By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers: Lisa McK, Dana, Kathy O, Louise, Pat, Shaky, Larry O, Joyce and Carol P. and an ST Report by MAK

The day started out really cold.  It was in the mid-30’s (F) when I woke up this morning.  Frost was on the ground.  We had our Falcon Watch Meeting this morning at 10 am.  I was the first one to arrive at about 9:15 am and set up my falcon watch at the picnic tables on the side of the old Rochester Library.  From there I had a great view of the Rochester Falcon territory.

Beauty was at the nest box on top of Camera #1 and Dot.ca was on the south side of OCSR, top IBeam.

1,000’s of Swifts filled the air, flying above the river and scooping up insects.  It’s pretty amazing to watch them hunt.

When everyone arrived, we went into the old Rochester Library for our meeting.  After the meeting, Lisa, Kathy O, Dana, Pat and I headed over to Mt Hope Cemetery where Lisa found a Red-tailed Hawk nest.  While there we visited the grave of Susan B Anthony.  One of the Rochester Falcon fledglings was named Susan B in honor of Susan B Anthony.

We then found the Red-tailed Hawk nest in which there were 3 eyases.  While we were there, one of the adults visited with lunch, then left.

A Turkey Vulture flew low over the area and the Red-tailed Hawk chased it out of the area.  All the parents are keeping busy clearing out their territories of intruders.

We took a lunch break and afterwards, I headed back downtown, to watch the falcons and their big metal cousins the Blue Angels.

I parked on the Broad St Bridge to wait for their arrival at 3:00 pm.  Beauty was on the south side of OCSR top IBeam and Dot.ca was at the nest box on the corner of the platform.  MAK reported seeing Seth at ST between 3:20 and 3:40 pm.

Now for the Blue Angels!  From the Broad St Bridge, I was able to see them as they passed over the city and circled back towards the Rochester Airport.  Other people stopped on the bridge and got out of their cars to watch.  I love watching these big birds fly! They are incredible.  Here’s a little bit of what I saw.

During a short break, the most fantastic top gun flew over me and stooped on the pigeons over the river on the south side of the bridge.  Beauty was on the hunt!  Woosh!

Beauty circled higher and headed east.  After I lost sight of her, the Blue Angels returned for a few more passes.

(You know I had to get a moon shot!)  Hahaha!

After the Blue Angels left, I was joined by Joyce and we chatted for a little while.  Beauty flew thru heading north down the river and Dot.ca remained at the nest box.  He had remained there the whole time I was there.  I ended my watch at about 5:00 pm. All was peaceful and quiet.  Just how I like it. 🙂

It was a beautiful start to a long 3 day Memorial Day Weekend!

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 23rd, 2015 at 7:27 PM and is filed under Falcon Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.