By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The morning weather is getting better as each day passes today I started my watch 5 degrees warmer than yesterday at 38 (F) 3 (C) with little wind, very few clouds and sweet sunshine.

I’m having computer issues so I couldn’t do a thing with my pics in Picassa or put together a photo album-I hope you enjoy them just the same. You can see larger versions by clicking on the pics.

I just missed Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) make the switch on the eggs this morning by literally seconds. As soon as I saw Beauty on the base of Mercury I knew I was too late. I had stopped by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) on Broad St. and while I tweeted it out Beauty left so I continued up to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) where I found Dan sitting in his lawn chair waiting for me. He saw the switch but couldn’t see where Beauty went as she was on the blind side of the base for him and he missed her leave. There was a big bright moon in the morning sky.

About half later I spotted Beauty gliding in from the east side over the river in the shape of a stealth bomber with a small package in her talons. I pointed her out to Dan as she made her way to the base of Mercury. She went right to town on plucking the feathers and boy were there lots of them floating every which way.

35 minutes later a little past 7am when Beauty was done eating she flew to the deck and relieved DC of his incubation duties. He then flew to the Mercury money bag (MMB) where he preened a bit. He did a lot of head scratching this morning. He would soon fly off and pass right above the nest box only to return to the MMB as I captured his take off and returning approach.

As Dan was leaving DC flew off chasing a pigeon over the river and quickly aborted it to fly back to the MMB.  Only a couple minutes later DC stooped down into the hole, which I couldn’t see from the BSB and having missed returned once more to the MMB. A minute later DC flew over to the Times Square building and came to rest under the northeast wing. He preened a little then took off fast to the east.

About 10 minutes later I spotted DC on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR with a catch and there was a blizzard of the feathery kind all around him. There were many spider webs that were catching all the feathers, maybe they were planted there by the  crew that’s going to be filming here next week for the new Spiderman movie. lol

At 8:17am DC flew to the deck and switched with Beauty. I thought he had taken a small chunk of leftover with him but I was wrong for Beauty went to the base of Mercury with nothing.

I left our little darlings at this time to check the Brighton site. I was lucky to find Miss Pigott home perched on the front edge of the cubby.

Pigott stayed there for the next 15 minutes and then flew north. I was just about to leave for downtown when Pigott showed up on the southwest corner of the southwest extension at 9:10am. She stayed there preening for the next 20 minutes of our lives and then she flew west only to return and land on a  top floor west side window  situated between the cubby and the west extension.

Around 9:30am I said goodbye to Miss Pigott and  headed for downtown. I received tweets from Annette and Shaky that Beauty was now on the eggs and DC was on Mercury. Thank you for your support!  As I passed by Plymouth Ave. while heading downtown via Exchange Blvd. there were 3 cop cars blocking traffic for a small parade of people led by a bagpipe band. Onward I went to find DC on the MMB.

I called it a watch at 9:45am leaving Beauty and DC in a tranquil city.  Keep smiling! 🙂

I was able to upload some videos- the links are below

http://youtu.be/tS9I-d4PCOE

http://youtu.be/ah__0Sd2OsM
http://youtu.be/qMxv5GNh5Y4
http://youtu.be/Mvbphfr37_s
http://youtu.be/42wgMF9xSAk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I wasn’t able to get out for my watch until after 6:00 pm.  Joyce and Lisa McK were at the BS location and they were watching a juvenile Peregrine that was hanging out on the south side vent.  I decided to head there instead of downtown since Beauty and Dot.ca were sharing egg brooding duties and all was quiet there.

When I arrived, Kathy O had joined Joyce and Lisa, so the four of us settled in to keep watch on this young falcon.  Joyce believes that this falcon is banded with silver on one leg and black on the other, which means he was banded in Canada.

