Little Linn's Adventures and Weekend Flying

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

---

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


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


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


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

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

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

Ananta got in some wing time too:


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


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

     

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

Finding only a few scraps, she took off again:


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


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