Pleasant Morning, Gorge-ous Afternoon

Lots of flying this morning kept us on our toes. The air was pleasingly cool, even a bit brisk, so I grabbed my jacket from the car. Linn seemed to like it, because she was in the air quite a lot:


Grace landed on Camera 1's mounting arm around 6:40, but she took off again soon:
     

After a spirited chase with Linn and Ananta, they both landed on top of Building 9. Ananta didn't want to stay out of the air for long, though. Linn's askance look as her sister takes off is kind of comical:
     

Linn followed and their chase recommenced:
          

Ananta landed on the corner of Building 9 again:


There was a brief lull in the action, broken when Mariah arrived with food. Sacajawea and Linn leapt into the air, racing for the breakfast:


Sacajawea was the faster, and she flipped over to take the prey from her mother:
     

Linn closed in, but too late:


Her breakfast secured, Sacajawea bulleted toward the center stack's catwalk, Linn close on her tail. Linn landed on the floor of the catwalk while her sister continued toward the rail:
     

She ate a few bites while she balanced on the narrow iron:


Inexplicably she took her meal and flew, making a spectacular landing on the shadowy northwest side of the catwalk:
          

I don't know exactly how it happened, but Linn took off from the catwalk, and when she did she had a morsel of her own in her talons:
     

One of her sisters-- Ananta, I think-- took off in hot pursuit:
          

Their chase went north of the visitor parking lot toward Kodak's Building 10:


Ananta peeled away as they approached the building, but poor Linn continued on, crashing into a window with a solid thump that I heard all the way over by the smokestacks:


She fell, and another building blocked my view. Fearing the worst, I sprinted toward State Street, expecting to find a dazed or injured fledgling on the sidewalk. My trepidation turned to relief when she appeared to the north, heading toward the smokestacks with steady wingbeats, apparently no worse for her collision:
     

She landed on the High Falls stack's catwalk where I believe she enjoyed her breakfast. The action slowed after that, and I headed into the office to get some work done.

---

At lunchtime I headed out again. Oddly, I was unable to locate a single fledgling on the Kodak tower, nor did they appear to be perching anywhere on the smokestacks or surrounding buildings. Barbara and I went out on the Pedestrian bridge to look, and met first Cathy D'Angelo and then Dana. Our search from the bridge proved fruitless as well, so we headed back toward Kodak for a look around the north side. We ended up spotting one fledgling apparently napping on the floor of the center stack's catwalk. As more watchers joined in, we saw a couple of them flying out over the gorge, so we decided to head back to the bridge.

Mariah put in an appearance, circling over the bridge near the BeeBee station:


Two fledglings came off the east gorge wall and began a frenetic chase between the falls and the bridge. As they approached, Grace swooped up and landed on the railing near the east end:


She took off when a passing pedestrian walked nearby, and flew upriver, passing in front of the falls:


On the return trip she actually passed right over the bridge, on her way to a landing on one of the High Falls Brewing Company buildings:
          

Two others raced north of the bridge near the BeeBee station:


Mariah and Kaver both joined in the flying, sometimes chasing their daughters, sometimes flying solo:
     

When one of the girls landed at the foot of the observation deck, Mike, Dana and I headed up the path, hoping for a close-up view. Along the way, Linn treated us to a spectacular low-level fly-over:


The fledgling on the rock flew before we could get to the observation deck, but I managed to snap these shots of her:
     

We were surprised to see a wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) appear on the cliff edge just beneath us:


We learned later that one of the fledglings had chased it up the side of the gorge!

After more minutes of flying the fledglings all settled in. A couple of them landed on the gorge wall, including this one who took a siesta on a small rocky cornice:


Even Kaver found a comfortable perch on a dead bough:


An afternoon teleconference forced me to return to the office. I'm thrilled to see that the fledglings are migrating out toward the gorge. This is where the best flying of the season is likely to occur, so I'm excited to get out this weekend for more watching.