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At about 6:45 pm, Pigott came in with food and landed on the SW corner of the west extension.  The juvie started to vocalize.  It was such a familiar sound to us.  Definitely a juvenile asking/begging for food.  Due to his smaller size, we believe he is  a tiercel (male) and may be the same one seen by other Watchers earlier this month.  He took off and flew up to the SW corner where he could see Pigott.  She took off and chased the young falcon to the east side of the building, but he wasn’t leaving.  Pigott ended up on the south side vent and the juvie landed just above her.

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There were a lot of starlings flying around the building and one got the juvie’s attention.  He did a very nice stoop down the face of the building while Pigott watched.  I give him a 10!  🙂

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Click to see full picture.

He missed the starling and Pigott took off flying around to the NW corner of the building.  The juvie landed in the same spot she vacated on the south side vent.

At approximately 7:30 pm, Dot.ca flew in and the chase was on without much vocalization.  Just some high pitched squeaking sounds.  No alarm kakking.  Dot.ca chased the juvenile to the SE end of the building and they locked talons.  We watched as they tumbled towards the ground, neither letting go!  Just as they were about to hit, about a foot off of the ground, they finally released their grips and gained altitude.  We were all relieved.

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As they both gained altitude, the chase continued.  From east to west to north, we watch Dot.ca chase the young Peregrine out of his territory, until we could not see them anymore.  In the meantime, Pigott brought her food to the south side vent and was plucking what looked like a pigeon.  Within a few minutes, Dot.ca returned and landed on the east end of the south side vent.  Pigott did quite a bit of vocalizing as she ate her dinner.

Dot.ca flew around to the north side of the building and Pigott remained on the vent on the south side.  It was after 8:00 pm, and it was time to head home for everyone.  On my way out, I circled to the north side of the building and could not find Dot.ca.

Kathy O and I stopped downtown for a quick look from the Broad St Bridge.  Beauty was in the nest box on the eggs according to the cameras and we could not find Dot.ca.

With the weekend ahead of us, I’m sure that there will be many Rochester Falcon Watchers out and about.  I know I will be!  Goodnight everyone and be sure to click on any pictures to see the entire picture.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another chilly start to the day with a temperature of 35 (F) 2 (C) a bit of a breeze and clear skies.

Stopped at the traffic light at Broad and Exchange Blvd. where you can see the Wilder building south side green strip I could see that nobody was there. After pulling over on Broad St. by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) where you can see Mercury and some of the south side of OCSR I continued up to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) after I didn’t see any falcons. Facing east I check all the buildings on the east side of the Genesee River and if I find nothing I make a u-turn so I’m facing west looking at the Times Square building (TSB),Mercury,the jail tower,Kodak tower and the whole south side of OCSR. This is my usual morning routine when I first arrive.

The last 2 days Dot.Ca (DC)has showed up at the nest box to relieve Beauty of incubating duties at 6:54am while I was enroute downtown. He was 2 minutes earlier at 6:52am today as  I made my u-turn this morning just in time to see DC fly up to the deck and Beauty fly to the base of Mercury.

I had gone down to the hole (Aqueduct St.) for a better view of Beauty but when I got there I couldn’t see her so back up to the BSB  I went, finding her on the other side of the base with her back to me.

Beauty stayed there for the next 25 minutes in which time a starling perched on the cement wall under the railing on the bridge and started singing to me.  A bit later 2 pigeons with no fear landed on the Thomson Reuters roof  right below the Beautyful one.

Click on pics to view a full version

At 6:25am Beauty took off fast past the south side of the TSB out of sight to the west. 3 or 4 minutes later she showed up on the base of Mercury with breakfast which was a small bird with dark wings that were flapping when she first landed but stopped soon after when she started plucking feathers to prepare it for consumption.

Beauty finished eating and shortly there after just before 7am DC came flying over to her and they mated. It was a very quick one lasting only a few seconds and then DC flew to the northeast wing of the TSB and Beauty went to the nest box to cover the eggs.

As I drove down to the hole DC made the short flight over to the Mercury Money Bag (MMB) staying only about a minute and leaving while I was tweeting.

