By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature when I started out today was 56 (F) 13 (C) -it warmed up quick as there was nothing but sun and blue skies again

As soon as I stepped out on the west side balcony on my 16th floor at Seneca Towers I saw 2 falcons flying-Seth and Bith.  Sellie was yelling non-stop and quite loudly on from the west side railing.  Bith and Seth buzzed Sellie a few times then Bith wasn’t seen for a while. Seth did some flying out over the river then I didn’t see him for a few minutes.

I decided to go up to the top floor (22nd) balcony and I was greeted with a close encounter with Seth as he flew by at eye level maybe 10-15 feet away. He was looking at me as he passed by heading northwest over the river. He turned around over the trees on the west side of the gorge and flew back passing over Sellie, which made him whine even louder.

<Seth <Click to see Seth and Bith

Sellie flew down to the south end of the roof and continued to cry for dad to bring food. At that point I went down to my car and drove out to Seth Green Dr.

Bith landed on the north half of the west side railing and Seth came into the picture with food. Bith chased him and I believe there was a food exchange because all went quiet and Sellie was the only falcon I could see.

<Click>

I left for downtown arriving on the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) at 6:35am where I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the southeast corner of the Kodak Office playpen netting. I drove down to State St. to share space with the white little dude for a few minutes and then I left him to look for the rest of the downtown falcons.

Unfortunately, today would be a bust on finding Beauty, Cadence or Genesee. I did find lots of foot and car traffic around the Blue Cross Arena as the Jehovah’s Witnesses are in town for the weekend. I headed over to the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls where I found a White-tailed Buck being chased by a doe, a Great Blue Heron on a railing and a bunny rabbit as I was leaving, but no falcons.

I don’t know when DC left Kodak but I headed for home around 9am. I spotted Billie on the south end of Seneca Towers top window ledge. She was facing the sun and her front was glowing-I pulled over on St. Paul St. to observe her. She didn’t do too much so I drove down to East Ridge Rd. to check the north end of the building. Seth was facing the river on his top window ledge.

I ended my watch at 9:45am having seen all 4 Seneca Towers Peregrine Falcons and papa DC downtown. The close encounter with Seth first thing this morning made me smile the most on this day! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/kb5WoVj5Ubw

http://youtu.be/6Po1kx9NCrQ

http://youtu.be/ntAMNTWYxHA

http://youtu.be/uLvVlGAglVE

http://youtu.be/Brh5IiUsaYU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

The days are almost perfect right now.  Sunshine, blue skies, a breeze, and warm temperatures.  Loving this weather!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

I arrived downtown around 2:30 pm yesterday.  The only falcon I could find was Dot.ca on the Kodak Tower’s, south side arch ledge.  Directly above the old Mariah and Kaver nest box location.

Something told me to head to the gorge, so that’s where I went.  As soon as I stepped out onto the east end of the pedestrian bridge, I was greeted by a beautiful sight.  Two young falcons were playing in the gorge.  They were flying together and taking turns going talons up.  One of them was carrying a stick.  They were practicing the talons up, food transfer maneuver. Fantastic!

Make sure to click on this one to see the full picture.

I’m not sure which one had the stick.  I mostly just watched, enjoying the show.  I will never tire of watching juvenile falcons flying in the gorge.

After a few moments, first one and then the other landed on different spots on the east side wall.  The first one I found was Cadence on a rock not too far from the bridge.

It took me awhile to find Genesee.  Finally he came into view on the lower branch of the Falcon Sucking Tree, a tree appropriately named by my good friend and fellow falcon lover Dale.  This tree seems to become a favorite spot for all our falcons to perch.  It juts out from the east side gorge wall, hanging over the river below.  What a beautiful view they must have from up there!

Cadence then flew over to the Falcon Sucking Tree and landed below it on the rock wall.  That’s when Joyce and then a little later, Pat joined me.

First Genesee, then Cadence left the gorge.  One juvie ended up on top of the Kodak Tower.  It was pretty quiet for awhile, with a very brisk, cool breeze.  Lots of people stopped to talk to us to ask what we were looking at.  We me some nice folks from Ohio and Tennessee.  When there are no falcons to watch, there is usually  a lot of activity to keep our interest.  I do love when someone visits for the first time.  You always hear that gasp when they see the beautiful High Falls for the first time.  🙂

At 5:46 pm, an adult flew over the gorge.  It approached quickly and stooped down towards the river.  At the last moment, it flipped up into the Falcon Sucking Tree!  At first we thought it was Beauty, then Dot.ca, then back to Beauty.  lol  With bright sunlight, it’s sometimes hard to tell which one it is.  We settled on Beauty.

