By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(3:30 – 5:00 pm)

Another quick watch and all three resident Rochester falcons seen.  The weather was gorgeous compared to the last few days.  Only in Rochester do temps in the 40’s feel wonderful, especially when there is sun and blue sky. At least for a short while.

I started at Kodak Office where I found no falcons today.  From there I looked towards downtown and spotted a falcon on the Times Square Bldg (TSB) on the ledge below the north east wing.  Joyce also tweeted that she saw a falcon there.  I never did see Joyce during my watch.

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From the Broad St Bridge, I could see that it was Beauty on the TSB.

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After checking the downtown area for Dot.ca and not finding him, I headed over to the BS location.  Pigott was on a east facing window on the south west extension.  She had her back to me, but she was her usual hyper-alert self.

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I circled the building a few times and could not find Dot.ca.  Time to head back downtown.  As I approached the Times Square Bldg, Beauty was no longer on the north east wing ledge.  I turned right on to Broad St and saw a falcon heading towards Mercury.  Quickly I turned around and parked on Broad St, at Falcon Central (across from the Blue Cross Arena).  Now there was a falcon back up on the north east wing ledge and it looked like Beauty.  My attention was split between watching Beauty and taking pictures of the gorgeous moon over Xerox.  I turned around to see Beauty was still on the TSB and that she had grown a second tail.  Huh!  Yep!  Either Dot.ca had just arrived or had been up  there with Beauty the whole time and I couldn’t see him.  Right after I realized both Beauty and Dot.ca were up there together, he took off, flew over the Blue Cross Arena and headed south east.  I waited to see if he would return and he did not.  There’s a good chance he headed over to the BS location to check on Pigott.

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I did take the lake route home, but as usual, it was too dark to see much of anything.

I’ll leave you with a few pics of the moon over downtown Rochester.  Please be sure to click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Todays starting temperature was 34 (F) 1 (C) much more manageable than yesterday. It was clear  with sunny blue skies and a brisk biting wind.

My first found falcon wasn’t until 7am and it was Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. He left shortly after when I wasn’t looking.

I did a search of downtown but didn’t find anyone so I drove to Brighton. There, I found Pigott on the northwest corner of the middle front of the building.  I almost missed her as she was back on the ledge showing only the top half of her and she was eating but not for long as a couple minutes later DC came flying thru vocalizing and she in turn spoke back to him.

Pigott

He went around the back of the building and flew above her again almost hovering at one point. DC was looking to see if Pigott had food and then he landed over on the northeast corner of the northeast extension and planned his strategy. Pigott had stopped eating when DC came on the scene and stood over top of her treasure.

DC

DC soon flew off and advanced toward Pigott as she got down in a defensive posture telling him he wasn’t getting any. He landed a few feet from her and the standoff began.

<Pigott <click it

After a minute or so Pigott started pulling out big clumps of feathers as I think she was trying to lighten the load as fast as she could  so she could fly off with it before DC made his move.

<Click it>

At about 7:55am he couldn’t take it anymore and rushed her-she flew off with her meal and he was left with one little crumb to swallow.

<Click it<DC with his crumb

After checking the ledge unsuccessfully for any more pieces he flew off to the back of the building.

I drove around the property 3 times and didn’t see Miss Pigott or DC anywhere in the vicinity. We’ll never know if she shared with him or not but while I was watching there was no intent to do so. I left to go back downtown and on my initial look around could find no falcons. As I approached the Broad St. Bridge from checking the east side I saw Beauty land under the northeast wing with her back facing out. I ended up parking on Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena to get the best angle on her.

The Beautyful one just hung out blowing in the breeze, preening a little, watching north a lot and looking great with the blue sky behind her.When she flew off the back of the ledge and took off over the Thomson Reuters building out of sight I ended my watch a little after 9am.

There’s nothing that makes me smile more than seeing all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons on my watch. 🙂

Click on the links below to see more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi8m

http://youtu.be/vxTvYclVFuM
http://youtu.be/KpXlV1UKD-Q
http://youtu.be/DNNkSgLjLj0
http://youtu.be/XTlQaKX4PNs
http://youtu.be/eviESyrbuRA
http://youtu.be/EykPnyo42pg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(3:30 – 5:00 pm)

I was waiting at a red light about two blocks away from Kodak Office when I spotted a falcon flying above and around the top of the tower.   By the time I got there, Beauty had settled on the south east corner of the launchpad.

