New Falcons Settle In At Midtown Plaza

Mariah is out of the picture for the foreseeable future, but there's still falcon watching to do. From all reports, the new pair in town are socializing, even mating, so a nesting attempt seems likely soon. With that in mind I took my lunch hour downtown in the hope of learning more about our new resident Peregrines.

Hardly had I emerged from the Court Street parking garage when I found the new tiercel winging his way up Broad Street toward the Midtown Plaza Tower. I brought my camera up to take a shot, only to realize that I hadn't yet turned it on! By the time I flipped the switch he was gone, out of sight on the east side of the plaza. Luckily for me, the female flew in only a couple of seconds behind him, providing a good opportunity for some passing shots:
     

One thing I noticed right away was the dark pattern of her under-wing plumage. It seems a lot darker than Mariah's. She also exhibited the slightest split-wing flying style-- not as noticeable as Mariah's, but it might provide a means for us to distinguish her from the tiercel in flight.

By the time I got around to the east side of the tower they'd both disappeared behind behind the lower ledge. The only evidence of their presence were the ee-chups bouncing off the sides of the nearby buildings. On previous occasions I've noticed that the tiercel is a little frenetic-- he doesn't like to stay in one place for long. So it was no surprise when he poked his head up over the ledge after a few seconds dropped off the side and promptly disappeared toward the north. The female stayed out of sight, so I scanned the sky, hoping to catch the male's return.

When he did reappear five minutes later, he came with full talons!


He'd caught himself a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), and he paraded around the sky before landing back on the lower tower ledge:
          

Right behind him came the female, filling the air with vociferous calls. Her green and black leg band was clearly visible, though she was too far away to read the characters on it:
     

For whatever reason she nearly touched down, then thought better of it and took off again, circling for another landing a few seconds later:
     

     

There followed quite a bit more ee-chupping before the tiercel emerged and flew away, clutching his meal:
          

He ended up on the north side of the tower while the female flew away toward downtown:
     

For the next five minutes the male denuded his feathered catch and ate, before taking up the prey once again:
          

He was gone for several minutes, but eventually reappeared, landing on the east side of the tower with the prey. As soon as he landed he began calling to the female:
          

Her return was just as dramatic as her first landing:


This time the tiercel gave up the remainder of his morsel to her. She took it in her bill, then flew away, disappearing as the male had, for a little more than seven minutes.
     

She reappeared on a nearby building and commenced to eat:


Well, all that eating was making me hungry, so I grabbed an italian sausage sandwich from a nearby lunch cart vendor across the street (with sauteed peppers, onions, provolone cheese, mushrooms and hot sauce-- YUM!). He and his partner had been watching the falcons on and off, and I told them about Mariah's misfortune while I awaited my lunch.

I glanced at my watch and found that my hour of free parking at the Court Street garage was nearly up. Besides, it was getting late and I needed to head back to the office. On the way back to the parking garage I grabbed a shot of the female facing into the sun after finishing her meal:


She's definitely darker than he is, and when they're both in the air their size difference is apparent, though he's larger than Kaver was. They're both quite acrobatic. Maybe that's just a symptom of the fact that I'm watching them fly around the relative confines of the buildings downtown, though. It's a far different experience from the open vistas of the High Falls. Photography is a little more challenging, since they appear and disapper behind buildings so quickly. Even though I miss Mariah and Kaver, I'm looking forward to following this pair. It's a whole new ballgame for the Rochester falcons, and those of us privileged enough to watch them. I'll be interesting to re-write what we know about observing falcons here.