By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Date : 5/17/12 (Thursday)
Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Weather: Sunny and Cooler than in past days. Temps in the 60’s. A beautiful day!
Watcher: Dan, Kathy O, Brian H, Lou, Dana & Carol P.
Places: Downtown Rochester (Times Square Nestsite) (TS)
Peregrines Seen: Beauty (at TSB) & Dot.ca (at TSB)
Beauty = B
Dot.ca = DC
Pigott = P (the female falcon formerly known as SA or Sub Adult at BS Location)
Times Square Bldg = TSB
Brighton Site = BS
Broad St Bridge = BSB
Baush & Lomb Bldg = B&L Bldg
Old Changing Scenes Restaurant = OCSR

Now that we are with egg, many of the Watchers gathered on the Broad St Bridge tonight to watch the falcons and to talk excitedly about the possibility of young falcons here in Rochester this year. Believe me, we are NOT counting our eyases before they are hatched, but we can’t help hoping that they will.

When I first arrived, Kathy, Dan and Brian pointed out a falcon on the level above the nest box, right in the center. They weren’t sure if it was B or DC. That question was answered fairly quickly when we spotted a falcon flying in from the east. We spotted the split wing tip on the right wing. I never thought I would say that to describe Beauty in flight. That was something that helped us ID Mariah most of the many years we watched her. Beauty flew up to the platform of the nest box and remained there throughout our watch. While we watched Beauty fly in, we lost sight of Dot.ca who had been the falcon on the level above the nest box. No one saw him leave, but it was nice to know that while Beauty was away from the nest, Dot.ca kept watch over their egg. Oh, and Larry O had reported a Falcon at the BS location just before I arrived, so he probably saw Pigott there, while DC was on the TSB.

Dana and Lou joined us and we settled in to watch the daring folks repelling down the OCSR building we were so used to seeing falcons on, not humans acting like Batman and Robin in the old series I watched as a kid. I kept thinking they should be stopping and talking to people through the windows on their way down. Hahaha! Some of them were just being lowered and some were actually putting their feet on the building and “walking” down. We would say “Hey, look! He’s on the top IBeam! It actually does look like a lot of fun! 🙂

For the two hours we were there, Beauty did not move from the nest box and Dot.ca did not return (that we knew of). So watching the Crow on the river rocks below using the river water to try to soften the stale piece of pizza he found to be able to eat it and seeing a small raccoon walking up and down the river bank was our entertainment for the night. Mind you, I am not complaining. The good company of my fellow Watchers and the peacefulness of watching Beauty at the nest box with her egg was all we needed.

We of course will all be out again to keep an eye on our Rochester Falcons and we’ll report what we see. So, remember, keep your eyes to the sky. Sometimes it just nice to look up and see a Peregrine at rest, preening and dozing. Sometimes that’s the very best. 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Date : 5/16/12 (Wednesday)
Time: 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy/little bit of rain when a cold front pushed through and temps in the 70’s/60’s
Watcher: Joyce, Kathy O, MAK & Carol P
Places: Downtown Rochester (Times Square Nestsite) (TS) & Brighton Site (BS) Location
Peregrines Seen: Beauty (at TSB) & Dot.ca (at TSB & BS) & Pigott (at BS)
Beauty = B
Dot.ca = DC
Pigott = P (the female falcon formerly known as SA or Sub Adult at BS Location)
Times Square Bldg = TSB
Brighton Site = BS
Broad St Bridge = BSB
Baush & Lomb Bldg = B&L Bldg
Old Changing Scenes Restaurant = OCSR

Well, this was a day of surprises for the Rochester Watchers that were out checking on the falcons this afternoon. I joined Joyce at the BS location at about 4:00 pm. She had seen both Dot.ca and Pigott there just before I arrived. I found her on the south side of the building watching Dot.ca who was preening up on top of the vent near the top. It was very quiet, so we chatted for awhile. At approximately 5:15 pm, Dot.ca took off and flew to the north side of the building where the scrape was located.

