By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The sky was dark with overcast conditions and a temperature of 42 (F) 6 (C)

I started my watch at 7:30am and didn’t see a falcon at Seneca Towers or Hawkeye. After a couple trips around downtown I was starting to wonder if I would see a PEFA today, so I occupied myself by taking in the fall colors and the Genesee River, which was pretty mellow this morning.  The ivy on the Thomson Reuters building was especially pretty.

The gulls were enjoying the various trees in the river for gathering and preening. It’s funny how they’ll get on those trees but I’ve never seen a gull in an upright, live tree.

Finally at about 8:15am, while I was on the Court St. bridge I checked one of Dot.ca’s (DC) hunting spots and I could barely see him up there on the north side first column from the northwest corner. I drove to the Legacy Tower circle where I had a better and closer angle on him.

After a while I took a ride around to search for Beauty but had no luck so I went to Elm St. behind Midtown to watch DC from the north side of Xerox. At 8:37am DC flew to the north in a big hurry-he may have been hunting.

I never did find another PEFA-not downtown, Hawkeye, Medley Center or Seneca Towers. That didn’t stop me from smiling as I ended my watch around 9:45am because I saw DC and that’s more than a lot of people get to see! 🙂

Click on the link below to see my snippets of the morning watch that I had

https://youtu.be/hph7JbQJOSQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a clear day with a cold start at 36 (F)  2 (C) degrees

I started on East Ridge Rd. with Seth and Billie in my sights. She was on the north end roof and Seth was below on the north window ledge.

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I left after a few minutes and headed downtown where I found Dot.ca (DC) on the top I-beam of OCSR near the west corner. A few minutes later Beauty landed on the corner to join her mate. They were pretty close to each other which i love to see.

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The Beautyful one moved over closer to her mate and turned her back to me.

I could that DC had a full crop and when Beauty first arrived she started feaking so I believe she was most likely eating before she joined us.

DC changed his position a few times and when I left them his back was to me as well. I headed over to the Medley Center where I found nothing but pigeons and starlings. I was having phone issues so I opted for ending my watch to go take care of that at 9:15am. Seeing our resident pairs was cause for me to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

https://youtu.be/8lTQeYE4D-c

https://youtu.be/e5cOD0XczGE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 58 (F) 14 (C) when I started my watch at 7:30am with mostly cloudy skies and a busy breeze

I first checked the north end of Seneca Towers from the back of my parking lot where I could see a falcon on the northwest corner railing. I couldn’t tell who it was so I went out to Seth Green Dr. where I could see another one on the west side railing. I’m pretty sure Billie was on the corner and Seth on the west side.

I left for downtown and encountered big time traffic backups at every turn and I was having phone problems as well. I arrived on the Andrews St. bridge after 8am and found Dot.ca (DC) on the top I-beam near the north corner. I watched him for about 15 minutes then left to look for Beauty.

Saw some pretty mums below HSBC and  spotted the Beautyful one on one of the northeast corners of the Legacy Tower (LT) while I was stopped at the intersection of Broad St. and Clinton Ave.

I drove around the corner to Clinton and Elm St. where I could park to observe Beauty as she was in hunt mode. She was watching something below her and the east side where there are many pigeons. At 8:31am she spotted something to the north and flew off in that direction. Just before I lost sight of her behind buildings she went into a stoop near the Sibley building.

She would be the last PEFA I saw today-after checking downtown, Medley Center, Hawkeye and Seneca Towers unsuccessfully I ended my watch at 9:15am. I saw our 2 pair so I was smiling after a very quiet watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/QwzaUrqqOGg

https://youtu.be/WtU2qI-_8X0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a dark overcast morning with some fog downtown and a temperature of  55 (F)  13 (C). Sprinkles of rain here and there

I started the day with Seth on the north window ledge and Billie on the west side railing of Seneca Towers.

I arrived downtown around 8am finding Beauty on the heel of Mercury from the Broad St. bridge.

About 10 minutes later the Beautyful one stooped on some pigeons down behind Thomson Reuters then resurfaced out over the river and flew up to the southwest corner of the Hyatt Hotel for less than a minute and took off as I was tweeting.

I hadn’t seen Dot.ca (DC) around so when I got a tweet that Lisa saw a falcon at the Brighton site (BS) where he used to go with Pigott I thought I better get over there and see if it was him. He was still on the south vent where she reported seeing the falcon when I arrived at 8:39am.

