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Archive for July, 2015

Saturday Fledge Watch – Here, There & Everywhere! 7/18/15

Saturday, July 18th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

9:00 am to 3:00 pm

Watchers (During this Watch): Dana, Pat and Larry O.

I arrived downtown just after 9:00 am.  The first falcon I found was on the NW corner of B&L and while I was tweeting, it took off.  Continuing around to the east side of HSBC, I found a falcon (could have been the same one) on the SE corner.  While I was taking a picture of this falcon, another popped in.  Tag!  You’re it!

Juvie on HSBC -7-18-15Tag!  You're it! -7-18-15

Both juvies flew around a bit and then both landed on the east side railing of HSBC.

Both Juvies on HSBC -7-18-15

They again took off and flew between HSBC and B&L.  At one point Beauty was up there.  While Cadence and Genesee were talon tagging, she headed northwest.

Time to Play! -7-18-15Talon Tagging Juvies -7-18-15

They flew around to the other side of B&L and I followed.

Juvie Take Off from B&L -7-18-15

They both took off heading west.  Again I followed.  Beauty was on Mercury’s heel and I saw one juvie turn the corner at Exchange and Broad, heading for the jail.  Dana joined me and we went looking for them.

For only a moment, we found one on a short antenna on top of the jail, then it was gone.  It was really getting warm and humid, so I headed to Aqueduct St (aka the hole) to find some shade.  Dana joined me there.

Juvie on Jail Communication Tower -7-18-15

At first, there were no falcons in view, except for Beauty on Mercury.  Then we heard the first alarm kaks.  There was a Turkey Vulture (TV) passing overhead.  All at once, there were three falcons in the sky.  One adult was quickly catching up to the TV, while two juvies followed.  They didn’t quite get the concept of what the parent was doing.  While the adult was going after the TV, Genesee and Cadence decided it was a good time to stoop on each other!  At first Dana and I thought that there was an intruding falcon in the area.  lol

Juvie Mock Battle aka Talon Tagging -7-18-15Beauty and TV 7-18-15

After the Turkey Vulture was vanquished, I checked the Mercury statue.  Beauty was gone.  I believe it was her that went after the TV.  I thought at first it might have been Dot.ca.

Everything was quiet for a little while.  Beauty flew over us heading east.  We checked Mercury again and found Genesee on one side of the base mantling food with Beauty on the other side.

Genesee with Food and Beauty on Mercury -7-18-15

Genesee took off and headed west, carrying the food.  We found him on the Widow Walk Bldg.  Beauty flew over and landed next to him.

Genesee on WW with Food -7-18-15Peek-a-Boo Genesee! -7-18-15Here Comes Beauty! -7-18-15

Just after Beauty landed next to Genesee, he took off again, with the food.  He headed west and so did I.  I could hear all kinds of juvie cries echoing off the buildings, but where was he?  I drove towards Main St and turned right.  Directly in front of me, heading east, was a low flying juvie.  I followed and saw it land on the south side of the Powers bldg.  Beauty was also there and so was Cadence.  They kept flying back and forth between the Powers Bldg. and the Monroe County Bldg (MCB).  Somehow Cadence now had the food!  She landed on a top window on the MCB.  Beauty landed above Dana and I on a lower SW corner of the Powers Bldg and Genesee ended up on top of the MCB.

Beauty Landing on Powers -7-18-15Beauty on Powers -7-18-15Cadence on Monroe County Bldg with Food -7-18-15

Genesee on Monroe County Bldg -7-18-15Beauty on Powers -7-18-15

Genesee flew around and landed on different parts of the MCB, before finally joining Cadence.  He slowly moved closer and closer to Cadence and was able to grab a few pieces of food for himself.  They both filled their crops, while Beauty kept watch.

