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Archive for December, 2013

Wednesday Falcon Watch – 12/19/13 – Juvie Falcon at Russell Station!

Thursday, December 19th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Since Beauty, Dot.ca and Pigott had all been seen today, I decided to head out to Russell Station to visit with the juvie falcon seen there earlier today by Joyce and Brian.  Here are a couple of  the tweets that Joyce sent.

2:35 pm –  RS: Juvie falcon and juvie RTH behind RS off Ling Rd. Both are on tall telephone poles. RTH eating scraps off pole.

2:52 pm – RS: Juvie falcon chased RTH back across Ling Rd. PEFA sitting on pole where RTH was eating scraps. Was it stealing falcon leftovers?

When I arrived on the south side of Russell Station (RS) at 4:00 pm, I found the juvie falcon on a telephone pole on the east side of RS.  I stayed there until she took off and flew towards Russell Station and landed on the top catwalk of the west side smokestack at at 4:50 pm.  By this time it was getting dark and after searching the stacks, I could not find the falcon.

Of course we can’t know for sure that this was Billy, but I do believe that it was her.

Here are some pictures from my late afternoon watch.  Please be sure to click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

Juvie falcon on telephone pole, east side of Russell Station.

Billy I think on a telephone pole on east side of RS 12-19-13Billy I think on a telephone pole on east side of RS 12-19-13*

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A Chinook flew over, heading towards the lake.

Chinook Fly By 12-19-13*

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Juvie Falcon took off and flew to the west side smoke stack at Russell Station.

Russell Station 12-19-13*

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I’ll leave you with a couple pics of Christmas lights I really liked on a house near the lake.

4-christmas-lights-12-19-135-christmas-lights-12-19-13

Morning watch 12-19-13

Thursday, December 19th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We started the day at the freezing mark of 32 (F) 0 (C) with clouds to start, but the sun shone brightly for most of my watch

I had quite the time looking for falcons in downtown Rochester today so after almost an hour of unsuccessful hunting I left for the Brighton Site to try my luck there. I managed to find more decorations at Bausch & Lomb, on Andrews Terrace apartments balconies a couple shops on Mt. Hope Ave. and Mercury looking like he’s reaching for the moon.

img_0001-main-entrance-to-bausch-lomb img_0002-bl-wreath <Bausch & Lomb   Make sure to click on pics for full view

img_0004-andrews-terrace-apartments-balcony img_0005-balcony-candy-canes-at-andrews-terrace-apartmentsAndrews Terrace apartments

img_0009-reach-for-the-moon img_0011-store-on-mt-hope-blvd img_0013-florist-on-mt-hope-blvdMt. Hope Blvd.

As luck would have it Miss Pigott was home and perched on the southeast corner of the southeast extension under the tree top roof. She did some preening but mostly turned her head a lot as usual to watch her surroundings.

img_0017-pigott1 img_0021-lets-see-what-time-is-it img_0022-lil-yellow-fist

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I got a sequence of the life of a poop. lol

img_0045-poop img_0046-poop-happens img_0047-long-job

I left Pigott around 8:30am and went back downtown to see if I could find Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC). 40 minutes later I spotted them on Midtown as I was coming around the back of HSBC on Broad St. The Beautyful one was on the northeast corner and DC on the southeast. Every once in  while she would whine.

img_0061-bdc img_0092-whats-down-there img_0065-dc <DC

img_0067-beauty img_0105-hey-dc-im-talkin-to-ya img_0116-falalalalalalalala

I moved to Atlas St. at Elm St. to be closer to them. DC flew off around 9:45am and returned 20 minutes later flying above Beauty-she flew off after him as they headed toward the river. I followed behind and found them on the Kodak Office tower. DC was on the southeast corner of the launchpad and Beauty was above him on the east side of the cupola.

img_0169-bdc

They were just hanging out and blowing in the breeze as I ended my watch at 10:20am. Smiles take over my face whenever I see all 3 of Rochesters’ Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the lins below to see my photo album and some videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjBs

http://youtu.be/UftbnNuc7AU

http://youtu.be/m9fuopJOvPs

http://youtu.be/W-8QE8KeICw

http://youtu.be/R0ed-ZJeYyo

Wednesday Falcon Watch – 12/18/13 – Speed Watch! All 3 Seen!

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Between 3:45 and 5:00 pm, I was able to find all three Rochester Falcons before it got dark.