Feeding Fledglings & an Ungraceful Landing

I showed up early Thursday morning to see if I could catch any flying before I went to work. Unfortunately, though I arrived around 7:30AM, I missed all the action, which was nicely reported in Larry O'Heron's Fledge Watch report published at Imprints. A consolation prize of sorts was Sacajawea, perched on the stair tower behind the High Falls office building, which sits across Mill Street from the Kodak visitor parking lot:


I went out onto the Pont de Rennes bridge where I found fellow watchers "Mr. Bird Nerd" Mike, and Paul Reinhart. I got a reverse angle shot of Sacajawea...


And also found a second fledgling on the lip of the middle RGE smokestack:


We waited for some action, but none was forthcoming so I left around 8:30 to begin my work day.

New watcher Kathy Alianell reported on Mariah's very impressive stoop on a pigeon over State Street. As it happened, I was walking up the sidewalk on Morrie Silver Way just as Mariah was executing her hunt. I caught her carrying the prey up to the southeast corner of Building 9:


She dropped off the food and two of the fledglings converged for brunch. Ananta missed the meal, and she chased her mother a while before settling on the 17^th floor of the Kodak tower:
          

The fourth fledgling, who may have been Grace, was sitting on a window sill nearby:


Both of the girls were loudly protesting their lack of food while the luckier pair made quick work of denuding the pigeon:


I went up to the roof of Building 9, hoping to get a clear picture of the feeding falcons by cracking the door and sticking my camera lens out, but when I got there the fledglings had left, taking their food with them. The couldn't have gone far, though, because Mariah had assumed sentry duty:


I took a different exit onto the west side of the roof so that Mariah was hidden from my view (and I from hers). One of the fledglings was in the air, and Mariah must have decided to fly too, because I caught her circling near the tower:


Two fledglings began chasing each other, flying low over the building so that they were often out of my view. I caught up with Grace as she flew toward the tower, headed for a landing on another window sill, or so it seemed. You can imagine my surprise when she misjudged it rather badly:
     

Her gaffe was short-lived, and she recovered neatly enough:
     

In the afternoon I took a walk toward the bridge again. Almost as soon as my foot hit the sidewalk I heard loud kacking above me. It was Grace, with a bit of food grasped securely in her talons:
     

Perhaps it had been brought by Kaver, because he was flying over the visitor parking lot too:


Grace landed on the middle smokestack's catwalk where she tore into her afternoon meal:


I headed home then, escaping the heavy humid air. Friday promises more pleasant weather by far, so I plan on getting an early start.

Talon Tag in Triplicate

Having left my GMRS radio in my car I was incommunicado for today's lunchtime fledge watch, and I had to stay close to the office because I was the designated EMT on duty with the Kodak Office MERT team. So as is my wont, I headed up instead of out, and ended up taking an "occult" fledge watch (check out definition #4 and the citations from medical dictionaries).

Usually in these situations I go out on the roof of Building 9 because it provides a largely unobstructed view of the Kodak tower's south side, and the roof entrance is near an elevator if I need to respond to a medical emergency. Given the withering heat and humidity today, I suspected there'd be little chance of finding the fledglings on the sun-baked south side though, so I went north to Building 10, hitting the roof after a quick trip to the dining center for a cold bottle of diet iced tea.

As it turned out, my choice was a good one, not only because I needed to stay hydrated, but because a lot of flying happened nearly over my head.

The first I saw of the fledglings were a pair of them locking talons and kackking madly:
          

The hazy air and harsh overhead light made for poor photography and many of my shots are darker than I'd like, but I was able to identify these two as Grace and Ananta. At one point, the two almost seemed to hover as they engaged in their mock battle. They flew out of sight, but reappeared soon, only this time, they weren't alone. Sacajawea decided to join the fray:
          

          

What an experience! This was one of the longest games of talon tag I've seen in my seven years of watching Mariah's many offspring. The fact that their pursuits happened relatively close by was an unexpected and welcome surprise.

Grace and Ananta continued to harrass each other...
     
