Peregrinations

Beauty Shows Up For New "Mega" Main Cam Install

2010-01-14T17:13:00.002-05:00

The Rochester Falconcam got a high-resolution boost with the installation of a new Main camera at the Times Square building today. Falconcam team members Fal-Kenn Martinez and I actually had decent weather for today's upgrade, a pleasant change from years past.

Our previous Main camera was a tried and true Kodak DC4300, a second-generation digital camera that provided yeoman service for the better part of a decade and allowed us to hosting the best images of a Peregrine nest to be found anywhere on the Internet.

Alas, nine years of Rochester weather took its toll, not so much on the camera as its housing and motor. And the custom hardware and software from Erdmann Video Systems that made the whole thing hum was getting a little long in the tooth too (it ran on Windows 98!). Here's a look at the setup. The biscuit is sitting on the table behind the chair, with related computing gear all around.

So last summer we began planning its replacement. We did some research to see what other solutions were out there, but in the end we found that Erdmann still provided the best solution for high-resolution webcams. Thanks to contributions from the Rochester Falconcam fans and some funding from Kodak, we placed an order for an updated unit.

Erdmann calls it a "Nano-biscuit". Why it's called a biscuit is beyond me; "breadbox" is more appropriate given its size, but there's no denying that the thing produces good pictures. Kodak stopped making their camera control firmware available to companies like Erdmann some years ago, so the new biscuit controls a Canon Powershot G10. The contoller hardware and software runs on Windows XP and it's much faster and easier to control remotely. The system came complete with a brand-spanking new Pelco all-weather housing and a fast, quiet Vistar pan/tilt motor. Altogether the system should see us many years into the future.

Anyway, our challenge today was to remove the old Main camera, mounting arm and cabling, and put install the new one. There's always an element of trepidation when doing this stuff, not just because we're working hundreds of feet up in the air, but because there are falcons around, and they can be MEAN. Mariah's place as Rochester's Queen of the Sky has been taken by Beauty, but we didn't know just what to expect out of her today. Would she mount a feirce territory defense like her predecessor, or would she be a no-show entirely?

It turned out to be a bit of both, and neither. We stepped outside and looked up to see...


There she was, casually de-feathering a pigeon far above our heads and taking absolutely no notice of us, as far as we could see. She made no sound and appeared content to eat her breakfast in the bright morning sun. Nevertheless, we started with some interior work to minimize the chance of spooking her. After a little work with wire cutters we removed the old control cables and installed the new ones through the small hole in the concrete and brick wall that I'd drilled last year. Kenn took care of connecting the various cables to the biscuit's control module while I assembled the new mounting platform and pedestal.

While we were at it, we replaced one of the interior nest box cameras with a new infrared-enabled unit that should give us a boost in image quality. Removing the old Main camera proved problematic. We'd used a long piece of 2x6 lumber to extend the camera away from the nest box. That had to be hauled in before we could remove the 40 pounds of camera, housing and motor. A few rusted bolts and a pulled shoulder muscle later, the plank yielded to our determined efforts and down it came. The new camera has a wider-angle lens as well as a 5x zoom, better than the 3x magnification factor we enjoyed from the DC4800. The result is that we were able to mount the new camera closer to the nest box. That was a lot safer for us (no leaning over the edge of the building to bolt things down and run cables) and it allowed us to create a more stable platform for the camera which should be much less likely to sway in the wind.


While we were getting the new camera mounted, Beauty made her second appearance of the day. Flying in from the west, she settled on the statue of Mercury that is one of Rochester's hallmarks. I climbed down from where I'd been helping Kenn and grabbed my camera for some shots.


I snagged a shot of the Kodak tower too, mantled in its metal exoskeleton:

The work took just a little less than five hours. Not too bad, all things considered. And the fact that we didn't have to deal with howling wind and sub-zero wind chills was icing on the cake. After some camera alignment and test images we packed up.

Down in the parking lot I spied a bird circling overhead. It turned out to be a Cooper's Hawk:

I thought nothing of it until Beauty flew in with prey clutched in her talons, and landed on the same "butcher's block" dining area she'd occupied when we saw her eating breakfast. As she came in she was kacking furiously. I had to move around a little to find out why, but it turned out that the Cooper's Hawk had landed close by and apparently challenged Beauty for her lunch.




There was a bit of tussling, mostly out of my sight, but it looked like Beauty prevailed because prey feathers started flying. Carol P. called me a few minutes later and confirmed that Beauty and the Coop had been chasing each other earlier, and Carol thinks Beauty may have actually stolen the prey from the Accipiter. I didn't see that part of the avian drama so I can't comment, but it's an intriguing idea. It was, however, good to see that Beauty wasted no time getting back to what is clearly her nest box. With new falcons in a territory it's always hard to judge how much human activity is "too much". I think she might have been waiting for us to finish our work when she landed on the Mercury statue earlier, so it was gratifying to see her return so soon after we vacated the premises.

Down in the parking lot we packed the old Main cam in the trunk of Kenn's car:

He's going to take it home and play around with it to see if he can get it functioning better. It'll make a good backup unit, or perhaps we can install it at a second nest site if the opportunity presents itself. Best of all, we can look forward to a whole new level of detail from our Mega Main Cam.

Cornell Ornithology Lab Hosts Urban Bird Survival Challenge

2010-01-07T18:49:00.001-05:00

Ever wonder how birds survive the frigid winters in Western New York? Well, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is inviting the public to participate in a citizen-science project to help answer that question through their Celebrate Urban Birds program.

Submit your stories, photos, videos and artwork that describe or demonstrate how urban birds survive the winter. Prizes will be awarded for the best entries, but hurry, the Urban Bird Survival Challenge ends on February 15. You can find all the details at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Falcons at Kodak Kick Off 2010

2010-01-04T20:25:00.002-05:00

Now that 2009 is in the history books, I hope to be more active with the blog. While I was leaving work this afternoon I was surprised, albeit pleasantly so, to glimpse the familiar silhouette of a Peregrine perched on the southeast corner of the Kodak Tower's launch pad. Though the building is still clad in its burnished metal exoskeleton the repair crews have been hard to find. Doubtless the recent arctic blast has something to do with their scarcity.

In any event it was great to see a falcon on the tower. I grabbed my binoculars for a closer look. The bird was a female by size and based on her rather dark breast coloration I'm pretty confident that I was looking at Beauty.

A bigger surprise came after only a few moments when a second Peregrine appeared in the north, flew around the west side of the Kodak Office complex nearly over my head, and continued past Frontier field. It circled around the clear gray sky in clear view of Beauty, and the second Peregrine was definitely a tiercel, seeminglin in adult plumage. Its spiraling course led southward and out of sight. I swung my glasses back toward the tower where Beauty still sat, apparently unruffled. The entire episode lasted less than a minute. Alas, the dead of winter is not prime camera-carrying time for me, so I have no pictures to share.

Archer hasn't been seen since his apparent migration a couple of months ago, while Beauty has been an occasional visitor to the buildings downtown throughout the cold seasons. There wasn't enough light, time or distance to see if the circling Peregrine wore leg bands, so the identity of this tiercel is a mystery.

Since this is the rookie year for both Archer and Beauty in Rochester, we have no idea what Archer's migration schedule might be. Kaver usually returned at the end of February or the first week of March. The first week of January seems pretty early for a migrating Peregrine to return, but we have no track record for Archer, nor any idea where he might have gone. So was this circling male Archer? Or perhaps it was a passage bird hoping to catch the eye of a female who seemed to have claimed a territory. If it was the latter, it looked like Beauty was unimpressed.

Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to the new year. 2009 was the year that Archer and Beauty cemented their pair bond (hopefully) and established their territory. I'm hopeful that the break-in period is over, and that we'll welcome a new clutch of Peregrine eggs in a few short months.

Birding at Letchworth and Closer to Home

2009-07-13T14:34:00.003-04:00

Back in June Dawn and I took a birding trip to Letchworth State Park guided by my good friend Brett Ewald from Lakeshore Nature Tours. We didn't see anything earth-shattering, but it was a good chance to hunt for some warblers and other small birds outside my normal sphere.

It took us a little work to find the group's meeting place at the south Parade Grounds but once there we got right to work. Our first catch of the day was this Mourning warbler (Oporornis philadelphia) framed in a little opening through the foliage:

An obliging Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) emerged after some spishing and I grabbed a quick shot:

We started down a trail but the birds decided they weren't finished with us, because we saw both of them again, closer this time, though I had to shoot through a gap in the trees:






A short distance down the trail we found one of my favorites, a Baltimore Oriole (Icterus parisorum). The arborial canopy filtered the morning sun to perfectly illuminate the bird as it moved in and out among the branches:


Sometimes the shadows were too heavy though. That was the case when this Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) appeared:

We found a variety of other birds throughout the day, though photographic opportunities were few and far between. My best shots for the remainder of the day came from some Yellow-bellied sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus varius). I caught this one on the side of a well-tapped tree:

After lunch we found a pair of them sharing a snag in a little marsh:

Though we didn't see as many species as we'd hoped for, we got to do plenty of hiking and the weather was perfect. It was a fun trip, as much for the time spent amidst Letchworth's incomprable beauty as for the birds we found.

At home our backyard suet feeder continues to draw a crowd of mostly woodpeckers. Here's a bright Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus):


This male Pileated (Dryocopus pileatus) likes to announce his arrival with a hearty laugh before settling down to feed:


While walking Quest down by the canal recently I espied a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) perched on a piling. It flew away without uttering its customary rattle, and in fact it sat for quite a time while Quest ranged on the shore nearby. Taking that as a good sign I finished the dog walk and returned to the edge of the canal a half hour later with camera and binoculars, hoping for a good look at it.

A couple of Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) napped on the far shore of the canal inlet, one in shadow, one enjoying the sun. I shot them from behind a screen of cat-tails:

The Kingfisher was nowhere to be seen so I walked along the trail that borders the inlet looking for a better vantage. I didn't really find a better place to photograph the herons, but I did find the Kingfisher through a break in the heavy shoreside vegetation. I poked my long lens through the natural screen for a shot:

She searched the water for a while, obviously hunting, and I was able to get several pictures before she decided to try her luck elsewhere:


Luckily she didn't fly far, and I found her on yet another snag. I got only a couple of shots before she flew again, heading up the canal and out of sight:


I took a final shot of one of the herons before departing:

Normally I'd be filling my days watching falcon fledglings in downtown Rochester, but this year flying Peregrines are in pretty short supply. Until their hopeful return next year I'll be turning my attention to the other birds in the neighborhood.

Woodpecker Feedings and a Mariah Flyby

2009-06-24T17:24:00.003-04:00

After a long absence it's good to get back to blogging. Birding around the Kodak tower hasn't been very rewarding lately. If you've been following the story over at Imprints, you'll know that after Mariah was driven out of her territory and nearly killed, she spent a few weeks rehabbing at a veterinary center outside of Syracuse, NY. If you missed all of the Imprints posts, you can click this link to get a list of articles referencing Mariah. Scroll back several pages (use the "previous entries" link at the top & bottom of each page) until you get to April 13, 2009. There you can read the first of several entries that tell the story of Mariah's fall and her phoenix-like return.

