By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

For the 3rd time in a week I got past He’s chinese food on Exchange Blvd. where the statue of Mercury comes into view for me and Orion was on the base of Mercury. This my friends is a GREAT way to start my watch and my day!! Onward to the Broad St. bridge(BSB) to find Dan and Larry sitting in their chairs. About 20 minutes later Jeanne,Jeanne the dancin’ machine pulled up and joined us.

At about 7:00am Orion flew off Mercury over to the jail tower. I just love how he spreads his wings while standing and gears himself up for a takeoff!

All four of us were looking down in the river when suddenly we heard Orion singing and he was real close. Finally we saw just how close, he and Beauty were right above us as another hunting lesson was in the making. They had been flying to the north but they turned around and the Beautyful one went into a stoop down in the river with Orion right on her tail feathers! Birds scattered everywhere but she had her sights set on pigeons. When they went up river between the Court St. and Freddy-Sue bridges they blended into the background making it impossible for any of us to keep track of them until they came back up into the open sky. They flew over Cornhill and vanished behind the jail.

It was short-lived but excellent just the same to see the speed and skill these amazing creatures possess. Certainly enough to keep coming back for more!  Dan and Larry had to leave so Jeanne and I continued the watch looking and waiting for a pefa to show itself. I did spot a bird which looked like a falcon on the roof of the building behind the Times Square building at the corner of Fitzhugh and Broad St.

I started to walk that way for closer inspection but it took off as I got by the Blue Cross Arena and neither Jeanne or I saw what direction it flew. Jeanne and I had a nice little chat before she had to leave for work. I always enjoy talking to her, she’s a good listener. I decided it was time to have a walk around to see if I could find our most beloved Rochester Peregrine Falcons. I made my way to City Hall where watcher Barbara caught up with me. She didn’t stay long for she had to get someone to work but it was good to see her for a couple minutes. I checked the Frontier Communications tower on every side with no luck, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there wasn’t one in there hiding. I then checked from the roof top ramps of the Sister Cities and South Ave. garages. After unsuccessfully finding any falcons I decided to catch the next bus home as the dark skies told me rain was coming. So 4 hours after arriving downtown I ended my watch and once again just the smallest amount of that time spent watching falcons put a smile on this watchers face! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Oh what a beautiful three day holiday!  The weather this Labor Day weekend was just about perfect.  Three days of getting up while it was still dark and joining my good friends downtown on the Broad St Bridge (BSB) for a morning of watching our Rochester Falcons.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  But all good things must come to an end and it’s back to work tomorrow morning.  Darn.

Well, I made the best of this beautiful Labor Day, arriving downtown at 6:30 am.  I joined fellow Watchers Dan S, MAK, Larry O, Jeanne and Dana.  To all of us, this was a labor of love, keeping watch over our Rochester Falcons and reporting what we see to all of their fans around the world.

Up until now, it seemed that Beauty and Dot.ca had joint custody of their young tiercel, Orion.  Every other day.  Today that changed and both were around.  Beauty started by bringing in a small package of food that she brought in near the old Midtown Plaza.  Orion flew up to her and flipped over to take the offered food.  Except this time, they locked talons and started to drop lower and lower.  We all thought the same thing, let go!  A piece or all of the offered food fell.  We lost sight of them behind the buildings.  Dana and I immediately started to walk in that direction to make sure all was well.

When we got to Clinton Ave, on the west side of the old Midtown Plaza, we found Orion happily munching on breakfast on the north side of the B&L bldg.  Well that was a relief!  He at least got part of the food.  We looked up at the Xerox Bldg and saw Dot.ca up on the NE corner, watching over his son and we were told that Beauty was on the FCT.  We met up with MAK and we all ended up on top of the South Ave garage.  Soon after we arrived at the top, Orion took off.  Of course.  lol  Dot.ca took off as well and the next thing we saw was yet another food exchange between Dot.ca and Orion on the SW side of B&L, where Orion landed with the food and had seconds & DC returned to the top of Xerox.  This all on the day after a successful hunt by O.  From the top of the South Ave garage, we could see all three Rochester Falcons.  MAK decided to head back down to join the others on the BSB, while Dana and I remained.