1st stop – Kodak Park.  No Falcons seen there. (3:45 pm)

2nd stop – BS location.  Both Pigott and Dot.ca were on the east end of the building.  Pigott was on a south facing window on the east extension and Dot.ca was above her on the southeast corner of the east extension.  Just as I was parking my car, Dot.ca took off and zipped around to the north side of the building.  After taking a few pics of Pigott, I drove around to the north side and found Dot.ca on what may possibly be their nighttime roost, on a north facing window on the east extension. (4:00 pm)

Pigott at BS 12-18-13Dot.ca at BS 12-18-13*

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The sun was setting quickly, so I moved on.

3rd stop – Downtown Rochester.  After searching the downtown area, I ended up at Kodak Office where I found Beauty up on the southeast corner of the launchpad. (4:00 pm)

Beauty on the Kodak Tower 12-18-13Beauty on the Kodak Tower 12-18-13*

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While I was downtown, fellow Falcon Watcher Dana was at Charlotte.  Here are her tweets.

4:13 pm – Charlotte falcon watch – juvie black over green bands hunting ducks & pigeons over river near Shumway & O’rorke bridge!

4:35 pm – Charlotte falcon watch – juvie rested in a tree near bridge, then flew north hunting towards the lake where I lost her.  Getting dark. Bye!

After finding Beauty, I headed north to take the Lake route home, hoping to find the juvie Peregrine that Dana reported seeing hunting.  Sadly, I could not find her.  By 5:00 pm, it was too dark to see much, so I ended my watch, happy to have found Beauty, Pigott & Dot.ca.

There are many small, decorated Christmas trees all over downtown Rochester.  Here is one that is in front of Kodak Office.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

Christmas Tree Near Kodak Office 12-18-131

Morning watch 12-18-13

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher  MAK

It is warming up around here as todays starting temperature was 25 (F)  -4 (C) it snowed a couple more inches over nite but it stopped as I left for downtown. Overcast at first the sun broke thru at the very end of my watch

While looking for falcons I came across more lights and a fire was in progress at Scio and University St. with many emergency and police vehicles.

img_0001-main-st-at-plymouth-ave img_0002-parking-attendants-hut-at-frontier-all-lit-up-too img_0003-main-st-rochester

img_0004-check-out-those-shoes img_0005-east-aveimg_0007-mill-stClick pics for full version

Finally as I was coming back from checking the Kodak Office tower (KO) driving south bound toward Times Square I spotted a falcon flying above the river going north. I turned around and drove down State St to find Beauty on the southeast corner of the launchpad on KO and she was plucking feathers off some food.

img_0008-beauty img_0014-beauty-in-lights img_0020-beauty-eating

Beauty finished in a few minutes so I believe it was either cached food or she ate the lions share of it elsewhere and finished it off on KO. No matter because she had a full crop so i knew that she had a good meal.

img_0022-beauty1 img_0037-beauty

A couple minutes later Dot.Ca (DC) flew in landing very close to the Beautyful one to check out what food might be left-it wasn’t much because he only nibbled for  half a minute or less. After that they spent some time looking at each other and then preened together.

img_0041-beauty-and-dc img_0043-beauty-has-a-full-crop img_0049-bdc

img_0062-dynamic-downtown-duo img_0065-bdc img_0066-beauty-and-dc

I left our downtown duo to check for Pigott over at our Brighton site but she wasn’t home when I was there so I went back downtown. Beauty and DC were still on the KO launchpad so I took a drive over to the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge to check out the High Falls. They were half frozen and the other half was flowing at a pretty good clip.

img_0070-high-falls-half-frozen img_0072-frozen-falls

I looked west to KO and could see Beauty and DC still in their same spots took a shot of them and called it a watch at 9am.

img_0073-bdcClick it

It so makes me smile to see them hanging out in such close proximity! 🙂

Click on the links below to see some videos I have shared

http://youtu.be/egdYhT1Ji0o

http://youtu.be/V71bLmxTmO4

http://youtu.be/GCA8dFKEmlc

http://youtu.be/G9-YKPZoGbk

Morning watch 12-17-13

Tuesday, December 17th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Holy deep freeze-the temperature when I checked the local TV station said 8 degrees (F) -13 (C) when I was getting ready to leave for my watch. We were having a burst of moderate to heavy snow that made the roads pretty darn slick-you really had to drive slow as it dropped a couple inches of snow in an hour or so