Cadence and Genesee on MCB -7-18-15Cadence and Genesee on MCB -7-18-15Cadence and Genesee on MCB -7-18-15

Cadence and Genesee on MCB -7-18-15Cadence and Genesee on MCB - Beak-to-Beak -7-18-15Cadence and Genesee on MCB - Beak to Beak -7-18-15

The Coveted Foot -7-18-15Cadence and Genesee on MCB -7-18-15

After finishing her meal, Cadence took off and landed on a window on the Union Bank Bldg.  This building is just east of the Monroe County Bldg.  Pat joined us for a short visit on her way through downtown.  Genesee filled his crop and Beauty landed next to him to eat what was left.

Cadence on Union Bank Bldg. -7-18-15Genesee and Beauty on MCB -7-18-151Genesee and Beauty on MCB -7-18-15

Beauty was the first to take off, then Genesee and last Cadence.  All took off heading west and turning south.

B, the G Takes Off! -7-18-15Cadence Takes Off -7-18-15

After they all left, Dana and I drove around trying to find where they went.  Dana spotted a juvie on the Times Square Bldg under the SW wing.  It was Cadence and she was hunkering down in the shade from the wing.  We did not see where the others went. We decided to take a lunch break at the Genesee Brewery.  While we were there, Larry O tweeted that he was downtown looking around.  After lunch, we went out to the pedestrian bridge, but found no falcons there.

During the day, I saw a lot of falcons flying that I could not positively ID.  Dot.ca may have been around keeping an eye on things, while Beauty handled the feeding of her young today.

It’s going to be even warmer tomorrow with temperatures near 90 degrees (F).  Keep cool everyone!

Morning Fledge Watch 7-18-15

Saturday, July 18th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There was a thunderstorm happening when I got up at 4:30am today and it was done by the time I left making it very humid and dark outside. The temperature was a balmy 71 (F) 22 (C)

I found Seth in his favorite roosting spot- the top north side window ledge of Seneca Towers. He was pretty mellow all scrunched down and there were no other falcons around so I didn’t stay with him for long.

img_0003-seth-from-belowimg_0004-seth1

My downtown juvie sightings have been sparce this past week so I wanted to get there earlier today to see if I could find them. My first stop on the Andrews St. bridge bagged me an adult whom I’m pretty sure was Beauty on the middle arm of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). It was a bit dark out so I couldn’t tell if it was a robin or a kestrel that was buzzing her. She eventually had enough and took off .

img_0006-a-smaller-bird-buzzing-beautyimg_0009-comin-to-get-ya-beauty<Clickimg_0010-beauty1img_0011-say-hello-to-my-little-friend

img_0013-coming-from-below-this-timeimg_0014-close-callimg_0016-im-outta-here

I started driving south on Fitzhugh St. and as I came up to Main St. I spotted a falcon on the north side railing of Widows Walk (WW)-it flew east before I could pull over. I went east as well, crossing the river and finding Beauty on the southeast corner railing of HSBC. I stopped to watch first from Woodbury Blvd. then Midtown Manor Apt. parking lot. I got off a couple pics and then she was gone.

img_0017-beauty-from-woodbury-blvdimg_0018-beauty-from-east-side<Click

Next I parked on Chestnut St. to check the south side of Xerox and Beauty appeared above it, circling the Midtown Plaza building, Legacy Tower and Xerox before disappearing momentarily behind HSBC. Half a minute later Beauty came back into view with Cadence right behind her whining. They did some nice flying together above and around Xerox for a few minutes then vanished to the west.

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I went to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to have a look around and just as I pulled over saw the Beautyful one fly to the Hyatt Hotel and land on the southwest corner. She seemed to have given Cadence the slip so I went looking for her after observing Beauty for a few minutes. I noticed in my travels that the Court St. bridge was closed for crews to start removing the log jam in the river.

img_0033-beauty-on-hyatt-hotelimg_0034-cadence-went-that-a-way

Beauty seemed to point me in the right direction to find Cadence for I located her on the southeast corner lower roof of WW around 6:40am. I pulled into the parking lot next to Times Square to watch as she was picking at a small piece of food.

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She mainly just stood there with it fixed in her talon occasionally whining and then flew off with it heading southeast.

