Tuesday Falcon Watch – Beauty, Dot.ca & Pigott Seen/Snowy Day in Roch! – 11/12/13
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
(3:30 – 5:00 pm)
As I type up this report, I can hear the wind howling outside and the snow is falling at a good clip. It was a cold, blustery, snowy day here in Rochester, NY. Not sure if the temperature made it to the freezing mark or not. That’s November in Rochester for you. We received less than an inch of snow, but this was the first measurable snow this Fall.
When I left work, I headed down Mt. Read Blvd heading south towards downtown. I was just approaching St Paul Blvd when I saw a Peregrine Falcon chasing a gull over a parking lot on the east side of Mt Read. The falcon broke off the chase and continued flying south. I was caught in traffic, so no pictures. By the time I was able to turn around, I was unable to find the falcon. I even checked the Ridgeway Kodak Park area, wondering if it might have gone there. But, sorry to say, I could not find the falcon.
Onward to downtown Rochester, where I found Dot.ca on the Kodak Tower launch pad, south east corner. He did not stay there long, taking off and heading south towards downtown.
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Of course I headed in the direction I had last seen him. After searching all over and not finding any falcons, I drove over to the Radisson and checked out the elevator shaft of the OCSR. There was definitely a falcon up there on the north side ledge, and based on size, I am fairly certain it was Beauty. It’s a great spot for the falcons to get out of the weather. All the Rochester Falcons over time have used this sheltering spot, including Mariah and Kaver. In fact, Mariah showed this spot to Archer, and he showed it to Beauty and now Dot.ca knows!
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There was a whole lot of traffic downtown and you cannot park on the north side of the Broad St Bridge. Not sure what event is happening this week in downtown Rochester. Since Beauty looked like she was settled, it was time to check on Pigott at the BS location. It was 4:30 pm and I was already losing light.
At BS, I found Pigott on the west end of the south side vent. Ten minutes later, Pigott took off and flew around to the east side of the building. Dot.ca had arrived on the south east corner of the south east extension. Pigott was on the south east corner of the east extension. By 5:00 pm, it was dark and snow was moving in. Just before I left, Dot.ca took off and stooped over the field to the south of the building, which was snow covered. I did not see him return. Pigott remained where she was. There was no vocalization between them at all.
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It was time for me to leave. I went home via the lake route, but it was way too dark for me to check for Billy or the Latta tiercel.
I’ll leave you with a few pics I took during my watch today. Be sure to click on any pics you would like to see larger. Goodnight everyone!
