By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was mostly cloudy and windy with a temperature of  29 (F) -2 (C) and light snow falling. As I stepped out of my apartment to wait for the elevator I noticed a pretty eastern sky as the sun was about to come up on the horizon.

It felt good to get back in the saddle again after nearly 2 weeks away with the flu. My bird buddies, Billie and Seth were waiting for me as I pulled over in my spot on East Ridge Rd. They were on each end of the north window ledge of Seneca Towers (ST) gazing at each other.

<Click

I left them after a few minutes as I had seen them a couple times while I was sick at home-I wanted to get downtown to see Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) whom I had not seen since January 16th. As I pulled over on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) I spotted the Beautyful one with her back to me on the top I-beam northwest side. A spot I often see her early in the morning.

I drove over to State St. for closer viewing and to see the front of her but as luck would have it she had turned away from that side so I was still looking at her back-not that her back isn’t beautyful. Luckily, she turned her head now and again so I could see her face.

I left her to look for DC but had no luck finding him so I returned to hang out with Beauty. She stretched once and started preening before I left her again around 8:15am to search for DC one more time.

Some time between my first and 2nd check of the OCSR elevator shaft DC managed to sneak in there without me seeing him, for he was on the south side ledge when I checked from Bragdon Place. He too had his back to me but I managed to get a couple pics of him showing his whiteness.

I left downtown around 8:45am leaving both Beauty and DC on OCSR. I saw no birds of any kind at the Medley Centre when I checked there and when I got home to Seneca Towers neither Billie nor Seth were home. Below are a couple pics of the Genesee River gorge where Billie and Seth hunt and hang out from the west balcony on my 16th floor.

<Click for full version

I ended my watch with a big smile at about 9:30am after seeing our two bonded pair of Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the link below to see today’s snippets

https://youtu.be/wKfOcJx_KYY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning it was raining, overcast and windy with a temperature of 40 (F) 4 (C)  There’s a high wind and flood watch in effect

Beauty was on Bausch & Lomb (B&L) eating again on the northeast corner of the north side.

She finished after a few moments and walked down the ledge to the west where I couldn’t see her so I drove to the Broad St. Bridge where I could see her.

She flew off when I wasn’t looking and I got a message from Donna saying she heard Beauty near the nest box area but couldn’t see her on cam. I turned around to have a look at Times Square but didn’t see any falcons around. I checked the entire area and came up empty so I drove over to the Radisson Hotel where I found Dot.Ca (DC) on the south ledge of the elevator shaft out of the rain but no Beauty.

DC turned around to show me his other side and it was then that I noticed a bump on the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad northeast corner.

I left DC and headed over to KO to find that it was the Beautyful one just hanging out. Funny that she wasn’t with DC but these falcons have their own ideas on what they want to do.

I stayed only a few minutes and left to check on Pigott at the Brighton site (BS). When I arrived at 8:45am she was out front on the northwest corner of the northwest extension-I think she was looking for DC. I was running out of time so I didn’t stay long with her either.

I went back downtown and checked to see if DC was still in the elevator shaft-he was gone. One last check of KO found Beauty still on the northeast corner of the launchpad.

A few seconds after I arrived I spotted DC circling above her and then it happened- the infamous SWOOP! DC swooped down on Beauty twice-she ducked and he circled around and disappeared. Carol and Kathy saw him swoop on Pigott the other day at BS so I think we can assume that this is his own style of courtship. He is a character! lol A few minutes after he left the area Beauty pooped and did some wing stretches before flying off to the southeast.

I apologize if my reports seem rushed these days-that’s because they are, I’m in the process of packing and moving so I have only so much time for everything. With that said, I ended my watch at 9:15am and left our fair city smiling after having seen all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/t8_RoKNx9uc

http://youtu.be/mpqbw6TzCxM

http://youtu.be/L1XzAEINa78

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We have some warmer temperatures ahead of us the next few days with highs in the 30’s and 40’s which will melt a lot of the snow and ice we have accumulated in the last 2 weeks. Some sun would be nice too! Normally I’m a pretty patient person but this morning after waiting 30 minutes I decided to go look for the Beautyful one instead of waiting for her to show up. I’m glad I did cuz I found her on one of her favorite hunting places atop the HSBC building on the east side of downtown. She was on the southeast corner munching on something as I pulled over on Chestnut St. in front of Manhattan Square Park to observe.

