By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A much colder day, but with bright sunshine and blue sky.

Today I shared my watch with fellow falcon watchers Kathy O and Dana.  Lots of fun!

The only falcons we saw today were Beauty and Dot.ca.  When I first arrived, Beauty was in the nest box and Dot.ca was on OCSR on the top IBeam.  The sun was too bright to get decent pics.  Dot.ca glowed bright white.

We were forced to park down on Aqueduct St. (aka “the hole”) due to all the people parked up on the Broad St Bridge.  Because of this, we were too close to be able to see Beauty in the nest box.

After we had been there for awhile, Beauty flew out and landed on the top Ibeam near where Dot.ca was.  He came off and attempted to copulate with her.  For some reason, he failed and headed towards the Powers Bldg.  Beauty also took off and we found her on the back corner of Widows Walk (WW).  She had food up there.  Probably cached from an earlier food offering from Dot.ca that Dana had witnessed.

While we were watching Beauty prep her meal, Dot.ca flew up to her and they copulated.  Successfully this time.  Dot.ca returned to the top IBeam on OCSR and Beauty continued to eat.  We moved around to the west side of WW to get a better view of Beauty.

After she finished her meal, she headed east towards OCSR.  We found her back on the top Ibeam near Dot.ca.  Since all was peaceful and quiet, we ended out downtown watch.

From there, we checked out Medley Center and Seneca Towers, but had no luck finding anymore falcons.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

The temperatures are dropping and snow was in the air.  Yuck!  C’mon Spring!  🙂

I was too tired to post a report yesterday, so here is what I saw.

Beauty and Dot.ca were settled in their spots downtown.  Beauty was in the nest box and Dot.ca was nearby on the 2nd Ibeam down on OCSR.  During the time I was there, they did not leave those spots.

All was peaceful and quiet, so I headed over to Medley Ctr.  No falcons found, but I did see these beautiful signs of Spring. Iris’s? Orchids?  Gorgeous!

At Seneca Towers, I was happy to find two falcons on the bridge.  Fellow falcon watcher Dana joined me and we were very happy to see both Billie and Seth.

Just as Seth took off, my camera decided it would be a great time to freeze!  So I missed the copulation shot.  But not Dana!  She sent me this compilation of copulation pics!  Nice!  Thanks Dana!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone!

50 degrees (F), gusty winds and bright sunshine!

It’s been awhile since I’ve checked out the Brighton Site, so that’s where I started.  I found no falcons there.

When I arrived downtown, I could not find Beauty and Dot.ca.  The Broad St Bridge was filled up with cars and trucks for the home improvement show that would be taking place this weekend at the Riverside Convention Ctr.  When a space opened up, I grabbed it.  I was a little farther back than I usually like to park, but I had a great view of the Times Square Bldg nest box and surrounding area.

The winds were whipping with gusts over 40 mph.  I saw my first falcons at about 11:00 am.  Dot.ca was at the nest box and Beauty was on the top IBeam of the OCSR.

She flew to the nest box and joined Dot.ca there for a few moments before he flew out.  Now he was on the top IBeam of the OCSR.  This is where I left them to continue my watch.

I continued my watch, checking out Medley Ctr (No Falcons Found) and Seneca Towers.  From Maplewood Park, I could see a falcon flying high above the building and gorge.  Too far for me to tell if it was Billie or Seth.  This falcon was enjoying the high winds.  Sorry, I wasn’t able to get any pictures.

In my travels, I found a pair of Killdeer.  My first of the year.  Very nice to see them!  Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

9:00 am – 1:00 pm

(Daylight Saving Time – Remember to turn your clocks ahead an hour!)

It was 44 degrees when I started my falcon watch at 9:00 am.  Not as nice a day as it was yesterday, but it was sunny for most of it. I believe there is rain in the forecast for most of this coming week.  I was joined on my watch by friends and fellow watchers Dana and Lou. It was great to see them.  We mostly watched from the Broad St. Bridge.  But I moved down to Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”) when they left.

While I was there, Beauty and Dot.ca copulated (mated) twice.  Dot.ca chased a Turkey Vulture out fo the area.  A Coopers Hawk flew over the Times Square Bldg.  Neither Beauty or Dot.ca paid too much attention to it.  Here are some pictures from my watch.  Enjoy!

(If you hover your cursor over a picture, it will describe what the picture is.)

I also checked out Seneca Towers and Medley Ctr.  From across the river at Seneca Towers, I saw one falcon on the northwest railing.  I was looking directly into the sun and could not tell if it was Billie or Seth.  No Falcons seen at Medley Ctr.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Happy St Patrick’s Day, at least here in Rochester, NY.  My falcon watch was spent watching Beauty, Dot.ca and all the green folk gathering for the parade.  It was bitter cold (30 degrees) when I arrived at 9:30 am but was in the high 50’s (F) by the time I left at 1:00 pm.

