Photos used by kind permission of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation

Mark Nash has sent us some new pictures of the hack box that the CPF erected on the roof of the Scarborough Bell building. It is this box, converted to a spacious artificial scrape, that Linn has taken to defending over the past couple of weeks. The CPF has high hopes that Linn will settle there permanently, as he explains in his most recent note.

We have been given permission to keep the hack box up on the roof for just this very purpose – (in an effort to
attract either Lawrie and Ruben back to the site), or another interested Pefa [shorthand for Peregrine falcon] looking for a good location.

This picture gives a good idea of the Bell building’s height and surroundings. It looks like it should make a good nesting location, and the lack of other tall buildings nearby ought to make it easier for watchers to keep an eye on Linn if she takes up permanent residence.

I have attached some photos of the hack box that we built for the orphaned Pefa chicks that we hacked out this past summer from the Bell building.

I have removed the bars from the hack box, added more pea gravel, and we cleaned the old debris out of the box. While it was designed to be a “hack box”, it appears that Linn is most interested in it, as she has been observed on both the porch and upper roof of the box on several occasions over the past two weeks. She has been protecting the site with some intensity!

Fingers crossed!!

Sincerely
Mark Nash
Director
The Canadian Peregrine Foundation
www.peregrine-foundation.ca

So, it looks like Linn may be the recipient of a converted nursery. We can’t think of a better use for this prime piece of raptor real estate! Like Mark, we’re keeping our fingers crossed here at the Rochester Falconcam.

-Jess

Photos courtesy of Jim Pisello

Our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation have delivered some terrific news. Linn, last of the 2007 offspring to fledge, has been identified by her leg band defending a possible nesting site in Scarborough, Ontario Canada! Here’s the information we just received from Mark Nash of the CPF:

Hello All,
We have finally been able to get a positive identification on one of the two Pefa’s that have been calling this neck of the woods home for the past months. On Dec. 31st/2007, one of the CPF volunteers – Bruce Massey’s efforts paid off, and he was able to positively confirm the band number of the Pefa now calling the Bell building at Pharmacy and Eglinton her turf. This is the same building that we used for this past summers hack of four orphaned peregrine chicks that came to us from Quebec.

It is confirmed that we have a juvenile female – 91 over V – holding (and protecting) this territory, and its Linn from Rochester 2007!! She still [has] her red tape over the Silver USFW band.

Linn has been exhibiting very territorial behavior – (as she has been observed defending the Bell building on three different occasions over the past two weeks) while chasing off the local red-tails as they fly over and around of the Bell building.

She can be seen regularly roosting on the Bell building, – next to the hack box, and seems to be calling the building her own – (at least for the time being). She is no longer is being observed on the Water storage tank at Warden and Eglinton, as we pass both these places daily as we go into the CPF head office.

Sadly, we have not seen the adult male that was hanging around with her when she was roosting on the Water storage tank.

Sincerely,

Mark Nash

Director

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation

When last we saw Linn, she was on the move west of Rochester at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. It looks like she was just waiting to make a right hand turn for a northerly flight over Lake Ontario. We’re grateful to Mark and all the dedicated staff at CPF for their work, and we’re looking forward to hearing more about Linn in the coming months!

-Jess

      
Photos courtesy of Tom Hoehn at Eastman Kodak Co.

Mariah and Kaver’s next set of offspring will have fewer perching options when they take their fledging flights in 2008. That’s because the Rochester Gas and Electric company has begun removing two of the three smoke stacks at the BeeBee Station on Mill Street.

Since Mariah first began nesting on the Kodak tower, the smoke stacks at the defunct power plant have provided a high vantage overlooking the Genesee River gorge hundreds of feet below. A recent local news article claims that the smoke stacks are being removed to make way for a new substation.

As you can see in the pictures above, the demolition of the middle smoke stack– the tallest of the three– is going fast. The north stack will be taken down next, leaving only the southernmost “High Falls” smoke stack. Based on the current progression it looks like the demolition work will be completed before Mariah and Kaver return to the nest box this spring.

Though there will be fewer smoke stacks for the falcons to perch on, this change to the falcon’s eastern view should also make for a safer neighborhood. These smoke stacks have been places of danger for young falcons in the past as the inexperienced fliers overshoot their landings and fall down the tall chimneys. The lack of perching spots won’t be serious, though. There are still plenty of places for the fledglings to alight.

Other changes are coming to the neighborhood too. In 2008 construction will begin on an apartment complex located at the site of the current Kodak Visitor Parking lot on State Street. The townhouse style building will be three stories high, and it may serve as a new perching site for the fledglings. The Rochester Falconcam team has already contacted the Rochester Urban League to inform them of their unique neighbors and to work with them to help ensure the welfare of any falcons that may find their way to the roof of the complex. We’ll be sure to keep you updated about the changes happening near the Kodak tower as we move into the 2008 Rochester Falconcam season!

