Saturday Afternoon Falcon Watch – 11/1/14
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
1:30 – 3:30 pm
It was a cold, dreary, rainy, raw day! Brrrrr! But that didn’t stop me from checking up on the the Rochester Falcons.
My first stop was the BS location, where Joyce had seen both a small juvie Peregrine Falcon and an adult Tiercel (male falcon) over the past week. I circled the building a couple times, but had no luck seeing or hearing any falcons there.
My next stop was downtown Rochester, which was a zoo with the circus in town. Lots of traffic around the Blue Cross Arena aka the Rochester War Memorial. I was still able to get around ok, I just couldn’t park on the Broad St Bridge.
After looking around Xerox, the Times Square Bldg and all points in between, I finally found a falcon tucked into the OCSR elevator shaft on the south ledge. I was not able to ID this bird or see if there was a second falcon up there. From the Andrews St Bridge, I checked the north side of OCSR and the Frontier Communication Tower. No falcons there.
Next, I drove over to the Kodak Tower, where I found Beauty on the south side arch ledge, directly above where the old M&K Kodak Nest Box used to be located. She had her back to me and she was preening.
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I wanted to get a front view of her. As I was driving around the north side of the building, she took off and flew around the building. I believe that she landed on the launch pad, but was unable to find her. By this time it was starting to sleet, so I ended my watch after seeing both Beauty and Dot.ca.
On my way home, I checked out Hawkeye, ST, KP Research Labs and Russell Station. I saw no falcons at any of those locations. I’ll leave you with a picture of Lake Ontario which was quite turbulent, with white capped waves.
Remember to turn back your clocks an hour before going to bed tonight!
November 1st, 2014 at 8:45 PM
Not sure if I was following you or you were following me today, Carol, but we both made almost the same stops with almost the same results. I saw no one at Russell Station, Seneca Towers, Hawkeye or Brighton. I didn’t see any downtown, though, as I just decided to cruise through due to the traffic. I made a brief stop in the hole and that was it for me. You and the other watchers are more intrepid and experienced drivers while bird watching than I am. 🙂
Those were some waves on the lake. A bit windy for the birds up there.
November 1st, 2014 at 9:01 PM
Brrrr is right! Thanks for the report Carol & Pat! Let’s all think warm thoughts! lol 😀
November 1st, 2014 at 10:05 PM
Pat – It was not the nicest day to go looking for falcons! Glad you were able to get out and about. 🙂
Patricia – I can hear the wind howling and it’s raining. Brrrrr! Can’t wait for Spring!!! 🙂