By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today started out rainy and humid with a temperature of 72 (F) 22 (C) and clearing up in the afternoon/evening

Click on my pics to see the full version

We continued monitoring Nettie on the Thomson Reuters building after she was found there last night by Bob from New Hampshire. Donna and I arrived in the hole about 7:15am-Lisa,Carol ,Dana,Eileen,and Larry were there. Ken and Nancy joined us and after they left Paul Hamilton came by. There was a juvie on one of the Widows Walk building chimneys with food that Beauty wanted to take but this child of  hers wouldn’t oblige her. After many attempts to take it-flying off and returning, Beauty gave up and went to the base of Mercury.

Joyce joined the watch followed by Brian as we all spent our day in the hole watching over Nettie who seemed to be alert, walking fine and stretching her wings out evenly. The other juvies flitted in and out a little landing on Widows Walk,Reynolds Arcade and Times Square at different times.

The watchers took breaks at different times and when Donna and I returned from our afternoon break Carla was there and later Jeanne, Dana,Lou,Dan and 3 of his friends joined the watch. Donna and I went to check around for other falcons finding Mercury on the east side rail of Mercury the statue.

Just as we were returning Nettie flew from Thomson Reuters-we believe because a couple people went out on the roof for a moment. She ended up on the Democrat & Chronicle building across from Times Square. Beauty flew in and landed on the Times Square building on a small southeast ledge across from Nettie.

Nettie didn’t seem comfortable there so after a few minutes she took off and made a smooth, deliberate but slow fight to the Telesca building roof on the other side of Times Square. Tesh and the boys made an appearance on Widows Walk giving us a view of all 4 juvies at once before they all flew off.

It was another eventful fledge watch as Nettie showed us that she can fly with no issues-making all of us watchers near and far smile! 🙂

To view more pics and videos click on the links below

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjuY

http://youtu.be/0sdSK9mVffo

http://youtu.be/a8H25EgiJHM

http://youtu.be/dWizYgTQ3Cs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The starting temperature for our 1st Watchers Weekend morning was 61 (F) 16 (C) with abundant sunshine throughout the day

We had a total of 35 watchers come out to watch our young fledglings-if you would like to know who you can refer to my tweets from yesterday where I listed them all by name as they arrived. You can find them under Falcon Watches-Twitter. Sorry, no time for a detailed report.

Genesee Valley Audubon Society president June Summers presented Shaky with an appreciation gift for all his work to keep our cams up and running-it was a laptop carrier bag. We had a Black-crowned Night Heron in the tree by the Broad St. Bridge and our turtle was up on the rocks along with a Great Blue Heron to keep us occupied while we waited for our falcons to get into action.

We had lots of long distance flying by our young fledglings and a lot of down time. They were seen all over the downtown area and the highlight of the morning was Beauty thumping on and chasing a Bald Eagle out of the area. In the afternoon Nor’Easter, Mercury and Tesh had a siesta on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT).

The evening featured Nettie on the Thomson Reuters building-the fact that she never left her spot to join her siblings leads us to believe that she may have a problem-she is still there as I write this report at 6am Sunday morning.

We  will be keeping a close eye on Nettie. It was a fun filled day getting together with everyone with lots of smiling going on! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The starting temperature was 54 (F) 12 (C) and not a cloud in the sky

My morning watch never really got off the ground. Dan told me Beauty had been on Mercury then flew to the jail tower-she was still there when I arrived and stooped seconds later. 3 juvies flew around the back of Times Square and never re-surfaced. Dan went to leave about 6:45am and I got in my car to go look for falcons but it wouldn’t start again just like Monday morning. That was it for me as I dealt with getting it fixed for the rest of the morning thanks to good friend and fellow watcher Jeanne.

Fast forward to early afternoon-I met up with Donna and Bonnie, also good friends and watchers from New Jersey at City Hall to watch out falcon family on the Frontier Communications Tower. It started out slow with just 1 falcon then another showed up-it was Tesh and Mercury.