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It wouldn’t remain light for very long, so I checked the rest of the downtown area and could not find Dot.ca.  My next stop was the BS location.  Beneath the very large moon that had risen in the sky, I could see that  both Dot.ca and Pigott were on the east side of the building.

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Pigott was on the top east side window on the south east extension closest to the east extension corner.  Dot.ca was finishing eating up on the north east corner of the east extension.

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Dot.ca finished his meal.  Both he and Pigott were quiet while I was there.  No vocalization.  The light was fading and it was time for me to move on .

Driving back through downtown, I found that Beauty had moved from the Kodak Tower and was now on the Times Square Bldg, on the ledge below the north east wing.  This is directly above the nest box.

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I continued down Exchange, which turned into Lake heading north.  When I arrived at the Lake, the sun was almost set, but I could still see that the Coast Guard antenna on the Summerville side was empty.  The sunset was beautiful from the Charlotte parking lot.  Lots of pink!

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Russell Station was my last check.  But, it was too dark to see if there was a falcon on the building.  At 5:00 pm, it was time for me to head home.  I was very happy to have seen all three resident Rochester falcons in the short time I had to search for them.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the sun setting on Buck Pond.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

COLD slapped me in the face as I stepped out the door this morning with a temperature of 18 (F) -8 (C) It was fairly clear with a dusting of snow to brush off the car

I found Beauty at 6:45am under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) to start my watch. She had her back to me but I could see that she was eating something.

Click on my pics to view the full version

I took a ride to the Andrews St. Bridge to have a look around and from there I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR. I could also see the Beautyful one on Times Square.

At 7:10am DC flew north out of view so I returned to hang out with Beauty at Times Square.  DC just happened to be under the southeast wing across from Beauty when I arrived-the little rascal doubled back on me.  I observed them from the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) and the hole.

<Beauty

<DC      

At 7:40am DC tried sneaking off the back of the ledge but I did manage to get him in the frame as he flew southwest. He was playing games with me today! lol

I gave it about 15 minutes then I left to see if he went to the Brighton location since that’s the direction he flew and he had done that yesterday morning. I got over there about 8:10am to find Pigott but no DC. She was on the southeast corner of the east extension  eating a small tidbit of food.

She turned her back to me and flew a few feet forward with what was left of her meal, kicking up some snow as she took flight.

She finished it and did some feaking and cleaning up. She turned around again so I changed my position and got quite a jolt when I saw her bulging crop. Seriously, she couldn’t have stuffed any more in if she tried! Miss Pigott couldn’t even reach over it to scratch her face!!! lol

She obviously wasn’t going anywhere for a while so I left to re-check downtown. I always have such fun watching Pigott as she is so entertaining! Anyway, as I approached the TSB I saw who I thought was Beauty, but turns out it was DC fly from the northeast wing area and head east. I then saw Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR and I thought she was DC because the sun shone so intensely on her that she looked white. I could see that she too had a full crop. So both girls ate well this morning.

This is the only pic of Beauty that wasn’t washed out white

DC returned and landed under the northeast wing of the TSB. However, his crop was not full as he was scrunched down, feathers fluffed to keep warm on this cold morning. I bet he was wondering why he wasn’t down south basking in the sun and surf. So I ended my watch at 9am and left the city smiling after a frozen fun falcon watch in which I shared space with all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Check out my videos by clicking on the links below

http://youtu.be/zIZrYTPYCbs
http://youtu.be/a7l1AC_yDQA
http://youtu.be/kJK-5VUMPOw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(3:30 – 5:00 pm)

As I type up this report, I can hear the wind howling outside and the snow is falling at a good clip.  It was a cold, blustery, snowy day here in Rochester, NY.  Not sure if the temperature made it to the freezing mark or not. That’s November in Rochester for you.  We received less than an inch of snow, but this was the first measurable snow this Fall.

When I left work, I headed down Mt. Read Blvd heading south towards downtown.  I was just approaching St Paul Blvd when I saw a Peregrine Falcon chasing a gull over a parking lot on the east side of Mt Read.  The falcon broke off the chase and continued flying south.  I was caught in traffic, so no pictures.  By the time I was able to turn around, I was unable to find the falcon.  I even checked the Ridgeway Kodak Park area, wondering if it might have gone there.  But, sorry to say, I could not find the falcon.

Onward to downtown Rochester, where I found Dot.ca on the Kodak Tower launch pad, south east corner.  He did not stay there long, taking off and heading south towards downtown.