She stayed there for awhile, preening and snoozing.  About an hour later, Beauty took off and flew low around the gorge.  She landed on the gorge floor for a few minutes.

Beauty took off and a juvie flew up to meet her.  We believe the juvie was possibly down in a tree on the island, but can’t be sure. They flew around together for a few minutes before they both left the gorge.

It was very quiet after that.  Joyce and I ended our watch at 8:00 pm.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

I got a much later start today, arriving downtown at about 4:00 pm.  I checked all over downtown, but the only falcon I could find was again on the south side arch ledge of the Kodak Tower.  This time it was Beauty.  To the gorge!  lol

I checked the gorge wall, but could find no falcons there.  A falcon on this wall is very well camouflaged.  At 4:50 pm, Beauty came off of the Kodak Tower and flew over the gorge.  She soared overhead and circled between the gorge and the Frontier Communication Tower.  To me it looked like she was looking for (or checking on) her young ones.  She returned to the south side arch on the Kodak Tower.

Here are a couple pictures of Beauty as she flew over me.  You can really see her missing feathers due to the molt she is currently going through.

At 5:15 pm, a juvie came off of the east side gorge wall below the observation deck. So much for me checking that wall.  🙂

The juvie flew over the falls and train tracks, heading south down the river.  Based on size, I believe that this was Cadence.  She met a smaller falcon over the river.  It was Dot.ca, and he had food.  Cadence did a perfect talons up below her father (she’s been practicing) and he dropped the prey to her.  She flipped back over and carried it to the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg where she landed.  Dot.ca turned and headed back towards the east.  Beauty was still on the Kodak Tower and I could see another falcon standing in front of the nest box on the Powers Bldg.  Here is a picture showing Cadence’s flight.

I had to end my watch early today at 6:30 pm.  As I was getting ready to leave, I spotted two falcons on the east side railing of the Powers Bldg.  One big, one little.  I didn’t have time to check it out, but I hoped that it was Cadence and Genesee.

Good night everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Sunshine and blue skies prevailed this morning with a temperature of 54 (F) 12 (C)

I think I saw more flying by the Seneca Towers juvies today than all the rest put together-it was a WOW watch!

As I checked the north end of the building to start my watch at 5:45am Seth wasn’t on his window ledge but as I looked up there I saw 2 falcons flying and one was whining so I knew I had at least one juvie. I went out to Seth Green Dr. in my spot by the visitor parking for a broader view. There was a juvie on the west side railing near the northwest corner and one on the railing above the west side balconies. That one flew off and buzzed the other then we were off to the races.

They would fly over and around Seneca Towers and daddy Seth would join the fray at one point so I had 3 flying falcons to dine on!

<Click

They were into landing on the elevator shaft and surrounding area and the antenna at the south end of the building (or at least trying to land on antenna). Taking a break in between flight shows landing in various places. The sun was behind them as it came up so most of the pics are silhouettes.

<Click

<Click

Seth showed his boys how to land on the antenna before stooping into the river gorge. One or both had food on the roof at the south end-not sure if a food exchange was made or if there were scraps found but I could see one of the juvies eating. Soon after they flew off out of view then everything went quiet.

After about 45 minutes of action I left for downtown as the show was over here for now. Arriving on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) at 6:45am I spotted 3 falcons right away. Dot.ca (DC) was on the southwest wing ring of Times Square, Beauty was on the top east side railing of the Powers building and Genesee was on the north side platform railing of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT).

I went over to the City Hall parking lot to watch Genesee-he didn’t stay long before flying off to the northwest. Soon after that while I was watching Beauty from the Hochstein School of Music parking lot Cadence showed up on the northeast corner of City Place. So, in the span of about 20 minutes all 4 downtown falcons showed themselves-it doesn’t get any easier than that on watch.

Cadence flew west after a few minutes and the Beautyful one was gone as well at 7:15am. For the next 45 minutes I was falconless as I searched all over downtown.

While I was on the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge checking I could barely see DC up on the south side arch of Kodak Office (KO). I left High Falls for State St. to observe DC-he started on the west side of the arch and then he switched to the east side and after a couple minutes moved to the back of the ledge in the shadows. I had to drive over to Verona St. on the west side of KO to see him.