...while Sacajawea dropped to the peak of the Building 10 roof:


She was off again soon for a short flight to the corner of the Philadelphia tower on the 17^th floor ledge:
          

Grace and Ananta eventually grew bored or tired, and both landed. I found Grace perched at the northeast corner of the 17^th floor ledge, across from her sister:
     

During the hour's many chases, Mariah kept a view from the north side of the launch pad:


Though I wanted to linger, I could only stay out for an hour. Even with the heat, the watch was over too quickly. These girls are really progressing fast. I think we need have no worries about their safety at this point. It's the best of all possibilities-- we watchers can spend the next few weeks enjoying the wondrous spectacle unfolding in the skies over Rochester.

Wing Workouts

The week following fledging is always one of the most exciting times for me. The juvenile falcons are still learning, but day by day you can see their increasing skill and confidence. When I arrived at the Kodak visitor lot I found a pack of watchers already assembled at the corner of Factory street. Several of the juveniles were perched on the Philadelphia Tower, an external, enclosed fire escape that George Eastman installed on the northwest corner of the Kodak tower's north face. It was one of the first positive pressure fire escapes ever installed on a commercial building. No one seems to be sure where it's name came from, though.

When both of the adults took off eastward, we expected that there'd be some flying once they returned with food. The juveniles surprised us though, flying out in quick succession to land next to each other on the center smokestack. First Grace...

Then Ananta...

And Linn...

...all crossed from the Kodak tower over our heads to land on top of the smokestack!


Sacajawea decided to stay put on the tower. As we were to discover, the flying was just getting started.

"Little" Linn is coming into her own. Her flying has improved quite a bit. Her landings are pretty good too, though she's still a little inexperienced. She flew from the center stack over the visitor parking lot, then turned back east. Her landing on the High Falls stack was just short of the top:
     

She clung to the top for a few seconds, then pulled herself up to the top with a bit of wing flapping:
     

Next it was Ananta's turn to impress. Without warning she pushed off the smokestack and made a grab at something small that was flying by:
          

No one was quite sure what it was-- A small bird? A bat? Butterfly? She missed, but it was a treat to see her hunting instincts are already being honed. There was a report that Grace had stooped on a bird earlier in the day, so it seems like these girls are growing apace into their predator heritage. After her attempted catch Ananta circled around, then headed for a landing on the roof of Building 10:
     

     

Sacajawea finally decided to get some airtime. She's also flying well, as you can see:


Then Ananta was back in the sky, flying near one of the smokestacks:


Not to be outdone, Linn tried out a few aerobatics:
     

Meanwhile, Grace and Ananta engaged in a bit of talon tag & chasing:
     

Sacajawea made another pass, and all the girls got airborne when Kaver arrived. Kacking and food begging wails filled the air:
     

Kaver didn't have any food though, so he left his daughters frustrated. In a sneaky move, Mariah flew in low from the northwest, a big fat pigeon in her talons. She landed on the southwest corner of the 17^th floor ledge out of sight of all her offspring, and commenced denuding her prize of its feathers:


She ate her fill, then took off with the catch:


As soon as she moved into view the juveniles picked up their kacking again. Much to our surprise, only one flew out to meet her. Mariah dropped the prey and Ananta snatched it up in a deft food transfer:
          

Ananta took the food to the back of the High Falls stack's catwalk to eat. Annoyed that she'd missed dinner, Linn knocked Mariah off her perch on the other side of the catwalk and began protesting her lack of dinner with a loud whining wail:


The action slowed down after that. I'd only been there a little more than an hour, but since it was getting late I headed home. Now that all the girls are flying so well, I anticipate enough action to keep me busy combing through pictures and writing blog posts for many days to come.

Noon Flights and Confirmations

Monday morning brought news that one of the fledglings may have missed a landing on the center smokestack and gone down. At lunchtime I joined Carol P, Shaky & Carrie, Larry O'Heron and other watchers near the smokestacks. We never saw any of the juveniles emerge from the smokestacks during the hour, but we could only account for three of them on the Kodak tower. Unfortunately the sun's high position and the fledglings' speedy flights made it nearly impossible to tell which three we were seeing. Luckily, they all decided to fly at various times.

