By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers (6:30 – 10:30 am) – Kathy O, Dana, Larry O and Carol P.

Weather: Started out at 60 degrees (F) and was up into the 70’s when we ended our watch. Bright sunshine and very low humidity. Blue Sky and very little breeze.

When Kathy O arrived, she saw two juvies on Widows Walk. I arrived soon after and only saw Hope there. Larry O and Dana arrived soon after I did.

It was very quiet for the first 3 hrs of our morning watch. Hope had taken off and was replaced by (who we think was) Roc. Without seeing them together to see size difference and no look at their legs (blue vs yellow), it is almost impossible to tell them apart, especially for me.

Just as Larry O was pulling out of the parking lot, Hope flew over us heading towards Widows Walk. She landed right next to Roc, knocking him down to the lower ledge. Beauty was on the corner of the Powers Bldg and Dana spotted Dot.ca on the north side of OCSR.

We started to hear a juvie crying behind us. After walking around and searching, I found Beauty and Roc (I think, based on size) with food on the corner of the now closed Riverside Hotel.

There was a lot of flying by all five while we were on the Main St Bridge, over the river. Including talon tagging by Hope and Geraki.

The morning watch started out slow, but ended up with a lot of activity by our Rochester Falcons.

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

Here is my Thursday morning movie, of video clips and pictures of our Peregrine Falcon juvies- by Auntiewood. Hope you enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers This Morning (6:15 – 9:45 am) – Dana, Kathy O, Larry O, Sue, Shaky & Carol P.

Weather: Cool with low humidity. 60’s this morning, going up to high 70’s this afternoon. Lots of sunshine and blue sky.

Finally! Welcome Rochester Falcons Class of 2020!

Finally, our three juvies landed close to each other on Widows Walk this morning. It’s so hard to get a picture of the three of them together. I just wish there could have been four juvies in this picture. I know their lost sibling is flying free with all our falcons that have passed before her or him.

This morning they were very active, playing with each other. They love being together!

The girls, Hope and Geraki enjoyed a nice talon tag session over us. It is so amazing seeing them fly so well. Roc is really close to hunting on his own. I would not be surprised if one of the watchers is lucky enough to see him successfully hunt one of these days.

Beauty was hanging out on the Powers Bldg and Dot.ca on OCSR. Geraki even joined Dot.ca, on the top Ibeam of OCSR, making an awesome landing. She was the one that was having a bit of trouble with her landings so it was great seeing her do so well. Hope is a bit smaller than Geraki. She intensely watches everything that moves around her.

Our class of 2020 is doing great!

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers (6:00 – 10:30 am) – Dana, Larry O, Kathy O & Carol P.

Weather: Much cooler, low humidity and very windy, but sunny. Temps in the 70’s later today.

When I parked in the hole (Aqueduct St), Dana had already arrived. I had just missed a food transfer from Beauty, which brought all 3 juvies up to the sky. All three landed on the Thomson Reuters bldg. Kathy and Larry arrived and we all settled down to watch from the parking lot in the hole. Beauty was in and out, landing on various buildings. As each juvie took their turn eating breakfast, the others would pop up from time to time.

Dot.ca was close by, sitting on the top Ibeam of OCSR. He may have provided this meal for his young.

There was a lot of flying by Roc. He flew here and there, enjoying the strong winds.

Oh, and there is a surprise picture at the end. Be sure not to miss it. 🙂

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers during my morning watch (6:30 – 10:30 am), Larry O and Kathy O.

Weather: Very warm and humid with temps going up to the high 80’s. Maybe some rain this afternoon. We really need it.

When I first arrived in the hole, I heard loud cries above me. There were two juvie falcons talon tagging over the parking lot. One landed on the NE corner of Wilder. It was Geraki. She took off and landed on the base of Mercury.

Larry O had reported a juvie over on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT), so we had all 3 juvies pretty quickly. That’s always good.

The quiet was broken big time when Beauty flew over carrying food. Three fast and furious juvies took to the sky and the chase was on!

I tried to keep track of them, but lost them as they turned north. Beauty had landed on the chimney on the old City Hall (Irving Place). One of the juvies had grabbed the food and all three continued on heading north. I headed out on foot. It’s easier than trying to drive around.

