rfalconcam - FalconWatch

FalconWatch

Eyes to the Skies

Archive for July, 2017

Fledge Watch/3 juvies seen 7-15-17

Saturday, July 15th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Overcast skies with light misty rain on and off and a damp temperature of 65 (F) 18 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

Last call to check for falcons at Seneca towers last night bagged me 3 of them half a mile to the south on the Hawkeye (HE) plant. They all looked to be the same size so I believe it was Seth and his boys. He was on the top railing with one of the boys below the railing and the other male under the nest site structure. The lower one flew up to the railing briefly then off and out of site.

img_0002-seth-and-the-boys img_0004-he-nest-site img_0005-juvie-flies-off img_0006-from-16th-floor-at-st

About half a minute after the juvie flew from HE there was a whining juvie flying north bound above my head. I only looked up to see it for a split second because I heard it. Back to HE-the other juvie flew up to the railing a few minutes later and that’s how I ended my watch when it started to pour of wind blown rain and darkness-Seth and one of his boys.

img_0007-on-the-move img_0009-up-to-railing img_0010-big-bird

Now this morning I found Beauty on the 5 Star Bank east side after missing her yesterday. She flew down to the southeast corner and I left her at 5:40am to join Dan on the Court Street bridge and tell him that Carol had seen a juvie at High Falls yesterday afternoon.

img_0002-001-b img_0003-001-b<Clickimg_0007-001-b1

While I was in transit Beauty flew over to the Powers cam and then rendezvoused with Dot.ca (DC) as shown when I checked the archives.

img_0009-001 camera5_lowres_20170715-054600<Click to see Beauty on left side of frame

Beauty flew north and so did Dan, right to the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls. I checked around and then joined him. He found Beauty on the southeast corner of the Kodak launchpad. Larry and Zeke joined us soon after. The falls were roaring from recent rains making the water quite muddy looking. I spotted a couple deer in the grass where the RG&E Beebee station used to stand.

img_0010-001-raging-river-at-high-falls<Click> img_0011-001-muddy-waters img_0013-deer img_0018-b

We were on the east end of the bridge so I took a walk to the west end to get a closer look at the Beautyful one but she flew off before I got there. Dan and Larry saw her play talon tag with a juvie near the Radisson Hotel. A juvie Red-tail Hawk was flying around the east side of the gorge and landed on a light pole at the Genesee Brewery right behind us.

img_0022-rth img_0026-juvie-rth img_0030-rth img_0031-rth

Dan and Larry left at 7am and I went downtown to have a look see. I found Ontario on the east side of the 5 Star Bank. He pooped then flew off to the north and went into a stoop just before I lost him behind buildings near East Ave.

img_0033-lil-o img_0036-pooparazzi-on-the-job img_0037-bye-lil-o

Around 7:30am I spotted DC on the Kodak tower-northeast corner of the netting below the launchpad. I parked at State and Brown St. to observe him. He stooped off like a rocket down State St. only about 6 feet above the road and I just held my breath hoping that he wouldn’t get hit. Here’s what I tweeted at the time-MAKfalcon (MAK): Holy speeding falcon! DC just stooped down State St. only about 6 feet above the road. Be still my heart!!!

img_0040-dc img_0042-dc

DC flew back to the netting to try his luck from the northwest corner this time. He quickly scratched his chin and was off again flying around the K-tower a few times only to land on the southeast corner of the netting. He was definitely checking all his options.

img_0044-dc img_0045-dc img_0047-dc

DC wasn’t letting any moss grow under him as he flew south a minute later and I ended my watch at that point just before 8am.

img_0053-dc

I certainly had lots to smile about on this mornings fledge watch! 🙂

Click on the links to see snippet videos from Seneca Towers last night and today’s downtown watch

https://youtu.be/olpemnBHhYE

https://youtu.be/wz0dLaMd4UU

Friday Afternoon Fledge Watch – To the Gorge! 7/14/17

Saturday, July 15th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

2:00 – 3:30 pm

I had an hour and a half to watch falcons yesterday afternoon.  That’s not a long time, but I wanted to make the most of my free time.  🙂

Juvie sightings have been getting less and less.  It’s time for them to start wandering.   Since I found no falcons downtown, I headed over to the Kodak Tower.  There I found Dot.ca on the east side arch ledge.

1-dc-on-ko-7-14-172-dc-on-ko-7-14-17<— Dot.ca on Kodak Tower.