After finishing his second meal of the morning, Orion took off and headed out towards the west, then back over us towards the Xerox bldg where he knocked Dot.ca off.  Both headed NW towards the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) where Beauty was enjoying a quiet morning.  That was about to end.  From the top of the garage, we could see all three flying around the tower.  We quickly let those below know what happened and headed down.  Jeanne, MAK, Dana and I headed over to the FCT.

When we arrived, the place was in turmoil.  We heard kakking and chirping and screaming coming from all directions.  Two Falcons were flying and chasing each other just SW of the tower and to me there was aggression between the pair, one large, one small. Orion continued to scream at the top of his lungs from somewhere on the tower while his parents bickered.  That’s all I can think to call it.  Something set them off.  We will never know for sure what it was.  The two flew towards the Kodak Tower and both landed on the east side of the launch pad at the top.  Things settled down after that.  There was silence from the FCT, so we had no idea if O was up there or not.  I did eventually find him on the north side, kind of hunkered down and quiet.  It remained that way for quite awhile.

I have to truly say that we all thought there had to be an intruding falcon in the mix somewhere at first, but we never did see more than the three of them.

Jeanne had to leave at that point.  Dot.ca came in with a very small morsel of food, which got Orion screaming again.  When Dot.ca landed on the south side of the tower, Orion hopped, skipped, jumped and winged his way over.  When Orion got to DC, he attempted to grab the food from him and a tug-o-war began.  I do think that Orion got a small portion because he looked like he was eating on the platform below DC’s position, continuing to cry.  For a long time DC had the remainder of the food.  Orion finished his small piece and came at DC for the rest of it.  I’m not really sure what happened to that small bit of food, but DC took off without it, so may Orion got it.

I saw DC land somewhere on the north side of the FCT and watched as Orion made his way over to him, screaming all the way.  That boy has a good set of lungs on him.  MAK had to leave and Dana and I stayed for a little while longer.  People were starting to flow into the downtown area for the Labor Day Parade and the surround streets were starting to close.  We both decided to call it a morning.  The screaming continued non-stop above us.  I drove down to the north end to take one last look before I left and found both Dot.ca and Orion sitting near each other.  I wondered at Dot.ca’s (and Beauty’s) ability to deal with the constant screaming from their young son while they were around.  When they weren’t nearby, he was normally very quiet.

I returned for a short evening watch, joining Dan S, Larry O, Jeanne, Carrie, Shaky, Joyce and Brian on the BSB.  Dot.ca was seen soaring over the Xerox Bldg and then flying over us to land on top of the jail comm tower.  He then stooped off, heading south.  We did not see him after that, and we did not see Beauty or Orion.  It got dark early and we all headed out at 8:30 pm.

So, another wonderful day of Falcon Watching and keeping our eyes to the sky came to an end.  What an awesome day it was!

Here is a link to my Shutterfly album with pics from today, if you are interested in checking it out.  No sign on needed.

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By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

On this Labor Day it was mainly about Orion as he was the most visible to me on my watch.  Arriving downtown about 6:15am I met up with Dan on the Broad St. bridge(BSB) as is the routine. He informed me immediately that there were 2 falcons on Xerox and as he was telling me I spotted a 3rd one flying  in from the south and vanishing behind Bausch&Lomb(B&L). Dana pulled up at this time as one falcon was eating way up there on Xerox. 10 minutes later one of them stooped to the south going behind the Rundell Library which blocked our view of  it. Larry joined us followed by Jeanne and Carol a few minutes later.

20 minutes later we watched 2 falcons fly over Midtown and attempt a food exchange. The food was dropped and both pefas(probably Beauty and Orion) with talons still locked together started plummeting down lower and lower as we all stood in shock and horror afraid that when they went out of view behind Clinton Crossings they might not have pulled away in time. It was a very stressful few moments until 1 flew thru and behind OCSR and another landed on B&L north side with feathers flying. Phew! None of the veteran watchers had ever seen anything like that before and a discussion ensued.