I went to the Brighton Site (BS) when DC didn’t resurface after 10-15 minutes. I arrived there at 7:20am and didn’t see or hear any PEFAs. I returned to downtown and checked all around but still didn’t find DC so once again I drove over to BS. Bingo-this time I found Pigott on the southwest corner of the southwest extension at 8:20am.

Just a couple minutes later DC came screaming in past Pigott and to the cubby-she followed right behind him and loud echupping ensued. They were in there for a couple minutes when DC bolted out of there flying north in the direction of downtown. Miss Pigott flew across to the southwest corner of the west extension facing north.

<Click it to view full version

At 8:30am Pigott flew around the building aborted an attempt to land on a south side window and continued on to fly north. I  too headed north to downtown when she didn’t return arriving around 9am. Donna had reported that DC was on the eggs as I was enroute. As I turned onto Broad St. and stopped by the BCA I spotted 2 birds flying in front of the south side of OCSR-1 flew up into the elevator shaft (it looked like a pigeon to me) and the other definitely a falcon. I went down to the hole lickity split and found who I thought was DC at the time but it turns out it was Beauty on the 2nd ibeam south corner of OCSR.

She left after half a minute flying west and returned a minute later coming to rest on the Mercury money bag.

I shared space with her for the next 20 minutes and then ended my watch at 9:35am. Thanks to Annette and Donna for their help watching the cams to let me know who is on the eggs. After not seeing Miss Pigott since Tuesday it was good to find her this morning. I left with a smile on my face as I was able to say I saw all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below if you wish to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrfMg

http://youtu.be/q7F7B1qxnHc
http://youtu.be/XUjHMSVkOgk
http://youtu.be/WCCwB9uIpOshttp

http://youtu.be/efVdbe4BT_g
http://youtu.be/N-dNkaVrBNc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My watch started at about 3:45 pm.  It was a gorgeous afternoon, but I knew it wouldn’t last.  Clouds were moving in.  I looked all over for Beauty, knowing that DC was in the nest box on the eggs.  I ended up in Aqueduct St aka “the hole”, called that because you are surrounded by buildings and lose sight of the falcons pretty quickly when they fly overhead.  Today was no exception.  A few minutes after I parked my car, Beauty came flying in from the NW.  She flew over me and then up to the Times Square Bldg (TSB) landing on the SE corner of the ledge above the nest box.  Loud ee-chupping filled the air as Beauty and Dot.ca vocalized together.  (4:00 pm).

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Beauty took off and flew over me heading west.  I lost sight of her quickly, so I did not see where she went.   I drove up to the Andrews St Bridge (ASB) to check out the area from the north and found Beauty on the base of the Mercury statue.  I quickly tweeted that she was there and then made my way to the Broad St Bridge (BSB), where I was soon joined by Joyce and Brian. (4:10 pm)

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From the Broad St Bridge (BSB), we watched as Beauty preened and stretched.  She was just soaking in the sun and keeping an eye on her nest box.  Brian, Joyce and I were enjoying the sunshine too, watching Beauty and all that surrounded us.  There is so much to see.

The Genesee River was much lower than it had been in a long time, leaving some of the rocky areas exposed.  This gave this group of Pigeons a chance to take a bath in the cold, clear water.

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Looking north down the river, we noticed that the whole length of the Main St Bridge is loaded with trees debris, lots and lots of trees!

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Oh, and we now have new garbage receptacles on the Broad St Bridge.  🙂

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During our Watch, we spotted 4 Turkey Vultures soaring over the Xerox Tower.  As the clouds moved in and the temperatures dropped, Brian spotted a Broadwing Hawk and an Osprey moving north to south and over the downtown area.

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Beauty remained on the base of the Mercury statue until about 4:55 pm.  We didn’t see her take off, so we thought that she might have walked around to the other side of the base and out of sight.

