By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Todays nearly 20 degrees warmer than yesterday temperature was 34 (F) 1 (C) with mostly overcast skies

I was beginning to wonder if I was going to see any falcons this morning as it was almost 7:30am, and then as I was crossing the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) due east I looked up and saw Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) flying above Xerox. I sprang out of the car and started taping it-the distance and darkness caused  focusing issues but I managed to get some good footage.

They would soar higher and higher until they vanished into thin air only to reappear minutes later. Falcons can change their speed with just the flick of a wing making it hard to keep up with them especially if they’re flying in and out of view amongst tall buildings. They kept up their aerial display covering the east side of the city above Midtown,Xerox,Bausch&Lomb and HSBC  for a half hour and then they disappeared for quite some time. I checked out the river and found some ducks on the south side of the BSB before heading out to look for our sky dancing duo.

After an unsuccessful search of downtown I went to the Brighton site where I had the same result. I returned to the city and while stopped on the Andrews St. bridge I spotted a falcon under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) just about 9am. When I arrived next to He’s Chinese to observe I received a tweet from Pat (works at Thomson Reuters) that she could see a falcon up there as well. Thanks! I was able to ID the bird as Beauty and she was eating with feathers all around!

One second Beauty would be plucking big mouths full of feathers and the next chowing down on her meal. She spent about 45 minutes eating then she picked up her leftovers, cached them at the back of the ledge and flew north.

I drove north expecting to find the Beautyful one but instead came across DC on the Kodak Office cupola. His crop was empty and he was in hunt mode.

I left DC at 10am thus ending a watch that included some mighty fine flying-something that always produces a smile on this face! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a photo album and videos from my watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi9i

http://youtu.be/EDqHhNaF7oM
http://youtu.be/uSjyiJmPUrw
http://youtu.be/lyVJGD-wOAE
http://youtu.be/Gj0womLC6Ks

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

3:50 – 5:30 pm

Before I arrived downtown to search for Beauty and Dot.ca, I received the following tweets from Joyce.

3:17 pm – There is a pretty girl sitting on the NW corner of the W ext. Pigott is facing south with her head turning in every direction.

3:37 pm – On BSB…nothing in sight from here except a feast of pigeons on the South St Garage.

3:49 pm – DT: Checked FCT, KO, WW, and even elevator shaft…no falcons found. Heading north.

When I arrived downtown at 3:50 pm, I looked all over for Beauty and Dot.ca and could find neither of them.  The only falcon I saw was a Kestrel on top of an antenna on the Federal Bldg.

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Since I couldn’t find Beauty and Dot.ca, I headed over to the BS location.  Pigott was on the north west corner of the west extension.

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While I was at BS, Joyce texted that she was at Russell Station at the lake (Ontario) and had found no falcons there.

At 4:45, I was losing light fast.  Pigott perked up and crouched like a cat ready to pounce.  Just then, Dot.ca flew in and landed on a window on the south side of the west extension.  As he arrived both started to loudly ee-chup in greeting to each other.  Pigott took off and flew close by him and landed on a west facing window.

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I left both Pigott and Dot.ca at BS to check out the downtown area one more time, hoping to find Beauty.  I figured it was a good bet that she was up inside the OCSR elevator shaft and I was right.  Beauty was up there on the south side ledge.  Seems to be her side.  I could just barely see her in the dark.

Kathy O tweeted out from the BS location at 5:11 pm – BS falcon report – quick stop after work in time to see nw falcon take off fast going west .. Only one falcon seen .. Too dark to tell who.

At 5:13 pm, all kinds of loud ee-chupping sounded from the OCSR elevator shaft.  It was too dark by this time to see anything, but I do believe that Kathy saw Dot.ca leave BS and he arrived a few minutes later to join Beauty in the elevator shaft.  I was definitely hearing two falcons greeting each other.  I ended my watch at about 5:30 pm.

