By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It was still a bit dark out when I spotted a falcon on the southwest corner of the HSBC building. I wasn’t quite sure who it was until it got a bit brighter out. My pics are grainy because of distance and darkness but I could see who it was thanks to my trusty binocs…BEAUTY!

Parked on the street that leads into the Strong Museum of Play I had to drive to a location where I could see the front of her to be positive and just before I drove off I could barely see a dark image hanging off the east side of the building.

Parked in front of the post office as is my usual place I saw the moon and I could see that it was Archer up there on the east side of HSBC because I spotted the white feather on his right wing with my binocs .

He flew over to the northwest corner landing on the railing and I had to move again where I could view him and see Beauty too.

I parked across from the Columbus building just down from the Hotel Cadillac where I had gone another time. I clicked off a couple pics and then a guy in an SUV stopped next to me and said I couldn’t park there cuz I was blocking the entrance to the side street. I said no I’m not and he said you’re in front of the parking garage entrance and I’m one of the construction workers and if we need to move equipment through here you are in the way. I said I am not blocking the side street and the garage isn’t being used anymore so how is that a problem besides I can move if need be? He said I can have you ticketed so I gave up and left. But before I did I looked up at HSBC to see that both Beauty and Archer had left. I said thanks a bunch and went searching for them. I spent over an hour looking around the city with no luck. I checked out the river while parked on the Broad St. bridge and took a video of one of the Great Egrets fishing again so that link will be at the end of this report. As I sat there watching and waiting for a falcon to show up I took pics of the fading moon behind the Times Square building and Buddy the gull was in on it too!

Have a great day everyone and keep smiling!  🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knj1RIQLmXQ

From Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Well, I’m as certain as I can be that I saw all four Rochester Falcons this evening. At 6:30 pm, dark clouds were approaching from the west. I knew I probably didn’t have much time before it started to rain. My first stop was Kodak Park. Just as I arrived, I saw a falcon flying in from the northeast and landing on top of the tall still. I looked around for another falcon with no luck. It was time to head downtown.

After searching for awhile, I found Beauty on top of the HSBC building, southeast corner. Brian had reported seeing her flying over that area earlier today in the high winds. I let him know she was there and moved on. He texted me to verify that he could see her from his apartment. Cool!

I can’t be 100% sure, but I believe it was Archer that I found on the top I-beam of the north side of OCSR. Now it was raining quite heavily. Time for me to move on. Back to KP.

It was still raining when I arrived back at Kodak Park and I was already losing light. No way my poor old Kodak camera would get any decent pics, so I didn’t even bother. 🙂

I easily found a falcon I believe was Unity sitting in the nook above the scrape on the blue building and another falcon deep in the shadow of the chnook. Was this our Mr C? Both had found shelter from the rain. Smart Pefas. 🙂

After watching them for about 15 mins, I decided to head home, statisfied that I had (I believe) seen all 4 Rochester Falcons.

Hopefully, soon, we’ll get a better idea who our mystery Tiercel is.

Goodnite everyone! Sweet dreams!

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It’s another gorgeous day in Rochester, sunny with gentle breezes but I fear the winds of change are coming soon. I had to search around this morning to find a falcon and when I did I wasn’t quite sure who it was. From the Andrews St. bridge which is a good distance I saw a falcon on the top ibeam of the OCSR at the north corner. I zoomed the pic on my camera but it wasn’t very clear. I tweeted that it looked like Archer only because I could see white on the right wing but the legs looked too long to me, so it may have been the mystery falcon.

It left before I could get any other pics and it was 45 minutes before my next sighting.  As I drove around and around the city I started to get a bit anxious for I hadn’t seen  Beauty  since Sunday and with this mystery falcon around I worried they may have battled. Just as my fears reached their peak I saw her on the FCT perched on her favorite spot under the platform.

She was a Beautyful sight to behold in the bright sunshine! I spent 45 minutes with her as she picked and preened to make herself flight ready.

And then she flew off to the north. I watched her through my binoculars as she went up to the southwest corner of the launchpad on the Kodak tower. She landed,  snuck behind the rocket and out from the other side popped what I believe was a pigeon. She chased behind it flying fast to the west until the church on Fitzhugh St. blocked my view of her.

