By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Well folks we may have a new routine as this morning when I arrived downtown there was a falcon on the base of Mercury just like yesterday. Only it was Beauty yesterday and today it was Archer.

He preened for a bit and then flew over to the nestbox landing next to the main cam.

Soon after he flew out going back over to the base of Mercury as Beauty took his place next to the main cam.

The Beautyful one had alot to say to him this morning as she had her back to him at first and then turned around to face him as he sat perched across the way on Mercury. He was pretty much ignoring her as he preened and she whined. He must have decided he’d heard enough and flew over to join her in the nestbox. Having received a text from CarolP that I should join her,Dana and Lou out in Hilton to check out an Osprey nest I jumped at the opportunity and left downtown for a new kind of watch.  Dana and Lou discovered this Osprey family a few days ago according to CarolP. There are 3 juvies and they have all fledged. The last one fledged last night and they were there to witness it. Here is a sample of the pics I got at the Osprey nest site. Remember to click on the pics for a larger view.

I also shot a video of them but it was of poor quality(I really need to practice) however you can hear them vocalizing so I uploaded it anyway and here is the link for that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b0cDycwMoo

One  pic of an adult Osprey flying off to grab breakfast for the youngins and I think a juvie poking its head up out of the nest.

That’s all folks! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Well imagine that! I arrived on the Broad St. bridge expecting to have to drive right through to the east side to make my usual rounds looking for a Rochester Peregrine Falcons and as I glanced up at Mercury there she was in all her glory…the Beautyful one!  Sitting perched on the base and in hunting mode with darkness all around us I made my u-turn and parked it!

In between looking around at which prey item she wanted for breakfast she preened and rousted(shaking her body).

Ahh, it was just like old times watching her up there on Mercury. It’s been a while since I hung out with her here. With every turn of her  head I thought she might stoop on the pigeons that were just starting to stir below her coming out of their overnight roosting spot across the river under the Convention Center.

And then after about 30 minutes she dropped off into a stoop over the river. Missing her mark she flew up crossing over the bridge ahead of me and buzzed around above the Blue Cross Arena a bit before heading out to the Cornhill area stirring up the pigeons that reside over there.

It was time for me to beat feet home so I tweeted that she had gone out of my view and just before I sent it out I looked up at the nestbox just as she arrived.

Landing next to the main cam I quickly shot off a couple pics tweeted it out after changing the message and sped out of there for home.  As I approached Plymouth Ave. driving westbound down Broad St. I spotted the wing flapping of a small falcon headed south toward the jail tower. I do believe it was Archer saying good bye to me as I passed through. What a great parting gift for this Rochester falcon watcher! Keep your eyes to the sky cuz ya just never know what might be passing overhead!!!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Talk about just in the nick of time! Not only did I have to wait ’til the last minute for a sighting but I don’t even think it was Beauty now.  I do believe  Beauty and Archer have changed their game plan as far as old MAK is concerned. They must know I am crunched for time these days so instead of playing hide and seek they are just trying to tease me with a brief appearance and then “poof” all gone, bye-bye!! lol  After driving around the city a few times with no luck finding a falcon( and  no doubt making people waiting for a bus think I’m stalking them by driving by so many times teehee)I parked it on Fitzhugh St. and waited for Beauty and/or Archer to arrive on the FCT. As the clock ticked away every large bird that flew into view was checked out and then as I was about to get ready to leave I saw the familiar wing flap of a Peregrine Falcon! Yay with no time to spare it landed on the top arm west side of the FCT. I quick took a couple pics as I saw that it was looking down and in hunt mode. I tweeted that it was Beauty but after looking at my pics on the computer screen I believe it was Archer. He took off fast in a half stoop and that was that. This all took place in less than a minute! PHEW what a rush! So here are the 2 pics I got and you can be the judge of who it was up there.

Isn’t it amazing how I can say so much about so little!?! lol Have a great day everybody and remember to smile often cuz it makes people wonder what you’re up to!!!   🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

20 minutes…that’s the amount of time I’ve spent with the Beautyful one in the last 3 days. I am very thankful for it and even though I don’t have much to report I do have a few pics to share. I left the house without my binoculars or my scope this morning (dummy) but I did have my camera so I wasn’t totally naked, so to speak. lol  After making the rounds in the dark which is how it is these days ’til just before 6:00am I parked  on the Broad St. bridge. I got antsy sitting there without my trusty binocs seeing as how everything is a bit of a distance away. So I decided to go over to my spot on Fitzhugh St. in front of the sister cities parking garage just down the street from city hall and wait to see if either Beauty or Archer would show themselves on FCT. As I crossed Main St. and the Frontier Communications tower came into view I spotted her right away. Beauty was under the platform on her favorite perching location on the tower.