Dot.ca was mostly looking towards the east, the gorge, so that’s where I headed next.  I walked out onto the east end of the pedestrian bridge.  Oh, such a beautiful view!  I miss those days of watching falcons flying over the gorge.

3-the-high-falls-gorge-7-14-174-the-high-falls-gorge-7-14-176-the-high-falls-gorge-7-14-17

Due to all the rain we’ve had lately, there was a lot of water moving over the falls to the river below.  Most of the island was covered in water.

I am happy to report that, what we call the falcon sucking tree, is still there on the east side gorge wall.  Most of our falcons, over the years, have landed here.  🙂

5-falcon-sucking-tree-high-falls-gorge-7-14-17<— Falcon Sucking Tree!!  🙂

I could hear a juvie Red-tail Hawk vocalizing somewhere on the north side of the pedestrian bridge, but I couldn’t see it.  But, I did spot momma Red-tail Hawk on the Smith St smoke stack, keeping watch over her young one.

7-momma-rth-on-smith-st-stack-7-14-17<— Momma Red-tail Hawk on the Smith St smoke stack.

A 2nd falcon flew up to the Kodak Tower, circling it and landing on the south side arch ledge.  This is directly above the netting that still covers the spot where Mariah and Kaver’s nest box was located for so many years.  Another falcon took off and landed on the launch pad on the east side.  It walked around to the south side.

I walked down to the west end of the pedestrian bridge for a closer look.

9-beauty-on-k-tower-7-14-17<— Adult falcon on Kodak Tower south side arch ledge.

8-kodak-tower-7-14-17<— View of Kodak Tower from the west end of the pedestrian bridge.

10-browns-race-7-14-17<— Brown’s Race has fountains now!

11-beebee-begone-7-14-17<— Where the BeeBee Station (RG&E) and its’ 3 smoke stacks were located.  (Remember Bricks for Chicks?)

I could not see the falcon that had gone up to the launch pad.

Because I was running out of time, I headed back to the pedestrian bridge.  That’s when a juvie falcon flew in from the north, over the bridge and along the east side gorge wall towards the falls.  This all happened at the east end, of course I was at the west end of the bridge.  lol

By the time I got to the middle of the pedestrian bridge, I had lost sight of the juvie.  But, there was an adult now flying over.  Too far for me to tell if it was Beauty or Dot.ca.  The other adult was still on the Kodak Tower.  So I had two adults and a juvie during my watch.

12-falcon-over-gorge-high-falls-7-14-17<— Adult Peregrine Falcon flying over the gorge.

I scanned the area for the juvie, but I could not find it.  The adult continued soaring high above.

It’s very frustrating when you have to end a falcon watch when you’re ready to leave.  lol  It was time to go.

When I was getting into my car, I looked back towards the gorge to see a falcon dive bombing a Red-tail Hawk almost directly over the pedestrian bridge.  You know I’ll be back there soon.  🙂

Enjoy the day everyone!

Fledge Watch/No juvies seen 7-14-17

Friday, July 14th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another cloudy damp morning with a little fog and a temperature of 65 (F) 18 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

It’s been a couple days since I last saw the Seneca Towers juvies.

I started my watch this morning on the east side as I have the past week, but this morning Beauty wasn’t on the bank so I joined Dan on the Court St. bridge (CSB). I immediately spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of the Powers building and then it went into the nest box. I checked the archive at 5:20am and it showed Dot.ca (DC) there. When I checked again a few minutes later he was on the cam and then he was gone into the darkness.

img_0002-dc

That would be the one and only Peregrine Falcon I would see today. I was entertained by the shorebirds on either side of the CSB. A juvie and adult Great Blue Heron (GBH) on the south side where the ducklings reside and the Black-crowned Night Herons on the north side of the bridge.

img_0005-gbh img_0006-gbh-a img_0012-bcnh img_0013-ducks-in-a-row

Thankfully the herons didn’t capture any of the ducklings while I was on watch. Recent rain had the river flowing very strong and the north side of the CSB was flooded giving the herons to hunt close to the library where the flow of the water was much slower. The cloud formations above were quite interesting this morning.

img_0021-a-river-runs-through-it img_0024-cool-cloud-formations

The juvie GBH was standing in some still water that was reflecting his image beautifully even though there was no sunshine this morning.

