Another Exciting Banding Day!

2007's banding day was an exercise in excitement and exertion! It started early for me when I arrived at Kodak around 7:30 to make preparations. By 9:00 everything was in place. While FalKenn Martinez worked out some technical snafus with the Falconcam's frozen servers our guests arrived and everyone made their way up to the attic of the Kodak tower. Here's Tom Hoehn talking with Tina and Alan from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, while Birdcam alumnus Brad Carney discusses the impending banding activity with Mike Allen and Barb Loucks from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC):
     

Other special guests included Grace Tillinghast (Aconcagua's namer) and Rochester Falconcam Executive Committee member Lisa McKeown. Videographer extraordinaire Mike Champlin provided on-the-spot camera angles during the banding. Two hundred feet below in Kodak's main lobby, a dozen school children from two classes assembled for a Peregrine presentation by Carol Phillips and GVAS president June Summers, and play-by-play commentary as they viewed the banding on a live video feed.

After a short delay while Mariah fed the eyases, we headed outside. Using our customary "two team" strategy, one group went out near the KODAK sign level, while the eyas extraction team headed up to the nestbox. Interestingly enough, it was Kaver who took off first, circling closer than I've ever seen him, and even diving in for an attack or two:
          

It didn't take very long for Mariah to get into the act as well, and her first appearance was dazzling:
          

She was at her most aggressive, scoring early hits on Kenn and Barb's hard hats. Her strafing runs were close and unrelenting:
     

     

I got lucky and caught this shot as Mariah and Kaver both passed overhead:


As the extraction team retreated, Kaver took up his sentry position on his lily:
     

Meanwhile, Mariah landed on a small antenna at the southwest corner of the playpen, then moved to one of the camera arms to chase away the intruders:
     

Inside the attic Barb and Mike got to work:


The first eyas was banded as a female, though Mike and Barb said it might be a "big male". Shades of Aconcagua, perhaps?


Ananta took a tight grip on Mike's finger, getting in some early prey-grasping practice with those wicked talons:
     

A special treat awaited Tom Hoehn, who got to hold Linn while Mike applied her ID bands:


Tom and I took Ananta and Linn down to the lobby so the school children could have a look. Ananta was pretty quiet, but her sister Linn is a real loud-mouth! June and Carol kept the students up to date on the eyases' names with the help of the official Rochester Falconcam Eyas Naming Chart:


Back up in the attic, Sacajawea and Grace were treated to a health check and banding with only a little indignity:
     

The work went quickly, both to minimize stress on the eyases, and because it was pretty hot in the confines of the attic. Soon enough, it was time to return the newly banded chicks to the nestbox. It won't surprise you to learn that Mariah came out swinging as soon as we stepped out on the catwalk:
     

We used aptly labelled leaf rakes to guard the backs of the eyas return team:


A final send-off from Kaver:


After participating in four bandings you might think the thrill would be wearing off, but you'd be wrong. Every year brings something new, and being up close to these marvelous raptors is something that I'll never tire of. We had the benefit of good weather (it makes photography much easier!) and well-coordinated teams both in the attic and the lobby. All in all, a very successful day. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Dogfighting Peregrines

I hadn't intended to get outside at lunch today, so I left my binoculars and DSLR camera at home. Hearing the great news of the first hatch of 2007 changed my mind, though.

I didn't have my super-duper camera, but I did have my trusty Kodak DX6490. I found Shaky at the corner of State Street and Morrie Silver Way watching Kaver, who was perched on the southeast corner of the launch pad, above the nest box. Carol P was standing in the plaza outside of the Kodak tower taking pictures of Kaver. She joined us about the same time that Barbara and Cathy "Zummobird" D'Angelo showed up.

For no particular reason, I decided that rather than trying to get pictures, I'd shoot some video today. I'd hoped to get a shot of Mariah or Kaver circling, or maybe one of them bringing in food for the new hatchling. So when Kaver took off, I started filming, completely unprepared for the spectacle that awaited us.

Out over the parking lot he met up with another Peregrine. As I'd just come from the Kodak Lobby where I'd seen Mariah in the nest box, I was surprised, but I figured somehow she'd flown out to meet him. Of course, we all suspected a food transfer. Imagine our amazement then, when the two falcons began a spirited aerial combat!

Shaky was the first to realize that not only was this not a food transfer, but that Kaver had found, and was agressively attacking, a sub-adult Peregrine that had wandered into the area. Carol shot some pictures while I kept filming.

(2.9MB WMV file)

Despite the jumpy footage I think you can get the idea. Over the traffic noise you can hear the angry vocalizations of the combatants. As Kaver pushed the intruder southward, Mariah shot out of the nest box and joined in the chase. The two of them continued driving the interloping falcon to the south where it disappeared. Mariah took over the chase while Kaver returned to the nest box, but she relieved him after only a couple of minutes. Kaver made another aerial patrol, then returned to the launch pad to resume his vigil. Lisa McKeown joined us after the action, and we passed the remainder of the lunch hour in relative calm.

Serendipity is a wonderful thing. Sometimes the unexpected makes for the best experience.

Vernal Visitations

One of the joys of spring comes from seeing old friends return, even when winter makes a last desperate blast. I'm happy to say that some unwelcome snow and wind didn't spoil the arrival of this female Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus):


I grabbed my camera when I heard her call. The dark gray sky didn't make shooting her an easy task, but we nature photographers thrive on challenges. She made the short flight to the suet feeder and held fast while the wind swung it about:
          

I've been hearing the flickers around the neighborhood for a few weeks, but this was my first good sighting of one. Now that spring has arrived in force, they're much more plentiful.

With the improved weather we're back out on the lunchtime lookout for Peregrines and other birds in the High Falls area. This American Kestrel nest, occupied last year, isn't showing signs of use in 2007:


We see the Kestrels flying through the area, so our working theory is that they've put down stakes in one of the nearby unoccupied buildings, several of which have broken windows or other spots for the industrious little falcons to commandeer for a nest site. We'll keep our eyes open to see if we can spy out their new lair.

People-watching can be as much fun as falcon-watching, and spring definitely brings out the people. Here comes a cool customer:

Yep, it's Cornpoppy displaying a bit of macho flair in his leather jacket and black denim jeans. James Dean's got nothing on this fellow.


Back on the homefront, the American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) are out in their bright breeding plumage:

Nothing says spring like these bright "lemonbirds".

Speaking of flair, few birds are more flamboyant than my favorite woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus:
          

A recent visit to my backyard suet feeder-- in better weather than the poor flicker above-- was a great opportunity to get this guy some blog time after an absence of many months. Thanks to my long zoom lens, I got some nice detail shots:


Dawn and I are thinking about a trip to the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge this weekend. Pictures and a report to follow, I'm sure...