I waited a few minutes for her to return and then I went searching. Of course in true Beauty fashion she did double back to the same spot on the FCT as I drove around looking for her!

The last pic of her before I left for home.

Since the cameras have been down for a couple days now I took a few pics of the Beautyful one so everyone can get their falcon fix. The link to my album is at the bottom of this report. Have a great day and keep smiling !  🙂

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=605762513213%3A894694504&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharer-_-Top

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I was hard pressed to find a falcon this morning. While parked on the Broad St. bridge I took a good look at the jail tower with my trusty binocs and I could just barely make out the top half of a falcon.

I drove over to Troup St. to get a closer look so I could ID it but when I arrived it was gone. One and a half hours later as I pulled up on to the Andrews St. bridge I spotted a falcon on the 2nd ibeam of the OCSR building on the north side.

I clicked off one pic and then I saw flashing lights behind me. An officer got out of his SUV and walked up to the truck. I thought to myself what’s this about I know he doesn’t have the lights on just to give me a parking ticket. (You have to pay for parking after 8:00am and it was 8:20am) I asked what the problem was as he stood outside my window. He said I’m not a city cop I’m from Homeland Security and I saw you parked here last week pointing your camera at the Federal building. He went on to say that I had left before he could get down here to check me out. I told him I was taking pics of falcons,etc and showed him the pic I had just taken, He said you have to understand with 9-11 yesterday and all they can’t have people taking pics of the federal building. I assured him I did not take any pics of the federal building and that I understood completely. I then thanked him for keeping us safe and offered him one of the business cards for rfalconcam that Joyce made up and gave me to handout to people. He took it and gave me his card, He left and I drove over to Bragdon St. next to the Radisson Hotel to get a closer view of this falcon. It didn’t look like Beauty or Archer to me. I thought it looked alot like the one that was with Beauty last week hanging around Xerox. The sun was shining bright on the building and I couldn’t get a good shot of it before it flew off. Right now with migrating falcons coming through the area and our Rochester falcons having no distinct routine, it makes our job as watchers challenging to say the least. I didn’t have any more sightings before I had to end my watch. Until next time keep smiling and have a great day! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I dedicate this watch report to the victims,their families and the rescuers of 9-11.

I am a bit scattered this morning for many reasons but I do know I saw falcons on my watch. It took 40 minutes to finally spot Beauty flying up to the nestbox. Donna texted me to say that they were both up there(Thank you D). I went to Aqueduct St. and watched first Archer fly out followed by Beauty. They both flew north so I drove over to the FCT where I found one of them on the second arm east side.

This is where my eyes and brain played tricks with me. At first it looked like Archer then it looked like Beauty but when it flew off it looked like Archer again. I’m so confused! lol It walked to the inside of the arm to perch and this is when it looked like the Beautyful one to me. You be the judge!

Soon after it flew off  and as I drove down Fitzhugh St. I watched it chasing a crow in between buildings really fast over top of me and then down Main St. the crow squawking the whole time. It was fantastic to see. I lost them behind buildings and then I spotted someone on Widows Walk. Maybe Beauty,maybe Archer…your guess is as good as mine on this day!

So there you have it folks! I know I could have done a better job on this report but I am pressed for time and my head just isn’t with it today! Keep smiling  and NEVER FORGET!

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It was a foggy drive  this morning and as I drove down 490 the city skyline had a very cool yet eerie look to it. As I drove through the Times Square area I saw no falcons around and so I proceeded to go to the east side of our fair city. While I was over there Donna texted me that Beauty had been to the nestbox. Of course she snuck in behind my back cuz that’s what she likes to do to me! lol When I got to the Broad St. bridge I could see 2 distinct bumps on the jail tower so I drove on to find a closer view of the front of them. Archer was on the top arm and Beauty the 3rd arm below him both on the east side of the structure.

click on pics for large view

One thing I have observed over time is that Archer is always above her on structures and usually to the left of her when they are side by side on buildings. I don’t know if this is falcon behavior or just their thing. Anyway, Archer looked down at her and Beauty looked up at him several times while I watched our downtown Peregrine pair.

