By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

High winds and a temperature of 50 (F) 10 (C) greeted me as I walked out the door today for my watch

I failed to find a falcon until 7:10am this morning-it was Beauty that I spotted from the Andrews St. bridge. She was on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.

I drove to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to observe the Beautyful one. She spent most of the hour I spent with her looking northeast and while I was there a security guy from the hotel came out to question me. Some folks inside the hotel wondered what I was taking pics of so I showed him a pic of Beauty on my camera screen and gave him the lowdown on our beloved falcons. He said cool and left me to it.

After she finished stretching her wings I waited to see if she was going to take off but she just got settled again so I left to check the Brighton Site (BS).  I found Dot.Ca (DC) there on the upper east roof but no Pigott. He hopped down to the lower roof while I was going to a better viewing spot.

<Click it  

After a few minutes DC walked to the southeast corner near the roof top tree. Oh and in case you didn’t notice-he had a full crop! lol

I left DC to look for Pigott and when I got back he was gone so I drove back to downtown where I found him on the top ibeam southeast side of  OCSR with Beauty.

When I wasn’t looking Beauty slipped off leaving DC by himself. I drove  to the Andrews St Bridge where I found her on the northeast side top ibeam of OCSR.

<Click it to see DC      

I ended my watch at 9:16am having started and ended with Beauty on OCSR which makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my videos (also a video of the crows in Washington Square Park  that I had trouble loading for yesterdays watch report)

http://youtu.be/U7BYT7vsvEA
http://youtu.be/BI3tvxk7pn8
http://youtu.be/5AaCOo4ncV0
http://youtu.be/9DmXUNCqrTo
http://youtu.be/NERPI8zVFiI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

9:30 am – 4:00 pm.

I do love falcon watching on the weekends and the warmer weather made it very enjoyable.  It was warmer today than it was yesterday, with temps in the 60’s (F).  But where it was all sunshine and blue sky yesterday, today was mostly cloudy with rain on and off.  But, I’m not complaining.  It was a perfect weekend for getting out to watch the Rochester Falcons.

During my Watch, I was joined by fellow Watchers Dana, Joyce and Lou.

After checking the lake locations and not finding any falcons, Dana and I decided to head over to Irondequoit Bay for a quick look.  We found two adult Bald Eagles in a tree on the east side of the Bay.  Oh, and we did see a flyover by a juvie Bald Eagle at Charlotte, so that made three eagles seen today!  Our next stop was the BS location.  Pigott wasn’t home, but there were a whole bunch of turkeys on the south side of the building.  Onward to downtown Rochester.  Dana and I found Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower on the north east box.

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I went looking for Dot.ca and found him on the north west corner of Kodak Office.  He was on an antenna just above the playpen netting.  DC was in hunt mode, stooping over the lower buildings on the north side of the Kodak Tower.  He returned, empty taloned, to the north east corner of the launchpad.

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He didn’t stay there long.  He took off heading north and I followed the best I could.  The same time I found him, Donna, a Falconcam Watcher, tweeted out that Dot.ca had joined Beauty on the north east box on the Frontier Communication Tower.

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Dana had to leave, so I stayed to watch Beauty and Dot.ca until first Beauty and then Dot.ca took off heading south towards downtown.  I looked for them, but could not find them.  Since I hadn’t seen Pigott, I headed back over to the BS location and found her on the north west corner of the north west extension.

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Pigott took off and flew to the south side of the building.  I found her on the slat window on the south side, near the west end.  She went into the corner and pulled out some food she had cached there.  It looked really fresh, probably leftovers from this morning.

Joyce joined me and we settled in to watch Pigott enjoy her meal.  Crows were flying overhead and Pigott kept looking up.  I’ve seen the Crows on the building before, stealing her caches, so she has learned to hide her caches very carefully from aerial thieves.

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When Pigott ate her fill, she took off with the remainder and flew around to the north side of the building.  I found Pigott on a east facing window on the south east extension, below the tree ledge.  It was time for me to say goodbye to Joyce and to Pigott.

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I drove through downtown, looking for Dot.ca and Beauty.  He was on the Times Square Bldg on the north east wing ledge and I found Beauty up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the south ledge.

