Compiled by Carol P.

12/24/10 – Christmas Eve

B = Beauty; OCSR = Old Changing Scenes Restaurant or First Federal Bldg.

MAK (7:40 am) – Happy Christmas Eve from downtown Rochester! B has arrived on Mercury’s money bag hand.

MAK (8:00 am) – B has just stooped on pigeons over the river. Missed it!

Carol P (10:10 am) – Looks like Beauty on OCSR with her back to me. South side, top Ibeam. Light snow falling on this Christmas Eve.

Carol P (10:30 am) – B just stooped low over the river eechupping. She then flew over me and landed on Mercury.  Now she just flew east!

Carol P (11:20 am) – Found B on the Kodak tower. On launchpad level, SE corner.

12/25/10 – MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MAK (8:20 am) – MERRY CHRISTMAS from downtown Rochester! B is making us wait this morning.

MAK (8:30 am) – Larry and Cleo just stopped by for a brief watch.  B must have lots of gifts 2 open! lol Still no sign of her.

MAK (9:00 am) – I have found B on Kodak Office.  SW rocket.

Dana (9:30 am) – B took off from Kodak Office (KO) screaming with food in talons and went to the Frontier Communication Tower.  Didnt see what she was screaming at.  She stashed the food on the platform and is sitting on the south side rail.

Dana (9:50 am) – B is now back on KO.  Merry Christmas to all!

It’s been awhile since I’ve made an official Watch report.  In case you haven’t been keeping up with the Tweeted reports on the forum, here’s an update of what is happening here in Rochester, NY

Beauty remains on territory.  Watchers report seeing her daily in downtown Rochester.  In fact, Dana and I spent a couple hours with her this morning.  With ice pellets falling and a little time before I had to be home for a long awaited Thanksgiving meal, I headed downtown to see if I could find Beauty.  MAK had reported seeing her earlier this morning.

After checking all the usual spots, I received a tweet from Dana.  Beauty was on the SW corner of a building just north of the Hyatt.  This is an older building on the SE corner of the Main St/St. Paul intersection.  It’s a beautiful, old building with lions ringing the top ledge.  and there was Beauty in all her glory.  🙂

Dana and I settled in for a short Watch.  Around 11:30 am, Beauty took off and headed towards Mercury and the Times Square bldg.  By the time we drove over to the Broad St Bridge, Beauty had retrieved leftovers from the base of the Mercury statue and was eating under the NE wing on top of the Times Square bldg. 

Whatever she was eating, didn’t last long.  She soon took off, heading south over Cornhill.  It was time for me to leave, so I said my goodbyes to Dana.

As you’ve probably guessed, Archer has migrated to wherever he goes during the late Fall/Winter months.  We all hope he’ll return safely to help Beauty raise a new family in 2011.

The purple banded female Peregrine is also being seen a few times a week at the Kodak Park location.  I found her on the eastern smoke stack catwalk yesterday.  The male that had been with her for a short while left the area.  Looks like our females are on their own to hold their territories this Winter.  and yes, I am starting to believe that Rochester, NY will have a 2nd Peregrine pair next year!

The Rochester Watchers, or as we’re now called, the Falcon Flakes,  have gone into Winter Watch mode.  We’re all keeping our eyes to the sky.

Here’s a link to an album with a few pics of Beauty from this morning.

http://picasaweb.google.com/libbymybird/BeautyOnTheLionBldg112510?feat=directlink

Enjoy!

Carol P.

From falcon watcher Joyce…

As mentioned in IMPRINTS, an adult peregrine was seen at one of the buildings in Kodak’s Eastman Business Park.  Kodak Park is a huge complex and the falcon could be anywhere.  One thing for sure, there is an abundance of pigeons.

Late yesterday afternoon about 5:15 pm Brian H and I were heading to check the area where we heard the mystery falcon was spotted.  We were traveling west on Ridge Road when I spotted a large bird on one of the Kodak buildings to my left.  It was slightly silhouetted, and I asked Brian if it was a red-tailed hawk.  Brian thought it could be because of the size, and got out his binoculars to check.  I saw the head moving up and down, likely eating.  We were waiting for the red light to turn, and Brain says it’s a peregrine falcon.

