By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A dark overcast and cloudy morning with some rain showers and a temperature of 63(F) 17(C)

It was pouring rain when I got up at 4:30am so I was in no hurry to get downtown. When I arrived on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) this morning it had stopped and Dan wasn’t there-the rain kept him home too. Beauty was on the column above the nest box, an eyas was on the wall,one at the nest box and one by the main cam. Dot.ca (DC) was over on the top arm of the jail tower. I took a drive over to Troup St. for a closer look at DC and right after I got there he took off at 5:54am heading west.

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I went to the hole on Aqueduct St. to watch Mr. Genesee on the wall flapping his wings. The Beautyful one flew over to OCSR top ibeam west corner a few minutes after I got there.

I decided to go look for DC-as I was turning onto Broad St. from Chestnut St. I looked up toward Xerox and caught a quick glance at DC as he flew behind the building. I then drove to the Court St. bridge where I spotted DC on the Mercury money bag (MMB), the 3 kids all lined up in a row on the front ledge of the nest box, Beauty on OCSR still and Dan in his chair on the BSB. I taped a video of the raging waters of the Genesee River then joined Dan.

Soon after as I was recording DC he flew off and went over to a ledge on the west side of the Rundell Library grabbed some cached food and took it to the deck where Genesee quickly grabbed it from him. Meanwhile, Beauty was observing all this from OCSR. DC next went up under the northeast wing for a few seconds then up to the northeast wing ring at the very top of Times Square (TSB).

Gray sky or not DC shows up as white as white can be. Around 7:05am Beauty flew over to join her family on TSB and landed on the column above the nest box.

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Genesee went back out on the wall as cam watcher Annette reported he had done so (TY) and Dan decided to leave. I went back down to the hole as DC flew west and vanished into the dark sky. Genesee worked his way back to the deck from the north end of the well wall.

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Beauty took off from the column and landed on deck by cam 4 as DC had landed on the corner of the deck by the main cam chirping. Not really sure what that was about-perhaps he had food with him. Anyway, DC left immediately and flew over to OCSR coming to rest on the top ibeam west corner.

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I had to leave for a while and for the 3rd day in a row I missed Larry by a few minutes as he reported Beauty on Mercury and 2 babies winging. Before he left for work Genesee went up on the nest box roof which he and Annette reported. When I returned a took a quick look around finding DC under the northeast wing of TSB and I could see an eys perched at the front of the nest box. It started flapping its wings just as I was leaving. I checked all sides of Seneca Towers when I got home but I didn’t see any falcons. Another watch in the books and some more smiling as a result for me! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/ORAGw2H_dak

http://youtu.be/UuIND_3Q6h8

http://youtu.be/vRu9p5Dj8ZI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:45 – 8:30 pm

Watchers this evening:  Brian, Kathy , Joyce, Dan, Larry O and Carol P.

Cloudy and low light, with temps close to 70 degrees.  A very pleasant evening for a falcon watch.

Highlights:

Watching Genesee run up and down the well wall with wings outstretched and flapping!  He will most likely be first to fledge.

Dot.ca stooping off of the northeast wing ledge on the TSB, going after a Pigeon that  came a little too close.  He chased it to the west and came back empty-taloned. So close!  When he returned, he flew directly over us and then returned to the Times Square Bldg.

Beauty feeding on the platform.  The cries of Genesee, Cadence and Bronx filled the air.  Love hearing their vocalizations!

The whole time Genesee was out on the wall, Dot.ca kept watch over his young son.

Here are some pictures from tonight’s watch.  Sorry for the poor quality, but my camera is not very good in low light.  Enjoy!

When we ended our watch at 8:30 pm, Beauty was on Mercury’s heel and Dot.ca was on the jail communication tower on the 2nd arm down.  Genesee, Cadence and Bronx were still visible at the nest box.

All was peaceful and quiet and no fledges yet.  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A beautiful morning for a watch with bright blue skies, sunshine and a temperature of 61(F) 16(C)

Dan was waiting for me on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) when I arrived at 5:20am. Beauty was on cam 4, the kids were up and out and Dot.ca (DC) was on the southwest top arm of the jail tower barely visible.

At about 5:40am DC went into a long stoop after a few pigeons but was unsuccessful landing on the Time Warner communications tower. Again, he was barely visible due to the distance.

Just before 6am DC stooped to the west and disappeared. He re-surfaced on the northeast wing ring for a few seconds  and then off he went and the chase was on.