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Joyce and Brian had to leave, so I drove around looking for Beauty and could not find her.  I drove over the the BS location at 5:15 pm and did not see or hear any falcons over there.  Back downtown at 5:40 pm.  Beauty had taken over the brooding of the eggs at 5:15 pm, so I drove around the downtown area looking for Dot.ca.  I had no lucking finding him.  Joyce tweeted that she was out at the BS location and Dot.ca was not there either.  At approximately 6:00 pm, it was time for me to head home.

I want to thank RFalconcam Watchers NCAFalcon and Braveheart for the assist this afternoon.  I am unable to check to see if there is a falcon in the nest box while I’m downtown, so your assistance is much appreciated.  Thank you!

Also, just to let you know, Rochester Falcon Watchers Joyce and Lisa McK were at the BS location after I left and they saw Pigott on the vent on the south side of the building.  So, all three Rochester Falcons were seen this afternoon, making it a very good day indeed!

I’ll leave you with this picture I took on my way over to the BS location.  I do love spring flowers!

BE SURE TO CLICK ON ANY PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE LARGER.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Up and down,up and down that’s how spring temperatures go-today when I started my watch it was 36 (F) 2 (C) some 20 degrees colder than yesterday. No matter, because the sun was out!

As I made my way to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) a tweet from Annette came in saying that Beauty was out of the nest box and Dot.Ca (DC) was on their eggs. Thank you Annette and Donna too who helped me this morning! I found Beauty on the base of Mercury her favorite perch lately.

15 minutes later as I watched from the hole (Aqueduct St.) my favorite  watching spot lately lol,  Beauty flew west out of view.

She returned to Mercury a minute or 2 later , staying 5 minutes then stooping down to the river toward the Court St. bridge. I drove up to the BSB but couldn’t see Beauty anywhere so I took a ride around downtown twice. As I was stopped on the BSB at 7am I spotted her on the 3rd arm down of the jail tower.

I quickly drove over to Troup St. for closer viewing but just as I got there Beauty took off very fast flying north. I  went  searching stopping at the Pont De Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls which is right next to the Genesee brewery to check out the city from there.

You must click on the pics for a full version

I ended up on the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) at 7:35am and could barely see a falcon on the base of Mercury. Bet you can’t guess who! lol Of course it was the Beautyful one!!

I made it to the BSB just in time to see Beauty stick her tail up in the air for DC who flew in to mate with her.

Click them!

DC flew to the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) and Beauty went to the nest box when they were done.

DC did some preening in the 10 minutes that he was up there. Just before he took off he launched a great big poop and then flew northwest.

I went to the Brighton site (BS) when DC didn’t return right away. For the 3rd or 4th day in a row I had no luck in seeing or hearing Pigott and DC wasn’t there either. I returned to downtown about 8:45am and from the hole I found DC on the well wall.

He walked from the north end over to the end next to the deck and back before flying over to the southeast corner of the deck to stare at Beauty in the nest box.

DC got his point across to Beauty as she flew over to the base of Mercury and he sat down on their eggs.  His favorite spot lately! lol  10 minutes later just before 9am Beauty flew over to the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR.

She hung out there as I watched from the hole for the next 25 minutes and then she went to-yes that’s right, the base of Mercury!  It was around this time that I observed city workers placing many garbage cans on both sides of the BSB-YAY maybe there won’t be so much garbage all over it now. Anyway, Beauty stayed 20 minutes then stooped down to the river toward the Court St. Bridge once again.

I drove up to the BSB and saw Beauty fly  above the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and circle a couple times. She had nothing in her talons so I knew she missed whatever she had stooped on. I lost sight of her behind the Rundell library and that would be the last time I saw her as I ended my watch at 10:20am. I had a real nice watch this morning which sent me home smiling!! 🙂

I have included links below to view more pics and videos if you so desire

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrfEA

http://youtu.be/KECOlh-pn3g
http://youtu.be/FE47Pu0DB8Q
http://youtu.be/5SJo-aI1gAQ
http://youtu.be/knzzuHsJTqo
http://youtu.be/nXXZf3yKbTQ
http://youtu.be/fUx8HPjE2Go
http://youtu.be/-7zjR2anmQU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

55 warm degrees (F) 13 (C) out this morning when I left for my watch and I didn’t need a jacket. It started to sprinkle when I first arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) and picked up to a light rain shower by the end of  my watch.