img_0025-juvie-gbh img_0026-juvie-gbh

Two families of ducks were staying clear of the herons which I was grateful for. The BCNH’s were hunting amongst the logs on the north side of the bridge.

img_0029-mama-and-kids img_0030-bcnh1 img_0031-gbh

At 6:45am Dan and Larry left to start their day and I went in search of falcons but was unsuccessful. It’s that time of year when juvie sightings are sparse as they are venturing further away from their birthplace. Hopefully tomorrow will bring at the very least, a glimpse of our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons which would definitely make me smile! 🙂

If you like the river residents then you will want to click on the link below to view my snippet video

https://youtu.be/L9ZRPz9utPs

Fledge Watch/Through the fog 7-13-17

Thursday, July 13th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a foggy, damp, dreary morning with a temperature of 68 (F) 20 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

*Poor quality shots today due to weather and Picassa had issues-no videos because they were lost due to a problem with Picassa

As I left Seneca Towers at 5am it was clear but when I arrived downtown it was foggy at the top of Xerox and Legacy Tower. However, I was able to find Beauty near the southeast corner of the 5 Star Bank.

img_0001 img_0003 img_0006

I left the Beautyful one preening and joined Dan on the Court St. bridge as I knew I could see Beauty from there. Dot.ca (DC) was on the top I-beam west corner of OCSR when I got there. Around 6am Beauty and DC left and I could see one falcon by the Powers nest box. After checking the archives I discovered that they met in the box for some bonding.

img_0011-2 img_0012_li camera5_lowres_20170713-060000

It was quick and then we had no falcons so I checked the river. There was a Great Blue Heron on the south side of the bridge looking for the ducklings but they were all hiding thankfully. Over below the Broad St. bridge was a juvie and an adult Black-crowned Night Heron. The Great Blue flew over there as well, leaving the coast clear for the cute little ducklings to come out and play.

img_0019 img_0023 img_0024

I don’t know how but Dan spotted Beauty on the top I-beam southwest side of OCSR through the fog. I then spotted 2 families of ducks out and about.

img_0026 img_0038 img_0042

Larry and Zeke joined us around 6:20am. It was quiet until just before 7am when I spotted a juvie on the southeast corner of the 5 Star Bank. I decided to go check it out and the guys were going to end their watch. I believe it was Rachel on the bank and just as I pulled over on East Broad St. she flew off to the northwest out of view.

img_0045 img_0046

I had seen a juvie fly from the south side of Xerox on my way back to the CSB. Once there, I saw that Beauty was on the south corner top I-beam of OCSR looking east. I was in the hole and could here a juvie whining as Beauty was looking up-I saw the juvie for a split second before it flew east out of my field of vision. I then headed over to the east side again.

img_0048

After a few minutes I spotted a juvie on the northwest corner railing of the 5 Star Bank. I parked on Elm St. where I could keep track of it. It looked small to me so perhaps it was Ontario. He started whining and then I spotted Beauty on the bottom rung of the RGE antenna. I barely got a shot of them when first Beauty flew off heading north and then the juvie from the bank hot on her tail.

img_0052 img_0053 img_0054

I wasn’t able to find any falcons again after that so I left downtown. On my way home I spotted an adult falcon on the Hawkeye plant perched on the ring railing that the dilapidated nest box is attached to. No way of knowing who it was but most likely one of the Seneca Towers birds. This officially ended my watch at just about 8am.

img_0055

It was a quiet fledge watch in which I may or may not have seen both downtown juvies. Regardless, I saw at least one of them and both adult Rochester Peregrine Falcons which is enough to make me smile! 🙂

Fledge Watch/ST juvies seen 7-12-17

Wednesday, July 12th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast and very humid again this morning with a temperature of  66 (F) 19 (C)

Be sure to click on the pics to see the full version

First off-I saw the Seneca Towers brothers last night. As I was at my living room window doing physical therapy on my shoulder I saw a juvie fly past coming from the north. I grabbed my camera and out to the west side balcony I went. There was a juvie on the west side railing facing me at first then he flew west. Seth flew through from the south and then the juvie returned to the railing.

img_0002-whiner<Click> img_0003-st-juvie

After that a juvie appeared to land on the roof and then a second juvie landed on the railing. I thought perhaps dad had dropped off food as the railing bird turned around, started whining and was looking down at the roof.