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The search was on to find a falcon but it wouldn’t happen as I made my way to High Falls for a look before heading out of downtown. I found Seth on the north end top window of Seneca Towers from East Ridge Road near St. Paul St. He too had a small package in his talon and was standing over it. I guess it was share your food day in falcon land or take it with you so nobody else gets it-whatever the case, he flew off with it to the east.

img_0045-high-falls<Clickimg_0046-seth-has-foodimg_0048-seth-aka-mr-yellow-tape

Seth started looking down at something before he took off and I think he may have been taking the food to a juvie.

img_0049-whatcha-lookin-atimg_0050-seth-has-left-the-building<Click>img_0051-seth-is-on-a-mission

I decided to take a ride down East Ridge Rd. and have a look around the 2 high rises along the way, Rochester General Hospital since I’ve been told falcons have been seen there and also Medley Center which has had falcons visiting it in the past. No sightings were made so I returned to Seneca Towers where I saw no falcons at first glance. I tweeted as such and ended my watch or so I thought. As I made my way down Seth Green Dr. I spotted 2 falcons near the northwest corner. Billie was on a pipe behind a juvie whom I believe was Bith, on the west side railing.

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bith-stretches-outhi-mom

I wanted to stay and hang out with them but had to get something to eat as my blood sugar was low so I called it a watch officially at 9am. I made my way up to my 16th floor apartment smiling after seeing half of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons. 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/sdz80_Fbn8Y

http://youtu.be/Ws7A_LJn98s

http://youtu.be/V94J9MQVmUM

http://youtu.be/pUNhfJPoST0

http://youtu.be/JR3WuQolSQY

http://youtu.be/a2l4seLYqsc

Morning Fledge Watch 7-17-15

Friday, July 17th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

For the most part it was overcast this morning with humid conditions and a temperature of 59 (F) 15 (C)

First before I get to my morning watch I have pics of both juvies on the south side bridge ledge from yesterday afternoon. I believe it’s Bith on the left and Sellie on the right as they tried to fit in a small patch of shade.

img_0001-bith-and-sellie img_0002-bith-and-sellie

I pulled around to the back of the building (north end) to check before leaving my parking lot this morning at Seneca Towers (ST) and I found Seth on one of his favorite spots-the west end of the top window ledge. He looked like he was scrunched down from the angle I had on him from below. The sun broke through briefly as it came up as Seth watched over his territory. He pooped and stretched and I thought he would take off a couple of times.

img_0004-sethimg_0013-hi-cutieimg_0014-poop

img_0019-stretchimg_0020-nice-fantail

It wasn’t until I heard a whining juvie that Seth finally took off heading north. I checked every side of ST finding no falcons before leaving for downtown.  From the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) I saw Beauty on the north corner top I beam of OCSR around 6:30am. When I went over to Bragdon Place for a closer look she was gone.

img_0024-beauty1

As I made my way down South Ave. I spotted someone flying near Legacy Tower. I drove to Woodbury St. to check from the south side of Xerox and then I could see that it was the Beautyful one hovering above Legacy Tower before flying around and above Xerox before flying west. I caught up with her on the heel of Mercury as I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB).

img_0025-beauty1img_0027-beautyimg_0029-whatcha-talkin-about-beauty

Beauty extracted a pellet soon after I arrived and tried bringing up more a couple more times while I watched her. Once again the sun peeked out from the clouds briefly and shed a new light on Beauty as she kept an eye on her territory. She stayed until 7:08am when she flew off heading south.

img_0034-beautyimg_0035-beauty1img_0037-beauty-leaves-mercury

I wouldn’t see her again until almost 9am when I spotted her on the head of Mercury. I don’t recall ever seeing her there before-she must be hanging out with her kids too much, juvies will perch just about anywhere!

img_0038-beauty-on-headimg_0039-hello

I was on the BSB at first watching her and down in the river which is at a very high level I spotted 1 Canada Goose and one duck in the fast moving current.

