rfalconcam - FalconWatch

FalconWatch

Eyes to the Skies

Archive for January, 2016

Morning Falcon Watch/Frankie eats gull in grass 1-14-16

Thursday, January 14th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast with a bit of snow falling and a temperature of 18 (F) -8 (C) when I started my watch

Seth was in his spot on the north window ledge as I began my day in my spot from East Ridge Rd.

img_0007-seth2

I left him after a few minutes and headed downtown. Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) were up in the OCSR elevator shaft when I arrived at the Radisson Hotel driveway around 8:1oam. She was on the south ledge with her back to me and he was on the north ledge getting ready to take off. He pooped first!

img_0012-bdc<Clickimg_0013-dcimg_0018-dc-pooping<Click

DC dropped off the ledge and flew over to the top I-beam north corner of OCSR and the Beautyful one remained in the shaft preening.

img_0020-dcimg_0024-beauty-preening

That’s how I left them as I had to move along to the Medley Centre. I was just about to leave the mall when I spotted Big Frankie on the snowy grass near the northwest entrance to the mall. She was eating a gull.

img_0033-bf<Clickimg_0038-bf-sticks-her-tongue-out-at-meimg_0042-bf

Frankie moved her prize toward me a little, started eating again, then pooped and flew off crossing just a few feet in front of my car on her way to a lamp post. She is a big beautiful bird!

img_0043-moving-her-prey<Clickimg_0049-bfimg_0050-moving-her-gull-leftovers

I didn’t expect her to take off so I was lucky to get most of her in the frame. After she landed on the lamp post I checked the gull remains before driving around to watch her.

img_0051-bf-flies-off1img_0052-gull-remains<Clickimg_0053-bfimg_0056-frankie

Frankie turned a bit so I went around to the other side of her. She started alarm calling when a Turkey Vulture flew into view from the north-she let it continue on to the south out of the area.You can hear her on one of the snippets from my snippet video. She settled down, did some feaking and preening before I left her.

img_0062-bfimg_0064-scratchyimg_0065-feakingimg_0066-bf-na-na-na-na-na

I was lucky to reach my spot on East Ridge Rd. just in time to see Billie fly from the north roof above Seth, who was in his spot on the north window ledge. He watched his girl as she flew down into the river gorge.

img_0073-bsimg_0074-billie-takes-offimg_0076-seth-watching-billie-below

When I ended my watch at 9:30am Seth was preening and as I drove past, Billie returned coming to rest on the north roof again. I saw all 5 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons today, thus putting a big smile on this watchers face! 🙂

Click on the link below to see today’s snippet video

https://youtu.be/taYSIkwBm7c

Catching Up on My January Afternoon Falcon Watches – 2016

Thursday, January 14th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Here are some pictures from my January Falcon Watches.

January 7, 2016

The unbanded female Peregrine at the Brighton Site (BS).

Unbanded Falcon at BS -1-7-16Unbanded Falcon at BS -1-7-16Unbanded Falcon at BS -1-7-16

Beauty and Dot.ca on Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).

Beauty and Dot.ca on FCT -1-7-16Beauty and Dot.ca on FCT -1-7-16

Red-tailed Hawk on security camera at Hawkeye.

Hawk at Hawkeye - 1-7-16

I believe this was Billie at Seneca Towers (ST).

Falcon at ST -1-7-16

January 8, 2016

Beautiful start to a cold Rochester (NY) day.

Beautiful Morning Sky -1-8-16

January 9, 2016

A day filled with six Rochester Falcons seen.

First, the unbanded female falcon at the Brighton site (BS).  I found her on the south side of the east end of the building.

Unbanded Falcon at BS -1-9-16Unbanded Falcon at BS -1-9-16

She became agitated and kept looking up towards the sky to the southeast.  Then she was off!  I spotted her target, a Red-tailed Hawk.  She dove on it a few times and chased it to the south.  When she was satisfied that it would not return, she returned to the building, landing on the east side tree ledge.

BS Falcon Chases RTH -1-9-16Unbanded Falcon Returns to Bldg Tree Ledge -1-9-16Unbanded Falcon at BS -1-9-16

Unbanded Falcon at BS -1-9-16Unbanded Falcon at BS -1-9-16

Downtown, I found Dot.ca on the north side of OCSR and Beauty on the Cross Rds Bldg.