Beauty was gone. I followed the path of the juvies and found Beauty and Geraki on top of the roof of City Place. Feathers were floating down over Geraki, so I knew where the food had gone. But I wasn’t sure how many juvies were up there.

After awhile Geraki went out of view and was replaced by Hope. Beauty took off and returned and then left again. She ended up on the Widows Walk railing. While Hope was taking her turn at the food, Roc flew in and landed next to Geraki. Well, now we had all three!

Kathy O joined me on Fitzhugh. When the three juvies were finished eating, they took off one at a time. Roc took off heading south. Hope took off landing on 13 Fitzhugh, the site of the oldest school building in Rochester. Geraki took off last, tried to land next to Hope, but slid down the roof. She continued south.

While we were watching Hope, we were visited by Ellen, who works in a nearby building. Ellen had been a watcher during the Mariah and Kaver days.

Hope took off and headed southwest. That’s when Roc flew in and landed on the ledge below Beauty, who was still on the Widows Walk railing. Roc stood in front of the hole pigeons used, probably to raise little pigeons. He stood there hoping for a pigeon to appear. lol

At one point, a pigeon landed a few feet to his right on the ledge and they just kind of looked at each other. At one point Roc looked up and cried for Beauty to do something. 🙂

Roc took off while I wasn’t looking. When I ended my watch at 10:30 am, the only falcon I had in view was Beauty. Sadly no pictures of Dot.ca. Larry O and Kathy O said he was over on OCSR.

Here are some pictures from my watch. Enjoy!

The building that Hope was on was the site of the first schoolhouse in Rochester. The current building was built in 1873.

Larry OHeron: 05:45 – 07:45 pm)

Highlight: Beauty brought eats to Mercury where there were two juvies. A third came in and two juvies were eating, when one of them flew off with the meal while the other held on, leading to a tug-of-war over the TR parking lot.

05:45. Andrew Street Falcon watch. Out now to beat the predicted rain later. one Falcon on OCSR, second I beam down, West corner. One Falcon on crossroads North corner, juvie.

05:57. I’ve got two falcons on Mercury. One of them’s a juvie.

05:59. Falcon Central watch. Adult on Mercury’s arm which I believe is beauty. Juvie is on Mercury’s foot.

06:01. Beauty flew across the river and disappeared over by the Metropolitan building.

06:05. Broad Street Falcon watch. After repositioning to the bridge, I can now see a second juvie on the base of Mercury.

06:12. Momentarily had a falcon underneath the northeast wing of Times Square.

06:22. Have a falcon again underneath the Northeast wing. Plus two juvies on mercury.

06:31. Bcame back from the east side of the river and delivered something to eat, not very big, to the juvie on Mercury’s foot. Beauty then flew off and over somewhere behind TR.

06:32. At the moment I can account for four falcons. Beauty just went behind Wilder Bldg. There’s a falcon under the Northeast wing. There’s two juvies on Mercury.

06:37. The falcon under the northeast wing was a juvie. It just flew to Mercury to get a little bit of what was brought in by Beauty. There are now three juvies on Mercury.

06:39. Broad Street Falcon watch. Carrie and I agree that between the kinda-whitish breast and big wingspan when it took off from TS, that most likely it was Hope underneath the northeast wing. So that put r and g, being on Mercury.

06:41. It’s kind of hard to gauge whether the two on the base that are picking at something are roughly the same size or not. It only matters in order to try an ID whether it is r on the foot or g on the foot of Mercury.

06:43. One of the two on the base snatched the meal, and took to the air. The other one on the base followed immediately for a chase over the TR parking lot, and then the one on the foot took off to chase the other two.

06:44. In the mix one adult came in for a little bit and then took off over TR. So all three juvies are on wilder building.

06:55. Broad Street Falcon watch. Adult flew onto Wilder ladder. One juvie came out of hiding and is on the air conditioning unit of Wilder.

06:59. Right now Carrie and I have two juvies who are hiding on Wilder, and one juvie, possibly Hope, on the air conditioning unit of Wilder. And most likely it’s Beauty on the ladder.

