So much happened this year, some good, and some bad. But, in the end we all cheered as a very small eyas broke out of his egg under his dad in the nest box on top of the Times Square Bldg. After all the sadness of this year, this young falcon made his way into our hearts.

At his banding day, our friends at the NYS DEC determined that this young, feisty falcon was a male and he was given the name Orion, suggested and chosen by the members of the Rochester Falcon Forum.

His parents, Beauty and Dot.ca, after finally settling their differences, got down to the business of caring for their young son, who wanted for nothing. Both of them would bring in food and feed him. His crop was always full and he grew up to be a very handsome young falcon.

Orion was very entertaining and gained many fans from around the world. His antics in the nest box were amusing and he formed a strange bond with a rock named Orville, who “fledged” just after Orion did.

Orion fledged on August 2nd. The GVAS/Rochester Falcon Fledge Watch was in full swing and many Watchers were there to witness his first flight. From the beginning he was a superb flyer. There were a few rough landings and a couple of bounces off of buildings. But, he learned quickly from his mistakes and was soon chasing his parents around the skies of downtown Rochester, much to the delight of his Watchers. The Rochester Falcon Forum members were buzzing, sharing pictures and reports of his exploits. He was a late hatch, so many folks from other falcon nest locations joined us once their own young left. Then one day he was gone.

Saturday morning, September 8th, was the last time we saw him. Watchers on the Broad St Bridge were thrilled to have both Beauty and Orion on the front of the Rochester Library. Beauty had hunted successfully and was enjoying her early morning meal. Orion waited patiently a few feet to her right. After she ate her full, she brought the remainder over to Orion. Beauty returned to the corner of the library to keep guard over her young son while he ate. Beauty took off and flew to the nest box. Eventually Orion followed her. He grabbed the remainder of the food and flew towards the Times Square Bldg. He landed on a lower, nearby building and left the remains of his meal on that roof before taking off again. That is the last time there was a confirmed sighting of Orion by any of the Rochester Watchers.

The folks who had been watching Orion daily since he fledged were not concerned. Before he left, he had been seen successfully hunting and honing his skills with his parents. He was flying incredibly well. It was his time to leave us, to go on his life journey to become an adult Peregrine Falcon, to find a mate and raise young of his own. We wish him fair winds on his travels. Stay safe Orion. We hope to see you again.

ROC the Day returns this year on 12/12/12. After such great success last year (thanks to our generous supporters!) Rfalconcam will be participating once again. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as more information become available.

Let’s ROC the Day together!

This year started with sadness & turmoil, but it had a very happy ending. His name is Orion!

Over the past few weeks, the Rochester Falcon Watchers have been very busy. They have been out on the streets surrounding the Times Square Bldg, where the Rochester Falcon nest box is located, from dawn to dusk and past. Early morning on Thursday, August 2nd, Orion spread his wings and flapped & flapped & flapped and he was off! It was a short flight across the front of the building to the ledge on the south side, but, it was a great accomplishment for this young Peregrine. His next flight thrilled the Watchers below. He again took off from the building heading south over the Gannett Bldg, turned back and flew past the front of the building heading north. He made another incredible turn and headed back to the Times Square Building, this time gaining altitude! Orion made a very solid landing on the ledge above the nest box. The Watchers were ecstatic to see him do so well on his first flights. Ever since that day, he has been unstoppable.

To date, he has been seen on most of the downtown buildings, including the Kodak Office Bldg that used to be home to Mariah and Kaver and their 43 young. The Frontier Communication Tower seems to be a favorite spot. The first time he made it there, he was following Beauty. He landed on the steel framework above her and just stood there for a moment. Then, he started to hop, flap and run his way around the different levels of the tower, claiming it as his very own jungle gym. The Watchers watched in amusement as he “played” above them.

Orion has done very well since his first flight. His parents Beauty & Dot.ca have been substitutes for the siblings he does not have. They have been witnessed flying together, stooping, talon tagging, chasing and it has been reported that Orion and Beauty have successfully performed food exchanges. This is a maneuver between two Peregrines, where one brings in food clutched in their talons and the 2nd Peregrine flies up to them, flips over and grabs the food. Orion has been seen flying up to meet Beauty above the Genesee River. Beauty was clutching prey in her talons and Orion flew up beneath her, flipped upside down and grabbed the food from her.

Even though the Fledge Watch has ended, the Falcon Watchers will continue to watch Orion, knowing that he will be learning much from his parents over the next month. Beauty and Dot.ca will continue to care for him, teaching him the skills he will need to survive when he goes out on his own. Our hope is that one day we will hear that Orion has been seen with a family of his own. We hope that for all our Rochester Falcons.