img_0006-st1 img_0012-whiney

Next thing I knew the railing bird flew off and joined his brother to give me a brief little flying show and then they left and didn’t return.

img_0014-off-to-join-brother st-juvies<Click

This morning I arrived downtown a little after 5am for my morning fledge watch. I started on the east side and found Beauty on the 5 Star Bank east side near the south corner. It was still dark out and the lights on Xerox and Legacy Tower were still lit. Tower 280 had no lights on today. I watched the Beautyful one for less than 5 minutes when she flew off heading west at which time I heard a whining juvie but never saw it.

img_0002-001-xerox img_0005-001-legacy-tower img_0004-001-b

I then drove over to the Court St. bridge (CSB) and joined Dan. When I arrived Rachel was on the ledge above the nest box eating, Beauty was on the Powers cam and Dot.ca (DC) was on the top arm of the jail tower (JCT).

img_0007-001-b img_0008-001-dc img_0010-001-r

DC stooped off the JCT and landed on the Spectrum tower momentarily and then he was gone. Things were quiet for a while until we watched a juvie Black-crowned Night Heron (BCNH) fly in and land in the river over by the Broad St. bridge. There was also an adult over by the library on a log. I checked on the ducklings who are getting a little bigger each day and unfortunately their numbers are less each day as well. Both BCNH’s flew off with the adult landing on a log at the top of one of the logs above the locks.

img_0015-001-bcnh img_0019-juvie-bcnh img_0022-bcnh1 img_0035-ducklings

Larry and Zeke rolled in at 6:45am and brought a juvie with him as one appeared on the JCT. Soon after, our other downtown juvie flew in and knocked the one off the JCT and the fun and games began. Rachel and Ontario flew around the tower talon tagging and taking turns landing and knocking each other off of it for a few minutes.

img_0042-juvie1 img_0045-juvies img_0046-juvie

img_0048-juvie img_0049-juvie img_0050-juvies1

One of them flew east out of view and the other landed on the JCT only to fly off a minute later when we were looking for its sibling. We were back to having only Beauty in sight on the Powers cam.

img_0052-juvie img_0054-b

That was the extent of the action we saw this morning. Dan and I called it a watch at 7am and left Larry and Zeke on the CSB. I was very happy to see the Seneca Towers juvies again and of course it put a smile on this watchers face! 🙂

Click on the links below to see snippets of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons

https://youtu.be/nrXJr5bTLOA

https://youtu.be/2t68sQrw3QM


Sunday Evening Fledge Watch – Rachel and Ontario Flying High! 7/9/17

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I haven’t been able to get out for my early morning watches recently.  But Sunday, a very good friend and fellow Watcher Susan C, came in for a visit.  It had been a long time since we had seen her.  So we gathered in the park behind the old Midtown Plaza, now Tower 280, to enjoy the evening watching our two juvies, Rachel and Ontario, tear up the sky above us.  These two are doing great!  Words cannot describe what we saw, so I’ll let my pictures do the talking.  Be sure to click on any you would like to see larger.  Enjoy!

1-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-1712-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-173-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-17

4-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-1715-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-176-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-17

7-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-178-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-1719-rachel-and-ontario-flying-high-7-9-171

This was our view of the surrounding area.

10-view-from-behind-midtown-7-9-1711-view-from-behind-midtown-7-9-1712-view-from-behind-midtown-7-9-17

13-view-from-behind-midtown-7-9-1714-view-from-behind-midtown-7-9-171

Now, if you’d like to see just a very small bit of what we saw of Rachel and Ontario’s aerial ballet, click on the link to my YouTube video.  🙂

https://youtu.be/Kxm9FSWS8VM

Watchers gathered: Susan C, Kathy O, Joyce, Brian H, Jeanne, Larry O (Zeke) and Carol P.

Fledge Watch/kids play spoiler 7-11-17

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast and humid this morning with a temperature of 65 (F) 18 (C)

Click on the pics to view the full version

I began my watch at  5:05am on the east side checking the 5 Star Bank where I’ve found Beauty the last couple days. She was there on the east side below the railing in the darkness. I left her and went over to the Strong Museum of Play parking lot to have a look around. From there I could see a juvie near the northeast corner of Xerox.

img_0001-beauty1 img_0005-juvie

I drove back over to Broad St. and found 2 juvies on Xerox with their mother hiding from them on the back of the bank still.

