By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There’s no better way to start my day than to see Beauty on the outstretched money bag hand of Mercury. For the first time in a long time she started our morning together on that very spot! 🙂

I parked down in the hole to view her when my good friend and fellow falcon watcher DebbieH came along on her way to work. She was very excited to see the Beautyful one  thru my binoculars as it was her first sighting of the new year. Beauty was in hunt mode looking over her territory and paying special attention to the Aqueduct under the Broad St. Bridge where  pigeons come out from their night time roost.

Click it for full view

They took their sweet time surfacing today forcing Beauty to go somewhere else to look for breakfast. After spending 35 minutes with her she flew off to the north leaving my field of vision quickly.

Make sure to click on the pics for full version

I searched for an hour without finding her so over to the Brighton Site I went. On the east extension top row of windows that face south I found a cute little tiercel called BST.

Asleep when I first got there at 9:10am he woke up,yawned and then stretched-3 things he does a lot in the morning! I waited for Miss Pigott to pay a visit but she never did. BST slept on and off and in between he did more stretching and preening plus looking around the area for prey or Pigott or both. At a little past 10:30am this personable tiercel took off flying south not really in any kind of a hurry.

I waited a bit for his return and left for downtown when he didn’t come back. At 11:00am I found Beauty for last call on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR. She was sleepy too but was still looking for a prey item as her crop didn’t look full to me.

Kinda dark at first, this mornings watch turned out to be bright and sunny with a couple falcons in between to make me smile! 🙂

To view more pics and 4 videos from todays watch click on the links below

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrS4g

http://youtu.be/WFuwigWYHdE
http://youtu.be/nzxX8zcjeVM
http://youtu.be/DFwqUB_xH5Q
http://youtu.be/b5ApJExI_0w

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today’s Late Afternoon/Evening Tweets:

3:20 pm – Joyce – “BS…while Steve was running Abby & Casey, BST was under tree on SE corner. He flew to E extension S facing windows top floor.”

3:30 pm – Joyce – “BS…coming around circle to E side of bldg, P was on E facing window opposite BST on the same level.”

3:50 pm – Joyce – “DT…no sign of B, but on the way we checked for eastern screech owl and found it home sleeping.”

4:20 pm – Carol P – “DT. Like Joyce I checked all over DT and can’t find Ms Beauty. It is getting really windy out here!”

4:40 pm – Carol P – “BS. Both Pigott & BST here on the east end of the bldg. Pefa tree is covered in crows.”

5:40 pm – Carol P – “BS. Came back thru DT. Dark now. Cannot tell if she is in elevator or not. Heading home.”

*******************************************

As I headed downtown, I received tweets from fellow Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce.  She was at the BS location with Steve and she had located both Pigott and BST on the east end of the building.  They then checked the downtown area and had no luck finding Beauty.

When I arrived downtown a little before 4:00 pm, I could not find Beauty either.  It wasn’t as cold as it had been in the past week, but it was getting windy and colder by the time I got downtown.  I was sorry I had missed Joyce, but was really glad to hear that she was feeling better and that she was out and about with Steve’s help, looking for falcons.

After circling the downtown area a 2nd time, it was time to check out the BS location.  I found Pigott on the SE corner and BST was on his favorite window on the east end, south side.

*

*

*

*

*

There was a lot of noise coming from the wooded area to the south.  There were Crows in almost every tree including the Pefa Tree.

*

*

*

*

*

As day started to fade into night, I decided to go back downtown to see if I could find Ms. Beauty.  I again looked all over and again had no luck finding her.  I parked where I could see up  into the OCSR elevator shaft.  But, it was so dark up there, I couldn’t tell for sure if she was there or not.  Here’s a picture that shows how dark it was.  I did lighten it quite a bit, but was unable to see her.

*

*

*

*

*

I waited til 5:40 pm before calling it a night.  It was time to head home after seeing two of the three current Rochester Falcons.  Not a bad day at all!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When you start the day with a beautiful sunrise sky you just know it’s gonna be a good day!

As I was driving onto the Main St . bridge from the east I spotted Beauty flying north to west in front of OCSR south side. I stopped, put on the hazard lights and watched to see where she would go. To my delight she flew up to the south corner top ibeam of OCSR.

I then drove down to Aqueduct Park and observed the Beautyful one as she was in hunt mode and seriously watching her surroundings for a potential meal. Some 20 minutes later she would take flight, quickly leaving my field of vision after a pigeon. I drove to the Broad St.Bridge where I spotted her under the northeast wing of the Times Square building. She had been successful catching breakfast for she was eating most intently up there!

