Finally, Fledglings Find the Gorge

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 Susan B and Quest...
     

...and Seneca and Diamante:


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.