Ananta was the first to show her band:


A while later, I caught these shots of a fledgling that turned out to be Linn, as she was heading for a landing on the middle smokestack:
     

The third juvenile was Grace:


That left Sacajawea. We heard, or thought we heard, faint cries that sounded like they might have come from below ground level, which is where the exit for the center smokestack is located. However, the sound could have just as easily come from among the tangle of buildings in the BeeBee Station, or it could have been coming from somewhere else, bouncing off the various structures in the area.

Despite the news, I wasn't too concerned. Neither Mariah nor Kaver were over at the smokestacks. Usually when a fledgling has gone down a stack the parents fly over immediately and perch nearby. In this case, both adults seemed content to stay on the shady north side of the Kodak Tower:
     

Grace and Ananta both returned to the tower as well, with Ananta tucking herself into one of the scallops on the decorative 19^th floor stonework:
     

This is where I left them when I returned to the office at about 1:30PM. As it turned out, Sacajawea was spotted on the Kodak tower with all of her siblings around 4:00PM, so if she did end up at the bottom of the smokestack she rescued herself just as Grace did a few days eariler. So, a minor bit of drama colored the day, but it ended well.

Little Linn's Adventures and Weekend Flying

I won't try to recreate the blow-by-blow account of which fledgling flew at what time-- Others have done yeoman work in the Rochester Falconcam's Imprints blog. In particular, you can read Fledge Watch reports from Lisa McKeown (Saturday Evening, and Sunday Morning).

Saturday brought the news that Linn, last of Mariah and Kaver's four offspring to hatch, had finally fledged, joining her sisters in the skies around the Kodak office complex. Short of experience and possibly confidence, she began by making a series of short flights, staying near the building. On one of these flights she went from a window ledge on the south side of the Kodak tower to a courtyard/patio in front of the complex. Though the patio is raised above street level, it was close enough to traffic to cause some concern. Fortunately, Linn didn't spend too much time on the ground before flying back up to another window ledge on the fourth floor of the Kodak tower. There she remained for the rest of the day:


We kept a close eye on her throughout the afternoon and evening in case she flew again or needed help. She'd been fed early in the morning, but hadn't eaten all day. Though she's still growing, this wasn't a cause for serious concern, though we were all hopeful that she'd find her way to higher ground to make it easier to get food from her parents.

Meanwhile, her sisters got in some flying practice. Grace appears to be the standout flier of the bunch so far. Her flights are well controlled and sustained, and she's even been getting some flight lessons from Mariah:
     

Sacajawea and Ananta hung out on opposite sides of the catwalk on the center smokestack:
     

When Grace landed on the peak of Building 10, one of the girls from the smokestack joined her:


Mariah left her perch on the tower and coaxed the pair into more flying practice. We were even treated to a brief bout of aerobatics:
          

Returning from an unsuccessful hunt, Mariah made a low flight over the visitor parking lot. I managed to get a couple of shots in good evening light as she passed by:
     

Kaver had accompanied her on the hunt, but he settled on the center smokestack's catwalk, far from the inistent wails of the fledglings, all perched variously on the Kodak buildings, who were begging for food:
     

Mariah continued flying around the tower, hoping to prod the fledglings into more flying, but they preferred to keep to their perches:
     

As the sun fell, the beacon lights in the steeple atop the Kodak tower beamed their ruddy glow into the dusky sky. A passing juvenile provided an excellent opportunity for a low light shot to end my watch:

---

I came out early on Sunday morning, arriving at 7:00 to the happy news that Linn had flown up to join her sisters only a few minutes earlier. Sacajawea was the lone recipient of a fat pigeon that Mariah had brought, and she was busily stuffing herself on the southeast corner of Building 9. After a time, Mariah flew over and ate some of the bird herself, though not without a lot of complaining and some contention from her daughter. Then Mariah took the rest of the carcass and flew north to the peak of the roof on Building 10, dropping it to the others. Sacajawea followed closely, but Linn was the lucky fledgling who got the breakfast remains. The others settled for watching her eat:


