More Flying for First Fledges

Quest, Diamante and Seneca have yet to fly, though Quest jumped up onto the roof of the nestbox this afternoon. That leaves the sky to Zephyr and Susan B. Both appear content to make fairly short flights, and other than a short stint on the High Falls smokestack by the Z-man early this morning, they always return to the Kodak tower.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course. It's actually a bit of a relief that we watchers haven't had to chase after these two fledglings. Who knows if the other three will be as prudent?

Standing in the shadows at Falcon Watching HQ with the sun low in the east made for a chilly watch, so I headed up to the roof of Kodak building 9, where the sun's rays were unobstructed. I located Zephyr on the corner of the launch pad above the nestbox and Susan B on the broad ledge of the 17^th floor. Mariah did her part, flying around and enticing the young to get airborne:


The two fledglings were unpersuaded, and the best she could do was to work Quest up into a flurry of flapping on the perch rail:


Zephyr wasn't totally unmoved though. He did some flapping of his own:


Then Kaver flew in with Mariah, causing quite a commotion:


That was enough for Zephyr. He threw himself skyward with a will, circling around the front of the tower before coming in for a landing on the launch pad where he'd started:


Still inexperienced, he missed the flat top surface. He slipped down and for a few seconds he found a purchase on a small ledge just below:


It didn't last long, but no matter; Zephyr just got back into the air for another try:
     

He made a nice swing overhead. I was lucky enough to catch him in a cloudless part of the sky as he flew, showing Mariah's heritage with a split-primary on his right-wing:
     

He lined up for another landing, this time on the playpen railing:

He came in pretty fast and it wasn't very graceful, but Zephyr kept his perch.

Susan B got into motion too, but she limited herself to moving along the ledge, hopping and squawking as she went:
     

     

Meanwhile, Kaver moved up to the western peak of the Kodak tower roof. He looked good in the morning sun:


A few minutes later he took to the air again, and this time Zephyr joined his father for a bit before peeling off for another solo flight:


It was another short jaunt. He lined up for a landing on the playpen rail, under the watchful gaze of his mother and sisters:
     

I guess Mariah was satisfied with his effort because a few seconds later she took off, flying to the south and eliciting more cries from Susan B on the ledge below:
          

The falcons settled in after that so I left to attend a morning meeting and to get some work done.

This afternoon I was out again. The clouds had grown much thicker, and photography was difficult against the gray sky, so I turned my lens on Quest, who'd jumped up to the nestbox roof only a few moments before I got outside:


I couldn't find Zephyr or Susan B, but I'd heard from watchers at noontime that all the eyases had been located, so I wasn't concerned. I did spot Mariah on the southeast corner of the launch pad, and she provided the first action, jumping quickly into the air and diving upon a hapless pigeon. She missed, coming out of the dive in a low arc over the construction workers who were busy erecting the new townhouses across the street from Kodak. She swung around in front of the BeeBee station, but the overcast sky didn't make for much light and slow shutter speeds made most of my shots unusable blurs.

When she got closer the photos improved:
     

She flew back and forth across the south face of the Kodak tower before landing on the southeast corner of the 17^th floor:
     

Apparently that was all the encouragement that Susan B needed. I couldn't be sure but it looked like she flew off the west side of the tower, then swung in a loop that took her past the KODAK sign letters
          


She surprised me by flying turning southeast, and flying out toward the High Falls smokestack. I hurried to the south for a better look, concerned that she might get tired if her flight lasted too long. She turned back though, and got set to land:
          

Like Zephyr earlier in the morning, her approach was too fast. She skidded past the ledge she'd been aiming for, but ended up with only a bit of damaged pride for the clumsy touchdown:
          

     

After her rather long flight she tucked herself against the dolphin railing for a nap. Quest too, had decided to snooze on the nestbox roof-- at least that's what it looked like from my vantage. Kaver flew in and landed on the roof of the steeple, and I took that as my signal to head home for the afternoon.

Tomorrow morning should bring fair weather, and I'm hoping that perhaps we'll have another fledge from Quest or Diamante. Whatever happens, I'll let you know.