In the meantime her grandson Archer and his new mate Beauty have made themselves right at home in downtown Rochester. First they staked out a spot on the Midtown Plaza tower, where it appeared they might be nesting. But a couple of weeks ago they abandoned that position and moved, conveniently enough, to the nest box we'd placed on the Times Square building at 45 Exchange Blvd. earlier this year. It took a bit of doing, but there are now 2 cameras running at Times Square including the Rochester Falconcam's high-res Main Camera. The new pair have made themselves right at home and the camera often catches them bowing to each other and displaying other courtship/pair bond behavior. We're not yet sure what that means. It's most likely too late for them to start a family this year, and besides, we haven't seen them mating for many weeks.

Following Mariah's release from rehab, it took her less than a day to find her way back home to the Kodak tower. Since then there's been a kind of detente between Mariah and the new territorial pair here. Mariah has tended to stay north of Main Street, spending most of her time on the wall of the gorge near the High Falls, or on the Kodak tower.

Actually, it hasn't been all that easy for Mariah to find a perching spot on the tower. The repair work there is in full swing:

Often she waits until the evening to go to the tower. During the day she's been making use of some of the other buildings in the Kodak Office complex when she's not in the gorge.

One interesting thing that's been noted by watchers is that Archer sometimes comes to the gorge for a visit. He's perched as close as 20-30 feet away from Mariah, and occasionally flies near her. In a strange twist, the two don't act aggressively toward each other. But then, Mariah has been exercising a lot of discretion, staying well away from Beauty and the Times Square nest box. I imagine it'll be that way for the rest of the summer. What next year will bring is anyone's guess. It seems likely that Mariah will be able to attract a mate in 2010. After all, she got two of them this year. If she does band together with another tiercel, there could be another territory battle, or, just maybe, she'll find another place to make a nest nearby. There's more than enough prey to sustain two Peregrine families in Rochester; she only needs to find a suitable location for a scrape.

But that's all complete and utter speculation, nothing more. We won't know how things will turn out until next year.

At home we've had the good fortune of playing host to a coterie of woodpeckers bringing their young to our back yard suet feeder. Watching the adults take the bits of peanut suet and feed them to their young fledglings is a real treat. Here are a pair of Downys (Picoides pubescens) enjoying the repast:


The male takes the food from the suet cage and feeds it to his offspring sitting above him. They've been coming for a few days now and they're delightful to see.

Even better is my favorite, the Pileated WP (Dryocopus pileatus). She grabs the food while her son waits on a nearby tree:


Then she flies over to feed him...


...then back to the suet block for more:


They're really remarkable and a pleasure to watch, especially becuase we'd gone for a few months without seeing much activity at all at the feeder.

Anyway, I said that I hadn't gotten to do much falcon watching in a while. Watching from the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge provides a good vantage but Mariah is pretty far away on the gorge wall:

Archer and Beauty are even harder to see on their downtown perches. Yesterday I walked downtown on my lunch hour to see if I could catch them at the Times Square building. I didn't find any falcons there, but it's not hard to see why they chose the site to nest at, given its cliff-like facade:

At the gorge today we got a little luckier. Mariah sat on the wall near the falls for most of the lunch hour. As it got near 1PM though, she took to the air, allowing me to snap this somewhat blurry image:

I thought she'd landed in a tree on the wall, but she circled around and ended up flying low over the bridge not too far away:

On she went to the Kodak tower where she circled before landing on the southeast corner of the stairwell in Building 10:

It was a nice exciting note on which to end my lunchtime watch. Watching the falcons this year will be a different experience for all of us, but after an absence of several weeks for both her and me, it's good to see Mariah back in the air. I'm looking forward to more.

Clashing, Coupling, & Capturing A Band ID

2009-04-19T22:25:00.004-04:00

Watchers spent a good part of the day staking out the area around the Midtown Plaza Tower checking on the activity of our two new resident Peregrines. With the recent news that the male has been identified as Archer, Mariah and Kaver's grandson by Freedom, it seems like interest in the downtown pair has been rekindled. Nearly a dozen local watchers showed up today, a good number given the early time of the season.

Our chosen locale was a mostly deserted parking lot at Broad and Chestnut. It provided a good view of the east and south sides of the Midtown tower as well as the fire escape on the Knights of Columbus building where the falcons are wont to hang out. In fact, upon my arrival a little after Noon I found Archer at the top of the steps, scratching and keeping an eye on his mate over on the plaza tower:


The first ten minutes were pretty quiet. I caught up with the morning's activity from Carol P, Kathy O and Dawn, who noted that in addition to mulitple witnessed mating episodes, the two falcons had been kept busy contesting with another falcon that wandered into the territory. Apparently this had happened more than once today. So I wasn't too surprised when Archer started kacking and his mate got into the air, pumping her wings with a will as she headed south past the Xerox tower:


Carol and Larry O'Heron alerted us to the presence of the third falcon at about the same time. The female ended up landing on top of Xerox while Archer pressed his attack against an adult female:

It took them some time, but working together our resident pair drove the intruder away to the southeast and out of sight. They both appeared after the pursuit, circling in the air:


The good weather made for some nice thermals. This kettle of hawks took full advantage:

A Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) that wandered too close to the tower incurred Archer's wrath as well:




He returned to the fire escape following the chase, giving us a good look at him as he passed by:




Meanwhile, the female had taken a short flight of her own and ended up at the top of the northeast corner of the Plaza tower:

After a few minutes she called to Archer, and being a good mate, he obediently flew over and the two of them mated for the umpteenth time:


Archer floated down on his approach, then lifted off vertically, like an AV-8B Harrier jump jet. I'd never seen him end a copulation session that way. Usually he just flies down and away, so this was an interesting change. Maybe he caught a gust of wind at just the right time. Larry counted off the seconds during the encounter (out loud, no less) which lasted a hair over eight seconds. That's short by the standards Archer has set in the past, but maybe it just means he and the missus are getting more comfortable with each other...

In any event, back he flew to the fire escape for more sunbathing:

Then, the moment we'd been waiting for-- the female flew over and landed right next to Archer on the fire escape!




Bingo! We'd been waiting for an opporunity to see her at close range in good light for a while. Could a band ID be far off? Joyce, Lou and I all had our Canon SLRs and 100-400mm lenses. In addition, I'd brought my spotting scope, and I hurried to set it up. We waited eagerly, and when she lifted her leg to do some preening shutters clicked in earnest:

I shot over 100 frames, hoping for a clear look at the band in one of them. My camera's small LCD screen doesn't have sufficient resolution to allow me to see fine details of the image, even when it's zoomed all the way in, so I knew I'd have to wait until I got the images on my computer at home. In the meantime, Joyce and I climbed the lower levels of the fire escape to get a little closer to the falcon. For the next half hour we scrutinized her every move, snapping shots with each change in her position:

When she started to nap, I decided I'd taken enough pictures and climbed down. I grabbed a couple of shots of the two falcons sitting together on the fire escape before I left, though:


So, what was the verdict? Believe it or not, none of my images of the female's band was tack sharp, and none showed the full ID number in its entirety. In my scope I thought I'd gotten a good read on the number in the black part of her band, but there was actually too much daylight to see the character in the green. At home I reviewed the dozens of images carefully, zooming in and out. I finally took my most educated guess and sent my findings off to Lou and Joyce via e-mail. Lou too had trouble getting a clear shot, but luckily Joyce ended up with a clean look at the entire band! We've searched the Midwest banding database for a match without success, but that database is far from complete. We've also sent the information to some of our contacts for further research. Black/Green bands are used in the US, east of the Mississippi River according to the Peregrine Falcon Banding Protocol for North America, so we're confident we have a US bird. Her band doesn't match any of the birds banded in Rochester. Now it's just a waiting game until our contacts (hopefully) fill in the history of our new resident female.

A Busy Half Hour With The Midtown Falcons

2009-04-16T16:52:00.003-04:00

So far spring has been kind to those of us in Rochester, providing plenty of sun and clear skies. I arrived downtown a little before Noon, my camera turned on and ready to go this time. There were no falcons streaking up the street though, and my initial scan of the west, south and east faces of the Midtown Plaza tower came to naught.

Soon enough, though, 'Nubo' poked his head up over the edge of the lower ledge:

This position, a few meters away from the southeast corner along the east side of the tower, could be a scrape location. When the falcons are on the building, it's most likely you'll find them there. Unfortunately there's no good way to get a look at the gutter area behind the ledge, so it's hard to say whether the female has laid any eggs, but they sure do seem to like that spot.

I looked around for the female, but didn't find her, though I did hear ee-chupping vocalizations. I couldn't tell whether they came from one or two falcons though. In true Nubo fashion, the tiercel didn't stand still, but lept off the ledge and into the air:


He zipped over my head, too close and fast to catch in my lens as he passed. By the time I got him in my viewfinder he was headed away to the northeast:

Now, those who've never tried following a fast moving falcon in a high-powered zoom lens may not know this, but you don't really see much. Most of your attention is focused on just keeping the falcon more or less centered in the viewfinder. So the bird's destination is often a bit of a surprise. I was not only surprised, but elated when I saw where the tiercel was headed:


Woo hoo! Some 'afternoon delight' for the new falcons! I held down the Canon 40D's shutter button and the camera stuttered out 6.5 frames/second. 70 frames later the camera's memory buffer was full, but the falcons weren't finished with their copulation. Here are some selected frames:




The mating episode lasted more than 20 seconds, an impressive interval for this young pair. The male flew back to the plaza tower and the female followed a moment later, but she landed back on the fire escape after a circuit around the tower. You can really see how much darker and heavily barred she is than the male:

It was about that time that I started kicking myself-- figuratively of course. How long had she been sitting there before the mating? The fire escape on this building is only seven stories up, close enough to read a leg band if she chose to show it. I hurried across Chestnut Street, hampered by lunchtime traffic and thwarted by crosswalk lights. In the parking I hurried to get closer for a shot, but a trio of passers by engaged me in conversation about her, and before I could get close enough, she flew again! She passed right over my head at pretty close range, but unfortunately the symbols on her black/green leg band are obscured:

I'm confident that a steady shot with a 400mm lens will reveal the ID on that band, if she chooses to show her left leg while perched up there. It's just a matter of time until one of the local watchers with a long lens or a spotting scope will see it.

The female flew behind one of the buildings between me and the plaza tower, and I wasn't able to locate her when I got back to the bus station. I heard more vocalizing though, so it's possible she was simply out of sight behind the ledge on the building. The next falcon I saw was Nubo, who leapt on top of the ledge and promptly got airborne:

Interestingly, he landed right where the female had been, on top of the fire escape. I hurried back to the parking lot, hoping I'd have better luck with the tiercel's leg band:

He had other ideas though. He spent the next five minutes preening and fluffing out his feathers, but kept his leg bands well hidden:


My time was running out so I left, grabbing a long shot of him still perched on the building's fire escape:

There's no doubt that these two peregrines have established a strong pair bond. Their behavior may even indicate that egg laying has begun. It'll require careful observation to make a better determination. The past two days I've flown solo on my lunchtime watches, but I know my fellow watchers have been out at different times of the day. Together I hope we'll be able to pool our observations to see if we can draw any conclusions with some degree of confidence.

