriate gender-specific poll or the gender-neutral poll, depending on which winning name receives the most votes.

You must be a member of the forum to be able to vote for a name. Join the forum now if you’d like to participate! Use this link to register:

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?action=register

A questionnaire will be sent to the email address you supply during registration. You must reply to this email in order to have your membership approved.

If you are already a Forum member but don’t remember your password, use this link to reset it:

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?action=reminder

Once you have logged in  to the Forum, use these links to vote:

Male Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=14475.0

Female Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=14476.0

Gender-Neutral Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=14477.0

The polls close at 11:59 pm EDT on Monday, May 25, 2015.