I parked down in the hole(Aqueduct St.) and watched as she ate very fast only spending 20 minutes or so on it. She turned around showing me her backside so I drove down Exchange Blvd. and parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena to get a better vantage point.

I watched her briefly before she walked to the back of the ledge and cached the leftovers back by the wing. Beauty then came forward to preen a little, cleaned off her beak and flew off to the north. I didn’t expect her to leave so soon but leave she did, flying over to the northeast side of OCSR where I found her on the top ibeam.

I hung out about half hour with this most Beautyful falcon and then I left to check the Brighton Site. As I came around to the east side of the building I could clearly see 2 falcons on the ledge under the tree that grows on the east side roof. BST was under the tree on the corner and Pigott was maybe 15 feet to his right.

Remember- you must click on the pics to see a full version of them

Pigott  BST

Miss Pigott flew off within a minute of me landing and flew to a southwest corner.

They do take off fast! lol

15 minutes later Pigott flew off to the west and never came back for the rest of my watch.

B-bye!

No problem-at least I saw her for the first time in a couple of days and BST was still under the roof top tree to entertain me. I drove down farther on the road for a different angle on our cute male winter visitor.

I shared space with BST for the better part of an hour and then he took off headed west in the same direction as Pigott. I waited 15 minutes and when he didn’t return I left.  I decided to check for Beauty again before ending my watch. She made it easy on me as she was in the same spot  I left her some 2 hours earlier with her back to the world. I gave her a nod and headed on down the road thus ending my watch. I had seen all 3 current resident Peregrine Falcons and so I went down that road smiling! 🙂

I have provided links below for a photo album and 5 videos – click them if you dare!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrSwA

http://youtu.be/RwXYhznQ3HQ
http://youtu.be/ii84nm48cCI
http://youtu.be/R_VOKNhwhyg
http://youtu.be/4_3L48m2SVU
http://youtu.be/Y_rYLJevW7w

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today’s Tweets:

4:20 pm – “DT. Been all over. No sign of Ms Beauty.”

4:30 pm – “BS. Falcon on SW corner with a very full crop”

4:50 pm – “BS. BST was just in the pefa tree. Took off heading NW. Pigott still on west end of bldg.”

5:10 pm – “BS. Larry O stopped by. P still on SW corner. Have not seen BST return. Heading home via DT.”

5:30 pm – “DT. Way too dark for me to see if B is inside the elevator shaft. Time to head home.”

***********************************************

I arrived downtown at my usual time, just before 4 pm.  I looked in all the usual and not so usual spots and could not find Beauty.  No one was home inside the OCSR elevator shaft. and Starlings had taken over the Mercury statue.  Just more proof that she wasn’t close by.

*

*

*

*

*

Next stop, the BS location, where at 4:30 pm, I found Pigott on the SW corner with a very full crop.  She obviously had enjoyed a very large meal recently.

*

*

*

*

*

When I circled the building, I checked out the tree line on the south side of the building.  The Pefa tree was occupied and on closer inspection, it was BST, who now seems to favor this spot.  Dana and I had first seen Pigott there the day the Crows ousted her.  It’s been BST in this spot ever since.  Here are a few pics I took from a distance.  The 4th one was zoomed to the max in low light.  I had to lighten it to even see it and I really like how it came out.  Not clear by any means, very fuzzy, but interesting.  Low light is not good to my camera as you’ve probably noticed from my evening shots.  lol  🙂

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

I only had about 5 minutes to get a few pictures before BST took off, heading NW.  I looked back at the building and Pigott was still on the SW corner.

*

*

*

*

*

I waited for awhile to see if he would return, but as far as I know he hadn’t.  After circling the building one last time, I left Pigott on her corner and headed home via downtown.

At 5:30 pm, I checked out the downtown area and the OCSR elevator shaft one last time.  The elevator shaft was dark, so I can’t be 100% sure she wasn’t up there.  I strained to see her, but couldn’t.  At the best of times, it sometimes hard to see a falcon up there.  I was happy that MAK had seen her this morning.

It was time for me to head home.  Hopefully tomorrow, I will see all three!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

So today is the first of a weeks worth of warm temperatures in store for us here in Western New York. A major January thaw will occur with temps in the 40’s and 50’s and the snow that is on the ground now will most likely all disappear. I’m happy to see blue skies and sweet sunshine have come to visit and brighten our dreary days. Nearly 45 minutes into my watch I spotted a falcon flying near the Bausch&Lomb building and disappearing behind Xerox. I’m sure it was Beauty but as I drove over there to check I wasn’t able to find her. After a couple drives around our fair city I stopped on the Andrews St. Bridge and was able to find the Beautyful one on her top ibeam northeast side spot of the OCSR building.

