Sunday, June 8, 2008

Indianapolis: more adventures





Laura James-Reim writes on the Falcon Blog:

http://blogs.indystar.com/falconblog/



June 7, 2008
Finally, Four Falcons Found
Ah, it must be the luck associated with such a splendid date - 06/07/08 - but we accounted for all four juveniles this evening and saw lots of wedding parties. That is the good news for the day. The weather actually cleared although the storms have left behind massive amounts of flooding in many areas of the state.

Thanks to many visitors and volunteers, three of the four juveniles had been located by the time I got downtown. Three were on Market Tower but two of them had somehow ended up on the 29th floor ledge. No one witnessed whether they were there deliberately or by accident - my guess would be by accident. One was still on the 31st floor ledge.

Several of us did a walkabout to try to find the missing juvenile but to no avail for most of the afternoon. So we congregated back in front of Chase Bank building. We had several wonderful visitors today - it is always nice to hear the support the Ks have in the world wide community and I never tire of hearing how passionately they love them. There, I said it - love!

I can't tell you what time it was when the biggest event of the day occurred but I would guess it was somewhere around 5-5:30. Suddenly, we had a bird on the window sill area of the 30th floor windows. Apparently, the juvenile on the 31st floor must have slipped down but we didn't see it - it can all happen so suddenly, in the blink of an eye as they say.

Of course, I'm rattling on about how it will probably drop down to the 29th floor ledge as it would be improbable that it would turn around and take off from there. I always stick my talon in my mouth because just shortly after those words evaporated into the air, that is exactly what that juvenile did. It took off toward the north and then cut a left turn, heading west. Kinney happened to be on the 29th floor ledge of Market Tower on the north side and when he saw the juvenile he came off the building behind it. We actually witnessed Kinney assist the juvenile - gave it sort of a bump up in the air to help it stay aloft. Cool. But then we lost sight of it as it continued west.

Luckily for us, Leanne had come downtown and was up in the Chase Tower. She and Molly (another super-duper volunteer) had a bead on juvenile too. They thought the juvie landed somewhere in the area of the Hilton, the same hotel Adira had tried to check in the other day.

So off we went on another walkabout to search for the bird. And happily, we did find it on the roof top of the Hilton, about 19 stories up - pretty darn good! And we know that one of the adults knows its location.

When I left about 6:45 pm this evening, all heads had been counted. Two were left on Market Tower on the 29th floor ledge, one was on the Hilton on the 19th floor, and the last one had been finally located - again, by Leanne and Molly - on AT&T about 9 stories up on the crossover between the two buildings the company occupies on Meridian Street. Likewise, an adult was spotted with that bird so the Ks know where their juvies are - hopefully, they will obey curfew and will not be out and about any more this evening. But being juveniles, one can never know for certain.

Here are two YouTube clips The first shows KathyQ feeding the two on the 29th floor of Market Tower. Duane and Kathy were down from Lafayette and he captured some great footage of how they react when they see mom with food. You talk about a what's for dinner greeting!?! As Duane said, it's the best comedy he's seen in a long time. The second is a short clip of Magee - Duane was able to identify with his scope - on the 23rd floor or Market Tower. This clip gives you an idea of the phrase I use when watching them walk - the cockroach walk.

Thanks Laura, it's a joy to read your reports!

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