I drove over to Court St. and parked right below HSBC for a closer view and after 10 minutes Beauty flew off to the west.

She quickly left my view as I was facing east so off I went to try and find her.  As I drove to Main St. by the Radisson Hotel I found her on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.  Her newest routine for after dining is to go hang out there. I wonder when she will be going to Mercury again as part of her morning routine-she likes to switch it up every few days.

I shared space with her for 20 minutes before taking flight for Brighton(BS). When I arrived there I could Pigott on the southeast corner of the east extension as I drove in the driveway. As I made my way around the building to the east side I also spotted BST on the east extension perched on a south facing window ledge.

Click pic for full version 

With an empty parking lot on the weekend I took advantage and parked in it right where I had the best view of this dynamic duo. For the next 15 minutes BST napped and Miss Pigott looked around at her territory. She then flew off to the south, came back and circled the building before coming to rest on the northeast corner of the building.I find it interesting that Pigott and BST hang out almost exclusively on that east side of the building but she and Dot.Ca mainly stayed on the west side. Just an observation.

They couldn’t see each other now and BST remained on his window ledge catching a few nods. Another 15 minutes passed when Pigott walked in on the roof where I couldn’t see her either for a few minutes. She came back out to the edge of the roof a few feet from the northeast corner and proceeded to quickly fly over to the corner. She had a poop for herself and again after a 15 minute stay she flew off to the east and returned to land on a window ledge kitty corner to where BST was perched waking him up.

Click the pics for a full version

BST continued to nap on and off as Miss Pigott preened with her back to her sleeping companion for the next 25 minutes. She then flew over to the southeast corner of the east extension and parked there for the rest of the time I stayed watching.

Before heading home I stopped to see if Beauty was still on OCSR where I left her earlier to digest breakfast and she was there in the same spot looking my way.

What a nice little watch I had this morning with my falcon buddies. Good for a smiling face as I left downtown! 🙂

I have provided links below for a photo album and 5 videos for your viewing pleasure

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrShA

http://youtu.be/LS3Lo_Zh9S4
http://youtu.be/2dej2BbOsvo
http://youtu.be/94e6OgPl_cY
http://youtu.be/1vLMN9cbgrs
http://youtu.be/EV41VCuGJ0M

After an afternoon of wild rain showers and thunderstorms, we thought we were going to call it a day. Orion “discovered” the Frontier Communication tower (and his mother). He was flapping, flying and exploring. Dotca was there for part of the time along with Kathy O, Dana, Carol P and Larry O. Dotca flew off and a short time later so did Orion. Although we were thinking of leaving, we couldn’t with a newly fledged juvie gallavanting so the search began. We heard him near Times Square and then saw him but off he went. Dana found him on the north side of Old Changing Scene Restaurant. With that, Carol and Dana left (kind of– they both went to Kodak Park on their way home) and Dan S. arrived. I thought i would stay awhile to keep him company. All was quiet and we decided to go on the Broad St. Bridge. We no sooner got there and lots of flying took place. We saw Orion at the base of Mercury. Dotca seemed to be on Old Changing Scene. He flew over the river and then back. Beauty flew over the Hyatt and then hovered atop Xerox. For a watcher, it never stops being awe inspiring to see a falcon catch the wind and hover, seemingly motionless in the air. Wow! Dan said a stoop was coming and he was right. She suddenly darted over the river and in a stoop. She missed over the Blue Cross Arena, coming up empty but darting off. Orion then did some flying to the Old Changing Scene Restaurant (OCSR). He landed atop it and then would fly to other parts of the same level. At one point he dusted his father off. We then saw an adult on Times Square beneath the wing. Orion did too– he seemed focused in that direction. While on OCSR, he would walk. For a falcon, his walking is really steady. We could see storm clouds in the distance and Carol tweeted that it was raining in Greece. Sure enough, the rains came!! Dan and I both went to our cars. I hoped that Orion would stay safe. It was very windy along with the rain. As the rain eased, the sky turned a pink tint and a double rainbow appeared! Awesome! We looked an Orion was still on the OCSR! Very good. Gigi from Indianapolis and her sister Pat stopped by and saw Orion and the adult! She said they recently lost their 19 year old male:( They have been following the Roch falcons and all of our drama. It was so nice to meet them! After they left, it really got very dark so Dan and I left too. It was hard to see if Orion was still on OCSR but we hadn’t seen any flying so we figured he was tucked in!