By the time I drove around to the front of the building, I could hear very loud ee-chupping from the scrape. Pigott had arrived and both she and Dot.ca were having a Chup-fest! It lasted a few minutes before Dot.ca left the scrape and Pigott soon followed. I lost track of Dot.ca, but watched as Pigott flew to the east side of the building. Joyce had joined me in time to witness all of this. I tweeted out what happened while Joyce drove around to see if she could find Pigott. She did, just in time to see her stoop down over a field on the east side. We did not see her return.

I decided to head downtown to check on Beauty and possibly Dot.ca if he went in that direction. I told Joyce I was heading out. On my drive over, my phone started going off with tweets and phone calls and, I couldn’t answer any of them, because I was driving! It didn’t take long for me to get downtown. Kathy O was already on the Broad St Bridge. After parking behind her, she quickly came back and excitedly told me that Beauty had just laid an egg. What! Wow! That was incredible! I took a look at my tweets and saw they were from so many falcon fans, some that I had not seen in a few years. Thanks Kristen! Everyone was so excited! Kathy pointed out that Dot.ca was sitting on the base of the SE Wing above the nest box. Since Beauty hadn’t moved off of the egg, he probably didn’t know she had laid one. Or maybe he did. Who knows. 🙂

We were soon joined by Joyce and MAK, who Joyce had picked up on her way downtown. WooHoo! We were all very excited.

Of course it’s way too early to know if this egg will hatch or whether Beauty will lay any others. I know I’ll be watching the cameras and going downtown to see what happens. and you know I’ll be keeping my eyes to the sky, watching “our” Rochester Falcons.

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

When I approach downtown on the bus riding down Main St. from the west I always check the Frontier Communications Tower as I pass. Then my eyes go quickly to Widows Walk, the jail tower and the back of Times Square. I can see under all the wings except the southeast wing. I didn’t see any falcons on buildings this morning but as the bus approached the intersection at Main and State/Exchange Streets I spotted a Peregrine flying over the Crossroads building. It was headed in the general direction of Times Square. So after I got off the bus at Main and Aqueduct St. I walked directly to Exchange St. and looking up at Times Square as I turned the corner I could see tail and wing feathers hanging over the edge under the northeast wing.

I sat down on the garden box timber next to He’s Chinese restaurant and patiently waited for this pefa to show itself so I knew who it was although I was pretty sure it was Beauty as Dot.ca(DC) doesn’t perch this way but Beauty does. About 25 minutes later it turned and gave me a side view.

Yes it was her, the Beautyful one. I took a walk down to the front of the Blue Cross Arena to get a better look at her in the bright sunshine.

As I passed by the Times Square Building(TSB) I took a pic of the placard showing the address of Beautys’ home.

Next it appeared she flew off to the back of the building so as I was walking back down Exchange to see if she had gone under the northwest wing I ran into DebbieH who was on a break from work and taking a walk. After she left I looked up and saw Beauty had moved farther back under the northeast wing close to the building.

15 minutes later Beauty flew above the Wilder building before going around the back of Times Square out of view. I decided to walk down in front of the Blue Cross Arena to check the jail tower since that’s the direction she was flying and sure enough there she was on a north side cross beam.

I walked practically to Cornhill to get a front view of her.

45 minutes passed before I noticed she had left when I wasn’t watching. I just love it when that happens! lol I started trekking back toward Times Square up Exchange St. and I could see the bright white chest of DC on a southwest column in the back of Times Square one level higher than the nest box.

He then flew around the back of the building to the nest box. It was at this time I decided to go up on the South Ave. garage where I could look for Beauty. When I got up there DC was still perched at the nest box where he remained for quite some time.

Nearly an hour passed when DC flew out and met Beauty over the Thomson Reuters building and they both flew to the nest box landing next to the main cam and did some bowing to each other. DC left when they were done and Beauty remained  a couple minutes before she also left.