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On my way home, I checked out the  Charlotte/Summerville area.  I didn’t find any falcons, but I did find fellow Watchers Dana and Lou.  I also checked out Russell Station one more time and again found no falcons there.  It was time to end my watch and head home.

Tonight we are under a high wind warning with gusts expected to reach up to 60 mph.  Be safe everyone!

I’ll leave you with a few pictures I took during my watch today.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

First some pics of the turkeys out at BS.  They are really quite beautiful birds!

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and another picture of my favorite sunset spot, Buck Pond in Greece, NY.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I left the house it was dark and mild with a temperature of 54 (F) 12 (C). On my way  downtown the sky started spitting little raindrops. It stopped for a bit and then when I got to the Brighton site (BS) a steady rain developed for the remainder of my watch

As I checked the east side, there was a steady flow of the crows that roost at night in Washington Square Park leaving the tree tops.

Upon returning from checking the east side I saw one falcon under the northeast wing of Times Square. I believe it was Dot.Ca (DC) as he flew northeast seconds after I arrived in the hole to observe him.

I didn’t have very good luck downtown this morning for this was my only sighting.When I didn’t find anyone after 2 trips around the city I left for BS. There, I found Pigott on the west end of the south side extension looking for a tasty meal to show up. Nearly an hour later it happened, as Miss Pigott flew off to the east going into stoop formation leaving my field of vision.

I didn’t see her return but I did find her on the upper east side roof plucking feathers to beat the band. Before I could get settled Pigott went down to the lower east side roof and went back to work on preparing her meal. Shaky tweeted that there was a falcon on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) at 9:09am-Thanks!

<Click it>

She had feathers stuck on her that looked like a white Snidely Whiplash (a cartoon character from the old Dudley Do-right cartoon show) mustache as she continued plucking and eating.

I left Pigott to eat and returned downtown. There were no falcons to be found after 3 trips around the city. I had to get going so I ended my watch at 10am.  Even tho it was raining and dreary out Pigott  put a smile on my face with her feather mustache! 🙂

Click on the links below to watch videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/n7kGBI-SjEE
http://youtu.be/R_jNsiE_yQE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

11:20 am to 4:00 pm

What an absolutely gorgeous fall day, with temps in the high 50’s (F) and wall to wall sunshine.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

When I arrived at Russell Station (RS), I spotted a familiar car in the parking lot on the north side.  Dana was there and she had not seen any falcons at RS or the Charlotte/Summerville area.  Dana had to leave, so I headed towards downtown with stops at Seneca Towers and Hawkeye.  No falcons at either location but there were two Red-tailed Hawks on the railings near the nest box on top of the Hawkeye plant.  Hawks at Hawkeye.  Just seems right.  lol (11:42 am)

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Continuing towards downtown.  I found Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  She was on the north east box below the platform.  (11:57 am)

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It was time to check the rest of the downtown area.  I could not find Dot.ca, so I headed over to the BS location.  Pigott was on the northside of the building; north east corner of the north west extension.  (12:50 pm)

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At 1:50 pm, Donna texted out that she had seen, on the Rfalconcam Streaming video, a 2nd falcon join Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower.  I headed back downtown and found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the north east box on the FCT.  Thanks for the heads up Donna!  (2:22 pm)

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Dana joined me at the City Hall parking lot.  We stayed watching Beauty and Dot.ca until about 3:00 pm. Joyce texted from the BS location reporting that Pigott was still there.

Dana and I headed back to the lake for one last look for Billy.  We had no luck finding her or any other falcons.  At 4:00 pm, we both ended our watch and headed home.

I”ll leave you with a couple pics I took.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

Here is a picture of the sunset at Buck Pond last night.  Just lovely.

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and look!  Santa Claus has arrived!  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today was a beautiful November day-the temperature was 43 (F) 6 (C) when I stepped out the house with calm winds and clear conditions

I found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC around 6:45am. She stooped down the back of the building leaving my field of vision quickly.