Dana and Carol took a walk toward B&L and Dana confirmed Orion was on the north side of the lower roof eating.  Larry checked the Frontier Communications Tower(FCT) and reported Beauty was under the platform. I then walked down to B&L and could just barely see Orion when he poked his head up.

Carol reported a food exchange on the southwest side of B&L and that Orion was eating on that side of the building as I was on my way up to the top ramp of the South Ave. garage. When I got off the elevator I saw that Dana and Carol were there.I stayed for a little bit then I went back down to the BSB to rejoin the other watchers. After I arrived Larry saw Orion fly off B&L and disappear behind the Dinosaur Barbeque.  A few minutes later Carol reported Orion flew back toward Midtown and that she and Dana could hear him which is always a dead give away that he’s around somewhere! Dana then reported Orion knocked Dot.Ca(DC) off Xerox and they flew over to FCT so all 3 of our downtown falcons were there at once. Larry and Dan had left and Jeanne had to get to work but she gave me a ride to FCT before leaving and Carol and Dana were right behind us.

Things got weird there for a while as we heard kakking (which is usually a warning sound) DC was chirping and kakking and Orion was singing when all of a sudden Beauty and DC were having a little scuffle. At the time we didn’t really know what was going on as we thought there might be an intruder. Then we saw 2 falcons flying toward KO and Carol said it looked like they were fighting as I was trying to locate anybody on the FCT. We saw what turned out to be Beauty land on the launchpad and then there was another up there near her which turned out to be DC. Orion showed himself finally on the upper north side beam on the lower red section of FCT.

All was quiet for a while until DC showed up with a small package and landed directly above Orion on the platform railing. This got Orion singing loudly almost non-stop. I wondered if he ever got a sore throat! lol

After a series of moves by both DC and Orion around the FCT inner structure I believe DC left his little morsel for a full cropped Orion.

My opinion of the whole aggression scene between Beauty and DC is that she was mad at him for feeding Orion since he is in training to catch his own prey and we all know how well they like each other dating back to their rough start. I thought we were done with the air fights between them but I guess it’s still right there ready to surface at any time still. It was a lot of fun watching DC and Orion on FCT this morning making me end my watch smiling!  🙂

Pics and videos below for your viewing pleasure-just click them

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http://youtu.be/Y3lO6_fl-BE
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http://youtu.be/sbc48f5TMpo
http://youtu.be/ZbBJ0G7Rma0
http://youtu.be/3Iz502pb660
http://youtu.be/xDAm6saQc2I

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Well, by now, you’ve all read MAK’s report with the exciting news that we saw Orion successfully hunt this morning.  Jeanne, Dana, MAK, and I were thrilled to see him catch his own breakfast this morning.  We all watched Orion come in and land on the base of the Mercury statue.  In the bright sunlight, he looked in every direction, but especially down below him where there were a couple starlings hunting bugs on the Thomson Reuters Bldg (TRB) below him.  He watched and watched and stooped!  Off he went, diving down the face of the building just missing the startling.  He chased the small bird north, but soon gave up on his pursuit.  Orion flew back towards the OCSR and then back along the front of the TRB.

Orion flew around to the back of the TRB (south side) where we lost sight of him.  We waited, hoping he would come out from the other side.  Finally he did.  He flipped around the north end of the building and grabbed a starling with his talons.  His flight took him over the TRB, this time heading south, over the Blue Cross Arena, back over the TRB towards OSCR and then back again, this time towards the TSB where he landed on the ledge just above the nest box but at the SE corner.  At first he was harassed by a 2nd starling and a very curious gull that followed him, wondering what he had and whether he’d like to share.  lol  No way!  Orion was not going to share this well deserved meal.

Orion the Hunter moved further in on the ledge and we walked around to the south end to get a better look.  Yep, there he was, and he was enjoying his breakfast.

