We knew it would happen soon, but we’re never quite ready to see them leave the nest box.

Both Kanfai Malachim and Zara fledged successfully this afternoon.

Kanfai Malachim was first. She fledged at 1:38 pm flying off the wall and landing on the Union Trust Bldg. She soon took off again at 2:21 pm and flew up to the top of the Wilder Bldg. A third flight took her to the top of the Cross Rds Bldg where she cried for food from Neander who was nearby on a lower ledge. She flew a 4th time, chasing Neander past the Times Square Bldg. She was seen turning back towards the Wilder Bldg. She has not been seen since then, but she’s probably exhausted after all that flying and hunkered down somewhere out of sight. The watchers that witnessed her flights, said she was doing great, flying strong and gaining altitude.

Zara was our 2nd fledge at 4:35 pm. She took off heading north, landing on the corner of the Wilder chimney. She flapped and flapped and finally found her balance, nailing her landing. The watchers gave her a 10! Her 2nd flight took her to the Telesca Bldg.

Blaze is still home, enjoying a meal that he got to eat all by himself under the watchful eye of mom, Nova. This was the first time he didn’t have to fight his sisters for a bite of food. It looks like he’ll be spending the night by himself.

Many thanks to all the Rochester Falcon Watchers that have been downtown watching the young falcons take their first flights! And to those controlling the Rfalconcam cameras to track the movements of our two girls, who we can now call juvies. Awesome Teamwork!

We spoke with a DEC biologist after the banding. A preliminary report ruled out avian flu. The cause of death was related to egg laying, but Beauty was not egg bound.

If we learn anything else, we’ll report it.

Today was a special day for our young eyases. It was Banding Day!

At 10 am this morning, the folks from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) arrived in the lobby of the Times Square Bldg, along with members of the Rfalconcam Team. Many of the Rochester Falcon Watchers were outside to witness how Nova and Neander would react to their babies being taken from the nest box. We got our answer, they immediately started alarm kakking and diving on the DEC extraction team.

The eyases were quickly brought into the building where they were banded.

Now let’s introduce our 2022 Rochester Falcon eyases.

Blaze, our only male, was named in honor of Rochester Firefighters Neal Ludwig and John Mauer, Rochester Fire Department, Truck 10. It was because of them that we found out what happened to Dot.ca. They gave us closure and we thank them for that!

Bands: Silver USFW Band has no tape, NYS Band 33 Black over BA Green.

Zara, a female, was named by longtime Rochester/Buffalo Falcon Watcher, Carol Lukaszewski, aka Lukka, from Tonawanda, NY.

Zara was chosen as Rochester is known as the Flower City. Zara has Arabic roots and is a variation of Zahrah, which means blooming flower and radiance.

Bands: Silver USFW Band covered with red tape tape, NYS Band 34 Black over BW Green.

Kanfai Malachim, another female. Pronounced: Con-fe mal-a-keem. Her name is the Hebrew phrase for Angel’s Wings. Named by Mrs. Rebecca Swanton’s 5th/6th Grade Class, Derech Hatorah School in Greece, NY.

The boys chose the name because in the Hebrew religion they believe Angels are messengers of God in physical form. By seeing nature physically, we can relate to God better. The birds are the messengers.

Bands: Silver USFW Band covered with blue tape, NYS Band 35 Black over BW Green.

This is the egg that never hatched. We thought it would be interesting to show you how big a Peregrine Falcon egg is. About the size of a chicken egg. The DEC collected the unhatched egg and a bag of leftovers from the nest box to take back with them.

Many thanks to the NYDEC for banding the Rochester eyases. We really appreciate that we will have a chance to follow their wanderings in the future. Who knows, we may see Blaze, Zara or Kanfai Malachim raise a family of their own someday!

Hope you enjoy this Banding Day YouTube Video sent in by Rochester Falcon Watcher Dana!

Presenting the 2022-06-21 Rfalconcam Banding Day Stream plus pics and vid from Auntiewood…

https://t.co/glMljHRNGW

Great news, everyone! The eyases will receive bands this year!

Our friends from the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) will be coming to Rochester this morning to band Nova and Neander’s three eyases. Banding should happen at approximately 9:30 am. When they are banded, they will be given their chosen names!

You can watch the event on live streaming video, read commentary and view photos on our forum, or follow us on twitter @Rfalconcam and its chattier cousin @RfalconcamNow.

A big thank you to Rochester Falcon Watcher Dana for making these wonderful videos of Nova and Neander’s three hatches and for sharing them with us on her YouTube channel!

At 4:10 pm this afternoon our 3rd eyas broke out of its eggshell. Like the first two, Nova was there to help. Nova handles hatching differently than Beauty did. She will chew on the cracked egg and assist the eyas to break out. This is something we’re not used to seeing, but it’s not harming the eyases. We believe that Nova and Neander are first time parents, so they’re learning.

Once the eyas was free, she immediately tucked it under her. It was a couple hours, before we got a good look at the three eyases as Nova fed them. The first meal wasn’t enough to feed all three, so Nova went out for a larger meal while Neander came into the nest box to comfort the eyases. Nova soon returned with more food and made sure that each eyas was fed.

It’s now 9:30 pm, and Nova is in the nest box covering the eyases and the remaining egg, which we hope will hatch soon.

Every day, the eyases will grow bigger and stronger!

Since it was too dark to see much after Nova and Neander’s 2nd eyas hatched last night at 8:45 pm, we thought we’d share a few captures from our Rfalconcam cameras early this morning.

It looks like there may be a pip on one of the remaining two eggs. Stay tuned!

At approximately 8:45 pm, our second eyas broke free from its egg.

Welcome #2! The last two eggs should hopefully hatch soon.

Neander has been providing food to Nova throughout the day. At this time she will do the majority of the feedings.

We are so very happy to announce the arrival of our first eyas early this morning at 6:03 am. While most of us were sleeping, this little one was fighting to break free under the watchful eye of momma, Nova.

As you can see in the picture above, there is a pip in the egg next Nova. So it shouldn’t be long before the arrival of a second eyas.

We’re still waiting for Neander to get his first look.

Stay tuned for news of new arrivals!

We finally have closure for our loss of Dot.ca.

This morning we received an email from Neal, a Rochester Firefighter. While on a 911 call at the old Rochester Riverside Hotel (it was the Radisson Hotel before that), he and his partner found a deceased Peregrine Falcon.

Our contact at the DEC, Amy Mahar, was notified and she came to Rochester this afternoon. She was able to verify that the deceased falcon was Dot.ca, Black Band/13 over Y. It looked like he collided with the building and died instantly.

Dot.ca was an awesome dad. He loved his eyases and after a rocky start, became a devoted mate to Beauty. He did not abandon her.

Fly Free Dot.ca! We have no doubt that you and Beauty are together again watching the sunset.