I came down this morning expecting to find other fledge watchers, but saw no one until I had to leave at 11:40 (to volunteer at the soup kitchen), so here is my very unofficial report. It was fairly cool and windy, marvelous soaring conditions for experienced flyers. Mariah and Kaver made many short flights, a few loops then back to the tower – they might have been saying, “Look girls, this is how to begin – a short distance, then back home, but please – No Stacks!” I could see one eyas, presumably Linn, on the perch, and in the playpen some wings, often two sets at a time but never all three simultaneously. The calm behavior of the parents indicated all was well. From shortly after 10 until 10:30, everything was very quiet. One parent was on a ledge above the rockets, the other on the last “K” of the Kodak sign. Linn was on the perch and another eyas on the center light in the playpen. Then the short periodic “demo” flights began again. At about 11:00, Kaver chased something very large, a turkey vulture I think. At around 11:30, Linn moved to the ledge at the left side of the nestbox. There were several short hops and bouts of wing flapping visible in the playpen, but no flights.

Sacajawea Gets Watchers’ Hearts Pounding

Dan, Jeanne, Lisa and myself were at the Bru watching Sacajawea exercise on the scrape roof. Earlier at least two times, Mariah and Kaver had been flying back and forth in front of the scrape and giving the eyases training lessons in what falcons can do.

Anyway, thru a combination of sources, we knew that two eyases were in the playpen (Ananta and Grace), Sacajawea was on the roof of the scrape and Linn had perched and then hopped to the side of the scrape.
Read the rest of this entry »

There was an hour of good watching at lunchtime today before some seriously dangerous weather rolled through downtown Rochester. No flights from the fledglings, but Mariah and Kaver put on a bit of a show, while Sacajawea and Linn did some wing flapping. Read all the details and view pictures here.

This is my first time ever doing this, so please bear with me and accept my apologies for any missteps. Upon arrival to the fledge watch, it was soon discovered that two of the young girls were in the nest box whilst two others were flitting about the playpen. There was much wing exercising to be witnessed – Ananta being the biggest showoff. Mariah kept a close watch from either the railing or the lightning post above the nest box. She would occasionally fly about, but no food exchange was noted – much to the dismay of the wailing ladies each time Mariah approached them in flight. Binoculars did not allow for the identification of each juvenile, unfortunately. The warm and bright sunlight was abruptly dismissed by a torrential downpour and darkening of the skies. This did not phase our falcon family in the least, but did make for difficult observation. We certainly had our share of excitement when three fire trucks came roaring up and parked themselves just outside the Kodak building. Apparently one of the web cams was sporting a bit of fog that was mistaken for smoke, and speculation was made as to the nest box being on fire! The Kodak security guard verified with the fledge watchers that all was indeed well, and denied access to the fire crew that was eagerly pushing to approach the nest box – imagine the irreparable damage that would ensue from a visit complete with axes, hoses and hardhats!! No juveniles fledged during this watch, but two of them were indeed mobile along the nest box and catwalk.

Julie Lowe

Ananta and Grace have both made the hop down onto the catwalk “playpen” below the nest box. They’ll most likely wander around there for a few days until they’re ready to fledge. Sacajawea has been making hops out to the perch rail, and she’ll probably join her sisters in the playpen soon. Linn, the youngest of the eyases, may take a few more days before she’s ready to hop out of the nest box.

-Jess

Only two birds remained in the nest box at 7 AM. Sacagawea was on the perch to the left and Linn remained in the box. That Ananta and Grace were in the playpen was made obvious by the occasional appearance of their wings as they walked around and flapped to strengthen their muscles. Linn came to the front right of the box and then returned to the back several times. Frequently Mariah and Kaver flew in to check on things, bring food, etc. Though one meal was retained by Mariah who took it to a BeeBee stack and ate it. Around 8:30 AM Kaver perched on one of the lilies and Mariah on the playpen railing to the southeast. The parents were still in these positions when our shift ended at 9 AM.

It was an eventful watch tonight. At one time or another, I was joined by Brian H., Ginny and Trish, Kathy O., Lisa McK., Carol P., Ellen, Dan, the Davisons, Brian’s apprentice – Gary, Tom and Babs, and various passers-by (whatcha lookin’ at?).

When I arrived at the Kodak visitor parking lot, Sacajawea was on the perch outside the nestbox; Linn was inside, peering out from time to time; Kaver was at the rocket level of the Kodak Office tower; there was no sign of Grace and Ananta, nor of Mariah. Set up shop in the parking lot, right near the corner of Platt and State Streets.
Read the rest of this entry »

When I arrived for my watch, Lisa, Dan S. and Jeanne were there; they updated me on recent events. Ananta and Grace were in the playpen, Linn in the nestbox, Sacajawea on the perch, Mariah on the playpen railing and Kaver on the north stack of Beebee Station.