We all walked back out to the Broad St Bridge (BSB) to watch from there .  Every now and then, we could see Orion poke his head up and then back down.  We all high fived each other!  Our little Orion was learning his lessons well.  Today was a huge step to his becoming a successful Peregrine Falcon.  We were all very happy!  🙂

There isn’t much to report from the evening Watch.  Watchers: Dan S, Jeanne, Larry O, Brian H & Carol P. (downtown)  and Joyce (out at BS location).  Beauty remained at the nest box the whole evening, until it got dark and she flew to the Xerox bldg.  We did  not see Orion, although Suzanne and Don from Ithaca saw and heard him on the Frontier Communication Tower for most of the afternoon before they had to leave.  This evening Joyce checked out the BS location and was pretty sure that it was Dot.ca she saw there and not Pigott.

I definitely plan on getting downtown early tomorrow morning and my eyes will definitely be watching the sky above me!

Here are a few pictures of Orion’s hunt.  1 – Shows Orion on the base of Mercury, where he hunted from.  2 – Orion right after he caught the starling, skimming the top of the TRB.  3 – Orion flying up towards the Time Square Bldg.  Be sure to click on the pictures for a larger view.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I rounded the corner from my bus it was like deja vu as I saw Orion on the base of Mercury like yesterday morning. Then as I started trekking up the Broad St. bridge(BSB) I didn’t see Dan parked in his spot. When I reached the middle of the BSB Dana drove up and parked and suddenly a Great Blue Heron flew in and landed on the railing. How cool is that?

What fun at 6:20am right?! The heron flew down into the river and a minute later Dan and CarolP showed up. About 10 minutes later Orion flew to the east having seen Beauty fly in and land on the southwest corner of Xerox. He landed on the northwest corner and soon after they both flew off behind Xerox out of view. Larry joined us around this time followed by Jeanne. Carol,Dana and I decided to take a walk to the east side and look for our beloved falcons. On the way to HSBC Dana saw Beauty fly around the building and disappear. No falcons on HSBC but Carol spotted Orion on the southeast corner of Midtown as we were making our way back to the BSB.

20 minutes later Orion flew off heading north, so we continued on back to the BSB. As I stood at the intersection of  Broad and South Ave. by Central Library, I took a look around with my binocs and spotted Orion on the roof of OCSR at the south corner.

Larry had left earlier and now Dan had to leave. Orion flew off after a small bird going around to the back of OCSR and vanishing. Carol and Dana left to look for him while Jeanne and I stayed on the BSB to hold the fort down as they say. I spotted a Kestrel which flew to and landed on the base of Mercury. He stayed a few minutes before he took off chasing a smaller bird out of view. Dana and Carol returned and so did Orion landing on the base of Mercury.

He looked to be in hunt mode. Carol,Dana and Jeanne crossed to the north side of the bridge to get closer while I stayed with our chairs and stuff. At approximately 9:15am Orion stooped off Mercury and caught his own breakfast! Now whether it was his first time to do this we’ll never know but it was the first time any of us watchers witnessed it. Yippee, Woohoo our little guy is all grown up! He flew toward the jail tower, back above the Blue Cross Arena(BCA) over the Thomson Reuters building almost like he was showing it off to us before he took it to the Times Square building(TSB). He landed on the ledge right above where he fledged to on the southeast corner and took his treasure to the back of it where we couldn’t see him to eat.

The girls walked down to the front of the BCA while I stayed on the BSB guarding our stuff. Every once in a while Orion would pop his head up so I would know he was still up there. Eventually, they returned saying that they could see him from down there. As we sat there watching Orion MarkB stopped by on the way to his office in the TSB. When we told him about Orion catching what we believe was a Starling his face lit up with a great big smile! When Orion was finished eating his catch of the day he flew off to the north. We thought perhaps to the Frontier Communications Tower(FCT).

We were all ready to head home at this point so before leaving we checked the FCT. Having no luck locating any falcons Dana and Carol left. Jeanne and I stayed to greet Suzanne and Don from Ithaca who had texted me that they were on their way to have a falcon watch for themselves. When they arrived we chatted for a bit and then Jeanne and I left for home. It was good to see Suzanne and Don for I hadn’t seen them in well over a year. Jeanne and I left downtown smiling for having had such a wonderful morning watch! 🙂

Check out my photo album and videos by clicking on the links below

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http://youtu.be/2VXajCd9f_8
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http://youtu.be/TrU0db2VxM4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

No watch yesterday as I was at my uncles’ funeral but I returned to the Broad St. bridge(BSB) this morning with my mentor Dan arriving at about 6:15am.  As I walked up Exchange Blvd. after getting off the bus I looked at Mercury and saw a falcon on the base. I blinked and it flew off heading east. When I reached Dan I asked if he saw the falcon and he informed me it was Orion. A good start to my day seeing our upstart young Peregrine Falcon first thing! A few minutes after I arrived CarolP drove up followed by LarryO. Carol spotted Orion on top of the elevator shaft of OCSR.