Woohoo!!! I hadn’t seen her since Sunday and felt quite blessed to find her with only 20 minutes left before I had to head home. I don’t know what it’s like to watch falcons flying in the gorge at high falls like the other watchers so just to sit and watch one preening as Beauty was doing might seem boring to them but it’s what I am used to and it’s enough for me. In between picking and plucking at her feathers she would look to the north toward Kodak Park I assume for Archer.

I left downtown having gotten my falcon fix, smiling the whole way home! Gee did I say I didn’t have much to report? I do have the gift of gab when I am writing a report sometimes!! I hope everyone has a super day!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It was a dark morning and very humid as I arrived downtown.  Soon after  it started to rain lightly. Nearly 2 hours into my watch I finally spotted a falcon on the Frontier Communications Tower 2nd arm down on the west side.

It had stopped raining and so I got out my window mount for some photos. After zooming a couple pics I determined that it was Archer. His head was on a swivel as he was watching some birds in one of the trees below the tower. They were smart to stay put or else they would have been breakfast!

Made my neck hurt just watching him! Teehee  He stayed up there for about half hour before taking off flying to the south toward Times Square.

I waited to see if he would double back on me like he and Beauty love to do and when he didn’t I headed over to the Broad St. bridge. Checking the nestbox,Mercury,Wilder building,OCSR,jail tower and Widows Walk and finding nothing I took a tour of the city. Round and round I went without a glimpse of Archer or Beauty. The Beautyful one is being quite secretive lately. I hung out on the Broad St. and Andrews St. bridges for an hour or so before calling it quits. The sun came out as I was leaving our fair city for home. Until next time keep your eyes to the sky cuz that’s where the Peregrine Falcons are people!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Falcon games: rule #1 Don’t panic! After getting Carols’ tweet yesterday morning about the battling pefas I immediately went into nervous mode. Sue had already left for work and I was stuck at home with no wheels in which to go check on our Rochester falcons. I made some calls for a ride and got nowhere. I left a message with Dan explaining the situation. He didn’t respond until late afternoon saying that he had gone to KP and found no falcons there around noon-1:30pm. I had been checking the archives all day without seeing either Beauty or Archer visiting the nestbox. Dan didn’t check DT and so I started to get really unsettled. I had previous plans to go out last nite so I couldn’t go on a watch. Dan and Carol saw Unity at KP in the evening but no Archer and nobody went downtown to check on Beauty. I texted Donna around 8 or 9:00pm to have her check the archives and still at that time nobody had been to the nestbox. At 10:45pm on my way home I thought I saw a bump on the 5th column of Xerox(Beautys’ roosting spot at night). This made me feel a little better but I would truly be relieved in the morning when I could be sure I had seen the Beautyful one.

Fast-forward to daybreak. I searched downtown to no avail and after talking to Donna decided to go to Kodak Park to see if I could at least find Archer. If I could find him I’d know he was alright if  by chance he was involved in the battle high above KP as reported 24 hrs. ago by CarolP.  I spotted Unity on the north side of the tall still on the top catwalk.

Unity

Having not found Archer I left KP and drove back to downtown. I searched everywhere with no sightings of Beauty or Archer. The police had the perimeter around the FCT blocked off for a run or walk of some kind so I couldn’t get close to look up into the inner structure. I parked on the Andrews St. bridge and took some pics of the river that was drained quite a bit for what I assumed was some work being done down river just before the high falls. I then went to the Broad St. bridge and took more pics of the river. Starting to get a bit panicy for not having seen any falcons I drove over to the pedestrian bridge at high falls and took more falconless photos.

Truly I was sweating it at this point! I left there and headed back to KP after a quick sweep of the city. Upon my return I found Unity in the same spot as my previous visit but no Archer. Now I was in full panic mode! Where were Beauty and Archer? Were they alright or just hiding on me like they do. I made a decision to go home and have a fast breakfast and take my morning meds (as I’m sure my blood pressure was building) and go back to the downtown area. Just as I was starting to pull out of lot 77 at KP I noticed a falcon on the catwalk of the still to the east(right) side of the tall still. Was this Archer or had Unity moved over. I drove down to lower Weiland Road to where I could view the north side of the tall still and BINGO I could see her on the tall still and Archer on the east still. I breathed a sigh of relief tweeted it out and went home.

Archer

I returned downtown and searched the east side of the city and as I drove through the intersection of  Andrews St. and St. Paul Blvd. I saw a falcon on the 2nd arm of the Frontier Communications Tower. Goose bumps were now covering my body as I raced down to park on the bridge and get my binoculars fixed on it. Eureka,zowee,yipee,yahoo it was the Beautyful one!!!