-Jess

The New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation has released their 2007 report on Peregrine falcon activity in the state. There was a substantial increase in the number of young this year along with a lot of other good news. Our thanks go to Barbara Loucks and all the staff at the DEC for twenty-five years of hard work helping to re-establish the Peregrine population in New York!

-Jess

Our crack marketing team has been hard at work for the past few months, and today we’re proud to announce the opening of The Scrape, Rochester Falconcam’s store in cyberspace! Named after a peregrine’s nest, The Scrape is your one stop shop for high quality clothing and other merchandise featuring our favorite falcons, Mariah and Kaver.

Your purchases will help fund the ongoing operations of the Rochester Falconcam, and you’ll be able to share your love for Mariah and Kaver with friends and family. We’re adding new items to the store all the time so be sure to check back often for all your gift-giving and holiday shopping needs!

To visit The Scrape, just click the image above, or click the Scrape link on the Rochester Falconcam screen!

-Jess

Click the thumbnail above to view the full-sized image

Linda Woods of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation provided this picture of Rhea Mae, one of Mariah and Kaver’s 2006 offspring. As we reported in a recent post, Rhea Mae has taken up residence on the Downtown Sheraton hotel in Toronto, Canada. It appears that she has displaced the previous female, Wind, and she and the resident male Tiago have been observed exhibiting courtship behaviors such as bowing to each other and flying together.

Another shot from Linda provides an unmistakable look at the ID band which allowed our Canadian friends to positively identify Rhea Mae. You can also see the remnants of some of her brown juvenile feathers on her wings.

Photo by Linda Woods

Over the Labor Day holiday Rochester Falconcam team members Marcia Lyman, Lisa McKeown, Dana Mulhern, Kathy Olney, Joyce Miller & Carol Phillips (who named Rhea Mae in 2006) made the 2½ hour drive from Rochester to Toronto for an in-person look at Rhea Mae. Hosted by Linda Woods, they spent a couple of days observing and photographing Rhea Mae. Carol sends us this report of the trip, along with many pictures of Rhea Mae and Tiago. Fans of the Rochester falcons who joined us in 2006 will recall that Rhea Mae was the last of Mariah and Kaver’s three offspring to fledge. She went on to be a great flyer though, and we’re glad to see that she’s thriving and has found a territory of her own. We’re looking forward to news of her in the future, and we hope that she and Tiago will go on to raise many families of their own.

-Jess

Photo used by kind permission of Tom Flaherty

We have very exciting news to present on two fronts. Falcon fans Tom Flaherty and Rod Cockrell report having spotted Linn (photo above) on August 10 at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, about fifty miles west of her Rochester home. Tom and Rod tell us that they were at the refuge watching and photographing wood ducks when they noticed Linn perched in a tree overlooking the ducks. Here are some more pictures from Tom and Rod.
Photo by Tom Flaherty

Photo by Rod Cockrell

From Mark Nash and our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation comes the news that 2006 fledgling Rhea Mae has established a nesting territory on top of the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario Canada. This location has been home to a resident pair, Wind and Tiago, for the last several years. Reports indicate that Rhea Mae and Wind engaged in a territory dispute for four days, with Rhea Mae emerging victorious. She was observed on August 17 perching on the nest ledge at the hotel, accompanied by an adult male. It is unclear at this time whether the male is Tiago or a new tiercel. A third peregrine is still visible in the area, possibly Wind still looking for an opportunity to regain her territory. As Mark reminds us, this is a situation that is still very dynamic and evolving. We’ll be sure to bring any updates to you as soon as we receive them!

-Jess

Click the image above to see the full-sized picture

Gary Chadwick sends us this image of Grace getting herself “squared away” on the girders under the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge that spans the Genesee river. Gary relates that it seemed like Grace was having as much fun watching the falcon fans assembled on the bridge as they were having watching her and the other fledglings.

Click the image above to see the full-sized picture

Jim Pisello took this picture of Kaver as he was flying through the gorge while his daughters chased him. Kaver doesn’t fly this close very often, so Jim tells us he was fortunate and very pleased to have this opportunity.

Click the image above to see the full-sized picture

Carol Phillips’s inaugural entry into the Gallery at Imprints is this impressive image of Linn watching an armada of Mallard ducks paddling upriver. Peregrine falcons used to be known as “duck hawks” because ducks are favored prey for them. Anatum, the Latin word for a duck, is one of the 3 Peregrine subspecies found in the United States.