By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A chilly start with a temperature of 40 (F) 4 (C) and bright blue sunny skies

Billie and Seth were on opposite ends of the north window ledge this morning as I started my watch at 7:30am.

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When I arrived downtown on the Andrews St. bridge Beauty was on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). I drove over to Fitzhugh St. first where my view of her was a bit blocked by a beam so I went to the City Hall parking lot where I could see her back quite well. lol

I left her to look for Dot.ca (DC) and I found him under the northeast wing of the Times Square building just before 8am. I parked on Basin St. in the hole-it was nice to be at the old stomping grounds for a while with a falcon on Times Square. DC seemed to be in hunt mode as he was watching something below him.

Naturally he flew off when I wasn’t looking-I thought perhaps he went over to FCT to join Beauty but when I stopped on State St. by the Rochester Plaza Hotel only the Beautyful one was there-still on her northeast cube. I took a couple pics and a video of her before leaving for the Medley Center (MC) around 8:30am.

I didn’t find Big Frank at MC but I did find a juvenile Turkey Vulture (TV) on the east side of the mall on a retaining wall being harassed by a crow. The crow kept sneaking up on it and pulling at its tail feathers-the TV flew after it a couple times to say get out of my space!

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The crow went back for more and the TV gave up and flew off.

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I left for home and when I got to Seneca Towers Seth was on the north end window ledge as I pulled over on East Ridge Road-he took off while I was checking his pic on my camera screen and that ended my watch at 9:10am.

So all 4 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons were seen doing well. I had fun watching the TV and crow-they were definitely good for a smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see falcons, a turkey vulture and a crow

https://youtu.be/emWd3sC6D7I

https://youtu.be/EttYMdYgE6s

https://youtu.be/Mt1J7Y7nrU4

https://youtu.be/k4t0ofOXdt4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a dark, overcast morning with a temperature of 51 (F) 11 (C) and a fine misty rain here and there

Seth was on his north side window ledge to greet me this morning as I started out.

When I arrived downtown on the Andrews St. bridge Beauty was over on the southeast cube of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT).

I drove over to the City Hall parking lot for the best view after checking from Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities parking garage first. I don’t know if she lost her balance and flew off to the southwest or went after a bird around 7:45am but she returned within seconds to the cube.

The Beautyful one did a little preening, pooped and roused in between looking around the area. I left her about 8am to search for Dot.ca but I wasn’t able to find him. Perhaps he was out flying around with Genesee. As I came back thru past FCT I could see that Beauty was still on the southeast cube.

Over at the Medley Centre I saw a crow dive bombing something back behind the carousel roof from the south side of the mall. I drove around to the north side to find out what it was going after-a Red-tailed Hawk.

I waited around for a while hoping Big Frank would come by but no luck. When I got home to Seneca Towers Billie and Seth were on the top south window ledge. Buffalo Billie took off soon after I pulled over on Seth Green Dr. heading south.

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I ended my watch at 10am after a pretty much uneventful morning but still smiling! 🙂

Click on the link below to see snippets from my watch

https://youtu.be/deFIpSusv0I

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A warm, dark start with a temperature of 61 (F) 16 (C) rain in the area

I began my watch with who I think was Billie on the north window-it was so dark out still at 7:30am that I couldn’t tell for sure.

Upon arriving downtown I didn’t see anybody initially but when I stopped on Woodbury Blvd. I suddenly spotted 2 small falcons talon tagging by the south side of Legacy Tower. They disappeared as fast as they appeared-it was probably Dot.ca and Genesee. When they didn’t return I drove to the Broad St. bridge (BSB) where I spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury about 8am.

She was in hunt mode as she took off after some pigeons at 8:16am down toward the river and then reappeared flying above Xerox.

She spent 5-10 minutes looking for prey, floating effortlessly from one side of Xerox to the other. She finally spotted something and went into a stoop toward the river out of view. I stopped on the Court St. bridge where I saw the Beautyful one under the northeast wing of Times Square. I whipped over to the hole just in time to catch her flying off to the northwest.