Boy, it’s been a couple years since I saw a falcon over there-it was really strange. Anyway, he flew off a minute or so after I found him went around the west side checking out the cubby he and Pigott used to meet in then back out to the southwest corner. It sure looked like DC to and it wasn’t until he flew from there at 8:47am that I saw the black/black band on his right leg confirming to me that I was watching DC heading in the direction of downtown.

I returned to downtown and made a couple trips around but didn’t find Beauty or DC so I continued on to the Medley Center arriving there about 9:30am. Big Frank was there on the glass peaked roof so I parked on the east side of the mall for the best vantage point. She flew off to the east about 15 minutes later while I was on the phone so I missed the take off shot. One of my pics showed no band on right leg and black/black on the left leg.

I left for the last leg of my watch and found Seth on the north window and Billie on the west side railing-the same spots I saw them on Seneca Towers as when I left for my watch at 7:30am. They both had a full crop so they did move while I was gone!

I ended my watch with a great big smile as I saw our 5 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out my videos

https://youtu.be/BYa9nb81cDI

https://youtu.be/Jmd9v1VaaSY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature was 59 (F) 15 (C) with cloudy skies and pop up showers and a busy breeze

Seth was by himself on the north window ledge of Seneca Towers this morning as I went out to East Ridge Rd. to have a look.

As I was coming up St. Paul St. I saw a falcon fly into a stoop toward the river gorge from the northwest side of Hawkeye. I checked the perimeter of Hawkeye but saw no falcons. When I arrived downtown on the Andrews St. bridge at 8am I spotted a falcon on the large drum on the Frontier Communications tower.

While I was driving down to State St. I watched it fly off behind the drum so I went over to Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities parking garage where I found not one but 2 PEFA’s. Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) were on the cross beam to the large drum.

DC’s head was blocked by a beam from where I was located and they were facing each other at first but after a while DC turned his back to the Beautyful one.

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They were settled and I was in a hurry so I left them to check the Medley Center,Hawkeye and Seneca Towers. No luck at Hawkeye or the mall but I did find Buffalo Billie and Seth on the north window ledge across from each other.

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That’s all she wrote folks-I ended my watch at 9am with a smile after seeing our 4 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons safe and sound for another day! 🙂

Click on the link below to view today’s snippets

https://youtu.be/9DxZnB3vBO8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a sunny but chilly morning with a temperature of 31 (F) -1 (C)

Be sure to click on my pics to see the full version

I started my watch at Seneca Towers at 7:30am with Seth on the north window ledge and Billie on the northwest corner with her back to me from the north end of my parking lot so I drove out to Seth Green Dr. to see the front of her.

I left them and as I came up to the Kodak Hawkeye plant on St. Paul St. I spotted an unbanded male falcon on the north end of the roof eating. I pulled into the driveway of the Rochester School for the Deaf to observe and as I was there a bigger falcon flew in from the north and landed on the west side of the ring where the nest box is located.

I couldn’t see it very well so I went across St. Paul St. to the parking lot across from Hawkeye (HE) to the east. I couldn’t see the ring falcon at all from there so I kept taking pics of the male who had stopped eating after the other falcon showed up.

As I was looking to the ring the male left and then a female took over the spot where he had been eating. She had a black/red left leg band and a purple right leg band. She didn’t eat anything while she was up there so I don’t know if she was not interested or if the male had left with the food since I didn’t see him leave.

The female spotted something and turned around before flying west toward the river then south behind the building out of view at 7:54am.

I thought I had better go check on Billie and Seth since HE is only half a mile from Seneca Towers. Seth was still on his north end window ledge and Billie was on the roof above him facing Hawkeye at first then she turned around before flying out over the bridge then back to the roof facing me.

At 8:18am Lisa reported seeing a falcon at the Brighton Site. I left for downtown at that time and on the way found the HE female on the ring right behind the nest box. She flew east out of view at 8:20am.

Finally made it downtown and didn’t find any falcons during my first 2 trips around. I was on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) when Donna reported seeing a falcon on cam 1 so I headed over to Times Square. I found a Kestrel on the Mercury Money bag and I believe that’s who Donna saw on cam 1.

The Kestrel flew off and so did I, ending up back on the ASB where I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). At the time I didn’t see her but when I was checking my pics on the computer screen I noticed Beauty on the large drum and it looked like she was eating in the pic.