img_0006-b img_0009-buddies

I no sooner got settled in when the kids flew off-first Ontario and then Rachel right behind him. They headed east over my head and out of my field of vision. Beauty tried to escape but they saw her and chased after mom. Just before I pulled away I checked Times Square from Broad and Chestnut St.

img_0011-from-broad-and-chestnut

I drove over to the Court St. bridge (CSB) to join Dan and found the Beautyful one had gone to the Powers building on the northeast corner of the railing. Rachel flew to the Hyatt Hotel a couple minutes later landing on the southwest corner of the lower roof.

img_0013-b img_0014-r1

Rachel flew southeast out of view after less than a minute on the hotel. I took this time to check the river for my water bird friends. Baby ducks, teenage ducks, a Black-crowned Night Heron and Buddy the duck were on hand to greet me.

img_0019-medium-sized-babies<Click>img_0020-love-them

img_0021-hello img_0022-bcnh img_0023-buddy

Beauty flew over to the jail tower around 6:15am and around 6:30am Larry reported seeing 2 falcons flying near Xerox with one landing on the northwest corner. I saw one of them fly near the north side of Xerox at that time and lost it when it seemed to land up there.

img_0025-b

Larry and Zeke joined us on the CSB after Beauty flew to the Mercury money bag. During the lull I took some pics of starlings on the Wilder building, the eagle statue behind the Blue Cross Arena and yes, more pics of the baby ducklings. I can’t get enough of them! I also have a thing for our American flag so I clicked off a pic of the Powers flag just because!

img_0026-starlings-on-wilder img_0028-ducks-under-concrete-barriers img_0030-how-bout-a-drink

img_0033-b img_0035-th-eagle-has-landed powers-flag

And then about 6:50am it happened-the highlight of the morning. Beauty flew off Mercury went into a stoop over the CSB heading south. She went after something at the far left end of the locks and suddenly her kids flew in out of nowhere and joined her. She was unsuccessful because of Rachel and Ontario wanting to help mom but it’s all part of the learning experience. The 3 of them flew over to the Cornhill area with all of them taking turns stooping out of sight then back up. It was too much action to keep track of at times and then as quickly as it started it came to an end with the juvies flying over to the Spectrum tower. We didn’t know where Beauty went but we did find Dot.ca on the northeast corner of Powers.

img_0038-juvie img_0039-dc1 img_0040-ro

Satisfied after that show Dan and Larry decided to leave while I drove over to the Spectrum parking lot to check on the kids before starting my day.

img_0042-r1 img_0043-spectrum img_0045-o

I ended my downtown watch around 7:15am. On my way to take a friend to the airport I checked Seneca Towers but didn’t find any falcons. No juvies seen there in a few days-I hope to see them again before they start their life’s journey. They’re all branching out further from their nest sites every day and soon they’ll be gone but until then I’ll still be smiling for having shared space with them! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out today’s videos

https://youtu.be/wLnsF7dYGYs

https://youtu.be/la1LrDCZIDs

Fledge Watch/Juvies put on quite the show 7-10-17

Monday, July 10th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was breezy with mostly cloudy skies and a temperature of  65 (F) 18 (C)

Click on pics to view the full version

Dan wasn’t out for a watch this morning so I checked the east side of downtown first and found Beauty on the southeast corner of the 5 Star Bank from near Midtown Manor. It was still pretty dark out when she flew over to the RGE antenna. Rachel and Ontario came streaking in just before Beauty took off and began their ballet in the sky.

img_0001-beauty img_0002-tower-280 img_0012-b

I moved down to Broad St. across from 5 Star Bank to watch the show as they tore up the sky over Xerox and Legacy Tower.

img_0020-ro1 img_0028-ro img_0032-ro

Around 6am all flying stopped after Beauty flew off with her kids. I went over to the Strong Museum of Play parking lot for a view of the east side but only saw some nice gardens. I caught up with the Beautyful one on the northeast corner of the Powers railing-watching from Aqueduct St. at Main St. Larry tweeted out from the Court St. bridge (CSB) around 6:15am that he had a falcon on Xerox and one on Times Square. Then he had juvies flying around Xerox. I drove over and joined Larry and Zeke around 6:30am.

img_0040-strong-museum-of-play img_0041-strong img_0045-beauty

I checked the river and spotted a Black-crowned Night Heron (BCNH) over by the Broad St. bridge and then it flew over by the library where there was also a Great Blue Heron (GBH).