I drove over to the Frontier Communications which was the general direction Beauty flew. I found her on the northeast cube

I left downtown at that point and headed over to the Medley Centre where Big Frank was nowhere to be seen again. Joyce saw 2 falcons over by the Irondequoit Bay last night so perhaps one of them was her. I ended my watch at Seneca Towers where I saw both Buffalo Billie and Seth. When I first arrived in my spot at East Ridge Rd. and St. Paul St. I spotted Billie up on the roof above the north end windows.

While I was tweeting Billie took off and ended up landing on the northwest corner of the railing. She had her back to me so I decided to go over to Seth Green Dr. where I could see the front of her.

Billie only stayed there a couple more minutes when she stooped straight down out of view. I next spotted her on the southwest corner where she was eating-don’t know if she caught something or if it was cached food.

Next thing I knew Seth was on the roof right behind Billie. I guess she didn’t want to share for she took off and when Seth checked where she had been he only found a couple small pieces of leftovers.

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Seth flew off at 9:47am circled around the building then landed back on the southwest corner on top of a transmitter/antenna.

Seth didn’t stay there for long either as he flew off going southwest and this time he didn’t return.

I said goodbye and ended my watch at 10am smiling after a very active watch this morning! 🙂

Check out the links below to see today’s videos-footage of Beauty flying and hovering

https://youtu.be/TpqyeO7t92w

https://youtu.be/BmpF8m7_rQs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The weather was just dandy today with sunny blue skies, breezy and a starting temperature of  55 (F) 13 (C)

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

I made my way to downtown and spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of City Place with prey from the Andrews St. bridge (ASB)

I drove over to the Hochstein School of Music parking lot for a closer view but I had a hard time deciding who it was because it had its back to me. At first I thought Dot.ca (DC) but the side of his face wasn’t quite right.

As he started plucking feathers I thought I’d go look for Beauty and I did-as I was checking Kodak Office I spotted her from Verona St. on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). I drove to Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities parking garage to see the front of her while behind me was City Place.

Unbeknownst to me DC had flown in and landed on the cube with her-it’s amazing what I find in my pics and videos when I look at them on the computer that I miss on my little LCD camera screen. They were looking at each other as if to say-I don’t believe it-as in their son, Genesee is still hanging around. It was him on City Place with food as I found out after returning to the parking lot below it.

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I was able to get a few leg shots showing the silver band on his right leg and the black over green band on his left leg. He just refuses to leave home! 🙂

Genesee did some whining and preening and occasionally looked back at his parents

He looked down in my direction then pooped before taking off at 8:36am over to the roof of City Place where Beauty takes baths and disappeared .

I drove out farther to try to see him up there but I couldn’t so I returned to FCT, parking in the City Hall parking lot where I could see Beauty was still on the northeast cube and DC was on the beam that connects the north and southeast cubes with his back to me. Again I wasn’t sure if it was him or his son. Beauty took off to the southeast at 8:48am and that’s when I knew it wasn’t Genesee because he would most likely have followed her.

I went back down to Fitzhugh St. by the Sister Cities garage to confirm that it was DC on the beam. He napped for a short time then looked southeast and took off in that direction at 8:53am.

I left to check the Medley Centre for Big Frank who hasn’t been seen in a few days now and today was no different. When I got home to Seneca Towers Seth was on the north window ledge.

I ended my watch about 9:45am smiling over the fact that Genesee is still hanging out with his folks! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/G-DdVZ38zoI

https://youtu.be/QoGfz89icHg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Here are some highlights and sights from the last few days.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

I was out for an afternoon watch and met up with fellow watcher Dana at the Hawkeye Bldg.  There was one falcon on the railing across from the nest box that we could not ID.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

The first picture below is Beauty and Dot.ca on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).

Picture #2 – My view from across the river from Seneca Towers looking south towards Hawkeye.

Picture #3 – Billie and Seth on Seneca Towers (ST) north end windows ledge.  We were worried about Seth due to the witnessed battle between two males (tiercels) by MAK and Donna.  When I first arrived at ST, Billie was alone on the north end window ledge.  From the church (Northbridge), northeast from ST, I was very happy to see Seth fly in and join Billie on the ledge.  Their greetings filled the air.  It’s amazing how loud they can be.  🙂

Sunday, October 11, 2015

On my Sunday travels, I found Beauty and Dot.ca (B&DC) on the north side of OCSR on the north side top IBeam.  Just as I arrived, the sky above the river was filled with pigeons in panicked flight.  I believe I missed a hunting attempt by B&DC.