GVAS (Genesee Valley Audubon) and the Rochester Falconcam folks would like to thank ALL the volunteers that helped out with this year’s fledge watch. This includes not only those that live here in Rochester, but all of those from around the country that attended the 2012 Falcon Watch Weekend including the Buffalo Falcon Watch Team. Your help with the fledge watch was very much appreciated. THANK YOU!

We sent this current picture of Beauty’s foot to Barbara Louck’s of the NYS DEC. It did seem that the injury was looking much better, but we wanted the opinion of an expert.

We received this most welcome message back from Barbara.

Dr. Becker agrees : much improved! … that confirms that it was inflammation or infection.

As we wait for Orion to fledge, this is very good news indeed!

2012 Falcon Watch Weekend – August 4th & 5th 2012

Every year that we’ve had young falcons here in Rochester, we’ve had a Falcon Watch Weekend. It usually takes place in the beginning of July, but this year is different. Due to all the turmoil this year, we had a very late hatch.

We chose August 4th and 5th for this year’s gathering. In the past, falcon fans from all over the world have attended the Falcon Watch Weekend. We hope this year will be no different.

So, if you’re free that weekend and you would like to meet other Rochester Falcon Fans, please join us! There will be more up-to-date information on the RFalconcam Forum under “Events”. If you haven’t already joined the forum, please consider doing so. But, you don’t have to join to read the information.

Hope to see you all there!

The final results of the voting are in!

The top female names are Faith and Nyla, each with 19 votes.
Unfortunately, neither will be used for our male eyas.

The top male name is Orion with 36 votes.

The top gender-neutral name is Solstice with 30 votes.

Since the male name, Orion, received the most votes, it will be the name
given to the eyas.

Orion is the constellation of “The Hunter” who watches over Rochester’s
winter skies and is one of the most recognizable constellations.

The name was submitted by Kristen Weick.

Congratulations Kristen! Orion is a wonderful name for our eyas!

It’s a boy!

This morning, July 13, 2012, Beauty and Dot.ca’s eyas, a young Peregrine Falcon, was removed for banding. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation biologist removed the young bird for a short time while certain measurements were made. The leg measurement indicated this eyas is a male. His health inspection showed a clear mouth, eyes and throat. Numbered metal bands were placed on both legs so the bird can be recognized and tracked in the future.

Banding has allowed us to track a number of the falcons that were raised in the Rochester (NY) nest boxes. Rhea Mae (2006), Linn (2007) & Quest (2008) were all hatched in Rochester and are now nesting in and around Toronto, Canada. Zeus, released here in 1994, 18 years ago, is still in Omaha, NE, where he and his mate raised young this year.

A poll has been started on the Rochester Falconcam Forum to choose a name for the eyas. We hope that we will be able to track this eyas by his band numbers in the future.

Many thanks to the management of the Time-Square Building for supporting the rfalconcam.com and for helping to making this banding possible today.

*Update*

Additional Banding Information:
Band colors on left leg: Black 25 Over Green R
USFW Band on right leg: 220642306

Banding Day for the Eyas! Friday, 7/13/12

Beauty and Dot.ca’s eyas will be banded this morning sometime between 10:30 a.m. and noon by the NYS DEC.

Please do not be alarmed if you’re checking out the cameras during that time and the eyas is not there.

We are very happy to announce that after a long two year wait, Rochester finally has a young falcon in the nest box at the top of the Times Square Bldg. Two eggs have not hatched and probably won’t. Since there is only one eyas this year, we’ve decided to have a naming contest. It is open to all our viewers and fans.

Much care and thought was used to name past eyases. We’ve included the criteria we’ve always used when choosing a name. Please read the rules very carefully and use the link below to submit either a male and female name or a gender neutral name.

Deadline is July 6, 2012 at 11:59:59 PM EDT.

Suggested Rfalconcam Naming Criteria Acceptable Categories for Names:

Explorers, Astronomers, Conservationists, especially those with International appeal (e.g., Galileo, Amelia [Earhart], Magellan), or those who have played a significant role in Peregrine repopulation efforts.