As I crossed the Broad St Bridge I saw a falcon fly off from under the northeast wing on the Times Square building heading north. I took a couple runs around town and elected to go to the Brighton Site (BS) after I didn’t find anybody. Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent. She was very busy keeping track of the starlings that nest at the site as they flew above and below her. Oh and being her cute self too!

<Click it

20 minutes later at 8am Pigott flew out and back to land on the southeast extension roof south side-she was in hunt mode as she seemed to be hiding from the starlings trying to ambush them.

<Click it

Something peaked her interest as Miss Pigott raised her head and hopped up to the front of the roof and a minute later she flew east out of sight.

<Click them>  

I returned downtown to find only the Beautyful one, who was on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower. When I first found her she was preening with a full crop then she started napping.

<Click it>

She woke up long enough to poop and then back to snoozing. lol

I left her to it and called it a watch at 9:15am. Keep smiling it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to! 🙂

Click on the links below to see videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/4oqvglPiKac

http://youtu.be/sSeV87PeHKE

http://youtu.be/A-WW4jjS-t4—

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As the sun was coming up, the eastern sky was looking bright, but thin clouds moved in and covered the sun making for overcast conditions with a starting temperature of  41 (F) 5 (C)

As I drove around to the north side of HSBC I spotted a falcon on the north side of the building. I figured it was Beauty since this is one of her morning spots but something wasn’t quite right, so I tweeted that I had a falcon up there. As time went on and it got lighter out the pictures were proving that this was not one of our falcons as the white on the malar stripe was not like either Beauty or Dot.Ca (DC).

It looked small to me so I believe it was a male.  It didn’t give me any leg shots and the take off shot was too blurry to tell if there were leg bands but here it is as he flew around the back of the building out of sight.

After I didn’t find it, I went to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) where I found Beauty under the northeast wing of the Times Square Building (TSB). I went to the hole and parked next to He’s Chinese-less than a minute later the Beautyful one flew northwest.

I searched downtown a couple times but didn’t find any PEFAs. I thought maybe DC was at the Brighton Site (BS) so I went there arriving just before 8am. As I pulled in the driveway I saw a falcon fly off the northeast corner of the northeast extension-it came back and landed there again. It was Pigott and she was looking for a meal as she stooped like a missile 2 minutes later to the northeast.

She returned to the same corner empty taloned-she would fly off again prompting me to ride around the building to look for her. As I came around the east side she was back up there again briefly then off again. Phew she is a busy bird! Again, I drove around and this time when I rounded the east end I spotted Pigott up on an east side window ledge. There were feathers all over the ledge so someone had eaten there recently but it wasn’t Miss Pigott-her crop was depleted. After a minute or two she took off and flew back over onto the northeast corner one more time.

<Click it 

Pigott started preening and stayed for the next 15 minutes, then she flew northeast crossing the main road real low and didn’t resurface. I drove to the area I last saw her and found her in a tree!

Miss tree falcon was looking around intently-shooting me a couple fierce looks. Remember last winter when she hung out in a tree behind BS that was named PEFA tree? I look forward to seeing her there again this winter. I could hear a squirrel talking up a storm as it was alarmed to have a bird of prey nearby. She was only there about 5 minutes before flying northwest into Highland Park where I lost sight of her. It’s such a thrill to see a falcon perched on something natural rather than a building, of course it’s a thrill to see one anywhere!

I fruitlessly looked for her and then returned downtown. After seeing that unknown falcon earlier on HSBC I wanted to make sure I found Beauty and DC. Well let me tell ya, they gave me a scare as I searched and searched for almost an hour. I even went back to BS to see if DC was there but no such luck. Back downtown to look  for another half hour- then finally as I came back from the north end of the city I first spotted DC under the northeast wing of TSB. After pulling in by He’s Chinese I could see the Beautyful one at the back of the southeast wing ledge. PHEW!

<DC  <Beauty>

Since DC had his back to me I went up to the BSB and then in front of the Blue Cross Arena on Exchange Blvd. to give him his photo op.