This would be the last I saw of either one of our Rochester falcons for the remainder of my watch. I stopped on the Broad St. bridge for a while and watched a gull jump off a rock and grab a shiny little minnow out of the Genesee river. He threw it up on the rock and repositioned it in his beak for an easy swallow. At 2:00pm nearly 2 hours after last seeing Beauty and DC I called it a day and headed to the bus stop. I’m glad to see them bowing more and DC bringing food gifts but what would really make me smile(and everyone else) is if she would lay eggs so we don’t have another lost season here in Rochester. 🙂

Click the link below for more pics from today

http://pix.kg/p/702425575213%3A2021972163/scl

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Date : 5/14/12 (Monday)
Time: 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Weather: Partly Sunny/Partly Cloudy and temps in the 70’s
Watcher: Carol P
Places: Downtown Rochester (Times Square Nestsite) (TS)
Peregrines Seen: Beauty (at Times Square) & Dot.ca (at TS)

Beauty = B
Dot.ca = DC
Pigott = P (formerly known as SA or Sub Adult at BS Location)
Times Square Bldg = TSB
Brighton Site = BS
Broad St Bridge = BSB
Baush & Lomb Bldg = B&L Bldg
Old Changing Scenes Restaurant = OCSR

Earlier reports from Larry O had both Pigott & Dot.ca at the BS location. Also, around 3:20 pm, Brian H reported seeing three falcons flying over the downtown area. Beauty and Dot.ca for sure, but no ID on 3rd falcon except Brian was pretty sure it was a female. Could this have been Pigott? Or another female migrating through? There is no of knowing for sure. Luckily the 3rd falcon left pretty quickly.

After reading Brian’s report of 3 falcons seen, I headed downtown to make sure everything was quiet. When I arrived on the Broad St Bridge at 6:30 pm, I checked all the buildings in the area, starting with the Times Square Bldg. I found Beauty on the B&L Bldg at the NW corner. She was looking west towards the TSB and her nest box. I checked around but could not find any other falcons.

She remained on the B&L Bldg for about an hour, before taking off and flying directly over me heading west. Dana, Lou and I noticed that she appears to now have a split wing tip on her right wing. Possibly a missing primary feather? Beauty flew up to the TSB and landed at the base of the SE wing.

At 7:30 pm, Dot.ca flew in from the south, past Beauty’s location, landing on the base of the NE wing directly across from her. He was carrying prey. DC settled into prepping the food by plucking the feathers. The slight breeze was carrying the feathers across the front of the building where they floated around Beauty. She intently watched what he was doing.

Finally there were no more feathers floating in the air, he was done prepping the food. He gave a soft, whiny ee-chup and looked at Beauty. The last time he had food on this spot, she flew over, ran to him and grabbed it from him. Hope you all enjoyed that video. 🙂 Did he expect the same this time? Nope! She wasn’t budging.

So, since she wasn’t coming to him, he decided to take the food to her. Well, maybe not directly to her. How about the nest box? Yeah! I’ll bring it to the nest box! DC grabbed the prey in his talons and flew past Beauty. He kept heading south and “U” turned back towards the TSB. I watched as he landed on Camera #4 in front of the nest box. Well, that was an invitation Beauty could not ignore! She took off and flew directly down to the nest box landing on the platform in front of him. DC remained on Cam #4 and she looked up at him from the platform. This lasted all of 5 seconds. Beauty jumped up onto Cam #4 with DC and she grabbed the food from him and then jumped back down to the platform.

DC remained on the camera for a short while before flying up to the SE corner of the level above the nest box. When he left, Beauty started eating the offered meal.

It was 8:00 pm and time for me to go. It was another good day with all three Rochester Falcons seen.