img_0047-bcnh img_0051-bcnh img_0052-bcnh img_0054-gbh

Rachel and Ontario started sky dancing again over Xerox and riding the therms. They really are fantastic flyers!

img_0056-ro img_0057-juvie img_0061-ro

img_0062-juvies img_0064-juvie img_0068-juvies<Click

When they disappeared I checked the river again and alerted Larry of the BCNH on a log very close to the Court St. bridge. He entertained us as he preened and pulled out some feathers. Of course there was a GBH near by and I also checked on the ducklings.

img_0072-bcnh img_0073-bcnh img_0074-gbh img_0080-ducks

Around 7am we watched Ontario start a long impressive stoop from north of the Broad St. bridge over the CSB barely clearing the railing and go for a duck near the locks south of the bridge. He was unsuccessful and ended up over on the Jail tower. Beauty was still on Powers.

img_0085-juvie

Larry had to get going and Beauty showed up on the base of Mercury as Lil O flew east from the tower.

img_0092-b

I ended my downtown watch around 7:30am as Larry reported seeing 3 falcons flying over by Xerox where he was watching from his apartment in Tower 280. As I was making my way down St. Paul Street I spotted a falcon on the south side of the railing at the Hawkeye nest site. It was gone when I was able to finally pull over. A Turkey Vulture flew in and landed momentarily on the Hawkeye stack.

img_0095-turkey-vulture img_0096-tv

Making my way further down St. Paul St. I saw a falcon on the west side railing of Seneca Towers but once again it was gone when I got pulled over. I went over to the Northridge Church parking lot to check the north end of the building but nobody was there. I was watching a couple bumble bees looking for nectar on a delicately flowered bush next to me.

img_0098-delicate-flower img_0099-bumble-bee img_0100-buzz img_0101-buzzzzz

I had to give a ride to a friend and as we were approaching the Veterans Memorial Bridge on route 104 I saw Seth stoop down toward the river. When we got on the bridge he resurfaced right across from us and started flying parallel to us just above the railing. He was even with us as we were traveling 55 mph and then he disappeared. Wow, that surely put a great big smile on my face! 🙂

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

https://youtu.be/T7I7Uur0LeI

Fledge Watch/Shorebirds aplenty 7-9-17

Sunday, July 9th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a calm start to the day with a chill in the air, some sun and a temperature of  54 (F) 12 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

While checking for falcons at Seneca Towers I had to settle for sun rays coming through openings in the clouds. Trading one part of nature for another-not a bad deal at all!

img_0002-rays img_0003-sunrays img_0004-clouds

When I began my watch on the Court St. bridge (CSB) with Dan we had no falcons in sight, this would be the theme of this mornings watch. Light on the falcons and heavy on the wildlife in the river. I entertained myself by taking pics of the full moon and the green light theme for Xerox and Legacy Tower (LT) before the sun came up.

img_0001-001-moon img_0003-001-green-lights-on-xerox<Click>img_0004-001-green-on-legacy-tower

About 5:15am we spotted Rachel and Ontario playing talon tag over by Xerox and LT. We didn’t see them for long and didn’t see them again (or so we thought). Around 5:30am 2 teenage guys on skateboards rolled down the bridge past us in the middle of the road with another guy following behind on a bike. I thought it odd that teens would be out that early but dismissed it until I turned around a minute later and saw them sitting on the opposite side of the bridge on the sidewalk and curb staring at us. I alerted Dan and we both found it to be unnerving-luckily they left after 15 minutes of that! After they left we spotted 2 falcons on the Powers building. A third head was showing in front of the nest box. At the time we didn’t know who was there. Turns out 2 of them were our beloved juvies! I checked the archives and found them there.

img_0005-001-before-the-sun-came-up img_0007-who-dat camera8_lowres_20170709-054300<Click

Again, they were gone as fast as they appeared and then we had none. During the lull I checked out the river and was very excited to see all kinds of baby ducklings (oh my, there so darn cute) and some type of sandpiper down in the river on the south side of CSB. Buddy, the gull was on a light pole.

img_0011-shorebird img_0015-like-it img_0019-gull

img_0039-im-over-here-momimg_0041-mom-and-her-lil-quackers

Also, I checked the north side of Court St. and found 2 adult Black-crowned Night Herons (BCNH)-one hunting near the shore below the library and the other flew in and landed on a log in the middle of the river near a Great Blue Heron (GBH). I thought the GBH would drive the BCNH off but he just walked past him.