I made my way downtown at 5:50am after checking the cams to find Beauty on her eggs before I left home. Dot.Ca was late to sh0w up this morning and so to satisfy my curiosity I went over to the Brighton site (BS) to see if he was there. Arriving at 7:15am I saw no falcons on my first trip around the complex and I heard nothing from the cubby. My second time around I spotted DC flying near the west side-he circled the building once and then flew north. Pigott was not seen anywhere so I headed for downtown knowing that DC was going to Times Square. Sure enough 2 minutes later Donna let me know DC was there and on his eggs. Thanks for your help as usual Donna! And also thanks to Annette who tweeted out about the switch. When I reached the BSB I spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury so I drove down to the hole to observe.

She was just finishing up eating and started cleaning her talons.

Around 7:30am Beauty flew to the nest box and switched with DC who flew to the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR and started preening in the rain. Thank you to Annette and Donna for letting me know of that switch.

<B  DC>

He stayed there 25 minutes while I watched  from the hole and then Graves St. by Aqueduct Park. At 7:55am DC took off and so I went looking for him. As I pulled over on Broad St. by the Blue Cross Arena where I have  a view of  Mercury,the south side of the Wilder building and the southwest and southeast sides of OCSR.  I spotted DC on the south corner second ibeam of OCSR and he was standing up looking very white thru the rain.

10 minutes later he stooped on something that I couldn’t see as buildings blocked my view.

From the hole I saw that he had gone to the Wilder green strip. He had his back to me pretty much the whole time.

At about 8:45am DC flew over to the deck by the main cam where he tried to convince Beauty to let him sit on the eggs. She would have none of it so he left 5 minutes later and flew east toward the river out of sight.

After a ride around downtown and no luck finding him I went to BS arriving at 9:20am. DC was not there and once again Miss Pigott was not seen or heard. As I was leaving to go back downtown I was informed by both Donna and Annette that  DC was on the eggs. You guys do a great job of helping me out and I appreciate it tremendously! When I arrived at about 9:30am I went to the hole when I found Beauty on the base of Mercury once again.

I drove up to the BSB for a view of her front side and hung out with her for the next 20 minutes before ending my watch just before 10am.

Things will slow down now that the eggs are being incubated and it’s probably a good thing so I can rest up because if all 4 eggs hatch I will definitely be getting a workout come fledge time. Keep smiling! 🙂

I have provided links below to view more pics and videos-just click them

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWreiA

http://youtu.be/bs7YFjUoPpU
http://youtu.be/qVWZyvBxvsc
http://youtu.be/VZKT0c6spmw
http://youtu.be/BPSDyvu-ty8

By Rochester Falcon  Watcher Carol P.

I arrived downtown about 3:45 pm.  I assumed that Beauty was in the nest box, brooding her newly arrived 4th egg and her other three eggs of course, but I wasn’t sure.  I looked all over for Dot.ca and could not find him.  I tweeted that out and immediately received texts from  Watcher Lisa McK and Rfalconcam Forum member NCAFalcon letting me know that Beauty was indeed inside the nest box.  I remained for a little while before heading over to the BS location.

Just as I drove up to the building, I heard alarm calling and saw Pigott leave the cubby.  She went up to meet a Turkey Vulture that got a little too close for her liking.  She returned to the lip of the cubby and was quiet.

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After checking all over for DC and not finding him, I decided it was time to head back to downtown.  On my way, I received a text from Forum member Ei saying Dot.ca was now in the nest box.  When I arrived on the Broad St Bridge (BSB), I found Beauty eating on the OCSR, on the 2nd Ibeam down on the west end.