They remained there for quite awhile, preening and looking around.  They both took off, first Dot.ca with Beauty following, heading west.  I heard kakking and finally saw what was bothering them.  They were chasing a 3rd bird out of their territory, heading NW.  I only got a quick glimpse of the bird they were chasing, so I’m not sure what it was.

Both returned quickly.  Beauty to the top Ibeam on OCSR and Dot.ca to the NE box on the Frontier Communication Tower.  This is where I left them to continue my watch.

I found both Billie and Seth at home on the north end window ledge.  No falcons found at Medley Center.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Sunny with bright blue skies and not a cloud in the sky-temperature of 45 (F) 7 (C)

Donna and I could find no falcons at Seneca Towers at the beginning or end of our watch so there is still concern that the unidentified pair that was seen at Hawkeye last Thursday may be still in the area.

We arrived downtown just before 8am and from the Court St. bridge I spotted a falcon flying above Xerox. We saw it one more time as we checked the east side and then it was gone. Next while we were checking out Kodak Office from Verona St. I found Beauty on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT). I drove us over to the Hochstein School of Music parking lot to watch.

The Beautyful one was mostly preening and blowing in the breeze as we left her to find Dot.ca (DC). We found him on the northeast corner of the Powers building top railing with his back to us from the back of the City Hall parking lot so we went to the end of Aqueduct St. where we could see the whiteness of his chest.

DC was right across from the nest box and kept looking over his shoulder toward FCT so we wondered if he wanted Beauty to come to the nest box with him. At any rate, we couldn’t stay to see if that happened as Donna was leaving to go home to New Jersey this morning.

We checked the Medley Center for Big Frank but no sign of her again which brought us back to a falcon-less Seneca Towers to end our watch at 9am. It’s been great having Donna on watch with me the past few days-we had a lot of laughs and smiles!

Click on the link below for one short snippet video

https://youtu.be/c8NhArDn5ts

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A sunny morning with a chilly temperature of 42 (F) 6 (C)

On Thursday afternoon there were a pair of unidentified falcons on Hawkeye while Billie and Seth were at Seneca Towers (ST). They looked quite comfortable there and we all knew that there would be trouble as the distance between them was only half a mile.

Nothing seen that evening other than a couple young bucks east of Seneca Towers by the off ramp to route 104, but yesterday afternoon Donna and I witnessed 2 males (presumably Seth and male from Hawkeye) battling above the tree tops of Seth Green Park from the west balcony of my 16th floor. They disappeared up river to the south of Seneca Towers and we didn’t see any more last night.

<Click-Hawkeye pair

This morning when we went on watch only Billie was present at ST on the south window ledge and I became a bit concerned for Seth as he is pretty much always here to start my morning watch. Donna and I checked Hawkeye on our way downtown but there was nobody there. Arriving on the Andrews St. bridge about 7:45am I spotted a falcon on an antenna above the bottom arm of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT).

I drove us over to the Hochstein School of Music parking lot where Donna spotted Beauty on the south side platform railing and DC was still on the antenna.

As you can see they were looking at something below them and we soon found out just what as first DC flew off followed by the Beautyful one.

They were tandem hunting after pigeons around FCT but they were unsuccessful. That was my first time seeing those two tandem hunt-what a thrill, and Donna was pretty excited too! I had just started taping them when they took off.

We found Beauty on the west corner top I-beam of OCSR and then after checking the OCSR elevator shaft I spotted DC from Bragdon St. over on the Elwanger & Barry building eating. We went to Corinthian St. for a front row seat as he finished his most likely cached meal.

DC took off to the north after feaking and cleaning up a bit. Donna and I decided to leave to check for Big Frank at the Medley Center and also Seneca Towers.

We were more focused on seeing Seth to ease our concerns about that battle yesterday. Beauty was on the northeast cube of FCT as we left downtown around 8:30am.