New Falcons Settle In At Midtown Plaza

2009-04-15T20:41:00.003-04:00

Mariah is out of the picture for the foreseeable future, but there's still falcon watching to do. From all reports, the new pair in town are socializing, even mating, so a nesting attempt seems likely soon. With that in mind I took my lunch hour downtown in the hope of learning more about our new resident Peregrines.

Hardly had I emerged from the Court Street parking garage when I found the new tiercel winging his way up Broad Street toward the Midtown Plaza Tower. I brought my camera up to take a shot, only to realize that I hadn't yet turned it on! By the time I flipped the switch he was gone, out of sight on the east side of the plaza. Luckily for me, the female flew in only a couple of seconds behind him, providing a good opportunity for some passing shots:


One thing I noticed right away was the dark pattern of her under-wing plumage. It seems a lot darker than Mariah's. She also exhibited the slightest split-wing flying style-- not as noticeable as Mariah's, but it might provide a means for us to distinguish her from the tiercel in flight.

By the time I got around to the east side of the tower they'd both disappeared behind behind the lower ledge. The only evidence of their presence were the ee-chups bouncing off the sides of the nearby buildings. On previous occasions I've noticed that the tiercel is a little frenetic-- he doesn't like to stay in one place for long. So it was no surprise when he poked his head up over the ledge after a few seconds dropped off the side and promptly disappeared toward the north. The female stayed out of sight, so I scanned the sky, hoping to catch the male's return.

When he did reappear five minutes later, he came with full talons!

He'd caught himself a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), and he paraded around the sky before landing back on the lower tower ledge:


Right behind him came the female, filling the air with vociferous calls. Her green and black leg band was clearly visible, though she was too far away to read the characters on it:


For whatever reason she nearly touched down, then thought better of it and took off again, circling for another landing a few seconds later:




There followed quite a bit more ee-chupping before the tiercel emerged and flew away, clutching his meal:


He ended up on the north side of the tower while the female flew away toward downtown:


For the next five minutes the male denuded his feathered catch and ate, before taking up the prey once again:


He was gone for several minutes, but eventually reappeared, landing on the east side of the tower with the prey. As soon as he landed he began calling to the female:


Her return was just as dramatic as her first landing:

This time the tiercel gave up the remainder of his morsel to her. She took it in her bill, then flew away, disappearing as the male had, for a little more than seven minutes.


She reappeared on a nearby building and commenced to eat:

Well, all that eating was making me hungry, so I grabbed an italian sausage sandwich from a nearby lunch cart vendor across the street (with sauteed peppers, onions, provolone cheese, mushrooms and hot sauce-- YUM!). He and his partner had been watching the falcons on and off, and I told them about Mariah's misfortune while I awaited my lunch.

I glanced at my watch and found that my hour of free parking at the Court Street garage was nearly up. Besides, it was getting late and I needed to head back to the office. On the way back to the parking garage I grabbed a shot of the female facing into the sun after finishing her meal:

She's definitely darker than he is, and when they're both in the air their size difference is apparent, though he's larger than Kaver was. They're both quite acrobatic. Maybe that's just a symptom of the fact that I'm watching them fly around the relative confines of the buildings downtown, though. It's a far different experience from the open vistas of the High Falls. Photography is a little more challenging, since they appear and disapper behind buildings so quickly. Even though I miss Mariah and Kaver, I'm looking forward to following this pair. It's a whole new ballgame for the Rochester falcons, and those of us privileged enough to watch them. I'll be interesting to re-write what we know about observing falcons here.

Was Thursday the End of Mariah's Reign?

2009-04-14T17:40:00.003-04:00

Just a few hours after I took the pictures in my post from the 10^th, everything changed. Mariah was injured in a territory battle sometime on Friday, and nearly killed when the battle resumed on Easter Sunday. Yep. Nearly killed. That's what I said. It's been a hectic few days, but it looks like we have a pretty good idea of of what happened, so here's the story as we know it.

On Thursday afternoon, fellow watcher Carol Phillips and I were downtown checking out the new guy, trying to get a read on his ID band. Unfortunately I didn't have my scope, and he stayed up pretty high on the building:



Mariah flew in after a while and they both sat on Midtown, moving around occasionally and vocalizing to each other:


Things were pretty quiet, when Carol suddenly pointed out a falcon flying along Court Street, pretty high up:

Almost immediately Mariah and the tiercel began kacking in alarm:

Mariah was the more agitated, and after a quick look around she got airborne, chasing after the intruder:


It appeared that she had driven off the interloper, but I suspect now that this may have been the opening move in a territory battle that spanned the long Easter weekend. On Friday we saw Mariah and 'Nubo' again, and all appeared well, as I noted in my last post.

After I left though, it seems that things took a more dangerous turn. Mariah got into a territory battle with the intruder, who, it seems, is the same female that had been located in the nearby town of Brighton. I don't have any confirmation of this, but fellow watcher Joyce Miller (who has the same camera setup that I do) has been observing the Brighton female for several weeks. Apparently she has some distinctive markings that Joyce was able to identify on Sunday following the second and final battle between Mariah and the newcomer.

Chronologically, here's what we believe happened. On Friday afternoon or evening the first attack occurred. At that time, Mariah suffered an injury to her back. It is likely that she retreated after this encounter. On Saturday, both Carol and Joyce, along with other local watchers, observed 'Nubo' and a female (Mariah they thought at the time) socializing on Midtown. However, both Joyce and Carol noted that the female appeared to be darker than Mariah. In hindsight, this was almost certainly the intruder. 'Nubo' and the female were observed exchanging food and exhibiting other social behaviors. This is normal, expected behavior if Mariah had been the loser in a territory fight; the victorious female, having won the territory would begin courtship with the resident male. 'Nubo', seeing the victorious female as the stronger and more capable mate, would do the same.

On Sunday morning Carol and watcher Brian H arrived downtown early, just in time to see a falcon being attacked near the Midtown Plaza tower by two others. The fight was by all accounts vicious, with one falcon (later found to be Mariah) being repeatedly dived upon and even driven into the wall of a nearby building before she fell to the ground. She went up again, keeping up the fight but was quickly brought to ground again under an intense attack. At that point, fearing for the life of the downed falcon, Brian and Carol interceded, covering the falcon in a jacket and removing it from further harm. It took some time to secure care for her, but eventually they were directed to a local wildlife rehabilitator, where Mariah was taken.

She was examined by a vet on Sunday and found to have sustained multiple injuries. The most serious was a deep puncture wound to her chest which fortunately didn't damage any internal organs. She also had a wound to her back that the vet said was a couple of days old. It is this wound that leads us to believe that Mariah's first encounter with the intruder was on Friday afternoon. In addition she had a lacerated wing and some vision problems that may have been symptomatic of a concussion from her collision with the building.

Over at Imprints they've been posting updates on Mariah's condition, and you can go there to get all the latest news. This morning Mariah was moved to a vet in Syracuse at the direction of the DEC. She'll probably need surgery, and the DEC has apparently used this vet in the past for work with injured falcons and eagles. We've been assured that they'll keep us updated on her progress.

So what does all this mean? It's obviously a blow to Mariah's many fans. For a dozen years she commanded the skies in Rochester. The city won't be the same without her. She became a true legend, fledging more offspring from this single nest than any other single Peregrine in the US, as far as we can determine.

The best case scenario would have her make a full recovery. The DEC has expressed an interest in releasing her to the wild if she's able. That's only right and proper; a mistress of the air should have her freedom. On the other hand, given her great affinity for Rochester she'd probably return here, and perhaps face another territory battle against a young, strong female against whom she has already fallen. So releasing her, while the right thing to do, is not a zero-risk affair.

Mariah's fierce spirit and wild majesty will be sorely missed, but in the meantime we have a vibrant new pair in town. From a species standpoint this is a good news story. Only a few years ago the population was too small to allow for these kind of territory disputes. The fact that there are young, strong challengers around means that we've got a good chance of having more strong fledglings here in Rochester. As with any change this one will take some getting used to, but I'm sure that before long these falcons will wend their way into our hearts just as Mariah and Kaver did.

New Home For Falcons at Midtown Tower?

2009-04-10T17:31:00.003-04:00

Thanks to the Good Friday and Easter holiday, I've been able to spend time downtown observing Mariah and 'Nubo' for the past two days. They both spend so much time at the Midtown plaza tower that there is very little doubt in my mind that this location is going to be the locus of their new territory. And why not? It's tall-- almost 20 stories. The view isn't as commanding as that from the Kodak tower but it's quite good nonetheless:

It was bright but a little on the cool side when I arrived downtown shortly after 10:30 today. There are enough tall buildings nearby to cast a lot of shadows and vector the wind into breezes that chill even in the sun. I must have looked quite a sight, festooned as I was with optical gear. Yesterday Nubo had been sitting pretty low and he'd flashed his band at me more than once, but I didn't have my Kowa scope with me. Today I slung it across my back then grabbed my Canon 40D, Panasonic TZ-3 and Nikon Monarch bins. I stood around for some time before my first sighting, Mariah and the tiercel making a tandem landing on the east side of Midtown tower:

Below the tower is a Trailways bus station, yet another obstacle to be navigated:

I hurried to set up my scope as I listened to the loud ee-chupping from the two falcons. I was hoping to glimpse the male's ID band, but no sooner had I got my first look than he dropped off the edge of the building and flew away:


He didn't stay out long, returning to land on the far (northeast) corner of the tower's lower roof:

After more vocalizing Mariah left, heading around the corner of the building beside which I was standing. A minute later the male took off in the same direction. Leaving my scope for a moment I followed Nubo, just in time to catch the two of them copulating on the corner of a brick building:




I've included only four frames out of literally dozens I shot. I checked the timestamps on my pictures and I was amazed to see that the actual mating took over 25 seconds! I suppose that could be a sign of inexperience on the part of the male; I don't know enough about Peregrine copulation to say for sure, but it was far and away the longest mating I've seen yet.

After that there was little to see, other than Mariah sunning herself on the corner of the tower's lower ledge:

Nubo returned near 11:00, and he brought lunch!


He called to Mariah as he came in and she flew over my head, executing some tight turns and dives before they both returned to the tower:


They both disappeared behind the lip of the ledge, and there was a lot more vocalizing. It seems that Nubo presented the prey to Mariah, because he flew off and when she emerged, she had remains of the prey on her bill, though it's not all that easy to see in this picture:

This is another good indication of their solid pair bond. Watchers had reported only seeing the tiercel hunt successfully a couple of times so it was nice to see him return with prey. Hopefullly this is a good indicator of his potential to provide for a family.

Carol P joined me a little after noon. Mariah and the tiercel spent the next ninety minutes alternately flying around the area and landing back on the tower:




Along the way, they made great sport of terrorizing the local pigeon population, repeatedly strafing the tops of nearby buildings, scattering the Rock Doves as they wheeled and dove among them. The action was much too fast to follow with our cameras; Carol and I had to settle for photographing the return flights:




The multiple attempts were all unsuccessful, probably because there isn't a great height difference between the tower from which the falcons launched their attacks, and the rooftops where their prey perched in big clusters.

