Fledge Watch: Made in the Shade

It was much too hot and humid for sustained flying today, and the noon hour found most of the fledglings sticking close to the Kodak tower. Recognizing that there would be little flying, and needing to stick close to the office (I was on duty with the Medical Emergency Response Team today), I decided to try my luck from the roof of Building 10. This 9-story building lies north of the Kodak tower, and its position provides a good, if somewhat obstructed view of the tower. It's biggest drawback is the near total lack of any place to get out of the sun and the 90°F/23°C heat. Nonetheless, I armed myself with a cold drink and went out. Predictably, the eyases were pretty sedentary, which afforded me the opportunity to photograph them at my leisure. I think this is Fulmine:


A pair of fledglings snoozed on the 17^th floor ledge of the Philadelphia tower, an enclosed fire escape attached to the northwest side of the Kodak tower:


Cornpoppy had photographed Esperanza and Aconcagua near this location earlier today. Could this be them? Neither one presented a leg band for identification, so I couldn't tell. No matter, though; there were plenty of other subjects to keep me busy. I stumbled across this bleached skeleton as I was exploring the different areas of the roof:

There were a couple of other carcasses nearby, and one looked very much like a gull. We've never seen Mariah or Kaver go after gulls-- mostly the Peregrines just ignore them. We've always assumed the gulls were too big to bother with, but from the leavings on the roof, it appears that we may need to revise our notion of Mariah and Kaver's prey choices.

On one of the few flights of the hour, Skye showed up, after flying low over the roof. She landed on the 19^th floor stone railing:

Later, she moved down to the catwalk behind that railing, then poked her head out between the scalloped wall:


This falcon also made a short flight. Through my binoculars I was able to identify it as Aconcagua:


I had only an hour to watch, and that was drawing to a close. I had just enough time to get one more shot of Fulmine, and then I had to head inside:


The weather is supposed to ameliorate over the next few days, with lower temperatures, but also a daily chance of rain in the latter part of the week. The fledglings won't be using the Kodak Tower as a home base for much longer, so I'll have to get out there again as soon as I can for more watching and pictures. Now that I know my way around up there, perhaps I'll bring my scope on the next trip.