Our first watch of the year. Several other watchers were already there when we arrived which helped us locate Kaver, on the catwalk on the center smoke stack; Mariah, on the Kodak building; 2 of the fledglings, on the building south of the Kodak building; and a third fledgling on the Kodak building. We later learned this was Linn. We could hear the fourth fledging on one of the buildings north of the Kodak building.

At around 8:15 Linn flew from the building (apparently her second flight!) and landed back on the side of Kodak building. After holding on for a short while flapping her wings she flew again this time landing on a ledge.
Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve just received word from our on-scene watchers that Linn has taken her first flight and landed safely on the south side of the Kodak tower! We’re very excited and pleased to have four successful fledges at the Rochester Falconcam. Keep watching for more reports from our dedicated volunteer fledge watchers!

-Jess

When I arrived, chairs were lined up facing the tower. Susan C, Jim P, Carol P, and Jeanne were on watch. Others that showed up during my watch: Paul R (newbie), Barb, Brian H, Larry O, Claudia and her daughter.

It was a quiet watch, nothing heart-pounding or nerve racking. Sacajawea was on Building 9 roof (south/left of the tower). Grace was on the 11th floor window ledge south side. I was told two juvies (Linn and Ananta) were in the playpen. At 2:15, Sacajawea flew from the roof to the 11th floor window ledge at the opposite end from Grace. Mariah and Kaver were on the Tower.
Read the rest of this entry »

Larry O’Heron provided a great minute by minute account for this morning. I’ve posted pictures from the morning and afternoon activity here.

Flights, Fights & Frights

While reading the report, one thing that I want to stress is how easy it is for a juvie to be visible and then not visible. They flatten out, walk in, fly away, etc. Unless you are watching them at the precise moment, it is easy to lose track of who is where. Also, using binoculars can be a disadvantage because your field of vision narrows, but without binocs, some details of the activity are missed. It’s a 50/50 chance, whichever way you go.

5:00 am (From Dan and Jeanne): Grace went down the north [smoke]stack, but pretty quickly came out the bottom and flew off towards the north. Sacajawea was on the 16th floor of Kodak, but had since disappeared.
Read the rest of this entry »

One of the exciting times of falcon watching is the first fledge flights of the juveniles. It’s filled with awkward landing attempts, sometimes on low structures enabling one to get a first good close up picture after leaving the nest. Here are a few pics from this evening’s fledglings, Sacajawea and Ananta. There isn’t a lot of meat in the photo titles so see the watch report for full details.

Lou

I spent much of yesterday out watching the fledglings, with some breaks in between. Official watchers will be sending their reports. Here’s a recap of the day’s events.

Sacajawea and Grace have both made fledging flights. As of this afternoon both are doing well. Linn and Ananta continue to move around the “playpen”, but they could fly at any time. Look forward to reports from the many watchers observing our falcons today!

On the evening of June 21 Ananta made her maiden flight! Watchers will be sending their reports so stay tuned!

-Jess

Sorry this is so late. I had a late start and there was so much information for me to sort in my little brain. Hope you can understand it!

I arrived at about 4:30 and found Carol P. and Dana watching Sacajawea still clinging to the South side of the Tower. The high winds were a concern as she would make adjustments. I was afraid she would get swept away.

Not until about 5:45 did she take off and found the ledge of the North side of the tower on the 17 floor. She would walk and flap her wings. Mariah seemed to be trying to get to her but the winds were strong and it appeared she was having a tough time getting in between the buildings . Sacajawea continued to walk along the ledge and at one point found food. She finally got to the west corner and disappeared out of sight. We all scrambled. By now so many watchers had arrived, we had it covered :).
Read the rest of this entry »

Apologies for the belated post, I had to rush back into work for a 1:30 meeting and just now got out – I hate it when work gets in the way of watching the falcons!

When I arrived at 10:30, Sacajawea was on the “staircase building”, having landed there sometime this morning. Linn was under the nestbox, Grace was on the north side of the tower on a pillar just below the letters, and Ananta was in the playpen. Mariah was on the north side of the tower on one of the letters watching over both Sacajawea and Grace, with Kaver on the launch pad watching the nestbox and playpen. Watchers included Lisa McK, Dana, and Jim P.

At 10:55 Grace took off and made a nice, even flight (with gliding!) (we actually thought that it was Mariah for a second there), a large loop over us then back to the very top of the cupola above the nestbox – she tried to hold on there at the pointy top, but after a few seconds let go and attempted to land on the ledge at the bottom of the cupola. She was moving a bit too fast for that, so took one more small loop around and successfully landed on the railing of the play pen on the east side.
Read the rest of this entry »