At 6:30am Dana and then Jeanne came along to join the watch.  Orion flew off OCSR heading east across the river and out of view near Midtown. KathyO showed up just as we got a tweet from Joyce saying she had Orion over on the southeast corner of the old skeleton of it’s former self Midtown Plaza. 15 minutes later Joyce tweeted that Orion was now on the southwest corner of Midtown and now we could see him from the BSB.

At about 7:30am Orion left and so did Larry and Dan. Joyce joined us on the bridge and with no falcons to be seen we directed our attention to the river where we had a Green Heron who flew to a tree after fishing, an immature Black-crowned Night Heron fishing right across from a Great Blue Heron. They both caught themselves some grub.

Joyce took a ride and found Dot.Ca(DC) on the Frontier Communications Tower and soon after Orion joined his dad. At one point DC had a small package and wouldn’t share it making Orion get his vocal chords working. lol Eventually DC couldn’t take it anymore and flew to the OCSR top ibeam north side. Meanwhile KathyO left and Dana made friends with a young gull who landed next to her looking to get a Timbit(donut hole from Tim Hortons).

Click on the pics for full version

Dana and Carol left around 10:30am and then about 11:00am Jeanne headed out followed by Joyce and I. I asked Joycie if we could go check for Pigott before she dropped me off home and she obliged. I hadn’t seen Pigott in about a month and really wanted to get some pics to share with everyone since I had been hearing how grown up she looks now. Well we weren’t disappointed for Joyce spotted her on a west side window ledge. I grabbed my camera, got out the car and started clicking away! Boy she really has grown into a pretty Peregrine with the slightest salmon color on her chest.

I didn’t see Beauty or DC but I was smiling for having seen the lovely Miss Pigott once again to end my watch! 🙂

Links for my photo album and a short video look at Pigott are below

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http://youtu.be/IzJ3GKJsYKo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Oh, I am so looking forward to having three days off and being able to head downtown for some early morning Falcon Watches.  But in the meantime, I am very satisfied with tonight’s watch.  Orion was back home, after being a no show last night.  It was great to see the little guy.  He was so active, flying here and there and everywhere.  Bopping a young Red-tail Hawk (just once) and chasing the river ducks after dark.  This kind of stuff makes for an exciting watch.

The Watchers gathered this evening were Kathy O, Debbie H, Pat, Joyce, Jeanne, Larry O, Joe, Katie & Laura.  We had a lot of fun while watching Orion tonight.

I arrived downtown at 4:00 pm.  As I drove onto Broad St, in front of the Blue Cross Arena, I heard the very loud vocalization of a very young tiercel, from the top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB) at the base of the NE wing.  I immediately pulled my car over and parked in front of the arena.   A quick look at the TSB showed me that Beauty was sitting on the perch in front of the nest box. Now I knew to whom he was speaking.  Beauty kept looking up at her son sitting on the building above her.   Kathy O joined me.

At 4:10 pm, Beauty took off and took a long leisurely stoop over the river in front of the library, where we lost sight of her.  As soon as she left, Orion went silent.  Ten minutes later, Orion took off and followed in the same direction that Beauty had taken.  We watch him fly over the library and circle, as if he were looking for her.  He then continued to circle and flew higher and higher.  Orion ended up on the very top of the elevator shaft of the OCSR.

