Just back online for the first time in a couple of very busy days, so here is the update that Bccs alluded to earlier ...
Saturday - Bccs & Gail were on the early shift and were joined by Eye-Spy. The first of the three chicks fledged before 9am, got grounded and the gang managed to corral her and get her into a box courtesy of Bccs who has been through this before this year. They called me and I went out to check if there were any reason the chicks shouldn't be returned to the nestbox, and after a look at the wings and her (it was Annie) ability to flap etc, back up she went to the roof. Dennis joined us and managed to get some cute photos of them running the edges, sure they will turn up in his gallery soon. We spent a couple more hours watching them run along the edges and yelling at their parents for food. We also answered lots of questions from locals in the area who know about the birds and wanted to know how they were doing. I had to leave earlier for another appointment but the gang hung out for a while after but no one else fledged.
Sunday - Bccs back on the early shift and joined once again by Gail, then Eye-Spy and then Little Bug. One of the females (we now know) had flown across to another nearby tall building just before Bccs arrived so the gang were able to watch female 1 (probably Annie) then female 2 (probably Aggie based on flight skills) shuttle back and forth between these two buildings, improving their skills with each flight. Nero took his flight sometime between 1030 and 1100 hrs I believe (the gang will have to correct me if that time is late) but didn't manage to maintain altitude like his sister and ended up on a ledge on the 7th floor near a window. Managed to encourage him to try flying again from the inside (weren't sure if he would get caught up in some window edge mechanisms) and off he flew to a much lower, but much more open building nearby. He hung out there for an hour or two, then took off to the west and we lost him. The difference with this location and downtown is that as you might imagine in the western part of the city (for those who know the city) it is alot more open, more lower buildings but also big, wide, open spaces, so young birds can go much longer distances very easily! We spent the next couple of hours combing nearby streets and buildings in ever widening circles. Eventually we had to acknowledge that he was out-of-sight for the moment and chances are, okay for the moment. So we all converged back on the building. Bccs and Dennis had had to finally leave due to other commitments, now Gail, Eye-Spy & Little Bug had to do the same and I decided to take one more swing near to the nestsite, and lo and behold, there was the little terror on the ground. So the gang reformed and tried to corner the little "darling" to put him back up on the roof. But he is fast on the ground as well as on the wing and he was having absolutely nothing to do with it, and he was off and flying (low but flying) and he wound up on yet another low building, but with a shady, hidden little corner and after a little bit of exploring he tucked himself down to nap in the shade and out of sight of anyone who didn't already know he was there. We watched him for a bit longer to be sure he wasn't going anywhere right away and then we decided that that was all we could do for the moment. It's very hot and humid out right now, Annie and Aggie are napping in the nestbox and I don't suspect that Nero is going anywhere for a few hours. I'll be back to check on him when it gets a bit cooler and quieter and we'll see how he's doing. At the moment, he's safe, out of the sun, we know he has no problem flying, just not good at it yet and he's close to home. Can't really ask for more.
Will post more observations after I go by tonight ...
Thanks to Bccs, Gail, Eye-Spy, Little Bug and Dennis for braving the heat and humidity, lawn chairs and sunblock in hand. And for being willing to chase after Nero again and again and again !
