Shunning the Gorge, Fledglings Keep Flying

We've yet to see more than one fledgling in the gorge. That's not to say that they won't get there, but for now they appear content to spend their time flying downtown or near the Kodak tower. Today the tower was their home, which was good for those of us who showed up to check them out today.

I'm happy to report that all five of the 2008 brood continue to fly successfully. During my six hours downtown today we witnessed multiple flights, food exchanges, and my favorite, talon tag. I arrived around 6:30 and went right out to the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge. Carol P had reported that Mariah and Seneca spent over an hour there on Monday so we all were hopeful that this would signal the start of the fledglings' stint in the High Falls Gorge.


Jeanne, Lou, Larry and Dan were already there. They reported that all five of the youngsters had been downtown, but had moved to the tower. I found two on the south facaded; Kaver sat in shadow on the High Falls smokestack's catwalk.

The quiet of the first half hour broke in a frenzy as Mariah arrived with food, chased by three fledglings:
     

The winner took breakfast on the top of building 6, just north of the tower, while the others went to the peak of building 10. There was a little movement from the juveniles, but not much to see for much of the hour. We all hoped that the fledglings would migrate out to the gorge, but the only flying we saw there was courtesy of some Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) including this one low over the water:


Jeanne, Dan and Larry left, and Carol P joined us. We were encouraged when one of the juveniles flew to some antennas on top of the old Button Factory building:


It ventured no closer though, and we lost sight of most of the fledglings as they moved around the tower. At 9:00 I went into the Kodak office to drop off my laptop computer, which needed some repair work. I ended up staying longer than I wanted to. When I left, I decided to check out the north side of the building from the roof of Building 10. I found the north face devoid of falcons, but discovered a pair of them-- Quest and Zephyr-- on an adjoining building while nosing around. They were pretty close, and I didn't want to spook them while they were eating so I got out of sight without taking any pictures.

As it turned out, Seneca was nearby too, and it looked like she'd also had a bit of a meal:


She took off and made a nice flight, skimming the rooftop just below my vantage:
     

A few seconds later Quest showed up, also flying low:
     

I grabbed a quick shot of the breakfast that she and Zephyr had been eating. It looked pretty well picked over:


I located Zephyr perched on a ladder frame at the north side of Building 15. He sat for a while looking at me, then decided he'd rather be flying and took off:
          

He ended up flying north quite a way. I followed his flight in my binoculars while he chased a small bird, but I lost him among the trees. Seeing no other falcons I'd resolved to head back down to the bridge when a flash of wings and a brown blur caught my eye. I headed back to the flat area on the north side of building 10 where the view is unobstructed, and found myself in the midst of some triple talon tag!


Seneca and Quest did most of the tagging action...
     

...while the Z-man dropped into the fray every now and again. When all three flew close to me, he was the only one I was able to keep my lens focused on:


Then it was back to the girls as they circled back out to the north:
          

          

Zephyr swooped in again to liven things up...
          

...then broke off again leaving Quest and Seneca to land on Building 15:
          

With all quiet again on top of the buildings I walked back toward the bridge. I found Zephyr on the smokestack's catwalk:


There was no one on the bridge so I turned toward the tower. I found Carol and Lou at Falcon Watchers' HQ, just in time to watch Diamante come off the building clutching food in his talons:


I think he landed back on the tower, and he must have made short work of the morsel because he was back out before long. He made a couple of grabs at a moth before taking a nice flight out to the smokestack:
          

     

We walked out to the smokestack to check on the boys, but our attention was drawn back to the tower by a lot of kacking and flapping. It was Kaver brining in food. He was chased by a fledgling, and behind her, Mariah:


In an interesting twist, Mariah shot by her daughter and grabbed the food!
          

She took it back to the tower, chased all the way by the fledgling, who I later identified as Susan B:


Not to be denied, hungry little Suzie challenged Mariah on the ledge of the 17^th floor, but she flew away with Susan B trailing:
     

     

It looked like Mariah finally relented, because Susan B ended up with the prey on top of the 19^th floor railing:


Quest put in a brief appearance before disappearing around the west side of the tower:


Diamante, having recently eaten himself, stayed put:


We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Spin Caffe. When we got back outside there was no activity from the falcons so we turned our attention to the gorge, where we found a doe with her two young fawns:


There were herons hunting in the river, and in a nearby tree Carol pointed out this colorful Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis):


We continued watching through the lunch hour, but the falcons were content to rest. Around 1:00PM I went back into the office to retrieve my laptop, then headed home to take care of things on the domestic front. We'll see if tomorrow brings the younglings any closer to the rocky walls and misty falls of the gorge.

Morning Fun For Fledglings

Falcons are usually active in the early morning and late evening. For adults, that's when their prey are often on the wing, so it makes sense. For the fledglings, these times provide plenty of light, but lack the daytime heat. I also think that, just like us wingless humans, they're restive after a night's sleep.

