By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

What a time I had playing hide and seek with falcons on this mornings watch. I was running a few minutes later than usual and as I sat on the Broad St. Bridge looking for Beauty to show up I got a text from Donna one of our camera watchers. She said Beauty had left Mercury at 7:18am-probably only a minute before I arrived. That should have told me right there what kind of luck I would have for the rest of watch!

I spent the better part of an hour looking for the Beautyful one and about half way thru that time I spotted a falcon near the Liberty Pole as I drove down Main St. I figured it was most likely Beauty as it stirred up pigeons off the old Sibley building and then chased them behind it where I couldn’t see them. I also came across a couple guys washing windows at Bausch&Lomb with very long poles.

In my travels I stopped by high falls on the east end by the Genesee Brewery-when I first started falcon watching I spent quite a few mornings on the Pont De Rennes footbridge with Dan our longest falcon watching member. He is my mentor whom has taught me a lot and told me some great stories from the Mariah and Kaver era. Spring will bring him back out to watch on the Broad St. Bridge again for a new and hopefully successful Peregrine season.

Southbound on St. Paul Blvd. toward the city from high falls. Make sure to click the pic for full version

I left for our Brighton Site (BS) to look for Pigott and BST her unbanded male winter companion. I spent 45 minutes or more searching the building and surrounding area to no avail. I saw wild turkeys again tho!

We certainly see a lot more than falcons on our watches here in Rochester,NY! So I returned to downtown and spent 2 hours looking for Beauty. Finally as I drove down Fitzhugh St. toward City Hall I spotted her on the southeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower. I had to drive over to Plymouth Ave. to get a look at the front of her.

She was checking out her nail polish as I got settled in to watch. A flock of Starlings whizzed by her not once but twice!

I no sooner got a few pics and a video taken when a security guard came running across the street from Frontier saying this is a secure building and what are you doing? He wasn’t the regular day shift guard that I know and educated last summer about our beloved falcons. This guard now knows a little bit about them! 🙂 As he left me I looked up at the tower to find Beauty had left while I was distracted and the starlings had flown in immediately and laid claim to the tower.

I checked Brighton one last time but it would prove futile as Miss Pigott and BST were not home. So in a 5 hour watch I saw a falcon for a total of about 10 minutes but rest assured I was smiling for all of that 10 minutes! 🙂

Click the links below for video of high falls and Beauty

http://youtu.be/5vz7sRp2cEs
http://youtu.be/88L9_2ZmlgY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce (wnyfalconfan)

This past weekend, Steve took me for a brief falconwatch to the Brighton site (BS) and downtown. It must have been “gimper’s” luck because I got to see all three peregrines.

Here are slideshows of each of our falcons seen on Saturday, Jan 12th, plus a bonus album of the Eastern Screech-Owl seen on Wednesday Jan 9, 2013.

Click on each thumbnail for full view. Click on links for slideshows and video.

– – – BS Tiercel Slideshow

– – – Pigott Slideshow

– – – Beauty Slideshow

To go along with my slideshow, here is an rfalconcam video posted by Dumpsterkitty15 on YouTube that was recorded at the same time as I took my photos. – – – Beauty takes off from Mercury January 12, 2013

– – – Eastern Screech-Owl Album
Note – In the last photo I caught a rare shot of the upper eyelid over the eyes.

Hope you enjoy!
Joyce

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

My how time flies-I can’t believe we’re halfway thru January already! It felt a lot more like January this morning when I stepped out for my watch. Today features all Beauty as the Brighton pair were not home when I checked there. As I approached the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) I could see a crane next to Midtown.

I first found the Beautyful one on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR around 7:30am as I returned to the BSB from checking the east side. I didn’t stop but drove right thru to the alley by Aqueduct Park to view her.

For the next 40 minutes Beauty searched her territory and intently looked down at some sparrows and starlings that were hiding in the trees of Aqueduct Park.

Beauty flew off to the south straight up river toward Cornhill and came back gliding back and forth above the river near Mercury before vanishing to the east.

After a drive around looking for Beauty I spotted her as I crossed the Court St. Bridge 10 minutes later. She was on the base of Mercury all hunched over  mantling something so I knew she had food up there. I drove directly to the hole to observe.