I couldn’t locate any other falcons downtown so I left for home, stopping on the way to check out the Lower Falls near the Driving Park bridge. They were flowing pretty hard and there was a mist rising from the river below.

It was just about 9am when I arrived at Seneca Towers-I pulled over on Seth Green Dr. same spot as earlier where I could see a juvie on the elevator shaft. He flew off and was joined by his brother as they flew  off to the north out of view. They came back into view a few minutes later-one of them landed on the west side railing then off again to fly with his sibling. It was break time as Bith landed on the roof above the west side balconies and Sellie above him on the elevator shaft.

Sellie flew off and buzzed Bith who walked halfway to the northwest corner before flying off. He landed on the west side railing near the corner then took off after Sellie who came whizzing through and they both disappeared to the north. Bith returned to land briefly on the elevator shaft and west side railing then he left and didn’t return.

I ended my watch at 9:30am smiling all over the place after the fantastic fledge watch I had just encountered! 🙂

Click on the links below to see more photos and today’s videos-the snippet video has a lot of flying on it

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqkKW

http://youtu.be/mwNoU9PL3kc

http://youtu.be/DB9JT78mFLQ

http://youtu.be/GiFh4HgWk74

http://youtu.be/c67g51WfjuQ

http://youtu.be/0b2QB3z909o

http://youtu.be/W8gw3dIaF3Y

http://youtu.be/fVBkQPB-4vk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another morning with abundant sunshine and blue skies and a temperature of 62 (F) 17 (C)

Seneca Towers had no falcons present when I ventured out this morning and it took me a while to find a falcon downtown as well. It was about 6:15am as I made my way on to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) after checking the east side that I spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury. I pulled over and got out my car and then I noticed Cadence on the upper roof of Thomson Reuters at the northeast corner.

The Beautyful one left when I was looking at Cadence as she was watching all the bug catchers flitting around the area. I swear my neck started hurting just seeing her cranking her head every which way.

I took a look at the river and was surprised to see how low the water level was-amazing how dams and locks can control such powerful waters.

<Click

Cadence left while I was checking the river on the other side of BSB. It would be 45 minutes before I found a falcon and again it was Beauty. She was on the northeast corner of City Place. I pulled into the Hochstein School of Music parking lot to watch her as she plucked feathers from prey.

Beauty turned her back and moved in on the roof where I couldn’t see her so I drove up to the roof of the Sister Cities parking garage. She flew off suddenly with her prey and took it over to the middle red section east side of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT).

The neighborhood robin started pestering Beauty but she wasn’t phased by it, she just stood there looking around.

Cadence flew in yelling and landed on the small tower briefly then over to the small platform in the red section below where Beauty was with the food. Cadence walked around to the opposite side eventually and dropped out of view as I got kicked off the roof by security.

<Click

By the time I worked my way back down to the ground again I couldn’t locate Cadence or hear her but Beauty was eating in earnest. I could only stay a few minutes more as I had to do something, so I left Beauty at 8am.

A little over an hour later as I drove through downtown on my way home, I checked around but there were no falcons to be found. I ended my watch at 9:30am after seeing a falcon flying over the river north of Seneca Towers. It wasn’t a watch abundant with falcons like yesterday when I saw all 8 Rochester Peregrine Falcons but it made me smile none the less! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/zDpDKe2UXzY

http://youtu.be/hRdmAvK6IyE

http://youtu.be/4s8ySwUquAw

http://youtu.be/fwLE5g1nELU

http://youtu.be/srsi5G7EkMA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast with a temperature of 68 (F) 20 (C)

Last night I had a mini fledge watch from the 16th floor west side balcony of Seneca Towers. I stepped out there after seeing 2 falcons fly past my apartment window. What I witnessed was Bith and Sellie knock each other off the south side bridge ledge a few times as Sellie had food and Bith wanted it. Sellie kept the food the whole time and they ended the night flying in the gorge before flying east out of sight before the sun went down.

<Click

Now for this mornings watch-I began it with Seth on the north side top window ledge of Seneca Towers. This is getting to be a habit I don’t want to break! lol He flew northeast around 6:30am and as I waited for his return I heard a juvie whining. I left my parking lot to check the rest of the building but didn’t find any other falcons .