I drove around the city for about 45 minutes at the start of my watch with no falcon sightings but I did find some more pretty lights and stuff!

img_0002-east-ave-looking-toward-liberty-pole img_0004-whitewhite-and-more-good-white img_0005-on-east-ave img_0006-art-supply-storeClick pics for full version

Finally as I was checking the Kodak Office (KO) tower from the Andrews St. Bridge I spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of the launchpad. I drove down to Mill St. for a closer look but due to poor lighting, distance and snow falling I didn’t know who it was at first. Now I can say that it was Dot.Ca (DC)-he flew off after a couple minutes and then I saw 2 falcons in the air circling the tower. They went to the other side where I couldn’t see them so I went up to State St. on the north side of KO to find they were both there.

img_0010-dc img_0016-dc img_0019-bdc img_0020-bdc img_0023-bdc

I thought one of them had food but Beauty on the left was preening and DC on the corner was looking south and pretty much ignoring his mate. I left to check for Pigott at our Brighton site around 8am and found her perched on the southwest corner of the west extension. She was all foofed up to keep warm and was keeping an eye on her territory.

img_0037-pigott1 img_0038-achoo img_0039-pigott-power img_0040-pigott1 img_0042-foofed-up-pigott

I stayed with Miss Pigott for 20 minutes and then I had to leave for a dental appointment around 8:40am. I saw all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons on my short watch and mustered up a smile for that! 🙂

One video link below-just click and watch

http://youtu.be/F7cWWpS48FY

Monday Falcon Watch – 12/16/13 – An Adult Peregrine Falcon Seen at KP

Monday, December 16th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

OK, what are the chances.  I’m leaving work, walking to my car in the parking lot with my co-worker Patty at 3:30 pm.  I look up and see a bird flying overhead.  I say to Patty, there goes a falcon.  Definitely a Peregrine Falcon.  I really love when that happens.  🙂

The falcon had flown in from the east and was heading west towards the Kodak Park area where Unity used to hang out.  I watched the falcon until it flew out of sight, over the Kodak Park Plant aka Eastman Business Park.  I jumped in my car, after cleaning a couple inches of snow off of it and headed in the direction I had last seen  the falcon.

From the parking lot, I spotted an adult Peregrine Falcon on the east smokestack on the south side of the lower catwalk.  Of course I did not have my camera with me.  I tweeted out that the falcon was here and then headed home to grab my camera.  When I returned, my fellow watch Dana was there.  I did get a few pictures before the falcon took off and headed south at 4:30 pm.  We waited to see if the falcon would return, but it did not.  I had to be somewhere, so I ended my watch, just as the sun was going down.

Adult Peregrine Falcon at KP 12-16-13Adult Peregrine Falcon at KP 12-16-13Adult Peregrine Falcon at KP Flying South 12-16-13*

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Dana, Joyce and Brian had been down at Russell Station and had spotted a juvie falcon hunting off the stacks there.  I sure do hope it was Billy.  Oh, and Brian says he saw a Gyrfalcon flying along the lake shore.  I would love to see one in the wild.  They reported that it had been snowing quite a bit when they were there.  Here is a picture taken from KP looking north showing the snow clouds over the lake.

Snow Clouds Over Lake Ontario 12-16-13*

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There was a full moon (or close to a full moon) rising as I ended my watch.  Between all the watchers out today, there were 5 different falcons seen in the Rochester area.  Pretty awesome!  Goodnight everyone!

Full Moon Rising 12-16-13

Morning watch 12-16-13

Monday, December 16th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast and cold with a little light snow at times this morning with a temperature of 16 (F) -9 (C)

I was on the east side taking a couple pics when I got a tweet from Donna that a falcon  whom she thought was Beauty was on the Mercury Money Bag (MMB). Thanks for the assist D!

img_0002-inn-on-broadway-st img_0003-arenas-on-east-aveClick pics to see full version

I went to the Broad St. bridge and saw the back of  Beauty on Mercury. I continued down to the hole to see the front of her. She flew off less than 10 minutes later heading north.

img_0013-beauty1 img_0015-beauty-takes-off

I headed over to Kodak Office and found her there on the south side arch where she’s been going for the past few days. She was there less than a minute then took off to the south.

img_0022-beauty img_0023-look-at-those-big-yellow-feet

I went to Brighton after not finding the Beautyful one and came upon both Pigott and Dot.Ca (DC). He was on the northeast corner of the east extension eating and she was watching him from  the southeast corner. Same as yesterday-no sharing !