Beauty

She was perched up there as if she didn’t have a care in the world (which she probably didn’t) for we humans are the ones that THINK too much! I tweeted the good news, sat there for a few minutes enjoying the view of our downtown female falcon and called it a watch!  WOOHOO!!!!  🙂

For my album of the day follow this link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=607535982213%3A946256901&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharer-_-Top

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I thought I’d combine my watches from yesterday and today. I haven’t seen too much action nor have I seen Archer but I have spent a little time with the Beautyful one. Yesterday after making my rounds looking for our fine feathered friends I parked on the Broad St. bridge. As I was watching the nestbox suddenly a falcon flew up and landed next to the main camera. I found out later that it was Beauty and she left soon after flying to the OCSR building. She preened and occasionally looked to the north I assume in anticipation of Archers’ arrival for their morning bonding ritual.

She stayed there for the remainder of my watch.

This morning after checking around town I parked on the Broad St. bridge waiting and watching for a falcon to show up with no success. My time was getting short so I decided to drive over to city hall and have a close look at the Frontier Communications tower. It turned out to be a good call for I found Beauty under the platform on the northeast side. The next 2 pics were taken from Fitzhugh St. in front of the sister cities parking garage.

I then drove over to the city hall parking lot and spent the rest of my watch with Beauty until I had to leave for home.

TGIF for tomorrow and Sunday I  can stay out longer and hopefully have some more action to report. Have a great day everyone! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Well folks I thought I’d fool Beauty and Archer this morning by getting downtown earlier at 5:15am so I could catch them up in the nestbox. WRONG! I swear they are messing with me cuz they were later than usual to show up in there.

Anyway, here is the scoop. ‘Twas very dark this morning because of cloud cover from some rain coming into our area. I drove around checking all the usual spots without finding a falcon and so I just parked it on the Broad St. bridge. Finally about 5:50am a falcon appeared on the base of Mercury. Being so dark out with the street lights still on and showing only it’s back I wasn’t sure who it was.

Just before it took off it turned and then I knew it was the Beautyful one!

I didn’t see where she went so I took off to check the FCT because that has been the routine lately. As per usual she and Archer met in the nestbox while I was gone as reported to me by Donna.  I was on my way back to the Times Square area when I got her tweet and as I drove through the intersection at Broad and Exchange streets I spotted Archer on top of the fire escape ladder on the Wilder building. Well wasn’t that a quick bonding encounter? Probably sensed that MAK was on her way!  lol I quickly turned around on the bridge and looked to see if Beauty was visible in the nestbox(she wasn’t) before driving down to Aqueduct St. for a closer view of Archer.

Again, it was really dark this morning so please forgive the quality of my pics. I got to spend about 10 minutes with him before I had to head for home. Oh, the games falcons play! Have a great day! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

So I checked the cams at 5:25am before leaving the house for my watch…nobody in the nestbox. It takes 7 or 8 minutes to get downtown from my house. I check the nestbox upon arriving on the Broad St. bridge, no falcons. I check the archive viewer after I get home from my watch to find out both Beauty and Archer were in there while I was in transit! They are such little sneaks and are messing with old MAK almost on a daily basis now.  I do hope they’re enjoying themselves!!! lol

Anyway, I drove around the east side searching in the semi-darkness with no success until I came back to the bridge and spotted a falcon on the FCT. I barely got over there before she was off and flying south in the general direction of Times Square.  I waited half a minute to see if she came back and when she didn’t I drove back to the bridge where again I spotted a falcon on the FCT! She had sent me on a wild falcon chase!!! Back to the city hall parking lot I went where she sat still for maybe 4 minutes. The Beautyful one then half flew/half jumped  up to the bottom arm.

Notice the white feather spot on the right wing…yet another way for her and Archer to fool me. As a matter of  fact maybe this is Archer, oh I’m so confused!  They don’t play fair especially since I don’t have any coffee  until I get home from my watches!!  After 10 minutes she/he moved over to the platform railing near the northwest corner(Plymouth Ave. side).

Leaving the city hall parking lot to go over to park on Plymouth Ave. and be closer I barely got a shot off when it flew off to the north. I lost sight of it and with just a couple minutes before I had to leave I drove over to see if it went to Kodak Office. No such luck and so I ended my watch and went home. Until next time keep your eyes to the sky everyone!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

We start a new month today as the summer continues to fly by with some pretty crazy looking skies in Rochester this morning.

Beauty and Archer were up in the nestbox just a couple of minutes before I arrived this morning for my watch.  As the days get shorter and I go downtown later my watches too are getting shorter. After driving around our fair city for about 30 minutes Beauty finally showed herself. She was on the east side railing of the platform on the Frontier Communications Tower when I spotted her from the Broad St. bridge.  I drove over to City Hall to get up close and personal.

I spent 15-20 minutes with the Beautyful one before I had to end my watch and get the truck home. I’ll end this report with some more pics of the morning. Have a great day and remember to keep your eyes to the sky, you never know what you’ll see!  🙂