Dot.ca on OCSR -1-9-16Beauty on North End of Cross Rds -1-9-16Beauty and Dot.ca Together Downtown -1-9-16

At Seneca Towers (ST), I found both Billie and Seth on the window ledge at the north end of the building.

Billie and Seth at ST -1-9-16Billie and Seth at ST -1-9-16

I circled the Medley Center (MC) a couple times, but all I could find was a Red-tailed Hawk hunting from a light pole on the northeast end of the mall.

Red-tailed Hawk Hunting at MC -1-9-16

I drove to the south side of the mall for one last check.  Of course that’s when Big Frank(ie) (BF) zipped in, hot on the tail of a pigeon.  She missed and landed on one of the light poles.

Big Frank at MC -1-9-16Big Frank at MC -1-9-16Big Frank at MC -1-9-16

The sun was starting to set, so the lighting wasn’t very good at this point.  A few gulls were passing low over the mall heading north.  BF took off and chased one over the mall.  When I arrived on the north side, she was busy diving on a gull over the north west end of the parking lot.  She gave up and the very lucky gull continued on its way vocalizing loudly.  Big Frank returned to the mall, landing on the glass peak.

Big Frank at MC -1-9-16Big Frank at MC -1-9-16Big Frank at MC -1-9-16

She took off again and chased some gulls that were flying towards the northeast.  Then returned and again landed on the glass peak.  That’s where I left her as the sun set.

I was very happy to have seen all 6 Rochester Falcons.  🙂

January 10, 2016

A rainy afternoon watch.  At Brighton Site (BS), I found a falcon on the northwest corner of the west end of the building.  I was not able to verify if this falcon had bands or not.  I believe it may have been Dot.ca.  If it was him, he was by himself.  I stayed for over an hour and did not see a 2nd falcon there.

Falcon at BS -1-10-16Falcon at BS -1-10-16Falcon at BS -1-10-16

Downtown, I found Beauty on the north side of OCSR.

Beauty on OCSR -1-10-16

At Seneca Towers, I found both Billie and Seth on the north end of the building.  One was on the window ledge and one was above on a small structure that jutted out.

Billie and Seth at ST - 1-10-16

No luck finding Big Frank at Medley Ctr.

It’s fun watching our falcons through the winter months!

A short morning Falcon Watch 1-13-16

Wednesday, January 13th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I started my watch it was dark with wind blown lake effect snow falling and a temperature of  17 (F) -8 (C). When I ended it was still windy with bright blue skies, sunshine and the temp had gone up to 18 (F). That’s how lake effect snow squalls work-one minute it’s like a blizzard and the next minute the sun is shining

It wasn’t surprising to me that neither Billie nor Seth were at Seneca Towers this morning as they usually aren’t when there’s inclement weather. I had to give a friend a ride this morning but on the way I quickly checked downtown where I found Dot.ca (DC) on the south side ledge in the OCSR elevator shaft. He had his back to me and was way back on the ledge so at the time I wasn’t sure who it was.

img_0002-dc-in-the-shadowsimg_0003-can-you-see-him

I didn’t get back downtown until 9:15am-the sun was shining brightly and Beauty was on the top I-beam southeast side of OCSR glowing from the sun.

img_0004-beautyimg_0005-beautyimg_0006-beauty1

I couldn’t stay long as I had more stops to make this morning but I did check the OCSR elevator shaft before leaving downtown and DC was still up there. You could only make out his dark form and tail hanging down over the edge.

img_0009-dc-still-there

A quick check of the Medley Centre where there were no birds of any kind and also nobody present at Seneca Towers when I got home at 10:30am. It wasn’t much of a watch but I still had to smile as the sun is shining and I saw our main pair of Rochester Peregrine Falcons, Beauty and DC! 🙂

Just a short snippet video to check out today-just click on the link below to view it

https://youtu.be/U3fT6X9h5Nc


Morning Falcon Watch/Frankie goes after a Red-tailed Hawk 1-12-16

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A blustery, overcast morning after a dusting of snow overnite and a temperature of 22 (F) -6 (C)

