By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

After a record breaking high temperature of 70 degrees (F) yesterday, it was a return to cold and blustery weather.  The day started at 40 degrees and dropped into the low 30’s during the day, lightly snowing on and off.

Tweets from Today (not including MAK’s, which she will include in her report):

7:30 am – RFalconcamNow (Shaky) – “Beauty is on Mercury’s money bag.” – Seen from Camera #1

2:43 pm – RFalconcamNow (Shaky) – “Falcon is on top I-Beam of OCSR, southeast side.” – Seen from Camera #1

3:30 pm – Lisa McK – “At BS, 1 falcon on south side of east extension.”  Not sure if this was Pigott or BST, who had been seen earlier in the day.

4:00 pm – Carol P. – “DT. Just arrived on the BSB and Beauty is still eating dinner up at the SE wing of the TSB.”  MAK and Lynda were there just before I arrived and saw Beauty bring in dinner.

4:30 pm – Carol P. – “DT. B has finished her meal and is now on Mercury’s money bag and it is now lightly snowing.”

5:00 pm – Carol P. – “DT. Standing out in the cold paid off. B flew off Mercury and up into the OCSR elevator shaft. Nite Beauty! Time to get my own dinner.”

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I arrived downtown at approximately 3:45 pm, just missing MAK & Lynda.  I was sorry that I had missed them.  They had seen Beauty come in with prey and saw her take it up to the top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB) at the base of the SE wing.  That’s exactly where she was when I arrived, finishing her dinner.  It wasn’t long before she had finished.

It started to lightly snow and at 4:30 pm Beauty took off from the TSB and flew over to the Mercury statue landing on the money bag hand.  This seemed to be the spot she likes most at the end of the day.  It was a good spot to keep a close eye on her nest site and territory.  I positioned myself on Broad St, next to my car, where I had a good view of Beauty.  I knew that it was going to start getting dark soon and I wanted to see where she went.  I wasn’t disappointed.  At approximately 5 pm, Beauty stooped off of the Mercury statue, heading north, low over the river.  I kept watching for her to come back into sight, she finally did, just to the right of the OCSR.  I saw her fly around to the north side and then back up and into the elevator shaft.  That’s what I was hoping to see.  Looks like Beauty may be spending her evenings there.  A nice sheltered spot.

At 5:00 pm, it was dark and it was time for me to head home.

Here are a few pictures from my Watch.  Enjoy!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE PICTURES IN A LAGER VERSION, YOU JUST NEED TO CLICK ON IT.  THANKS!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As they say-what a difference a day makes! 20 degrees colder than it was yesterday when I started my watch with a bitter wind.  It took a while (about an hour into my watch) for Beauty to show herself. As I was looking for her on the east side  She was seen on camera perched on Mercury. By the time I got back to the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) she was gone. I took another trip around the city and when I returned to the BSB Beauty was on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR.

She stayed there for about 45 minutes and left while I wasn’t watching her as tiny little snowflakes started floating down from the sky. Since I missed what direction she went I decided instead of searching for her that I’d go to the Brighton Site and try my luck there. I found Mr. BST on a south window ledge on the east side extension with his back to me and when he turned his head my way I knew it was his cute face I was seeing.

I could see that he was getting sleepy, closing one eye at a time.  I shared space with him until he tucked his head into his wing for a nap.

I left to check on Beauty downtown and as I approached from Exchange St. I could see her under the southeast  wing. I parked up on the BSB and noticed she had something up there with her and then the feathers started flying!

I moved up closer parking by Falcon Watcher Central as she seemed to look my way. I love it when they give a look your way!

Beauty wasn’t eating for long so either she had a small bird,cached food or she stashed some of it when I wasn’t watching. She flew off again when I wasn’t watching and this time I had to leave but it wouldn’t be the end of this report quite yet. Lynda  stopped over in the afternoon and ask if I wanted to go for a quick watch so she could get a falcon fix. Of course I had to do it! lol It was perfect timing for as we were on the way it was reported that Beauty was on OCSR. As soon as we pulled up and got a bead on her she was off flying up river above our heads scaring up pigeons along the way and the chase was on. We followed her over Cornhill and then back behind Xerox out of sight. A minute or so later I spotted  the Beautyful one flying from the Cornhill area with a large pigeon in her talons. She is one strong Peregrine to fly against the strong biting north wind today with her supper. She flew over the Blue Cross Arena,BSB,past Mercury, past OCSR and back around the south side making her way up to the northeast corner of the Crossroads building.