So mornings are good times to watch the fledglings. That's no surprise to anyone who's followed my blog or the falcons for the last few years. Yesterday morning turned out to be great, and today was, well, fabulous. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

With the falcons still young in their flying careers, they stick close to the Kodak tower, so the best viewing spots are on the roofs of the various buildings that surround the tower. I'm fortunate in the extreme to have access to the roofs, thanks to my status as a Kodak employee. Today I went right up to the roof of Building 9, which lies to the south of the tower. As usual, my first task was to take Peregrine roll-call, locating as many of them as I could.

A few were apparent on the tower as soon as I stepped out of the stairwell. Quest was the first fledgling I spotted, on the southeast corner of the 16^th floor, with Kaver a couple of floors above:
     

Much closer, and a surprise to me, was this fledgling sitting on one of the built-up areas of Bldg 9:

Without seeing a band I couldn't make an ID, but it looked like a male by size. It wasn't concerned with my presence-- I was about 40 feet (12 meters) away, so maybe I was outside of his "danger zone". Mariah could see me, up on the lilies at the top of the Kodak Tower's spire, but she didn't come after me as she had the day before, so I guess I was far enough away from her youngling.

Cautiously I continued my survey. I found another female on the top of the Dolphin Railing above the 19^th floor, but she wasn't showing a band either. Her head was kind of dark, though...


I didn't see any other fledglings. For a few minutes I just watched the three in view. Finallly the young tiercel decided he'd rather be somewhere else and off he went. I got a good look at Zephyr's band as he did:


That drew a reaction from the female on the dolphin rail, and when she started flapping, I was able to confirm my suspicion that, yes, this was indeed Seneca!

Out of the five fledglings, Seneca has the darkest features-- inherited no doubt from her father. I was hoping she'd break into a flight of her own, but she only ran and hopped along the top of the railing. No worries though-- I was just glad to see that she'd flown, finally leaving the nestbox.

Since the Z-man had flown west, I headed over to Building 16, which has a good view of both the south and west sides of the tower. I found him in the air (not surprisingly), coursing in front of the tower before running off to join in some talon tag and chasing:
     

     

I think this was Zephyr and Diamante, becuase at one point they were joined by a third, larger fledgling. I wasn't able to frame all three together, and with the sun low in the east, I was shooting silhouettes. The flights were fast, covering the area both to the north and south of the tower. The chase ended suddenly, and in a most unexpected way, with a pair of the playful Peregrines landing on a nearby ledge:


Even without seeing her band I could tell the female was Susan B. The male wouldn't show me his band, but that wasn't nearly as interesting as what happened next. No sooner had they settled on the ledge, than they began to take turns grooming each other:
     

They stopped for a moment to watch something that had caught their attention, but then got right back to it:
     

I love seeing how the bonds between siblings are expressed by these falcons. In past years we've seen plenty of examples of the fledglings pairing up, or just hanging out together. As their fledging progresses these bonds loosen somewhat, but at this stage they all still seem to really enjoy being together.

Nevertheless, after the grooming was over the male took off, and I got a good look at Diamante's red band:

I admit I'd expected him to be Zephyr, but I was hardly disappointed by being surprised. As soon as he left, Susan B marched over to the edge of the roof, crying all the way:


While moving to get another view of her, I stumbled onto Zephyr, cooling his talons on an old-style aerial antenna:

I actually thought this was Diamante becuase I wasn't able to make out his band color in my binoculars. A still photo makes identifcation easier, and you can just make out the yellow ID band, despite his leg being in shadow.

I grabbed a shot of Susan B from a lower angle. Her acute stare was plenty of proof that she saw my every move:


Keeping a wary eye on her and Mariah, and moving slowly to avoid spooking her, I backed out of sight, and went to see if I could get a better angle on the Z-man. Cooling towers on the top of Bldg 16 gave me enough cover to sneak around for another shot:


A little more cautious stalking got me even closer. Plus, Zephyr looked like he was enjoying a little snooze:


With his right foot tucked up I still couldn't see his colored band. It wasn't until he woke up and began preening (or was he wiping the sleep from his eyes?) that I was actually able to make the ID:


I walked back around to Bldg 9 to check on young Seneca. She continued to hop around on the terra cotta railing:


Kaver made a valiant attempt to coax her into the air, alternating his circling glides with demonstrative wing flaps. It was fascinating to watch him pass back and forth, actuallly showing her how to use her wings:
     

     

She was reluctant to take Kaver's invitation, but not so the Z-man, who rocketed over my right shoulder and stuck a great landing on one of the tower's ledges:
     

But even a flight from her brother wasn't enough, though Seneca did bounce back and forth, covering almost the entire length of the Dolphin rail:


No matter. Zephyr was ready to do enough flying for the two of them. He decided it would be fun to play with Kaver, setting off some of the most dynamic flying that I've photographed.
     

     

With the skill of a World War flying ace, Kaver nosed over into an inverted dive, turning the tables on Zephyr:
     

It came to just about a minute of furious chasing action...
          