img_0021-black-crowned-night-heron img_0022-gbh-watching-bcnh-land img_0023-get-outta-here img_0024-see-ya<Click

img_0026-bcnh img_0027-bcnh img_0028-bcnh img_0030-bcnh

The one on the big log flew off to the south and right about this time Larry and Zeke came by. Beauty showed up on the Powers east side railing. Dot.ca (DC) was on the cam and then he went into the nest box and spoke to his mate as seen from the archives.

img_0045-b img_0051-bdc camera8_lowres_20170709-0639001

In between watching the Powers situation I had been watching the BCNH. I looked down at one point and found that breakfast had been caught. I thought it was a perch but after further review I believe it was a small catfish that was the catch of the day. The BCNH was having trouble swallowing the large head so he kept squeezing it with his beak, dunking it in the water and slamming it on the rocks to soften it up.

img_0043-can-you-say-breakfast

Larry yelled that 2 falcons were flying behind OCSR so I looked but missed them. When I looked back at the BCNH the fish was gone and the other adult was down there too. My theory is that the one swallowed the fish as soon as the other one showed up so it couldn’t be stolen from him.

img_0048-bcnhs img_0049-bcnhs

Dan decided to leave just before 7am and I said I was going to go exploring for juvies so Larry ended his watch as well. I checked everywhere that I could think of but didn’t find them. The Beautyful one was still on the Powers railing when I checked the east side. I thought it was Beauty that I saw fly to the RGE antenna but after seeing the pics on my computer screen I believe it may have been DC.

img_0058-b img_0060-dc

That’s all she wrote folks, I ended my watch at 7:30am with a smile on my face regardless of not seeing our downtown Rochester Peregrine juvie Falcons very much-the ducklings did the trick for me on this day! 🙂

Click on the links below to see what I witnessed on watch today

https://youtu.be/CKXLWg26Mwc

https://youtu.be/z7obG7knLKo

https://youtu.be/dD4E1-jZ3s0

Saturday Fledge Watch – Beauty and Her Shadow! 7/8/17

Saturday, July 8th, 2017

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

An early morning thunderstorm stopped me from going out as early as I usually do for my morning fledge watch.  I usually get downtown around 7:00 am, but today I didn’t arrive until 9:00 am.  It was cooler this morning, 66 degrees (F).  I had not seen either juvie yesterday, only Beauty and Dot.ca.

Before I arrived downtown, falcon watcher Donna texted out that Beauty and Rachel had visited the Powers nest box.  Here is a picture that the Rfalconcam camera at the Powers nest box captured.

29-beauty-and-rachel-camera5_20170708-081800<— Beauty and Rachel in the Powers Nest Box (Rfalconcam Camera)

I hoped to catch them there, but they were gone when I arrived. From the Andrews St Bridge, I could just make out an adult on the base of the Mercury statue.  Pretty sure it was Beauty.

1-beauty-on-base-of-mercury-7-8-172-beauty-on-base-of-mercury-7-8-17<— Beauty on base of Mercury.

Larry O and Zeke joined me for a short visit before they headed out for a morning hike.  The sky was very overcast, threatening to rain again.  The lighting for my pictures was not good at all.

3-overcast-day-in-rochester-7-8-17<— Overcast sky over downtown Rochester, NY.

Beauty had taken off when I wasn’t looking and Larry reported that there was a falcon on the Times Square Bldg (TSB) above the nest box.  I drove over that way and ended up on Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”).  There was very little parking in the area due to the Jehovah Witnesses in town and the Cornhill Festival.

From the hole, I could see a falcon on the ledge above the nest box and it was a juvie.  It was Rachel.

5-rachel-on-tsb-7-8-174-rachel-on-tsb-7-8-176-rachel-on-tsb-7-8-17<— Rachel on TSB.

Rachel was being very vocal, screaming every few minutes.  lol  At 9:58 am, Rachel took off heading south, fast.  It wasn’t long before she returned followed by an adult.  It was Beauty.  There must have been a food transfer out of my view, because Rachel was carrying prey.  She landed up on top of the ledge under the NE wing on the TSB.  Beauty landed on the ledge above the nest box, where Rachel took off from.

7-rachel-ne-wing-ledge-tsb-7-8-17<— Rachel with food landing on the NE wing ledge.