Phew we thought but she wasn’t done-after resting a couple minutes she was off again carrying her prize to the Times Square building taking it to the southeast wing to prepare it for consumption.

We left Beauty to feast on her much deserved meal as the snow came down around her mixing with lots of feathers!

And so Lynda and MAK rode off  wearing a smile on their faces! 🙂

Click the links below for some more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrPRA

http://youtu.be/QTk43-wRgAA
http://youtu.be/9E1HvIFNsh4
http://youtu.be/K3zdEVBFy2I

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Monday – December 3, 2012

Tweets for 12/3:

7:30 am – Larry O – “Brighton falcon drive by. 1 Falcon on Northwest extension, might be hunting.”

4:30 pm – Carol P – “Checked DT & could not find B. At BS now with P I believe on NW corner. No sign of BST. Crows coming in.”

4:40 pm – Larry O – “Brighton Falcon watch drive by. 1 Falcon on West extension.”

4:50 pm – Carol P. – “Checked all over DT again. No luck finding B again. Too dark to get a good look into the elevator shaft.”

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When I arrived at the BS location at 4:30 pm, after looking all over downtown for Beauty (with no luck) I found Pigott on the west end of the building.  She was looking towards the south watching the 1,000’s of Crows streaming in, heading north towards downtown Rochester.  I had no luck finding BST, which is the name we have given the unbanded tiercel that has been hanging out with Pigott at the BS location.  We decided on BST which just means BS Tiercel.  Joyce, Dana and I thought that would be a good name for him at least for now & easy to text.   😉  Here are a couple pictures of Pigott from Monday evening.

Tuesday – December 4, 2012

Tweets for 12/4 (I will only include the tweets of the Watchers that do not post Falcon Watch reports in my report):

9:10 am – Joyce – “Our BS Tiercel is on the east corner next to the tree looking as cute as ever. No sign of Pigott.”

9:50 am – Joyce – “BST took off flying the thermals of the building and then slowly drifting to the south.”

11:40 am – Shaky reports to RFalconcamNow – “Beauty is on FCT below the platform.” (Seen from Camera #1)

11:50 am – Joyce – “Beauty on FCT perched on the NE cube. It is warm and breezy.”

4:00 pm – Carol P. – “DT. Beauty is on Mercury’s money bag hand.”

4:10 pm – Joyce – “I see B too.”

4:20 pm – Carol P. – “DT. Joyce joined me for a few moments. B still on Mercury. Its starting to rain and I have to go.”

4:30 pm – Lisa McK – “At BS, 2 falcons. 1 on corner of east extension. The other flew to front of bldg.”

5:00 pm – Joyce – “The falcon on corner of the east wing looked like P. Lisa & I couldn’t find BST. He seems to settle in for the nite first.”

5:10 pm – Joyce – “P left the corner & I found her on a set of double windows where the E & NE wings meet. She was 3 floors down from the top of the E wing.”

5:30 pm – Joyce – “I circled bldg 1 more time looking for BST-no luck. P moved & scooted over next to the column. You could barely see her. Thnx Lisa for tip.”

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Today was a record breaker for Rochester, NY.  The old record high temperature was 66 degrees (F) for this day and we made it up to 70 degrees!  🙂  Needless to say, it was a beautiful December day.  Too bad by the time I was able to get downtown, dark clouds and rain had moved in.  That’s ok.  I was still able to get my falcon fix for today. 🙂

I arrived downtown at about 3:45 pm.  From the Andrews St Bridge, I could see a falcon up on Mercury’s money bag hand.  I parked on Broad St and got out to take a few pictures before the rain arrived.  It was definitely Beauty and she was facing west, watching over her nest site.  When I see her here before dark, that is always the direction she is looking.  I noticed that the pigeons were in panicked flight over the river and I soon saw why.  There was a Coopers Hawk in their midst.  Eventually the Coop took off heading south down the river and the pigeons headed north.  I looked up at Beauty to see what her reaction was to this hunter in her territory.  She just looked over her shoulder a few times, but she  seemed unperturbed.