I stopped at the lower falls by the Driving Park bridge to show Donna-there were plenty of fisherman along the river fishing for salmon and we witnessed one being caught. The fall foliage is really starting to pop on the west side of the river gorge.

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We saw nobody at Hawkeye, Medley Centre or Irondequoit Bay. When we arrived home to Seneca Towers Billie was still on the south window ledge and no Seth. We decided we had a better chance of seeing falcons flying from the west and/or east side balconies so that’s what we did. A check of the perimeter a while later found Billie on the northwest corner railing. Finally at 12 noon Carol reported that Seth had joined Billie on the north end window ledge. All was right with the falcon world and we were all smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a couple videos

https://youtu.be/I-fBYyizXyQ

https://youtu.be/2LTFDR5xBMk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was partly cloudy this morning with a temperature of  50 (F) 10 (C)

Seth was by himself on the top north window ledge at Seneca Towers this morning.

I left him right away to go downtown-checking Hawkeye on my way as I do every day as I pass by it. There was a midwest falcon seen there yesterday-nothing today. I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the beam connecting the southeast and northeast cubes on the Frontier Communications Tower from the Andrews St. bridge.

I went over to the City Hall parking lot to observe DC but he had his back to me so I didn’t stay too long. He was preening and he watched one of his feathers as it floated by-thought that was cute. I left him to look for Beauty around 8am.

I found the Beautyful one on the west side railing of Widows Walk from the Court St. bridge. I drove over to Broad and Fitzhugh St. for the best view. She was looking around, possibly in hunt mode.

Everything seemed quiet so I left her around 8:30am to check the Medley Centre (MC). I was anxious to get over there after seeing Billie there yesterday. On my way over I got a message from my friend DebbieH that she could see a juvie (most likely Genesee) on the Hall of Justice roof and Beauty was still on Widows Walk. She works in the Ebenezer Watts building which is just behind the Democrat and Chronicle building.

I arrived at the MC at 8:45am finding Big Frank (BF) on the peaked glass roof. First I went to the east side to face her, then to the south side.

BF flew down to the west out of view and didn’t return right away. She stirred up pigeons and gulls that were scattering every which way. I drove around to the north side and found her back on the peak again.

BF turns around a lot when she’s hunting-she doesn’t miss a thing that moves and so I ended up having to go back to the south side of the mall to see her better before leaving.

As I pulled over on East Ridge Rd. by St. Paul St. I spotted Billie on the northwest corner of Seneca Towers and Seth not too far away on the top window ledge watching her.

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I only stayed a couple minutes as I have a lot to do today. I was happy to see Billie home where she belongs. I saw all 5 Rochester Peregrine Falcons today which made me smile as I ended mt watch at 9:30am! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out today’s videos

https://youtu.be/I5xB8uTD8ug

https://youtu.be/5oxgyfbMP0w

https://youtu.be/3oY0ssyqFSg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Overcast and gloomy.  I really thought it might rain at any moment.  Thankfully, except for a little drizzle, it stayed rain free. But, the lighting was horrible.

I checked all over downtown looking for a falcon.  It wasn’t until 2:00 pm, from the Andrews St Bridge (ASB), that I saw my first falcon.  It was Dot.ca (DC) on the north corner, 2nd IBeam of OCSR.  I decided to remain parked on the ASB.  From there I had a great view of many of the places that our falcons frequented.

A half hour later, I saw a bunch of pigeons in panicked flight over the river.  There were two falcons in the mix on what I believe was a tandem hunt.  One falcon went low over the buildings on the east side of the river.  The 2nd falcon flew up to the north side of the Radisson, landing on the top window ledge near the northwest corner.  After checking my pictures, I believe it was Genesee that had been tandem hunting with Dot.ca.  I had tweeted that it was Beauty and Dot.ca.

I can not say positively that it was Genesee, but my pictures do show a black/green band on one leg and a silver band on the other.  For the purposes of this report, I will call the juvie Genesee because I believe there is a good chance that it was.

At 2:50 pm, Genesee took off, heading east.  I looked for him but could not find him.  Fifteen minutes later, I was on the Broad St Bridge with Beauty on the base of Mercury and Dot.ca on the top Ibeam (south side) of OCSR.