8-beauty-on-tsb-7-8-179-beauty-on-tsb-7-8-17<— Beauty on TSB ledge above the nest box.

Beauty moved around on the ledge.  I think she was looking for leftovers.  Rachel was eating under the north east wing.

10-rachel-on-ne-wing-ledge-tsb-7-8-17<— Rachel eating under the north east wing ledge on the light.

Beauty jumped up to the column above the nest box.

11-beauty-on-tsb-7-8-17<— Beauty on column above the nest box on the TSB.

12-beauty-and-rachel-on-tsb-7-5-17<— Beauty and Rachel on the TSB.

It was then that I noticed that Dot.ca was on the OCSR bldg, 2nd IBeam down.  He was preparing prey, feathers were flying!

14-dc-on-ocsr-7-8-17<— Dot.ca on OCSR preparing prey.

Rachel finished her meal and stood up on the light.

13-rachel-on-tsb-7-5-17<— Rachel on TSB.

When the prey was ready, Dot.ca took off, flying towards the Times Square Bldg.  Both Beauty and Rachel took off, Beauty in the lead.  Beauty took the food from Dot.ca and landed on the south east corner of the Widows Walk.  Rachel followed Dot.ca towards the Powers Bldg.

15-dc-with-prey-7-8-17<— Dot.ca carrying prey towards TSB.

16-beauty-with-prey-7-8-17<— Beauty takes the prey from Dot.ca.

17-beauty-on-ww-with-food-7-8-17<— Beauty eating Dot.ca’s gift on the Widows Walk.

It wasn’t long before Rachel found her.  Rachel flew in and landed next to her, forcing Beauty to leave her meal.

18-rachel-arrives-7-8-17<— Rachel Arrives! (11:00 am)

Rachel took over Beauty’s meal.  She had already eaten well on the Times Square Bldg.  This was her 2nd meal during my watch.  A little while later, Beauty returned to land on the railing above Rachel.  She was soaking wet.  Beauty had bathed and was not preening above her young daughter.

19-beauty-and-rachel-on-ww-7-8-17<— A very wet Beauty preens on railing above Rachel.

Beauty took off flying towards the Times Square Bldg.  Rachel moved down the ledge and took off, heading south.

20-i-am-rachel-7-8-1721-rachel-on-the-move-ww-7-8-17<— Rachel on the move on WW.

Over the buildings between me and the jail communication tower, I could see three falcons talon tagging and zipping over the buildings.  Beauty was watching from the OCSR.  It was the first time I saw Li’l O (Ontario)!  He must have been hiding out over in that area, while Rachel was Beauty’s shadow.  I was not able to get any picture of Ontario today, but it was good to see him flying well with Rachel and Dot.ca.

I drove back to the hole to watch Beauty.  It was very frustrating not being able to move around like I am used to, with all the traffic downtown.

Beauty left and I was again falconless.  Just as I was getting ready to leave at noon, in came Beauty and her noisy shadow, aka Rachel.  They both landed on the Wilder Bldg’s green strip.  Beauty and food and was hungry.  Rachel had a very full crop.  This time Rachel let Beauty enjoy her meal in peace.

22-beauty-and-rachel-on-wilder-7-8-1723-beauty-and-rachel-on-wilder-7-8-17<— Beauty and Rachel on Wilder Green Stripe.

25-beauty-on-wilder-7-8-1724-rachel-on-wilder-7-8-17<— Beauty and Rachel.

After Beauty finally finished her well deserved meal and Rachel ended her nap, Rachel moved down the ledge towards Beauty and, yep, you guessed it, Beauty took off!  lol  Do you want to see it?  Well here is the video clip of what I saw.  Just click on this link to my YouTube video.  Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjWBxdxf6BA&feature=youtu.be

After a few moments, Rachel followed her mom.  It was almost 1 pm and time to end my watch!  On my way out, I stopped on the Andrews St Bridge and saw Dot.ca on the camera at the Power nest box.

27-dc-at-powers-nb-7-8-17<— Dot.ca at Times Square Bldg.

Now where was Ontario hanging out???

On my way home, I stopped  to check Seneca Towers from the west side of the river.  I checked the apartment building, both side of the bridge, Hawkeye and the east end of Kodak Park.  I did not see or hear any falcons there.

Please be sure to click on any pictures you would like to see in their full format.  Enjoy!


Sponsored By

Times Square
powered by Shakymon