One of the others came down to finish the leftovers and took them to the far side of the roof. Linn hopped up the roof for a better vantage:


As with the previous evening, Kaver chose to keep a discrete distance. Here he's perched on the stair tower at the northeast corner of Building 9:


Having broken their fast, the juveniles began flying. Here's Linn, continuing to make measured flights near the tower:
     

Grace made a longer flight that ended in a masterful landing:
          

Linn and Grace communed for a while, but Grace isn't much of a talker, apparently. She took off, leaving Linn alone on the peak of the roof:
     

Ananta got in some wing time too:


Once, Linn joined her and they engaged in a bit of talon tag!


It lasted only a few seconds, and Linn returned to the tower while Ananta continued flying:
     

     

Not to be outdone, Sacajawea made some nice flights nearby, landing on the corner of Building 9 to see if anything remained of her breakfast pigeon. Her enlarged crop is clearly visible:
     

Finding only a few scraps, she took off again:


With their children all safely flying and fed, Mariah and Kaver sought a little downtime on the center stack's catwalk:


I left around 10:00 with all juveniles accounted for, and with hundreds of photos to review (just check the filenames on my photos to see the range). It's good to see all the juveniles flying and steadily improving their skills. At this point it seems we have little to worry about from Grace or Sacajawea. Ananta still needs a little work on her landings, and Linn will pick up experience quickly. The next few days offer good weather and the promise of plenty of flying from this year's 'Fantastic Four'.

More Flying, Less Angst

Today featured more flying from Ananta, Grace & Sacajawea. Linn spent much of the morning and afternoon alone in the playpen while her sisters practiced their flight and landing skills.

My day began with bright blue skies and cool temperatures thanks to the wind that had continued from yesterday. There was little activity when I arrived in the Kodak parking lot around 7:20AM, though there were plenty of watchers already on hand to let me know what had happened prior to my arrival. With their assistance I located all of the juveniles.

The first action of my day started when Grace took off from her perch on the south face of the Kodak tower. She made a good looking flight, appearing to gain altitude easily, before landing on the "launchpad" above the nestbox. It was a bit rough, but not bad given her lack of experience:
     

     
The launchpad gets its name from the decorative objects at each corner, which resemble squat rockets. Its flat surface makes a good landing spot, and the lauchpad is a common perch for adults and juveniles alike.

A few minutes after 8:00, Ananta took a flight from the catwalk halfway up the High Falls smokestack to the center stack where she made a passable landing-- a welcome change from her tortured flights last night:


Around 8:30 I headed into the office to take care of some business for the morning. On my way in I was surprised when Sacajawea left her perch on top of Building 9 and flew right over my head on her way to a landing on the stair tower where she'd spent much of yesterday morning. Her brief flight provided an excellent photographic opportunity:
     

I finished my work at about 11:00 and decided to take vacation for the rest of the day. Hearing that Sacajawea had moved back to Building 9 I went up to the roof to see if I could spot her. Navigating carefully around a maze of steam pipes, I spied her on the edge of the building. My long 400mm zoom lens brought her close in, though:
     

Then it was back down to the visitor parking lot, where I met up with some other watchers including Dan Stiehler, Larry O'Heron, Joe and Carol P. At the bottom of the hour we watched Mariah and Kaver chase a Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) that ventured too close to the tower:


With the airspace cleared, Ananta decided to take off. She made for the RGE BeeBee station's smokestacks and after a short, direct flight she executed a very neat landing on the railing of the catwalk on the center smokestack:
          

Carol and Dan headed to Jimmy Mac's restaurant to order lunch, leaving the watching to Joe and me. We hadn't seen Linn all day, so when I saw a wing flap from beneath the nestbox, I quickly checked the other spots where we'd seen the juveniles-- smokestack catwalk, Bldg 9 stair tower, and the southeast side of the steeple-- All four accounted for!