Another observation is that almost every time Archer flies off first  and she follows after him. After an hour they left in that very fashion and I found them over on the OCSR building. The Beautyful one was on the west corner top ibeam and I caught a quick glimpse of  him on the south corner top ibeam before he flew over to Mercury landing on the base. It appeared he had a small cache of food with him.

Beauty started to whine and suddenly she was off heading straight for Archer and his little tidbit. He beat feet out of there leaving it behind for her and she settled on the base picking at his leftovers. Whenever Beauty flies toward Archer he takes off quickly almost like he’s afraid of her, it’s very funny to see. Archer flew over to the south corner  top ibeam of OCSR to watch his mate.

From here they flew together over to the jail tower. Archer landing on the top arm east side as Beauty perched on the north side down lower than him on the frame of the structure.

This is where I left them basking in the sun that has made a return to these parts after several gloomy days!  For more pics of my watch click on the link below and have a great day !  🙂

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=216886213213%3A346078410&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharer-_-Top

From Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Interesting happenings here in Rochester. Today we had 4 Peregrines visiting our fair city. This morning I had Archer and Unity at KP along with a mystery Tiercel that was hunkered down inside what we are calling the Chnook, which is a small nook underneath the chute leading up to the “Pigeon Box”. I had to get to work, so I couldn’t wait to see if anything would happen.

After work I arrived at KP around 5:30 pm, to find Dana on Watch. There were two Falcons on the stills and I was able to positively ID them as Unity & Archer using the scope.

MAK & Joyce were downtown and they reported seeing two Falcons there. Beauty and our mystery Tiercel. So he was visiting both nest sites. Interesting.

Dana and I stayed at KP and MAK & Joyce remained downtown. After awhile, first Archer and then Unity took off, both heading towards downtown. I quickly sent out a tweet to warn the girls downtown. Dana and I decided to go downtown. On our way, we received a tweet from MAK & Joyce that Beauty and Mr C (just a nickname for now because he likes to sit in the Chnook) had taken off. OK, now we were down to no Falcons!

Everyone was looking. Kathy tweeted from KP that she and Dan were there and no Falcons in sight, only a Red-tail Hawk.

Finally, we found two Falcons on the jail tower. At first we only saw one, but I soon saw a 2nd lower in the framework. I yelled out that there were two. J&M already knew. I started to get my scope out and Joyce told me she had seen a white feather, so I packed the scope away. It was Beauty & Archer. Where was Unity and Mr C.

I told MAK & Joyce I’d be heading back to KP for a look and said goodbye. It was getting dark and I was surprised to see that M&J had arrived before me.  They tweeted that there was a Falcon in the Chnook.  Where was #2?

So, who is our mystery Tiercel? Where did he come from? Will he be one of our own, or from another place? Only time will tell, but we will make every effort to ID our new Tiercel.

Keep your eyes to the sky! You never know what you might see!

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Let me begin by saying we have a mystery falcon at KP. Judging by size it is a male which we have named Mr C because it was in the ChNook this morning. And  it has possibly been at KP for awhile since the watchers have been seeing one in the chnook for the past 2 weeks or so. In my report yesterday morning I included pics from Tuesday night when I was out with Joyce of a falcon we thought was Archer under the pigeon box. Eileen(dumpsterkitty) didn’t think it looked like Archer and neither did Donna. So perhaps it was Mr C under the pigeon box on Tuesday.

My report today begins downtown where I saw Beauty on the 2nd arm of the jail tower on the east (river)side.

I was parked on Troup St. when the tweet came in from CarolP that she thought there might be 3 falcons at KP. She had to go to work so I sped over to KP to investigate. Sure enough when I arrived I had Archer on the tall still north side catwalk 2nd one down, Unity on the west corner of the blue building and Mr C in the chnook. So indeed we had 4 falcons in Rochester this morning!

Unity flew off and went to the scrape and Archer flew to the black strip by the nook just above the scrape. Mr. C  staying put in the chnook.

Unity went to the back of the scrape and was either digging around or had prey, I couldn’t tell for sure and she looked up at Archer now and again.