     

...before Zephyr finally peeled off. When he did, he flew straight at me, turning at the last moment so closely that my autofocus couldn't lock on:
     

After that incredible flight, I didn't see him emerge from behind any buildings so I went looking for him. I found him perched on the edge of one of the mechanical stations on the roof:


Susan B was on the other end, right where she'd been most of the morning:


I checked my watch. 9:00. Time to start work. But with all the flying that I'd just seen, my desire for more got the better of me. I crossed back to Bldg. 16 where I found Quest looking a bit more active:


Sure enough, she grabbed some air a minute later, flying past Diamante on the northwest corner stair of the 16^th floor before swinging back southward for a landing on the 19^th floor rail:
          

In that short interval, Diamante flew back up to a more prominent perch:


Then in what was possibly the weirdest moment of my watch, little Susie walked over to the edge of the mechanical building she'd been perching on and proceeded to regale me with hungry squawking and wing flapping:
          

As soon as I turned back to Diamante I knew something was up, though I wasn't quite sure what. I learned soon enough though:
          

          

It was a brilliant aerial ambush, snatching food away from Kaver, who had just landed with it! While Diamante claimed his prize, Kaver dropped away, into a nonchalant glide past the tower:
          


Well, it's hard to top that. I waited another couple of minutes, hoping for a flight from Seneca, but when none was forthcoming, I surrendered to work and headed inside. I'm on vacation all next week, and if the flying then is half as good as now, I'll count myself fortunate indeed.

Mischief and Mistakes

Mornings are usually good times to see the fledglings at play or flying around. After yesterday's lull, I was glad to see a lot of really terrific flying in the hour that I spent outside.

I began just after 7AM with a quick scan of the Kodak tower's south side. I turned up four falcons; on the southwest corner of the tower perched Quest and Susan B, soaking up the sun:


On the east side, Kaver and Mariah, sitting one above the other:
     

Diamante got things started off, flying in from the east-- possibly off the High Falls Smokestack-- and landing on the roof of Building 10:
          

I headed around to the roof of Building 10 myself, both to check the north side of the tower, and to see if I could get a closer shot of Diamante. Now, emerging from one of the many stair towers onto the various building roofs is best done with caution, since the falcons perch all over and my aim is always to avoid disturbing them. So I cracked the door to the stair tower, and this is what I found:


It was Zephyr! I ducked back inside the stair tower after a few shots, and walked around to another roof exit. Building 10 has several built-up structures on its roof and I used them for cover, creeping along to avoid spooking any perching falcons that might be nearby. I finally worked my way to a clear view of the north side of the tower without encountering any fledglings. There was a great deal of kacking going on though, and I found out why soon enough:


Diamante was up, and so was Kaver! The young tiercel passed right over my head on his way to play some tag with Zephyr:


The morning sun's glare made shooting their game difficult, so I turned to the playpen where I found Seneca excercising her wings:

She still hasn't flown yet, but I think it won't be too much longer.

When I looked around the boys were gone, but new vocalizing caught my attention. Looking out over the edge of the building I was amazed to see Kaver, with Quest in hot pursuit:


It was easy to see that Kaver had something, and at first I thought it was prey, but it was oddly elongated, dangling below him. These still photos are much provide a much clearer picture than I had at the time:
     

No breakfast here-- at least not for the fledglings. It was little more than the remnants of two wings held together with bone and ligaments. What he was doing with it wasn't clear, until I saw Zephyr head right for it. Kaver dropped his burden, and Zephyr dove after it:


Unfortunately the remains fell to the ground, and in his haste to chase after what he must have thought was a meal, Zephyr very nearly ended up on the ground himself:


He flew in circles, only a few feet off the ground, before finally winging up to a landing on the east edge of Building 9:
     

While I was grabbing that last shot to make sure Zephyr was OK, I suddenly noticed that Mariah was in the air, close by. Worse, she was heading straight for me! I took a quick look behind me, and found to my amazement that Diamante had landed again on the peak of the Building 10 roof. Apparently Mariah decided I was too close to her son. I didn't stay to argue with her, and ducked inside the nearest stairtower. It's the kind of mistake I don't like to make. After eight years of falcon watching, I think I'm pretty good at judging how close is close enough, and how close is too close. I should have been paying more attention to what was going on around me, but I just plain messed up that time.

There were a few watchers at Falcon Watching HQ so I decided to exchange observations with them. Of course, they'd seen Mariah stoop on me, so I took a bit of ribbing. In the time it took me to get down the 10 flights of stairs, Diamante had moved to the edge of Building 10:


So what was Kaver doing dangling prey remains to tempt the fledglings? Dan Stiehler went to the plaza and collected the feathery left-overs so we could get a better look. At this time, we all still thought it had been prey in Kaver's talons, so it was something of a surprise to find there was not a bit of flesh to be had. Could Kaver have been using the remains in the way a falconer uses a lure to train a raptor in hunting technique? I haven't seen either adult do that before. Food exchanges we've seen many times, and the parents often will drop the prey before the fledglings have time to get to it, encouraging them to dive after the food. I don't think I've ever seen them do it with something that wasn't edible, though.