Here’s a picture of Beauty up inside the elevator shaft.  Can you see her?  lol

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I’ll leave you with a picture I took while I was caught in traffic on the Ford St Bridge.  My view of the sun-setting on the south side of the bridge over the river.  You can see some of the Crows flying overhead.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Brrr-when I left for my watch this morning it was 20 degrees (F) -7 (C) with clear skies

After several trips around downtown I finally found Beauty at 7:17am on the Mercury money bag (MMB) as I pulled up on the Broad St Bridge. The sun was giving her an amber tint and she was all foofed up to keep warm.

<Click it 

Beauty was definitely looking for a nice warm meal as she looked to and fro, up and down but there was nothing flying in her immediate vicinity.

<Click it 

After 10 lovely minutes with her the Beautyful one flew off to the east, crossing the river and going behind the Chase building out of sight.

I gave it a few minutes to see if Beauty would return but when she didn’t I drove to the east side to look for her. 10 minutes later I found a falcon on the northeast corner of Midtown but because of all the construction over in that neck of the woods I had a hard time finding a good place to observe.

I believe that it was probably Beauty since she disappeared behind Chase and Midtown is right behind Chase. Whoever it was they were eating and as I was driving around trying to find a suitable place to watch from it left a little past 8am.  I checked around the city and when I didn’t find anybody I left for the Brighton site but had no luck there. Upon returning downtown I spotted a falcon on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications tower from the Andrews St Bridge.

I promptly left for the City Hall parking lot but that was no good as I was looking at the back of a falcon and couldn’t be sure who it was tho I suspected DotCa (DC).

I went down Fitzhugh St. and parked in front of the Sister Cities parking garage for a front view which helped e ID this PEFA as DC.

DC was hiding in the shadows but I could still see the full crop he was wearing so I figured he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and left him to look for Beauty. Again, on the Andrews St bridge I spotted a falcon and this time it was Beauty-she was on the top ibeam northwest side of OCSR. I then went to State St. and parked in front of the Rochester Plaza Hotel for a closer look.

For the most part Beauty was sleeping with her head tucked in to her left wing but she did raise her head a couple times and then back to the wing.

I left her to her napping and called it a watch at 9:30am. I was smiling as I exited downtown after a sunny and bright watch with our Peregrine pair! 🙂

I have only one video link today which I have provided below-just click it and view

http://youtu.be/PR-XpQ-uxiw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I left for my watch this morning the temperature was a chilly 35 (F) 2 (C) with overcast dark skies and the wind out of the north. Scattered lake effect snow showers fell on and off during my watch

Just a short watch report today as there was not too much to report! It was dark out quite late this morning as I spotted Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I parked over by the Radisson Hotel at Main St. and while I was taping them they both flew off to the southwest.

I looked around the city a couple times but couldn’t find them so I drove to the Brighton Site (BS). I didn’t find any PEFAs there either so I went back downtown as snowflakes began to fall arriving about 8am. It wasn’t until nearly 8:30am that I found the Beautyful one on OCSR in the same spot as she was earlier with DC-top ibeam southeast side.

<Click it

Beauty did some stretching and preening in between looking around her surroundings. She pooped  and I thought she might take off a couple times but she stayed put.

I decided to call it a watch at 9:15am with a smile for having spent some time with Beauty! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a couple videos

http://youtu.be/1EiFvEHpx7s
http://youtu.be/KU9JRXklFZk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

High winds and a temperature of 50 (F) 10 (C) greeted me as I walked out the door today for my watch

I failed to find a falcon until 7:10am this morning-it was Beauty that I spotted from the Andrews St. bridge. She was on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.

I drove to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to observe the Beautyful one. She spent most of the hour I spent with her looking northeast and while I was there a security guy from the hotel came out to question me. Some folks inside the hotel wondered what I was taking pics of so I showed him a pic of Beauty on my camera screen and gave him the lowdown on our beloved falcons. He said cool and left me to it.

After she finished stretching her wings I waited to see if she was going to take off but she just got settled again so I left to check the Brighton Site (BS).  I found Dot.Ca (DC) there on the upper east roof but no Pigott. He hopped down to the lower roof while I was going to a better viewing spot.