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hi everyone! Yesterday morning I had a brief watch. I had forgotten my phone and couldn’t tweet plus I never found Beauty either in the little over an hours time that I spent downtown. Today was a different story. About 20 minutes into my watch I found Beauty on the 2nd ibeam west corner of the OCSR building.She left before I could get closer for a pic. I found her 5 minutes later on the northeast corner of the launchpad over on the Kodak Office building.

The red light was still on as it was a dark morning with rain showers. The Beautyful one and I hung out here for a little over an hour when she took off flying south toward the downtown area. It would be another hour before I would see her again. In the meantime, I watched some ducklings,ducks and a Great Blue Heron in the river between the Broad and Court St. bridges.

A gentleman named Ricky stopped to chat about the ducklings. We counted a total of 18 in different spots down on the rocks. We then discussed the size difference between Peregrines,hawks and eagles. He went on his way and a couple minutes later I spotted DebbieH walking up the sidewalk. We chatted about the crane that’s parked in the Thomson Reuters parking lot having been lifted to Mercury on Tuesday while I was in Toronto for Harlies’ banding. Deb and I concluded that they attached a wing onto the bent leg of Mercury matching the one on Mercurys’ straight leg. It looked a bit rusty so I think they are probably made out of some sort of metal.

Make sure to click on pics to get a larger image. We crossed over to the other side of the bridge so she could see the little ducklings for a few minutes and then she left for work. Donna informed me not too long after that Harlie was missing as reported by Kat who was on the scene at the Harlequin nest site. I decided to get home so I could get further updates. As I was ready to leave Beauty showed up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building to bid me farewell.

To watch a video of the ducklings go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEAmUdIHHpU

And for a few more pics from my watch follow this link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=681529952213%3A658758587&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharer-_-Top

Have a great day everyone! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I forgot to include this in my report. It’s a 5 minute video that took 2 hours and 29 minutes to load onto youtube. It’s Beauty eating breakfast on the base of Mercury. Enjoy I know I did!

By watcher MAK

In response  to those of you who want to know where Lady Pefa (possibly Unity from Toledo,Ohio) and a tiercel have been seen, here are pics of Kodak Park on Weiland Rd. off Ridgeway Ave.

You must park in lot 77 (driveways off of Ridgeway and Weiland). We are not allowed anywhere else on the property. Upon arrival you must call Kodak security at 722-2121 and tell them your name and that you are there to watch the falcons. Happy watching to all that go!

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hello everyone! After being sick for the past few days it felt good to get out and have myself a falcon watch. Sorry to say I didn’t see very much to report on, but it’s all good just the same.

I arrived downtown about 6:15am, after a quick look at Mercury and the OCSR building I took a quick tour of the east side near Xerox and HSBC with no sightings. Upon arriving back on the Broad St. bridge I spotted a falcon up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building through the chimney smoke of the Thomson Reuters building.

I couldn’t tell who it was until I drove down to Aqueduct St. for a clearer and closer view. It was the Beautyful one and I was smiling! She flew off and down to the nestbox. I drove back up to Broad St. and parked near falcon central for pics. It was at this time I spotted Mr. T under the southeast wing of the Times Square building. Beauty immediately flew up and landed on the main camera.