Some of the streets were closed for a marathon.  So I made my way down to Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”) and that’s where I stayed for my watch.  It would have been too hard to move around.

Beauty was on the Mercury statue and Dot.ca was on TSB under the northeast wing.

I shared the parking lot with a group of people that were putting merchandise on carts to be sold during the parade.

Beauty and Dot.ca both took off and flew around a bit.  She landed on pan cam and they copulated.  Dot.ca flew off.

A little while later, I heard loud ee-chupping overhead.  It was Dot.ca and he had a Starling for his darling.  I love saying that! hahaha!  He landed under the southeast wing and Beauty took off.  She landed next to him and grabbed his Starling food gift. She then took off and headed north.

Dot.ca remained where he was for awhile and then flew down to the nest box and then took off.

I waited to see if they would return and watched all the green folk walk down the street towards Main St, where the parade would take place.  All of a sudden, there was very loud falcon vocalization heard by all.  I was probably the only one that knew what was going on.  lol  Beauty and Dot.ca mated (copulated) on the Mercury statue.  By the time I walked around to get a look at the statue, Beauty was on top of the money bag hand.  Dot.ca was gone.

The parade started at 12:30 pm, so I walked over to Main St to check it out.  By the time I got there, Beauty was gone.  Seems our downtown pair don’t like bagpipe music.  🙂

I’ll leave you with some pictures I took of Rochester’s St. Patrick Day Parade!  Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

12:30 pm – 4:00 pm

Oh, my goodness!  What an absolutely stunning late winter day.  Temps in the 70’s, blue sky, bright sunshine and a nice gusty wind!  Perfect for falcons and their watchers!  🙂

I arrived downtown around 12:30 pm.  The city was bustling with all the worker bees and residents out on the streets enjoying the summer-like weather.  From the Andrews St Bridge (ASB), I saw my first falcon of the watch at 12:50 pm.  It was flying between the Times Square Bldg (TSB) and the Powers Bldg (PB).  I lost sight of the falcon when it flew behind OCSR.  Time to go to the Broad St Bridge (BSB).

From the BSB, I saw Dot.ca (DC) at the nest box.  Beauty was soaring high above, on the hunt.

She flew higher and higher into the clouds.  Beauty passed over me, heading north.  She stooped over the river and returned empty-taloned, landing on the south side of OCSR (top IBeam).  Then she took a walk!  Love watching them walk on their big yellow feet.  They always remind me of Groucho Marx.  lol

During all of this, DC remained at the nest box.  Beauty then flew to the Times Square Bldg nest box, joining Dot.ca inside.  I could hear ee-chupping all the way out on the Broad St Bridge.  They can be very loud!

Dot.ca did some soaring on the high winds above the Genesee River.

He then returned to the nest box, joining Beauty.  He stayed and she left.

Beauty went on the hunt again.  This time she was successful.  She caught a small bird by the Radisson and carried it to the base of Mercury.

DC watched from the TSB nest box.

Beauty ate just a bit and then cached it on the base of Mercury.

After she was done, she flew over to the Times Square Bldg and landed below the SE wing.  DC remained at the nest box.

Brian H joined me.  He was dressed for the weather.  Shorts, T-shirt (no sleeves) and no shoes!  Hahaha!  I wasn’t so brave, although it was very warm, especially with the sun shining.  Some folks stopped to ask about the falcons, wondering how they were doing.  We were happy to educate them.  lol

The migration has started, so we weren’t surprised to see two Turkey Vultures floating over the city heading north.

A Crow flew too close to the Times Square Bldg and Beauty stooped on it and gave chase.  She flew overhead and then to the nest box.  DC came out and landed on the base of Mercury.

Dot.ca didn’t stay long and did not touch Beauty’s cache.  He flew over to the top IBeam of OCSR.  At that point, all was peaceful and quiet.  In fact, I was getting ready to end my watch.  But as happens all too often, at 3:30 pm, Beauty took off from the nest box platform, flying over us.  She was heading southeast, fast!  We could see her target.  Another falcon was heading in from the south side of the Xerox Bldg.  This falcon, based on size, was another female.  She was much higher than Beauty, who was gaining altitude fast.  Brian and I looked back to verify that Dot.ca was still on OCSR.  He was.

Beauty was below the intruder when she stooped on Beauty.  Then the chase was on.  We lost sight of both falcons, as Beauty chased the other female out of her city, heading south.  Sorry, I was unable to get any pictures.