I left for downtown arriving on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) about 6:40am and spotted a falcon on the middle arm of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). I didn’t notice that he had company on the opposite arm until I looked at my pics on the computer. By the time I got over there it was on its way to Kodak Office. I was able to ID it as Dot.ca (DC) when I got over to State St. where I was relatively closer. He was on the southeast corner of the playpen netting, not the northeast as I had tweeted. duh! My mind is going!!

DC turned around and brought up a pellet. I left him around 7am to look for his family.

I had no luck and so returned to KO to find that DC had switched corners and was now on the southwest corner of the playpen netting. He flew northwest after a few minutes.

I gave it another try to find falcons downtown and came up empty again but this time when I returned to KO Beauty was there on the northeast corner of the playpen. She didn’t stay long and flew northwest out of view.

I checked out the High Falls gorge but the only birds I saw there were some Canada Geese down on the small island.

After leaving there I stopped on the ASB where I hit the jackpot-3 falcons on the east side, middle red section of FCT.

I went to the City Hall parking lot to observe as Cadence had food and Genesee wanted some because he was whining very loudly! Beauty was in the background watching when to my surprise, Genesee walked away from Cadence instead of trying to take the food from her. So we all watched Cadence pluck feathers and eat breakfast.

<Click>

I moved down to Fitzhugh St. below the tower for a better view of the 3 of them. Genesee made his way around to a spot closer to mom, occasionally whining. He was blocked by a beam but I could see Cadence and the Beautyful one.

<Click

Cadence finished eating, pooped and walked away from the leftovers. Beauty slinked over and started eating while Genesee moved over a little when Cadence got closer to him.

<Click><Click

I had to get something to eat myself so I left them to most likely rest for a while. When I got home to Seneca Towers I saw Billie on the west side railing from Seth Green Dr.

I went up to my 16th floor apartment, grabbed something to eat and a chair then went out on the west side balcony to see what I could see. After checking to make sure it was Buffalo Billie on the railing I turned my attention to the north. Both juvies were on the south side bridge ledge until Seth flew in with food-Sellie flew off after Billie who flew past and Bith got the spoils. Seth flew off to the northeast. It all happened so fast I had a hard time keeping track!

I ended my watch at 10am smiling after a falcon filled watch that included all 8 Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to see videos from last night and this morning

http://youtu.be/ToCYgPyojN4

http://youtu.be/yeM6Tc2eaQo

http://youtu.be/VUoiFCzB1c0

http://youtu.be/ntGk4MVBQ0U

http://youtu.be/27DIXJ3h7-Q

http://youtu.be/GCJZ1XuloYw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another warm start to the day but less humid with a temperature of 71 (F) 22 (C) and ample sunshine and blue skies

I’m getting quite used to starting my day with Seth at the north end of Seneca Towers (ST) as I find him perched on the top window ledge most mornings and today was no exception.

I heard a juvie around 6am but couldn’t see it so I left the parking lot to go check all sides of the building but had no luck finding it. I parked over on East Ridge Rd. near St. Paul St. to observe from a distance where I could see a broader field of vision. 20 minutes later a juvie came flying in whining and landed on the north side railing.

<Click it

Around 6:30am Seth dove down toward the river and there was a “like father, like son” moment as the juvie did the same. Dad returned to his window ledge. Juvie returned to northwest corner.

<Click

10 minutes later Seth flew out over the bridge made a U-turn then returned to window ledge. After taking off the juvie returned as well, coming to rest on the northwest corner of the railing.

<Click>

At 7am or so the juvie flew off when I wasn’t looking-I too, left to check out downtown. I arrived on Fitzhugh St. just in time to see Cadence on the north side of the lowest red section of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). She flew west right after I got a shot of her.

I headed north on Plymouth Ave. and spotted Cadence circling the Kodak Office tower (KO). She landed on the northwest corner of the playpen briefly, then took off and disappeared to the north side of KO.

I drove to Frankfort St. in time to see Cadence land in the netting that Kodak put up around the playpen to keep Mariah and Kaver away from where their nest box once was up there during exterior building renovations. There’s no need for it now and they really need to take it down. Anyway, she got out of it and landed on an apparatus that I thought was inside the netting (as I tweeted and explained in a video) but after examining my pics can see that it is actually on the outside of netting.

I’d like to send a shout out to anyone who works at Kodak or has any kind of clout with people in charge to please ask if that netting can be removed before we have an incident.

Anyway, back to my watch as I left Cadence to look for her family members. I wouldn’t find another falcon until just before 9am when I was stopped on the Court St. bridge. I watched as Dot.ca (DC) flew in from the east and landed on the east side top railing of the Powers building and behind that on the top arm of FCT another falcon. I went down to the end of Aqueduct St. where it meets Main St. for the best view of the east and south sides of Powers.