I drove over by the Radisson Hotel where I could be closer to her. She had her back to me and what a Beautyful back it is! I stayed the better part of an hour before leaving to check on the Brighton site(BS). There I found BST on the southeast corner below where the roof top tree grows. I positioned myself so that the gloriously blue sky would be a backdrop for this photogenic little tiercel.

This dashing unbanded male we call BST has so many poses in his repertoire that I just can’t stop taking pics of him.

Make sure to click pics for full version

I stayed with him for well over an hour as he preened,stretched,scratched,cranked his head around in unbelievable positions and generally just looked cute for me. He went on alert a couple times as some crows flew in his space but never left his spot. I checked the perimeter of the building periodically to look for Miss Pigott but she would not come by to see me for the 2nd day in a row. She was seen last nite so it’s not that she is missing or anything she’s just galavanting somewhere else in the morning. BST moved off the corner a bit and the next thing I knew he was gone-either in on the roof where I couldn’t see him or he flew off when I wasn’t looking. I left for downtown around 10:30am to find Beauty one more time before ending my watch but I had no luck in doing so. I ended my watch at 11:04am and rode home in bright sunshine which made for a little smiling session on my face! 🙂

Links for a photo album and 3 videos are below-click them and enjoy

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrSpg

http://youtu.be/8wbbD5-UDnA
http://youtu.be/_XlzwBa72jA
http://youtu.be/zoj_luOG_3M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My Tweets from Today:

4:10 pm – “DT. Ms Beauty is tucked up inside the OCSR elevator shaft. South ledge.”

4:30 pm – “BS. Both Pigott and BST here at east end. P is on the SE corner and BST is on the tree ledge. All 3 current Roch falcons accounted for.”

4:50 pm – “BS. P joined BST on the tree ledge about 6 windows to his right. He then took off & flew around the front of the bldg. P now preening.”

*************************************

Before I begin my evening Watch Report, I forgot to mention yesterday in my report that I met Tom F. at the BS location.  He told me he reads all of the Rochester Falcon Watch reports and since he lived near the BS location he decided to come over to check it out.  He saw me in my car with camera and binocs and assumed he had found the right spot.  🙂  He had seen BST on the tree ledge and I pointed out where Pigott was on the SE corner.  It was very nice meeting you Tom.  Hope to see you again!

Now for my evening report.  I arrived downtown a little before 4:00 pm and after looking around a bit, I found Ms Beauty tucked up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the south ledge.  I stayed to watch her for a little while.  She seemed settled, so I decided to check out the BS location before the sun went down.

*

*

*

*

*

At 4:30 pm, I found both Pigott & BST at the east end of the building.  She was on the SE corner and he was on the tree ledge.  Pigott flew over to the tree ledge about 6 windows to the right of BST.  They stayed like that for awhile and then BST took off and flew around the front (northside) of the building.  I couldn’t see where he went.

*

*

*

*

*

A little after 5 pm, Pigott flew to her nighttime roost on the NE end of the building, five windows down.  I circled the building a couple times, but could not find where BST had gone.  I had to get going, so I missed seeing if he joined Pigott or not.

*

*

*

*

*

It is always a good day when I see all three current Rochester Falcons!

I’ll leave you with a couple more pics from by travels today.  Be sure to click on any picture you would like to see in a larger format.  Thanks!

This first picture is the sunset tonight at the BS location.  Lovely.

*

*

*

*

*

The 2nd picture is of the Warner Bldg on St Paul St.  It is the building that I took a picture of the beautiful architecture a few days ago.  Did you know it was one of the first buildings in Rochester to have electricity?  Love this building.  They are building loft apartments in there right now and if you were on the west side of the building and high, you’d have a great view of the downtown falcons.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I left for my watch this morning I wondered how the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) would look after the snow removal efforts yesterday. Arriving on the BSB at 7:15am I was very impressed with the result-dry sidewalks and barely a trace of snow. As I sat there in the now cleared from snow parking lane, a city worker came by in his mini motorized salt dispenser/plow and left a path of it on the sidewalk. Right after he made his way past the Thomson Reuters building I was distracted by the flash of the Aqueduct pigeons. They were coming up out of their night time roost from under the bridge-fast and just high enough to clear the bridge and back down between the BSB and Court St. bridge – then up –  either going south with Beauty chasing them or over to the Blue Cross Arena to roost which means she isn’t in the vicinity. This is how they start each day whether Beauty is on their tail depends on which route they take! On this day the Rock Doves went south and that was all I saw of Beauty today- a flash to the southern morning sky right behind her prey dipping and darting .  I took my usual trip around the city to look for the Beautyful one and when I came back up on the BSB I spotted a falcon watcher named Pat walking down the sidewalk. I yelled out to her and we chatted briefly before she continued on to work in the Thomson Reuters building. I did another Beauty check and left for the Brighton Site (BS).  I found BST to be home perched on a south facing window ledge on the east extension.