<Click it

What an interesting watch I had today, seeing all 3 resident falcons plus a bonus mystery PEFA. How could I not smile after all that!?!  🙂

Check out the links below for more pics and some videos from my watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi9A

http://youtu.be/XeviuwG_usQ
http://youtu.be/AC4w4AWRK2A
http://youtu.be/oGjf3-jMiAY
http://youtu.be/IDfCWaSa3N8
http://youtu.be/3OwIGKxgPVM
http://youtu.be/680CR3Wz9jM—

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(3:30 – 5:00 pm)

Another quick watch and all three resident Rochester falcons seen.  The weather was gorgeous compared to the last few days.  Only in Rochester do temps in the 40’s feel wonderful, especially when there is sun and blue sky. At least for a short while.

I started at Kodak Office where I found no falcons today.  From there I looked towards downtown and spotted a falcon on the Times Square Bldg (TSB) on the ledge below the north east wing.  Joyce also tweeted that she saw a falcon there.  I never did see Joyce during my watch.

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From the Broad St Bridge, I could see that it was Beauty on the TSB.

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After checking the downtown area for Dot.ca and not finding him, I headed over to the BS location.  Pigott was on a east facing window on the south west extension.  She had her back to me, but she was her usual hyper-alert self.

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I circled the building a few times and could not find Dot.ca.  Time to head back downtown.  As I approached the Times Square Bldg, Beauty was no longer on the north east wing ledge.  I turned right on to Broad St and saw a falcon heading towards Mercury.  Quickly I turned around and parked on Broad St, at Falcon Central (across from the Blue Cross Arena).  Now there was a falcon back up on the north east wing ledge and it looked like Beauty.  My attention was split between watching Beauty and taking pictures of the gorgeous moon over Xerox.  I turned around to see Beauty was still on the TSB and that she had grown a second tail.  Huh!  Yep!  Either Dot.ca had just arrived or had been up  there with Beauty the whole time and I couldn’t see him.  Right after I realized both Beauty and Dot.ca were up there together, he took off, flew over the Blue Cross Arena and headed south east.  I waited to see if he would return and he did not.  There’s a good chance he headed over to the BS location to check on Pigott.

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I did take the lake route home, but as usual, it was too dark to see much of anything.

I’ll leave you with a few pics of the moon over downtown Rochester.  Please be sure to click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Todays starting temperature was 34 (F) 1 (C) much more manageable than yesterday. It was clear  with sunny blue skies and a brisk biting wind.

My first found falcon wasn’t until 7am and it was Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. He left shortly after when I wasn’t looking.

I did a search of downtown but didn’t find anyone so I drove to Brighton. There, I found Pigott on the northwest corner of the middle front of the building.  I almost missed her as she was back on the ledge showing only the top half of her and she was eating but not for long as a couple minutes later DC came flying thru vocalizing and she in turn spoke back to him.

Pigott

He went around the back of the building and flew above her again almost hovering at one point. DC was looking to see if Pigott had food and then he landed over on the northeast corner of the northeast extension and planned his strategy. Pigott had stopped eating when DC came on the scene and stood over top of her treasure.

DC

DC soon flew off and advanced toward Pigott as she got down in a defensive posture telling him he wasn’t getting any. He landed a few feet from her and the standoff began.

<Pigott <click it

After a minute or so Pigott started pulling out big clumps of feathers as I think she was trying to lighten the load as fast as she could  so she could fly off with it before DC made his move.

<Click it>

At about 7:55am he couldn’t take it anymore and rushed her-she flew off with her meal and he was left with one little crumb to swallow.

<Click it<DC with his crumb

After checking the ledge unsuccessfully for any more pieces he flew off to the back of the building.

I drove around the property 3 times and didn’t see Miss Pigott or DC anywhere in the vicinity. We’ll never know if she shared with him or not but while I was watching there was no intent to do so. I left to go back downtown and on my initial look around could find no falcons. As I approached the Broad St. Bridge from checking the east side I saw Beauty land under the northeast wing with her back facing out. I ended up parking on Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena to get the best angle on her.

The Beautyful one just hung out blowing in the breeze, preening a little, watching north a lot and looking great with the blue sky behind her.When she flew off the back of the ledge and took off over the Thomson Reuters building out of sight I ended my watch a little after 9am.