He soon flew off to the east right straight down Main St. past me out of view. I left for FCT to see who was on the top arm. I pulled over on Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities parking garage to find that it was a juvie but I never did get a clear enough shot of the leg bands to determine if it was Cadence or Genesee.

The juvie turned around to show me its back so I drove down to the City Hall parking lot to have a look. It did some stretching then turned around again. I started checking pics on my camera for a leg band shot but it flew off while I was doing that. I decided to end my watch at this time-9:30am.

I’m not seeing all of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons on watch these days but I’m grateful for seeing any of them as they put a great big smile on my face when I do! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/5o8fi5XDfc4

http://youtu.be/L4BTChSUdns

http://youtu.be/Ha3nhtzStko

http://youtu.be/uIqOHdrFX-w

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was very humid out with on and off light rain at the start, then sun and clouds with a temperature of 72 (F) 22 (C)

I started my watch today from the west side balcony of my 16th floor at Seneca Towers. Billie was up on the west side railing. Both juvies flew past whining very loud and she took off with them as they turned east when they reached the south end of the building.

I then made my way down to my car and checked the north end where I found Seth on his top window ledge. It started to rain a bit when I left for downtown at 6:15am.

As I was driving down Seth Green Dr. a rainbow came into view so naturally I had to stop and take a pic or two.

Arriving on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) around 6:30am I found Dot.ca (DC) on the north corner top I beam of OCSR with his back to me. Not sure at the time which adult it was I drove down to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel for a closer look.

I took a ride around looking for the rest of the family  and while on the east side I saw a falcon circling Xerox then it disappeared. The crews were done with Court St. bridge from yesterdayand were now on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) to clean up the log jam there. Once again from the ASB I saw falcons-one on the Powers top east side railing and one on the northeast corner of City Place. I drove to the Hochstein School of Music parking lot where I was able to identify Cadence as the City Place bird.

<Click

She hung out there with me until somebody flew in with food-she took off and I saw them meet above City Hall then go out of view. Cadence then returned with the food and took it to the Frontier Communications tower (FCT) in the lower white section on an east side beam. I had to go to the City Hall parking lot to see her as she began plucking feathers and started eating.

Suddenly out of nowhere DC came flying in and landed next to Cadence with food of his own. Cadence started screaming and moved over to another beam with her food. They both started eating and after a few minutes she moved back over by dad, mantled her food and began squawking again. DC finished eating moved away from his daughter then flew off to the south.

<Click

There was a robin buzzing both Cadence and DC when he was there. They paid absolutely no attention to it as they were intent on eating. At 8:15am I decided to go back to the school of music parking lot where I could see the Beautyful one on Powers and hopefully be able to see the front of Cadence-success on both counts.

I left them around 8:30am and headed home for Seneca Towers. From East Ridge Rd. I could see Seth very clearly as he was facing out from his north end top window ledge and looking white. Just like yesterday he seemed to be hiding from his boys who after a few minutes started whizzing around the building. They passed dad from the side and top, flying high and low as they chased each other round and round coming in and out of view.

<Click

Bith and Sellie settled down after maybe 10 minutes straight of playing -when I didn’t hear or see them I called it a watch at about 9:30am. What a fun time I had as well, which of course, made me smile! 🙂

Click on the pics below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/aicMFsQM_ZY

http://youtu.be/llUk1BQbUzg

http://youtu.be/XDZ3yYTZrr0

http://youtu.be/4XXKfkTUrKQ

http://youtu.be/N7pg0LR5dzs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

9:00 am to 3:00 pm

Watchers (During this Watch): Dana, Pat and Larry O.

I arrived downtown just after 9:00 am.  The first falcon I found was on the NW corner of B&L and while I was tweeting, it took off.  Continuing around to the east side of HSBC, I found a falcon (could have been the same one) on the SE corner.  While I was taking a picture of this falcon, another popped in.  Tag!  You’re it!

Both juvies flew around a bit and then both landed on the east side railing of HSBC.

They again took off and flew between HSBC and B&L.  At one point Beauty was up there.  While Cadence and Genesee were talon tagging, she headed northwest.

They flew around to the other side of B&L and I followed.

