By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature was 89 (F) 32 (C) with high humidity and a very busy breeze as a cold front approaches to bring cooler temperatures

A falcon has been seen at the Brighton Site (BS) for the last couple days so I have checked out the sight while walking fellow watcher, Jeanne’s dog Bella. Yesterday we didn’t find it but today there was one that looked small to me-perhaps, a male with no leg bands that I could see. I’ve not done any falcon watching lately so I’m rusty and so it could very well be a female. This PEFA was on the east side of the building on a window ledge 4 floors down in the corner where it meets the southeast extension. When we first pulled into the parking lot he was standing sideways giving us a profile shot.

This falcon was in the shade and panting slightly to keep itself cool from the heat. I took a couple more pics then Bella and I went for a short walk in the shade.

When we got back the falcon had its back to us.

This is how we left the falcon as it didn’t seem like it was going to be doing much more than trying to stay cool. On my way home, I checked downtown but came up empty and the same thing at Seneca Towers (ST). This morning I took a few pics from my living room window of the west side river gorge and Seth Green Park trees-the leaves have been changing for a while now.

Click on the pics to see the full version

It seems that most of them are dead brown leaves rather than colored-this is due most likely to the extra hot weather and severe drought conditions this summer. It was good to see our visitor at the BS location-it put a smile on this watchers face! 🙂

I thought now might be a good opportunity to try to post my first falcon watch report. I joined Dana and Kathy this morning in Summerville, watching Genesee on the Coast Guard Radio Tower. He finished eating a late breakfast He left shortly after I took the photo, and two crows immediately started eating his leftovers. Dana and Kathy said he flew west over the river and into a tree in Charlotte, so they headed over to Charlotte to find him. They found him perched in a tree at the beach, right next to the Charlotte pier. I joined them there later, along with Carol P and Joyce. He moved a few times, but stayed right in the same area for several hours. We talked to several people who were interested in what we were looking at, and they were thrilled to see him. We met some people from Toronto, Harrisburg PA and Arizona. The Harrisburg and Phoenix people knew about the falcons in their area, but the Toronto people did not, so we gave them the rundown on the various sites there.

What a way to spend the day, at the beach with friends and a falcon! AND…I got my first band picture, even though we all knew it was Genesee. Still, he kindly obliged and showed us his band.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Although we haven’t been reporting much lately, a few of the watchers have been keeping an eye on our Rochester Falcons.  Both Beauty and Dot.ca have been seen quite frequently hanging out on their favorite downtown spots, including the Frontier Communication Tower and the old Changing Scene’s Restaurant just to name a couple.  Our Rfalconcam cameras have caught them renewing their vows and bowing to each other in the Powers Bldg nest box.  This seems to be a favorite spot for them in the off season. None of our juvies have been spotted in quite awhile, so they are off on their life journey’s.  Farewell young falcons! We hope to see you again!

Back on 8/18, I spent a few hours watching Billie from Seneca Towers.  She is very special to me.  A granddaughter of Mariah and Kaver.  I truly love that their legacy continues…..

Here are a few pictures from our visit.  Please enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My last sighting of a juvie was on August 2nd.  It was Leo and he flew up to roof of City Place with Beauty, who gave him a small bird.

<— Beauty on City Place After Giving Food to Leo.

Leo then flew over to the Widow’s Walk (WW) to enjoy his small meal and Beauty followed him.  There was a lot of vocalization between them.  She was on the northwest corner watching over him.

<— Leo on Widow’s Walk with Food.

<— Beauty on Widow’s Walk Watching Over Leo as he Ate.

After he ate his fill, Leo took off with his leftovers, heading north.

<— Leo Took Off with his Leftovers Heading North.

Leo landed on top of City Place.

<— Leo on City Place with His Leftovers.

A few moments later, Beauty joined him.  Leo very loudly let his mom know that he did not want to share.  He grabbed his small bird and headed west with it.

<— Leo was not happy when Beauty joined him on City Place.

After both Beauty and Leo left, I attempted to find him, but had no luck.  Later that morning, I did find a juvie within the framework of the Frontier Communication Tower, but was unable to get a positive ID.

This was the last time I saw a juvie downtown.  Beauty and  Dot.ca are seen most days and many of the watchers are still checking out the downtown area.  If any juvies are seen, we will be sure to post about it here.

Safe travels young falcons!

Hi folks!

I’ve been home from Arkansas for 5 weeks now and have grown increasingly concerned that I hadn’t seen Billie or Seth since my return. The mid-western PEFA, Buckee had been seen at the Hawkeye plant (half mile from Seneca Towers) with an unbanded adult male so I’d been thinking perhaps they had taken over the territory as I also saw an unbanded male on the west side railing of ST. Today as I was making my lunch, I got a tweet that Joyce and Cheryl spotted a pair of Peregrines on the top window ledge north end of ST. I got excited as that is one of their favorite roosting spots, so I grabbed my camera and went down to meet the ladies on St. Paul Street on the route 104W overpass. We could clearly see black over green leg bands but the distance was too great to get a clear picture of the numbers. After comparing my pics from today and some old ones in the archives, I feel pretty confident that this was Billie and Seth. The first set of pics below are from past watch reports of mine and the second set is today’s pics.