Around 1:30PM I left, grabbing a final shot of Mariah at the very top of the plaza tower:

So, we know they can feed themselves and other than the bowing behavior, we've witnessed all of the expected courtship and pair-bonding behaviors that we would expect from Peregrines about to start a family.

They spend a lot of time on the lower ledge, behind which is a wide gutter. It lacks gravel or any other substrate that could be used for a scrape. Access to that ledge is also exceedingly difficult (so I'm told), and anyone venturing out there would need to wear a safety harness at a minimum, so I hope they don't decide to lay eggs there.

We don't know where exactly the scrape will be, but they spend a great deal of time at or near the southeast corner at the very top of the tower, just below the covered roof:

On top of the roof are a number of small shed-like protrusions (probably part of the building's mechanical infrastructure) that are topped with pea gravel. These would be perfect spots for an open air scrape. Since we have no cameras on the roof (and it's unclear whether we could get any installed), we'll have to depend on our watcher community to report on the Peregrine's activity, and try to infer whether eggs are being laid. It's possible they already have been; copulation will continue throughout the egg-laying process. So when we no longer observe mating behaviour that might indicate that the last eggs have been laid. To be really sure what's happening we'll need to work with the DEC and the city of Rochester (which owns the tower property).

The good news is we've already started building those contacts. The staff at the bus station and nearby buildings are already getting used to seeing strange folks with cameras and binoculars and spotting scopes in their driveway and on their sidewalks. I'm happy to report that everyone has been pretty positive about having Peregrines in the heart of downtown. Foot traffic is a lot busier there than it was on the bridge. We get frequent inquiries about our activities, and it's a great opportunity to point out the marvel of nature that's playing out right over the heads of Rochester's residents. Mounting a fledge watch this year will be a challenge, but probably more important than ever since we'll be dealing with four busy city streets instead of one, and lots of possible landing spots for young fledglings. But the fact that we can think about needing a fledge watch is a pleasing development, given the difficult start we've had in 2009.

What's Going On With Rochester's Falcons?

2009-04-08T21:46:00.003-04:00

Here's a rare (for me) post without pictures. Since there's really no action on the Falconcam cameras I thought I'd take a few minutes to post the latest news.

Unfortunately, between bad weather and interference from the rest of my life I haven't had many opportunities to do much falcon watching. I am however, happy to report that Mariah and her new tiercel are cementing their relationship nicely. Though no one has yet gotten a clear look at his leg band, local watchers have nicknamed him "Nubo", a shortened form of "Nouveau Beau", the term I coined for the new tiercel in Mariah's life in my previous post. I suppose it's as good a name as any, at least until we learn if he was named when he was banded.

Anyway, Mariah and Nubo have been observed copulating on multiple occasions and at various sites in the downtown area, including the Kodak tower, the Midtown Plaza tower and the HSBC building. June Summers, president of the Genesee Valley Audubon Society, is working with the City to gain access to the Midtown tower so we can see if Mariah and her new partner are building a nest there. Frankly, we're not used to being blind like this. It's a little disconcerting to not know what's happening.

One thing we do know is that they aren't using either of the nest boxes we set up last year. It just goes to show that, as much as the experts know, the falcons get the last word.

It's not for lack of trying though. Last week DEC Wildlife Technician Mike Allen came out and "seeded" both boxes with fresh quail in an attempt to lure the falcons to either of the sites. Our cameras on the Powers Building caught all the action as, day after day, the pieces of squab sat there, drying in the sun, untouched by Peregrines (or any other avian epicure for that matter). So it seems like our best efforts are being rebuffed by Mariah and Nubo. This is one of those situations in which we just have to wait and watch, and follow their lead. Mariah's a successful Peregrine and I'm confident she'll find a good spot to establish a nest.

On another front, falcon watcherrs recently found a second pair of Peregrines that have taken residence in the Rochester area. As if that weren't good enough news on its own, we were able to identify the male as our very own "Z-man", Zephyr from Mariah and Kaver's 2008 clutch! He hasn't yet shed his juvenile plumage but he looks great and the fact that he already appears to have a mate should bode well for him. He and the female (she's a banded adult, but no one has been able to read her ID number yet) are hanging out in the town of Brighton, a suburb of Rochester that's a few miles south of Mariah's downtown territory. The distance is great enough to avoid any squabbles. Zephyr is probably too young to successfully reproduce-- Peregrines don't usually reach sexual maturity until their second year-- but first year matings have been known to produce offspring. We'll be keeping an eye on Zephyr and his mate to see if they establish a nest as well.

Mariah's Nouveau Beau

2009-03-22T20:53:00.007-04:00

If you've been keeping up with Imprints or the FalconWatch blog over at the Rochester Falconcam, you know that Kaver, Mariah's mate since 2002, didn't return this year. As with her first mate Cabot-Sirocco, it's impossible to know what fate befell Kaver. He was a fan favorite, with a gentle face that belied his predatory pedigree. He proved in the end to be an excellent provider, gaining his bona fides in three consecutive years raising five eyases, and especially in 2006 when he had to care for an injured Mariah as well as feed himself and three newborn falcon chicks. His role in the success of the Rochester Falcons cannot be overvalued. We all esteemed him highly, and he'll be missed.

It's been a rough few weeks for Mariah. She hasn't taken to either of the nest boxes installed downtown on the Powers and Times Square buildings. Her quest for a new mate has resulted in two failures, the most recent ending in the unlucky death of Tybropa-Cree in a traffic collision.

So news that another tiercel was in town only a few days after the latest blow to Mariah's fortunes was greeted with plenty of excitement. To wit, witnesses reported on the 21^st that Mariah was spotted in the company of a male, and the two were exhibiting courtship behaviors that included ee-chupping and flight demonstrations by the male.

I was attending an EMS conference yesterday so I wasn't able to get out, but having read the reports yesterday I was quite keen to go downtown to get a look at this male. In the back of my mind I was hoping that this was Kaver-- that he'd been somehow delayed in returning, but had found his way back to Rochester and Mariah after all. It would be a great way to lift the spirits of Mariah's fans after so many disappointments this year.

I started on the Pedestrian bridge where I found Brian, Dawn (with four-legged friend Bullet), and Linda & Tim. We spent a blustery hour of fruitless scanning for any signs of Peregrines before Lisa McKeown arrived to tell us that Mariah and a tiercel had been perching on Midtown Plaza:

We jumped into our cars for the short ride over to the Frontier parking lot on Court Street. We'd watched a falcon flying around downtown from the bridge, so we didn't have to wait long until one showed up, landing near the top of the Midtown Plaza tower:

A look through my spotting scope confirmed that it was Mariah. The tiercel was not far behind:


He landed on the corner of a lower floor that was built out from the main part of the tower. I got my scope on him quickly and watched him preen. He faced away from us much of the time. Apparently he only had eyes for Mariah. But even before I got a look at his face, I could tell it wasn't Kaver. His plumage was too slaty, not nearly dark enough. He had a dark head, but there was a noticeable bit of white over his cere. And, I glimpsed leg bands.

Leg bands?!? That meant we had a chance for an ID on this bird, if only we could get a better look at them. Carol P and Joyce showed up and we followed them up to Broad Street, right across the road from the Midtown Tower. It was a lot closer, but we'd lost the benefit of the sun's warmth and the wind break provided by the Frontier building. We met up with Marcia and huddled in the broad entryway of an office building while we set up our scopes.

The view was much better, but the male wouldn't come close enough to the edge of his outcropping to get a clear view of his leg bands. What we did get, though, was copious ee-chupping from both birds that rang off the nearby buildings. Here's Mariah in full-throated vocalizing glory, as she paced along the edge of the balcony a the top of the tower:


Below her the tiercel was all ears. His pacing increased too:


Soon they were trading ee-chups...


With all that commotion I thought maybe there was action in the offing. So I wasn't surprised when the male sprang off his perch into the air:




Though I couldn't read the characters on the band, it looks like his left one is all black. That should mean that he was banded in Canada. I'm sure our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation will be able to help us identify this guy as soon as we can get a good look at that band. As it was, niether light nor fortune were on our side this time, and none of my pictures showed the band with enough resolution to determine the code. The male flew around the tower then went across Broad Street and circled the Xerox tower. Mariah followed, landing at the top of the granite skyscraper with a lot of vocalization:


The reason for her cries came into view-- a third falcon in the sky! The new tiercel shot skyward, circling higher on urgent wingbeats to intercept the interloper. He made a couple of dives at it, and the migrant beat a hasty retreat:


Mariah watched from the top of the Xerox building while the male went north. He passed out of sight for a time, but circled back a few minutes later and after some deft passes over street he landed on the side of the tower:

Mariah made a few more circuits around Xerox, then she came north, alighting on a rail at the top of the HSBC building, the headquarters for a regional bank:


She started ee-chupping and from her posture, I thought we might be in for a copulation attempt. Watchers reported that Mariah had rebuffed the male earlier in the day when he tried, but she looked like she was in a more solicitous mood this time. For his part, the male certainly looked interested:

When he took off though, he only made a few flights back and forth before landing on the corner of his outcropping again:




Mariah got airborne after that, and she too landed where we'd first seen her, in the corner of the balcony at the top of the tower:

I returned to the Frontier parking lot as both falcons flew east, out of sight:

By the time I got back to the parking lot the falcons had returned to Midtown tower. Marcia had retrieved her scope and was digiscoping. She'd also taken a lot of pictures with her Canon DSLR, as had Joyce. We all have the 100-400mm L-series zoom lens, so maybe one of them got a shot that will reveal the male's leg band. If not, the week ahead looks to be sunny, and there are plenty of curious watchers to keep trying for an ID. In any event, after a less than salutary start, it looks like the 2009 falcon season might just be looking up .

Kodak's OLED "From Any Angle" Video

2009-02-17T09:55:00.005-05:00

Peregrinations is mostly about birding, but as long-time readers may know, I'm a bit of a technology freak. Kodak (my employer) pioneered Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology and continues to be a leader in the industry. They recently put together a video about their OLED work on which I provided the narration voice-over. Not too bad for an IT guy, huh?

Peregrine Courting, Post Valentine

2009-02-16T15:35:00.005-05:00

There is nothing quite as refreshing as a sunny winter day filled with ee-chupping falcons. When I went out today at lunchtime I didn't see any Peregrines, but that soft sound carried over the din of State Street seven stories below me. It took a bit of looking but I finally found Mariah perched on the east side of the Kodak tower's cupola:

Hardly had I a chance to appreciate my first good look at her this year when she decided she'd rather be flying than sitting:


I was delighted to see that Mariah was in picture-perfect form. At an estimated fourteen years, she's definitely pushing the envelope for Peregrine life expectancy, but seeing her powerful sure wingbeats you'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching a bird in the flower of youth.