I’m pretty sure I found Seth with his back to me on the north window ledge to start my morning watch. I could see that he had a feather stuck on his cere-we call those a fascinator.

img_0002-seth3img_0005-seth-has-a-feather-on-his-cere

I left him after a few minutes and headed downtown where I found Beauty on the Legacy Tower from Elm St. She was on a northwest corner and seemed to be in hunt mode.

img_0012-beauty3img_0014-beauty-watching-dc

Unbeknownst to me, Dot.ca (DC) was up there in further on the ledge where I couldn’t see him. He walked out into view and ended up next to the Beautyful one for a minute or two before disappearing to her right where I couldn’t see him again. They appeared to have bowed to each other at one point.

img_0017-dc-comes-out-to-show-himselfimg_0018-bdcimg_0020-bdc

img_0024-are-we-bowingbowingimg_0025-the-happy-couple

Soon after DC vanished he flew off the ledge to the northwest and right after that Beauty pooped.

img_0029-pooparazzi-on-the-job-lolimg_0030-now-where-did-that-man-of-mine-go

About 5 minutes later, Beauty dove off the corner, then resurfaced to fly around the north face of Xerox and headed southeast from there out of my field of vision.

beauty-takes-offdive-beauty-diveimg_0033-and-away-she-goes

I left for the Medley Centre at that time around 8:50am. When I was making my way along the south side of the mall I spotted Big Frankie on a white vent cap over the roof that the carousel is located in the mall. She was definitely in hunt mode.

location-shotimg_0034-big-frankie1img_0037-frankieimg_0038-bf1

At 9:22am Frankie took off and flew east over the mall-I followed along and lost sight of her until I made my way around to the northeast end of the mall where Sears is located. It was then that I saw another larger bird being chased by a Big Frankie-a Red-tailed Hawk. She dove on it a couple times over the Kentucky Fried Chicken store on East Ridge Rd and then I lost sight of them to the north.

off-she-goesimg_0047-taking-the-leap-after-a-rth

Neither one of them returned and so I was on my way home to Seneca Towers where no falcons were in sight. I ended my watch just before 10am smiling after seeing some action out of the big girl, Frankie! 🙂

Click on the link below to see today’s snippets

https://youtu.be/v90m29AgpuI

Morning Falcon Watch/winter has arrived 1-11-16

Monday, January 11th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Boy, what a difference a day makes! A cold front moved into the area yesterday and caused a 25 degree tumble in the temperature from yesterday morning at 45 (F) 7 (C) to 20 (F) -7 (C) this morning. The sun was shining bright when the clouds weren’t covering it and it was still a bit breezy but not as bad as yesterday

Seneca Towers had no falcons on it today but I’m sure they weren’t too far away, probably hunting or eating somewhere in their territory. When I finally got downtown, (traffic was awful going into the city this morning) I found Beauty on the top I-beam southeast side of OCSR from the Broad St. bridge. I went down into the hole on Aqueduct St. to take a few pics but the sun was washing her out a bit.

img_0003-beauty-in-the-sunimg_0007-hello-beautyful

I left her after a few minutes to go over and check the OCSR elevator shaft for Dot.ca (DC). I figured he would be up there trying to stay out of the cold and wind. From Bragdon Place I could barely make out the white on his dark form on the south side ledge.

img_0012-dc

I drove back over to the hole to discover that Beauty had moved down to the corner of the top I-beam where it meets the elevator shaft. Maybe the wind wasn’t so bad there or maybe she wanted to be closer to DC, who was right around the corner from there up on the shaft ledge.

img_0013-beautyimg_0014-taken-from-the-hole

I went over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. where I could only see a little of Beauty, and then I left her and DC at 8:30am to check the Brighton site before walking Bella.

img_0018-from-radisson1<Clickimg_0019-beauty2

I didn’t see a falcon but when I was letting Bella out of my car after our walk in the woods a Coopers Hawk flew over us and landed in a tree across the street from Jeannes’ house.

