8:00 – 10:30 am.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It’s that time of year again. Our four eyases are growing like weeds and Nova and Neander are busy hunting, providing for and protecting them. So, when the watchers are downtown, it’s usually pretty easy to see activity around the Times Square Bldg nest box.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning! The sun was shining and the temps were warming up nicely. Larry O joined me with his dogs Gimli and Cozi.

When I first arrived, Nova was on top of the Rfalconcam Main Camera. The eyases in the nest box were able to see her. I was not able to see Neander, who was on the Main St side of the Wilder Chimney. But Shaky or Eileen pointed our Pan Cam, Camera #3 to his location.

There are a lot of changes to the area surrounding the Times Square Bldg. The hole, aka Aqueduct St, has had the most changes since Constellation Brands is moving into the Aqueduct Bldg. Where we used to watch the falcons from is now pretty much off limits to us. We’ll adapt.

Here are a couple pictures from my Sunday morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

When I first arrived downtown I spotted a falcon on the Widows Walk. This is the old city hall building located behind the Times Square Bldg. It was Neander aka Mr. White Feather.

Neander took off flying towards the Wilder Bldg and landing on the chimney. That’s when I could hear very loud falcon vocalization. You guessed it, Nova was on the chimney and she had food. There wasn’t much left, so Neander helped himself to her leftovers. Neander took his pigeon wing to the SW corner of the Wilder Bldg while Nova remained on the chimney.

It was quiet for a long time, but the Sunday morning peacefulness was broken by both Nova and Neander’s alarm kakking. They both took off and flew low over the Wilder and Cross Rds Bldg. I could not see what they were after, but assumed it might be a person out on the roof. It was quiet as Nova landed on top of the Mercury Statue and Neander landed on the NW wing ring on top of the Times Square Bldg.

Again it was quiet for a long time. Then they both started alarm kakking again. This time they both took off and flew towards the Widows Walk and started diving on the building. I quickly drove over to the Times Square Bldg parking lot to see what had their attention.

Mystery solved! The intruder into their territory was a Red-tail Hawk. The poor hawk was hunkered down on a lower ledge and was under attack by two very irate Peregrine Falcons!

As I watched, Nova and Neander took turns stooping on the hawk. The hawk kept low, trying to stay away from falcon talons. Finally, Nova and Neander ended their attack. Nova returned to the top of Mercury and Neander to the Times Square Bldg. I watched the hawk for awhile, only catching a glimpse of the top of its head. For some reason, I thought this was a juvie Red-tail Hawk. I wished it well, hoping it would soon make its escape.

On the way home, I checked ST and could not find Billie or Beau.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sunday morning falcon watch. It was very cold. Most of my watch was spent watching Neander on the Wilder Chimney.  He did take off once kakking and chasing a juvie Red-tail Hawk out of the area. He soon returned to the chimney.

I put down some seed for the neighborhood pigeons. I do this every Sunday morning that I go downtown for a watch. The city workers were busy putting up Christmas decorations on Main St. A rat ran by as I was watching them!

The hole aka Aqueduct St, is still closed. Has been for about a month now. Looks like new curbs have been placed and a few trees have been planted. Not sure if we’ll be able to park down there when it’s finished.

There was a very large crane next to OCSR towering high above the building.

Larry O, Cozi and Gimli joined me. There was no falcon activity while they were there, unless you count Neander preening.

After Larry left, I drove around the downtown area looking for Nova. From the back of Midtown, I spotted 3 falcons flying together high above the 5 Star Bank Bldg. They were headed west, and there was absolutely no aggression.

Back on the Court St Bridge, I could see that Neander was still on the Wilder Chimney.

It was time to end my watch and head home. I decided to drive by City Hall to check the Frontier Communication Tower. I was happily surprised to see a falcon on the platform. After a closer look, I saw that it was Nova, and she was dancing! Flapping her wings and strutting around, circling. She then took off heading west. That was fun! So happy to see both Nova and Neander. 

One other thing. City Hall is now playing a recording of very loud distressed bird vocalizations. They use these to scare off crows and pigeons. I didn’t see any Crows, but there were a lot of Pigeons nearby that were not impressed. Nova may have been there to investigate.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Yesterday morning I headed downtown for a Sunday morning falcon watch.  I found Neander on the SW corner of the Wilder Bldg. I followed his line of sight. He was intently watching Nova who was eating her breakfast on the SE corner of the Telesca Bldg.  Feathers were flying!

It wasn’t long before Neander joined Nova to grab a share of her meal. Loud vocalizations filled the quiet Sunday morning air. Neander grabbed a small portion of what appeared to be a pigeon while Nova grabbed the rest of it and flew off heading south behind the Wilder Bldg. She cached it and flew back, landing on top of the Wilder Chimney.

Neander quickly ate his small meal and took off heading towards OCSR. I spent the rest of my time watching Nova on the chimney.

On my way home I stopped at ST and found one falcon there. I was not able to see if banded, so not sure if it was Billie or Beau.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

The title of this watch report says it all. Dana and I were ecstatic to find Artemis in the High Falls Gorge this morning. If not for a gull diving on Artemis, who was on a tree on the east side gorge wall, we would have never know she was there. Thank you gull!