I was even more thrilled to watch through my binoculars as she sailed downtown and met up with a male! Was this Kaver, recently returned from his winter sojourn? It's a little early for that. Usually we don't see Kaver until the first week of March. But Mariah seemed pretty comfortable gamboling through the air with the tiercel, and without getting a closer look it's hard to draw a definitive conclusion.

They were pretty far away for a picture, but I decided to try for a shot of the two of them together. Unfortunately, brief as the transition from binoculars to camera was, the falcons made themselves scarce. I returned to scanning the sky without luck. Then, true to form, there was Mariah back on the tower, as if she'd never left:


She chupped a little more, and I considered the possibility of a mating attempt, but before too long she flew back downtown again. This time she passed more directly overhead, allowing a better opportunity for photos:


I was a little rusty for my first time out this year and I'm experimenting with my camera settings so the shots didn't come out as sharp as I'd have liked. Nevertheless I kept her in my viewfinder this time, following her all the way out to the Four Seasons building where she circled, then flew up into the opening at the top of the external elevator shaft:

After another period of searching I found the two falcons flying south over the river and near many of the downtown high-rise office buildings:

The pair didn't get too close, so I'm not certain that the male is Kaver. Her courtship vocalizations were unmistakable though, so we'll need to keep an eye out for a closer look at the male. Maybe this is Kaver on an early return, or maybe it's a newcomer looking to impress Mariah in her territory. Time, and sharp eyes, will give us an answer.

Before I went in for the afternoon I noticed that the new apartment building that occupies the former site of the Kodak Visitor parking lot is largely finished, and looking for commercial tenants to occupy the first floor:

If the building's managers haven't started taking applications for residential tenants they soon will. Having people living right across the road from the Kodak Office complex should make for an interesting season of falcon watching.

On the Owl Hunt In Lima

2008-12-07T10:17:00.003-05:00

Despite leaden skies Dawn and I took a chance on seeing some Short-eared Owls out in Avon and Lima. The trip was pleasant enough, but since the owls don't typically become active until very late in the day I wasn't holding out a lot of hope for good pictures.

We drove down Doran Road in Lima and turned west onto Townline Road shortly after 3PM, but we found no activity in the fields. One bird I should have been watching for is the Northern Shrike which (I am led to understand) is usually easy to spot in this area. I'll have to keep that one on my list for a future trip.

Anyway, we drove up and down Townline Road a couple of times without spotting anything, so we decided to give Nations Road in Avon a try. It's about fifteen minutes away, and with the light decreasing steadily, I wanted to get over there as soon as I could. We were a little low on fuel in Dawn's Subaru but I figured we had enough to get us there so I drove past several gas stations on our way through Avon. We didn't find any owls there, but just before reaching Hogmire Road, a pale bird crossed over the road right in front of us. I only got a quick glimpse, but I saw the unmistakable white rump patch of a Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus). I pulled to the side of the road, and in our rear-view mirrors we watched it drop low over the ditch at the roadside, then fly toward us, skimming the grass. Just before it reached our position the bird veered right, into a field behind some trees. I pulled up a little more and we watched it through a gap in the trees. It was Dawn who ID'ed it as an adult male, the beautiful "gray ghost". Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a good shot at it with my camera.

We turned around and parked near the field where it had come from, hoping for more views. We spotted another harrier, this one a dark female or juvenile, but it was much further out, only visible through binoculars.

We were bingo fuel, and I wanted to see if we could make another try around Doran Road in Lima, so we headed into the village for a gasoline stop, then back to Lima. I went down Clay Street rather than Doran Road, because it's flatter, and with the light really beginning to fail I wanted to move with all dispatch. I'm glad I did, because just as we passed Briggs Road we got a look at our first owl of the afternoon:

The shot is through the car's windshield and the owl didn't stay around for long, heading southeast toward Townline Road. We followed, driving up the road until we spotted a car pulled off to the side. In the nearby field I found Joyce Miller with her dog Casey, shooting pictures of an owl that was perched on a fence post. I headed out to join her, but Casey came to greet me and the owl took off. I hope Joyce got a few decent shots of it before it flew.

Back at the roadside, Dawn and I picked up more owls in our optics before too long. The light was horrible at 4:35PM, but I managed a couple of shots:

My favorites of the day were these two:

Not my best photography, but I'll take it given the circumstances. If the owls stay around, I can hope for a late afternoon free from clouds, which should make the task of photographing the darting, wheeling owls a little easier.

Out of Town Visitors Relax in Rochester

2008-12-03T19:09:00.004-05:00

With the onset of winter weather it was only a matter of time before the yearly visits from the Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) began. Reports frequently placed one or two owls at the Charlotte and Summerville piers, but despite several trips down to the Port of Rochester, I never got a look at the arctic aliens.

Yesterday brought sightings of an owl just a few miles west of the port, so after another fruitless trip to the piers this morning, I drove into the Town of Greece hoping for better luck.

I was not to be disappointed, as it turned out. Rounding a bend in Edgemere drive, I found three men standing on the side of the road. Their raised cameras and binoculars, and intent stares shouted "birders!" I rolled down my window and asked after the owl. Receiving vigorous acknowledgment, I found a spot to pull off the road and grabbed my camera. I didn't even have to get out of the car to get a clear view of the owl:

Aside from the wind rustling its feathers every now and again, the bird didn't appear to be ruffled by the attention it was receiving, or the presence of people within a dozen yards or so. Just in case, though, I grabbed several more shots from the car before crossing the road for a closer look.

It was alert, checking us out and searching the sky when something caught its attention:

I jockeyed around for a better angle on the owl and took many more pictures. The cloudy sky made for some dim shots, but after a few minutes the sun found a gap in the gray clouds. The light helped the photography considerably:

I'd have gladly stayed all morning watching this beautiful northern visitor, but I was late for work as it was, so I packed up after only 200(!) frames. My only regret is that I didn't get a chance to photograph the owl in flight, but perhaps if it stays around a while longer I'll get that opportunity.

At lunchtime I went up onto the roof of the Kodak Office buildings downtown in search of the interloping Peregrine pair that has been reported in town for over a week. Of course, I brought my camera, but the bright mid-day clouds ensured that any pictures I took would be drab.

I'd begun my search atop Building 9 with a survey of the south and west sides of the tower, but came up empty. Moving around to the north, I spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of the launch pad. It's back was turned toward me, so I couldn't tell whether it was the salmon-breasted female or her presumed mate:

It wasn't until I scanned the east side of the cupola that I spotted the second Peregrine, sitting on the capital of a decorative column:

It's white breast matched pictures of the male that other watchers had taken recently, so I assume these are the same two that have been previously seen together at the Kodak tower as well as on various downtown buildings. The male spent most of the hour asleep, but when the female stirred and stretched her wings he took immediate notice:

In turn, the tierel engaged in a bit of grooming:

I was hoping I might get to see some flying from these falcons, but they were both content to keep their perches:

Before leaving, I spied a few hardy souls out on the pedestrian bridge who were also keeping an eye on these non-resident raptors:

In a couple of these pictures you can see the netting that was recently erected to discourage Mariah from trying to nest on the ledge where her nest box had been installed. Contrary to earlier reports, the netting does indeed enclose the catwalk and is sealed at the top to prevent a bird from penetrating its perimeter. Hopefully this will be sufficient deterrent, but we won't know with certainty until Mariah returns in the spring.

It's unclear what will happen when she does. In the absence of Mariah and Kaver, these two falcons appear to have made themselves right at home. They certainly looked comfortable, ensconced as they were on the east side of the tower's cupola. If they spend the winter here we may have a territory battle on our hands when Mariah blows back into town. Until then though, we can continue to enjoy the visitors of all varieties.

Eleven Years Later, a Graceful Exit

2008-08-20T11:08:00.005-04:00

Change is hard. On Monday I got to experience that lesson in person as Kenn Martinez and I supervised the removal of Mariah and Kaver's nest box. A special rigging crew hired by Kodak was on hand to handle the heavy lifting and to safely lower the box from its perch of eleven years on top of the Kodak tower. Jason, Drew and Tom from OIS did a fantastic job helping us to get the nest box and cameras uninstalled.

Bright morning sun and a cool breeze provided just the right conditions for doing the work. Of course, Mariah stopped by to supervise:

But she's a busy Peregrine, so seeing that we had things well in hand she took off and let the crew get back to work. Unbolting four angle brackets allowed the OIS crew to pull the box away from the cupola so Kenn could remove the cameras. I was surprised to see a lot of debris where the box had been, including bits of prey remains and several dessicated, regurgitated falcon pellets:


Once the cameras came out the riggers moved the nest box around to the north side of the catwalk for the next step-- lowering it to the 19^th floor:


The box is too big to remove it through the small elevator that provides access to the cupola. There's a spiral staircase up there too, but its even more crowded than the elevator, so going over the side was the only option for getting the box down intact. The rigging crew attached straps and rope to the box, then put it over the side and slid it down the roof of the Kodak tower, where Tom waited below to receive it:

Then it was over the side again for a short abseil to the 19^th floor lobby, where it was safely retrieved:

Back out front we got to work on the cameras. The heavy duty conduit pipe used to connect the cameras to the catwalk railing were in surprisingly good shape, having suffered through years of Rochester winters. I remember installing many of them, frozen to the core in the depths of Feburary winters, so removing them on a cool summer morning was a welcome change. Here's Kenn detaching the Rochester Falconcam's high resolution Main Camera from the mounting arm:

A couple of rusted bolts had to be broken free, and there was a lot of cabling that needed to be handled with care, but all in all I was surprised at the ease with which the equipment came down.

Then it was done. Maybe because it went so quickly and so smoothly, it was strangely anticlimactic. I guess I was expecting some drama, or at least a few challenges, but there were none. It's a testament to the quality of the work done by the Birdcam team over the years to install the cameras and nest box that the removal went as well as it did. In the end, it was like turning the calendar back to 1995:


Other than the detritus where the nest box had been and some falcon whitewash it was hard to tell that this cramped, windy loft had seen eleven generations of endangered Peregrines hatched, fed and raised in a simple wooden box, or that thousands of viewers around the globe had followed Mariah and her family through all their many successes, and a few heartbreaks too. Kodak played host to the most productive single-falcon nest in the country. It's a wonderful legacy, and every Kodak employee, visitor and customer ought rightly to feel proud.

It was not until the work was done that I suddenly realized what a great effort had been undertaken here, what great history had been made, what great service had been done in the effort to reintroduce Peregrines to the eastern United States. I admit that taking down the nest box left me feeling somber, but only for a little while. The DEC and GVAS will install replacement nest boxes on nearby buildings in the next few weeks. The Kodak box may even find a new home if it passes inspection by the DEC and is found to be a good match for another location. And Mariah's an adaptable, successful falcon without question. Of course there's no certainty with nature, but I remain optimistic that we'll be watching her and Kaver raise their twelfth brood somewhere close by in 2009.

While Kenn and I were cleaning up and storing the equipment following its removal, I found that the construction work on the Kodak Tower has already begun:

This scaffolding will soon envelop the small covered walkway in the picture. It hasn't been used for decades, and it's due to be removed as the first step in the Tower restoration work. In the coming months the scaffolding will grow to surround the tower, and the work will commence in earnest. And with a little luck Mariah will get to watch the busy workers scurrying around the tower from her new nursery next spring.