img_0020-coopers-hawk<Click>img_0021-coop1

That was the last raptor I saw today as there were no PEFA sightings at the Medley Centre Mall or Seneca Towers. I took a ride down along the Lake Ontario shore looking for a Snowy Owl that watcher Pat had seen yesterday on the Summerville Pier but I didn’t find it. Pat also reported seeing Beauty and DC on OCSR around 11:30am today, so DC came out of his man cave to join his girl. Not a bad watch as it was nice to see the sun and our resident downtown pair and a hawk for an added bonus. It sent me off with a smile as I ended my watch at 10:35am! 🙂

Click on the link below to see today’s snippets

https://youtu.be/WIuwSAC–mI

Morning Falcon Watch/a very warm morning 1-10-16

Sunday, January 10th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

If there’s been a warmer winter in Rochester I don’t remember it.  A whopping 45 (F) 7 (C) degrees to start my watch with scattered rain showers, wind and dark conditions

Billie and Seth were on the north window ledge as I turned into my spot on East Ridge Rd. It was very dark out so the quality of the photos is not too good.

img_0007-bs<Clickimg_0004-billieimg_0006-seth

I left them to hang out with each other while I made my way downtown. First stop was the Andrew’s St. bridge where I spotted Beauty on the northeast corner of Crossroads building with food.

img_0013-beauty-from-asb

I drove over to State St. to watch as she plucked feathers from her prey (pigeon I believe) and start eating.

img_0016-hi-beautyfulwind-catches-herimg_0020-beauty-turns-around1

The Beautyful one turned her back to me as the wind caught her so I went to the end of Graves St. to see the front of her.

img_0024-beautyimg_0025-beauty1

I decided to have a look around for Dot.ca (DC) but he was a no-show today. As I was checking the OCSR elevator shaft from Bragdon Place I could see Beauty, so I snapped off a shot of her from there before returning to Graves St.

img_0027-from-bragdon-place

img_0038-feather-faceimg_0039-from-graves-stimg_0040-unbelievable-morning-temp-on-january-10-in-rochester

Beauty picked up her prey to change positions which showed the large wing of a pigeon. She finished eating and flew off with the leftovers with a little help from the wind to the northwest.

img_0042-pretty-sure-its-a-pigeon-breakfastimg_0052-half-full-cropabout-to-goimg_0055-beauty-leaves-with-her-leftovers1

I drove around to check the elevator shaft one more time and then to State St. again where I noticed Beauty on the 2nd I-beam northwest side of OCSR.  I assume she cached her leftovers as she was feaking and cleaning up after filling her crop.

img_0058-beautyimg_0059-beautyimg_0061-byf

We parted ways at 9am when I left for the Medley Centre. No falcons there or at Seneca Towers so I ended my watch at 9:30am. Keep smiling folks-it makes people wonder what you’re up to! 🙂

Click on the link below to see today’s snippets

https://youtu.be/lzaFN6Bb0h0


Morning Falcon Watch/Big Frankie too 1-9-16

Saturday, January 9th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature when I left Seneca Towers was 41 (F) 4 (C) degrees-it had rained during the night and some scattered showers lingered

As I pulled over in my spot on East Ridge Rd. I saw Seth in his spot on the north window ledge. As I tweeted it out Billie flew in and joined him, coming to rest at the opposite end and they were facing each other.

img_0007-seth1img_0009-bs<Clickimg_0011-big-buffalo-billie

Seth soon departed to the north and Buffalo Billie followed half a minute later. They never returned so I moseyed off to downtown.

billie-takes-off

As I stopped on the Andrew’s St. Bridge (ASB) I could see a falcon on the base of Mercury. I messed around with the pic since it was so dark. I thought a little color would be nice during this dark part of winter.

img_0014-beauty-on-the-base-of-mercury

I quickly took off for the Broad St. bridge (BSB) to find that it was Beauty on Mercury. I checked out the river while I was there-it was low, exposing all the flat rocks, but no birds were anywhere in the river.

img_0015-beautyimg_0017-beautyimg_0019-beauty1

img_0022-ice-rockimg_0023-river-is-down-exposing-flat-rocks<Click

The Beautyful one flew northwest at about 8:15am-I had a suspicion she went to the northwest side of OCSR.