Still in all, it would have been a good lesson except for the fact that Zephyr ended up very low to the ground. He was certainly low enough to have been in danger from passing cars and trucks on State Street. Fortunately, he found his way over to the tower pretty quickly, so no damage done.

Just to prove the point, he left the building soon after I arrived, and made a dive right at Mariah, who was perched on the southeast corner of the 17^th floor:


Mariah was ready for her playful son, and leapt out to meet him, talons extended:
          

For the next minute they ranged back and forth, teasing and chasing each other in a spectacular display:
     

     

After Mariah broke off, Zephyr made a nice overflight:


A minute later it was Quest who took up the talon tag challenge:
          

          

After their chase, they both flew to the tower where Quest landed on the broad ledge of the 17^th floor:
          

Zephyr continued to fly, sometimes by himself, and sometimes with Kaver:
     

Not to be outflown, Quest got airborne again. She made an interesting touch and go landing on the northeast corner of the 19^th floor ledge...
     
... before flying to the High Falls Smokestack where she made a very tidy landing:


The Z-man decided she needed some company, and flew over too:


The tower was too much of a draw for him though. After only a couple of minutes he was back, finding a spot on the ledge near the scalloped railing of the 19^th floor:
     

And Quest, who seemed to want to match her brother move for move, flew back to land on the "O" of the KODAK sign:
     

Finally, everyone settled down for a while. It was good timing-- the top of the hour. I left the watching to Lisa McKeown and headed inside to get to work for the day.

So, lots of fun flying, and a too close encounter-- something to be avoided on future watches. If we can just get Seneca up and out of the playpen, and get Susan B a little more practice, I have no doubt there will be plenty of opportunities to witness some extraordinary flying in the days to come.

Fledglings Spend a Day Slacking

The fledglings spent the day doing, well, not too much, really. It seemed like they'd all taken lazy pills. I was out this morning, at lunchtime, and again in the afternoon, and with few exceptions, I found very little activity

The first thing I saw shortly before 8AM was a pair of fledglings on the High Falls Smokestack.

The one on the right turned out to be Quest. I think that's Zephyr on the left.

While I was scanning the tower I missed Quest's flight over to the tower. She landed on the southeast corner of the 17^th floor ledge:


There she joined her sister Susan B, who perched one floor below:


I went around to get a look at the north side of the tower, and found both Kaver and Mariah:
     

I thought maybe I'd find one of the fledglings on the "back" side of the tower since both adults were there, but the only one I found was young Seneca, still up in the playpen:


With no action in the offing, I headed in to get some work done for the morning. I popped out a little later, and found little Suzie right where I'd left her:


Kaver had moved up to his hunting lily:


I also had a close encounter with Zephyr. I was just about to go out onto the roof of Building 9, when I saw this out of the window of the stairwell door:


The window was not very clean, so the picture's a bit fuzzy. It looks like Zephyr had enjoyed a bath of some sort, though I couldn't say where.

To avoid disturbing him, I shot my pictures from inside, then went around to a different roof exit. By the time I'd gotten outside he'd left, but as it turned out, he was nearby. I grabbed a few shots just as he made a landing on the Kodak tower:
     

A little later, Quest decided to fly in too:
     

     

She landed on the west side of the tower, near the playpen it appeared, though I couldn't see exactly where. As I checked the tower again, I wasn't surprised to see Susan B on her 16^th floor ledge. She'd apparently attracted some attention from inside the building too:


Recognize the photographer in the window? It's Tom Hoehn, former manager of the Kodak Birdcam, taking the opportunity to get a close-up shot of Susan B.

My trips outside at lunchtime and later in the afternoon were unremarkable in the extreme. No flying, and little movement from fledglings or adults. I heard that things picked up later this evening, but I wasn't able to be downtown to catch the activity. I'm hoping for better luck tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing these birds really get flying!

Exciting Evening For The Girls

After a few days of relatively uneventful fledging activity, it seemed we were due for a little drama. Late yesterday Diamante took his fledging flight, and this morning Quest joined her siblings in flight.

Both looked like they did pretty well. Quest ended up on a low building across State Street from the Kodak tower, and Diamante showed some of Zephyr's circumspection by making small manageable flights around the tower.

For most of the day Susan B was nowhere to be found, even as Zephyr showed off his rapidly improving flight skills. Watchers surmised that little Suzie might have fallen down the High Falls smokestack, where she had been located late last night in Zephyr's company. However, repeated sweeps of the area turned up no sign of her.

I arrived around 4:30PM after a shift with the Perinton Volunteer Ambulance, and found Mariah up on the High Falls stack. It looked like she was keeping an eye on something but I couldn't see the object of her attention.


As I walked around the new townhouse construction it was a couple of first-time watchers (sorry, I've forgotten your names!) who pointed out Quest on her low building. She alternated between hopping around and letting the breeze fill her outstretched wings:
     

          

After an hour of puttering around on the rooftop she finally decided to fly. As fortune would have it, she went right over my head only a few meters over my head:
     

She picked up altitude as she overflew the construction site and made a respectable landing on some of the pipes at the BeeBee Station:


Carol P, Jeanne and I watched approvingly, as did the many falcon fans assembled at Falcon Watching HQ across the street.