<Mercury> <Tesh>

Tesh stayed put for the most part and Mercury being our wild child would fly off and come back and then he left the area. Nor’Easter flew in and landed on the tippy top of the tower antenna (I’d never seen a falcon up there before)-he didn’t stay long before flying down to join Tesh on the platform railing.

Lisa had stopped by on her lunch for a few minutes while our 2 blue footed fledglings played kissee face with each other-they’re so cute!

Tesh stayed with us most of the time as the boys flitted in and out-Joyce and Wendy from Virginia arrived followed by SusanC and her friend Jim, then Eileen (Dumpsterkitty) and Brian-CarolP was over at the pedestrian bridge at High Falls watching the adults on Kodak Office and she saw a juvie flying the gorge for about 5 minutes. Donna and I left for awhile and when we returned all the action was near Times Square and Widows Walk.

It started with 2 juvies on Widows Walk-then we had 3-then all 4 Rochester Peregrine Fledglings were on the north and east side railings. We think it was Dot.Ca that came flying in with food as all 4 juvies one at a time flew off after him. One of them made the food transfer over the Philippone building and took it to the Wilder building roof where the rest of them joined it.

<Click it

They were all out of sight as the Beautyful one flew in and landed under the northeast wing of Times Square.

Watchers that eventually filtered in to join the rest of us in the hole were KathyO, Carol (Lukka) from Buffalo, Lynn and Bob from New Hampshire,Dan, Shaky and Carrie, Dana and Lou. We should have a great watcher weekend-let the festivities begin and end with a smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a couple videos

http://youtu.be/RhkStphBKg8

http://youtu.be/FJk8ly0P9LQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(4:00 – 9:15 pm)

There wasn’t as much flying tonight as there had been yesterday, but it was fun watching all four on the Frontier Communication Tower.  While the juvies were high up on the tower, Beauty was very low, just above the RG&E roof line.  They probably knew she was down there, but they left her alone.  I believe that Beauty is starting to go through a molt.  The one flight shot I got of her after chasing two Turkey Vultures away, show some missing feathers in her wings.  This is not unusual at this time of year.

The highlight of the night was when Dot.ca flew in with food and Nettie took off from the north east wing ledge on the Times Square Bldg.  Dot.ca slowed down and allowed Nettie to fly up beneath him.  He held the prey in his talons and Nettie stretched up with her talons and grabbed the offered meal.  It was a perfect food transfer from dad to daughter!  Nettie took her prize to the north west wing ledge where she ate her dinner in peace. Tesh remained on the north east wing ledge.  Sorry to say I did not get any pictures of this food transfer, but Dana did.

Fellow Watchers Dana, Kathy O, Brian H, Shaky and Larry O joined me.  It was a chilly evening.  You definitely needed a jacket.

Just before 9:00 pm, all four juvies, Tesh, Nettie, Nor’easter and Mercury made their way back over to the Times Square Bldg.  But it was still fairly light and they weren’t ready to settle down.  Dot.ca brought in more food and dropped it on the south east wing ledge.  One of the boys gathered it in and ate a late night snack.  Tesh was not happy.  She took off and chased Dot.ca over the parking lot.  He played a little bit of talon tag with her before he headed towards OCSR and slipped up inside the elevator shaft, his nighttime spot.  Tesh continued on and flew behind the OCSR.  I’m not sure that she knew where Dot.ca went.  lol  She returned to the Times Square Bldg after searching for a few moments.

When we left, a little after 9:00 pm, the juvies had still not settled for the evening, but all 6 Rochester Falcons were accounted for during the evening watch.  Here are a few pictures from today’s watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a refreshing morning with clear blue skies and a temperature of 54 (F) 12 (C) I actually had to put on a sweatshirt

Click on my pics to view the full version

On my way downtown for my watch I noticed a hawk on the north side railing of the Kodak  Hawkeye nest site.