Joyce joined me for awhile and then headed to the BS location where she met up with Lisa McK, where they found both Pigott and BST.  Just before I left, the sky darkened and it started to pour.  Beauty remained in place on the Mercury statue standing in the warm rain.

So today all three current Rochester Falcons were accounted for.  This was always a good thing!

Tomorrow we return to winter with temperatures in the 30’s and possible snow.  I can already hear the winds picking up outside, which will usher in the cold air.  What a difference a day makes!

I think by posting the tweets sent in by the non-reporting Rochester Falcon Watchers & my own, it gives you a better picture of what’s happening during the day and what falcons are being seen or not seen.  This way all the Watchers observations will be noted.  MAK will certainly post her own observations.

Here are a couple pictures of Beauty on the Mercury statue.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF THE PICTURE, JUST CLICK ON IT.  THANKS!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

After a month away I was antsy to have a look at a Peregrine Falcon and tho I had to look for half hour before I found one the wait was well worth it.  As I was on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) checking out the river I found some guys climbing a ladder into one of the Aqueduct openings under the Rundell Library. There was graffiti that they were trying to clean off-a very tough job!

I then spotted a falcon hovering above Xerox . A smile immediately crossed my face as I jumped in the car and drove over to check it out, parking near the Geva Theater. As the sweet sunshine hit her I was able to determine it was my favorite falcon in all the land or should I say sky -Beauty!

She gave old MAK a wonderful flight display as she welcomed me back by soaring and riding the breeze above the tallest building in downtown Rochester. At times she would hover by staying in one spot and then with the slightest flick of a wing would go into a fast disappearing act behind the buildings only to show up again gracing me with her presence. She entertained me for about 20 minutes and then left my field of vision and the search was on. An unsuccessful trip around downtown brought me back to the east side where I found a large flock of pigeons flying near the Liberty Pole as I was driving down East Ave. I then saw why they were so panic struck-the Beautyful one was chasing after them as they flew above the Sibley building. Traffic was heavy so I couldn’t keep track  and lost them. I drove around the area and ended up going back to BSB, As I pulled up I saw Beauty flying up river past OCSR with talons full of prey and landed on the base of Mercury.

I spent about 35 minutes with Beauty as she plucked feathers out of her breakfast. She kept getting them stuck in her beak, scratching them out with her talon and finally she got to the meat of it and started chowing down.

I got a tweet that Joyce was at the Brighton Site(BS) and had the new unbanded tiercel she named BST in her sights. Well since I hadn’t met this guy yet, as he came to town after I left on my trip I just had to go over there. When I arrived he was on the east side near the roof top tree.

BST is a very cute little man and definitely has a Kaver like look to him. I was very happy to see my gal pal Joyce as well. I would have liked to see Miss Pigott but she was absent this morning. BST flew off giving Joycie and I a little show before exiting to the south out of sight. Due to a previous commitment I had to get going and as I was about to leave Lisa showed up. I chatted briefly and was on my way. From the moment I spotted Beauty above Xerox to the end of my returning morning watch I sported a big ole smile! 🙂

Click the links below to view my photo album and 3 videos from my falcon watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrPIg

http://youtu.be/SJBL5QriKEo

http://youtu.be/pYlw9Ac-GKY

http://youtu.be/WbGvCWphlD0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Although it was a warmer day today, near 60 degrees (F), it rained all day.  Not a great day for going out to look for falcons, but you know us Falcon Watchers, we’re a hearty bunch.  lol

Today three Rochester Falcon Watchers braved the rainy weather, Lisa McK, Dana and I.

Here are today’s tweets:

10:11 am – Dana – “BS falcon rpt- none seen.”