Remember to keep your eyes to the sky! There are so many wonderful things up there to see!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P. (& Dana)
Date : 5/13/12 (Sunday)
Time: 8:00 am to 12:30 pm
Weather: Sunny and temps in the 70’s; nice and warm (Another Beautiful Day!)
Watchers: Dana, Dan & Carol P
Places: Downtown Rochester (Times Square Nestsite) (TS) & Brighton Site (BS)
Peregrines Seen: Beauty (at Times Square), Pigott (at Brighton Site) & Dot.ca (at TS & BS)

Beauty = B
Dot.ca = DC
Pigott = P
Times Square Bldg = TSB
Brighton Site = BS
Broad St Bridge = BSB

It was yet another beautiful Spring day here in Rochester, NY. When I arrived downtown around 8:00 am, it was cloudy and cool, but the clouds soon parted and the sun appeared. Dot.ca was up on top of the Times Square Bldg on the base of the NE wing. I was informed by Donna and Joyce that Beauty was inside the nest box, which was directly below D.C. She was looking up at him and he was looking down at her.

Dana was at the BS location and she tweeted that Pigott was on the west end of the building. So, all three Rochester Falcons were seen this morning.

At 10:20 am, Dot.ca flew into the nest box for a short visit with Beauty and then flew out heading northwest. I waited to see if he would return but he didn’t. I drove out to the Broad St Bridge and found Dan at his favorite spot at 10:50 am. We settled in to watch Beauty.

10:50 am to Noon – report from Dana at the BS location – DC had arrived at BS and he had entered the scrape. Pigott joined him at the scrape and DC flew up to the roof on the north side of the building. Dot.ca then flew out to the east and appeared to be hunting. DC came back and joined Pigott at the scrape. Then took off again, this time heading west. Dot.ca returned with food and landed on the northeast window ledge. Pigott left the scrape to grab the food from him. Pigott settled in to eat, while Dot.ca remained on the building a level above her. Dot.ca then went to the scrape. Pigott took leftovers to the south side. At noon, Dana reported that Dot.ca was flying high above circling.

Back at the TSB, at 11:00 am, Beauty flew out of the nest box over to the OCSR where she landed at the west end of the top I-Beam. After about a half hour, Beauty took off and Dan and I saw her head west, low. I walked around and tried to find her but I couldn’t. I returned to Dan on the bridge.

Just after Dan left, at 12:10 pm, DC flew in and landed at the NE wing. He then took off heading south and flew back through, heading south. He was a busy Tiercel. At 12:20 pm, I spotted Beauty up at the base of the SE wing and she was preening. Dana joined me and we chatted for a short time. I had to get home to spend some time with my mom, so I headed out around 12:30 pm, leaving Dana on the Broad St. Bridge.

It was a very good day today. Due to tag team Falcon Watching with Dana, we saw all three Rochester Falcons and saw that Dot.ca is quite active at both nest sites. Bringing food to both Beauty and Pigott and entering both scrapes. He has also been seen defending both nest sites. We continue to wait and watch this all unfold.

I’ve included some pictures from this weekend in a KGallery album.  No sign on needed.  Enjoy!

http://pix.kg/p/4601394151105%3A1835453165/scl

Hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mothers Day! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Date : 5/12/12
Time: 8:30 am to noon & 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm
Weather: Sunny and temps in the 70’s; nice and warm (A Beautiful Day!)
Watchers: Dana, Lou & Carol P
Places: Downtown Rochester (Times Square Nestsite) (TS) & Brighton Site (BS)
Peregrines Seen: Current TS Resident Female (Beauty) & Two Peregrines at BS (Dot .ca aka DC & Sub-Adult Female aka SA)

It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. Lots going on downtown including a gathering and parade of dachshunds. Not something you see every day. Graduations continue at the Blue Cross Arena aka Rochester War Memorial and the 2nd day of the Lilac Festival at Highland Park.

When I arrived around 8:30 am, Beauty was up at the NE wing of the Times Square Bldg (TSB). She was preening and soaking up the sun. I was joined by Dana.