When the antsy Quest hopped out of site, I walked toward the bridge for a better look. So I was surprised when, as I passed a small parking lot at the power station, I saw this:


My first thought was that somehow Quest had ended up on the ground, but a quick look through my binoculars verified Susan B's green band. Carol had gone to get her car, and Jeanne was some way behind me. I turned back to her and shouted that I'd found little Suzie! Jeanne hurried up to where I was, and I continued around the small High Falls Office Building on Mill Street to get a reverse angle on the grounded Peregrine. We observed her for a while. She appeared to be uninjured, and was walking just fine:


As a precaution Jeanne retrieved her pet carrier. A number of the watchers began to gather. We kept a discrete distance and considered our options while Susan B continued to explore the parking lot:


Eventually she found a gap in the chain link fence that bordered the lot. It led her to an area of greenery behind the Jimmy Macs restaurant. Normally we like to let the falcons "rescue themselves" so to speak, and find their own way back up to the tower, but Susan B had chosen a poor course. On its own going behind the fence might not have been a big problem, but it was surrounded by deep undergrowth and had a precipitous drop into the gorge.

Rather than surrender her to the uncertainty of that environment, we decided to attempt to capture her. Some deft climbing by Brian H got him behind the fence. Equipped with Jeanne's pink jacket, Brian herded Susan B back toward the fence. She didn't get the hint that she should go back the way she came, though, so I suggested that he cover her with the jacket, which he did.

Watcher Kat Barone waited on the other side of the fence with the pet carrier, but the gap was too small for Brian to pass Susan B through, so he climbed one side of the fence and I climbed the other. I wedged a foot into the fence for a better purchase, and Carol provided much needed support as Brian handed Susan B over the barbed wire at the top of the fence. I took her and lowered the falcon gingerly into the pet carrier that Kat was holding. Truly a team rescue!

After a quick look at Susan B and a cooling spritz of water from Carol's mister, we considered our next step. The little falcon appeared none the worse for wear. Her eyes were bright and she was alert, though probably a little tired. We quickly decided that a relase from the rooftop of one of the Kodak buildings was our best option, so Carol, Kat and I headed for the tower. We hailed Kodak security, and were met by Guard Al Clausen, who escorted me up to the top of building 9. Attentive readers will recognize this as the building from which I often photograph the falcons while they're on the tower. It has a broad flat roof with easy line of sight to the tower and the nestbox, so I knew that Mariah and Kaver wouldn't have any trouble seeing her there.

Up on the roof, I opened the pet carrier and tipped it up. Susan B walked out and I backed away, lingering only for a couple of pictures:

She gave me a stern look in recompense for her wrinkled dignity and shook herself out as Al and I made our exit. All in all, it was a fine rescue.

Back down at Falcon Watching HQ we found Zephyr practicing his landings on the antennas and other structures atop the Bru building. The boy is growing into an excellent flyer who makes his landings with a pro's aplomb:


Someone pointed out that Susan B had made an appearance at the southern edge of Building 9, so we turned our attention back to her:


It wasn't long before she made a neat flight westward over Morrie Silver Way. It was a little lower than I'd have liked, but she made a pretty good landing on the soutwest corner of Kodak's building 16:


Watchers Tom and Sheryl joined me by Frontier Field as we observed her for a good half hour while she moved along the west edge of the building and took a short nap.

Rested and apparently restless, she jumped up onto the arm of a surveillance camera and let loose a cry that cut through the evening air:


Then almost before we knew it she was in the air, headed back up Morrie Silver Way toward State Street. We watched as she made a very neat landing on the corner of the Bru building:

Both she and Quest look to be in pretty good shape. They're probably both a little hungry-- there wasn't a lot of feeding going on-- but both are flying well enough considering their scant experience.

I took another look around and consulted with the other watchers until we accounted for all of the fledglings. Since it was getting late I decided to head home, leaving the falcons to the care of the many other dedicated volunteers on hand. I'll be out again tomorrow. Hopefully we've seen our one and only rescue for the year, but it's great to know that we've a talented team of folks ready to act when the need arises.

Four Talons, Two Lunches, and Wings

Gray sky is the bane of a falcon photographer's existence. Dialing in exposure compensation can lighten the shot, but the tradeoff is a slower shutter speed that makes for blurry pictures, and lots of digital "noise" in the pictures you do get.

Enough grousing from the shutterbug, though. Plenty of flying and the season's first talon tag made for exciting watching despite the dappled, ashen sky.

Kaver started off my morning with an inveigling flight near the tower that ended with a nice landing on the lily:


With no fledglings or eyases taking Kaver's bait, Mariah made a try, passing close over Susan B:


She flapped a lot but kept her perch. Zephyr, though, turned out to be in a playful mood:
          

After chasing his mother around the sky he decided to harass his sister:


She voiced her displeasure but kept her perch. No matter-- the Z-man bided his time, and when Susan B took a flight a little later, he jumped out, hard on her tail. They ended up in a round of talon tag, the first of the year!
          