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Of course I headed in the direction I had last seen him.  After searching all over and not finding any falcons, I drove over to the Radisson and checked out the elevator shaft of the OCSR.  There was definitely a falcon up there on the north side ledge, and based on size, I am fairly certain it was Beauty.  It’s a great spot for the falcons to get out of the weather.  All the Rochester Falcons over time have used this sheltering spot, including Mariah and Kaver.  In fact, Mariah showed this spot to Archer, and he showed it to Beauty and now Dot.ca knows!

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There was a whole lot of traffic downtown and you cannot park on the north side of the Broad St Bridge.  Not sure what event is happening this week in downtown Rochester.  Since Beauty looked like she was settled, it was time to check on Pigott at the BS location.  It was 4:30 pm and I was already losing light.

At BS, I found Pigott on the west end of the south side vent.  Ten minutes later, Pigott took off and flew around to the east side of the building.  Dot.ca had arrived on the south east corner of the south east extension.  Pigott was on the south east corner of the east extension.   By 5:00 pm, it was dark and snow was moving in.  Just before I left, Dot.ca took off and stooped over the field to the south of the building, which was snow covered.  I did not see him return.  Pigott remained where she was.  There was no vocalization between them at all.

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It was time for me to leave.  I went home via the lake route, but it was way too dark for me to check for Billy or the Latta tiercel.

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

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Brrr this  morning with a starting temperature of 26 (F) 3 (C) , a coating of icy snow and a wind that made it feel like 18.

From the Broad St. bridge (BSB) I spotted a falcon on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I drove to the hole for a closer view but it had its back to me and it was too dark out still to ID it, although I suspected Dot.Ca (DC) because of the tiny bit of white I could see.

I got tweets from Donna and then Annette that they could see  a falcon on the Mercury money bag (MMB). From where I was I couldn’t see Mercury and by the time I did get a look it was gone. Thank you for your help ladies! When I looked back to OCSR there were 2 falcons both facing me and clearly by the naked eye I could see Beauty had joined DC with 4 windows seperating them. I drove over by the Radisson Hotel and Main St. for a more open view of things.

Click on my pics to see the full version

The conditions were bad for picture taking this morning but I did get a few that were usable. DC left at 7am after spending about 10 minutes with Beauty. Even with the dark conditions I couldn’t help but notice the reflections of Mercury on the shiny newly cleaned windows of OCSR.

<Click it

I shared space with the Beautyful one for half hour or more when I decided to check the Brighton location (BS) to see if DC had gone there since I wasn’t able to find him downtown. I arrived at 8am finding DC was on the southeast corner of  the southeast extension and Pigott was on the east end of the south side vent. Pigott  flew off and DC followed behind going very fast to the southeast beyond the trees and started stooping on something that I couldn’t see.

<Pigott> <DC>

When they returned, DC went to the east end of the south side vent and Pigott to the east side upper roof.

<DC      Pigott>

About 5 minutes later Miss Pigott flew south and returned to land on the southeast corner of the southeast extension. They stayed in these spots for the next 45 minutes preening and looking around. Just before 9am Pigott flew off going southwest this time followed again by DC and were harassing a gull this time. She came to rest on an east side window ledge and he to the southeast corner of the southeast extension.

<DC <Pigott> <DC

Only a couple minutes passed when I caught a glimpse of them flying toward the northwest quickly leaving my field of vision behind the building. I waited 10-15 minutes but they didn’t return so back downtown I went, finding Beauty and DC back on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR in pretty much the same spots that they had been before I went to BS. I left them like this ending my watch at 9:30am.

I must say DC was a busy boy this morning and it’s starting to look like he may be staying for the winter. They sure do keep us guessing don’t they!? Something else they do is make me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/zpCxJqyuSMA
http://youtu.be/5ZJfX5YJP_8
http://youtu.be/lH4DHNwSGOI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The day started out mostly cloudy but the sun did shine off and on at first, then overcast skies prevailed. The starting temperature was 34 (F) 1 (C)

I came across Beauty on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner around 6:45am from the Broad St. bridge. I drove down to Graves St. for a closer look.

Less than 10 minutes later Beauty flew to the Times Square building and landed under the northeast wing, she flew out over the river and returned to the same spot. I believe she was looking for Dot.Ca (DC).  I was parked in the hole watching her preen a little but mostly she was looking over her territory.