No napping for this boy today-he was all about preening his beautiful feathers. I was just about to pull away to look for Pigott when a car pulled up behind me and a man got out and signaled to me. He came up to my window and asked if there were any falcons around. I said yes as a matter of fact and showed him where BST was located. I introduced myself and asked who he was-he said Ted from Harrisburg,PA and then his friend Lynn was introduced to me. Turns out they were at BS yesterday as well with a local forum member nanguz. They took a couple pics and left so I took my ride around the complex with no luck finding Pigott. I stayed a couple hours with BST as he mostly preened and looked over his shoulder.

I never heard him make a peep so I’m calling that last pic a yawn.  lol  I did check all the trees in the area as well as the building a few times while I was there but no Miss Pigott. I look forward to seeing one of them in a tree one of these days as I’ve never seen a falcon on anything other than a building, pole or structure of some kind.  BST flew east without returning within 15 minutes and so I returned to downtown. I searched everywhere for Beauty more than once unsuccessfully. So after 4 hours I ended my watch at 11:30am and drove away smiling for having seen a fellow watcher, a Peregrine Falcon  and met some new falcon watching friends from Pennsylvania!  🙂

Just one link today for a video

http://youtu.be/Couqt-NJ4dY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Don’t have much time to do a report tonight, but wanted to leave you with a summary and some pics from today’s Watch.

Again, I got a late start.  Sure do miss my early morning Falcon Watches.  Oh, well, we work with what we have.

After checking KP and still finding it falcon-free, I decided to check out the BS location first today (11:30ish am).  It was cloudy with snow mixed with rain the whole time I was there.  The winds really began to pick up and it got very cold.

I was happy to see both Pigott & BST on the east end of the building.  During the time I was there, they both went on multiple hunt-runs, but returned empty taloned each time.  Finally at approximately 2:00 pm, first BST and then Pigott took off heading SE.  I waited to see if they would return and they did not.  So, I went searching in the direction they headed.  I had no luck finding either of them, but I can tell you that there are lots and lots of pigeons out in that direction.  Good hunting grounds for sure.

On my way to visit the downtown area and to hopefully find Ms. Beauty, I checked the BS location one more time.  They had still not returned.

Onward to a very busy downtown area.  The monster trucks were at the Blue Cross Arena and there were lots of people coming to see them.  I saw a small boy carrying a very large toy monster truck in his hands and his mom was carrying a checkered flag!  lol

I could not find any parking on the now snow-less Broad St Bridge, but I slowed down enough to check out the area.  No Beauty in sight.  My next stop was the OCSR elevator shaft.  That’s where she was, sitting on the north ledge around 3:00 pm.  I stayed for awhile watching her before leaving for home.

Another good day!  All three current Rochester falcons found!  No fellow Rochester Falcon Watchers seen today.

I’ll leave y0u with a bunch of pics from today’s Watch.  If you would like to see a large version of a picture, just click on it!  Thanks!

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I drove down Broad St. toward the bridge I could see lots of flashing lights up by Exchange Blvd. When I arrived at the intersection  they had the Broad St. bridge(BSB) blocked off and were finally removing the snow that was covering the parking lanes and sidewalks . Yay, Pat and DebbieH  will  be able to walk to work without fear of falling now.

As always you must click on the pics for a full version

I parked on the Court St. bridge and climbed the snowbank to check out the river which I haven’t done since all the snow we have gotten has been piled up on the roadside. I searched for Beauty for an hour with no luck so I drove over to Brighton(BS). I could see Pigott on the northeast corner before I even got to the driveway. I went around the building twice looking for BST but he was no where to be found so I drove to the parking lot at the east end of the property to observe Pigott.

She was preening and scratching her head as a gull came flying into her personal space. She flew off and chased it to the east and back toward the building before breaking it off and disappearing to the west behind the building. I shared space with her a whole 10 minutes! lol

I looked around the building and surrounding area to no avail. After waiting 15 minutes without Miss Pigotts’  return I left BS for downtown to find the Beautyful one. Every day when I cross the Ford St. bridge on my way to and from BS I see pigeons on the columns on either side of the bridge. This would be a great hunting spot for falcons with a high rise building near by.

Be sure to click it to see full version

After a trip around the city I spotted Beauty as I pulled up on the Andrews St. Bridge. She was on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.