At 3:15 pm, a juvie flew in from the south and up towards the Mercury statue, vocalizing quite loudly.  I thought he landed, but I could not find him. Beauty remained on Mercury, but Dot.ca was gone.  Back to the Andrews St Bridge.  From there I could see a falcon on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) on the SE box.  From the front of City Hall, I could only see the back of this falcon.  I thought it might be a juvie, but found out that it was Dot.ca.  There was a 2nd falcon lower in the frame work of the tower. Beauty had joined him.  But where was the juvie?

Dana joined me in front of City Hall.  We were both getting ready to continue our search for Genesee, when Dana spotted a juvie on the east side of the railing on Widows Walk (WW).  From the south side of WW I was able to see the juvie thru the railing.

Genesee took off, stooping after a pigeon heading west.  He almost caught the pigeon, but it swerved at the last moment. Genesee continued heading north towards FCT.  Back at FCT, I could see that Beauty and Dot.ca were still there.  I looked up just in time to see Genesee take off from the north end of the building that Beauty uses to take baths.  He spread his wings and flew over me heading east.  Soon after both Beauty and Dot.ca headed east too.

Dana and I found Beauty on the base of Mercury, but we were unable to find Dot.ca or Genesee.  It was time to head home.

I did check Medley Ctr on the way home, but saw no falcons there.

One more thing, On her way downtown, Dana found two falcons at the nest box at Hawkeye.  The larger adult falcon had a purple USFW band on the right leg, with black/red on left leg.  She could not read the #’s on the band.  This falcon did have a full crop.  Purple USFW bands are used on falcons banded in the midwest.  Dana could not tell if the smaller falcon was banded.

This is the season when falcons are migrating, so it’s not surprising that we’re seeing more come through the area.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a balmy 54 (F) 12 (C) degrees with dark, humid, overcast conditions and a fine misty rain on and off

To begin my watch I saw Seth on the N window ledge showing his right leg band that still has the yellow tape on it. Billie was over on the west side railing of Seneca Towers when I got out to Seth Green Dr. That would not be the last I saw of her this morning.

When I arrived on the Andrews St. Bridge I could see a falcon on the base of Mercury-on my way to the Broad St. bridge to check it out, at tweeted that she saw a falcon there as well. It turned out to be Beauty and she didn’t stay very long before she flew off to the north. There was a Great Blue Heron fishing down in the river.

The Beautyful one took off at 7:41am and so did. After checking OCSR,Powers and FCT from the Andrews St. bridge I spotted Beauty on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad. I stopped on State St. near Platt St. first but decided the best angle would be from State and Brown St. It wasn’t until I went there that I noticed Dot.ca (DC) on the cupola.

Beauty turned a couple minutes later so I decided to go back to Platt St. where I could see the front of DC but Beauty left while I made the move. DC remained on the cupola, walking a few feet and settling.

I had a lot on my plate today so when DC flew off Kodak I left downtown to do a quick check for Big Frank at the Medley Center. When I arrived there was a falcon on the peaked glass roof-I went to the east side parking lot since that’s the closest spot to watch that spot but the falcon had its back to me so I went around to the north side of the mall but it was gone when I got there.

I continued around to the south side where I found none other than Billie on the carousel roof! I thought it was Big Frank at first but the more I observed, the more I thought it wasn’t her. This falcon had a darker chest and seemed familiar to me for some reason. I got some leg shots that showed black/green and on my small camera LCD screen I thought I could see 77 on the black. It wasn’t until I got home and saw the band on my computer screen that I could ID her as Billie 77/AX.

Billie flew off to the west at 9:13am going real low over the parking lot and returned to the same spot she had just vacated. She was definitely in hunt mode, looking everywhere.

Buffalo Billie did some preening and at 9:30am I decided it was time to end my watch and be on my way. When I eventually got home there were no falcons at Seneca Towers. I knew it was only a matter of time before Billie and/or Seth would show up at the Medley Center since it’s only 2.5 miles from ST. Hopefully there hasn’t been any battles among our beloved PEFA’s. Meanwhile I’ll keep on smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/_sdQFQrkS9I

https://youtu.be/qVnHRMdJIWI