img_0041-canada-goose-in-riverimg_0042-quack-quackimg_0043-pretty-goose<Click

I got back in my car and had a look around but still the only falcon in sight was Beauty so i settled down in the hole on Bank Place where it meets Aqueduct St. to finish out my watch with Beauty.

img_0044-beauty1img_0045-hey-girlimg_0049-beautyimg_0054-beauty1

I left for Seneca Towers where I could find no falcons and ended my watch at just before 10am. The juvies are branching out further in the mornings now which they do before they get ready to leave town for good on their life’s journey. It’s a bittersweet time for a falcon watcher as you look forward to seeing them fledge and fly around being silly and then suddenly they’re gone. The time with them goes by so fast but I have to smile when I think about all the time I got to spend with them as time passes! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/pESceq94egc

http://youtu.be/aOMSZj4VPFM

http://youtu.be/mnotBzFymp0

Thursday Evening Fledge Watch – 7/16/15

Thursday, July 16th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

6:30 to 9:00 pm

Evening Watchers: Brian H, Lisa McK, Kathy O, Joyce, Larry O, Shaky, Carrie and Carol P.

It was a beautiful evening watch.  Many Watchers were able to make it out tonight.

When I first arrived, I found a juvie on the east side of the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) platform, near the southeast corner.  I also found Brian H watching from the City Hall parking lot.  Soon after Lisa McK and Joyce arrived.

Juvie on FCT Platform - 7-16-15

We were pretty sure that this was Cadence.  She took off flying over us, heading northeast towards the gorge.  We all headed in that direction, but found that we could not go out onto the Pedestrian Bridge.  People were dining on the bridge for a Greentopia event.  You could not go on the bridge from either end.  Back to the City Hall parking lot.

Soon after we arrived, a falcon flew in and landed on the top arm.

Juvie on top Arm of FCT -7-16-15

While we were watching this falcon, the rest of the Watchers arrived; Kathy O, Larry O, Carrie and Shaky.  The juvie took off, hovering above us and then returned to FCT, this time landing on the lowest arm.  There was a Robin that was quite vocal up on a lower section of the FCT.  When I took a closer look, I found a 2nd juvie there.  I got out my scope and Joyce took a look through her long-lense camera.  She was the first to spot a blue band on the lower juvie.  It was Cadence.  Genesee was above her on the lowest arm.

Genesee and Cadence on FCT - 7-16-15

Cadence on FCT - 7-16-15Cadence on FCT - 7-16-15

Genesee on FCT Lowest Arm -7-16-15Genesee on FCT Lowest Arm -7-16-15

At approximately 8:30 pm, Beauty flew in with food.  Cadence was off first.  She flew up to Beauty and went talons up, grabbing the offered meal from Beauty.  It was very white.  Cadence carried the food towards City Place.  Genesee was off, chasing Cadence and easily catching up with her.  He attempted to take the food from her, but there was no way she was letting it go. Genesee gave up and Cadence continued towards City Place, where she landed.  Genesee found Beauty under the platform on FCT and landed below her.  He was not happy that he did not get any food.  He let her know (and all of us) by vocalizing very loudly.  After a few moments, he was quiet.  Genesee flew over to City Place and joined her.  We could not see either of them until one popped up on the ledge, then back again.  The 2nd juvie popped up on the corner and then took off heading towards the Widow’s Walk (WW), where it landed on the railing.  We were unsure who got the food.  Maybe they shared.  After eating, the 2nd juvie flew s0utheast.

While all this was happening, Larry O reported from the Broad St Bridge.  Dot.ca was on top of the Times Square Bldg.

Joyce was able to get some really good pics of Cadence and Genesee fighting over the prey that Beauty delivered.  She will post the pics under this report when she is able.  🙂

At 9:00 pm, it was starting to get dark.  It was time to end our watch.  All was quiet and peaceful.  Beauty was tucked in on FCT under the platform.  All four Rochester Falcons were seen this evening.  Good night everyone!