10:20 am – Dana – “DT falcon rpt – B on ne launch pad KO.”

1:20 pm – Lisa McK – “At BS only 1 falcon found so far. I believe it’s Pigott.”

1:21 pm – Lisa McK – “At BS, 2nd falcon just flew in. Now I have 2.”

2:50 pm – Dana – “BS falcon rpt – both still here.”

3:20 pm – Carol P. – “At KP. As usual no falcons here.”

3:50 pm – Carol P. – “BS. Here with Dana Pigott and BST sitting in the rain.”

So all three Rochester Falcons were seen today and all seemed peaceful at both active locations.

After joining Dana at the BS location and seeing both Pigott and BST, we went downtown to look for Beauty.  I checked everywhere, including up inside the elevator shaft and could not find her. We all know she has many hiding places.  🙂

Here are a couple of pictures from today’s watch.  One of Pigott and one of BST at the BS location.

PLEASE BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR A LARGER VIEW.  THANKS!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Hooray!  The weekend has arrived and lots of Watchers were out and about honing their Falcon Watching skills.   🙂

Watchers:  Joyce, Dana, Kathy O, Brian H, Larry O and Carol P.

Today’s reported sightings: (BS = BS location; DT = Downtown; KP – KP location)

8:00 am – Joyce – “BS – Good Morning! Nothing like a little snow for a brisk AM watch. One falcon on west side extension on windows 2 floors down in corner.”

8:10 am – Joyce – “BS – This is definitely not Pigott. Very white auricular patch behind mustache and is smaller in size. Looks like BST. Can’t find 2nd falcon.”

9:10 am – Joyce – “DT – found B on west side top I-beam of OCSR. She took off and just landed on Mercury a few minutes ago.”

9:40 am – Joyce – “DT on BSB: B flew off over river landed back on base of mercury then off again over river and landed on the north corner of Crossroads.”

9:41 am – Joyce – “DT – Beauty is eating. She must have caught something when she went around Crossroads over State St and up to corner. Caught nothing over river.”

9:50 am – Joyce – “DT – B is quicker than my eye. Gray silhouetted pics have B with something in talons. She did catch something over river.”

10:50 am – Carol P – “KP – Checked the best I could at KP. No falcons seen.”

1:00 pm – Dana – “DT – DT falcon rpt- B is on nw rail of Widows Walk.”

1:30 pm – Dana – “DT falcon rpt- B took off heading east.”

1:40 pm – Carol P – “DT. B flew from WW to back of Hyatt. Dana Kathy Joyce Brian and I on watch.”

2:50 pm – Carol P – “DT. Found Beauty eating on the north end of the Cross Rds bldg.”

3:00 pm – Larry O – “BS – No Falcons found.”

3:55 pm – Shaky on RFalconcam Now: “Beauty is on Mercury’s money bag since 15:16.”

So, after multiple checks throughout the day at the BS location, no falcons were seen there after Joyce spotted BST this morning.  Beauty was seen downtown on territory.  We know by her behavior over the past few years, that she does not migrate during the Winter months.

Beauty was seen on the OCSR, the Mercury statue, the Cross Rds Bldg and the Widows Walk.

Here are some pictures from my Watch.

BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE PICTURES IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Reported Falcon Sightings:

7:44 am – Shaky reports through RFalconcam Now:  “DT. Beauty is on Mercury’s money bag.” – From Camera #1 at the Nest Box

12:50 pm – Tweet from Lisa McK:  “BS. So far found 1falcon at BS, on south side.” – This was Lisa’s only tweet, so 2nd falcon not found at BS.

2:00 pm – Tweet from Larry O:  “BS. Brighton Falcon watch drive by. 1 Falcon on West extension.” – Again, only one falcon seen at BS.

4:20 pm – Tweet from Carol P:  “DT. Found a falcon I assume is Beauty on top of the Hyatt on the west, river side. Have not seen her up there in awhile. Starting to snow.”

4:40 pm – Tweet from Carol P:  “DT. Well who knows where she is now. Checked all over & can’t find her. Heading home to warm up. Tomorrow will be a MUCH nicer day!”