img_0026-dc-eating img_0029-dc-has-something-to-say img_0032-dc img_0033-dc<DC

img_0036-pouty-pigott-cuz-dc-wont-share img_0038-pigott1

About 10 minutes later Pigott walked across to where DC was and he flew off with his food to where she just came from.  A minute later he flew over and kicked Pigott off his original corner and she went back to her corner.

img_0040-dc img_0049-dc<DC   img_0045-pigott1<Pigott> img_0050-pigott-takes-off

img_0051-dc-incoming-with-his-food img_0053-dc-watches-pigott-fly-off img_0054-dc img_0054-dc1

Pigott said the heck with you and flew off to the east to find her own breakfast. DC then finished his meal and flew to the southeast corner of the southeast extension briefly  then back to the southeast corner of the east extension before flying north..

img_0058-dc-by-tree1 img_0061-dc-with-his-full-crop img_0066-dc-flies-north

I returned to downtown to find Beauty on the southeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower for a minute before she flew north.

img_0067-beauty-from-andrews-st img_0073-beauty-on-se-cube-of-fct img_0074-beauty-scratches-her-chin img_0075-beauty

Beauty had ended up on the south side arch of Kodak Office.

img_0081-beauty-preening

I ended my watch at 9:15am- anytime I see all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons is reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos

http://youtu.be/qZacy-CzRV0
http://youtu.be/2tK3utcO05E

Morning watch 12-15-13

Sunday, December 15th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When stepped out the house today I was greeted by about 6-8 inches of snow which added to the 4 or 5 from yesterday afternoon. I got the snowblower out and made my way out of the driveway to a street that wasn’t plowed, but I made it to the main roads and to downtown where not as much snow fell. The temperature was 20 (F) -7 (C) with overcast skies and virtually no wind. Halfway thru my watch it began to snow

I had no luck finding a falcon downtown in the first 45 minutes but I found a pretty wreath on St. Marys church and the tree at the South Ave. garage was looking pretty with snow on it and speaking of snow-I love it ,so naturally I like lit up snow flakes as well!

img_0002-st-marys-church-wreath img_0003-snowy-tree img_0006-state-st-by-platt-stClick on my pics to see the full version

I left to try my luck at the Brighton Site (BS)-arriving at 8am I drove around the property and didn’t see a falcon but on my 2nd trip around I spotted Pigott fly in from the east and land on the southeast corner of the east extension.

img_0034-pigott-at-attention img_0037-pigott-gets-down img_0038-pigott img_0039-pigott1

After 20 minutes of watching Miss Pigott preen she suddenly went into a crouched position as if another falcon was near and sure enough Dot.Ca (DC) had flown in with prey and was plucking feathers from it on the southeast corner of the southeast extension by the roof top tree. This is one of his favorite eating spots.

img_0044-dc-arrives-with-food img_0046-pigott img_0055-feather-beak img_0059-dc-moves-prey-back-from-edge

DC pulled his package back from the edge and continued to eat while Pigott watched from across the way. After 15 minutes passed she flew south and returned to the same spot and then DC flew over and chased her off landing in her spot with a small piece of food as she left the area for a minute or two.

img_0066-dc img_0071-dc<DC    Pigott> img_0076-pigott img_0077-cleared-for-takeoff

When Pigott returned she knocked DC off her corner and took it over while he flew to the opposite end of the east extension on the northeast corner with the little bit that was left of his piece of food. It had started to snow tiny little flakes at this time.

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Miss Pigott flew over to him but he wasn’t going to vacate his spot or his tidbit so she flew over to the tree corner and had a small bite to eat from whatever he left there, then she went back to the southeast corner of the east extension. He finished up and went back to the tree corner had a few more bites. I left them staring at each other from their spots to go look for Beauty. It was snowing harder downtown than it had been at BS making it hard to find the Beautyful one but I did spot her salmon color on the south side Kodak Office arch.

img_0091-beauty img_0092-beauty

That’s all she wrote- I ended my watch at 9:20am smiling after having seen that all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons had weathered the storm just fine! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/GtYldg2ugB0
http://youtu.be/PV6-FmCH9DU
http://youtu.be/IL7CiJznANE
http://youtu.be/4Yx5uDP8HPM

Saturday Falcon Watch – 12/14/13 – Snowy, Bitter Cold Day!