I was happy to see Dan in his chair on the Broad St. bridge as I turned off South Ave. and I was even more surprised to see an old friend pull up behind me in her little silver Mazda Miata-it was CarlaP! I hadn’t seen her since 2010 on the day that Jemison had  been injured and rescued. I thought I’d never see her again- Oh, happy day! 🙂

So Dan pointed out 2 juvies on the southeast column of the Times Square Building (TSB) and he said that he’d seen no adults. Nor’Easter was one of them and I believe the other was one of his sisters.

Nor’Easter flew to Mercury and landed on the head while his sibling landed on the heel. A 3rd fledgling flew thru and they followed it to the northwest out of view. Don’t forget to click on the pics!

Dan left, so Carla and I jumped in her convertible sports car and headed over to the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT)-no top on the car is a great way to watch falcons!  When we arrived in front of City Hall on Fitzhugh St. there was 2 juvies on the south side of FCT and Beauty was on the upper roof of City Place.

I was able to ID the middle pic above as Mercury-I believe the other one was a female. Suddenly Tesh came out from inside the structure and did a balancing act on a small beam before flying off and when she did another juvie flew out and joined her. seconds later the other 2 were flying and it was off to the races. One landed on the small tower then took off and the Beautyful one flew over to the southeast cube of FCT.

DebbieH came by at 7:45am at which point there were 3 juvies on the south side of FCT below Beauty.

<Click>  

Beauty flew back to her previous spot on City Place and all the kids followed 3 of them first went to the small tower then to City Place then to FCT and just back and forth chasing each other and squawking up a storm. Beauty left for Widows Walk and I believe it was Mercury who flew there and knocked her off-he loves doing that to mom.

Around 8:30am Carla had to get going and I had to go take care of some business -all 4 juvies were in sight when we left. When I got back I couldn’t find one falcon, adult or juvie anywhere downtown. Just before 11am I finally spotted a juvie fly from the north side of FCT and head east out of view but that was the last I saw of anybody.  I suspect it was nap time. After a busy and fun morning I ended my watch at 11:30am smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out a photo album and 1 video

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjt2

http://youtu.be/57YpbboyXmg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A much cooler day today.  Very pleasant for a change.  The gathered watchers were wearing jackets by the end of the evening.

I arrived downtown at the usual 3:50 pm, first checking Kodak Office, Frontier Communication Tower, a quick view of the downtown area, and the area surrounding the Times Square Bldg.  It wasn’t until I parked on the Broad St Bridge, that I noticed that there was something wrong with Mercury’s (the statue’s) head.  There was a 2nd set of wings on his helmet and they were moving.  Hmmm.  A closer check showed me just what I suspected.  Yep, there was a juvie falcon up there.  I never did get a positive ID.  I believe it was one of the girls, based on size.

From Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”), I was able to keep an eye on this head sitting juvie and both Beauty and Dot.ca on the top IBeam on the south side of OCSR.

After awhile, the juvie stretched out her wings and took off heading towards the very top of OCSR.  Another juvie joined her and they played a good game of talon tag.  While this went on, both Beauty and Dot.ca took off. The game moved out over the river and towards downtown.  It was time for me to move to the Broad St Bridge.

When I got up there and looked around, I found three juvies up on top of OCSR, where all the antennas were located.  Susan C and her friend Ian joined me.  After resting for awhile, two of the juvies came off of OCSR, and they started a new game of talon tag.  Or was it a continuation of the old game?  They both ended up on the Times Square Bldg at the north east wing ledge.  When we looked back up at the top of OCSR, we saw that juvie #4 was up next to the one that remained there.  Larry O joined us and he and Susan verified that we still had two on the Times Square Bldg.  Yes, they were still there.  So, we definitely had all four!

That’s when we noticed that Beauty was eating on the library above the river.  She ate her fill before carrying the remainder up to the base of the Mercury statue where one of the girls claimed it.  More and more watchers arrived for the evening watch.  Kathy O, Lisa McK, Dan, Dana, Lou, Carrie, Shaky, Jeanne and a quick stop by Joyce on her way home.