The watch was mostly uneventful – which was just fine by me since it was the first I had handled alone! Sacajawea made several hops from the perch to the nestbox and back; she exercised her wings vigorously several times on the perch. Wings were occasionally visible in the playpen. There was a great deal of kakking. At 9:45 Mariah dropped off food in the nestbox, where Linn was, and Sacajawea hopped back in to eat her share. Actually I could not see what was happening at all well from the ground – I saw an adult arriving, presumably with food, then lots of wings; then the adult had gone and Sacajawea had disappeared from the perch – the food might have been dropped in the playpen, and Sacajawea might have jumped down there to get some, for all I could tell! So I was very thankful for the brochure with phone numbers, and for Carol P. who was able to check the Falconcam and tell me what had really happened, when I called her!

Several other fledge watchers, including Jim P. and Dana, stopped by later. We could not see any more playpen activity and wondered whether Ananta and Grace had moved around to the shade on the north side. Maria returned and went into the nestbox with Sacajawea and Linn. At the end of my watch, Barb, Shaky and Carol P. had arrived. All the falcons were very quiet – perhaps taking a siesta in the noonday heat!

I got there before 6. Dan S. was there and had witnessed Mariah chasing after a pigeon. (I think that is misspelled). Kaver was on his flower (one of four flower ornaments atop Kodak Tower). Two juvies were in the scrape and one was on the leftledge with one on the right. A little after 6, I noticed a brown speck going from the scrape, looked and sure enough, the juvie on the right was not on the ledge, she went to the floor below, what we call the playpen. One was on a perch and the left ledge had a juvie. Another was still in the nest. Larry joined us and we figured we had another juvie in the playpen since the left ledge was empty. Carol came by to check on all. Kaver periodically came off the flower and did a couple of stoops, coming up empty. One stoop was above the parking lot in front of us so that was exciting! Mariah was on the north smokestack. The juvies did a LOT of flapping. Lots! The little one in the scrape kept going back and forth. Larry said if we didn’t know better, we would think it was two in the scrape instead of one. We did see some flapping on the playpen from all over so these little gals were definitely exercising. Lisa M. and another Kodak person were also there. There was a lot of kakking especially when Kaver flew off the flowers in view of these hungry little ones. Mariah left the stack and when she returned she was on the rail of the playpen. We presumed the juvies were nearby. Kaver had been on the front railing at one point but was basically on a flower. Lucy came for the next watch. Mariah was there on the railing (I told Lisa, I always feel better when Mariah is there)!, two juvies in the playpen, one in the scrape, one on the perch and Kaver on his flower. Active little ones this morning!

Jeanne

The girls are taking their first steps out of the nest box. Beginning this morning, first Grace (on the left in the picture above), and then Anata made the short hop onto the perch rail just in front of the scrape. Though she wasn’t the first to leave, Ananta has proven to be the more adventurous sister, spending nearly all day out of the scrape even and venturing onto the ledge to the right of the box. So far, Sacajawea and Linn have approached the edge, but haven’t yet followed their siblings out of the nest.

     

In the wild these journeys away from the scrape are called “branching”, because they often involve the eyases moving onto branches of nearby trees. Since there are no branches on the Kodak tower, regular falcon watchers here in Rochester have coined the term “ledging”, for obvious reasons. The first photo above gives a good indication of the girls’ size. They’re pretty much fully grown now, every bit as big as Mariah, who has just dropped off some late breakfast. All that’s left to do now is for them to build up their flight muscles and endurance. If Ananta sticks to her venturesome ways she may hop down to the catwalk soon. The others will follow at their own pace. These falcons have different personalities, and some are more daring than others. Linn, who was most likely the last to hatch, will probably be the last out of the scrape, but that’s by no means certain. Now’s the time to dust off our unofficial Imprints motto, Specto Subitus— Expect the Unexpected!

Once out of the nest box, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the eyases will return or not. In past years we’ve seen them stay outside in all kinds of weather, including heavy rains and high temperatures. There’s no need to be overly concerned about that, though. These falcons are well protected against the elements, and Mariah and Kaver will drop food to the eayses as needed to ensure that they stay fed.

For those who wanted to attend the Fledge Watch orientation meeting yesterday but were unable to, all is not lost! You still have an opportunity to sign up for the fledge watch. We’ll be posting the schedule of available watching timeslots just as soon as we get it compiled. Even if a shift is already filled, feel free to show up then. More eyes are always helpful when the juveniles start flying. We’ll also be posting some helpful instructions for a successful fledge watch, including some downloadable quick reference documents. Meanwhile, keep your eyes on the eyases!