They went at it off and on for a few minutes before little Susie settled down. Not so Zephyr, who kept on flying:
          

Mariah took over as Zephyr's playmate while Susan B wandered up and down the south ledge outside the 19^th floor railing:
     

Eventually Zephyr settled down so I went inside to get some work done. I was back out at Noon, though. The light was marginally better, but still not great. Nevertheless, there was flying to be seen. Here's Zephyr making a little circuit before landing on the west side of the playpen:


He took off again when Kaver flew in with food clutched in his bill, chasing his father all the way into the nestbox:
     

Mariah took the morsel almost as soon as Kaver landed:


She absconded with it, landing on the east peak of the Kodak Tower roof for a little mid-day snack:


A few minutes later she was back, dropping off the food at the nestbox before making her getaway:


Seneca & Susan B were the lucky recipients. Quest popped up from the nestbox roof, but didn't go into the scrape to try to get a share:


After lunch Susan B found a spot on the west side of the dolphin railing, so I moved around on the rooftops for a better angle:


It also gave me a good look Mariah, Zephyr and Seneca on the south side:


Kaver set off a flurry of action when he landed on the southeast corner of the playpen with his second lunch drop of the hour! Zephyr leapt from his perch into the playpen, while Diamante angled for the prey from the floodlight:


After dropping the food Kaver withdrew in a nice flight that gave me a good look at his blood-streaked feathers:


He landed on the corner of the launchpad and traded an odd look with the resting Mariah:
     

Susan B crouched down on her railing for a nap and the playpen area was quiet for a while. Looking around, I found a clock that told me the noon hour was drawing to a close. It was a little way off, but that wasn't a problem for my long 400mm lens...


Last year we were spoiled by pretty good weather during fledging week. We haven't been as lucky this year, but there's been a lot of fun flying to watch regardless. We can look forward to clearer skies next week, and hopefully more fledgings too.

More Flying for First Fledges

Quest, Diamante and Seneca have yet to fly, though Quest jumped up onto the roof of the nestbox this afternoon. That leaves the sky to Zephyr and Susan B. Both appear content to make fairly short flights, and other than a short stint on the High Falls smokestack by the Z-man early this morning, they always return to the Kodak tower.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course. It's actually a bit of a relief that we watchers haven't had to chase after these two fledglings. Who knows if the other three will be as prudent?

Standing in the shadows at Falcon Watching HQ with the sun low in the east made for a chilly watch, so I headed up to the roof of Kodak building 9, where the sun's rays were unobstructed. I located Zephyr on the corner of the launch pad above the nestbox and Susan B on the broad ledge of the 17^th floor. Mariah did her part, flying around and enticing the young to get airborne:


The two fledglings were unpersuaded, and the best she could do was to work Quest up into a flurry of flapping on the perch rail:


Zephyr wasn't totally unmoved though. He did some flapping of his own:


Then Kaver flew in with Mariah, causing quite a commotion:


That was enough for Zephyr. He threw himself skyward with a will, circling around the front of the tower before coming in for a landing on the launch pad where he'd started:


Still inexperienced, he missed the flat top surface. He slipped down and for a few seconds he found a purchase on a small ledge just below:


It didn't last long, but no matter; Zephyr just got back into the air for another try:
     

He made a nice swing overhead. I was lucky enough to catch him in a cloudless part of the sky as he flew, showing Mariah's heritage with a split-primary on his right-wing:
     

He lined up for another landing, this time on the playpen railing:

He came in pretty fast and it wasn't very graceful, but Zephyr kept his perch.

Susan B got into motion too, but she limited herself to moving along the ledge, hopping and squawking as she went:
     

     

Meanwhile, Kaver moved up to the western peak of the Kodak tower roof. He looked good in the morning sun:


A few minutes later he took to the air again, and this time Zephyr joined his father for a bit before peeling off for another solo flight:


It was another short jaunt. He lined up for a landing on the playpen rail, under the watchful gaze of his mother and sisters:
     

I guess Mariah was satisfied with his effort because a few seconds later she took off, flying to the south and eliciting more cries from Susan B on the ledge below:
          

The falcons settled in after that so I left to attend a morning meeting and to get some work done.

This afternoon I was out again. The clouds had grown much thicker, and photography was difficult against the gray sky, so I turned my lens on Quest, who'd jumped up to the nestbox roof only a few moments before I got outside:


I couldn't find Zephyr or Susan B, but I'd heard from watchers at noontime that all the eyases had been located, so I wasn't concerned. I did spot Mariah on the southeast corner of the launch pad, and she provided the first action, jumping quickly into the air and diving upon a hapless pigeon. She missed, coming out of the dive in a low arc over the construction workers who were busy erecting the new townhouses across the street from Kodak. She swung around in front of the BeeBee station, but the overcast sky didn't make for much light and slow shutter speeds made most of my shots unusable blurs.

