By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Just a quickie report on an evening watch with Joyce. We found Beauty on the south side of HSBC.

A couple minutes later Archer came flying  in from the west above Beauty and us going southbound. Beauty was echupping as he passed through then she took off in the direction of the river. We found them both on the jail tower.

Beauty on the left and Archer top right. We decided to go over to KP to see if we could get the trifecta. CarolP was there when we arrived and we all watched Unity as she sat perched on a communications tower on the south side of Ridgeway Ave.

She’s a pretty Peregrine and tho the lighting  conditions were far from ideal I took a bunch of pics just cuz I don’t get over to see her as much as I would like to. Unity flew off over to the power plant to roost under the slanted chute by the top of the pigeon box tucked in away from the rain that was falling. We all said our goodbyes and wrapped it up for the night. 🙂

Here’s the link for my album from the night. Enjoy!

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By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Happy Labor Day to all! It is a very dark and gloomy day in the flower city and when you’re looking for falcons without any success it just seems that much worse. But when you do finally make that discovery it brightens things up ALOT!  After several trips around the city I opted to check out the river to occupy my time until Beauty decided to show herself. She hasn’t played hide and seek with me in awhile. lol To my surprise there were 2 Great Egrets fishing on the rocks between the Broad and Court St. bridges.

Click on pics for a larger view.

Finally an hour into my watch as I was walking back to the truck I noticed a falcon on the ledge right above the nestbox and snapped off this pic before going to a location with a better view.

Parking next to the Times Square building I had a better angle and could ID it as the Beautyful one!

She was off  and flying before I knew it and I had to wait another 30 minutes before I was able to find her again. Beauty was perched on the FCT northeast corner of the platform railing.

I really didn’t feel like watching her back so I drove around behind the church and parked in the Open Door Mission parking lot.

She preened a little, watched some birds down below in a tree and spread out her wings to catch her balance at one point. For 20 minutes I shared her space and then she was off flying fast to the north. I thought she was going over to the Kodak tower when she suddenly went into a stoop and vanished.

I gave it another go around without any more sightings and called it a watch. Below is the link to a small album of the Great Egrets I saw in the river, Enjoy!  🙂

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By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Having checked the radar map before leaving home this morning it showed rain and t-storms just about to reach  Rochester. As I approached downtown it started to rain ever so slightly. I found Beauty on the east side of HSBC.

She flew off after about 10 minutes and I waited for her to return. When she didn’t I left to look for her over on the Broad St. bridge. Having not found her after 25 minutes I ventured back to the east side of town to find her once again on the east side of HSBC. On my way there I took pics of yet another brilliant sunrise.

Beauty stayed there this time for about half an hour as the wind and rain picked up. She stooped on some pigeons around to the north side of the building and vanished. I found her at the nestbox perched beside the main cam.

The Beautyful one flew off and returned immediately and was facing me for a change. Then she went in the nestbox and came back out to her spot by the main cam again.

Soon after she went in the scrape and I lost track of her for CarolP arrived to join me on the Broad St. bridge and we got to chatting. We falcon watchers are a chatty bunch! As I was getting ready to call it a watch and go home Dana came along. I left her and Carol to watch over things. I hope everyone is enjoying the Labor Day holiday weekend! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

As I was saying in yesterdays report I get some great sunrises when I go downtown in the morning and today was no exception. Driving eastbound on the Broad St. bridge peering in between Bausch & Lomb on the right and the south ave. garage on the left is a gorgeous sun bursting through!

What a way to start the day! I found Beauty at the nestbox  and Archer was on the base of Mercury.

Donna  let me know that both Beauty and Archer had been at the nestbox before I arrived on the bridge.  Beauty suddenly flew off after a crow with Archer right behind her. The crow landed down in the small well where I couldn’t see it but our fabulous falcon duo did and promptly sent it packing!  She returned and landed on top of the main cam before they both disappeared. Some 35 minutes later Beauty was on Widows Walk as reported by Carol. I drove over and met her in the parking lot right next to the Times Square building and we shared space with the Beautyful one for about an hour.

Beauty primped and preened picking feather after feather out of her gorgeous self while Carol and I chit chatted. I had mentioned that I was going to the drum and bugle corps finals tomorrow and then she mentioned being in the Blue Angels drum and bugle corps when she was a kid. Well what a small world…so was I, and we were probably marching with each other and can’t remember! lol  Anyway back to the watch, Beauty eventually took off heading toward the FCT. She probably saw Archer.