It wasn’t long after this that the 100’s of gulls on the river rose as one.  They were everywhere, screeching & swirling like white snow flakes on a blizzard’s wind.  Kathy and I had moved out to the Broad St Bridge (BSB) for a better view of the area.  In a way this movement of snow white birds, rising from the river on such a warm day was quite beautiful.  But, we knew there had to be a reason.  It wasn’t Orion, who remained on the OCSR bldg.  After searching the area, we had our answer.  A juvie Red-tailed Hawk was cruising the river and downtown area and the gulls didn’t like it.  Orion just watched, fascinated by the spectacle before him.  His eyes followed the flight of the young RTH as it flew over the B&L bldg and then headed south down the river.  Then he was off!

Oh, it was too much for a young tiercel to ignore!  We watched in amusement as Orion caught up to the soaring RTH quite easily, and gave him a little thump on his back.  That was it.  Nothing more.  The young hawk continued it’s flight and the young falcon flew back towards the downtown area.  We lost sight of Orion behind the Xerox Bldg.  I couldn’t help but be curious about his behavior towards the hawk.  Had he seen mom and dad attack the raptors passing through?  We know he joined in on Beauty’s attack of the 3rd falcon a couple weeks ago.  It was just interesting that he made contact only once and then broke it off.  I’m sure the RTH was very happy about this.  🙂

Debbie H joined us for awhile and Pat walked through on her way to her car.  These two ladies help to keep an eye on the falcons during the day when no Watchers are around, since they worked downtown.  Many thanks to them.

Joyce, Jeanne & Larry O joined Kathy and I.  It was 5:20 pm when two falcons came flying in from the downtown area.  We assumed that it was Orion and Beauty.  They both stooped, chasing each other, behind the OCSR.  Beauty ended up at the base of the SE wing on the TSB and Orion was on the 2nd IBeam down on the south side of OCSR, close to the elevator shaft.

Orion came off of the OCSR IBeam at 6:00 pm and approached the TSB, screaming.  He flew up to Beauty and knocked her off.  Orion then chased Beauty towards the downtown area, still screaming.  lol

Was Beauty starting to provide less food to Orion?  This might explain what we were seeing.  It was probably time for him to start learning to hunt on his own, which I personally believe he is very close to doing successfully.

During the next couple hours, the falcon activity slowed down.  Both Beauty and Orion were somewhere downtown, possibly on the Xerox bldg.  We could seen no flying or movement from them during this time.  Larry O decided to leave at 7:50 pm.  That is, of course, when Orion decided to make an appearance.  He came off of the east side of the Xerox building and flew towards us and over us, heading towards the OCSR.  He flew to the other side of the building and then back over us to the library.  For awhile, we watched him fly here and there, honing his flight skills.  As I and the other Watchers have said many times, he is an awesome flyer.  A joy to watch.  Again we lost sight of him.  It was starting to get dark and most of us had not eaten dinner yet, so at a little bit before 8:00 pm we decided to call it a night, with promises of returning early tomorrow morning. Joyce left and while Kathy O, Jeanne and I were packing our cars, our new Watcher friends Joe, Katie and Laura arrived.

We joined them and chatted for awhile as we watched the many river ducks fly up and over the Broad St Bridge.  This is something that happens after dark and it’s a lot of fun to watch.  Little did we know that this nightly show was going to be disrupted tonight.  We noticed a group of about five ducks head towards us and then veer off over the Blue Cross Arena.  That was different.  They were in panicked flight and we soon knew why.  Orion was right behind them, giving chase.  The ducks continued south and Orion broke off the chase and flew directly over us, very low.  Joe even asked if he was checking us out.  🙂  Orion flew up to Mercury and landed on the base of the statue.  We could barely see him there in the dark.

Twenty minutes later at 8:20 pm, Orion took off again and chased another group of ducks, this time heading north down the river.  He again ended the chase and flew towards the OCSR where we lost sight of him.  Well that was a very interesting end to our evening Falcon Watch!  It was too dark to see much of anything and we hoped that Orion had settled down for the night on the OCSR.  It was time to leave.

I and the other Watchers plan on getting out early tomorrow morning to watch the continuation of young Orion’s Pefa lessons.  Night everyone and remember to keep you eyes to the sky on this Labor Day Weekend!

