By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hello everyone!  My early morning watch began on the Broad St. bridge as most of them do. I first saw a falcon chasing pigeons up river and soon another joined it. One of them stooped over the Cornhill area and disappeared. The other, our very own Beauty returned and landed on her favorite perch, the infamous moneybag hand of Mercury. She stayed a few moments and then flew above the Times Square building,the Hall of Justice and jail and made her way to the jail tower where I saw Mr. T too!

Mr. T top right and directly below him Beauty on the bottom right(make sure to click pic to enlarge)

I drove over to get a closer look  and naturally Beauty decided to go back to Mercurys moneybag hand! I took a pic of Mr. T and headed back over to Broad St. thinking he would follow Beauty. WRONG! I no sooner got there and she was off to the jail tower again!!!

Beauty

Mr. T

I drove back to Troup St. and watched them on the jail tower for about 20 minutes at which time Beauty flew fast to the west stooping on something and then I lost sight of her. I looked for Mr. T but he had left while I was watching her.  Sometimes that’s how it goes for a falcon watcher. After searching for about 45 minutes without locating either falcon I left downtown.

After running errands I took a look at Kodak Park as I was in the vicinity but Lady Pefa wasn’t home! I decided to take a ride down to Charlotte and have a look but CB wasn’t around either! I left to pickup Sue from school and on the way home we spotted a Peregrine on a light post on route 390N near East Henrietta Rd. at about 12:30pm. I figured it was probably one of the Brighton falcons and Joyce tweeted that very thought!

After eating lunch I headed back downtown and when I arrived at about 2:15pm I found Beauty on the base of Mercury. I parked by the Blue Cross Arena facing towards Xerox with a good view of our Beautyful one and I spent the next hour and a half taking pics and watching.

She was turning her head alot and I felt like she was surveying her downtown territory or looking for Mr. T! Suddenly Beauty was off heading east over the river and the South Ave. parking garage. Then she started gliding and hovering above Midtown and the Bausch and Lomb building.  At this time I noticed Mr. T flying from the southeast into the picture and they were both flying and soaring around the roof of the Xerox building for a solid 5 minutes! One of them landed on the north side of the roof while the other one flew around it and back and forth. The one on the roof was off and they were flying together a little bit when one landed near the northwest corner of the roof and again the other one showing off by circling and flying back and forth above. I lost sight of the one in the air so I decided to ride over but when I got there they both had left. Darn! I searched but never found them again after that. I had a very nice day of falcon watching courtesy of Mr. T and our very own Beauty!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I was later than usual to arrive downtown on my morning watch as I had to take Sue to school first. I had heard from Donna that I missed some sort of commotion near the nestbox area but all seemed to be fine when I arrived about 8:20am.  I found both falcons on Mercury. Beauty was on the outstretched moneybag hand and Mr. T on the head.

They stayed for about half an hour then flew off towards the Times Square building over top of the Thomson Reuters building and there was plenty of vocalization in the air. Beauty landed on a small ledge at the southeast corner of the Times Square building just below where Jemison had made his first flight directly across from the nestbox.

Mr. T circling and soaring above her and both vocalizing. He flew off while I took the pic of Beauty. She left shortly after that and I drove around searching for them. It wasn’t until I returned to the Broad St. bridge 30 minutes later that I found them on Mercury in the same spots as earlier. While I was on the east side checking out the area  I found what I have determined to be cached food on an east side ledge halfway down the HSBC building. At first I thought it was a Peregrine based on the colors but after watching for a few minutes it didn’t move. It was quite a large stash without a head and part of it was dangling off the edge.

Anyway, at around 10:45 both falcons flew off Mercury. I never found them again after that so I concluded my watch and set out to run some errands and write my report. Have a great day everyone!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hello everyone! After being sick for the past few days it felt good to get out and have myself a falcon watch. Sorry to say I didn’t see very much to report on, but it’s all good just the same.

I arrived downtown about 6:15am, after a quick look at Mercury and the OCSR building I took a quick tour of the east side near Xerox and HSBC with no sightings. Upon arriving back on the Broad St. bridge I spotted a falcon up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building through the chimney smoke of the Thomson Reuters building.

I couldn’t tell who it was until I drove down to Aqueduct St. for a clearer and closer view. It was the Beautyful one and I was smiling! She flew off and down to the nestbox. I drove back up to Broad St. and parked near falcon central for pics. It was at this time I spotted Mr. T under the southeast wing of the Times Square building. Beauty immediately flew up and landed on the main camera.