Dana, Larry and I were downtown watching Nova, Neander and at least one juvie this morning. Since we were not able to positively identify the juvie or juvies we saw, it is impossible to tell if we had more than one.

There was a juvie that came in for a food transfer from Nova and flew south with the food. A little later, we saw a juvie on the Radisson that had a very full crop. This juvie hopped around for a bit and then laid down out of view.

Larry and Gimli left and Dana and I decided to head over to the observation deck at High Falls. The pedestrian bridge is now closed for one and a half years, so we could not look from there.

After arriving at the observation deck, our attention was drawn to a gull that kept diving on the tree line on the east side of the gorge. We expected to see a Red-tail Hawk there, but to our surprise it was a juvenile Peregrine Falcon!

At first, we couldn’t see a band, but eventually she did turn towards us and showed us her bright blue band. Hello Artemis!

While we were there, she took off three times and flew around the gorge, chasing gulls and pigeons, anything that flew. She was having a ball and so were we! Watching falcons in the gorge is always our dream!

On her 3rd flight around the gorge, she headed south, over the rail road tracks at the top of the falls and headed towards downtown. We believe she ended up on the Radisson.

After such a fun Saturday morning watch, Dana and I headed over to ST to check on Billie and Beau and their two juvies. We only saw Billie and Beau there. All the juvies are starting to wander a bit.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Well, what can I say? This year got away from me totally! As you have probably heard, downtown Rochester is a wreck! There are very few options on where to sit and watch or park the Rochester Falcons and certainly nowhere quiet. A few of us even got parking tickets! That was a first for me. Here’s a couple shots to show you a bit of what we have been dealing with.

Enough complaining, it is what it is. Another strange thing that happened this year is that no watcher’s actually witnessed any of our young falcons fledging. It all happened while we were not there. From Jubilee’s accidental fledge after being pushed off the wall by sister Artemis, then Artemis soon taking off after that, to Sterling waiting until later that day. Thankfully all three fledged safely to nearby buildings.

I do apologize for not leaving any watch reports this year, but things have been a little hectic. I and other watchers have been downtown to keep an eye on the young juvies as much as possible. Weekends are the best, since it’s easier to move around.

Sterling, Artemis and Jubilee have been seen hanging out together and training, under the watchful eye of Nova and Neander, to become successful Peregrine Falcons.

I’ve finally had a chance to download my picutres. There are quite a few favorites that I’d like to share. Hope you enjoy!

BE SURE TO CLICK ON EACH PICTURE TO SEE THE LARGER VERSION

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Since tomorrow is forecast to be a rainy day, I decided to go out this morning. I usually enjoy Sunday morning watches, but I really enjoyed today’s watch.

It had been a very long time since Nova and Neander had visited the Times Square Bldg nest box. Falcons have been seen over on the Five Star Bank bldg, but yesterday, our cameras caught two falcons on the Wilder Bldg chimney. So, I hoped to see them closer to the Times Square Bldg (TSB) this morning. My wish came true!

From the Court St Bridge, I could see a large flock of pigeons in panicked flight between the TSB and the jail communication tower. I was pretty sure I saw a falcon in the mix but did not see where it went.

I drove all over but had no luck finding any falcons. When I returned to the Court St Bridge, I spotted two falcons chasing pigeons around the Times Square Bldg. To my happy surprise, they both landed at the TSB nest box!

Parking closer to the building, I could see them and hear them ee chupping loudly to each other. They remained there for a while before they both took off, heading east. I was unable to find them, so I ended my Saturday morning watch.

Now, I can’t be 100% sure that it was Nova and Neander, but it sure looked like them.

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

The following is a series of pictures showing Nova taking off from the Times Square Bldg nest box platform.

Finally, I was able to afford a new computer! I was posting pictures of my pictures, which weren’t very good. So, now I’ll be able to share my pictures again. I had thousands to go through! Pictures and videos from my 2022 falcon watch.

Here are some of my favorite pics of Kanfai Malachim, Zara and Blaze and Nova and Neander. I hope they are all doing well!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Here are a few pics from my watch on Saturday morning.

No juvies, just Nova and Neander hanging out.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Please continue to pray FOR A FRIEND

Today’s Watchers: Jeanne, Kathy O, Larry O, Joyce, Dana and Carol P.

It was a beautiful and very chilly (downright cold!) morning watch. Jackets were a necessity! Brrrr! Gotta love August in Rochester, NY. Of course, as I write this, it’s 76F and sunny. Beautiful!

There isn’t much of a report today. The only falcons we saw were the adults, Nova and Neander. At the beginning of the watch, Nova was on the south side of the Wilder Bldg green strip and Neander was up on the Times Square Bldg nest box platform. They were chatting back and forth, probably discussing where Kanfai Malachim and Blaze had gone. Nova for sure had a very full crop.

We started out in the hole (Aqueduct St) and ended up on the other side of the river on the west side of the Convention Center where we have a wonderful view of the whole area.

Neander ended up napping on the west side of the Wilder Bldg green strip and Nova took off heading north and turning in the general direction of the Powers Bldg.

So, no juvies downtown, but on the way home, Dana and I found 2 juvies at ST.

Here are a few pics of pics from this morning.