When she got closer the photos improved:
     

She flew back and forth across the south face of the Kodak tower before landing on the southeast corner of the 17^th floor:
     

Apparently that was all the encouragement that Susan B needed. I couldn't be sure but it looked like she flew off the west side of the tower, then swung in a loop that took her past the KODAK sign letters
          


She surprised me by flying turning southeast, and flying out toward the High Falls smokestack. I hurried to the south for a better look, concerned that she might get tired if her flight lasted too long. She turned back though, and got set to land:
          

Like Zephyr earlier in the morning, her approach was too fast. She skidded past the ledge she'd been aiming for, but ended up with only a bit of damaged pride for the clumsy touchdown:
          

     

After her rather long flight she tucked herself against the dolphin railing for a nap. Quest too, had decided to snooze on the nestbox roof-- at least that's what it looked like from my vantage. Kaver flew in and landed on the roof of the steeple, and I took that as my signal to head home for the afternoon.

Tomorrow morning should bring fair weather, and I'm hoping that perhaps we'll have another fledge from Quest or Diamante. Whatever happens, I'll let you know.

Zephyr and Susan B Take the Plunge

Tthe class of 2008 is getting an early start on fledging. This morning Larry O'Heron reported the first fledging flight of the season. It turned out to be Zephyr who was the first to leave the nest box.

The plucky "Z-man" made a masterful flight according to Carol P, with whom I spoke when I arrived at Kodak Office a little later in the morning. Carol reported that Zephyr made another flight and a well-executed landing. I was hoping to see some fledging action for myself, so at lunch time, I headed up onto the roof of Building 9 for a closer look.

Zephyr was on the dolphin railing above the 19^th floor. Mariah and Kaver watched him from perches near the nestbox:
     

On a couple of occasions Mariah headed into the sky, flying encouraging circles above Zephyr:


Instead of emulating his mother, the Z-man decided to practice his flapping with short hops along the top of the railing:
          

He covered the entire south side of the tower in this manner, keeping up a steady stream of vocalizing to match the wing flapping. Near the bottom of the hour he must have decided he'd had enough practice, because with very little preamble, he launched into the air:
          

He flew a couple of circles, with much flapping and a bit of gliding before executing a competent landing on the southeast corner of the playpen rail:
          

The little tiercel is a real spitfire! His flight was prudently short but well-controlled. For his third flight of the day (as I later learned), he appears to be well on his way to grasping the basics.

The folks down at Falcon Watching HQ were as impressed as I was. I took the opportunity of his break to head down to ground level. By the time I arrived, he'd hopped down into the playpen and disappeared around the east side of the tower.

We turned our attention to the nestbox, where Susan B had stepped out onto the perch rail:


She'd been testing her wings, and a few more tempting flights from Mariah finally convinced her to give it a try!
          

She flew out over State Street with the mix of determination and temerity that we've come to expect of a first-fledge bird. We watchers made encouraging noises below, and after a wrong turn, she headed back for a landing approach on the tower:
          

Little Suzie (the Everly Brothers tune goes through my head every time I see her) didn't quite stick the landing, and fluttered down to the ledge below:
     

That perch didn't work for her either, so off she went again, heading for the southeast corner of the 19^th floor ledge:
     

The third time's the charm, as they say, and Susan B settled onto the ledge, none the worse for wear.
          

I had a meeting at the top of the hour, and since there wasn't much activity, I headed inside, leaving the watch in the hands of my fellow GVAS volunteers.

Zephyr and Susan B are a bit early-- the past couple of years haven't had fledging until about the 20^th of the month. Despite that, these early flights look pretty good. We're not out of the woods with either of these fledglings, of course-- it'll take another few days before we can relax our vigilance. There are three more who've yet to take wing as well, so the coming days promise plenty of excitement.

Moving Mariah and Kaver

By now many of you will have heard that Kodak needs to make extensive repairs to the facade of the tower on which the falcons' nestbox has resided for the past eleven years. If you haven't seen the news yet, here's Kodak's press release regarding the work. After you've finished with that, read what the folks at the Rochester Falconcam have to say about it.

Now, there's no question that this news comes as a surprise to many, and an unwelcome one at that. After all, there are a lot of unknowns here. Will Mariah adapt to a nestbox in a new location? Will she try to nest on the Kodak tower despite the removal of her nestbox and the presence of any number of dozen hard-hatted workers? And if she does move successfully, will we be able to figure out which nestbox she'll use in time to re-install the cameras and keep the Rochester Falconcam site rolling with great pictures in 2009?

The truth is, nobody knows. The problem is that a few people have apparently decided that this effort is doomed to failure before it has even started. Their pronouncements, though well-meaning in the main, are founded on ignorance, and in some cases are self-serving. My fellow Rochester Falconcam team members and I have spent quite a lot of time explaining the work and the need for it over the past several days. More than that, we've expended many hours over the past eighteen months working with Kodak and the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to identify all of the possible alternatives that could be implemented in order to: 1)Maximize the safety of both the falcons and the workers, and 2)Allow the repair work to proceed in an efficient (and yes) cost-effective manner.