Beauty sounded a warning KAK and was off!  Dot.ca joined her to escort two Turkey Vultures out of the area.  Beauty returned and landed on Mercury’s heel and Dana and Lou found Dot.ca out on the Frontier Communication Tower.

We all relaxed and chatted while things remained quiet.  Larry O spotted the adult Black Crown Night Heron in the tree near the library and I’m pretty sure I spotted a mink running along the shore on the east side of the river.  Lots and lots of Mallard Ducks on the river with assorted gulls.  The water was higher than it had been after all the rain we had yesterday.

While we were relaxing, a young falcon by the name of Mercury, took off from the Times Square Bldg and quickly flew across the river.  He dove on the Crows lined up on the parking ramp garage, chasing them off.  After he was satisfied with what he had done, he headed back and landed on the fencing below the Mercury statue.  We were all very impressed!  🙂

Dana and Lou decided to see if they could find where the juvies went.  We could only see one on the jail communication tower and Beauty on Mercury’s heel.  Soon after they left, they tweeted that they had found the other 3 juvies on Widow’s Walk (WW).  Lisa and I joined them, while the rest of the watchers remained on the Broad St Bridge.

Soon after I arrived, Nor’easter joined his siblings on the WW.  Now we had all four together again!  The four of them stayed there until just before 9:00 pm, one by one they left the WW and returned to the Times Square Bldg.  Tess and Nettie flew up to the north east wing ledge.  Nor’easter flew around to the front of the building and landed near the nest box area.  We later found out he had landed on the ledge above the nest box.  Mercury took off heading south.  We found him on the jail communication tower.

Lisa and I were the last to leave, so we head up to the Broad St Bridge for one last head count before heading home.  Mercury was on the jail communication tower, one of the girls was up at the north east wing ledge (we think Tesh) and both Nor’easter and we think Nettie were tucked in to the north end of the ledge just above the nest box.  Beauty remained on Mercury’s heel, and we could not find Dot.ca.  He may have gone to his nighttime roost up inside the OCSR elevator shaft.

All the juvies were accounted for, so it was time for Lisa and I to leave.  Here are some pictures from yesterday and today.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The starting temperature this morning at 6am was 63 (F) 17 (C) with mostly cloudy skies

Click on my pics to see the full version

I was surprised when I turned onto the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) and didn’t see Dan sitting in his chair-hopefully he’s ok. The new fledglings made it easy on me today as there was 1 under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB), 2 0n Mercury and one on Widows Walk (WW). The 2 on Mercury flew to the northeast wing ledge and there was a bit of a tug of war over a small piece of food.

Nor’Easter and Nettie took off at the same time when they spotted the Beautyful one to the east. I found Beauty on the northeast corner of  Bausch & Lomb and could see the 2 juvies flying around above Xerox and Midtown. Suddenly Beauty was gone-turns out she had caught a pigeon. I started making my way down Broad St. to the bridge and as I crossed the intersection at South Ave. I glanced out my window and right above me was Beauty, pigeon in talons with Nettie and Nor’Easter on her tail. I hit the gas beat them to the brmiddle of the bridge, jumped out the car and got a shot of them just as they landed on the base of Mercury.

At first it seemed that Beauty was going to feed beak to beak but they got a little rough so she left it for them and flew off. A 3rd juvie landed briefly and left as well. There was some squabbling over the food but they ended up sharing. A few minutes later Beauty landed on the northeast corner of the base to supervise. After a bit she had a tug of war with Nor’Easter and won-she then ate a fair share before having to stop and feed Nor’E because he was yelling at her and carrying on. She fed him beak to beak while Nettie ate some food then finished up and moved down closer to watch her mom and brother.

Dot.Ca landed under the northeast wing of TSB at some point while I was watching the feeding and he flew off to the top ibeam south corner of OCSR. Nor’E had his fill and walked away with a full crop so Beauty ate some more. Both juvies flew off to the west, DC left OCSR and Beauty remained on Mercury as I took off to look for the kids.