Morning Fledge Watch 7-16-15

Thursday, July 16th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The sun arose bright and beautiful today with a cool starting temperature of 51 (F) 11 (C)

I begin and end my days looking for Billie, Seth and their offspring whom I call Bith and Sellie, from the west side balcony of the 16th floor where my apartment is at Seneca Towers. Last night I was graced by Billie on the west side railing (south half-I can’t see north half of west side from building). She flew off soon after as she saw her kids had landed on the bridge ledge south side. I believe these are their overnite roosting spots. Bith has the darker front and Sellie much lighter which is about the only way to tell one from the other.

img_0002-billie-has-a-full-cropimg_0003-buffalo-billie-off-to-join-one-of-her-kids

img_0004-bith1<Bithimg_0005-sellie1<Sellie

That’s where I left them at sundown last night. Fast forward to this morning 5:30am same west side balcony and Buffalo Billie was in the same spot as last night looking down at me from the west side railing. 5 minutes into my watch I heard the faint cry of a juvie, as I turned to look north I spotted one on the south side of the bridge. Billie then flew west crossing the river and disappearing near Kodak on Lake Ave.

img_0008-billie1img_0012-billie1img_0013-st-juvie

With its back to me there was no telling which juvie it was but after 20 minutes or so the other one flew in landing near the first one then flying off immediately heading down near the tree tops and out of sight. I left for downtown at this point and as I pulled over on the Andrews St. bridge I spotted a falcon in the Powers nest box. It then went out on the east side railing-I believe it was Cadence.

img_0015-cadence1img_0016-cadenceimg_0017-cadence-looks-like-beauty

She looks a lot like her mother, the Beautyful one, and I had to take a second look at my pic to see if it was Beauty or Cadence. A couple minutes later Cadence dove down and streaked above the Sister Cities garage out of view then popped up again for a split second over the inner loop only to disappear behind the Gorsline building heading north.

That was the last and only falcon I would see downtown this morning. I would spend the next hour and a half searching to no avail. While on the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls I watched 3 deer grazing in the tall grass below.

img_0022-scratchyimg_0025-on-the-lookoutfawn-at-high-fallsmom<Click

The water level in the river is very high right now from all the rain we’ve gotten lately so the current is fast in spots. There were 2 separate sets of Canada Geese riding the current-the first set which had 3 young ones went by too fast for me to get a pic of them. I got the 3 adults in the second set before they disappeared below the bridge as well.

img_0026-geese-riding-the-current

I left for home at Seneca Towers- there were no falcons to be found there either. I ended my watch at about 9am smiling-even though it was a slow watch I still had the privilege of seeing nature in the big city! 🙂

Click on the links below to see my videos of falcons and other creatures

http://youtu.be/N7jOfuT9MN4

http://youtu.be/OQiGDE1QAPY

http://youtu.be/eZL8GONRvFw

http://youtu.be/2h-kGbs2STE

Morning Fledge Watch 7-15-15

Wednesday, July 15th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Big change in the weather this morning-a very light misty rain fell for the first part, overcast and chilly with a temperature of 58 (F) 14 (C) and a haze was hovering above downtown

img_0002-pretty-hazy-to-the-south-before-sun-up<Click it

My watch began on the 16th floor west balcony at Seneca Towers where new watcher Patty joined me at 5:30am. We could see one juvie on the bridge ledge south side. 2 falcons flew near bridge as someone was vocalizing -they went behind the north end of the building out of view. Soon after an adult ( I believe it was Billie) and a juvie appeared on the bridge ledge. The adult flew off and returned from above tree tops on the west side of the gorge and landed next to the juvie with food. She left it for him and flew off .

img_0003-st-adult-with-food-and-a-juvie

The adult flew away to the east and the juvie remained -we left for downtown around 6:30am. We didn’t have much luck finding a falcon until checking out the east side of the river. On the south side of Xerox one column from the southwest corner was Dot.ca (DC). He disappeared as we were checking other buildings for falcons.