Now we (and DC) waited for Beauty’s return.  It wasn’t a long wait.  At 3:40 pm, Beauty flew in from the south, over us and up to the nest box platform.  Dot.ca had not moved from OCSR.  This is not unusual, since Tiercel’s will usually not battle female falcons, since they are so much larger.  It’s not unheard of though.

This is the time of year that we usually see migrating falcons come through the area.  Beauty and Dot.ca will hopefully keep them moving.

When I finally ended my watch at 4:00 pm, all was peaceful and quiet again.  Beauty was on main cam at the nest box and DC was on the top IBeam of OCSR on the south side.

On my way home, I stopped at Seneca Towers for a quick look.  I did see a falcon eating on the bridge, but by the time I got turned around, it was gone.  From Maplewood Park, I could not see any falcons on Seneca Towers.

During our watch, Brian called Dan to let him know what was going on.  Dan told us that he had been out that morning and had seen Beauty and Dot.ca copulate.  So nice to talk to Dan.  He said to say hello to everyone!

We are expecting rain all day today (3/10), but tomorrow it should clear up.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

8:00 am to 1:30 pm

It was a very cold, morning.  When I left my house, it was 19 degrees.  But the sun was shining and it was Sunday.  My favorite day to Falcon Watch.

As I was going out to my car, I was greeted by the beautiful song of a gorgeous red Cardinal singing to his lady.  Spring was in the air!  When his lady took off, he followed.

It was after 8:00 am, when I met up with Larry and Harold on the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  Larry pointed out Dot.ca (DC) on the top arm of the jail communication tower (JCT) and Beauty on Camera 1 (aka pan cam) on the Times Square Bldg (TSB).

First DC, then Beauty took off heading west.  Larry had to leave, so I headed over to Aqueduct St, aka “the hole”.  While I was down there, Dot.ca flew up to the base of Mercury and copulated with Beauty.  I didn’t even know she was there!

They both took off.  Beauty landed on pan cam and I found Dot.ca on the base of Mercury.

I moved up to the Broad St Bridge and watched Dot.ca until he took off.  Then I moved up to Falcon Watch Central, which is on Broad St closer to the Times Square Bldg.  From there I had a nice view of the Times Square Bldg and Powers Bldg.

Beauty remained on the TSB pan cam for a long time.

While I was watching Beauty, I was visited by this House Sparrow.  Ok, they’re cute too.  🙂

Dot.ca returned and flew past the TSB, heading west.  Beauty followed.  I found them both on the Widows Walk (WW).  Beauty was on the NW corner and Dot.ca was on the NE corner.

While I was watching Beauty and Dot.ca, I was being watched by a couple of the neighborhood pigeons.

Dot.ca started to walk towards Beauty.  When he reached her, he took off and flew back, attempting to land on her to copulate. It was a near miss.  Dot.ca kept going, heading south.  A few moments later, Beauty followed.  I drove around, trying to find them.  Finally I spotted Dot.ca up on top of the Times Square Bldg on the northeast wing ring.

A jet flew overhead.  I just thought it was cool.  lol

Dot.ca spread his wings and took off.  He flew east towards the river and then returned to the Times Square Bldg, landing below the NE wing.

It had been quite awhile since I had seen Beauty.  Finally she returned and landed on pan cam.  Dot.ca took off and flew directly into the nest box.  There was a bit of vocalization between them.

A few minutes later, Dot.ca flew out of the nest box and landed on top of the Mercury statue.  Beauty remained on pan cam.

Beauty flew towards Mercury and landed on the base, below Dot.ca.

Beauty took off heading south over the river.  She was on the hunt.  All the river pigeons took flight.  They were swirling around while Beauty chased them and stooped on them.  Dot.ca joined her on a tandem hunt.

It was an unsuccessful hunt.  Beauty returned to pan cam and Dot.ca landed above her below the NE wing.

All was quiet and peaceful in our downtown falcons world so I ended my watch to go check on Billie and Seth at Seneca Towers. Sorry to say, I could not find them.

Later in the afternoon fellow watcher Joyce reported seeing both Billie and Seth at Seneca Towers.  Here are her tweets.

5:32 pm – ST- Seth on NW corner railing and Billie on NW corner of roof extension above windows. It’s obvious to tell these two apart!

5:34 pm – ST- from Church driveway saw Seth fly off. Up went Billie’s tail and yippee, saw my first mating of the season. No pics. Just enjoyed view.

So, our two resident pairs were seen today.  Copulation seen at both locations. Spring is definitely in the air!

Oh, and one more thing.  I heard my first Red-winged Blackbirds today!  They’re back!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a very cold day, temps in the 20’s and it was lightly snowing at the beginning of my watch.  It did stop though, and the sun came out.