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This Mourning Dove landed near me while I was watching Beauty and then left after a few moments.

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At 6:20 pm, after finishing her meal and preening a bit, Beauty spread her wings and headed towards the Times Square Bldg where she landed on the well wall, just to the right (north side) of the nest box platform.  She was in no hurry to enter the nest box, she just sat there for a few moments before Dot.ca flew out of the nest box and then walked in to take over brooding the 4 eggs.

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Dot.ca left the nest box and flew down to the green stripe on the south side of the Wilder Bldg.  From there he had a good view of the Times Square Bldg and the nest box.

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I was ready to end my watch at 6:20 pm, when fellow Watcher Kathy O joined me.  I stayed with her until 7:00 pm when it was time for both of us to head home.

So, all three Rochester Falcons seen this afternoon plus the arrival of Beauty and Dot.ca’s 4th egg.  This all made it a very good day indeed!

Goodnight everyone and remember to click on any pics you would like to see larger.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 41 degrees (F) 5 (C) when I left for my watch today with a bit of a breeze.

Beauty was on the eggs when I checked the cams but while enroute to downtown Dot.Ca (DC) came and switched with her. When I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) Dan was there and I asked if he had any action-he said no.  Thanks to Annette for tweeting that a switch was made and thanks to Donna for giving the time of the switch at 5:54am. Beauty was nowhere that we could see her.

Just before 6:30am I spotted both Beauty and DC flying from the east over the river with both landing on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. Soon after, Beauty flew to the Mercury money bag and took off quickly from there too. DC appeared to be eating on OCSR and as I was looking for Beauty he flew off. Donna said that Beauty was in the nest box as I had seen a falcon fly to it but wasn’t sure who. Dan and I were getting frustrated because we couldn’t keep up with the brief landing these 2 were doing and of course the buildings being in the way is always an issue. I couldn’t even get any pictures of them!! Dan left about 6:50am and I went to the hole to have a look around. I watched Beauty fly to the northwest wing and check the back of the ledge presumably for cached food. She was gone seconds later and went to the nest box as Donna once again let me know who was up there on the eggs. Thank you so much!

I checked from the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) but didn’t see DC anywhere so I left for the Brighton Site (BS) I arrived there around 7:30am finding Pigott on the southwest corner of the west extension eating.

DC  was on the southwest corner of the southwest extension.

Things stayed this way for 10 minutes. I decided to tape Pigott after she finished eating and pan over to DC on his corner but when I did he was gone. He was on his way over to Pigott to mate with her which I could hear while I was trying to find them on my cameras LCD screen. The end of the video is a blurry image of them before DC left. He then went to the southeast corner of the roof above the south side vent.

He didn’t stay there for long taking wing to go to the southwest corner on the southeast extension.

Click my pics for full version

Again he stayed briefly and then he was off flying north. Pigott had been on her west extension corner the whole time. I just knew DC was going back downtown so I said goodbye to Pigott and left. I wasn’t even a quarter of the way there when Donna let me know DC was on the eggs and Beauty on Mercury. He’s a fast little flyer he is!! I didn’t see the Beautyful one on Mercury from the BSB  so I went on a search and find ride ending  on the ASB where I didn’t notice Beauty on the base of Mercury until the 3rd look with my binocs. She blended in well and the distance didn’t help any either.

I drove to the hole which was close to her but the sun was in a bad place for picture taking.

I then went up to the BSB where I could just barely see the top half of her peeking at me.

Beauty flew to the west behind Thomson Reuters and returned to the base of Mercury some 20 minutes later landing just before 9am.