beauty-taking-off

I drove around to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to check the north side ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft for Dot.ca (DC) but he wasn’t up there. When I checked the south side from Bragdon Place he wasn’t there either. Back to the ASB to see that Beauty had indeed gone to the top I-beam northwest side of OCSR. I went over to State St. to share space with her for a few minutes.

img_0025-beautyimg_0027-beautyimg_0031-byf

I made one more trip around downtown to look for DC but he was a no-show today. I left for the Medley Centre where I found Big Frankie on the glass peak at 8:50am. A few minutes later, Larry reported seeing a falcon at the Brighton location.

img_0035-big-frankieimg_0038-bfimg_0039-bfimg_0042-bfs-byf

She was on the hunt, but there were slim pickin’s today as I didn’t see any prey birds around-she flew off to the southeast at 8:57am and didn’t return.

bf-ready-for-take-offbling-and-no-bling-bfimg_0046-bf-taking-off

That was the end of my watch as when I got home to Seneca Towers nobody was there. I parked my car at 9:15am and called it a day with a smile! 🙂

Click on the link below to view today’s snippet video

https://youtu.be/yDIkSCzkoMY


Morning Falcon Watch/BS falcon too 1-8-16

Friday, January 8th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I started out it was sunny with a temperature of 20 (F) -7 (C). When I arrived downtown the clouds had covered the sun and the temp was up to 25 (F)

Billie and Seth were not home when I left Seneca Towers this morning. When I arrived downtown on the Andrew’s St. Bridge, I could see Beauty over on the northeast corner of the Crossroads building plucking feathers from prey.

img_0002-beauty-from-the-andrews-st-bridge

I went over to State St. for closer viewing of the Beautyful one.

img_0007-beauty-from-state-stimg_0009-beauty1img_0016-beauty-eating

img_0020-beautyimg_0029-location-shotimg_0037-beauty

I thought I would go check the OCSR elevator shaft to see if Dot.ca (DC) was there but he wasn’t-however, as I looked across the river from Bragdon Place to the Frontier Communications tower (FCT) I spotted DC on the top arm.

img_0046-dc-from-across-the-river-from-bragdon-placeimg_0047-location-shot-from-bragdon-place

I promptly drove over to the City Hall parking lot on Fitzhugh St. for the best view of Whitey aka DC. He had a bit of food in his crop.

img_0049-dc-has-a-full-cropimg_0050-dc

DC flew off to the southeast soon after I got there. As I got back out where I could see the Crossroads building to check if he joined Beauty but she was still eating by herself. I left to check the Brighton site at that time before going to walk Bella. I found an unbanded PEFA in the corner where the west extension meets the north extension on the 3rd window down from the old broken window scrape that Pigott and DC used to frequent.

img_0056-unbanded-bs-falconimg_0059-hello-cutieimg_0062-getting-some-shut-eye

She snoozed briefly then started looking around and posing for me. She also had a nice poop for herself as the Pooparazzi caught the action. (chuckle)

img_0065-bs-falconimg_0066-bs-falconpooparazzi-on-dutyimg_0069-long-stream-of-poop1

After that she was just plain being cute-I rather enjoyed sharing space with this newest Peregrine to come to Rochester. I had to leave her to walk Bella-she was preening when I left. I drove thru afterwards to find that she had gone up to the northwest corner of the roof.

img_0070-bsfimg_0072-posing-for-meimg_0082-preeningimg_0083-preening

Then I was off to the Medley Centre where I found some gulls and pigeons eating in the north parking lot from a pile of crackers or cereal someone had dumped there for them.

img_0086-birds-eating-at-medley-centre<Click

On my way home to Seneca Towers, I found Seth on his north window ledge with a HUGE crop as I pulled over on East Ridge Rd.

img_0092-sethimg_0093-just-look-at-the-crop-on-seth

I thought I was done at that point and so I sent out a sign off tweet, but when I came down Seth Green Dr. I spotted Billie on the west side railing and she too, had a pretty full crop.

img_0095-billie-ate-well-tooimg_0096-buffalo-billie

I ended my watch at 11am and I’m happy to say that I saw 5 PEFA’s on watch today-that created a big ole smile on this watchers’ face! 🙂