At 10:00 am, Beauty started to whine. She took off and flew around a bit before going into the nest box. Soon after, Dot.ca flew in and landed at the SE wing. At approximately 11:00 am, Dot.ca left while we weren’t looking. Beauty came out of the nest box heading east where we lost sight of her. Dana and I decided to split up and look for them. She was going to head over to the BS location, but could not get close due to the Lilac Festival. I drove around the downtown area checking out all the buildings. Neither of us had any luck.

We both met back at Aqueduct St. For the next hour, we had no falcons in sight. I decided to leave to have some lunch. Before I got too far I received a text from Dana that Beauty had returned.

I returned downtown around 3:30 pm. Dot.ca was at the NE wing and Beauty was in the nest box. Soon after I arrived, I was joined by Dana and Lou for a short while. At 4:10 pm, first Dot.ca and then Beauty took off from the TSB and flew together above us. They both headed east, but were only gone for a few moments. First Beauty and then Dot.ca flew back to the nest box, fast!. There was a Turkey Vulture (TV) close to the building and DC chased it towards the southwest.

After that Dot.ca continued to fly higher and higher, circling the area. Beauty perched on the railing outside of the scrape and watched DC above. He would fly in and out of our view, before we couldn’t see him anymore. At one point I did see him stoop past the Radisson Hotel, but didn’t see where he went. I did not see DC for the remainder of my watch. Dana and Lou left and I remained for another hour before heading home myself, leaving Beauty on the perch in front of the nest box.

Tomorrow is Mothers Day! Happy Mom’s Day to all you moms. Enjoy your day!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Time to start up our Falcon Watches again.

Wanted to start with my Watch Report from today. I saw all three Rochester Falcons during my watch, Beauty, Dot.ca and Pigott.

For this one, I decided to write up my report along with the pictures I took in a KGallery album. Here’s the link (no sign on needed):

http://pix.kg/p/5775131151105%3A345333072/scl

and a video of Beauty flying over to Dot.ca and grabbing the food he brought to her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4fWd-Zn2Sg&feature=youtu.be
 

Hope you Enjoy!
Carol P.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I was oh, so sick of being sick!  Leave it to me to get a flu bug that wasn’t covered by the flu shot we all received.  I needed some fresh air and I needed to see a falcon!

I arrived downtown around 5:30 pm, knowing I didn’t have a whole lot of time before it got dark.  The moon was already large in the sky, and the bright sun was dipping lower and lower.

As I drove up to the Broad St Bridge, I was greeted by the unknown Tiercel flying towards me with a nice bloody tidbit grasped in his big yellow talons.  He flew over and up towards the Times Square Bldg. (TSB)  I quickly turned my car around and had the full force of the sun directly in my eyes.  I found a spot closer to the TSB where I had a little protection from the sun and saw that the Tiercel had landed on the same level as the nest box, but on the south side of the building.  This is where Jemison had made his first little jump, hop, flight.

To get a better view, I drove down onto Aqueduct St.  Unity flew in and landed on the same ledge as the Tiercel.  I couldn’t see if she actually took the offering of prey from the Tiercel, but I’m pretty sure that she did, and now she was out of sight.

After awhile, she flew off the TSB and landed on Mercury’s outstretched hand/money bag.  The almost full moon was behind the statue and I moved around until…..

Unity and the Moon - 3/5/12

I just love taking, as my good friend Lou would say, Artsy-Fartsy shots.  🙂

Unity and the Moon - 3/5/12

Unity and the Moon - 3/5/12

 The Tiercel flew off of the TSB and did all kinds of fancy flying over the river, back to TSB, zipped by her and flew towards the buildings on the east side of the river and zipped back.  He was putting on quite a nice show for her.