Her crop seemed to have a little bulk to it telling me she had eaten at some point. I saw Pigott and DC eat earlier so I ended my watch at 9:13am content that all was well with our resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons. Shortly after I got home from my watch Beauty laid her 4th egg at 9:37am which made me forgot the frustrations of the day thus  planting a very big smile on old MAKs face! 🙂

I have links below for some videos-just click them to view

http://youtu.be/bK3FQxhkM7M
http://youtu.be/fkrpvGLrpUI
http://youtu.be/RPHukHxEC3Y
http://youtu.be/Aae9iNZUgg0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

29 degrees (F) -2 (C) and clear with a slight breeze is what the conditions were when I left for my watch.

I found Dan on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) when I got there about 6:05am and said he hadn’t had any action. I checked the cams around 5:45am and saw Beauty on the eggs so when I got downtown and didn’t see any falcons I assumed she was still on the eggs. Annette tweeted that Dot.Ca (DC) was on the eggs so I went looking for Beauty and I found her on the base of Mercury from the Andrews St. bridge. I wasn’t sure who it was from that distance so I went to the hole (Aqueduct St.) to confirm that it was indeed the Beautyful one.

I rejoined a frozen Dan on the bridge who decided to go home and warm up around 6:45am so I went back down to the hole. Beauty took off as soon as I got there flying west out of view and a couple minutes later I thought she returned to the base, but it turns out that she went to the nest box and DC was who I watched land,stretch,poop and take off to the east across the river. Thank you to Annette and Donna for helping me to get things straight this morning. After DC didn’t come back I headed to the Brighton site (BS) and spotted Pigott on the southwest corner of the west extension at 7:23am.

A couple minutes later Pigott flew off and caught her breakfast taking it to the northwest corner of the west extensions lower roof. She started plucking feathers and suddenly stopped looking north behind me so I couldn’t see what had her attention as I was in my car facing her. She took off with her prey heading east flying real low.

I drove around the building trying to see where she went and after scanning the roof tops I found her on the southwest corner of the same lower roof on top of a light with her package.

The lighting was bad where I was parked so I drove around the building and got a different angle on my subject who was fully engaged at preparing this meal with feathers stuck to her beak and filling the air space around her.

A crow landed below her as she started vocalizing her displeasure and flew off  with the food landing on the southwest corner of the west extension. Finally she had found a place that she was comfortable with to start eating her meal.

5 minutes later at 8:10am I heard echupping coming from the cubby-now how did I miss DC go in there I thought. It happens all the time when you are focused on one bird another can sneak in under your radar easily. I was not in the right spot to see in the cubby so I drove around the building again parking where I could see Miss Pigott and the cubby. Well just as I stopped she flew off with her prey yet again and as I watched her DC managed to sneak out of the cubby for when I went to the back of the building I found him on the southeast corner of the south extension.

Only a minute passed when DC stooped down on a crow and flew out of view. It took a couple trips around but I finally managed to find Pigott eating away on the southwest corner of the west extension. I wasn’t sure who it was at first as she had her back to me but I found out 10 minutes later when DC suddenly showed up and mated with her.

DC flew off, Pigott gave her head a shake and went right back to eating and threw in a few echups as well! I managed to locate DC on the southwest corner of the southwest extension across from Pigott who started whining and echupping while she continued to chow down on what was left of her meal.

She was not letting anything get in the way of her eating!  She finished about 8:50am and went to the cubby and started echupping loudly and DC totally ignored her while he was preening.

Pigott gave up after 20 minutes and flew out of the cubby going to the southwest corner of the west extension where DC promptly flew to her and they mated again.

DC returned to the same corner he had previously vacated and Pigott remained whining on and off.

<DC>

Did I mention Pigott was whining!?

Click pics for full version

At 9:45am DC flew above the building and I saw 2 other birds-one was high in the sky and the other DC went after. It looked like a tiercel being about the same size as DC. There was no contact he just chased it out of the territory and when he returned he went in the cubby. Loud echupping echoed from in there as Pigott ignored his pleas now-turn around is fair play don’t ya know!? DC then flew out and headed north at which time Pigott turned around facing north and watched as I did. DC did not return so I went downtown to see if that’s where he went since that’s the direction Pigott and I last saw him. I found him under the northeast wing preening.