Not knowing the Beautyful one was present I drove over to FCT and positioned myself in the City Hall parking lot for the best angle on DC.

DC flew off real low toward Kodak Office where I lost him behind trees and buildings. I left to check the Medley Center around 10am where I found nothing. When I got home to Seneca Towers Billie and Seth were on the north window ledge preening together.

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I ended my watch at 10:30am smiling after seeing our 2 pair of resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons safe and sound! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/hEWnRFih4FE

https://youtu.be/1dAMjgUljLQ

https://youtu.be/h8gcbXMehjg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

35 (F)  2 (C) degrees and frozen snow on my car with a beautiful sunrise followed by overcast, cloudy skies

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As I was waiting for the elevator I couldn’t help but notice the sun rising in the eastern sky. When I checked the north end of Seneca Towers (ST) from the back of my parking lot I could just barely see the back of a falcon. I drove out to East Ridge Rd. to have a better view but it was gone when I got there.

I proceeded to downtown where I came upon Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) on the northeast corner of Legacy Tower (LT). I pulled over on E. Broad St. below Midtown to observe as she was eating and he was watching her from a few feet away.

Please click on all my pics to see the full version

You could see the pleading look DC was giving Beauty so she would share. He waited just so long and then he made his move back behind her and grabbed a small piece, bringing it out near her to eat it.

DC polished it off quickly and went back to watching his Beautyful one eat away. Again, he could only take it for so long then he tried another sneak attack from behind but this time she turned around and he flew off at 8:09am.

I don’t know where he went but I believe it was somewhere that he could see her. Beauty finished eating not too long after DC left and did some feaking and talon picking, then just stood perched on the corner for a while.

Beauty flew off around 8:20am when I wasn’t looking and before I could put my car in gear to leave, DC was on the corner picking at her leftovers.

DC settled down and started looking around for something to catch-I left him there around 8:45am and headed over to the Medley Centre. All I saw there was the carcass of the gull that Big Frank was eating yesterday-it had been moved about 50 feet away from where she had it and there was not a bit of meat left. Now when I arrived at my spot on East Ridge Rd. and St. Paul St. there was a falcon on the northwest corner of ST with its back to me.

As I was pulling away to check from Seth Green Dr. it flew off, circled back around and landed momentarily on the north end roof then off again heading southwest. I didn’t see it again after that so I ended my watch at about 9:30am. Today, DC was the maker of my smile with his food antics! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

https://youtu.be/TF0-y1MWcoo

https://youtu.be/Is4KYun4Lbk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There was lots of sun and occasional clouds to block the warmth of it as the temperature was only 36 (F) 2 (C)

Billie and Seth have definitely changed up their morning routine as I didn’t see them on Seneca Towers again this morning. As I arrived downtown and didn’t find anyone there initially, I thought I was going to get skunked. On my second trip around I spotted Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) on the top I-beam southeast side of OCSR from the Broad St. bridge. I drove down to the hole for a closer view.

The angle wasn’t the best so after the Beautyful one flew off to the south I went looking for her to no avail and returned to watch DC from the Radisson Hotel by Main St. He had quite the full crop!

I figured since he had eaten he wasn’t going anywhere except maybe to his man cave in the OCSR elevator shaft so I took one more ride around to find Beauty and left for the Medley Centre after an unsuccessful search. I circled the mall once and when I came around to the north side on the second trip I stopped to check out a row of pretty yellow trees.

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As I was rounding the corner I noticed lots of white feathers and when I looked to the end of them I found Big Frank (BF)-she was eating a juvenile gull. She sure does like a big breakfast!

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At first I wasn’t sure if it was BF because I hadn’t seen her for a long time but when I saw no band on her right leg and the black over black band on her left foot I was convinced. She then moved her prey and showed me her identifying left leg band showing the S/39 for a positive ID.

On my little LCD camera screen it’s hard to see details so I couldn’t decide whether she had a pigeon or a gull as I was seeing brown on the wings. Frankie likes to move her prey from one spot to the other-I noticed that when I witnessed her eating a duck a few weeks ago. She is a formidable opponent and if I were a Peregrine I would not mess with her!

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I noticed a couple pigeons on a light post above BF watching her and probably saying how happy they were that she was in the mood for gull this morning. They didn’t stick around to see if she wanted pigeon for dessert.