I immediately turned left onto a short entrance roadway to Kodak.  I stopped a cars length from the gate, and Brian saw the purple band.  It was on a building that was close to the entrance.  It was a good size falcon and both of us were sure it was a female.   We didn’t want to spook the falcon, but we finally got out of the car.  I used the car as my tripod.  The falcon had it’s right side to us, and all we could see was the purple band.  I was hoping that I could get a shot of the black/red band when it took off, but no luck.  This is an absolutely beautiful peregrine!

After going through my photos, I thought I saw faint lettering on the black in one if the shots where the falcon had its head turned away.   I even tried using a magnifying glass.  Unless this falcon stays on a building close to Ridge Road, it will probably take a scope to ID it. One thing for sure, this is a Midwest Peregrine.

If you happen to see watcher’s tweets who are out looking for this falcon, we are using Brian’s acronym PPE (for the Purple Pigeon Eater).

Here is my Picasa Album to our Midwest visitor.

Enjoy!

From Rochester Falcon Watch, Carol P.

I started my watch by driving past the Frontier communication tower, nothing.  Nothing on the north side of the old Changing Scenes Restaurant.  No Falcons on the south side of old Changing Scenes.  BINGO!  There was a Falcon on the base of the Mercury statue.  I parked on Aqueduct St., which put me on the west side of the statue.  A quick check showed me that it was Archer.  He spent most of the next 1/2 hour preening and looking about.  I heard the cawing of Crows behind me and so did Archer.  He took off, heading in the direction of the Crows.  I looked over towards the Wilder bldg and saw Archer in the midst of 7 or 8 Crows.  The Crows never stood a chance and should learn that messing around with a Peregrine is not a good idea.  Mariah would never tolerate a Crow near her nestsite.  It seems that her Grandson Archer has picked up that trait.

The Crows finally decided to get out of Dodge, so they all headed towards the river with a very irate Tiercel on their tails.  I couldn’t find Archer, so I returned to the Wilder bldg, where I spotted a falcon sitting on the south side.  I thought it was Archer, but it turned out to be Beauty.  I found some shade and kept an eye on Beauty.  I was soon joined by fellow Watcher MAK.

We pulled out some chairs and chatted.  It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon.  The sun was shining, but it wasn’t too warm, just right.

Dana, Lou and Kathy O. arrived.  Beauty remained on the Wilder bldg.  A smaller falcon flew in passing Beauty flying towards the river.  Then Beauty took off.  We found both Beauty and Archer sitting on the Mercury statue.  Joyce arrived and reported that Archer had been over on the jail communication tower.

The two falcons on the statue would have made a wonderful painting of a Peregrine pair.  Just as the light was fading, Archer took off on a mission, heading south.  We couldn’t see where he went.  Beauty vocalized a bit, but remained on Mercury’s heal.  We received a phone call from Lynda, who was on the Broad St. bridge with Dan.  Archer was again on the jail communication tower.

It was 8:00 pm and it was getting dark.  It had been a long day, so I decided to head home.  There were no sightings of Callidora today.  We’ll keep looking for her and report if we see her.

Friday –  August 20, 2010

Compiled from Tweets posted by Watchers plus Additional Watch Notes

A = Archer

B = Beauty

C = Callidora

OCSR = Old Changing Scenes Restaurant

Pefa = Peregrine Falcon

6:48 a.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) MAK is BAK/Dan: Broad St Bridge- Archer on top I-Beam of OCSR.

7:09 a.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) MAK/DAN: Archer flew over by Xerox and we lost him.

7:22 a.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) Archer on SE corner of Xerox.

7:40 a.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) Falcon on SW corner of OCSR, top I-Beam. Not sure who yet.

9:47 a.m. – (From Watcher MAK) Good morning falcon watchers it’s good to be back in the saddle again. As Donna reported we only saw Archer early. After Dan left I did the drive around the city looking for our falcons. As I was leaving Frontier communication tower, Debbie H called me and said there was a PEFA on OCSR. I drove over to the Broad Street bridge where I met up with her and we saw that both Beauty and Archer were on the top I-Beam SE and SW corners of OCSR. Debbie left to go to work and I stayed long enough for Archer to stoop on something and then disappear. When I left, Beauty was still on the SW corner. Sorry, no Callidora sighting. Maybe when I go back this afternoon she’ll make her presence known. A Taste of Rochester is on Main Street this weekend so it’s blocked off resulting in heavy traffic on the Broad Street bridge. Have a great Friday everyone!