Atop the steeple Grace decided to head for the river. She passed nearly overhead, allowing me to see her blue leg band, and swooped up for a landing on the top of the center smokestack. Her approach was too fast, though, and it looked like she might have disappeared down the smokestack-- a not uncommon occurrence for these new fliers. I took a jog out on the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge over the river to get a look at the east side of the stack, and was releived to see that she'd made a landing after all:
     

She didn't stay there long, though. Her flight was long and winding, and she was joined by Mariah, who appeared to be urging her onward:
          

They flew behind the northern smokestack and turned west, heading, it seemed, for the Kodak tower. Around the north side they both went, out of sight. I was momentarily dismayed to see Mariah appear again, alone. Fortunately, a second or so later, Grace swung around the south side of the Kodak tower and touched down on the broad ledge that encircles the building at the level of the 17^th floor:
          

At 1:00 Ananta abandoned her perch on the smokestack's catwalk. Grabbing altitude with each wingbeat, she circled around and perhaps driven by the wind, she came angled for a landing on top of the High Falls smokestack, the southernmost of the three BeeBee station stacks. Coming in hot, it looked like she might overshoot, but she held on to the delight of the watchers below:
          

Grace took off from the 17^th floor ledge and got caught by a strong tailwind that drove her far to the southeast. She fought her way back to the tower in a tiring flight against the wind, landing on a window sill on the 11^th floor. Near 2:00 Ananta left the High Falls smokestack and flew back to the tower, landing neatly on the peak of the Kodak tower's metal roof:
     
From there she hopped up to the playpen railing, then down to the catwalk where she joined Linn.

Sacajawea took another flight, also landing on a window sill on the 11^th floor:

As it happened, she settled just a few windows down from Grace, who had moved into the shadows for an afternoon nap. With a lull in the activity I decided to head home for the day.

Ambulance duty will keep me away from the fledge watch tomorrow morning, but I plan to drop by in the afternoon, by which time little Linn will hopefully have joined her sisters in the air.

     

Three Fledglings!

The morning was cooler than I expected. A persistent breeze and plenty of clouds kept the morning sun at bay. I arrived at the Kodak visitor parking lot shortly after 7:00 to find an unidentified eyas sitting on one of the floodlights in the playpen:


Carol P informed me that Sacajawea had flown from the ledge where she'd spent the night, to the top of a stair tower on Building 10, to the north of the Kodak tower. She was conspicuous by her near constant pacing back and forth along the edge of the roofline. Another piece of good news was that Grace had fledged at about 6:45 AM, only a few minutes before I arrived. I found her enthroned on the capital of one of the decorative columns on the east side of the building, just above the playpen:
         


Mariah sat at the north-east corner of the the 17^th floor ledge, keeping an eye on Sacajawea while Kaver rested on the south-east corner of the launch pad above the nest box. In the playpen, one of the eyases (Ananta, most likely), hopped from floodlight to floodlight, alighting here on the middle light on the east side of the catwalk:


I watched until about 8:30 when Fal-Kenn Martinez arrived to do some work on the Rochester Falconcam's infrastructure. I accompanied him inside, then went to my office to do a bit of work.

I returned a little after 10AM to find that Grace had flown again in my absense. Information from other watchers indicated that she was on the north side of the tower, so I decided to head up to the roof of Building 10, which has a good view of that side. Knowing that Sacajawea was also on Building 10, I stayed well out of her view to avoid spooking her. I was able to sneak a picture of her around the corner, though:


Mariah made a low flyby on her way to the tower:


Grace showed her excitement at her mother's presence, but settled down when Mariah landed nearby:
     

     

I headed back to street level to join the other watchers, and for a time there was little activity. When Grace decided to fly again our cameras were ready. She flew well, gliding on the swift air currents and demonstrating decent direction control. She even managed to gain altitude as she went:
     

Unfortunately her landings needed some work. She made an ambitious attempt at landing on the lillies, but missed and ended up clinging to the top of the steeple:
     

That didn't last long, though. Dissatisfied with her uncomfortable perch Grace took off again, circling the tower for another try:
     

This time she aimed for the ledge at the base of the steeple cone, but missed again:
     