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Frankie had her fill and flew off at 9:13am circling around to the glass peak roof where she landed to digest her meal. Dana came by and confirmed that it was a juvie gull as she had checked the remains. I left for home at that point finding no falcons at Seneca Towers again. I ended my watch at 9:45am with a big old smile after having seen Frankie for the first time in almost 3 weeks! 🙂

Check out today’s videos by clicking on the links below

https://youtu.be/FDoZDbG6VZY

https://youtu.be/6Nb0Mg6Aa6w

https://youtu.be/_3j3jMTaoYM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Fall has arrived and there may be a hint of snow in the air in some areas near Rochester, NY this weekend.  Brrrr.

Here are some reports and images from my afternoon Falcon Watches over the past few days.  Enjoy!

Monday, October 10, 2015

I found both Billie and Seth home at Seneca Towers.  They were on the north end window ledge.  This was my view from Maplewood Park, across the river.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

On Wednesday I found both Beauty and Dot.ca up inside the OCSR elevator shaft.  I found no falcons at Hawkeye, Medley Center or Seneca Towers.

But, I did find a Peregrine Falcon hanging out on the base of the top railing on the west stack at Russell Station.  It was too far a distance for me to get any good pics to tell if it was banded or not.  Based on size, I believe it was a female and she had food on the platform behind her.  She remained about an hour then went on her way.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

I spent most of my watch downtown with both Beauty and Dot.ca.  I first found Dot.ca up inside the OCSR elevator shaft.  He took off and Beauty landed on the north side of OCSR on the top IBeam.  Before I left downtown, I found Dot.ca on the north side of Kodak Office on the arch ledge.  I found no falcons at Hawkeye, Medley Center, Seneca Towers or Russell Station.

Friday, October 16, 2015

When I arrived downtown, I found Dot.ca on the south side arch ledge of Kodak Office.  He soon took off and landed on the Frontier Communication Tower on the south side, just below the platform.

Beauty flew in from the east and landed next to Dot.ca on the Frontier Communication Tower.

I drove over to the City Hall parking lot for a closer look.  After taking one picture, both Beauty and Dot.ca started to alarm kak kak kak!  They both took off heading south and I followed.

I arrived on the Broad St Bridge, just as one falcon was returning heading back towards the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT). Back on the Andrews St Bridge I was able to see a falcon on the FCT southeast box.  I could not tell if it was Beauty or Dot.ca.

While I was keeping watch for the 2nd falcon to return, A Coopers Hawk flew over the river and the pigeons that had been on a nearby building took off and flew in panicked flight as the Coop passed over heading south down the river.  The falcon on the Frontier Communication Tower, did not move.

I checked at Hawkeye, Medley Center, Seneca Towers and Russell Station, where I had no luck finding any falcons.

At Medley Center, I was having fun watching two Mockingbirds that appeared to be in a mock battle.  To me it looked more like playing by two young ones.  They were chasing each other and vocalizing quite loudly.  Here are a couple pictures I took of them.  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We had changeable weather this morning-sun, rain and sun while raining. It was mostly cloudy at first, then the skies cleared, only to be inundated with clouds again. The starting temperature was 46 (F) 8 (C)

Surprisingly, there were no falcons at Seneca Towers when I started my watch. Just as I was making my way downtown, watcher Pat reported a falcon flying east from the southeast wing of Times Square (TSB) past the Chase building at 7:40am. As I was stopped on the Court St. bridge after checking the east side, I spotted Beauty on the east railing across from the Powers nest box. I drove down to the end of Aqueduct St. as she flew off toward the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). I found her on the northeast cube.

Beauty did a little preening and worked hard on extracting a pellet from her pretty much empty crop. She flew over to Kodak Office (KO) at 7:55am.

I found not only the Beautyful one but Dot.ca (DC) as well on KO. She was on the southeast corner of the 17th floor and he was on the southeast corner of the launchpad. I stopped at State and Platt St. but they weren’t facing me so I drove up to State and Brown St.

They were looking over their territory and looking up and down at each other occasionally.

I left them around 8:15am-as I was crossing the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge on my way to the Medley Centre I noticed a falcon on the north end roof of Seneca Towers. I pulled into the Northridge Church parking lot real quick and took a couple pics but couldn’t say for sure who it was-I think Seth.

No luck seeing Big Frank at the mall again-I hope she comes back to grace us with her awesome presence. I ended my watch at 9 am. In my travels I took a few pics of the fall colors-I hope they put a smile on your face as they did on  mine!

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Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/2RvxUOGsX5I

https://youtu.be/buARCk_XH1M