<Click it  

After a few minutes DC walked to the southeast corner near the roof top tree. Oh and in case you didn’t notice-he had a full crop! lol

I left DC to look for Pigott and when I got back he was gone so I drove back to downtown where I found him on the top ibeam southeast side of  OCSR with Beauty.

When I wasn’t looking Beauty slipped off leaving DC by himself. I drove  to the Andrews St Bridge where I found her on the northeast side top ibeam of OCSR.

<Click it to see DC      

I ended my watch at 9:16am having started and ended with Beauty on OCSR which makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my videos (also a video of the crows in Washington Square Park  that I had trouble loading for yesterdays watch report)

http://youtu.be/U7BYT7vsvEA
http://youtu.be/BI3tvxk7pn8
http://youtu.be/5AaCOo4ncV0
http://youtu.be/9DmXUNCqrTo
http://youtu.be/NERPI8zVFiI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

9:30 am – 4:00 pm.

I do love falcon watching on the weekends and the warmer weather made it very enjoyable.  It was warmer today than it was yesterday, with temps in the 60’s (F).  But where it was all sunshine and blue sky yesterday, today was mostly cloudy with rain on and off.  But, I’m not complaining.  It was a perfect weekend for getting out to watch the Rochester Falcons.

During my Watch, I was joined by fellow Watchers Dana, Joyce and Lou.

After checking the lake locations and not finding any falcons, Dana and I decided to head over to Irondequoit Bay for a quick look.  We found two adult Bald Eagles in a tree on the east side of the Bay.  Oh, and we did see a flyover by a juvie Bald Eagle at Charlotte, so that made three eagles seen today!  Our next stop was the BS location.  Pigott wasn’t home, but there were a whole bunch of turkeys on the south side of the building.  Onward to downtown Rochester.  Dana and I found Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower on the north east box.

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I went looking for Dot.ca and found him on the north west corner of Kodak Office.  He was on an antenna just above the playpen netting.  DC was in hunt mode, stooping over the lower buildings on the north side of the Kodak Tower.  He returned, empty taloned, to the north east corner of the launchpad.

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He didn’t stay there long.  He took off heading north and I followed the best I could.  The same time I found him, Donna, a Falconcam Watcher, tweeted out that Dot.ca had joined Beauty on the north east box on the Frontier Communication Tower.

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Dana had to leave, so I stayed to watch Beauty and Dot.ca until first Beauty and then Dot.ca took off heading south towards downtown.  I looked for them, but could not find them.  Since I hadn’t seen Pigott, I headed back over to the BS location and found her on the north west corner of the north west extension.

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Pigott took off and flew to the south side of the building.  I found her on the slat window on the south side, near the west end.  She went into the corner and pulled out some food she had cached there.  It looked really fresh, probably leftovers from this morning.

Joyce joined me and we settled in to watch Pigott enjoy her meal.  Crows were flying overhead and Pigott kept looking up.  I’ve seen the Crows on the building before, stealing her caches, so she has learned to hide her caches very carefully from aerial thieves.

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When Pigott ate her fill, she took off with the remainder and flew around to the north side of the building.  I found Pigott on a east facing window on the south east extension, below the tree ledge.  It was time for me to say goodbye to Joyce and to Pigott.

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I drove through downtown, looking for Dot.ca and Beauty.  He was on the Times Square Bldg on the north east wing ledge and I found Beauty up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the south ledge.

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On my way home, I checked out the  Charlotte/Summerville area.  I didn’t find any falcons, but I did find fellow Watchers Dana and Lou.  I also checked out Russell Station one more time and again found no falcons there.  It was time to end my watch and head home.

Tonight we are under a high wind warning with gusts expected to reach up to 60 mph.  Be safe everyone!

I’ll leave you with a few pictures I took during my watch today.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

First some pics of the turkeys out at BS.  They are really quite beautiful birds!

