Zephyr and Susan B Take the Plunge

Tthe class of 2008 is getting an early start on fledging. This morning Larry O'Heron reported the first fledging flight of the season. It turned out to be Zephyr who was the first to leave the nest box.

The plucky "Z-man" made a masterful flight according to Carol P, with whom I spoke when I arrived at Kodak Office a little later in the morning. Carol reported that Zephyr made another flight and a well-executed landing. I was hoping to see some fledging action for myself, so at lunch time, I headed up onto the roof of Building 9 for a closer look.

Zephyr was on the dolphin railing above the 19^th floor. Mariah and Kaver watched him from perches near the nestbox:
     

On a couple of occasions Mariah headed into the sky, flying encouraging circles above Zephyr:


Instead of emulating his mother, the Z-man decided to practice his flapping with short hops along the top of the railing:
          

He covered the entire south side of the tower in this manner, keeping up a steady stream of vocalizing to match the wing flapping. Near the bottom of the hour he must have decided he'd had enough practice, because with very little preamble, he launched into the air:
          

He flew a couple of circles, with much flapping and a bit of gliding before executing a competent landing on the southeast corner of the playpen rail:
          

The little tiercel is a real spitfire! His flight was prudently short but well-controlled. For his third flight of the day (as I later learned), he appears to be well on his way to grasping the basics.

The folks down at Falcon Watching HQ were as impressed as I was. I took the opportunity of his break to head down to ground level. By the time I arrived, he'd hopped down into the playpen and disappeared around the east side of the tower.

We turned our attention to the nestbox, where Susan B had stepped out onto the perch rail:


She'd been testing her wings, and a few more tempting flights from Mariah finally convinced her to give it a try!
          

She flew out over State Street with the mix of determination and temerity that we've come to expect of a first-fledge bird. We watchers made encouraging noises below, and after a wrong turn, she headed back for a landing approach on the tower:
          

Little Suzie (the Everly Brothers tune goes through my head every time I see her) didn't quite stick the landing, and fluttered down to the ledge below:
     

That perch didn't work for her either, so off she went again, heading for the southeast corner of the 19^th floor ledge:
     

The third time's the charm, as they say, and Susan B settled onto the ledge, none the worse for wear.
          

I had a meeting at the top of the hour, and since there wasn't much activity, I headed inside, leaving the watch in the hands of my fellow GVAS volunteers.

Zephyr and Susan B are a bit early-- the past couple of years haven't had fledging until about the 20^th of the month. Despite that, these early flights look pretty good. We're not out of the woods with either of these fledglings, of course-- it'll take another few days before we can relax our vigilance. There are three more who've yet to take wing as well, so the coming days promise plenty of excitement.