<Billie<Seth<Click

Billie would be the bird on the right and Seth on the end of the ledge in the pics below. Pay close attention to the side of their faces (auricular patch,moustache) and their chest feathers

Hopefully at some point soon we will be able to get clear pics of their leg bands in order to positively identify them. Stay tuned!!! Made me smile to see falcons back on that window ledge! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

The young juvies continue to be seen, but less often.  Watchers were out last night and saw only Beauty and Dot.ca.

When I arrived downtown this morning, around 6 am, I saw three falcons from the Andrews St Bridge.  Dot.ca was on the north side of OCSR on the top Ibeam.  Beauty was on the Power’s Bldg nest box camera.  The third was a juvie on the base of Mercury.  I was too far away to ID it.

I joined Dan on the Court St Bridge, where we could only see Beauty and the juvie.  Larry soon joined us with his new friend Zeke!

All was quiet, and Larry & Dan had to leave.  It was time for me to search for some falcons!

I found two juvies on Widow’s Walk.  After looking at my pictures, I found out they were Leo and Aria.  I watched them for a good hour before they both took off heading east.  Soon after they left, Beauty landed on the Widow’s Walk railing.  She got down to some really serious preening.  I believe she had brought in food for her two young ones.  🙂

Here are some pictures from my morning watch.  Enjoy!

<— Beauty on the Power’s Bldg Nest Box Camera.

<— Aria and Leo on Widow’s Walk.

<— Leo on Widow’s Walk.

<— Aria on Widow’s Walk.

<— Leo on Widow’s Walk.

<— Aria on Widow’s Walk.

<— Leo on Widow’s Walk.

<— Aria on Widow’s Walk.

<— Beauty on Widow’s Walk.

Here’s Zeke! Our newest canine falcon watcher!  🙂

<— Larry’s New Friend Zeke!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Although the fledge watch is officially over, we’ll continue to keep an eye on the young juvies as they learn to hunt and gain the skills they will need for life as a Peregrine Falcon.

They are all doing great!  Most days we are seeing all of them.  Beauty and Dot.ca continue to supply them with food, but I would not be surprised if most of them are hunting on their own now.

Here are some images from my Thursday and Friday morning watches.  Enjoy!

<— Two Juvies at the Powers Bldg.

<— Three Juvies on Widow’s Walk.

<— Juvie on Mercury’s Head

Here are some flight shots.

<— Adult at Power’s Bldg.

<— Juvie Sleeping on Times Square Bldg After a Good Meal.

<— Adult and Juvie on Mercury’s Foot.

<— Two Falcons on Power’s Bldg.

<— Two Falcons on Jail Comm Tower.

We’ve been hoping to catch the falcons in the gorge near High Falls.  We’ve seen them close, but not in the gorge.  There is an adult and juvie Red-tailed Hawks being seen there.

<— Adult Falcon on Comm Tower East of Genesee Brewery.

<— Falcon on Frontier Field Light.

<— Two Falcons on NW corners of Times Square Bldg.

Here are a few pictures I took while on the High Falls pedestrian bridge.

<— High Falls and Downtown Rochester.

<— The Fall of the BeeBee Station.

<— Red-tailed Hawk in the Gorge.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

During my downtown watch, I received a text from fellow watcher Dana.  She had spotted 3 falcons over at Medley Ctr.  As soon as my downtown watch was over, I headed to the old mall.

I found one adult Peregrine Falcon on the roof at the center of the mall.  Based on size, I thought it was a female and she was on the hunt.  As pigeons flew over, she would take off and chase them.  In one of my pictures, I am 99.9% sure that I’m seeing a 77 Black over AX Green Band (thanks Donna!) and a silver USFW band.

She hunted the whole time I was there and then took off, heading west, back towards Seneca Towers.  I usually see her from far away, so I was very happy to have spent some time with Mariah and Kaver’s granddaughter for a short visit.  🙂

Here are some pictures I took of Billie and Medley Ctr.  What a gorgeous girl she is!

Some observations over the past three days.

Today I saw DC on pan cam watching over the little ones. I’m more used to that being Beauty’s position. So I will just have to be prepared for the unexpected.

Yesterday I could the little ones out on the platform from the Court St Bridge. We are getting closer to the ‘watch’ period. The eyeases are getting braver in exploring to their little world.

The mornings so far have been beautiful to be downtown, watching the falcons.

When DC leaves the box, he goes to the northwest for some reason. One of these days I will have to park out that direction to see if I can locate where he goes. After each departure, I have checked out the Frontier comms tower and Kodak. I did not find him there. He may have been on the north side, but I think he goes elsewhere.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P. (10 am – Noon)

It was another very warm day here in Rochester, NY.  Temps up into the mid-80’s.  I found some shade down on Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”), set up a chair and enjoyed a couple hours of watching our falcons.  There was a beautiful breeze.  When I arrived, Beauty was up at the nest box with her 4 eyases.  Dot.ca was no where in sight.

It was almost an hour before I saw any activity.  Beauty flew out of the nest box and headed north.  From my position, I could not see where she went.  Possibly towards the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).

About five minutes later, Beauty returned, landing on Camera #1.  Dot.ca came in with her, landing on the west corner of the top IBeam on OCSR.

Beauty went back to the nest box and Dot.ca took off, heading south.

For the remainder of my watch it was quiet.  I ended my downtown watch at noon.  As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I spotted Dot.ca on the Widow’s Walk railing.  He was definitely in hunt mode.  I spent a few moments with him before he took off, looking for food for his four hungry young ones.

Hope everyone is keeping cool on this Memorial Day Weekend!