I ended my watch at this juncture-it was 10:05am. I have to smile for sometimes observing these falcons is  like watching a comedy and todays watch was no exception! 🙂

Click the links below to view more pics and videos

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http://youtu.be/P0BkMBgnlaU
http://youtu.be/xY1vRe52eh8
http://youtu.be/ABdPZ2Ij97M
http://youtu.be/oLzuROAdA8Y
http://youtu.be/Yfv0gwdtbOQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I decided to go to the BS location first, arriving there at about 12:30 pm.  I circled the building a couple times.  All was quiet, no falcons in sight.  I started to tweet that out when all of a sudden; ee-chup ee-chup ee-chup! In flew a falcon directly into the cubby.  After checking my pics, it was Dot.ca that came flying in and I do think Pigott was already at the cubby.

Dot.ca left the cubby and landed on the SW corner of the building.  While he was there, he did a lot of preening, then took off and flew around the back of the building where I lost sight of him.

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I circled the building and found Pigott at the edge of the cubby.  She left the cubby and landed on the SW corner of the west extension.

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While I was watching Pigott, I was pretty sure I saw a falcon fly off heading north, so that ‘s where I headed.

I arrived downtown around 1:53 pm.  Dot.ca was in the nest box and I could not find Beauty.  Dot.ca came out of the nest box and landed on the green stripe at the top of the Wilder Bldg.  Then he flew to the top IBeam of the OCSR south corner.  DC then flew up to the Times Square Bldg (TSB) NW wing ledge.  I couldn’t see what was going on up there, but I could sure hear it.  Beauty was up there and Dot.ca had landed next to her.  By the time I walked over far enough to see them, the vocalization ended and Dot.ca took off, and went to the nest box.  Beauty remained on the ledge finishing her meal.  Not sure if they copulated or not.

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After finishing her meal, she went to the nest box and Dot.ca came out, landing on the green stripe on the Wilder bldg.

Because the Broad St Bridge (BSB) was full for an event at the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) aka War Memorial, I was watching from Aqueduct St. aka the hole.  We call it the hole because your view is very restricted there.  Once the  falcons fly away from the TSB, you’re pretty much blind to where they went.

At 2:55 pm, I heard Beauty alarm kakking from the nest box.  I was watching Dot.ca’s reaction on the Wilder bldg.  He was looking all over.  First Beauty took off and flew over heading east, over the river.  As soon as Beauty passed over, Dot.ca took off and followed.  The last I saw them was as they crossed the river, flying over the Hyatt.

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I want to take a moment here to thank all the on-line watchers that help the watchers on the street.  From where I was, I could not see Beauty and Dot.ca when they were in the nest box, so their help was invaluable.  Thanks Ei, Donna, Annette and NCAFalcon!  Things can get so confusing when there is a lot of activity going on, especially when you are by yourself.

Dot. ca returned and went into the nest box.   At 3:55, Ei reported that he was looking to the east a lot.  I had checked the downtown area and could not find Beauty.  I finally found an open parking spot on the Broad St Bridge.  From there I checked the area and found Beauty up on top of the Xerox Tower on the SW corner.  She was on a direct line-of-sight from the nest box, so Dot.ca probably had been watching her.

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Beauty took off at 4:20 pm and flew to the nest box.  Dot.ca exited and I found him on the green stripe on the Wilder building.

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With Beauty settled in the nest box on her 3 eggs and Dot.ca on the Wilder bldg preening, it was time for me to leave at 4:45 pm.  Just as I was pulling out of the parking lot off of Aqueduct St. I looked up and saw that Dot.ca was gone.  By the time I got home and signed in on the Rfalconcam live streaming video, Dot.ca was back on the three eggs.  Seeing all three Rochester Falcons today, made it a very nice day.  Goodnight all.