I watched her nibble on something small for about 5 minutes and then she was off. I figured it was cached food. She circled around The river and Blue Cross Arena before landing up under the southeast wing of Mercury. This time I saw some feathers flying so she had taken leftovers with her.

Beauty plucked and ate just a tiny bit more and then stood there contemplating what she wanted to do next. At 8:45 she hopped of f with prey in her left talon and flew east out of view.

I did a search and came up empty so I proceeded over to Brighton where nobody was home. At 9:30am I was back downtown with Beauty in my sights as she was once again on the top ibeam southeast side of the OCSR building.

This go around her attention was more of the upward variety as she looked above her at gulls that were soaring up high trying to stay out of her airspace no doubt.

I hung out with the Beautyful one for the next 45 minutes as she rested with her back to the world before calling it a watch. An entire watch filled with only my favorite Peregrine Falcon surely sent me home smiling! 🙂

Click the links below to view 4 videos of downtown Rochesters resident female Peregrine Falcon Beauty

http://youtu.be/ZRAbQNdoeN4
http://youtu.be/5aT0v_30dgg
http://youtu.be/a8zYFAoYW2k
http://youtu.be/f_nnS_FiG70

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
This will probably be my last report for awhile.

I was only able to get out for a couple hours this afternoon.  My first stop was the BS location.  I had no luck finding Pigott or BST.  I checked out the surrounding area hoping to find out where they are hanging out when not at BS.  The only raptor I found was this RTH hanging out on a nearby building.

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and this stone raptor.

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I circled the area, checking out all the buildings I could and had no luck finding them.  Next I wanted to find Beauty before heading home.  But, first I drove through the very beautiful Mt Hope Cemetery.

When I first arrived on the Broad St Bridge (BSB) Beauty was on the top IBeam SE side on the OCSR.  She took off while I was parking my car.  It was a beautiful afternoon.  Temps in the high 60’s.  Definitely a January thaw.  I could hear the river roaring.  There was a lot of water flowing through the middle of downtown Rochester due to all the snow melt.  It was quite impressive.

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I drove around downtown looking for Beauty, finally finding her on the top IBeam of the OCSR on the NE side.  She had her back to me, but her head was in constant motion.  It looked like she had a very full crop.

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I stayed for awhile watching Beauty before heading home at approximately 3:00 pm.  I wish I had found Pigott and BST, but I was very happy to have found Beauty hanging out peacefully watching over her territory.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my trip through Mt Hope Cemetery and one picture of a deer with one antler that Kathy O saw while driving through Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.  Seems we had the same idea today.  lol  🙂

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On my way out of the cemetery, I saw this lady and asked if she had seen any falcons.  She pointed up  to the sky above and said “Keep Your Eyes to the Sky!”

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I checked the weather forecast before I left this morning as I always do and it was a balmy 52 degrees fahrenheit(11 celcius) at 7:00 in the morning!  This is January in western New York folks-it should be snowin’ and blowin’ with sub freezing temps. Well, maybe next weekend! lol Another fine sunrise started my watch off on a good note.

At 7:30am I spotted Beauty on the money bag hand of Mercury as I was making my way back to the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) from the east side.

I only got to be with the Beautyful one for 8 minutes before she spread her wings and flew off after the Aqueduct pigeons who came up out of their slumbers.

Please click the pics for full version

She chased them over the river between the BSB and the Court St. Bridge as she always does, only to break it off unsuccessfully and fly off to the east disappearing behind the Hyatt Hotel. I made a trip around the city but never found her so off to the Brighton Site(BS) I went. Arriving at BS around 8:15am I could see Pigott on the northwest corner of the west extension as I approached the driveway. I positioned myself so I could see the front of this pretty pefa!

She was preening and scratching a little as she looked over her territory I assume for the arrival of BST. These two have bonded quite nicely and keep pretty close tabs on each other. At 8:30am Larry joined the watch with his dog Harold. We watched BST come screaming in from the northeast chasing some Canadian geese that were flying around the area. He thumped one of them a couple times as they quickly dispersed and left his air space.

