By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

9:30 am – 3:00 pm

Dark, overcast, rainy and downright chilly!  I believe Joyce said it was 55 degrees (F) during our watch.

After receiving MAK’s tweet at 8:53 am that Big Frank(ie) (BF) had caught an adult duck for breakfast, I got ready as quickly as I could to join her.  I’ve seen pics of Peregrine Falcons with ducks, but have never seen it in person.  By the time arrived at the Medley Ctr Mall at 9:30 pm, MAK had reported that BF finished eating and left.  MAK was gone too.  Oh, well.

I drove around the mall and found Big Frank on the east end of the mall on the “E” on the Sears sign.

There was a small hole to the left of the sign with a pigeon in it.  A pigeon hole!  Big Frank was very interested in this little hole and the pigeon.  🙂

Joyce joined me as it started to rain even harder.  At 10:55 am, BF took off and flew over the mall roof.  We found her on the glass peaked roof.

I found the duck where MAK said it would be.  It was in the parking lot directly in front of the entrance leading into the carousel bldg.  There isn’t much traffic at this mall, but there are quite a few people that still use it.  So Joyce and I decided to move the duck to a safer spot.  This is why I carry disposable gloves with me at all times.  I put the duck on a grass median at the center of the south side parking lot.  It is in a spot where BF could retrieve it if she wants to.

Dana joined us on the watch.  Big Frank took off and flew low over the mall roof heading west.  We found her on a light pole between the old Macy’s store and Target. (11:35 am)

She took off again, heading east, back towards the mall.  She was chasing a pigeon.  We found her back on the glass peaked roof.  At 11:58 am she took off again, flying low over the mall roof.  This time she made contact with a pigeon and it flew down to the roof.  She followed.  Dana and I both drove around the mall trying to find her.

While I was looking for Big Frank, Larry O pulled up next to me.  We chatted for a few moments before he had to leave.

Dana found Big Frank on a security camera on the south side of the mall at 12:10 pm.  Joyce rejoined us.

From here, BF was looking down at the trees below.  There were a lot of small birds flitting about in them.

At 12:55 pm, Big Frank flew down and through the trees.  She then zipped up to the roof just above them.

The whole time I was on watch at the Medley Ctr, Big Frank was in hunt mode.  I find that very interesting since she caught and ate part of a duck just before I arrived.

She took off again and at approximately 1:40 pm, we found her eating on the corner just east of the carousel building.  I don’t believe whatever she had was a pigeon.  It was smaller.

It had been raining off and on most of the time we were there.  We watched Big Frank as she ate her meal.  She finished at 2:50 pm and took off heading east.  We lost sight of her as she passed over the tree line.

We waited to see if she would return.  She didn’t, so I ended my watch at 3:00 pm.  What a wonderful way to spend a cold, rainy day!

Joyce did check downtown on her way home and found both Beauty and Dot.ca.  Beauty was on the Kodak Tower and Dot.ca was in the OCSR elevator shaft.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2015 at 6:55 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.