Our girl had a full crop and was sound asleep when I arrived in my spot on Main St. to have a look/see. Just before I ended my watch she woke up moved forward a bit and went back to her slumbers. A true sleeping Beauty who makes me smile each time I see her! 🙂

Below are links for 5 videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/L_4Ng6z3L0I
http://youtu.be/7_J1tFNmiaM
http://youtu.be/4jk3Z2lssKo
http://youtu.be/g4QbJi3vRNU
http://youtu.be/i9C8Fdn3SR4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Hooray for the weekend! It’s Saturday, my most favorite day.  A bit warmer today and only a tiny bit of sunshine.  Most of the day was cloudy, but it was so nice seeing the falcons and my fellow Falcon Watchers in the daylight.  lol

Tweets from Today, mine and other Watchers that do not post their own reports:

11:20 am (Larry O) – “Taking Harold to BS to look for Falcons.”

11:40 am (Carol P) – ” At KP with a beautiful adult RTH. No falcons.”

12:50 pm (Carol P) – “DT. I have checked everywhere including the elevator shaft. No sign of Ms Beauty. She has gone to her hiding spot.”

12:50 pm (Dana) – “BS falcon rpt- BST is in tree south of bldg”

3:10 pm (Carol P) – “BS. BST back on the bldg and Pigott just flew in. Lots of ee-chupping. Dana Kathy O Brian and Carol P here.”

3:11 pm (Carol P) – “BS.  P flew to a window on south side and is eating leftovers.”

3:20 pm (Carol P) – “BS. P carried her meal to the SE corner and is eating there.”

3:50 pm (Carol P) – “BS. Everyone leaving BS to look for Ms Beauty. P is on the SE corner preening and BST is on the west end south facing windows preening. lol”

4:00 pm (Carol P) – “DT. Ms Beauty is on Mercurys moneybag preening.”

5:20 pm (Carol P) – “DT. B left Mercury and flew up into the OCSR elevator shaft. Night Beauty!”

****************************************************

My first stop this morning was KP to see if I could find a falcon (11:30 am).  Well I didn’t find any Peregrines, but I did find two gorgeous Red-tailed Hawks hunting the field in front of where we park.  I’ve started calling the large adult female, Big Momma.  She has a USFW silver band on her right leg.  The other hawk is a bit smaller and I think it was the juvie I’ve seen hanging out with the adult.  Possibly her young from last year?  I spent some time watching Big Momma and her companion for awhile before heading downtown to find Beauty.

*

*

*

*

*

I checked all over downtown and could not find Beauty anywhere.  I even checked the OCSR elevator shaft.  She was not there.  While I was downtown, I received a tweet from fellow Falcon Watcher Dana.  She was at the BS location and she reported that BST was in a tree on the south side of the building.  This is the same tree we saw Pigott a while back.  Definitely a falcon tree.  lol  That was at 12:50 pm.  Next stop the BS location.

I joined Dana on the south side of the building a little after 1:00 pm.  BST was in the same tree that Pigott had been in a few weeks ago when the Crows surrounded her.  Seems they like this tree.  He remained there for almost two hours and only one Crow landed near him and CAWED.  BST gave him a look and the Crow left.  🙂  Kathy O and Brian H joined us and we all enjoyed our time with the very handsome BST.  Most of the time he was preening, but he was a very interested in everything happening around him.  When flocks of small birds flew over his head would turn totally upside down.  How do they do that!  Here are some pics of BST in the Pefa tree.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

At 3:00 pm, BST took off and flew towards the BS bldg, landing on a window at the west end, facing south (near the cubby).  Of course we all followed.  Just as we arrived, ee-chupping filled the air and Pigott arrived landing on the SW extension.  She didn’t stay long. She flew around the corner of the extension and landed on a window where she had cached prey.  She settled in to enjoy her meal.  After about 15 minutes, she flew with the remainder of her meal to the SE corner, where she finished it.

*

*

*

*

*

At 3:50 pm, we all decided it was time to head downtown to look for Ms. Beauty.  I stayed a bit longer at BS to send the tweet and check on them one more time.  I left P&BST in their spots and went downtown.  I missed the other Watchers, but I did find Beauty on Mercury’s moneybag hand.

*

*

*

*

*

I remained parked on the Broad St Bridge until it was dark and Beauty finally took off from the Mercury statue and flew directly up into the OCSR elevator shaft.  Goodnight Beauty!

It was a wonderful day of Falcon Watching.  I’ll leave you with a few pics from my travels today.

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON ANY PICS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN A LARGER VERSION.  THANKS!