10 – 10:15 a.m. – (From Watcher Joyce) Took a drive all around downtown before heading to Buffalo. Not a falcon anywhere. Maybe off enjoying area sights.

3:50 p.m. – (From Watcher Carol P.) 3 falcons on north side of OCSR!

5:40 p.m. – (From Watcher Carol P.) 2 on top arm Frontier communication tower. 1 large, 1 small. Definitely male/female.

6:10 p.m. – (From Watcher Carol P.) A on north side OCSR. Female on top north arm of Frontier communication tower.

7:50 p.m. – (From Watcher Carol P.) Kathy O, Joyce and Carol P have a falcon on platform of Frontier communication tower. It was Archer. He took off heading south. Joyce reports falcon on jail communication tower.

8:16 p.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) Watchers out right now are as follows: Jeanne, Brian, Kathy, Carol, Joyce, Dan, Larry with Cleo, Dana, Lou, Marcia and MAK….and maybe a few falcons.(phew)! From Frontier Parking Lot. Beauty on Xerox.

8:45 p.m. – (From Watcher Joyce) Beauty and Archer side-by-side ee-chupping on the 4^th and 5^th columns of Xerox, south side.

9:59 p.m. (From Watcher MAK) No Callidora tonight but she might have been one of the 3 on OCSR this afternoon and I think she was on the platform of Frontier communication tower at one point. It was a very interesting afternoon watch. There seemed to be another adult on OCSR other than ours. CaroP, Kathy O and myself all agreed but couldn’t see leg bands to confirm.

(From Watcher Carol P.) As MAK said above, it was a very interesting late afternoon/evening Watch. When I first arrived on the Andrew St. Bridge, there were three falcons on the north side of OCSR. I immediately thought Callidora had returned after not being seen for a few days. But, I started to have my doubts. Beauty was on the top I-Beam, I believe it was Archer that was flying around and then heading south towards the Time Square Bldg where I lost sight of him. So, who was the 3^rd Falcon sitting on the 2^nd I-Beam down?

It looked a lot like Archer, but seemed bigger. More the size of a female. MAK and Kathy O arrived and we all agreed that this bird looked too large to be Archer. The smaller Falcon (which we again assumed was Archer flew back around and then out of sight again. What was going on?

Beauty remained calm, preening. The very white breasted adult on the 2^nd I-beam seemed just as calm.

I cannot make any guesses as to the identity of this 3^rd Falcon. There was no visible aggression. There was just a tiny bit of vocalization. Beauty took off towards the Frontier communication tower and we believe Archer followed. MAK saw wings flapping on the platform of the communication tower. Was this Callidora?

Since we were unable to ID the 3^rd adult, it may always be a mystery. And was Callidora also near by? We may never know. Such is the reality of Falcon Watching.

From Suzanne & Don (as reported on the forum)

Don and I spent a wonderful weekend in Rochester!  When we arrived Saturday morning Callidora and Beauty flew over us in Aqueduct Park.  Don rushed back to the car to get the camera and they both flew low enough that I put my binos down and just enjoyed watching them!  We stayed in the Aqueduct Park area most of the day, sitting under the trees and out of the sun.  We were joined by Dana, Carol, Jeanne, and Brian.  Jim D. also popped in for a bit.  It was great to see Callidora make her first OCSR I-beam landing, after several attempts to scope out the precise logistics of an I-beam! 

Sunday morning we went to the bridge where Dana, Dan, and MAK were watching.  This was the morning we watched Callidora and Beauty in a food exchange.  We all knew it was coming, because Beauty flew around, prey in talons, looking for Callidora.  Archer offered to take the food, but Beauty was saving it for Callidora.  Carol, Dana, and Don were clicking away with their cameras, while I just enjoyed watching mom and daughter!  It was awesome! 

This is the link to the photo album Don put together of the exchange.  Hope you enjoy it.

 http://tinyurl.com/2ejy2mm

Suzanne

It was a very warm day in Rochester, NY today, high near 90 degrees (F).  After leaving work at 3:30 pm, I went in search of Callidora, Beauty and Archer.  Especially Callidora, because she hadn’t been seen that morning. 

I quickly found Archer and Beauty together on the top I-Beam, south side of the Old Changing Scenes Restaurant.  A quick drive around to the north side and there was Callidora on the top I-Beam on the north side.  Yay all three!  I decided to settle on the Andrew St. Bridge to keep an eye on Callidora.