Unity flew to the tall still landing on the north side catwalk 2nd one down where Archer had been earlier. Soon after that Archer went after a pigeon right in front of Mr C who was still in the chnook. My heart raced at first for I thought it was Mr C that Archer was going after until I realized it was a pigeon. It’s very hard for one person to keep track of 3 falcons don’t ya know! Archer then flew up to the west corner of the blue building. Unity had flown off the tall still when I wasn’t looking and then Mr C departed while I was looking for Unity. Meanwhile, Archer was preening himself seemingly unaware of the fact that another male had left the chnook.  Unfortunately I had to get the truck home and  end my watch at this point.

I spoke to KathyO when I got home who reported to me that on her way to work she stopped at KP and saw 1 falcon on the tall still and 1 on the blue building. She also called a friend of hers who is one of the security guards at KP and asked that he report to her any fights or falcons down on the ground should anyone notice.

I have  an album from my watch at the link below. Keep your eyes to the sky and keep smiling everyone! 🙂

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=328260213213%3A712677343&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharer-_-Top

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

This is one of the darkest mornings ever! Very poor conditions for picture taking so bare with me. I found Beauty on the HSBC building after checking around the Broad St. bridge area on my way over to the east side. She was on the south side with her back to me. Within 30 seconds she flew off heading west toward the river and I followed suit. As I pulled over on the Broad St. bridge I spotted a falcon on the OCSR building top ibeam at the west corner. I then drove down to Aqueduct St. to get a closer look. It was Archer.

Now the question was where did the Beautyful one go off to. I went over and parked on Broad St. next to the Blue Cross arena and couldn’t see the nestbox area from that vantage point. 15 minutes later Archer flew off to the northwest. As I drove off to try to find him I got a text message from Donna saying that Beauty had been up in the nestbox as I sat down below without a clue!  After searching for about 25 minutes I saw Beauty on the 2nd ibeam west side corner of the OCSR building.

She appeared to have a full crop and after a few moments she walked to her right a foot or two and remained there for the rest of my watch. I think it’s odd that Archer didn’t go join her when she was at the nestbox.

I have a few pics to share with you from last nights outing with Joyce. We stopped to check out KP where we found Archer under the pigeon box and Unity on the tall still.

So there you have it folks some  bonus pics of Unity. Make sure to smile often today it will help to brighten the day!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Wow was traffic ever heavy on 490 this morning going downtown! School buses in all 3 lanes making for a difficult time getting into the lane I needed to get to. Then after no sightings in the Times Square/Broad St. area I drove over to the east side where I was met with road crews at every turn!!! Ok, enough complaining…I found Beauty on the south side of HSBC and all was right with the world again! lol She took off before I could get settled anywhere and while I was in transit through the maze of road work she went straight over to the nestbox and met up with Archer as reported to me by Donna. By the time I got over there the party was over. Beauty was nowhere to be found and Archer was on the base of Mercury. Before I could get a pic he flew up to the head touched down and then was off going into a stoop on the other side of the Thompson Reuters building where I lost sight of him. The elusive one ended up on the OCSR building 2nd ibeam down at the south corner. Finally I had a minute to catch my breath and take a pic.

It was a short break of 5 minutes or so and then Archer took off again heading southwest which said to me he’s going to the jail tower. WRONG! I checked there and the FCT and the Kodak tower and the north side of OCSR to no avail. I then went to  the Broad St. bridge and got out to look for the Great Egrets I had seen in the river over the weekend. There was one down there sooo… at the end of my report you will find the link for a video I taped of it fishing! After I finished up with that I drove reluctantly to the east side where all the road work is being done and found Archer on the southside of the HSBC building with Beauty perched at the southeast corner about 20 ft. away from each other.

You must click on the middle pic to see both Beauty and Archer.

The next pics are all Archer. Beauty had her back to me the whole time so…

I had 10 minutes to view them and then they flew off, Archer first, followed by the Beautyful one!

Click on pics for full view

I left the scene searching for them without any luck and called it a watch. Phew what a rush todays watch turned out to be and I loved every minute of it… well maybe not the traffic !  🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOdZbbJ5hyk