As I pulled onto Bank Place to go to the hole I spotted DebbieH walking in my direction. She told me she saw a juvie land on the roof of OCSR. I took a look with my binocs and sure enough there was one up there just barely visible. After Deb left for work I checked Widows Walk and found a juvie there and Beauty was still on the base of Mercury.

I had to run an errand and when I returned it would be a long while before I found a juvie on the 2nd arm south side of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). I couldn’t ID it as the legs were not showing. I drove around the city 3 times only to find an adult on OCSR with its back to me-I think it was DC and the juvie on FCT.

I figured after eating, the juvies were napping so I called it a watch at 10am as I had things to do. I believe the fledglings are flying well enough that they don’t need to be watched all the time now. As I left downtown Rochester a smile came across my face, thinking about having raced falcons on the Broad St. Bridge! 🙂

Click on the links below to see more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjtU

http://youtu.be/71xxNXZWzIw

http://youtu.be/jjg-arUm2c4

http://youtu.be/LprSAMrw8oc

http://youtu.be/O5aErT_S1kQ

http://youtu.be/gXrlAE1ym8E

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A storm was approaching Rochester (NY) this afternoon.  They were calling for thunder, lightning, heavy rain, high winds and hail.  A possible tornado was even mentioned in the weather report.  It was raining when I left work and raining when I arrived downtown at about 3:50 pm.  Joyce was already on the fledge watch and had spotted Beauty and three of the juvies with her at the Frontier Communication Tower.  This was the first time we have seen them there.  I stopped on Plymouth where I could see one juvie on the red platform of the tower and one on top of the City Place Bldg.  Soon after I arrived, two of the young falcons took off heading south towards the Times Square Bldg.  I followed.

By the time I arrived at Broad St, I could see that there was one juvie on the railing of the Widow’s Walk (WW) building.  I parked on the Broad St Bridge.  From there, I could see no falcons, so I headed down to Aqueduct St. (aka “the hole”).  From there I could see the juvie on WW.  As the ominous, dark clouds approached, another juvenile falcon flew in and landed on the column above the nest box on the Times Square Bldg (TSB).  That when the winds picked up and the thunder and lightning started.  Then it poured!  Joyce joined me in the hole and we stayed in our cars, waiting out the storm.

While it rained, a third juvie flew in and landed on top of the Wilder Bldg.  Through the torrential rain, I could just barely see this juvie make its’ way down the length of roof to the south west corner.  There was a lot of flapping by this bird and the two on the TSB.  Finally, the sky began to brighten as the storm passed.  The clouds parted and a bit of sun showed through.  We were able to get out of our cars and enjoy the remainder of our watch.

Larry O joined us for a short while and then Kathy O arrived.  She, Joyce and I stayed until after 9:00 pm.

After the rain stopped, Beauty brought food to the base of the Mercury statue, where all four juvies landed and shared a large meal of pigeon.  There was no fighting or tug-o-wars.  Just four siblings sharing dinner.  After each had their fill, they took off one by one.  Tesh and Mercury were our high flyers.  They were all over downtown flying above the tall buildings there, especially Xerox, B&L and the Chase Lincoln Tower.  This is what I truly love to watch.  Young falcons flying together and chasing each other.  I love a good game of talon tag!  🙂

In the meantime, Nettie and Nor’easter flew around closer to the Times Square Bldg, chasing Beauty here and there.  lol  After they both settled on the TSB, Beauty went to the base of the Mercury statue and ate her share of what was left from the juvies earlier meal.

Dot.ca was there too, adding his support and watching over his young ones.  For much of the evening, Beauty and Dot.ca were both on the top IBeam of OCSR, just a few feet apart.

At the end of our watch, we could account for all six Rochester Falcons.  Tesh and Nettie were up on the southwest and northeast wing ledges on the TSB.  Both Nor’easter and Mercury were tucked in on the left side of the outside of the nest box.  What falcon fans are calling the “boy cave”.  Beauty had just left the TSB and flew towards OCSR and we had seen Dot.ca fly up into the OCSR elevator shaft a little earlier.