The Tiercel flew back to the TSB and landed under the SE wing.  Unity came off of the Mercury statue and flew towards the TSB, landing on the platform in front of the nest box.  She disappeared from view, ducking into the nest box and for the next 5-10 mins, she ee-chupped from inside the nest box, while the Tiercel again started his fancy flying.  He flew out from the building, over the river and zoomed by the front of the nest box.  You’ve got to give this guy an “A for Effort!”.

Unity and the Moon - 3/5/12

As the light faded, one of the falcons (I’m not sure which one) kept making short flights around the TSB and landing at different spots all along the back section.  Off and on, off and on.  Something I haven’t seen before.  I was joined by Kathy O. after it quieted down.

Before it got too dark, I did see a falcon fly in from the north, land for a very short time on the north end of the well wall (at the nest box) and then fly over to the north side of the back section of the TSB.  S/he landed on top of one of the last columns at the west end.  Very hard to explain.  I’ll have to take a picture the next time I’m there in the daylight and point it out.  Was this one of their night time roosting spots.

Stay tuned!

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It’s been great having wheels the last 4 days to get out and about. My main activity was you guessed it FALCON WATCHING! They are my passion and I love them like nothing else in my life! Yesterday was filled with wind and today snow but I  enjoyed being out in it and thankfully so did Unity. My first sighting of her was on Beautys’ favorite morning perch – the money bag hand of Mercury.

Oh and did I mention she was whining!  This girl is a whiner for sure! I thought maybe the Mr was near hence the vocalizing but on this day he was absent. It was all Unity all day! I was watching her from the hole(Aqueduct St.) when she started whining just before taking off  in the direction of Xerox. I quickly lost sight of her as the Thomson Reuters building was in the way. A common problem when you’re in the hole. I took some pics so you can see what I mean about being surrounded by buildings when you’re watching from Aqueduct St. They are in an album at the end of my report. With a lull in the action I decided to get breakfast and as I came back to the van I ran into Larry and Cleo at Aqueduct park. As I drove away I saw Cleo on her back rolling in the snow. lol I parked on the Broad St. bridge and Larry came by saying he would check over on the east side near Xerox for Unity on his way home. It started to snow with sleet mixed in. As I looked at the Times Square building I noticed a bump on the ledge one level below the nest box. I thought it was Mr until I went to the parking lot between the Wilder building and the Phillipone building off Aqueduct St. and got closer pics. After zooming and closer inspection I determined that it was Unity. The snow and dark conditions sure do try ones patience.

I returned to the bridge as Unity was staying put and Dana showed up to watch with me. We chatted on the sidewalk until the snow intensified driving us into our vehicles. About 45 minutes later Joyce and Brian stopped for a few minutes on their way to look for the Irondequoit eagles and owls at Braddocks Bay State Park. As they arrived Unity flew off toward Midtown. They left and Dana said she’d go check Midtown while I remained on the bridge. Dana tweeted that she had Unity on the south side of Midtown and so I beat feet over there. I’ve never seen a falcon on Midtown before so I was anxious to see her.

Unity left heading east and Dana found her under the southeast wing of Times Square.  She left there and flew to Mercury after quite a while.

I got the approach,landing and the take off!

Again she went east somewhere that neither Dana or I could find her and after driving around looking and looking for Unity or Mr I found an empty spot on the Broad St. bridge and parked it. Dana didn’t have the same luck as she drove by 2 times and eventually called it quits for the day. Joyce and Brian stopped by on their way back from their little jaunt for a few more minutes. They were successful in finding the eagle pair but not the owls although they did see some ducks to add to the 2012 bird list. We all ended up down in the parking lot by Aqueduct street when Unity came in and landed on the main cam. They left and Unity walked down the cam and hopped off. That was the last I saw of her as I had to get the van back to my friend Tesa thus ending my watch. It surely was great having my freedom again by having a vehicle at my disposal. I’ve missed going downtown in the early morning hours before it gets too busy. In the last few days I have done a whole lot of smiling thanks to good friends! 🙂

Check out my album for many more pics of the day.