My evening Falcon Watch report from downtown (3:45 – 4:45 pm)

After a quick check of KP with no luck finding any falcons, I arrived downtown at approximately 4:00 pm.  After checking all over the downtown area, I finally spotted a tail sticking out on a building I had not seen a falcon on in quite awhile from the north side of the Rochester Library.  That tail looked really familiar.  I had to get further away from the building to check it out, so I parked on the Broad St Bridge back by the War Memorial, facing east.  Through my binoculars, I verified that the tail was connected to a Peregrine Falcon sitting up on top of the Hyatt Hotel on the west side.  I assumed it was Beauty, but she had her back to me and it was starting to snow, so I never got a really good look.  I never like to say what falcon I’ve seen, unless I get a good look and I’m certain, or fairly certain, which bird I’m watching.

People that are not used to looking for the falcons have a hard time seeing them.  It’s really hard until you’ve had a lot of practice.  You have to train your eye to find them.  I’ll never forget my first lesson when I walked with Jim P around the Kodak Office buildings.  He’d point out falcons in different locations and I remember having the hardest time finding them.  Jim told me that once you’ve studied a building you get to know what should be there and then it’s easier to find what shouldn’t be there.  Today was such an example.

Beauty has been pretty consistently on certain spots, ie. the Mercury Statue, the OCSR IBeams, the Frontier Communication Tower, the Jail Communication Tower and now the OCSR elevator shaft.  Today she was on the Hyatt, a building I have not seen her on in a long time.  I’m not saying she never goes there, she can certainly land on any building she wants!  lol

So , while sitting in traffic at the light near the library, I looked up to my left and saw a “blip” aka tail, poking out from a smooth ledge under the Hyatt sign.  Using my binoculars, I verified it was in fact a dark gray tail.  I quickly drove back to the Broad St Bridge and parked farther out facing east to get a better view of what was up on that ledge.  I could see that it was a falcon shaped and sized bird, and with binoculars I verified it was in fact a Peregrine Falcon.  The whole time I watched, the falcon never turned around so that I could see the front to better see if it was Beauty.  I assume it was, but I can’t be sure.  I will say that it was Beauty.

At about 4:30 pm, it started to snow harder and I was already losing light.  That’s when Beauty decided to leave the Hyatt.  I lost sight of her and was not able to find her after checking out the whole downtown area, even a good look up into the OCSR elevator shaft.

Since it was cloudy, snowy and getting dark, I decided to end my Watch.  Tomorrow promises to be a nice day with warmer temps and sunshine and it’s Saturday!  Woohoo!

Are you ready for a quick lesson on how to spot a falcon?  I am going to leave you with a few pics I took of Beauty up on the Hyatt from the west end of the Broad St Bridge near the Blue Cross Arena aka the War Memorial, with arrows pointing out her location.  This way you can practice spotting a falcon on a building.  🙂

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON A PICTURE FOR A LARGER VIEW.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

During the day, I received two tweets that Beauty was on the Mercury statue’s money bag hand.  One at 7:31 am and the other at 3:47 pm, both left by Shaky on the “Rfalconcam Now” section of the forum.  This is where forum members that are watching the cameras can post their sightings of the Rochester Falcons.  For example, if a forum member sees that Beauty is on the Mercury statue they can post that sighting on “Rfalconcam Now” and the Rochester Watchers will receive a tweet.  In this way, the forum members help out the Watchers by letting them know what they see on camera.  It’s a great tool, especially during the fledge watch.  Always nice to have help, especially when you are by yourself.  My thanks to all that help out in this way.

So, knowing that Beauty was seen on camera on the Mercury statue, I headed downtown to check on her.  I arrived around 3:45 pm and parked on the Broad St Bridge where I had a nice view of Beauty on Mercury.  She looked pretty antsy up there, moving and shifting and standing and flaring her tail.  Beauty was getting close to leaving Mercury.