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and another picture of my favorite sunset spot, Buck Pond in Greece, NY.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I left the house it was dark and mild with a temperature of 54 (F) 12 (C). On my way  downtown the sky started spitting little raindrops. It stopped for a bit and then when I got to the Brighton site (BS) a steady rain developed for the remainder of my watch

As I checked the east side, there was a steady flow of the crows that roost at night in Washington Square Park leaving the tree tops.

Upon returning from checking the east side I saw one falcon under the northeast wing of Times Square. I believe it was Dot.Ca (DC) as he flew northeast seconds after I arrived in the hole to observe him.

I didn’t have very good luck downtown this morning for this was my only sighting.When I didn’t find anyone after 2 trips around the city I left for BS. There, I found Pigott on the west end of the south side extension looking for a tasty meal to show up. Nearly an hour later it happened, as Miss Pigott flew off to the east going into stoop formation leaving my field of vision.

I didn’t see her return but I did find her on the upper east side roof plucking feathers to beat the band. Before I could get settled Pigott went down to the lower east side roof and went back to work on preparing her meal. Shaky tweeted that there was a falcon on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) at 9:09am-Thanks!

<Click it>

She had feathers stuck on her that looked like a white Snidely Whiplash (a cartoon character from the old Dudley Do-right cartoon show) mustache as she continued plucking and eating.

I left Pigott to eat and returned downtown. There were no falcons to be found after 3 trips around the city. I had to get going so I ended my watch at 10am.  Even tho it was raining and dreary out Pigott  put a smile on my face with her feather mustache! 🙂

Click on the links below to watch videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/n7kGBI-SjEE
http://youtu.be/R_jNsiE_yQE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

11:20 am to 4:00 pm

What an absolutely gorgeous fall day, with temps in the high 50’s (F) and wall to wall sunshine.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

When I arrived at Russell Station (RS), I spotted a familiar car in the parking lot on the north side.  Dana was there and she had not seen any falcons at RS or the Charlotte/Summerville area.  Dana had to leave, so I headed towards downtown with stops at Seneca Towers and Hawkeye.  No falcons at either location but there were two Red-tailed Hawks on the railings near the nest box on top of the Hawkeye plant.  Hawks at Hawkeye.  Just seems right.  lol (11:42 am)

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Continuing towards downtown.  I found Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  She was on the north east box below the platform.  (11:57 am)

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It was time to check the rest of the downtown area.  I could not find Dot.ca, so I headed over to the BS location.  Pigott was on the northside of the building; north east corner of the north west extension.  (12:50 pm)

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At 1:50 pm, Donna texted out that she had seen, on the Rfalconcam Streaming video, a 2nd falcon join Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower.  I headed back downtown and found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the north east box on the FCT.  Thanks for the heads up Donna!  (2:22 pm)

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Dana joined me at the City Hall parking lot.  We stayed watching Beauty and Dot.ca until about 3:00 pm. Joyce texted from the BS location reporting that Pigott was still there.

Dana and I headed back to the lake for one last look for Billy.  We had no luck finding her or any other falcons.  At 4:00 pm, we both ended our watch and headed home.

I”ll leave you with a couple pics I took.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

Here is a picture of the sunset at Buck Pond last night.  Just lovely.

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and look!  Santa Claus has arrived!  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today was a beautiful November day-the temperature was 43 (F) 6 (C) when I stepped out the house with calm winds and clear conditions

I found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC around 6:45am. She stooped down the back of the building leaving my field of vision quickly.

As I crossed the Broad St Bridge I saw a falcon fly off from under the northeast wing on the Times Square building heading north. I took a couple runs around town and elected to go to the Brighton Site (BS) after I didn’t find anybody. Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent. She was very busy keeping track of the starlings that nest at the site as they flew above and below her. Oh and being her cute self too!

<Click it

20 minutes later at 8am Pigott flew out and back to land on the southeast extension roof south side-she was in hunt mode as she seemed to be hiding from the starlings trying to ambush them.