http://pix.kg/p/829792894213%3A1909162111/scl

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

When I first arrived downtown somewhere between 6:30 and 7:00am I received a text from Donna that Unity had visited the nest box around 6:10am. So she had snuck in before ol’ MAK got there! Must have been the strong winds that blew her in! lol About an hour into my watch LarryO and his faithful canine Cleo joined me on the Broad St. bridge. He spotted a falcon flying in from the east and right to the nest box. It was at this time Donna reported that both Unity and the Mr were at the nest box and possibly bowing was involved. Larry and I looked at each other like huh we only saw one go up there. Oh well you can’t win them all! Larry saw one leave and disappear behind the Times Square building so he left to go find it while I remained. Unity showed herself next to the main cam.

Larry returned and stood by me as I was in the van and we both managed to miss Unity leave. She probably caught a tail wind and poof she was gone! The wind kept trying to blow Larry down the street, I think he actually grabbed hold of my door a couple times. He finally had enough and decided to go. I can’t remember the last time I saw him but he’s looking healthy. As i was waiting for a falcon or two to show up I took pics of first some crows and then some pigeons on the roof of the Blue Cross Arena. You’ll find them in my album at the end of this report. KathyO came along a little over an hour later.  We took a ride to see what we could see and when we returned there was nowhere to park so we went up on the roof of the South Ave. garage. Nearly 3 hours since Unity had left the nest box area she returned to it landing on the main cam.

Kathy wanted to get going so I dropped her off at her car took a quick run around the city stopping at high falls before going home to get something to eat. As I was just getting ready to go back downtown I got a text from Donna that a falcon was on the nest ledge but when I got there it was gone. With nowhere to park because of high school basketball taking place at the Blue Cross Arena I was forced to go down in the hole (my name for Aqueduct St.) because you’re surrounded by buildings. Your view is very limited there but at this particular time it worked out well for I spotted Unity up on the southeast corner of the Wilder building and she had prey. Feathers were flying but they weren’t coming down rather they were wind blown up and out probably landing in the next county or maybe even Emerald City along with Toto too! lol

She was having some difficulty holding on to the prey without getting blown off that corner so I shot a video to show her struggle. Every once in a while she would whine and I thought that perhaps Mr was near by where I couldn’t see him. This gorgeous girl eventually quit eating and flew off with her stash. After she cached it somewhere she  showed up at the nest box as reported by Donna.

Suddenly I saw a falcon flying above the Times Square building and then it was joined by another and so I assumed it was Unity and the Mr. Donna texted me that Unity was still in the nest area. My first thought was Archer has returned and when I lost sight of them behind buildings I panicked not knowing if I was going to find them fighting when I surfaced from the hole. As I was walking around down there looking for them I decided that was it I had to get out to where I could see more. With no where to park I decided to return to the South Ave. garage where I had a good view of the downtown sky and tops of buildings. Having arrived on top I got a text from Donna saying that she thought the timing of the still cam and my tweet that I saw 2 flying was off a bit and that it was probably Unity flying with him after all. By this time I was shaking and wanting to be sure there wasn’t a 3rd pefa. I soon spotted Mr on the 2nd ibeam of OCSR southeast side. And then I noticed a falcon flying up to the nest box. It turned out to be Unity and I wasn’t seeing any other falcons. Phew the crisis was over!

Mr flew over and joined Unity landing next to cam 4 I was told there was echupping and then he left never to be seen again. I remained on top of the garage until just before dusk watching Unity sitting on the nest box ledge looking quite dominant having taken over this place where Beauty and Archer had brought up Callidora and Jemison. I couldn’t help but wonder what the near future holds for our Rochester falcons as Unity flew off to the northeast and out of sight. This would end my watch for today. I pray for a happy outcome that we can all smile about! 🙂

Please click on the links below for video and more pics from the days events.

http://pix.kg/p/376870794213%3A1352252742/scl

http://youtu.be/xSPK7YP8ma8