Late In The Season, Some Flashy Flying

2008-07-18T21:47:00.005-04:00

July is a bittersweet month, and never more so than this year. It features arguably the best flying from the juveniles, but it also marks the end of their short tenure with us. By the third week of July the fledglings have usually begun making longer flights that take them farther away from the gorge.

2008 will be the last year that Mariah's young will spring forth from their nest on the Kodak tower. Work has already begun on the restoration and repair of its facade; hard-hatted engineers have spent this week rappelling down the face, repeating the soundings they took last year to verify their findings, and preparing to get the repairs under way. On at least one occasion I saw a fledgling perched on another part of the tower while the engineers dangled from ropes and harnesses nearby.

There's no doubt that the juveniles are getting more scarce. I haven't been able to get out to the gorge for the last couple of mornings, but reports from those who have indicate that the fledglings are not as common a sight as they were only a week ago. I did find myself with a free lunch hour today so I headed for the bridge, shoved along by a strong wind out of the west. It went quite some way toward alleviating the humidity and scorching heat that has oppressed Rochester for the past several days. Larry O'Heron arrived a few minutes after I did, box lunch in hand. There were no falcons to be found anywhere in the vicinity-- not on the Kodak Tower, nor in the gorge, nor on any of the buildings downtown as far as I could see.

I wasn't surprised, since the falcons often spend the hottest hours of the day in some shady spot, away from prying eyes and binoculars and cameras. Larry and I made conversational noises until we noticed a pair of Turkey Vultures moving westward against the wind. After identifying them I dismissed them-- TV's are a common sight around here. The sudden presence of a juvenile Peregrine stirred my attention though. It flew in from the south somewhere, perhaps downtown:

Our first thought was that it might try to chase the Turkey Vultures, but as soon as it hit the cooler, turbulent currents in the gorge the fledgling turned to playing on the wind over the observation deck.

That, of course, was our cue to get closer. We started down the path toward the falls, but the fledgling met us along the way, zipping by at low altitude and ripping around the brewery buildings at head-spinning velocities:

I got out to the observation deck ahead of Larry, and got to watch as Seneca (I'd seen her silver band on my camera's LCD screen) skimmed the treetops along the gorge wall, then cut across the path only a few feet above his head! Larry later told me he saw her coming, and held still as she passed to avoid spooking her. She certainly didn't look startled, and as gimlet-eyed as Peregrines are, I'm sure she knew just what she was doing when she overflew him.

She wasn't done with the close flights though. Back over the gorge and the observation deck she streaked, checking us out as she passed by at almost point-blank range:


She seemed enamored of the treetops, and grabbed a bit of something in her talon that she flew away with, examining it as she went:




Riding the rough air, she swooped down low, almost brushing the ground as she raced along in the small park beside the gorge:


She also channeled Kaver, flying with her legs dangling, as he often does:

Maybe her sire's dark features aren't the only thing she inherited from him.

Seneca's flights were so close and so fast that it was a real challenge to keep her framed in my viewfinder. Often I was not equal to the task, but even some imperfect shots are worthwhile:


Her flight was random and chaotic in its course, but she was always in control. Watching her was an endeavor, but the rewards were many:


More low flying nearby made it hard to track her, especially when she darted behind the greenery:


Another grab at the treetops and she dove toward the river:


I was surprised to watch her land on the sun-bleached rocks near the water's edge:


I thought she might take a bath, but she stayed only a short stretch of seconds before rising again on those gorgeous brown wings of hers:

She startled a floating gull on her way to strafe an old beer bottle that seems to be anchored in the river:

Another turn and a flyby of the observation deck, and she landed on the shady side of the gorge next to the falls:


Not quite fifteen minutes had passed. Back on the bridge Marcia had arrived, camera in hand. I hope she was able to get some pictures of her own. For the time being Seneca decided to relax. I had a meeting to attend, so I left Larry and Marcia on the bridge.

I can't help feeling a little sad, knowing that our time with the fledglings is winding down. This year's group have been five outstanding fliers, and young Seneca, who was so circumspect when she left the nest, has blossomed into a compact little force of nature before our eyes. The privilege of watching these falcons go from clumsy flappers to graceful masters of the air never becomes banal for me. Every year I forget how short a time we have with them, but there's always the hope that one day we'll hear that one of our fledglings has found a home of it's own, carrying forward the rich heritage of the Rochester falcons for generations to come. I hope I haven't seen the last of them just yet, but if I have, then I count myself among the fortunate few who've had the joy of watching Seneca and all her siblings dance in the skies of Rochester.

Mostly Solo Seneca

2008-07-16T17:21:00.003-04:00

Upon my arrival around 7:30 this morning, early shift watchers Danand Jeanne pointed out a pair of fledglings near the falls. Seeing Don already out on the observation deck working his camera I headed that way forthwith. Perched next to the watery cascade, Seneca made for the cable she'd spent yesterday morning perching on:

Perhaps a new favorite perch? Who can ponder the inscrutible depths of the Peregrine brain? Not I, certainly. I turned back to the remaining fledgling. I thought this was Susan B. It was not until I reviewed my pictures on my computer screen that I realized it was Quest sitting on the old building at the eastern edge of the falls:

She didn't seem particularly interested in flight. Seneca was not so reticent:


She treated us to some truly incredible solo aerobatics, skimming the water and even flipping upside down before curving into a sharp dive:




She made plenty of fly-overs before landing on a railing at the top of one of the Genesee Brewing Company's buildings:


Don and I walked back up the path toward the bridge for some closer pictures:

Seneca was off again before we got very close though:

Back into the gorge she went for more flying:


We had to shoot from the path because she was moving so fast. I grabbed one snapshot of Seneca being pursued by one of her sisters but by the time I got back up to the observation deck the other fledgling was nowhere to be seen.

Seneca kept up the flying for another few minutes, then landed in almost exactly the same spot on the Brewery building:


What was I saying about favorite perches?

Anyway, Linda and Jeanne had joined us, and once again we made our way up the path. This time Seneca was more accommodating, sitting patiently, letting the cool morning breeze ruffle through her plumage:

As we crept closer, Seneca began working her bill as if to vocalize, only she wasn't making any sounds:


Then she dropped her head and really opened wide:

And then-- EEWWWWW! She regurgitated a sticky gray pellet! I didn't catch a shot of the actual incident, though I got to watch it through my viewfinder... We looked for the compact mass of injested feather and bones, but no one could see where it had hit the ground, so we figured it probably fell right below her onto the roof of the building. That definitely pegged the YUCK meter, but Seneca looked entirely nonplussed:

An 8:30 meeting meant that I had to leave earlier than I wanted to, but I don't think I could have topped that last scene anyway, so I said my good-byes and took off. I was back out at lunchtime but there was no flying in the noontime heat. I'll check out the action tomorrow morning provided the rain holds off.

Girls In The Gorge

2008-07-15T22:31:00.002-04:00

Continuing their intriguing morning activity, the fledglings treated us to another hour of fun. Today, though, the girls had the gorge to themselves-- Zephyr and Diamante were nowhere to be seen.

Quest, who has shown herself to be an outstanding flier made an unlikely, and ultimately unsustainable landing on a branch that was much too small for her. I arrived on the bridge just in time to see her ill-fated attempt:


Yep, that's her clinging upside down by a single talon to the little wisp of a branch. She made a couple of attempts to right herself, but gave up the enterprise when it's hopelessness became apparent. A couple of minutes later Seneca flapped her way out to the large power cable strung over the river:

Since the flying had already begun fellow shutterbug Don and I made our way to the observation deck where, despite the shadows that plagued our photography, we had a front-row seat for the morning's action. Susan B took center stage with a variety of fly-bys, fly-overs and passes in front of the falls:


That's not to say that the others were absent; Redeeming her earlier clumsiness, Quest joined her sister in the gorge:

After a brief round of chasing little Suzie surprised us by landing among the grass below the observation deck! Of course, we took full advantage of our good fortune to get some shots:


Quest had other ideas, charging up the river to bother a group of Mallards in the shallows above the falls:


Susan B must have decided she'd had enough standing around because she left the gorge wall and engaged Quest in some chasing and tag:




After a minute of fun Quest headed for the Kodak tower. Susan B landed on some algae covered rocks at the other side of the falls...


...then left two minutes later to harass Seneca:


Seneca resented the intrusion and shooed sister Suzie away. If she was offended, Susan B didn't show it. Instead, she flew up and down the gorge, letting us get a good look at her:




Her tour of the gorge ended on top of the Gorsline building:

Seneca took that as her cue to get moving:

We expected her to make a circuit of the gorge, but she surprised us, making a direct run at the gorge wall and landing right beneath us!


She stayed for only a minute; more than enough time to get some nice pictures:


Then she was off again. In the distance to the west we found three fledglings chasing each other and being pursued by a Kestrel They were too far away for pictures, but it was comical to watch the Peregrines alternating between mock attacks amongst themselves and diving at the Kestrel. At least one of the boys must have been in the group because Seneca stayed relatively close while the others headed toward the Kodak tower:


I had to leave soon thereafter for a meeting. I continue to be mightily impressed, if not plain amazed, with these morning flights. I find myself looking forward to these hours of action, and I'll be sorry to see them end.

Another Exemplary Morning

2008-07-14T19:54:00.003-04:00

Can there be better flying than the best I've seen in eight years? You'll recall that's how I characterized the flying I witnessed a few days ago. You may also remember that I said I'd be getting out again the next day. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans... Anyway, Monday has kind of a built-in impetus to get down to the Pont de Rennes, since it's the first day of work, and that's exactly where I found myself this morning. So can there be any better than the best flying? Maybe so.

I pulled up to the east end of the pedestrian bridge around 7:30AM. The early morning crew-- Jeanne, Carol, Dan and Larry-- were already there. They reported seeing all five juveniles earlier, and had four in sight; two in the gorge and another pair on the Clarion Hotel nearby.

There was little to see for the first half hour except for a gull that stood on the bridge's safety rail, waiting for Carol to serve up breakfast-- bits of her Egg McMuffin. Then the top of the hour rolled around, and you'd have been forgiven for thinking that someone had tripped a switch somewhere, because there were suddenly three juveniles in the air over the observation deck. They started with a harrassment run on the local crows, but turned quickly to chasing after each other.

Dan and Larry had left shortly before the flying started-- their loss! Carol and I knew where we had to be so we started down the path toward the falls, while Jeanne elected to stay on the bridge. Out on the observation deck we were treated to just about a solid half hour of flying, with only brief breaks in the action. Most of the chases were in pairs, starting with these two, who set the tone with some spirited tag:




It turned out to be Susan B and Zephyr! They took a rest on the chain link fence near the falls, but not for long:

Little Suzie was nowhere to be found on my last outing. Today she seemed to be everywhere, flying close and low. Once she flew in over our shoulders and dove into the gorge:

Then it was back to tagging with the Z-man, with a display that rivaled any that I've ever seen:


They both made plenty of fly-bys-- above, below and right at us:


When he wasn't buzzing the observation deck Zephyr made sport out of grabbing at the tree-tops:

Susan B let him have a little time to himself before resuming their game:


They both popped up out of the gorge, Susan B passing right overhead, while Zephyr made a low-level pass up the path that leads from the bridge to the observation deck:




Then the Z-man got really close!