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Something peaked her interest as Miss Pigott raised her head and hopped up to the front of the roof and a minute later she flew east out of sight.

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I returned downtown to find only the Beautyful one, who was on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower. When I first found her she was preening with a full crop then she started napping.

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She woke up long enough to poop and then back to snoozing. lol

I left her to it and called it a watch at 9:15am. Keep smiling it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to! 🙂

Click on the links below to see videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/4oqvglPiKac

http://youtu.be/sSeV87PeHKE

http://youtu.be/A-WW4jjS-t4—

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As the sun was coming up, the eastern sky was looking bright, but thin clouds moved in and covered the sun making for overcast conditions with a starting temperature of  41 (F) 5 (C)

As I drove around to the north side of HSBC I spotted a falcon on the north side of the building. I figured it was Beauty since this is one of her morning spots but something wasn’t quite right, so I tweeted that I had a falcon up there. As time went on and it got lighter out the pictures were proving that this was not one of our falcons as the white on the malar stripe was not like either Beauty or Dot.Ca (DC).

It looked small to me so I believe it was a male.  It didn’t give me any leg shots and the take off shot was too blurry to tell if there were leg bands but here it is as he flew around the back of the building out of sight.

After I didn’t find it, I went to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) where I found Beauty under the northeast wing of the Times Square Building (TSB). I went to the hole and parked next to He’s Chinese-less than a minute later the Beautyful one flew northwest.

I searched downtown a couple times but didn’t find any PEFAs. I thought maybe DC was at the Brighton Site (BS) so I went there arriving just before 8am. As I pulled in the driveway I saw a falcon fly off the northeast corner of the northeast extension-it came back and landed there again. It was Pigott and she was looking for a meal as she stooped like a missile 2 minutes later to the northeast.

She returned to the same corner empty taloned-she would fly off again prompting me to ride around the building to look for her. As I came around the east side she was back up there again briefly then off again. Phew she is a busy bird! Again, I drove around and this time when I rounded the east end I spotted Pigott up on an east side window ledge. There were feathers all over the ledge so someone had eaten there recently but it wasn’t Miss Pigott-her crop was depleted. After a minute or two she took off and flew back over onto the northeast corner one more time.

<Click it 

Pigott started preening and stayed for the next 15 minutes, then she flew northeast crossing the main road real low and didn’t resurface. I drove to the area I last saw her and found her in a tree!

Miss tree falcon was looking around intently-shooting me a couple fierce looks. Remember last winter when she hung out in a tree behind BS that was named PEFA tree? I look forward to seeing her there again this winter. I could hear a squirrel talking up a storm as it was alarmed to have a bird of prey nearby. She was only there about 5 minutes before flying northwest into Highland Park where I lost sight of her. It’s such a thrill to see a falcon perched on something natural rather than a building, of course it’s a thrill to see one anywhere!

I fruitlessly looked for her and then returned downtown. After seeing that unknown falcon earlier on HSBC I wanted to make sure I found Beauty and DC. Well let me tell ya, they gave me a scare as I searched and searched for almost an hour. I even went back to BS to see if DC was there but no such luck. Back downtown to look  for another half hour- then finally as I came back from the north end of the city I first spotted DC under the northeast wing of TSB. After pulling in by He’s Chinese I could see the Beautyful one at the back of the southeast wing ledge. PHEW!

<DC  <Beauty>

Since DC had his back to me I went up to the BSB and then in front of the Blue Cross Arena on Exchange Blvd. to give him his photo op.

<Click it

What an interesting watch I had today, seeing all 3 resident falcons plus a bonus mystery PEFA. How could I not smile after all that!?!  🙂

Check out the links below for more pics and some videos from my watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi9A

http://youtu.be/XeviuwG_usQ
http://youtu.be/AC4w4AWRK2A
http://youtu.be/oGjf3-jMiAY
http://youtu.be/IDfCWaSa3N8
http://youtu.be/3OwIGKxgPVM
http://youtu.be/680CR3Wz9jM—