Oh, and here is a link to an Shutterfly album of pics from tonight if you’re interested.  No sign on needed.  Enjoy!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Tonight I was joined on the Broad St Bridge by Dan S, Larry O, Jeanne and Joyce.  We did have one falcon to watch, Beauty.  There were no appearances by Orion and Dot.ca.  Beauty remained on the nest box perch, then moved to the top of Camera #4.  At the end of the evening, as it got dark, Beauty took off and ended up on her favorite nightly roosting spot on the south side of  Xerox, 5th column in from the SE corner (verified by Joyce).

It seems that Beauty and Dot.ca are taking turns spending time with Orion, tonight it was Dot.ca’s turn.  Where they were, we have no clue.  This gave Beauty a well deserved evening off from the attentions of her young son.

So, not much to report, but I did take a bunch of pictures, as we lost light.  Evening Rochester is a beautiful place that I love sharing with my falcon watching friends and you.  Oh, and tonight it is the night before a Blue Moon!  A 2nd full moon in the month of August on the 31st.  When a haze developed around it, my pictures became very interesting.

If you’d like to take a look, just click on the link below to my Shutterfly album.  No sign on needed.  Enjoy!

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Tomorrow it will be a very warm day, with temps near 90 degrees!  I’m sure this will not stop the Rochester Falcon Watchers from being out and about with their eyes to the sky.  I hope to see Orion and Beauty and Dot.ca enjoying the warm evening weather.  Then a long three day weekend.  Woohoo!  Hope you all enjoy the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I met Dan on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) and he told me that Orion had left his night time roost near the elevator shaft on the 2nd ibeam of OCSR at 6:10am. Falcon watcher friend Lynda joined us just before 7:ooam and Dot.Ca(DC) whom I haven’t seen but once or twice in the last 2 weeks also joined us. He was on the top ibeam of OCSR southeast side.

Some 30 minutes later I heard Orion and looked up to see him chasing Beauty all over the river area. After they were done Beauty landed under the northeast wing and Orion landed on the southeast ledge above where he fledged.

15 minutes later Orion flew off circled Mercury and attempted landing next to mom. Not having enough altitude to land he circled around and made it on his 2nd try and then he ran to the back of the ledge and vanished. I think there was cached food there. Beauty flew off a few minutes later going over to OCSR knocking DC off his ibeam and chased him to the east out of view. A couple minutes later DC flew to the Times Square building(TSB) and joined Orion at the back of the northeast wing out of sight. DebbieH came by at this time. Orion would shoot out from under the wing and land  on the base of Mercury where he was eating a small piece of food. Dan and Deb had to go and it’s too bad cuz they would miss some really good flying by Orion a few minutes later.

Orion stooped straight down into the river chasing a pigeon at the surface of the river and just missed it as it dove into the water to avoid being caught by this upstart young falcon. He then turned his attention on another pigeon with the same ferocity chasing it up out of the river. The speedy Orion wasn’t done yet as he chased everything  in sight at the waters edge. Ducks,pigeons,starlings and he even took a shot at a Great Blue Heron who simply ducked and flew away. The action was so fast and furious I had absolutely no chance to take pics or video unfortunately, but it is etched in my memory bank forever! Beauty had come in just before the show and landed on the top ibeam of OCSR. After he was done Orion flew to the base of Mercury briefly then over to join mom on OCSR. A few minutes later they both flew off  with Beauty going to the nest box next to the main cam and Orion going to the base of Mercury singing to his dad, DC who was on the heel  above him.

DC and Orion took off flying together a few minutes later with Orion landing on the southeast ledge above where he fledged once again and then he took off. Beauty remained by the main cam and Orion landed on the 2nd ibeam of OCSR where he ran back and forth a few times entertaining Lynda and I. He is a one man show I tell ya! lol He wasn’t there for long either as he flew back to the base of Mercury for about 15 minutes and then joined Beauty at the nest box giving those at home on their computers watching the live stream a  treat!

Beauty flew off to the north and a few minutes later Orion followed suit.