Sacajawea hopped around excitedly as her sister finally made a landing on the playpen railing:
     

After that bit of fun things settled down, with Sacajawea "sacking out" on top of the stair tower, and Grace comfortably lodged in the playpen. Mariah and Kaver made a few flights, including a tandem pursuit of a large raptor, possibly a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Near lunchtime we spotted Linn on the ledge beside the nestbox, with one of the adults perching on the south-east corner of the playpen floor:

---

The afternoon brought a couple of sudden downpours as Rochester was once again subject to some severe thunderstorms. We dodged the worst weather though, and after a quick dowsing the sky cleared. A wind sprang up behind the storm that persisted throughout the afternoon and evening, and was to figure into some anxious moments to come.

In mid-afternoon Sacajawea finally decided she'd had enough of louging about on the stair tower roof. She took off, heading south:


She swung around the south side of the Kodak tower and made a serviceable landing just below a window on the 15^th floor:
     

     

Concerned that she might fly around to the west, I headed up to rooftop level, where I had a good view of the south and west sides of the tower. After a bit of balancing, Sacajawea found a comfortable position on her perch:


Things got quiet after that, so I headed home to take care of the pets and grab some dinner.

---

Returning just before 6:00PM, I parked in the Kodak visitor lot where I found a large group of watchers assembled for the evening. After getting a status update, we settled in. A concert by the Robert Cray band down at High Falls drew an immense crowd of fans, many on motorcycles, so the traffic was crowded and very loud. That, and the gusty winds gave me some reason for concern. If a fledgling got in trouble, it might not have the strength to make it to a good landing site, and the heavy traffic could make for a perilous street landing.

Some of the watchers were tracking Sacajawea, who had disappeared after flying around the north side of the tower. So when a fledgling was spotted in the air near the Kodak buildings we initially assumed it was her. I was a bit surprised to see Mariah flying nearby, dangling a tasty morsel to lure her offspring into flight:
     

The fledgling quickly ran into trouble. Trying to negotiate her way back to the tower, she was blown backward by the high winds. Circling and flapping madly with Mariah close behind, she began to lose strength. As she lost altitude over State Street, we rushed toward the tower, ready for a possible rescue. Fortunately, the fledgling turned and let the wind blow her eastward, where after bouncing off the high falls smokestack, she half landed, half fell into the catwalk on the center smokestack:
     

Relieved applause broke out among the watchers. While we strained to identify the juvenile, Mariah continued circling, the prey still clutched in her talons:
     

After reviewing our in-camera images, we all agreed that the lucky juvenile was Ananta! Her fledging flight was witnessed by probably the largest crowd we've had for such an event. Even people walking to the concert stopped to watch the excitement.

Sacajawea, meanwhile, decided to show up on top of Building 3:


I'm not certain whether she chose to fly or was blown off the edge of the building, but she ended up in the air. Flapping against the smooth glass and metal side of the building, she fluttered down toward the entrance to the Kodak lobby. After a second or so of falling, she decided to fly away from the building, a good choice as it turned out:
     

She landed on a low commercial building across from the parking lot:
     

Only two stories tall, this building provided an excellent opportunity for close-up views of a juvenile Peregrine, and my Kowa spotting scope recieved heavy use from watchers and passing members of the public alike. It was a terrific opportunity to educate the community about the wealth of nature we have here in the heart of downtown Rochester.

All during this time Ananta kept up a restless pacing on the smokestack's catwalk. to our dismay, she decided to take off again. As before, she fought the winds as she looked for a place to land. Her choices weren't the best, beginning with this precarious perch on the side of the smokestack:
     

She left that untenable spot and tried again, but once more whether due to the wind or inexperience, this time sliding her way down the face of the smokestack. She made a grab at one of the circumferential metal bands on the stack, but missed:
          

     

She crossed the space over the parking lot once more and swung around to the south face of the Kodak tower. She aimed for a window ledge but missed, ending up on a sliver of brickwork on the 14^th floor:


That spot was equally untenable, and after a tricky balancing act for a minute or so she took to the air again. She bounced off the smooth face of the High Falls stack, flew around it, and out of sight:
          

Watchers rushed out to the bridge for a reverse look, and after some tense moments, verified that she had landed in the catwalk. Whew-- what an ordeal!