At approximately 4:30 pm, Callidora took off flying north over my car, heading for the gorge.  I grabbed my binoculars and saw that the brewery pigeons were up! and Callidora was calmly flying in their midst.  I jumped into my car and got myself over to the east end of the pedestrian bridge as quickly as I could.  I was so afraid that I would miss her!

I parked my car, grabbed my camera and binoculars and made my way out onto the pedestrian bridge.  Callidora was still flying above the Genesee Brewery, but she was heading north, down the river.  Drats!  Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait very long for her return.  For about 15 mins, she entertained me, chasing pigeons, diving on gulls, swooping down the gorge wall, over Skye’s bldg.  It was just like it used to be with Mariah and Kaver’s fledglings.  This is what I had been waiting for.  I quickly texted out that she was in the gorge, but no one was able to join me.  Here’s just a little bit of what I saw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL30CSlkwkc

Callidora eventually headed back towards the city (south), flying over the river and the buildings along the way.  She chased pigeons and anything else that flew into her path.  Eventually she landed very low on the Frontier communication tower. 

Later in the evening, I was joined by MAK, Dana and Lou.  Before it started to rain, we had the pleasure of watching Callidora, Beauty and Archer flying together over Midtown, HSBC and Xerox.  Callidora was very vocal as she chased her parents around the area.  Just as it started to rain heavily, all three left the area, heading west.

I said my goodbyes and did a quick check of the area on the way home.  I found one falcon on the top I-beam of the old Changing Scenes Restaurant, south side. 

I’m so glad that Callidora finally discovered the wonders of the gorge that so many fledglings before her enjoyed.  I really hope it won’t be her last visit and that other Watchers will be able to see her gracefully fly above the High Falls.

From watcher Carol P

It was a very rainy day in Rochester today and we were under a Thunderstorm watch until 8 pm.  The skies darkened a couple times, but thankfully it did not rain.  It was very, very warm and muggy.

I first found both Archer and Beauty sitting on the north side of the old Changing Scenes Restaurant (OCSR).  First one and then the other took off heading north down the river.  I thought I heard Callidora crying nearby, but I couldn’t see her.  I watched as Archer and Beauty skimmed along the top of the Genesee Brewery buildings, just on the other side of the river from Kodak Office.  It looked like they were hunting, trying to scare up the pigeons that roosted there.  After a few moments of this, both took off heading east.

I drove around the city looking for them without any luck.  I returned to the Andrew St. Bridge and found Archer again on the north side of OCSR.  MAK joined me and we continued the watch.  Archer took off when we weren’t looking, so MAK and I split up and searched.  After driving around again and not finding any falcons, we parked on the Broad St. Bridge.  Beauty was now sitting on the south side of the OCSR.  Archer flew in to the other side carrying prey, something very small.  Beauty flew around to join him.  Jeanne had just arrived, so I decided to check out the north side of the OCSR.

Just as I was parking my car on the Andrew St. Bridge, I heard the familiar cry of Callidora.  She was flying around and finally landed on the top I-Beam platform next to the elevator shaft.  Archer took off and landed on the base of Mercury.  Beauty was two I-Beams up from the bottom.  It was time to take a closer look.  I walked up to the OCSR and settled in to watch.  Callidora continued to cry and Archer flew back and landed on the top I-Beam further down from her.  This lasted a long time.  A&B would look at C everytime she cried, but they stayed where they were.  A quick call to the other Watchers to tell them I had all three and that they should join me.  Dan had now joined MAK and Jeanne and they decided to stay on the Broad St. Bridge.

At 8 pm, Callidora finally took off.  She vocalized quite loudly, flying past Archer.  Archer took off and both he and Callidora circled the building and headed east, towards the Xerox bldg.  For a few moments Beauty remained and then she too took off and headed east.  Since I was now falconless, it was time to head home.

MAK reported that after I left, Beauty brought food in after the sun set.  It was probably Callidora enjoying a late dinner on the base of the Mercury statue.

Tuesday 20-Jul-2010

Bonnie reports:

Loved my pilgrimage to falcon Mecca.  It was good to see a fledgling in Rochester again.  I just knew  Kid Calli would wait for us to get there to show off her newly acquired flying skills.