I told Lynda they probably went to the Frontier Communications Tower(FCT) so we went over to City Hall to check. As we drove up Orion flew in and landed on the middle beam in the lower red section of the structure on the south side. As I tweeted it out he left and after a thorough search of FCT with no pefa sightings we went back to the BSB.Orion was now on the 2nd ibeam of OCSR west side and Beauty was tucked back under the southeast wing on the TSB. They seemed to be ready for a nap as were Lynda and I after the busy watch we had this morning. We both had to get going so we ended the watch with great big smiles on our faces for what we had witnessed! 🙂

My links are below, just click on them to see pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrHCA

http://youtu.be/n4UXvUkS2RQ
http://youtu.be/oCnClRuJ9zk
http://youtu.be/P-QgJXCROGw
http://youtu.be/VOt-LMNCzaE
http://youtu.be/EP0K5xqWTdk
http://youtu.be/VWxWhj6gVzM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

After spending my Watch with Beauty yesterday, it was time for the whole family to make an appearance.  At 6:00 pm, I joined Joyce and Brian on the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  The sun was full in our face, but it felt wonderful.   So I brought out my chair and joined them for the evening Falcon Watch.  Brian pointed out the Green Heron fishing on the north side of the bridge on the river below.  There were also a couple of Kingfishers flying up and down the river chittering to each other.  A couple of Great Blue Herons were out also.  The most patient of our fisher birds.

Oh, you were wondering about our falcons?  Well, of course there were falcons, two to be exact.  Both were on the south side of the OCSR, Dot.ca on the top IBeam and Orion on the 2nd IBeam down.  At 6:40 pm Orion left the OCSR and landed on the Times Square Bldg (TSB) on a ledge below the wings on the south side.  Jeanne & Dan joined us and we all sat back and enjoyed watching Orion jump, skip and hop his way back and forth on the ledge.  At one point it did look like he found a very small scrap of food that he ate.  The young tiercel was hungry.

It wasn’t long before we heard a cry from above.  We looked up just in time to see Orion chasing Beauty, passing over us heading for the Xerox building.  Beauty went behind the building and we were sure that she probably landed, but Orion swung around the building and landed on the NW corner.  He didn’t stay long, flying around to the back of the building and not coming back into sight.  Was he with Beauty?  We waited to see if they would fly again, but they didn’t. We went back to watching the critters on the river.

At 7:3o pm, Dot.ca moved down to the 3rd IBeam down and by 7:40 pm, while we were watching the juvie Black Crown Night Heron fish, Dot.ca was gone.

I decided to call it a night and said my goodbyes, but first I was going to take a trip around the downtown area, hoping to spot our falcons.  I did!  Orion was on top of the shell of what remained of the old Midtown Plaza.  He was eating at the SW corner.  I quickly let the other Watchers know.  I parked in front of the Xerox Bldg where I had a better view of Orion.  But time had run out for any kind of decent pictures.  It was getting dark and the almost full moon was behind me.  I watched until Orion finished his meal and started to hop, skip and jump around the roof of the building he was on.  He really does make me laugh!

Around 8:10 pm Orion took off and I ran down to the corner just in time to see him knock Beauty off of an antenna on a building on the east side of Midtown.  He chased her around a bit and then split off from her.  I saw Beauty fly up to the top of the Xerox bldg, south side, and land on her favorite night roosting spot.  I headed back to the BSB and found Jeanne and Dan still there.  Brian and Joyce had left.  I told them what had happened.  By this time, it was dark.  I looked over at the OCSR and carefully checked the IBeams.  Yep!  There he was!  We could just barely make out Orion on the 2nd IBeam down, tucked into the elevator shaft.  It was night time for Orion and me too!

Time to head home.  On the way home, I did stop at KP, I always do.  I could not find KPT in his normal spots.  Joyce reported that she stopped at the BS location and saw a falcon there that she thought was light in color, so she thought that maybe it was Dot.ca.

It was another beautiful day to spend Falcon Watching with my fellow Falcon Watchers and seeing all three of our downtown falcons was a wonderful thing.  Tomorrow I will definitely be out and about with my eyes to the sky!  Goodnight everyone!

Here is the link to my Shutterfly picture album with some pics from today.  No sign on needed.  Enjoy!

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2AcsmzZk4ctWE1

In the last picture of the sun between the wings on the TSB, check out the little bump on the lower ledge on the left side.  That would be Orion. lol