They only stayed for a short time and both suddenly flew off fast towards the Cornhill area where I lost sight of them behind buildings. I spent the remaining 45 minutes of my watch searching for them to no avail. LarryO and Cleo stopped by while I was on the Andrews St. bridge to get a report and off they went. I took a couple pics while on the Court St. bridge of the raging Genesee River and to get a view of the Broad St. bridge and surrounding area. Have a great day everyone! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hi everyone! I arrived downtown this morning with no falcons in sight at first, so I took a ride around. After no success locating any I went to  my usual spot on the Broad St. bridge and parked. I didn’t wait very long before I spotted Beauty land on Mercurys money bag hand. She was there very briefly and then she flew east towards Midtown. She came back into view and landed on the northeast corner of the Bausch and Lomb building. She was hunched over as if she were eating so I jumped in the truck and headed over for a closer look. When I finally found a good place to park below Midtown Mr. T had arrived and was watching her eat from another corner just above her.

Beauty

Mr. T

Shortly thereafter he flew over about 10 ft to her left on the same ledge. He stayed there for a few minutes and decided to get closer.

Mr. T on left, Beauty on right.

He inched closer and closer after that and then flew around to land right in front of her. You can only see part of him in the next picture.

The time was getting close to when I would have to leave so I video taped a few minutes of them and concluded my watch. Here’s the link :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czPtEl7YIHI

Have a great day everyone! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

The last few days Beauty and Mr. T(the unbanded male in town) have been hanging pretty close to each other.

Be sure to click on pics for full version.

These two have been spotted by our watchers and myself on all the usual spots and some old ones too. Xerox,HSBC,Mercury,OCSR,FCT,jail tower,Kodak arch and launchpad,Times Square and the nest box. Seems to me Beauty might be showing Mr. T around town. Hurry home Archer that’s all I’m saying!

I have gone on a couple afternoon into night watches in the last few days with Joyce and Brian.  CarolP was with us today in Charlotte and Irondequoit with no Peregrine Falcons to be found. We’re thinking the female seen in these two locations may have left the area. There has been no shortage of nature to enjoy all the same. Here is a link to pics I’ve taken the last few days…http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=964243971213%3A1312484872&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Share

We don’t know what the future holds for our Rochester falcons but one thing  for sure we watchers will keep our eyes to the skies!  You do the same!! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher – Carol P

It was a wonderful day with lots of adventure.  Check out my pics and reports here.  No sign on needed.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=1092106820105%3A2096833335&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Enjoy!

Carol P.

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

When I left my house at 6:40am it was cold and windy but clear. As I arrived downtown it started snowing so instead of going to the Broad St. bridge I parked by Aqueduct Park and Main St. to have a better view up into the elevator shaft of the Old Changing Scenes Restaurant (OCSR) building. Beauty and Mr. T have been spending their nights there out of the elements. I pointed my trusty spotting scope and although it was too dark and snowing too hard to see up in there I did see one of them fly out to the top ibeam of the OCSR on the southeast side. I drove around the corner to Aqueduct St. to get a better angle for pics but the snowy and dark conditions made for very bad pics. Soon after both Beauty and Mr. T were on the top ibeam about 6 ft. apart. I could barely see them through the heavy snow that was coming down.

I decided to walk over to Subway to get breakfast and when I returned they were gone. I drove up and parked on the Broad St. bridge to have a look around while I ate. As I finished Dana came along to join the watch. I gave her the low down on things and said I’d drive to City Hall to check out the Frontier Communications Tower. Nobody there but before leaving I checked Kodak and lo and behold there I spotted the Beautyful one! I tweeted it out so Dana would know enough to join me and then headed over for a closer look and pics.

The snow ebbed and flowed and I finally called it quits after it started coming down too hard to see Beauty anymore. I said goodbye to Dana and left. Another watch in the books! 🙂

Here are a couple pics from yesterday.

Beauty on Mercury 2-18-11

The Beautyful one

Red-tailed Hawk at Kodak Park 2-18-11

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It was like old times this morning on the Broad St. Bridge. My watch started with the Beautiful one on the money bag hand of Mercury. I don’t recall the last time that happened.