img_0005-dc

We ended up on the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge after an unsuccessful search of downtown. It was Patty’s first time on the bridge and she was thrilled when I pointed out the Falcon sucking tree (FST) with Cadence perched on a branch. there was a robin buzzing Cadence who didn’t act too bothered by it.

img_0007-cadence cadence-and-a-friend

It was cold and breezy on the bridge and we weren’t dressed warm enough so we didn’t stay long. Checking downtown one more time before calling it a watch at 9am as we both had things to do. So we saw one juvie and one adult at both Seneca Towers and downtown. It’s always a pleasure to share  a watch with Patty-we do a lot of smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a super short snippet video and one of Cadence and her friend

http://youtu.be/_jVEQY87Kkg

http://youtu.be/Tk7XF6y9E04

Morning Fledge Watch 7-14-15

Tuesday, July 14th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another warm morning but mostly cloudy and a temperature of 72 (F) 22 (C)

I saw no falcons at Seneca Towers before or after my downtown watch but I’m holding on to hope for later this afternoon/early evening.

I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the east side top railing of the Powers building as I arrived on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB). I went to the end of Aqueduct St. at Main St. to view him closer.

img_0004-dc2img_0005-location

He soon flew off to the east and as I made my way across the Broad St. bridge (BSB) to the east I spotted another falcon flying near Xerox. My eyes went off that falcon as DC came streaking across from behind the Chase tower stooping on a pigeon right over the RG&E substation.  He came up empty but man he is FAST!!!! DC flew south and as I was passing through the hole I spotted Cadence and Genesee chasing each other behind Times Square (TSB). She ended up on the north side roof of Irving Place (old city hall) and Genesee on the lower roof northwest corner of Widows Walk (WW).

img_0006-cadenceimg_0007-genesee-on-widows-walk

I would find out when Cadence flew off to the southwest in a blur, that she had a small piece of food in her talons. Genesee followed a moment later with a small bulge in his crop and then Cadence landed on the northwest corner lower roof of TSB. She didn’t stay there for long as she flew east.

img_0010-cadence-with-food img_0013-geneseecadence-aimg_0015-cadence

From the BSB I spotted the Beautyful one on the 3rd arm down of the jail tower-I drove over to Troup St. for a closer look as she would be facing me over there. She stayed but a few minutes and then she casually flew off to the northeast.

img_0018-beauty-from-bsb-on-jail-towerimg_0023-beauty1img_0025-beautyimg_0026b-bye-beauty1

After that I drove around for about half an hour before finding Cadence on the northeast corner top railing of Powers from the ASB. I parked in the exit driveway of the Rochester Plaza Hotel to see her closer and as I watched her feathers started appearing over State St. I looked up at the Ellwanger & Barry building and spotted DC plucking prey on the east side of it (one of his favorite dining spots). He ate a good amount of whatever he had.

img_0031-cadenceimg_0032-dcimg_0041-dcimg_0042-cadence

At just about 7:30am Cadence flew off to the southeast and I suspect she was after dad who was now gone. While stopped on the BSB someone in a SUV drove past me too close and knocked my driver’s side view mirror off my car and kept going. After I collected myself I was able to locate DC on the north side railing of Widows Walk with a full crop. DebbieH stopped on her way to work as I was parked on Fitzhugh St. DC flew northeast around 8am and I wasn’t able to find any falcons after that.