Names inspired by Nature–topographic, meteorological, geographic, etc. (e.g. Mariah, Kaver, Isaura, Fulmine, Alkyonis, Skye, Aconcagua)
Inspirational Names (e.g. Freedom, Hope, Destiny)
Mythological Beings (e.g. Isis, Thor, Zeus, Ananta)
Words that refer to falcons in languages other than Modern English (e.g. Thlotli, Hafoc)

Categories that do not fit the criteria:

Names derived from religious, political, or popular culture icons.
Names directly related to a human person either living or dead, except as noted in the acceptable criteria above.
Names related to a commercial product, or a copyrighted or trademarked name owned by any corporation, individual or organization.
Names that reflect negatively on any group, organization, individual or entity.

Names should be well researched whenever possible. Supporting rationale for the name is required, so give us a few sentences that explain the name and the reason you chose it.

Submitting a Name:

That’s easy! Just click on this link to open the submission form. Only one submission per person please! If multiple submissions are sent in, only the first one will be accepted.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dF83TjZJVlRyOXZKQkZWMUZ5ZE5mNkE6MA

If submitting a name, please do not discuss it here or on the forum. We would like to make this as fair as possible to all participants.

Judging the Name Submissions:

The Rochester Falconcam’s Naming Committee will evaluate all name submissions for appropriateness, including (but not limited to) adherence to the naming criteria; well researched name; uniqueness of the name and how well it follows the “spirit” of past falcon names.

The committee will select the top five male, female and gender neutral names from those submitted and create a poll for members of the Rfalconcam forum to vote for their favorite in each category. 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!

NOTE: MEMBERS OF THE NAMING COMMITTEE WILL HAVE FINAL EDITORIAL RIGHT OF REFUSAL FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS, AND THEY MAY REJECT ANY NAME SUBMISSION THAT DOES NOT MEET THE NAMING CRITERIA OR IS JUDGED NOT TO BE APPROPRIATE FOR ANY OTHER REASON.

Past Falcon Names that Meet the Criteria Above:

2002

Freedom
Isis – Egyptian goddess, mother of the Falcon god Horus

2003

Isaura – A wind that blows off the Greek Isles
Chayton – A Native American word for Falcon
Destiny
Thlotli – An Aztec name for Falcon
Edge – Named for Rosalie Edge, who founded the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, USA

2004

Alkyonis – Named in honor of the 2004 Olympic games in Greece
Pride
Gahastey – Native American word for a type of wind
Grissom – Named in honor of Virgil “Gus” Grissom, the second American to fly in space
Hafoc – Old English word for Falcon

2005

Esperanza – Spanish word for Hope
Ihteram – Arabic word for Respect
Fulmine – Italian word for Lightning
Aconcagua – A mountain in Argentina, the highest in the Western Hemisphere
Skye – An island in Scotland where falconry is practiced

2006

Aura – Latin word for breeze
Sabrina – Celtic goddess
Rhea Mae – Named for two famous Peregrines that were instrumental in repopulation efforts in the United States

2007

Ananta – A Sanskrit word meaning “infinite” and “endless.” It is one of the many names of Vishnu, the supreme being in the Hindu faith
Linn – Named in honor of Linn Pierson, a naturalist for the New Jersey Dept. of Fish and Wildlife who was an educator and tireless advocate for Peregrine falcons in New Jersey
Sacajawea – In honor of the Shoshone woman who accompanied early American explorers Lewis and Clark on their historic trek through the western United States
Grace – Graces were sister goddesses in Greek mythology who had control over pleasure, charm, elegance and beauty in human life and in nature

2008

Diamante – Spanish for “diamond”.
Quest – A search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something
Seneca – Named after the largest tribe of the Iroquois confederacy of North American Indians
Susan B – Named for the famed Rochester native and Women’s Rights activist
Zephyr – The name given to the West Wind in Greek mythology

2010

Callidora – Gift of Beauty
Jemison – In honor of Mary Jemison, an American frontierswoman and an adopted Seneca

Name submissions will be accepted until 11:59:59 PM  EDT on Friday, July 6, 2012.

Good Luck!

Introducing Beauty and Dot.ca’s First Eyas!

We’ve all been watching the Rochester Falconcam cameras intently ever since Beauty laid her two eggs. We watched as she pulled them under her, along with an egg that had been laid earlier by Unity and so it began!

This morning, at a little after 6:00 am, while Dot.ca was taking his turn on the eggs, a very small wet eyas won the battle to break free from its egg. Much to Dot.ca’s and all our viewer’s amazement, a young eyas made its way into the world when the egg split in half.

Along with the newly hatched eyas, two eggs remain in the nest box. Hopefully, a sibling will soon join the first one. We do not hold out much hope that Unity and Archer’s egg will hatch.

After a year of tragedy and uncertainty, we have something to celebrate! If all goes well, there will once again be young Peregrine Falcons learning to master the Rochester skies!