Click it

Sorry but I have a real hard time getting flight shots so these are the best I could get. BST flew to a south facing corner window ledge on the west extension and landed. Miss Pigott remained on her northwest corner during the whole exhibition acting all nonchalant and unimpressed.

For the next half hour they both primped and preened then without warning BST took flight to the south. Larry kept an eye on him as I watched Pigott.  BST flew to and landed on a tree nearest to the stacks by the back service road. This was NOT the pefa tree but in the same general area. I was so excited to see a falcon in a tree!!!

Larry left as I watched BST in the tree and 20 minutes later Pigott flew off the corner she had been perched on since I arrived. I only knew this because BST started looking that way and was vocalizing. She flew right above BST and checked him out before flying east. A few minutes later she returned coming to rest in the pefa tree. How lucky was I to see not just one but two Peregrine Falcons in trees!

<Click this pic for sure <Pigott>

Some wild Turkeys came strutting thru crossing the road to the now snow free grassy field. For the next 17 minutes I watched this dynamic duo in their tree of choice and then BST flew off  going over Pigott who watched him and followed suit. She looked back over her shoulder toward me before flying off as if to say b-bye MAK!

Both went south and never returned ending my watch at approximately 10:00am. A 3 hour watch packed full of action and excitement for this Peregrine Falcon Watcher. Not only did I see all 3 current resident pefas which in and of itself is enough to make one smile but I saw FALCONS in TREES!!!  🙂

Click on the links below for more pics and videos of the fastest animals on the planet

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrTPg

http://youtu.be/iI62v_z2CJs
http://youtu.be/5u1Wy3b2dHk
http://youtu.be/9FuKRYHnf-Y
http://youtu.be/wJNuoBaxP6A
http://youtu.be/4tzxQ2Zt-bY

By Rochester  Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Tweets from Late Morning/Afternoon:

10:10 am – Dana – “DT falcon watch- B took a bath on a lower roof south of FCT, then flew to preen on the ne portion of FCT below base.”

11:20 am – Carol P – “At KP. Big Momma Red Tail in hunt mode. Gorgeous gal. No falcons seen.”

12:00 pm – Carol P – “BS. Very quiet here. No falcons seen. Watch out for low flyng hawks! One flew in front of me into the median of 390. No snow, good hunting!”

1:00 pm – Carol P – “DT. From Andrews St Bridge I can see Ms B on the FCT below the platform on NE box. May be the same place Dana saw her.”

2:40 pm – Joyce – “BS drive by – 1 falcon on NW corner of west extension. Looks like P.  Check back after doggie run.”

2:50 pm – Carol P – “DT. Dana with me. After many false starts B took off heading NE and came back empty taloned landing on same spot on FCT.”

3:00 pm – Joyce – “BS – BST on east corner next to the roof top tree. P still on NW corner.”

3:10 pm – Carol P – “BS. Was here in time to say hello and goodbye to Joyce & Steve. lol Both P&BST still here.”

3:30 pm – Joyce – “DT. On ASB – see falcon on Mercury.”

3:50 pm – Joyce – “DT. Beauty stayed on Mercury for us to get a closer view, then she took off in NW direction. Checked FCT but not there. Heading home smiling.”

4:40 pm – Carol P – ” DT. Left P&BST at BS. Found Beauty in the OCSR elevator shaft on the south ledge. Goodnight Ms B!”

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Today’s high temperature of 58 degrees was a record breaker for Rochester, NY for this day!  The average temp at this time of year is 32 degrees (F), so this was a very welcome break from our winter weather.  Much of the snow has melted, except for the large piles that accumulated from all the snow we’ve had over the past month.  On my way to the BS location, I spotted quite a few Red-tail Hawks in the trees lining the expressway.  One flew low in front of my car and landed in the median of 390.  I looked over as I passed the hawk and saw that s/he had caught something.  Now that the grass is showing again, the hungry hawks will have a better chance of successful hunting.  But watch out for low flying hawks!