I left the Beautyful one to check the Brighton site and see if DC might be there with Pigott. I was half right-Pigott flew in from the east and landed on the southeast corner of the southeast extension as I arrived at 8am, but no DC. She walked over to the corner above the roof top tree a couple minutes later and was watching a crow telling it a thing or two.

After she convinced the crow to leave by jabbering at it Miss Pigott flew to the front of the building on the northeast corner of the northeast extension. She mostly preened for the next half hour as I left around 8:45am.

As I made my way down Exchange Blvd. I spotted a falcon fly off Times Square headed north so I went straight down State St. to City Hall where I found Beauty on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower.

It was nearly 9am and I hadn’t seen DC yet so I was starting to think he blew out of town with that wind yesterday on migration. Beauty left after a couple minutes  and I went to the Andrews St. bridge to have a look around. I could see a falcon on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad. When I got over there my thoughts of DC having left on migration were put to rest-it was DC.

He turned his back to me so I went down to Mill St. to watch and from there I spotted Beauty above him on the cupola.

<Click it

After a few minutes DC flew southeast but Beauty stayed a couple minutes longer before she flew off over the river and then headed south out of view.

It was a dreary watch as far as the weather goes but I still ended my watch with a smile at 9:40am after seeing all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to watch 3 videos from this mornings watch

http://youtu.be/R1CWpcPIEaE
http://youtu.be/_Q9U_-omMaY
http://youtu.be/i2XpdbWIEBU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I spent my whole watch down by the lake (Ontario) (9:30 am to 1:30 pm).  That wasn’t my intention, but that’s how it worked out today.

There was a high wind warning posted for Rochester, NY with sustained winds of 25-35 mph and gusts of 50 mph.  I started my watch by driving along the lake shore, checking out the spots we have seen falcons recently. Latta location, no.  Russell Station, no.  Charlotte/Summerville, no.  There were dark clouds over the lake and the lake was full of white caps.

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After finding no falcons on my lake route, something made me return to Russell Station (RS)  instead of heading downtown and I’m really glad I did.  I was parked in the small parking lot just north of RS when I saw a bird on the antenna at the west end of the building.  At first I thought it was a crow, because it was crouched over.  Not the usual posture of a Peregrine Falcon.  I drove around to the south side where I had a better view.  It was definitely not a Crow.  It was a juvenile Peregrine Falcon.

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The reason this juvie was hunched over was because of the high winds.  She was having trouble hanging on to the antenna she was perched on.  Every now and then she would let go and hover and then let the wind catch her.  When that happened, she would add the speed of the wind to her own and zip around the smoke stacks and then return to the antenna to ride it again.  To me it looked like she was playing.

Just after I sent a text out that there was a falcon at RS, she took off again and let the wind carry her to the west.  I lost sight of her and she did not return to the antenna.  I drove back around to the north side parking lot and watched from there.  Dana and Lou joined me.  I saw about 6 pigeons fly from the building.  That’s when I spotted the juvie on the north side between the two stacks on the ledge below the top row of windows.

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Kathy O joined.  It was windy and rainy now, so we all stayed in our cars.  Finally it cleared up for a little while.  Dana was able to verify that the band was black over green.  We are fairly certain that this was Billy, the juvenile that has been seen here recently.  It had been a few days since she had been seen by anyone, so it was great seeing her.

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She remained in that spot for a long time.  But, she finally took off and again took flight, flying on the high winds.  Dana and I saw her stoop towards the small pond to the north and zip over the water where there was a group of mallards swimming.  She did’t get one and returned to fly around the stacks.

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After awhile, we lost sight of Billy and could not find her.  I was very happy for the time we had with this young falcon. It started to rain again, so I decided to end my watch at 1:30 pm.  I hope we see a lot more of Billy in the future and that she finds a place of her own and a mate.

There was still a lot of beautiful fall leaves before the winds started, but I bet there’s a lot less now.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature as I walked out the door today was 44 (F) 6 (C) with partly cloudy skies and a busy breeze that would get much busier this afternoon. We’re under a high wind alert today

I didn’t find Beauty until nearly 7am this morning as I found her under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB). She was seen on the Mercury money bag (MMB) on cam before that while I was looking for her on the east side. She stooped over the river a minute or so later and ended up on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. Beauty flew off fast to the southwest at 7:17am.  I think she was looking for Dot.Ca (DC).