He swung through the gorge again, then returned to attacking the trees:


Diamante must have decided that he wanted to get in on the action. Where he came from is anyone's guess, but he made his presence known with an extended talon to ward off his oncoming sister, whose wing you can just see at the bottom edge of this picture:

As I was following him with my camera, one of the other falcons flew between us. It's one of the more unusual shots I've taken:

They continued to circle, with Susan B coming up behind him:

Diamante nosed over into the gorge, giving me a good look at his red leg band:

Meanwhile, little Suzie made a pass so close and so fast that my camera's auto-focus faltered. The result was kind of interesting though:

I got better results when she flew against the blue sky:

Another new arrival, Seneca, landed on the concrete wall next to the falls, but left just as quickly:


With three fliers in the air almost all the time, it was nearly impossible to keep them in all in view. We'd follow one at a time, or a pair of them if they were talon tagging. They'd pass overhead faster than we could follow, or disappear beneath the lip of the gorge, and we'd immediately turn to scanning for another. The flying was fast and furious, and we got a real workout trying to follow all the action.

A welcome break came when Susan B decided to alight on the concrete outcropping just below the observation deck:


She stayed a few minutes, providing ample opportunities for pictures before taking off again:


Once we thought we had four fledglings in the air, but a closer look revealed a special guest-- Mariah!


She actually swooped in quite close to Carol and me, maybe to let us know she thought we might be just a little to close to her daughter. We expected her to have food, but she'd come to play, egging on her children who chased her through the gorge:


They coursed back and forth, some fledglings playing with Mariah, some with each other. Back at the pedestrian bridge Jeanne got a good look at two fledglings headed her way:

Up closer to the falls Susan B pursued her mother:


We'd seen four out of the five fledglings, and we weren't a bit surprised when Quest decided to show up:

She drew immediate attention from a sibling-- one of the boys, I think:

She made plenty of her own passes, up high and down low:


When she wasn't after one of her siblings she terrorized the local gull population:

Her chasing partner turned out to be young Diamante, his red band just barely visible behind his wing:

The pair went back and forth to our delight:


Susan B provided some real drama. All day she'd been flying low through the small park adjacent to the observation deck-- sometimes only a couple of feet high.


A groundhog there had caught her attention and she went back repeatedly to strafe it. Unfortunately, falcons don't understand traffic. She crossed St. Paul Street a couple of times, much too low for her health. Fortunately there were no cars passing by at the time, but her propensity for low flying is a cause for concern. I only hope that she'll grow out of it. Eventually she gave up on the groundhog and gained some altitude before dropping back into the gorge to chase Quest:


I'd frankly not expected to see much flying today. Mid July has traditionally signalled the end of the fledglings' time in the gorge, as they begin spending more time downtown. This year's brood have defied our conventional wisdom though, scrambling the "training schedule" we're used to-- Tower to smokestacks to gorge to downtown.

In any event, it was another fantastic morning of flying. 8:00 appears to be the magic hour. I'm hoping to get out again tomorrow to see if I'll get lucky for a third time.

Juveniles Tear Up The Gorge

2008-07-10T19:31:00.007-04:00

I try to avoid hyperbole when reporting on the activities of the falcons. I think they're amazing all on their own and I see little need for overstatement so I hope that'll give you some idea of how really incredible was the flying that took place this morning. It's no exaggeration for me to say that I've never seen better in my eight years of falcon watching.

The morning began on a decidedly boring note. When I arrived around 7:30 Carol, Jeanne and Larry told me there'd been four fledglings in the air earlier, chasing each other up and down the gorge. Now though, there was little to be seen other than a fledgling very far away on the 17^th floor ledge of the Kodak tower and another in one of the trees along the gorge wall. The weather was terrific-- sunny, breezy and cool-- a welcome counterpoint to the oppressive heat and cloudy, hazy skies of recent days. The only haze today came from the spray kicked up by the Genesee as it cascaded over the High Falls to the rocky riverbed below.

Carol pointed out where one of the falcons had landed after their earlier flying, and Jeanne spotted the juvenile on a little spit of rock to the right of the falls. After some careful searching the rest of us found her too:

I went out to the observation deck to see if I could get a better look at her, and the other one in the tree. Instead, I heard Carol's voice crackle over my radio that there was flying at the Kodak tower. I flipped my camera lens westward to catch the action:

Unfortunately the fledlgings didn't venture beyond the tower, and indeed they all disappeared after just a few moments. So there I stood on the observation deck bathed in morning sun and river spray, thinking what a perfect day it was for flying, when Quest decided to get things started with a trip out to the gorge:

When she makes an entrance, she does it with real panache. Quest flew in close enough for me to feel like I could have reached out and touched her as she passed by:


After she buzzed me, she locked her sights on the gulls in the river, forcing a pair of them into crash dives as she approached:

Then she returned to the east side for more back and forth:


She swung out over the falls and flew upriver for a moment. It was the perfect opportunity to frame a shot of the quintessential urban Peregrine:

There followed a brief break in the flying, and Carol joined me on the observation deck. Her timing was good, as a new falcon decided to get in on the fun:


It was Diamante! He did some flying with his sister, but they were so fast together that most of the shots I took were blurry, or too dark against the bright sky to be useful. He ended up landing on a dead tree near the bridge. Carol headed back there straightaway. I waited on the observation deck for another minute, hoping that he might fly again. When he stayed put I followed her back to the north. Just before reaching the bridge we were able to get a good look at him through a gap in the foliage:

Of course, being the sharp-eyed tiercel that he is, Diamante saw us too. After a couple of seconds he took off northward. I sprinted back to the observation deck, thinking that he might make a turn and head back toward the falls. Carol stayed near the bridge, but joined me again on the deck after a moment. Both of us scanned up and down the gorge, but he seemed to have vanished. It took us a good minute more of searching before Carol exclaimed that he'd landed on the "Portrait Tree". With a tacit "D'oh!" we were off, back to the bridge, where Diamante sat and let us take our time photographing him. Here he is with a bit of a wing stretch:

A Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) caught his attention when it began complaining:


For a solid half hour Carol and I stood on the bridge, aiming our cameras at Diamante, waiting for him to make a move in the otherwise quiet gorge. But Diamante had other ideas. He yawned, took a cat nap, and watched little birds and insects fly around, but he seemed content to stay right where he was:


Then we saw more falcons near the falls-- first one, then another, and finally three!

Still Diamante kept his perch, so I jogged back up the path to the observation deck, with Carol close behind. What we witnessed next is hard to describe, as the three falcons played and zoomed all over the gorge. They began with some mutual chasing and talon tag:


Quest peeled away, leaving Seneca and Zephyr to pursue their game with some of the most dazzling flying I've ever seen:


Quest wasn't far off though. She got our attention with a low flight right over our heads on her way back to join the fray:


The three of them alternated chasing and tagging, often with Zephyr jumping in to ambush his sisters while they tore after each other:




Seneca dropped by, darting in front of the observation deck, chasing after the Z-man:


As Zephyr raced along the shadowy gorge he popped up into the sun, resulting in this dramatic bit of serendipity:

Then he hit the deck, going low over the water, terrorizing the gulls:

Quest got on his tail again and chased Zephyr up into the air where he gave us a nice close look:


She chased him in front of the falls, then down past the lip of the gorge, while she skimmed just over the edge:


Seneca let us know she was still out there with a nice pass of her own:

After almost ten minutes of nearly uninterrupted flight, Zephyr took a rest, landing on the side of the gorge:

Seneca and Quest took a short break too, but got back in the air pretty quickly, Seneca going vertical in pursuit of her bigger sister. They were both so close that it was almost impossible to follow their game:


Almost, but not quite impossible!




Of course, good light and an outstanding camera helps capture those gorgeous talon tag shots!


After their two minute game Seneca flew to a building across the gorge and landed near some security cameras:


That left the gorge to Quest, and she made the most of her solo opportunity:

Zephyr though, couldn't resist giving chase one more time:


I love how they fan their tails and stretch their wings to brake and turn!

Star of the morning though she was, eventually even Quest decided she needed a rest. She landed on the deck of the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge, a good opportunity for a close shot if I could get back there in time. It was after 9:00 and I was already late for work, so I was off again, up the path for a final couple of shots while Carol kept an eye out for more action from the observation deck:

Quest watched me with a wary eye, and after a few minutes she dropped into the gorge for more flying:


I checked the portrait tree, and sure enough, there was Diamante, content as ever:

What a rare, extraordinary treat! Ten minute talon tag, portraits galore, and wind-whistling fly-bys. Had I seen a tenth of the action this morning I'd have counted myself lucky. I was so excited returning to my car that I was nearly breathless. We have one more day of good weather tomorrow before it gets ugly again for the weekend. I can't dare to hope for anything as good as the flying from today, but I'll be there bright and early, camera in hand, ready to capture whatever fun the falcons have in store for me.

Hazy and Humid Doesn't Quite Ground Fledlings

2008-07-08T21:56:00.004-04:00

The past two days have brought the first real withering heat of the year. Temperatures in the 90's and high humidity have been typical of past years. So far in 2008 we'd escaped the "dog days of summer", but this week seems to have ushered it in.

Usually the eyases find a nice shady spot on the Kodak tower during the worst of the mid-day heat. Armed with that knowledge, and needing to stick close to Kodak on Monday (I was on duty with the Medical Emergency Response Team), I walked up onto the roof of Building 10.

It's a great place to view the north side of the Kodak tower, and it didn't take me long to locate a couple of the fledglings. On the 16^th floor, tucked into the corner by the Philadelphia tower (an internal fire escape-- one of the first in the country when it was installed by Kodak founder George Eastman) sat Seneca:

Nearby on an external fire escape sat Diamante:

And one floor down, this Mourning Dove(Zenaida macroura) tempted fate:

When the dove took off, so did he! He missed the bird, but passed low over Kodak's Building 15 heading south, then swung around the Kodak tower and rose high into the air over the river:


Other than watching Diamante soar higher and higher, there wasn't much to do other than swelter in the hot sticky air. That's just what I did for the next fifteen minutes, until Seneca decided to start moving around:

After a bit of stalking back and forth on the ledge, she too got into the heavy air:


I watched her follow her brother's lead, circling on the hot air, rising until she was out of sight. Then I went back into the cool Kodak office to finish my work for the afternoon.