They both took off heading west.  Again I followed.  Beauty was on Mercury’s heel and I saw one juvie turn the corner at Exchange and Broad, heading for the jail.  Dana joined me and we went looking for them.

For only a moment, we found one on a short antenna on top of the jail, then it was gone.  It was really getting warm and humid, so I headed to Aqueduct St (aka the hole) to find some shade.  Dana joined me there.

At first, there were no falcons in view, except for Beauty on Mercury.  Then we heard the first alarm kaks.  There was a Turkey Vulture (TV) passing overhead.  All at once, there were three falcons in the sky.  One adult was quickly catching up to the TV, while two juvies followed.  They didn’t quite get the concept of what the parent was doing.  While the adult was going after the TV, Genesee and Cadence decided it was a good time to stoop on each other!  At first Dana and I thought that there was an intruding falcon in the area.  lol

After the Turkey Vulture was vanquished, I checked the Mercury statue.  Beauty was gone.  I believe it was her that went after the TV.  I thought at first it might have been Dot.ca.

Everything was quiet for a little while.  Beauty flew over us heading east.  We checked Mercury again and found Genesee on one side of the base mantling food with Beauty on the other side.

Genesee took off and headed west, carrying the food.  We found him on the Widow Walk Bldg.  Beauty flew over and landed next to him.

Just after Beauty landed next to Genesee, he took off again, with the food.  He headed west and so did I.  I could hear all kinds of juvie cries echoing off the buildings, but where was he?  I drove towards Main St and turned right.  Directly in front of me, heading east, was a low flying juvie.  I followed and saw it land on the south side of the Powers bldg.  Beauty was also there and so was Cadence.  They kept flying back and forth between the Powers Bldg. and the Monroe County Bldg (MCB).  Somehow Cadence now had the food!  She landed on a top window on the MCB.  Beauty landed above Dana and I on a lower SW corner of the Powers Bldg and Genesee ended up on top of the MCB.

Genesee flew around and landed on different parts of the MCB, before finally joining Cadence.  He slowly moved closer and closer to Cadence and was able to grab a few pieces of food for himself.  They both filled their crops, while Beauty kept watch.

After finishing her meal, Cadence took off and landed on a window on the Union Bank Bldg.  This building is just east of the Monroe County Bldg.  Pat joined us for a short visit on her way through downtown.  Genesee filled his crop and Beauty landed next to him to eat what was left.

Beauty was the first to take off, then Genesee and last Cadence.  All took off heading west and turning south.

After they all left, Dana and I drove around trying to find where they went.  Dana spotted a juvie on the Times Square Bldg under the SW wing.  It was Cadence and she was hunkering down in the shade from the wing.  We did not see where the others went. We decided to take a lunch break at the Genesee Brewery.  While we were there, Larry O tweeted that he was downtown looking around.  After lunch, we went out to the pedestrian bridge, but found no falcons there.

During the day, I saw a lot of falcons flying that I could not positively ID.  Dot.ca may have been around keeping an eye on things, while Beauty handled the feeding of her young today.

It’s going to be even warmer tomorrow with temperatures near 90 degrees (F).  Keep cool everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There was a thunderstorm happening when I got up at 4:30am today and it was done by the time I left making it very humid and dark outside. The temperature was a balmy 71 (F) 22 (C)

I found Seth in his favorite roosting spot- the top north side window ledge of Seneca Towers. He was pretty mellow all scrunched down and there were no other falcons around so I didn’t stay with him for long.

My downtown juvie sightings have been sparce this past week so I wanted to get there earlier today to see if I could find them. My first stop on the Andrews St. bridge bagged me an adult whom I’m pretty sure was Beauty on the middle arm of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). It was a bit dark out so I couldn’t tell if it was a robin or a kestrel that was buzzing her. She eventually had enough and took off .

<Click

I started driving south on Fitzhugh St. and as I came up to Main St. I spotted a falcon on the north side railing of Widows Walk (WW)-it flew east before I could pull over. I went east as well, crossing the river and finding Beauty on the southeast corner railing of HSBC. I stopped to watch first from Woodbury Blvd. then Midtown Manor Apt. parking lot. I got off a couple pics and then she was gone.

<Click

Next I parked on Chestnut St. to check the south side of Xerox and Beauty appeared above it, circling the Midtown Plaza building, Legacy Tower and Xerox before disappearing momentarily behind HSBC. Half a minute later Beauty came back into view with Cadence right behind her whining. They did some nice flying together above and around Xerox for a few minutes then vanished to the west.