In my travels to find Beauty and DC I took in what’s left of our fall colors and when I didn’t find them I drove over to Brighton. I found no falcons there today.

Be sure to click on my pics to see the full version

I returned to downtown at 8am finding the Beautyful one once again on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I parked in the hole behind Keybank to observe and had a visit from Larry and his dog Harold. After a quick hello they continued on their walk to Aqueduct Park.

Suddenly Beauty saw something and flew off  at 8:21am. I got a tweet from cam watcher Annette who said a falcon was on the MMB but when I got to a place where I could see, it was gone. It was most likely DC.

Click them

Then Larry tweeted that he saw 2 falcons flying around the Andrews Terrace apartments so I went looking from the Andrews St. bridge. I didn’t find them and when I returned to the hole I spotted DC on OCSR top ibeam near the south corner-the sun was on him making it blinding to look at his white chest.  He took off a minute later while I was looking around for Beauty-I found her on the southeast corner of Widows Walk.

She flew over to the back of the TSB where DC was with food-he took off with it as I was crossing Exchange Blvd. to go to the parking lot next to TSB. Beauty ate a tiny little morsel that DC left behind and then she flew northwest.

Right after she left around 9:05am Shaky sent out a tweet that a bigger falcon chased a smaller falcon off the large FCT dish. At 9:06am Beauty flew up under the northeast wing of TSB and a few minutes later she started whining and looking down at DC who had  food on the back of  the TSB.

<Beauty <DC

DC was eating especially fast for about 15 minutes and then he spotted Beauty above followed by her landing a couple feet away from him-you can see her wing as she lands in the last pic below if you click it.

<click it

The party was over as Beauty walked aggressively toward him prompting him to grab his prize and fly off leaving a small piece behind.

<Click it  

Beauty made short work of the tidbit and flew off. I ended my watch at 9:40am smiling from all the antics of our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcon pair! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos from my busy watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi8E

http://youtu.be/YOcbPaTXmAM
http://youtu.be/xHczhI4vWuU
http://youtu.be/WxET9TolNcI
http://youtu.be/FZ6jMOCoPhU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a cold, blustery day with just a couple teases of sunshine during my five hour watch.  (10 am – 3 pm) I spent the first one and a half hours of my watch checking out the lake area for falcons.  Sorry to say, I did not see any falcons at Latta, Russell Station, Charlotte-Summerville, Seneca Towers or Hawkeye.  While I was heading downtown, Dana tweeted that she had spotted Pigott at the BS location.  Pigott was eating on the north side of the building on the center lower roof.

As I approached Kodak Office (11:30 am), I could see that both Beauty and Dot.ca were on the Kodak Tower.  Dot.ca was on the north east corner of the launch pad and Beauty was above him on the cupola.  Seems to be a current favored spot for these two.

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They seemed pretty settled, so I headed over to the BS location to see Pigott, who I hadn’t seen for a couple days.  I joined Dana on the north side.  Pigott was just finishing her meal when I arrived and I had just missed Larry O.  (Noon)  Dana left at a little before 1:00 pm.  She drove through downtown on her way home and reported that Beauty and Dot.ca were still on the Kodak Tower.  I stayed with Pigott until she took off and flew over to the NE corner of the NE extension at 2:30 pm.  All the time I was watching her, she was hyper aware of her surroundings.  Her head was in constant motion, back and forth, back and forth and up now and then to watch a bird pass overhead.  Here are a few pictures I took of Pigott while I was there.

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I left Pigott at 2:30 pm and headed back downtown where I found both Beauty and Dot.ca still on the Kodak Tower.  They weren’t budging.  lol

I rechecked the lake area and found no Peregrines.  But I did find another type of falcon.  A Merlin was hunting from a light pole across from Shallers on Island Cottage/Edgemere in Greece (NY), near the lake (Ontario).  It is very interesting to see the differences in how Peregrines and Merlins hunt.   While Peregrines fly high and stoop at high speed on their prey, this Merlin was hunting birds on the ground from the pole.  I watched as he swooped over the grass scaring the small birds that were foraging there into flight.  He (I say he, but I have no idea if this was a male or female) missed and flew up to another pole near the street.  He then took off again, this time heading west down Edgemere Dr.  I drove home that way, but could not find the Merlin.  I do love these feisty falcons, but rarely see them.  While I was watching the Merlin, Kathy O was checking out the Latta location.  She texted me that there was no falcon there.

I’ll leave you with a few pics of the Merlin.  Be sure to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

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