Both Carol and I drove over to city hall but no falcons were present and so I decided to go home and said goodbye to Carol. On my way before I left the downtown area Donna texted me that Beauty had gone over to the nestbox so I pulled over and tweeted it out to let Carol know where to look. She found both Beauty and Archer on OCSR. Have a great day,stay cool and keep smiling!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

As I drove down 490 on my way downtown today the air was quite thick casting a haze over the city. I get many different views of  Rochester commuting for my morning watches. My favorites are those that the sun creates rising from the horizon behind the buildings. Sorry I do go off subject easily don’t I? lol  This is after all, a falcon watch report…I found Beauty on the northeast corner of HSBC just like yesterday. I was parked in front of the post office on Court St. and she had her back to me and it looked like she was eating something.

I was pretty sure it was her but I thought I better drive to a place where I could see the front of her to ID. I parked at Chestnut and Elm streets across from the Columbus building and just up from the Cadillac Hotel.

It must have been a small piece of cached food  she had just finished for I saw no evidence of any food and she had a full crop when I got there. A flock of pigeons flew directly under the Beautyful one and I thought you guys are lucky she has already eaten and then shortly thereafter she flew off heading west in the general direction of the river.

After a 10 minute drive around the usual spots I found Beauty on the top arm of the jail tower west side.

I shared space with her for the next hour parked on Troup St. across from the jail with 490 below to my left. At one point she spread her wings out and I thought she might take off but instead she walked over closer to the outside of the arm she was perched on.

I don’t know where Archer was this morning, Carol didn’t see him at KP either.  Perhaps he went on a day trip getting ready for migration soon. Until next time keep your eyes to the sky and smile! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I was awakened by the crash of thunder and the flash of lightening this morning. When I got downtown the rain was starting to let up and it was still pretty dark out. I found a falcon over on the northeast corner of HSBC but couldn’t ID it because it flew off seconds after I spotted it. I assumed it was Beauty. It was 20 minutes before I had another sighting having parked on the Andrews St. bridge. This time I was sure it was Beauty up on the top ibeam north corner of the OCSR building. She stayed there only a couple minutes before taking off when I wasn’t looking.

As I was about to pull away from the curb I spotted a falcon on the top arm of the Frontier Communications Tower. When I got over to city hall I saw that both Beauty and Archer were on the tower. She was on the 2nd arm down and he was directly above her on the top arm west side.

Click on the pic to see them

5 minutes later they both flew off, Archer first, then Beauty followed him going in the direction of  the Times Square building. I thought for sure they were going to the nestbox but they fooled me and went to the jail tower instead.

I spotted them some 15 minutes later from the Broad St. bridge over there and then drove to Troup St. for a closer and more personal viewing. You will have to go to my album on the link at the end of this report to view them together on the tower from that side  as the file is too big to include here. Here they are individually.

For the most part they ignored each other and preened and just looked around until Beauty took off quickly going after a pigeon,missing it and returned to the same spot again. Meanwhile, Archer watched the whole thing quite intently. I’m sure he was thinking…ahhh breakfast with no effort involved! lol

Again, click on the pic to see them.

20 minutes later they both flew off the jail tower with Archer leading the way. The Beautyful one returned landing on the 2nd arm down west side while Archer never did come back.

As time was winding down for my watch Beauty flew off when I wasn’t looking.  I waited to no avail for her to come back, so I went home for the day. For a few more pics go to the link below and I’ll catch ya later! 🙂

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By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Ahh you never know what the day will bring! As I approached Plymouth Ave. off the ramp from 490 this morning I put down the drivers’ side window to check the FCT before going over to the Broad St. bridge. When I tried to put it back up it needed assistance by me pulling on it while pushing the button. Hmm I thought, what’s that all about? I continued on and parked on the bridge when I saw Archer up on the base of Mercury.

A few minutes later he flew off  and returned to  the same spot briefly and then half flew,half walked over in front of  Mercurys foot.

Archer then flew over to the jail tower landing on the top arm southeast side and quickly left there. It was at this time that I understood the trouble with the window…I tried to start the truck to go follow Archer and it wouldn’t fire up! Oh boy, thank goodness I have AAA! The last time it wouldn’t start I was on the Andrews St. bridge…what is it about bridges? Anyway I called and within 30 minutes someone was there checking it out. DEAD battery! And he could replace it on the spot! PERFECT!!! These days if you have a cell phone and a credit card you are golden! So as he switched out the batteries Debbie H stopped to say hi and when he was done I drove over to FCT to find the Beautyful one on her favorite perch under the platform.

Good lighting but bad angle so I drove to the city hall parking lot where I got a back view of her.

Not liking this either I went over to Plymouth Ave. parking across the street from the Open Door Mission for a better view but having lousy light.

Of course those of you who read my reports know that I will post just about ANY pic! lol  I soon had to depart and even though I had the little problem with the truck I still enjoyed seeing our fabulous Rochester Falcons. Enjoy your day and keep smiling! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I got a bit of a late start this morning as I discovered I forgot my phone as I drove down the Broad St. bridge. After taking a quick look around I went home and retrieved it, returning to find no falcons for quite a while. Finally at about 6:35am I spotted Beauty on the east side railing of the FCT.

