A Sunny, Warm, & Windy Sunday Falcon Watch! 4/7/13
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
What do you get when you mix peregrine falcons and high winds? Flying Falcons! lol
That’s what I had for much of my watch today.
It went up to 72 degrees in Rochester, NY and the wind gusts had to be 40-50 mph. I’m just guessing, but that’s sure what they felt like.
I arrived downtown just before noon to find Beauty in the nest box and Dot.ca (I assumed) above her on the NE wing ledge. Soon after I parked on the Broad St Bridge (BSB), Dana joined me. She had been at the BS location before coming downtown. Since it was quiet downtown and B&DC were on the TSB, she decided to head back to BS, while I remained downtown. This way we could cover both areas.
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12:35 pm – Beauty took off and headed downtown. She was flying over and around the buildings, it was hard to keep up with her. Then Dot.ca joined her. He ended up over the library and then over Xerox. The next thing I knew, a Red-tailed Hawk (RTH) came in a little to close to the Times Square Bldg (TSB) and both Beauty and Dot.ca flew up to the RTH and started diving on it, taking turns, until they drove it out of the area, heading NE.
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Because of the high winds and warm temperatures, both Beauty and Dot.ca were enjoying flying high above their territory. Also, moving through the area were lots of migrating birds, including Turkey Vultures and a group of Cormorants heading west.
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The usually graceful flyer the Turkey Vulture, was rocking back and forth, trying to control its flight.
At 1:00 pm, Beauty returned to the nest box on the TSB.
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At 1:05 pm, it looked like Dot.ca soaring over the downtown area. He flew over to the Chase-Lincoln Tower (C-L Tower) and just hovered there, in place, not flapping his wings. All of a sudden, he folded his wings and stooped on something at the top of the C-L Tower. I saw a dark bird, approximately Dot.ca’s size come off , and Dot.ca chased it down the side of the building and behind the shorter buildings to the east.
At 1:20, I saw a peregrine falcon riding the winds heading SE. I quickly texted that it might be D.C. heading back to the BS location. At 1:25, Dana reported copulation at the BS location. My bet is that it was Dot.ca arriving from downtown.
At 1:45 pm, Beauty was back in the nest box and there was a smaller falcon up at the NE wing ledge. I assumed that Dot.ca was back, but with other peregrine falcons being spotted by the other watchers today, I couldn’t be sure.
Then he was gone! Zipping back over the downtown area.
By 2:00 pm, I was seeing lots of raptors flying over downtown Rochester, including Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks and a Coopers Hawk. The migration was in full swing today. The high winds made it hard to take pictures. They would literally push you, making it almost impossible to hold the camera steady. Here is a picture showing my view on the north side of the BSB.
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A huge thank you to my two on-line watchers today, Ei & NCAFalcons (NT). Without your help, I would have a really hard time seeing if Ms. Beauty was in the nest box or not. 🙂
Since it was very quiet downtown, I headed out to the BS location. When I arrived there, one falcon was at the window scrape and the other one was zipping around the building. I mean cranking. This was definitely a banded adult male, not the juvie seen by Dana earlier or Joyce later in the day. Pretty sure it was Dot.ca. I found him on the east side tree ledge while Pigott remained on the window scrape.
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By this time, I was joined by Joyce. Kelly stopped by for a quick visit before heading home. She told us she had just come from Braddock Bay and that the migration passing near the lake (Ontario) was incredible. She saw her first Golden Eagle and some Sandhill Cranes passed through. Dot.ca flew over the building to the north side. We found him eating on the south end of the SW extension.
I watched until he finished. He then took off again and this time flew over the building to the south side.
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I had to leave at 4:00 pm, but I told Joyce I would check the downtown area before heading home. From the BSB, I could see Beauty inside the nest box at 4:30 pm.
I was very happy to see all three Rochester Falcons on this sunny, warm and windy Sunday. It was definitely a very nice day!
Goodnight everyone! Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger. Thanks!