Saturday, December 14th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today was a bitter cold and snowy day here in Rochester, NY.  Tonight and tomorrow, we are under a winter storm warning.

Before heading downtown, I first looked for Snowy Owls along the lake (Lake Ontario).  No Snowys at Braddock Bay, but the ice fisherpeople were out on the bay.

Ice Fisherpeople on Braddock Bay 12-14-13Ice Fishermen on Braddock Bay 12-14-13Snowy Braddock Bay 12-14-13*

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The waves were crashing against the icy shore on Lake Ontario, lots of ice near the shore.

Icy Lake Ontario 12-14-13*

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I ended up at Charlotte where I found a Snowy Owl hunting over the Summerville Pier.  It landed about half way out on the pier.  I made my way out onto the Charlotte Pier where the frigid winds were blowing and it was snowing.  There was just one other person out there with me.  I pointed out the Snowy to Veronica.  It was her first time seeing a Snowy Owl and she was thrilled.

Icy Genesee River to Lake Ontario at Charlotte 12-14-13Snowy Half Way Out on Summerville Pier 12-14-13Snowy Owl on Summerville Pier 12-14-13*

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This Snowy was much darker than the others I have seen recently.  It was too cold to stay out on the pier for long, so I went back to my car to warm up and headed downtown.

As I approached Kodak Office, I could see a falcon up on the northwest corner of the playpen.  The falcon was facing the building, but based on size, I believe this was Beauty, but can’t be 100% sure. (1:00 pm)

Beauty I Believe on the Kodak Tower 12-14-13Beauty I Believe on the Kodak Tower 12-14-13Beauty I Believe on the Kodak Tower 12-14-13*

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I left Beauty on the Kodak Tower to go look for Dot.ca.  I looked all over downtown, including up into the OCSR elevator shaft, but could not find him.

View from Plymouth Ave West Side of TSB and WW 12-14-13*

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Since I couldn’t find Dot.ca, I headed over to the BS location where I found Pigott on a south facing window on the west extension, across from the cubby. (1:30 pm)

Pigott at BS 12-14-13Pigott at BS 12-14-13Pigott at BS 12-14-13*

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I stayed with Pigott for awhile, checking the rest of the building and not finding any other falcons.

At 2:30 pm I headed back downtown.  I found Dot.ca on the southwest corner of the HSBC building.

Dot.ca on HSBC 12-14-13Dot.ca on HSBC 12-14-13*

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I left Dot.ca to search for Beauty, but I couldn’t find her.  I ended my watch at about 3:30 pm

I’ll leave you with a few pics of downtown Rochester from my watch today.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

Icy Genesee River Viewed from the Broad St Bridge 12-14-13View of Times Square Bldg from Broad St Bridge 12-14-13Snowy High Falls Pedestrian Bridge 12-14-13

Morning watch 12-14-13

Saturday, December 14th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Can you say Brrrr!? 8 degrees (F) -13 (C) makes for some crispy, crunchy sounding snow under foot and a wind chill factor below 0. There was a couple more inches of snow laid down by Mother Nature last night with a forecast of another possible foot by this time tomorrow

I took some decoration pics while I rode around looking for a falcon. I didn’t see one until around 7:30am when I spotted one flying near Bausch & Lomb. I checked the area but never found it and since I had to make this a short watch I decided to go to our Brighton Site (BS)  at that time.

img_0001-city-hall-in-red City Hall with red and green lighting img_0002-city-hall-in-green Click pics to see full version

img_0003-clinton-square Clinton Square tree and wreath img_0005-clinton-square

I arrived at BS about 8am to find Dot.Ca (DC) eating on the northwest corner of  the northwest extension. He finished soon after I got there then flew west as Pigott perched on the front edge of the cubby.

img_0011-dc img_0013-dc-eating img_0020-dc3 img_0022-pigott img_0026-pigott

2 down and 1 PEFA to go-I left straight away for downtown and eventually found Beauty on the Kodak Office Tower south side arch. This past week she had been perching on the west (left) side but this morning the Beautyful one was on the east (right) side of the arch. It was snowing pretty good so the pic is not good but you can see the salmon color of her chest.

img_0030-beauty-in-the-snow

I ended my watch at 8:30am happy and smiling for being lucky enough to see all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons!

There is 1 video link below-just click on it to see Beauty in the snow

http://youtu.be/NkcHE7NTitw


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