There’s nothing that makes me smile more than seeing all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons on my watch. 🙂

Click on the links below to see more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi8m

http://youtu.be/vxTvYclVFuM
http://youtu.be/KpXlV1UKD-Q
http://youtu.be/DNNkSgLjLj0
http://youtu.be/XTlQaKX4PNs
http://youtu.be/eviESyrbuRA
http://youtu.be/EykPnyo42pg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(3:30 – 5:00 pm)

I was waiting at a red light about two blocks away from Kodak Office when I spotted a falcon flying above and around the top of the tower.   By the time I got there, Beauty had settled on the south east corner of the launchpad.

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It wouldn’t remain light for very long, so I checked the rest of the downtown area and could not find Dot.ca.  My next stop was the BS location.  Beneath the very large moon that had risen in the sky, I could see that  both Dot.ca and Pigott were on the east side of the building.

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Pigott was on the top east side window on the south east extension closest to the east extension corner.  Dot.ca was finishing eating up on the north east corner of the east extension.

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Dot.ca finished his meal.  Both he and Pigott were quiet while I was there.  No vocalization.  The light was fading and it was time for me to move on .

Driving back through downtown, I found that Beauty had moved from the Kodak Tower and was now on the Times Square Bldg, on the ledge below the north east wing.  This is directly above the nest box.

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I continued down Exchange, which turned into Lake heading north.  When I arrived at the Lake, the sun was almost set, but I could still see that the Coast Guard antenna on the Summerville side was empty.  The sunset was beautiful from the Charlotte parking lot.  Lots of pink!

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Russell Station was my last check.  But, it was too dark to see if there was a falcon on the building.  At 5:00 pm, it was time for me to head home.  I was very happy to have seen all three resident Rochester falcons in the short time I had to search for them.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the sun setting on Buck Pond.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

COLD slapped me in the face as I stepped out the door this morning with a temperature of 18 (F) -8 (C) It was fairly clear with a dusting of snow to brush off the car

I found Beauty at 6:45am under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) to start my watch. She had her back to me but I could see that she was eating something.

Click on my pics to view the full version

I took a ride to the Andrews St. Bridge to have a look around and from there I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR. I could also see the Beautyful one on Times Square.

At 7:10am DC flew north out of view so I returned to hang out with Beauty at Times Square.  DC just happened to be under the southeast wing across from Beauty when I arrived-the little rascal doubled back on me.  I observed them from the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) and the hole.

<Beauty

<DC      

At 7:40am DC tried sneaking off the back of the ledge but I did manage to get him in the frame as he flew southwest. He was playing games with me today! lol

I gave it about 15 minutes then I left to see if he went to the Brighton location since that’s the direction he flew and he had done that yesterday morning. I got over there about 8:10am to find Pigott but no DC. She was on the southeast corner of the east extension  eating a small tidbit of food.

She turned her back to me and flew a few feet forward with what was left of her meal, kicking up some snow as she took flight.

She finished it and did some feaking and cleaning up. She turned around again so I changed my position and got quite a jolt when I saw her bulging crop. Seriously, she couldn’t have stuffed any more in if she tried! Miss Pigott couldn’t even reach over it to scratch her face!!! lol

She obviously wasn’t going anywhere for a while so I left to re-check downtown. I always have such fun watching Pigott as she is so entertaining! Anyway, as I approached the TSB I saw who I thought was Beauty, but turns out it was DC fly from the northeast wing area and head east. I then saw Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR and I thought she was DC because the sun shone so intensely on her that she looked white. I could see that she too had a full crop. So both girls ate well this morning.

This is the only pic of Beauty that wasn’t washed out white

DC returned and landed under the northeast wing of the TSB. However, his crop was not full as he was scrunched down, feathers fluffed to keep warm on this cold morning. I bet he was wondering why he wasn’t down south basking in the sun and surf. So I ended my watch at 9am and left the city smiling after a frozen fun falcon watch in which I shared space with all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Check out my videos by clicking on the links below

http://youtu.be/zIZrYTPYCbs
http://youtu.be/a7l1AC_yDQA
http://youtu.be/kJK-5VUMPOw