Beauty flew off between the Crossroads building and the Old Changing Scenes Restaurant and out of sight. I decided to sit there a few minutes to see if she would return. Watcher DebbieH came by on her way to work and chatted a few minutes. It had been a long time so it was good to see her. Soon after Debbie left Beauty returned chasing and stooping on pigeons. She was unsuccessful and returned to Mercury. CarolP arrived at this time followed by LarryO with his dog Cleo. Mr. T showed up after Beauty took off from Mercury and they were flying and hovering together above us,the river,Xerox,HSBC and Midtown. Larry and Cleo left and we lost our feathered friends. I left Carol on the bridge and found Beauty on the Frontier Communications Tower just below the platform on the north side.

A security officer knocked on the window to tell me this is a restricted parking area. I thought here we go again but when I told him about Beauty and showed him a pic of her on my camera he became interested and started asking questions. After chatting a bit he said he had learned something today and that I could stay.

I met Carol at Kodak Park after leaving downtown where we watched a Red-tailed Hawk and 2 crows messing with each other. Here is a pic of the hawk in a tree.

No pefa here so Carol went back downtown and I went to Charlotte. No CB(Char-bay) or eagle around but I did see the transmitter gull,many other gulls and shorebirds.Here’s the link to a video taken at the boat launch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kCic4-Im5Q

I went down by the pier took some pics and left. I drove to Shumway Marina on the other side of the river (the Summerville side) for a quick check. Here’s a link to my pics.http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=462161471213%3A1290089688&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee
I decide to go see my brother after leaving Charlotte and wish him Happy  Birthday. On my way home I stopped at Kodak Park and found Lady Pefa on the black stripe of the blue building in her nook. She was eating on something. I took a few pics and ended my watch for today.  🙂

Rochester Falcon Watcher – Carol P.

I arrived at Kodak Park around 10 a.m.  It took me awhile to find Lady Pefa (LP).  She was on a very narrow ledge just below the top of the blue building on the south side.  I kept trying to figure out how she was sitting.  It just looked strange.  I zoomed my camera to the max.  This pic is cropped.  Looks like she was enjoying the sun, laying down with her left wing hanging over the ledge.  🙂  I’ve seen both Mariah and Beauty in this same positiion.   Around the corner of the building, to the right, were about 20 Pigeons that kept peaking around the corner at her.

LP stood up and took flight, first landing on a railing on the west side of the blue building for a few moments.  She then took off again, flying east towards the tall, slim, silver stills.  I thought she was going to land, but she turned back towards the blue building flying past the panicked Pigeons that were now flying back and forth.  LP ignored them and landed in her nook, but not for long.  She took off again and landed on the black band ledge on the south side.  After sending a text, I looked up and she was gone.  Ahhhh, such is the life of a Falcon Watcher.  lol  It was time to head downtown to look for Beauty and Mr. T.

 I arrived downtown around 11:30 am.  I checked all the normal spots, with no luck, and parked on the Broad St. Bridge.  I took a look at the elevator shaft on the old Changing Scenes Restaurant and spotted a Falcon up inside the elevator shaft.  Due to size and coloring, I thought it was Mr. T.  I drove over to a spot across the river from OCSR and walked to a spot where I could see up inside the elevator shaft.  Yep, just as I thought, Beauty was up there too.  In this picture, Beauty is on the left and Mr. T on the right. 

They seemed settled, so I headed down to Charlotte.  I had no luck finding the Falcon that we’ve been seeing there, so I headed home.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, but very cold.  Spring will be here soon, I just know it!

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hi everyone! Another short report but a bonus today of live video coverage. I found who I thought was Beauty on the ledge below the southeast wing of the Times Square building tucked in close to the wing with her back to me. She had made a kill and the air around her was full of feathers. I quick tweeted it out and when I looked again Mr. T had joined her. He was hanging on the edge about a foot away from her watching very intently also with his back to me. When I got a front view I saw how white the chest was on the falcon eating and so it was Mr. T who had caught breakfast and Beauty who was waiting for leftovers.

Once he shared a tidbit with her I could see the salmon color on her chest. He then flew over to the ledge under the northeast wing, preened for a minute or so and left. I watched Beauty for a few more minutes and then ended my watch. The video is shaky because I digi-scoped it without my tripod as 2 of the legs don’t stay secured. I hope you enjoy it just the same.  🙂 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDUp39ucQtE