Click on the link below to check out today’s snippet video

https://youtu.be/hRGSfibe4IE

Morning Falcon Watch 1-7-16

Thursday, January 7th, 2016

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today’s starting temperature was a copy of yesterday at 22 (F) -6 (C) with mostly sunny conditions

I thought I was looking at Billie at the time, but it turns out it was Seth I started my day with as he was on the north window when I first landed on East Ridge Rd.

img_0002-seth2img_0003-seth

He flew off out over the river then returned and came to rest on the northwest corner below the railing.

img_0004-seth1img_0007-seth

I left after a few minutes for downtown-once there, I found Dot.ca (DC) on the north ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft. He was tucked in a bit but showing his whiteness, making it easy on me for the ID.

img_0010-dc

I checked the south ledge for Beauty but didn’t see her, so I took a ride around downtown to search for her. I didn’t find her until I came back around to Bragdon Place where I checked the south side of the elevator shaft again. This time I could just barely make out the dark form of the back of a falcon-I wondered if she had been up there the first time I checked as I wasn’t totally convinced a falcon was there until she came out of the shadows.

img_0013-lurking-in-the-shadowsimg_0017-beauty-comes-out

The Beautyful one then flew out over the river, made a U-turn and returned to the same spot she had just vacated.

beauty-returning-to-ledgeimg_0021-shes-back

I left around 8:35am, checking on DC one more time from the Radisson Hotel by Main St.-he was still up there so off to the Medley Centre mall I went.

img_0026-dc

I didn’t see any falcons at the mall but when I arrived at my spot on East Ridge Rd. I found Seth was still hanging around at the north end of the building. He was up on the railing and he flew off soon after I arrived, doubling back to land on the north window ledge.

img_0029-sethready-for-take-offimg_0040-hes-off

we-have-a-lift-offimg_0041-landing-on-window

I left him and flew off myself to end my watch at about 9:30am. Our falcons continue to make me smile every morning! 🙂

Click on the link below to see today’s snippets

https://youtu.be/xS9PEhrY3_k

Morning Falcon Watch/Everybody close together today 1-6-16

Wednesday, January 6th, 2016

By Rochesetr Falcon Watcher MAK

It was partly cloudy with a little wind and a temperature of 22 (F) -6 (C)

Billie was in the spot Seth likes on the top north window ledge of Seneca Towers when I got in my car this morning. When I got out to East Ridge Rd. Seth was on the ledge as well-pretty close to his mate too!

img_0002-billie-and-sethimg_0003-bs1img_0005-seth-likes-to-keep-her-in-his-sights

Seth stretched and lost his footing and Billie responded by dipping. I call it the slip and dip! lol And Billie watched as Seths’ poop dropped down the side of the building. Chuckle!! Falcons can be pretty comical at times.

img_0011-seth-slips-billie-dipsimg_0013-billie-watching-seths-poop-drop-down-lol

I left them to it and once downtown I decided to check the OCSR elevator shaft before checking the east side of the river. It turned out to be a good call as both Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) were up there when I looked from the Radisson Hotel driveway. The Beautyful one had her back to me from the south ledge and DC  was on the north ledge facing me with a huge crop.

img_0015-bdc<Clickimg_0018-beautyimg_0018-dc-with-a-full-crop

DC started preening and posing after a while as Beauty and I watched him. And that’s how I left them around 8:30am.

img_0020-byfimg_0020-all-foofed-up-and-watching-her-man

img_0021-peeking-at-makimg_0025-it-was-this-bigimg_0026-falcon-power<Click

I had to walk Bella this morning so I checked the Brighton site while I was on that side of town, but I didn’t see a falcon. As I was waiting at the traffic light out of the property Larry turned in and stopped for a quick update from me before leaving for work.

Later, around 9:30am I checked on the Medley Centre and Seneca Towers but had no luck finding another falcon. I did end my watch at 10am smiling, after seeing our 2 resident PEFA pairs! 🙂

Click on the link below to check out today’s snippet video

https://youtu.be/tAzCi6h5Dss




Sponsored By

Times Square
powered by Shakymon