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I left for home smiling as I had seen all 4 downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons, ending my watch at 8:45am.  🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/70OESwyz6Zk

http://youtu.be/zAvG84VJsyI

Morning Fledge Watch 7-13-15

Monday, July 13th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a warm 66 (F) 19 (C) already when I walked out the door today and when the sun came up it got steadily warmer

Before getting on the elevator to go down to my car I stepped out on the west side balcony of my 16th floor at Seneca Towers (ST) to check for falcons. I wasn’t disappointed as I saw both juvies on a bridge ledge. While I was taking a pic of one the other flew past in front of it and landed further down on the same ledge as you will see on my snippet video today if you check it out. That would be my only falcon sighting at ST this morning-mom and dad have been scarce lately. The  following are pics of Sellie (Se for Seth and llie for Billie), the new juvie from last night when he was on the west side railing where Joyce, Jeanne and I saw him.

img_0002-sellieimg_0003-sellie

I headed downtown arriving on the Andrews St. bridge a little after 6am and spotted a falcon with its back to me on the west corner top I beam of OCSR.  I left for the hole to get a front view of it but it was gone when I got there. When I looked up at Times Square I spotted an adult who I think was Beauty under the northeast wing for a moment and then a juvie flew in out of nowhere and knocked her off, landing on the ledge. I watched Beauty fly east over the Blue Cross Arena and when I looked back to the wing the juvie was gone. Coming from behind me appeared the juvies I believe-they flew over Thomson Reuters crossing the river to the east out of view.

img_0008-falcon-on-ocsr

I crossed the river as well and found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC where she was being swooped on by a smaller bird, a Kestrel I believe. She put up with that for less than a minute and took off heading west. I followed behind and caught up with her on the heel of Mercury. I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to share space with her.

img_0012-beauty-on-hsbcbeauty-gets-buzzed-by-smaller-birdbeauty-watching-buzz-bird

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Around 7:20am Beauty flew after some pigeons over the river behind the Court St. bridge and gave up when they scattered and returned to land on the Mercury money bag (MMB).  I then noticed Genesee on the northeast corner of the Mercury loser railing and then Cadence made an appearance next to him. They had a lot to say to each other and Beauty!

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Cadence eventually moved closer to her brother and they had a little squabble and both flew off. I expected one of them to knock Beauty off the money bag but they ended up on the base of Mercury. Genesee clearly had food in his crop so he shouldn’t have been hungry as they both went up on the green part of the base and started picking at leftovers.

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They started picking on each other again and then Genesee flew off coming to rest on the Mercury staff. He was sca-reaming at mom as she looked down at him from the money bag. It was quite comical, but then juvies in general are very funny and entertaining.

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Suddenly Genesee flew off, then Beauty and followed by Cadence heading west and out of sight. I drove down to the hole and found one of the juvies on the northeast corner of the Widows Walk railing with it’s back to me-it stretched it’s legs out good as it flew off, enabling me to see that it was Genesee. 10 minutes later I found the Beautyful one on the top west corner of OCSR. As I was parked on State St. across from the Rochester  Plaza Hotel watching Beauty, I couldn’t help but notice the reflection of the Powers building on the Crossroads building windows. It looks good to us but imagine being a newly fledged falcon and seeing that, thinking I’ll just go land on that and smack, they run into a window.  It’s a big problem for these babies that don’t know any different.

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The next time I saw a falcon was after 9am when I caught a glimpse of a juvie on the west side of Crossroads while driving down Exchange Blvd. When I finally found somewhere to pull over it was gone and that’s the last falcon I saw on watch today. I went home and saw no falcons at Seneca Towers so I ended my watch at 9:30am. I did see all 4 Rochester juvies on watch this morning (unless there’s more out there waiting to show themselves) which makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos-including a quick one of Sellie flying off Seneca Towers last night

http://youtu.be/UoLb2JW-wao

http://youtu.be/Zdh3mm3J50s

http://youtu.be/WOOKPwmPyX8

http://youtu.be/2tdVaRDTIyI

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Watcher Weekend Fledge Watch 7-12-15

Sunday, July 12th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The weather was sunny and hot with temps in the 80’s both Saturday and Sunday.

The festivities started Friday as out-of-towners arrived in our fair city. Donna from new Jersey with her daughter Kara stayed with me at Seneca Towers. We were treated to a show Friday night and Saturday morning put on by Bith, Billie, Seth and the newest juvie to show up whom I will call Sellie-Se for Seth and llie for Billie. Donna and Carla had a hand in coming up with this name.