At 4:10 pm, Beauty took heading northeast.  From the Broad St Bridge, I was able to see where she went, unlike yesterday when I was watching from the other side of the building.  Beauty headed towards the OCSR and then stooped.  She stooped on a Ring-billed Gull and almost caused it to dive into the river.  She chased the gull across the river and then turned, swooping up into the OCSR elevator shaft.  I’d seen her do this a lot recently, but usually after dark.

After she disappeared into the elevator shaft, the local pigeons went into a frenzied flight.  I could count 3 separate flocks; one over the river, one between me and the old Midtown Plaza and one over the Cornhill area.  Wow!  They must have thought that Beauty was going out on a hunt and they weren’t taking any chances.  I watched the pigeons swirling over the river for a little while, fascinated by their flight patterns.  Some pretty incredible evasive maneuvers!  I’m sure it was the lighting, but in the 3rd picture, the Pigeons turned blue!  Blue Pigeons!

After watching the pigeons for a few moments, I drove closer to the OCSR and checked the elevator shaft to see if Beauty was still up there. (4:30 pm)  Yep!  There she was, sitting on the south ledge, impossible to see from the Broad St. Bridge.  All our Rochester falcons have found this spot.  It’s well protected from the weather.  They can store leftover prey up.  I’ve seen Kaver store food there on what Dan S calls the “cold stone”.  It was out of the hot sun in the summer and it was easy to access.  I’ve seen Mariah stoop from there down the face of the building and over the river; a perfect blind for hunting.  All our Peregrines have used it at one time or another.  Beauty, like many before her, had found this sheltered spot.

After watching Beauty for awhile, I decided to head over to the BS location before it got dark.  On the way I received a tweet from Lisa McK at 4:30 pm; “At BS 1 falcon on south side.”  I had just arrived when Lisa joined me on the north side of the building.  She had spotted Pigott on the south side of the building and was driving around to see if she could find BST (the unbanded male).  We both parked on the south side of the building where we had a nice view of Pigott on top of the building.  While we were watching her, she was watching the 1,000’s of Crows in the trees behind the building.  (4:40 pm)

About 15 minutes later, the cold winds started to pick up and Pigott took flight.  She rocketed around to the west side of the building and landed near the nook.  She immediately took off and she streaked around to the front of the building.  We lost sight of her.  Lisa and I said our goodbyes and we both drove around the building searching for Pigott.  I went around twice.  It was starting to get dark and I had to get to a meeting, so after checking one more time I headed home.

On my drive home at 5:30 pm, Lisa tweeted out “Found both falcons at BS for about 1 minute.  Then lost the male.”  (5:10 pm)  I had just missed seeing all three Rochester Falcons, but between all the Watchers, all three were seen.  Always wonderful news!  🙂

Tonight snow is in the forecast for Rochester.  Only a trace to an inch, so not too much.  We’ve been very lucky so far.

I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures of the Rochester  Library that was under investigation by the Ghost Hunters.  Is it haunted?  You be the judge.

BE SURE TO CLICK ON A PIC FOR A LARGER VERSION.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was another cold, cloudy, blustery day.  Well, I guess it is almost Winter.  Brrrr!

During the day quite a few Watchers were out and about, checking on Beauty, Pigott & her friend BST (the unbanded Tiercel), at least that’s who we “assume” it was.  Yesterday, Beauty was seen downtown and Pigott & BST were seen at the BS location.  Today’s sightings are as follows:

10:30 am – Kathy O reports: “Searched BS 20 minutes .. No falcons seen.”

11:30 am – Joyce reports:  “Checked BS. No falcon sightings either.”

2:20 pm – Lisa McK reports: “At BS 1 falcon tucked in corner on SE side.  Still looking for #2.” (Lisa did not report finding a 2nd falcon at the BS location.)

3:40 pm – Joyce reports:  “2 falcons at BS. One on SE corner of east extension and the other next to the tree on SE corner.”

3:50 pm – Carol P reports:  “Cold and snow at KP but no falcons. Brrr!”

4:00 pm – Joyce reports:  “Our 3 known falcons are in their regular spots. Beauty is on the money bag of Mercury, and Pigott & BST on east side of BS.”