Pictures are coming.  And the tattoos are still on!  Hubby took a picture of one for the falcon record. I spent all day editing pictures and preparing a video.  

Video on YouTube – (only be up for a day or two).  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ymR9hcEkE

Alternate QuickTime Video [After loading, click u]  

http://web.me.com/talluto/Wildlife/Rochester_Falcons_July_2010.html

And here is the link to the Kodak picture file:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=619495002212%3A667293075&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

or

http://tinyurl.com/29sfgnl

Monday 19-Jul-2010

Joyce reports:

The falcons are the reason we come together…but it is the people who make Watcher’s Weekend! I had a wonderful time sharing this weekend with all who attended.  Thanks to everyone who came from out-of town…great seeing you again!  And, it was a pleasure meeting those who joined us for the first time.

Kris G reports:

Bill and I had a really nice time on Saturday-seeing watchers that we had met before and meeting so many new people that I only knew by name on the Forum.  We tried fifty ways to Sunday (our GPS was going crazy rerouting us) to get to the Planetarium for the movie and ran into police barricades everywhere!  We got so frustrated that we ended up going home earlier than we had anticipated.  We watched TV that night to see what was going on and found out that it was the annual Pride parade that prevented us from getting through. Unfortunately, we couldn’t attend on Sunday due to a prior commitment but we want to thank all of you for all that you do.

Brian reports:

To all the visitors…I enjoyed spending time with you this past weekend.

Dawn reports:

 A few pictures…………

http://picasaweb.google.com/dawnv311/2010FalconWatchersWeekend?authkey=Gv1sRgCPuInqmY0KSSXw&feat=directlink

Huddiecat reports:

Glad to hear everyone made it home safely!  It was great to see everyone, and what a welcome the falcons provided the group!   The trip to the Planatarium was somewhat of a challenge, but the falcons made up for by performing a food exchange, a stoop on a duck, and some nice flying around above us.  ~Suzanne

Lou reports:

Nice weekend! I think we had almost 15 out of towners and there were some new local faces in the crowd. I tried getting pictures of those who weren’t already in the Falcon Watcher’s album. Hopefully, I got everyone’s name correct. If not, let me know.

I wanted to send a big ‘thanks’ out to my fellow Rochester peeps and to others who brought food to the Tailgater Breakfast – we had enough food for both days. I sampled everything! (BTW, I give the homemade pastry blue ribbon to MAK for her Pumpkin Roll.)

I think Aqueduct Park worked out great. I knew it was going to be good as soon as the Rochester Falcons themselves gave us a Saturday morning welcome fly-by directly over the river in front of us at exactly 9:00 am.  The old pedestrian bridge was nice, but it was as if the new family was formally welcoming us to a new era. And it was nice to be close to the hotels, the restaurants, restrooms, etc. The lunch walk to the Dinosaur Bar B Q worked out well – some people were able to get a table and eat inside (with the air conditioning) and the rest of us just brought our bagged take-out meals back to the park to eat in the shade. The Planetarium trip was somewhat thwarted by the fifteen thousand people blocking the streets near the Planetarium but most people managed to get through the crowds to see the Falcons of Toronto movie.  Oh well, we’ll do better planning next year! 

Saturday night was just plain beautiful though; we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect summer evening. And although I couldn’t avoid getting roped into Brian’s Falcon Dance, Sunday was just as nice!

At any rate, It’s a different venue with a different family of birds, but Watcher’s Weekend has always been one of my favorite parts of the season here in Rochester and this year was no exception.

Glad everybody made it home safe and sound. Hope to see even more visitors next year!

Kapi reports:

I guess I am the last out-of-towner to make it home.  After an easy drive, the predicted thunderstorms that never showed up in Rochester hit here in Vermont.  It was a small cell, though, and the sun is out again.  I haven’t had time to read through all the posts as yet, so this may have been reported, but I need to add that the “stragglers” spent Sunday afternoon and evening on a nostalgic trip to the pedestrian bridge.  We were treated to a visit from a mysterious falcon who flew in from the north.  This was followed by Beauty and Archer flying down to check things out.  No aggression but definite watchfulness.  Since the bridge seemed to be a sort of boundary line, we were positioned for a good show.

The welcoming local watchers, the other out-of-towners, the weather, the new location, and the awesome flying all contributed to a memorable weekend.