I found no falcons at the Brighton Site (BS), so I headed downtown.  From the Broad St Bridge, I could see no falcons.  I headed over to the Andrews St Bridge.  From there, I could see a falcon on the OCSR, top Ibeam, west corner.  A few minutes later, a 2nd falcon flew in and landed on the top IBeam, near the first one.  They both had their backs to me and the lighting wasn’t very good, so I could not tell which was which.  That is until I made my way back over to the Broad St Bridge, after the corner falcon walked to the south side.  Bright white greeted me.  The corner bird was definitely Dot.ca. lol

I got out of my car to check out the river.  It was running high with very little rocks above water.  There were no birds down on the river.  But there were a lot of Ring-billed Gulls and Pigeons flying around the area and landing on the nearby buildings. Here are a few pictures I took while checking out the Genesee River.

All was peaceful and quiet, so I headed over to Maplewood Park to check out Seneca Towers.  Both Billie and Seth were on the building at the southwest corner.  Billie took off and flew over the river gorge, returning to land next to Seth.

I was happy to have found two of our resident pairs at home.  Over the next few days, our weather will be improving.  They are calling for temperatures in the 60’s (F)!  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(12 pm to 2 pm)

Happy first day of March!  29 degrees (F) and sunshine!  A very nice day!

Last night we had high winds and tomorrow we’re under a Winter Storm Watch. Today was the eye of the storm. 🙂

At first I couldn’t find Beauty and Dot.ca.  Finally from the Broad St Bridge, I found them both up on the old B&L Bldg, now called Legacy Tower.  Both were on different southwest corners.  Beauty had food and Dot.ca was keeping watch.  He must have eaten earlier, because he never did attempt to share her food.

After finishing her meal, Beauty flew off, circled and returned to the building.  She did that twice before settling on the west side ledge.  Here are some pictures from my downtown falcon watch.

I was also happy to find both Billie and Seth home at Seneca Towers.  They were both together on the southwest corner of the building.

I found no falcons at Medley Center.

It was a four falcon watch today.  Always happy to see 2 pairs of our resident falcons keeping company with each other.  Spring will be here before we know it!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

As I type this report, it is a balmy 60 degrees (F) here in Rochester, NY.  During my falcon watch, it was 51 degrees and sunny. What a gorgeous day!

This was a great day for a falcon watch and what a fun watch it was.  When I arrived downtown, I spotted Dot.ca up on top of the Mercury statue.  He took off, heading south.  From the Broad St Bridge, I could see Beauty at the Times Square Bldg (TSB) nest box.

Dot.ca was on the top arm of the Jail Communication Tower (JCT).  He took off and Beauty was gone too!  I moved closer to the TSB and found Beauty on the ledge just above the nest box.

Dot.ca flew in and approached Beauty and ……. Copulation #1! (8:10 am) Let the season begin!  🙂

Beauty remained on the ledge.  Dot.ca entered the nest box and then out to the pan cam (Camera #1).

Dot.ca took off from Pan Cam and flew south.  Beauty took off and up to the ledge under the northeast wing of the TSB.  Dot.ca turned back towards the Times Square Bldg and again approached Beauty. Copulation #2! (8:37 am)

Dot.ca again flew down to the nest box and dug in the scrape, prepping it for his eggs.  lol  He then came out and up to pan cam.

Kathy O joined me at this point. We could hear a high pitched wailing coming from Beauty.

At 10:23 am, Dot.ca took off.

He circled around the Wilder Bldg and up to Beauty.  Copulation #3! No picture this time, but I did a quick video snippet.

Click here:

Beauty and Dot.ca Copulation #3 Video

Dot.ca went to the nest box and scrapped and back to Pan Cam.  Seems to be a pattern here.  lol

Kathy and I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk fly overhead.  Beauty and Dot.ca started to kak loudly, but neither of them left the building.  The hawk flew off to the northeast, and Beauty and Dot.ca were quiet again.

Dot.ca took off at 11:26 am.  He stooped towards the building on the north side of the Times Square Bldg and took a swipe at the pigeons there.  They took off, flying in all directions.  Dot.ca returned to the nest box.

At 11:37 am, Beauty and Dot.ca copulated for the 4th time during my watch.  Again on the ledge below the northeast wing.  Here is another short video.  This time you can hear Kathy and I talking.  🙂

Click here:

Beauty and Dot.ca Copulation #4

Afterwards Dot.ca landed on the southeast wing ledge across from Beauty.  That’s when we ended our downtown falcon watch.

I did check Seneca Towers, Medley Center and Russell Station, but found no falcons at any of those locations.  While I was checking out Seneca Towers from Maplewood Park I saw two adult Bald Eagles flying low over the river gorge.  No pictures because they both went below the tree line.

I’ll leave you with a picture I took before my falcon watch.  Do you see what I see!