My watch lasted from 3:50 to 9:10 pm.  After the storm passed, it turned out to be a beautiful evening.  Sorry no pics tonight.  I just don’t have enough time to download them.  But, I did want to let you all know what happened tonight.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning was much nicer than yesterdays rainy watch-it was partly cloudy with a starting temperature of 67 (F) 19 (C)

When I arrived on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) Dan gave me the rundown-beauty was on the jail tower, 2 juvies were at the scrape and 2 had flown around the back of the Times Square building (TSB). Online watcher Donna reported it was Tesh and Nor’Easter at the nest box. Thank you very much!

Click on my pics to see the full version

Today our young fledglings spent a lot of time on Widows Walk (WW) and under the Times Square wings. Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) made food drops and left their kids to share or not with each other. One of the boys, (I believe it was Mercury) spent some time on the Crossroads building.

Around 8am Beauty dropped off food on WW and 3 juvies emerged on it with Tesh mantling it for a bit and also plucking feathers from the pigeon-she did share it with Nettie and Nor’Easter after eating some. DC came in to observe as the Beautyful one flew off. These 3 stuck together for the most part on my watch but I had all 4 of them in sight a few different times.

A while after this Beauty came in and landed under them on WW with more food but she prepared and ate the lions share of it as they watched and when she had enough she took it first to the deck by the main cam and then to the base of Mercury where she was mobbed by the 3 juvies that had been watching her. Beauty beat feet out of there and flew up to the heel of Mercury to observe and one of the fledglings left as it was a bit of a tug of war at first.

Everybody pretty much went their separate ways after this as they had eaten and were ready for siesta time except for Tesh-she shared space with me for much of the rest of my watch. Most of the time she was on WW but she also was under the northeast wing of the TSB. Twice she flew over by the Frontier Communications Tower and returned to WW. so I knew it was just a matter of time before the family would be hanging out over there. Beauty always takes her kids there after they fledge.

Nettie joined Tesh on WW and for a short time and walked from the north side along the east side to the south and out of view with her sister following behind. It was like monkey see, monkey do-very cute! It was nap time after a busy morning of eating and keeping MAK on her toes.

I ended my watch at 12:45pm on a quiet note, with a smile, after a very nice showing by our young Peregrine Falcon family! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a photo album and many videos from todays fledge watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjsy

http://youtu.be/j1g9gUZzwvg

http://youtu.be/xuU3Ch7-VRM

http://youtu.be/5XdXWWQIEPg

http://youtu.be/Sa29dE9M5fo

http://youtu.be/9GHHVy7dJBk

http://youtu.be/2sOP1xBfIcg

http://youtu.be/Trdg2GsJ5bw

http://youtu.be/ziTE2lsDIFo

http://youtu.be/7UKtVq3Zkd8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was raining, dark and dreary with a temperature of 70 (F) 21 (C) on my watch this morning

When I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge Dan was in his car and leaving-he told me good luck as all 4 juvies were out and about and he had trouble keeping track of them. I had some issues in that department myself.  The rain made it impossible to ID them but I did have a couple moments where I had all 4 of them in my sights. I started with Beauty peeking from the base of Mercury, Dot.Ca (DC) was on OCSR snoozing and staying out of the rain and the juvies were hanging out mostly on Times Square under the wings. One of them did show up on Crossroads.

A couple juvies went to the rail of Widows Walk and flew off together, then they showed up under the northeast wing again. Meanwhile, the Crossroads kid was staying put in the rain and DC moved to the south corner of OCSR before taking off.

<Click it

Beauty showed up on a small ledge below the well looking quite soaked as a couple of her kids  flew to the roof above the well and one remained under the northeast wing and the 4th was still hanging out on Crossraods.

I had to cut my watch short due to car trouble but before I left I had Beauty and her 4 fledglings accounted for which made me smile on a dark Rochester morning! 🙂

I have only one video link below-just click and view if you so choose

http://youtu.be/61SPtKva2q0