4:00 pm – Carol P reports:  “DT. Confirmed. Beauty on Mercury.”

4:30 pm – Carol P reports:  “DT. B took off heading east over river. Fingers frozen!”

4:50 pm – Carol P reports:  “DT. Been all over and cannot find B. Lots of pigeons in panic flight so she could be hunting. Losing light. Time to go.”

I spent close to a half hour with Beauty while she was up on the money bag hand of the Mercury statue.  By 4:45 pm, I was already losing light.  Wish I had more time to watch after I get out of work.  It was extremely cold as the little bit of sun was covered by dark clouds and it stared to flurry.

At 4:30 pm, Beauty took off stooping over the river heading east.  The building got in the way, so I didn’t see where she went.  I drove around downtown trying to find her, but had no luck.  The only evidence of her possible passing through were lots of pigeons in panic flight over the river and at the old Midtown Plaza.  After checking the best I could and not finding her, I decided to call it a day at close to 5:00 pm.

I was very happy that Kathy O, Lisa McK & Joyce were out with me and that all three current Rochester falcons were seen today.

Here are s few pics of Beauty on the Mercury statue.  Sorry that the quality of the pics isn’t the greatest.

Please be sure to click on the pictures for a larger version.

By Rochester Falcons Watcher Carol P.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed your time with family & friends.  I know I did!  Of course that didn’t stop me from getting out for a bit to visit with the Rochester Falcons.  Time to catch everyone up with what’s been going on.

Thanksgiving Day – 11/22/12

I got out for a couple hours after dinner.  I’ll first let you know that I still check on KP most days and have not seen any falcons there except for a pair of Kestrels now and then.  After checking KP, I headed downtown.  It was pretty much abandoned.  I found Beauty on the top IBeam of the OCSR at 3:20 pm.  I didn’t have much time, so I headed over to the BS location.  Lots of Crows were flying over heading towards the city, but I could not find any falcons there.  After circling the building a few times, it was time to head back downtown.

At 4 pm, I parked on the Andrews St Bridge and found Beauty still in the same spot on the top IBeam of OCSR.  I received a text from Joyce that she and Steve were at the BS location and that I just missed Pigott arriving and landing on the building.  After I left, both Larry O and Joyce saw Beauty on Mercury statue’s money bag hand.  Well good to know that both Rochester females were home on Thanksgiving!

Friday – November 23, 2012

Arrived downtown around 9 am.  Found Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) on the NE box below the platform.

At 10 am I drove around the downtown area searching for a 2nd falcon.  I had no luck finding one, so I returned to the Broad St. Bridge, where I saw a Peregrine soaring above the Xerox bldg.  The falcon went into a stoop heading south and hit a Red-tail Hawk.  Over and over again the falcon hit the hawk and chased it south down the river.  The Peregrine returned, circling behind Xerox and the old Midtown Plaza.  I was curious, was this a 2nd falcon?  Was Beauty still on the FCT?  Only one way to find out.  I drove back over to the Andrews St. Bridge and saw that Beauty was no longer on the FCT.  Beauty flew in from the south and landed in the same spot she had been in when I left her there.  So it was Beauty who went after the hawk, pushing it out of her territory.

It was time to check on the BS location, where I hoped to find Pigott home.  I arrived there around 10:20 am and found a falcon on the SE corner of the building.  I circled to make sure there were no other falcons in residence.  Seeing no others, I returned to where I found the first one.  At first I assumed it was Pigott, but boy was she white?  Others had mentioned that she seemed whiter, not as salmon colored as she had been.  Hmmm.  Larry O joined me for a short while.  The weather was not very nice.  Dark, cloudy and getting cold, with some rain on and off.  Larry and I both questioned whether this was Pigott.  After Larry left, I decided to get the scope out and leaned it against the window, using it from inside my dry, warm car.  Kind of hard to hold it still, but I finally got a good look at this Peregrine.  A gorgeous bird, with large eyes, dark helmet, very white chest and hyper vigilant.  Was it Dot.ca?  I thought this bird was a female at first, but was later proven wrong.