The tweets listed above tell the tail of what happened on my watch today.  It consisted of watching gorgeous Peregrines preening, stretching and pooping. The only real activity besides that was when Beauty flew off to the NW and returned to the same spot on the FCT that she had been on for hours.  I was very happy to meet up with fellow Watchers Dana & Joyce.  Thanks very much Steve for getting Joyce out today to see our falcons.  🙂

It was a very peaceful and quiet day and after seeing all three current Rochester Falcons and my Watcher friends, it was a very good day!

Here are some pictures from today’s Falcon Watch.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see in a larger version.  Enjoy!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We are on tap for a record breaking day temperature wise with a high near 60 degrees fahrenheit! Perfect for a falcon watch and good for falcons as I saw all 3 current resident Peregrines. I took a trip to the east side after I checked the Broad St. Bridge area and as I came back thru Beauty was perched on the outstretched money bag hand of Mercury.

She was in hunt mode looking around her river territory and surrounding area. She stayed less than 10 minutes and then she was off suddenly, flying east.

It was time to catch breakfast as I watched her fly across the river above Midtown circling and then vanishing into the eastern sky. That would be the last I saw of her on my watch as I searched for her unsuccessfully for the next 30 minutes. I left downtown for the Brighton Site(BS) and was happy to see Pigott on the northeast corner as I pulled in the driveway a little after 8:00am.The sun was rising so I had to take a pic before I drove around the building to look for BST.

Upon reaching the east side of the building I could see BST up on the southeast corner under the tree and Pigott was strutting her stuff for him.

BST Pigott         Remember to always click on the pics to see a full version

First Pigott flew out and did a little swooping back and forth action in front of us, then BST flew out with her as they both gave this watcher a nice tandem flight display around the east half of the property.

Pigott BST

Click it 🙂

Pigott didn’t stay long sneaking out to the south and back up to the southeast corner of the east extension where she stayed long enough to poop,stretch and fly south out of the area.

BST did some shaking and stretching of his own as he was facing me quite nicely for a change.

Just before 9:00am BST flew off to the south and that was the last I saw of him as well. I waited around for a while as a crow perched on a very dirty snow pile was the only bird left  so I returned to downtown. I was unable to locate Beauty so I called it a watch at about 9:30am. I left downtown smiling after a wonderful 2 hour morning falcon watch!  🙂

Links for more pics and 4 videos are below-click and watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrTHA

http://youtu.be/lQfFBPQv7nQ

http://youtu.be/1AKrimyDxaE

http://youtu.be/E1sPEm8dE4U

http://youtu.be/Ixdl1XympjM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Tweets from Today:

4:10 pm – “DT. Raining. Found Ms Beauty up inside the OCSR elevator shaft tucked in on the south ledge. Lots of sirens.”

4:30 pm – “BS. One falcon on SW corner of west extension.” – This was Pigott.

4:40 pm – “BS. Oh wow! there is a beautiful rainbow over the building. Still raining but clearing to the south.”

4:50 pm – “BS. I believe this Pigott and she just returned to NW corner after going after something west of here. Lots of kakking.”

5:10 pm – “BS. Flew west and back again. Quietly this time. Not sure if this is P or BST. Kathy O here now.”

5:30 pm – “BS. Both here now. P on south side of east ext and BST on SS of west ext. All 3 seen. Time to go.”

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Here are some pics from my watch.

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I was very happy to see all three current Rochester Falcons this evening.

I’ll leave you with a few pics from my watch.  Be sure to click on any picture you would like to see in a larger format.  Thanks!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well it was bound to happen-a lackluster falcon watch this morning. Yesterday was nice and sunny with many photo ops and today is dark and rainy with only the bare minimum-only 2 pics to be exact. Over an hour into my watch while parked on the Andrews St. Bridge facing east I noticed the pigeons that hang out on top of the Radisson Hotel go into a panic flight. They were flitting and darting like they were being chased by a predator or something. That’s because they were and her name is Beauty! She came out of nowhere catching up to them as they all flew northward bound and then disappearing behind the buildings on St. Paul St. I waited a few minutes but none of them came back and as I was about to pull away I looked at Mercury and saw Beauty on the base where she appeared to have prey. I left to get closer but when I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge she was gone.