So it really frosts my pumpkin (thanks to my friend Dave Mura for that interesting turn of phrase) when a self-appointed blowhard decides that we're all washing our hands of the falcons for the sake of some supposed, but unarticulated, short-term or hard-hearted benefit.

The article linked above appears to have been written by an imbecile with a website. Pretty much anyone can put one up these days (yours truly included). The article, editorial, whatever-- is replete with inaccuracies. The writer gets ZERO facts correct regarding the relocation, except that it will take place. His "well-placed friend" sounds like someone with an ax to grind and no concept of the damage being caused by their leak. It is certainly not anyone who has a clue as to how much planning or care went into this decision.

Honestly, how much do you expect Kodak, in tough economic times, to inflate the cost of this work? It is already well in excess of $10 million.

Let's see... we'll keep the nest box in place and work seven months out of the year. Why, that's a great plan! Take down and re-erect the scaffolding and other equipment needed for the repairs every year? Don't forget, Kodak's paying for the equipment whether it's being used or not, for the duration of the repair project. Furlough the workers every January and bring them back in July? Sure, no problem, just shell out more millions. Kodak has deep pockets, after all. Look at how their stock price has shot into the stratosphere lately.

What's that you say, Mr. Project Manager? The work's going to take six years instead of three? Well, heck! That's alright, we'll just throw a few million more into the project budget. We'll only need to lay off a couple hundred employees to offset the cost. No big deal for a heartless corporate curmudgeon like Kodak.

GVAS apologists? DEC apparatchiks having their strings pulled by Albany bureaucrats? That's easy to write for someone with not a whit of journalistic integrity, and no interest in getting at the truth of the matter, but it also happens to be patently false.

Of course, idiots like Aaron Wicks can write whatever they want. Any jerk can put up a website, stand on his cyber-soapbox and try to impress us with fancy French phrases. He's perfectly entitled to write and publish anything he can conjure in his oblivious brain. He's also perfectly entitled to be seen for the moron that he is.

One thing he failed to mention in his witless diatribe-- Leadership is often about making difficult choices, and always about hard work. It's easy to sit on the sidelines and throw stones at those who have to weigh tough issues, and ultimately satisfy stakeholders with needs that sometimes diverge wildly. But I haven't seen Aaron Wicks, or (I'll bet) his alleged source volunteering to take on some of the real work that's needed to ensure successful nesting for these falcons; to plan the educational programs for school children; to write "eerily propagandizing" updates about what's happening in the falcons' world; to code chron jobs for processing and publishing digital images to the website, or to spend hours troubleshooting a bad camera amidst bone-numbing snowstorms in the depths of February. And I most definitely haven't seen him take time away from job and family to attend planning meetings in order to advocate for the protection and safety of the Peregrines out of nothing but love of the species and the hope that you're making a difference in the world. Nope, Aaron Wicks and his ilk are too busy writing their little screeds and their baseless accusations to actually do anything to help the falcons, or the Rochester Falconcam program to be successful.

So by all means-- go ahead and take another whack at Big Bad Kodak. Slap the faces of GVAS and the DEC one more time. Good on ya, Aaron Wicks, for putting us Smugtown elites in our places.

Mariah Dominates Another Banding Day

After thirteen years you'd think Mariah might be slowing down, especially when she's faced with an invading horde of banders intent on absconding with her offspring. You might think so, but you'd be wrong.

The 2008 Banding Day began for me at 7:30 this morning, when I arrived at Kodak to participate in a final review of our procedures for the day.

Signage? Check:
     

Banders and other team members ready to roll? Check:


Photogenic, enthusiastic frenetic school children? Check, check and triple-check:


We were a little behind our schedule by the time all of the guests got settled so we gathered the members of the banding team and the observer/decoys (that is, Baerbel, Tom Hoehn/Cornpoppy, Dennis Money and yours truly) and rocketed up nineteen floors courtesy of the Kodak tower elevators.

As it turned out, we decoys at the sign level had nothing to worry about. Cunning Mariah knew to concentrate her attacks on the folks at the nestbox level, leaving those of us at the KODAK sign level to watch in awed fascination:
     

     

As soon as DEC bander extraordinaire Mike Allen stepped around the corner Mariah dealt him a wicked blow upon his helmeted pate that resounded in the morning air. It was the first of several, as she went on the warpath. Kaver circled nearby, lending his angry kacking for moral support, but staying out of the fight:
     

Mariah had no such option, driven by thousands of years of instinct to defend her young:


At the end of each attack run she slowed a little and turned, giving us photographers time to line her up in our viewfinders:
     

Once I got lucky catching both of the angry Peregrines in my frame:


The action didn't go unnoticed on the ground, either. Gathered watchers took it all in all from the comfort of the recently erected Falcon Watching HQ:


Another run, another turn...