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Can’t say if that is Bith or Sellie but with the help of Joyce and the pics she took of both juvies on the west side railing of ST Bith is much darker-this will be about the only way to ID one from the other. They are both males with no leg bands so once they leave Rochester we’ll never know what happened to them.

Saturday morning  we arrived at the west end of the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge for our get together with all the watchers a little after 8am. It was great to sit around and chat with everyone and share some food and falcon stories. Unfortunately, our downtown falcons were scarce for this Watcher Weekend but still a good time was had by all. There was a Cedar Waxwing nest near the meeting spot with babies and everyone had fun watching mama come feed them. Lynda made her famous rainbow jello. There was a fawn relaxing in the tall grass below the bridge and a Great Blue Heron out in the river. And of course, there were watchers!

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Our falcons would make sporadic appearances downtown and at around 3pm some of us decided to go to the Frontier communications tower (FCT) to watch in some shade as Beauty and a juvie were on the FCT. Meanwhile, Lisa had her sights on the other 2 so all 4 were accounted for on Saturday afternoon. We all met at Aqueduct Park for pizza and wings provided by the Genesee Valley Audubon Society (GVAS).

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Everyone left for the night with but a couple falcon sightings as the sun went down.

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This morning Carla, Ei, Bonnie and Lukka joined Donna and I at Seneca Towers on the ground and on the top floor west side balcony-22 stories up into the heavens. It was reported that a falcon was on one of the FCT arms so I tested my camera to see if we could see it.  There wasn’t any flying but they did get to see falcons on the west side. Donna and I had seen some talon tagging early before the other watchers arrived.

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That’s all she wrote-it was a very quiet Watchers Weekend spent with some good people that made me smile on more than one occasion! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from the last couple days

http://youtu.be/8t5QMm4dSas

http://youtu.be/441ynVNnm9o

http://youtu.be/oyvOxpEkUrE

Morning Fledge Watch 7-10-15

Friday, July 10th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was sunny with blue skies and a temperature of 59 (F) 15 (C)

Just a quick report today since Donna and her daughter Kara, will be here within the hour for Watchers Weekend from New Jersey. I started my watch at Seneca Towers with all 3 falcons. Seth was on the north window ledge and Billie on the northwest corner. Bith arrived screaming at them half hour into it and knocked mom off and took her spot. Billie flew north and Bith and Seth followed soon after.

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I left for downtown and found Beauty on the bottom arm of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). She left about 30 minutes later for the Kodak Office launchpad southeast corner. After I left her to look for the others I found a juvie on the lower roof northwest corner of Crossroads. I believe it was Cadence who I found on the Wilder elevator shaft right after the Crossroads bird left.

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20 minutes later she flew over to Widows Walk coming to rest on the north side railing and after a few minutes jumped down to the roof inside the railing. I believe she was looking for food at all these places.

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I left to check around and ended up on the Broad St. bridge where I spotted Cadence on the upper roof northeast corner. She was being buzzed by the fly catchers up there. Her head was on a swivel as she watched them coming from every direction.

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I think she finally had enough of being swooped on by those little buggers and she flew northwest around 7:50am. I had to cut my watch short in preparation for my weekend visitors without having seen Genesee or Dot.ca but as I write this Dana has reported both juvies in the gorge with dad. After running an errand I arrived home to Seneca Towers and found Bith with an adult on the upper railing west side-both had their back to me. Bith flew off and buzzed the adult a few times.

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When he was done harassing mom or dad he landed below the railing on the west side then walked in on the roof out of sight. The adult, who I think was Seth, jumped down and joined him. So I saw 5 out of 7 Rochester Peregrine Falcons and Watchers Weekend is upon us. What more could I need to put a smile on my face?! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/ayR0Jv29LLw

http://youtu.be/7nCb_JPANYw

http://youtu.be/QaWnlypMD3g

http://youtu.be/CMXoYavsd68

http://youtu.be/bV8lJBIwlk0


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