They only stayed for a short time and both suddenly flew off fast towards the Cornhill area where I lost sight of them behind buildings. I spent the remaining 45 minutes of my watch searching for them to no avail. LarryO and Cleo stopped by while I was on the Andrews St. bridge to get a report and off they went. I took a couple pics while on the Court St. bridge of the raging Genesee River and to get a view of the Broad St. bridge and surrounding area. Have a great day everyone! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hi everyone! After a week away I was treated to a fun watch courtesy of Beauty and Mr. T. Sue and  I joined CarolP on the Broad St. Bridge where we saw Mr. T up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building. Shortly after we went down to Aqueduct St. where we joined watcher Dana and found Beauty on the Widows Walk.

A Coopers hawk flew right over Beauty on Widows Walk and Mr.T on Times Square without any attacks.They both flew off a bit afterwards and we lost them behind the buildings. The search was on…Dana left first followed by Carol and then Sue and I. I spotted Beauty on the roof of the Hall of Justice where she looked like she was eating . Less than a minute later Mr. T flew in and landed on the east ledge and watched her. They both took off while I was tweeting. Next  I saw Dana driving back to Aqueduct St. I followed behind where she had located Beauty under the northeast wing directly above the nestbox and Mr. T on the ledge to the north of the nestbox where Jemison and Calidora used to hang out by pan cam.

Mr. T flew up to a spot on the wing which Dana referred to as a plank which was located below and to the north from where Beauty was roosting. Dana and I were giggling at him for he was teetering on the plank trying to get his bearings at first.

Carol rejoined us and BrianH also joined the watch at this time. Beauty and Mr. T left the Times Square building so I decided to drive down to Charlotte and see what was happening there. I told Carol and Brian of my plans and we parted ways. Sue and I arrived to a very congested and busy Charlotte. The Winterfest  event was in full swing. I found a spot at the boat launch but didn’t see CB on the cranes or the railroad trestle out in the river.

We next went down near the pier and came up empty there too. While driving back towards the boat launch we spotted pigeons scattering near the apartment tower to the west of Lake Ave. Suddenly Sue said what’s that fast bird flying after them? I said it looks like a falcon judging by size and the way it turned on the speed. As fast as it appeared it then disappeared and so did the pigeons. We rode over there to try to locate it to no avail. Sue not being a true falcon flake by any means was ready to go home. So that was the extent of my first watch since February 4th.  A real nice watch! 🙂

PS    Make sure to click on pics to get full sized version.

Watcher:  MAK

Joined Dan at 5:29am.  Callidora was flying above Xerox.  She stooped across river, but never came back up.  Found Archer on 3rd I-beam north side OCSR at 7:26am.  Beauty was on bottom of FCT (Frontier Communication Tower.  Callidora just flew through over me…Man, she is a BIG girl!!

At 8:42am Callidora was on rail below Mercury.  Callidora stooped off the rail under Mercury around 9:00am. She flew directly above my head less than 20 ft. away! WOW she is gorgeous! Several times she passed over me down low up and down the river scaring all the water foul and pigeons. She went under Court St. bridge and Susan B. Anthony bridge and back to rail under Mercury. No prey was taken,too slow but it was great stuff in this watchers opinion.

Busy, busy, busy…  9:25am Callidora chasing little birds on roof of Reuters. She is being very cute. Then off to FCT.  10:09 am Callidora was kakking and she just wouldn’t stop!  An hour later she was still there, kakking every few minutes (must be hungry).

Carol P took over late afternoon around 4:00 and reported:   As it started to pour, Callidora flew in and landed on the base of the mercury statue. She picked at leftovers.  At 4:30pm Archer was on top I-beam OCSR southside, and Callidora was still at the  base of mercury statue. Callidora  flew off towards HSBC.  Beauty flew back towards me and landed on the northside of OCSR. Archer still on the southside. Archer  checked out downtown at 5:30 and returned to land on northside of OCSR.

Back for an evening watch, Archer was on rail of FCT platform north side at 7:08pm.  Callidora was below him on FCT.  No Beauty. Two very very wet falcons.  At 7:36pm Callidora flew around communication tower right over me and back on tower…KAKKING!  10 minutes later, Archer was eating in front of Calidora and she was not happy about it.   I managed to spot Beauty on FCT so I had all three there tonight. Archer left and headed east. Shortly after, Callidora left heading west. Beauty elected to stay put. That’s how I left them.   and 1 for Jemison