I decided to go over to Brighton and try my luck there. I pulled in and drove around the building as it started to rain at a good clip. As I made my way to the east side I spotted a small looking Peregrine Falcon flying in from the east and quickly leaving my field of vision to the west. It was most likely BST tho I can’t say for sure obviously. I drove around the building and surrounding area several times but never found any falcons. I went back downtown determined to find the Beautyful one and as I stopped on Main St. by the Radisson Hotel I saw her on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.

I watched for a bit as Beauty with her back to me looked north, occasionally closing her eyes for  a little snooze. When she wouldn’t turn my way I drove over to Bragdon St. for a better view of the front of her.

Not exactly a front shot but I could see well enough to say that her crop seemed like it had a bit of a bulge in it. I always like to see full crops so that I know they have eaten. Content in finding Beauty I went back to the Brighton Site but there was still nobody home there. I needed to be ending my watch so on my way home I checked to find Beauty still on OCSR and napping. Not a whole lot to report today but certainly enough to make me smile! 🙂

1 video link below

http://youtu.be/Z8aMpEXhJkU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My Tweets from Tonight:

4:10 pm – “DT. Found Ms Beauty on the north side of the FCT platform.”

4:20 pm – “DT. B took of heading towards TSB. Now on mercury.”

4:30 pm – “DT. B went after the pigeons over the river then headed east behind Xerox.”

5:00 pm – “BS. BST was on the NW corner then flew to a window on the north side of the west ext.”

5:30 pm – “BS. Pigott is home. She is 6 windows down at the nighttime roost east ext north side.BST still where he was. All 3 seen.” – Forgot to mention that Larry O stopped by for a few moments before he headed home.

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As usual, my falcon watch started downtown, a little before 4:00 pm.  My first stop was the Andrews St Bridge.  From there, I spotted Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  She was on the north side of the platform.  I drove over to the City Hall parking lot and watched Beauty from there.

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I was happy to find her, since I hadn’t seen Beauty for the last two evenings.  At 4:20 pm, Beauty took off, heading south towards the Times Square Bldg.  That’s where I headed and parked on the Broad St. Bridge.  I could not find Beauty, but I knew she wasn’t on the Mercury statue, but many of her friends were!

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All of a sudden, the Blue Cross Arena pigeons took flight.  They were in fright flight, dipping and diving and right on their tails was a rocket named Beauty.  I got this one picture of the pigeons flying with Beauty in the background, coming in fast!

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She flew past the pigeons and headed for the Mercury statue, landing on the moneybag hand.  Starlings scattered every which way.

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She only stayed a moment before heading east and flying behind Xerox.  I did not see her come out either end, so I followed.  I looked for her, but couldn’t find her.  So, before I lost daylight, I decided to head to the BS location.

At 5:00 pm, I found BST on the NW corner of the building.  I circled the building looking for Pigott, but couldn’t find her, so I parked where I could watch BST.  It wasn’t long before he dropped off of the building, wings tight to his body and feet hanging down.  Then his wings flipped up and out and he did a perfect U-turn, landing on a north facing window on the west extention.  He scooted over to the right side of the window and I’m pretty sure he was going to settle there for the evening.  Now where was Pigott?

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I again circled the building.  Once, twice  and there she was!  Pigott had snuck in as it got dark.  She was on the north facing 6th window down on the east extension.  This was where I was used to seeing them roost at night.  Larry O stopped for a few moments on his way home.  Well, I was very happy to see her, since this made 3 current Rochester Falcons seen this evening, making it a very good day!

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I circled one more time to check to make sure that BST was still where I left him and he was.  It was time for me to head home.

As I came around the back of the building I noticed three shapes scampering on the lawn close to the building.  I parked my car to watch the joyful play of three deer.  It looked like a momma deer with two young ones.  Not fawns, they had no spots and they were slightly smaller than the adult and boy did they want to play.  Maybe yearlings, last years’ young?  While mom was contentedly chewing on grass, which is now showing thanks to the thaw we are going through, while the two rambunctious youngsters were running at high speeds and leaping into the air!  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at their antics.  Mom was being very patient with them as they charged her and ran away again.  Hahaha!  I wish it hadn’t been so dark, I would have loved to have shared a video of their play.  I just sat there laughing until it finally got too dark to see them.  What a wonderful way to end my falcon watch!