She flew off 5 minutes later heading west. I stayed for a few minutes to see if she would come back and then I went in search of! Some 25 minutes later as I was parked on the bridge I noticed pigeons scattering over the river and tried to decide if one of them was a falcon as they look very similar in the air sometimes. Sure enough the pigeons all disappeared and all that was left was a pefa flying over the bridge in front of me and then above the Blue Cross Arena and over to the nestbox. It landed next to the main cam and it looked like Beauty, before I could do anything she flew off again. Another 25 minutes passed before I noticed her up on the south side railing of the Crossroads building. She flew off to the north as I got one shot of her as she left.

DebbieH came by again on her way to work and stopped briefly to say hi. 15 minutes later I caught up with the Beautyful one on her favorite perch under the platform of the Frontier Communication Tower.

For that first pic I was parked on Fitzhugh St. in front of the sister cities parking garage  and then I went down to the city hall parking lot. At one point the Beautyful one flew off real fast and I thought she was going to the Times Square building so I drove over there. It was a bad decision for 20 minutes later I found her right back in the same spot as before on the FCT! Who knew falcons like to play cat and mouse games!?! lol

I sat there sharing space with Beauty for a few more minutes, thoroughly enjoying the time spent with her.

It was time to leave for a doctor appointment thus ending this falcon watchers wonderfully sunny morning watch! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It was nice to go downtown this morning and not feel pressed for time as I have been for the last couple months during the work week. It was actually a little light out when I arrived on the Broad St. bridge. Having found no falcons in the area I continued on to the east side spotting Beauty up on the southeast corner of the HSBC building.

She promptly left after I snapped a pic and I assume went straight over to the Times Square building where she met up with Archer at the nestbox. This I found out an hour later when Donna texted me that they were both in there around 6:30am. It took me some time to get over there due to traffic and road crews and when I arrived they had both left. I found Archer up on the fire escape ladder of the Wilder building(one of his favorite perching spots).

He wasn’t there for long and I had to go on the hunt for him finding the little guy some 20 minutes later on the top ibeam northwest side of the OCSR building.

Parked on the Andrews St. bridge I watched him basking in the glorious sunshine coming up from the eastern sky. It was a chilly morning as the temperature was only 49 degrees when I left the house. Fall is definitely in the air. Archer flew off after 10 minutes and I went searching for the Beautyful one and him. I ended up on the Broad St. bridge and while I waited for a pefa to show up I watched the resident Great Blue Heron  make it’s way from under the Court St. bridge out over the flats and into the water.

I got back into the truck and as I was daydreaming I could feel someone looking at me. As I turned to the passenger side of the truck there was fellow falcon watcher DebbieH! We gave each other a hug and chit chatted to get caught up on things for we hadn’t seen each other since June! After she left I took a quick ride around town without any more sightings of Beauty or Archer. Have a great day everyone and keep smiling! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

After making the usual rounds I ended up on the Broad St. bridge. I had my first sighting at about 6:20am when I spotted a falcon on the roof of the OCSR building.

I’m not sure who it was but while I drove down to Aqueduct St. for a better view it flew off. Then I saw Archer on the top ibeam southwest side of the OCSR building as Beauty flew through from the west right in front of me past Archer and out over the river out of view. She was whining  as she went by. 5 minutes later she  landed on the green strip of the Wilder building kakking and then Archer flew over and landed on the Wilder fire escape ladder.

Click on this pic to see Beauty and Archer

Archer flew to the west end of the green strip and landed briefly before flying over to and landing closer to the Beautyful one about 5-6ft. away on the green strip.

Again click on pic to view them

She appeared to be plucking feathers out of her chest but it became apparent that she had prey that she was preparing and trying to hide from Archer. She was whining and he was echupping! Beauty suddenly flew off with her catch in her talons and Archer followed right behind. I found them some minutes later over on the FCT. She was on the platform eating and he was close by  watching her intently. He flew off and circled a couple times coming to land on the bottom arm of the tower and then flew down to the platform railing above her.

Beauty had her share and flew off while Archer moved in to eat what was left. She came back and landed a foot or two away from him on the platform and as he ate she watched. Beauty then left the tower flying southeast. Archer followed suit after finishing his snack a few minutes later and I was unable to locate either one again thus ending my watch. For a few extra pics I have included the link of an album and video for your viewing pleasure  at the bottom of this report.

Again I would like to extend my wish for everyone affected by hurricane Irene a safe and mostly uneventful passage. I hope I have given you a small distraction from your plight today. Stay safe and keep smiling!  🙂

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