I held the scope as steady as I could, keeping my eye on this falcon.  Finally, preening and stretching and scratching and …….. no band on the left leg!……. more scratching……no band on the right leg!  Well, well, well.  Not Pigott, not Dot.ca.  There was a new Pefa in town and he was unbanded!

I continued to watch this Peregrine until I saw a 2nd falcon stoop off of the front of the building at 12:10 pm, heading north and down below the tree line.  Up and down and up again.  The 2nd falcon flew back towards the front of the building and I followed.  It didn’t take me long to find a falcon on a window ledge on the north side of the building.  Well, now there were two falcons!  The 2nd falcon flew up to a corner closer to the east end, so I was able to park where I could watch both of them.

I was pretty sure that this 2nd falcon was Pigott, darker than the other one.  Did she not know that she had a visitor?

They remained in place until about 2:30 pm, when Pigott came off of the building and circled around to the other side.  I quickly looked back at the other one and it was gone too!  That’s when Joyce arrived and we both watched as two falcons flew above us,  very obviously male and female.  Pigott and the visiting male appeared to do a little bit of talon tagging and then both flew back to the building.  He landed on his same spot and Pigott landed on a nearby ledge, close to the NE corner, where she could see him now.  Again, I wondered if she had not been aware of him until now?

I caught Joyce up on what had happened and left for home at a little after 3:00 pm.  Joyce later reported that there was just a bit of activity after I left.   Pigott seemed to attempt to chase off the male and at 5:20 pm, when Joyce finally left, she could only see Pigott.  Did she finally succeed in chasing him away?  By that time it was dark, and we would have to check out the situation in the morning.

Saturday – November 24, 2012

Larry O reported from the BS location at 8 am that it was snowing like crazy there and when it finally cleared, he was unable to find any falcons.

It was a very cold and blustery day, with snow and graupel falling in between periods of sunshine.  After checking KP and downtown with no luck finding Beauty, I headed over to the BS location and arrived around 10:40 am.  Two falcons were on the building.  With the scope I verified that it was the unbanded male on a window on the SE side and Pigott on a window on the NE side.  They were on the same side of the building but on opposite sides of the building extension, so they could not see each other.  🙂

There was no where for me to park where I could see both of them, so I took turns, going back and forth.  Larry O joined me for a short while and as he was leaving at 11:50 am, Dana arrived.  I pointed out both birds and she parked where she could watch Pigott and I kept an eye on the male.  Both falcons remained where they were for most of my watch.  Dana and I switched, so now I was watching Pigott.

The wind was quite strong, sweeping leaves up the side of the building.  One landed next to Pigott on the ledge.  She took one look at it and pounced on it like a cat!  Then watched as it fell of the ledge.  lol

It wasn’t until 3:00 pm that there was any activity besides preening, pooping and snoozing.  The Crows were starting to fly overhead and Pigott got a little agitated.  She took off and around to the back (south side) of the building, landing on a corner on the south side.  She passed right by the male, who remained on his window ledge.

At 3:10 pm, it was time for me to head home, leaving Dana to continue the watch.  On my way home, I checked out the downtown area one more time and again could not find Beauty anywhere.  At around 4:50 pm, Donna reported that Beauty had been on the money bag hand of the Mercury statue since 4:30 pm caught on the RFalconcam cameras.  Glad she was finally seen.

Joyce and Brian took on the BS location watch after Dana left.  They arrived around 4:20 pm and found both Pigott and the unbanded male on the building.  They left at 4:30 pm to check the downtown area, but before they got too far, Brian spotted a 3rd falcon flying towards the BS location.  Joyce’s text said: “By the time we got back to BS, P and male were flying back up to east roof corners. P may have chased it away.”

After looking at my pictures, I am sure that the falcon I thought was a female was definitely the same unbanded male.  The size difference was obvious when he flew with Pigott, a much larger bird.

We will definitely keep an eye on ALL the Rochester Falcons, including the unbanded male currently at the BS location.

PLEASE BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE PICTURES IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION.  THANKS!!!