It's all part of what makes fledge watching such an exciting pursuit, but there are sometimes long moments of nerve-wracking uncertainty and anxiety.

Fortunately Ananta seemed content. Mariah and Kaver both paid her visits, perhaps keeping a close eye on their wayward daughter.

In the calm that followed we turned our attention back to Sacajwea. She had spent much of the day pacing back and forth on whatever surface she found herself, and she kept up that odd activity. Hopping down to the apex of the building's roof, she took up her pacing again, with what looked like a very determined expression:
     

It was kind of comical to watch, and a welcome change from the anxious moments Ananta had provided.

A little after 8:00 everything looked pretty calm. Ananta came out to perch on the catwalk rail, and in the evening light she had a serene look:


I took that as a good sign and left the remainder of the watch in capable hands. More excitement is sure to follow, since little Linn has yet to slip the surly bonds of earth, but we'll be there to watch, record, and, if necessary, to act.

Flights, Food, Flapping

Duty with the Medical Emergency Response Team kept me close to the Kodak office today, so I took advantage of the situation by going up rather than out. Moving along the rooftops, I settled near the complex's cooling towers, a position that provided a largely unobstructed view of the south and west sides of the tower.

Beyond a few flashes of wing from the playpen, Ananta and Grace were little in evidence. Mariah had a prominent perch near the northeast corner of the playpen railing on the west side. I assume that one or both of her daughters were down below:


Sacajawea and Linn peered out from the nestbox, with our yellow-banded Shoshone girl taking her usual position on the left side of the perch rail, but other than the occasional move from one or another of the scrape-bound eyases there was little activity.

That changed with Kaver's arrival. He flew in clutching prey, and landed on the southeast corner of the playpen floor, where he commenced noshing:
     

     

The eyases in the nestbox began immediate, insistent begging wails:


I can only assume that Ananta and Grace hastened toward Kaver, because he took off with the prey not long after he'd landed. A circling flight over the parking lot south of the Kodak Office complex brought him back to the nestbox, where I anticipated a food transfer to Linn and Sacajawea:
          

          

Kaver, though, had other plans. Who can say what goes on in that little tiercel brain of his? Maybe he was trying to coax the nestlings into leaving the scrape, or maybe he just decided he was still hungry. Whatever his motive, he suddenly reversed direction, flying back to the south, even grabbing a bite from his morsel as he flew:
          

          

His flight carried him downtown, chased no doubt by the disapproving cries from his offspring. I followed him through the hazy noontime air until he swooped out of sight inside the elevator shaft on the Four Seasons building.

All the commotion seemed to cue Mariah into action. She left her perch and made a few loops around the Kodak tower before settling on the High Falls smokestack:
     

     

I traded information with the other watchers on the ground, who included Carol P, Shaky, Lisa McK and Dana. The action subsided then, and the rest of the hour was uneventful, save for a bit of wing exercise from the nestbox. I was pleased to see Linn come to the edge of the scrape and give her wings a vigorous workout:


Not to be outdone, Sacajawea joined in:


Kaver surprised us all with a stealth move back to the tower, appearing on his lily out of apparent thin air:


Angry looking storm clouds rolled in as the hour drew to a close. Only minutes after I returned to the office the sky darkened to an ominous gray and sheets of rain driven by furious winds drenched the downtown streets along with anyone unlucky enough to be caught out. In fact, one man was killed in the brief, intense storm when a tree fell on him, blown over by the dangerous wind, and at Kodak Park a temporary wall collapsed. Fortunately no one was injured in that incident. The falcons seemed to take it all in stride, with Sacajawea and Linn hanging out at the edge of the scrape, and Kaver even flying through the storm. Cooler weather came behind the tempest as it blew eastward, and our falcon family appears to be none the worse for its passing.