I wasn't able to get out again on Monday, but Tuesday morning I stopped by the bridge before going into the office. I found no falcons, but this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was fishing in the river:

Just before 8:00AM I got what I'd come for as a falcon flew into the gorge, north of the pedestrian bridge:


The falcon dove right into a cloud of pigeons and made a spirited chase. We identified Zephyr only when he came in to land on a railing on the High Falls Brewery:


While he perched a number of Purple Finches (Carpodacus purpureus) landed on the rail nearby:

Maybe he was bored, or maybe the Z-man just didn't like sharing his rail with the passerines because he was off after only a short rest, tearing up and down the gorge over our heads:


He landed on another brewery building, or at least we thought he did, because he disappeared for a time. Carol and I walked down the path toward the observation deck for a better view of the building's roof, but we came up empty until Zephyr decided to show himself one more time:

After a quick flight over the brewery he flipped on his back and dove into the gorge. In the shadows and morning haze, no one saw where he went. I watched for a while longer, but then had to leave to begin work.

No matter. All of the fledglings are being accounted by the watchers on pretty much a daily basis. By now there's no doubt that all are proficient fliers. They've all begun making their first dives and stoops, sometimes getting very close to their targets. I expect it won't be long before someone reports seeing the first successful hunt from one of this year's wonderful brood.

Seneca Serves Up Sunday Fun

2008-07-06T19:07:00.008-04:00

Young Seneca, last of the 2008 brood to fledge, is showing herself to be an enthusiastic, prolific flier. This morning she was all over the gorge, offering terrific opportunities for watchers-- regulars, as well as local and out-of-town visitors-- to admire her aerial skills.

As is so often the case, the star didn't make the first appearance. Indeed, the first bird of note that I saw wasn't even a falcon, but rather this Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) on the hunt beneath the Pont de Rennes bridge:

I arrived at about 7:30 this morning and found myself alone. I thought it a bit unusual given the propensity for flying that we're used to on early July mornings. The juveniles have been covering a lot of ground this year so I imagined other watchers were probably out looking for them. Scanning the bridge and the gorge area for falcons turned out to be fruitless, but when I turned by binoculars westward I spied two Peregrines; one on the guy wire supporting a light post at Frontier Field (where Zephyr sat a couple of days ago) and another on top of an air conditioning unit on Kodak's building 9 south of the tower. I found two more on the Frontier Communication tower. Then I saw the falcon on the Frontier Field guy wire launch itself into the air where it met two of its siblings and darted out of southward out of sight.

At the west end of the bridge I met up with Kris and Bill who were visiting from the town of Byron. We walked back toward the east end of the gorge just in time to catch the first good flying of the day:


Susan B coursed through the gorge for the next couple of minutes, buzzing the vegetation and eventually landing in a tree on the gorge wall that the regular watchers have dubbed the "Falcon Sucking Tree", because of its attractiveness to the juveniles, who like to perch amongst its shaded boughs.

It was nearly 30 minutes later when she decided to do more flying. We'd been joined by a local family who were armed with a formidable array of Canon cameras and long lenses (kindred spirits to be sure!) and "regular" watcher Kelly W. Susan B left her shade and dove low, driving a gull into the river before heading west and disappearing beneath the bridge:




Another half hour passed before she emerged, landing on a chain link fence on an old building adjacent to the High Falls. We walked out to the observation deck for a closer look:


A few minutes before 9:00 the star of the show arrived. Seneca treated us to a nice flight near the falls. She had a bit of something clutched in her bill, but I couldn't identify it. Her flight took her right to where Susan B sat. It looked like she was trying to tempt little Suzie into flight, but she was unsuccessful:




No matter. Seneca put on a one-falcon show, ranging up and down the gorge between the falls and the bridge. Especially spectacular were her passes through the rainbows cast by the spray of the cataract, and her fly-bys near the observation deck:




Her flight ended with a landing on the rocks below the deck. We moved around for a better look:

She didn't stay long before flying back over to Susan B for another try:


Still Susan B demurred, so Seneca did some more solo flying:




That finally did the trick, and Susan B joined Seneca for some tandem flying:

They both landed on one of the bridge's piers and for a time all was quiet. Eventually Susan B got airborne again, flying over the river and coming to rest on the same spit of rock below the observation deck that Seneca had occupied:




After sitting for a portrait session with the assembled watchers she took off, pursing a pigeon:

Meanwhile, Seneca took a flight of her own, and I was surprised to see that she'd been joined by the Z-man! They both alighted in the falcon sucking tree, but paused only an instant before heading toward the falls:


They both landed near the falls, Zephyr on the chain link fence, and Seneca nearby. She walked around a corner of the old building next to the falls for a little sisterly communion with Susan B, who'd landed there as well:

A few minutes later Seneca landed near the observation deck:

She hardly tarried before making another aerial circuit and landing even closer, on a rusted old pipe that juts out from the gorge wall immediately below the observation deck! She was very patient, spending a good three minutes there while Dana, Lou and I grabbed pictures at our leisure:


Then she flew off toward the falls once more:

Watchers Carol and Joyce showed up as well. They'd all been out before my arrival, and they let me know that all five fledglings had been spotted in the vicinity of the Frontier Field baseball field that morning. After getting caught up on the morning's events we watched Zephyr do some more flying. He landed on another observation deck at the west side of the falls:


Then it was Seneca's turn again. She treated us to two solid minutes of flying:


After she settled down we turned our attention to the deer family that was wandering in the gorge. We all had a good laugh as mom led her fawns in a potty training session:

One of the fawns showed his frisky side too, cavorting in the shallow water under his mother's watchful gaze:


Then it was time for me to leave. I headed back to my car, catching the Kingfisher still hunting from his cable beneath the bridge:

Another great morning, happily passed watching these amazing falcons. The weather forecast is favorable for the next few days, and even though I have to go back to work, I anticipate more mornings of fledgling flying and photographs to come.

Finally, Fledglings Find the Gorge

2008-07-04T19:29:00.004-04:00

After a week of wondering whether this year's fledglings were going to make the move to the High Falls Gorge, the question was answered yesterday. And how!

All five kept us running much of the day. There was too much action to provide a minute by minute account-- I'll just stick to the highlights. To give you some idea of how much action we witnessed, I filled 3 2gb memory cards between 7 and 10AM, and took about 1400 pictures, thanks to my Canon 40D's burst mode and extended battery pack. Most of those turned out to be unusable, but that's the great advantage of shooting digtital.

Kaver was the first falcon I spotted, hanging out on the catwalk of the High Falls smokestack:

We found fledglings on the BeeBee station buildings, and watcher Dan Stiehler reported seeing all five earlier in the morning, though we only had two in sight when I showed up. Fortunately it wasn't long before there was some flying to occupy our attention. Here's Diamante, flying with Kaver:

He actually landed on the hand rail of the Pedestrian bridge, but was harassed by an American Robin and some House Sparrows almost immediately. He took their abuse for a minute or so, then left the rail, landing on a ducted vent at the power station:

We began searching the area, and someone spotted a falcon on the array of antennae atop the old Bru building. Carol P and I decided to try to identify it. As we rounded the corner onto State Street, we had a close encounter with another fledgling:

I wasn't able to identify this one at the time because her colored tape band didn't show up very well in the shadows, but with the benefit of a computer monitor it was easy to see Susan B's green band. Unfortunately the falcon on the Bru antennae wasn't as cooperative:

By size we were pretty sure it was a male. Zephyr was a good bet since we'd left Diamante back at the BeeBee station, and this happened to be one of his favorite perches. The pair of them didn't stick around very long before flying off to the west. We spotted them again on the awning over Frontier Field.

It looked as if the fledglings were going to keep us on the move. Carol and I crossed the Kodak parking lot and found three fledglings at the ball field! Zephyr was definitely one of them. We found him on a guy wire that stabilized one of the field's light posts:

Of the other two, we ID'ed Quest by her transmitter antenna. The other was mostly hidden from our view, but since both Z-man and little Suzie had flown to the west, we were fairly sure of her identity as well.

While Zephyr relaxed on the steel cable the girls put on a nice demonstration of flying, chasing and talon tag for Carol and me. They ranged in front of the Carestream building (old Kodak bldg 20) before wheeling around the corner and disappearing to the north:




With the falcons either out of sight or relaxing, we headed back to the bridge. Atop one of the light posts this Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) was busy calling:

Diamante did some more flying and ended up on the railing of the High Falls Brewing Co. north of the bridge:

The first real excitement came near 8:00 when Mariah flew low overhead. She was working hard, and it was easy to see why. Clutched in her talons was a plump gray pigeon:

As she flew west over the bridge a fledgling caught up to her and after one false start, Mariah made a nice food transfer:


Then Quest really got things going, darting into the gorge and tearing up and down its length.

When she landed on the rocks near the High Falls Observation deck, fellow photographer Don and I walked out for a closer look. We got a couple of shots on the way out, but that was nothing compared to the views she gave us when she decided to start flying again:




Seneca joined her sister for more chasing:


Back at the bridge, Susan B made the 2008 inaugural landing on the Portrait Tree, a bough that projects from the east side of the gorge wall near the bridge:

Diamante joined in the chasing too. Here he is having fun with sister Seneca:


He surprised us by landing on the bridge railing for a second time! He stayed long enough for us to get plenty of pictures before flying away again:


He joined his sisters for more gorge flying, then landed on the High Falls Brewery again:


Meanwhile, Seneca took her turn in the Portrait Tree:

Susan B made some nice close passes...


...While Seneca entertained near the falls:

Right below the observation deck, this groundhog decided to see what all the commotion was about:

Having nearly exhausted the storage on my three memory cards I left the observation deck and went back to the bridge. There was still flying to be done, though. I managed to catch this shot of Diamante chasing a hapless pigeon under the bridge:

I went home to offload my pictures and do some gardening, but came back in the afternoon to see if I'd be as lucky as I had been in the morning. The light wasn't as good and the fledglings stayed out of the gorge for the most part, but there was still plenty to see. Zephyr and Quest did some chasing:


So did Seneca and Diamante...

And Susan B and Quest


A little later I thought I saw a juvenile coming in with food, but it turned out to be an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius):

When one of its siblings arrived, the chase was on!


I also got a nice shot of a doe and three fawns foraging on the island below the bridge:

We watched more flying, with four of the fledglings in the air at one time. They all landed on the smokestack's catwalk at one point:

Diamante didn't like sitting still, though. He made some nice flights before settling on one of the bridge supports. We had to stretch over the rail to see him, but the view was worth it:


A few moments later Zephyr flew out to the east side of the gorge with his sister. He landed on a dead tree on the gorge wall:

Quest and another falcon went chasing:

And we had a fantastic fly-over by a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Then there was yet more flying, with Quest, Seneca and one of the boys (I think):

Quest landed on the pipework of the BeeBee Station, and young Seneca joined her, hovering brilliantly for quite a few seconds before settling:


A while later Seneca flew under the bridge. She landed on one of the piers, then laid down for a little relaxation:


One of the boys and Susan B ended up in the trees on the eastern edge of the gorge:

I left then, though there were by now plenty of other watchers gathered at the bridge. I'm glad the fledglings have made it into the gorge. It's a little late, but welcome nonetheless. This is the part of "fledging season" that's the most exciting for the local fledge watchers. The young Peregrines have all mastered the basics of flight now, and their time in the gorge is spent honing their skills and learning to hunt. We humans are the beneficiaries, getting to witness them at close range for a couple of weeks before they begin drifting away on their own journeys. I'll get out again as soon as I can for more pictures and reports on the fledglings' progress.