I went to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to have a look around and just as I pulled over saw the Beautyful one fly to the Hyatt Hotel and land on the southwest corner. She seemed to have given Cadence the slip so I went looking for her after observing Beauty for a few minutes. I noticed in my travels that the Court St. bridge was closed for crews to start removing the log jam in the river.

Beauty seemed to point me in the right direction to find Cadence for I located her on the southeast corner lower roof of WW around 6:40am. I pulled into the parking lot next to Times Square to watch as she was picking at a small piece of food.

She mainly just stood there with it fixed in her talon occasionally whining and then flew off with it heading southeast.

The search was on to find a falcon but it wouldn’t happen as I made my way to High Falls for a look before heading out of downtown. I found Seth on the north end top window of Seneca Towers from East Ridge Road near St. Paul St. He too had a small package in his talon and was standing over it. I guess it was share your food day in falcon land or take it with you so nobody else gets it-whatever the case, he flew off with it to the east.

<Click

Seth started looking down at something before he took off and I think he may have been taking the food to a juvie.

<Click>

I decided to take a ride down East Ridge Rd. and have a look around the 2 high rises along the way, Rochester General Hospital since I’ve been told falcons have been seen there and also Medley Center which has had falcons visiting it in the past. No sightings were made so I returned to Seneca Towers where I saw no falcons at first glance. I tweeted as such and ended my watch or so I thought. As I made my way down Seth Green Dr. I spotted 2 falcons near the northwest corner. Billie was on a pipe behind a juvie whom I believe was Bith, on the west side railing.

I wanted to stay and hang out with them but had to get something to eat as my blood sugar was low so I called it a watch officially at 9am. I made my way up to my 16th floor apartment smiling after seeing half of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons. 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/sdz80_Fbn8Y

http://youtu.be/Ws7A_LJn98s

http://youtu.be/V94J9MQVmUM

http://youtu.be/pUNhfJPoST0

http://youtu.be/JR3WuQolSQY

http://youtu.be/a2l4seLYqsc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

For the most part it was overcast this morning with humid conditions and a temperature of 59 (F) 15 (C)

First before I get to my morning watch I have pics of both juvies on the south side bridge ledge from yesterday afternoon. I believe it’s Bith on the left and Sellie on the right as they tried to fit in a small patch of shade.

I pulled around to the back of the building (north end) to check before leaving my parking lot this morning at Seneca Towers (ST) and I found Seth on one of his favorite spots-the west end of the top window ledge. He looked like he was scrunched down from the angle I had on him from below. The sun broke through briefly as it came up as Seth watched over his territory. He pooped and stretched and I thought he would take off a couple of times.

It wasn’t until I heard a whining juvie that Seth finally took off heading north. I checked every side of ST finding no falcons before leaving for downtown.  From the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) I saw Beauty on the north corner top I beam of OCSR around 6:30am. When I went over to Bragdon Place for a closer look she was gone.

As I made my way down South Ave. I spotted someone flying near Legacy Tower. I drove to Woodbury St. to check from the south side of Xerox and then I could see that it was the Beautyful one hovering above Legacy Tower before flying around and above Xerox before flying west. I caught up with her on the heel of Mercury as I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB).

Beauty extracted a pellet soon after I arrived and tried bringing up more a couple more times while I watched her. Once again the sun peeked out from the clouds briefly and shed a new light on Beauty as she kept an eye on her territory. She stayed until 7:08am when she flew off heading south.

I wouldn’t see her again until almost 9am when I spotted her on the head of Mercury. I don’t recall ever seeing her there before-she must be hanging out with her kids too much, juvies will perch just about anywhere!

I was on the BSB at first watching her and down in the river which is at a very high level I spotted 1 Canada Goose and one duck in the fast moving current.

<Click

I got back in my car and had a look around but still the only falcon in sight was Beauty so i settled down in the hole on Bank Place where it meets Aqueduct St. to finish out my watch with Beauty.

I left for Seneca Towers where I could find no falcons and ended my watch at just before 10am. The juvies are branching out further in the mornings now which they do before they get ready to leave town for good on their life’s journey. It’s a bittersweet time for a falcon watcher as you look forward to seeing them fledge and fly around being silly and then suddenly they’re gone. The time with them goes by so fast but I have to smile when I think about all the time I got to spend with them as time passes! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/pESceq94egc

http://youtu.be/aOMSZj4VPFM

http://youtu.be/mnotBzFymp0