07:19. Pat has joined Carrie and I. Two juvies on the AC unit. One juvie on southwest corner of Wilder, dragging whatever it was the beauty brought in to Mercury, that the two juvies then tugged that as they flew over to Wilder. Beautie on wilder ladder.

07:29. Beauty flew west.

Click on the link below for a short movie containing video clips and pictures from my morning watch. Hope you enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers this morning from 6:30 – 10:30 am: Kathy O, Larry O, Dana, Sue, Shaky and Carol P.

Weather: Hot and muggy. Bright sunshine. 80’s

When I arrived downtown, I quickly found Roc on the NE corner of City Place, which is very close to the Frontier Communication Tower. I drove around trying to find the other juvies, with no luck. When I returned to where Roc was, he was gone.

I met Larry O over on the Andrews St Bridge. He had spotted a juvie lower on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT). There was an adult on the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg. Pretty sure this was Beauty. We headed over to FCT.

Kathy O joined us and let us know there was another juvie on the shorter communication tower. I walked around to get a better view and found Hope up on the south side platform. So, we had all three juvies! Roc lower in the framework, Geraki on the shorter comm tower and Hope on the platform.

Dana joined us, and we moved to the south side of FCT to get a better view of all three. First Geraki, then Roc, then Hope took off heading south. We all split up. I was able to ID Dot.ca on the 2nd IBeam down on OCSR.

Dana had gone to the Andrews St Bridge and spotted all three juvies on the north end of Cross Rds. We all arrived in time to see them playing together. So much fun to watch!

Shaky and Sue joined us on the Andrews St Bridge and we all settled in to watch the juvies play and fly. Even got to see some talon tagging. So much fun!

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Oh, and a quick video of them playing on Cross Rds. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers this morning (6:30 – 10:30 am): Dana, Larry O and Carol P.

Weather: Yet another gorgeous morning. 70’s this morning, but going up to 89 degrees this afternoon with a chance of possible thunderstorms.

Dana beat me downtown this morning and saw all three juvies eating on the Cross Rds Bldg. When I arrived, Roc flew over us and landed on the lower railing on the Mercury statue. We watched him until he took off heading towards the Powers Bldg, where Beauty was located on the camera there.

We started walking back to the hole. As we turned the corner, we saw Beauty flying in with food with two juvies chasing her. Beauty, Roc, and Geraki landed on the corner of the Philippone Bldg. That’s when Larry O joined the watch.

During the rest of the morning, we had flying by all three juvies. They were very active this morning until 10:15 am, when they all flew to their favorite spots for their mid-day siesta. Geraki on the back of the ledge above the nest box on the Times Square Bldg. Roc flew over to the Powers Bldg and Hope went to the Cross Rds Bldg. Beauty was at the TSB nest box and we found Dot.ca on the top arm of the Frontier Communication Tower. Dana and I ended our morning watch at 10:30 am.

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

Here’s a little Rochester, NY history. We have spent many hours watching the falcons in the hole, behind the Tallman Bldg.

Larry OHeron ( 06:00 – 08:00 am)

Highlight: Hunt by DC and Roc over the TSB Parking Lot

06:20. Court Street Promenade Falcon watch. No falcons so far this morning.

06:36. Had two falcons on Powers, one on North rail, one on West rail. While tweeting this message, one is no longer visible

06:43. One falcon on Powers camera. One falcon on Northwest wing Ring.

06:44. Check that. Falcon just flew off be wing ring. Now a Falcon is just landed on the southwest wing ring.

07:24. High falls Falcon watch. Both adults. Beauty is on powers. DC is on times square wing ring.

07:35. TSB Parking Lot. Just pulled into the parking lot to see one of the falcons chasing a pigeon. Missed. One of the falcons almost ran into the building on the west side of the parking lot. A juvie was helping dad. It was Roc. I’d say – incorrectly – that DC almost ran into the County Leg building, but I think he was attempting to corner a pigeon against the building. At the very last, DC put the brakes on hard for a dramatic run at the building with the pigeon in between. Amazing attack.

07:37. Dad landed on old City Hall. Juvie flew around the corner up Irving Street. Both are not visible now.

Here are some pictures from High Falls