He flew southeast over the Blue Cross Arena with amazing speed-caught up with some pigeons over the river past the Court St. bridge and stooped on them numerous times before giving up. He then went after a couple more pigeons on his way down the river toward Dan and I passing by us on the bridge only feet away after having to pull up or crash into the BSB! Zoom-what a thrill for us!!! He continued on flying over the Radisson Hotel to the north nad stooping a couple more times before doubling back heading south. DC sure did stir up all the pigeons from the Dinosaur BBQ on Court St. down to the Andrews St. bridge! He went behind Xerox on the east side and never came back in view. Dan and I just looked at each other with big ole smiles saying how that’s the kind of stuff that gets people hooked and makes us come back for more. WOW!

10 minutes later the Beautyful one took off over Cornhill splitting up 2 pigeons, hitting one and vanishing behind buildings. She didn’t catch it and returned to land on cam 1.

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Around 6:30am Genesee took on the wall, stopping on the first column before continuing on and eventually going to the north end of the wall.

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DC was over on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR -he took off after Beauty when she went behind the Times Square building (TSB). She returned and went to the nest box-DC went back to OCSR same spot.

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Dan left at 7am so I went down to the hole to be closer to Mr. Daring-Genesee. He went back out to the end of the wall again while his sister Cadence watched.

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Genesee went back to the deck and Beauty flew over to the heel of Mercury. I drove up to the BSB just in time to see her take off and go to the main cam. I looked toward the nest box and saw one of the kids in the boy cave-wasn’t there for long. Back to the hole I went!

As I arrived Beauty was gone and DC was on cam 1 with his back to me. If Donna (Thanks) hadn’t reported it was him I would have thought it was Beauty whom  I spotted  on the top ibeam near the south corner of OCSR. DC jumped down to the nest box and left soon after.

Around 8am Beauty ended up on cam 1 and DC was back over on OCSR watching the window washers from the top ieam south corner.

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I ended my watch at this point and headed home where I spotted a falcon north of Seneca Towers. What a busy 3 hour watch I had making me smile multiple times! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/hLm5M3g4f-k

http://youtu.be/yABUBQ85RZs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

6:00 to 8:30 pm

Tonight’s Watchers: Pat, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Dan and Carol P.

Weather: 70’s and, at first sunny, then dark clouds moved in.  Lighting, not very good for pictures.

Kathy and Pat beat me downtown this evening.  I arrived at about 6:00 pm.  We set up at Falcon Watch Central, at the top of the stairs leading down to Aqueduct St.  We were soon joined by Lisa McK.

Dot.ca was on Cam #1 (aka Pan Cam) watching over the eyases.  We thought it was Beauty at first.  There was very little movement by the eyases at the nest box.

For the majority of our watch, it was very quiet.  Pat had seen both Beauty and Dot.ca before I arrived, but Beauty was no where to be seen.

At 7:30 pm, we noticed that Dan was out on the Broad St Bridge.  I took a walk and joined him.  I could see that there were storm clouds over the lake to the north.

While we were talking, Dot.ca flew off of Cam #1 and approached us, flying over low, heading towards the library behind us. He turned and headed back to the Times Square Bldg, again landing on Pan Cam.  That’s when we noticed that Beauty was on the corner of the library, eating a Pigeon.  We had all noticed that she had become thin since taking care of her growing eyases. This is normal.  Dan and I watched as she ate her fill.  By the time she finished, she had a very large crop.  It was good to see her eat so well.

After finishing, Beauty took off with what remained of her meal and took it to the nest box to feed Cadence, Genesee and Bronx. Dot.ca took off from Cam #1 and flew over to the Mercury statue, landing on the heel.

While Beauty was feeding the eyases, there were a lot of wing flapping.

After she was done feeding, Beauty took off with what was left and flew east towards the river.  Dot.ca followed.  Beauty quickly returned, flying low. Dot.ca right behind her.  He landed on the southwest corner of the Wilder Bldg, while Beauty cached the food somewhere on the Philippone bldg.  Dot.ca was watching.  Beauty flew up to Cam #1 and Dot.ca flew down to the Philippone bldg and retrieved the cached food.  He brought it to the 3rd IBeam down on OCSR and enjoyed his dinner.

After finishing, Dot.ca took what was left up to the nest box.  I’m pretty sure, he just wanted to feed the eyases. Beauty flew down to the nest box and loud ee-chupping filled the air.  She took the food from Dot.ca and went to the base of the Mercury statue where she ate some more.

At 8:30 pm, we ended our watch.  There were storms heading into the area.  They’ve passed by us now and I just took a look at the live streaming video.  Beauty is on guard on Cam #4 and Cadence, Genesee and Bronx are sleeping in the nest box.

All is peaceful and quiet.  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning it was 56(F) 13(C) when I started out and when the sun came up it stayed out

Dan was on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) when I arrived at around 5:15am. Beauty was on cam 1 and Dot.ca (DC) on the 3rd ibeam south corner of OCSR. As I was unfolding my chair he took off out of view quickly. There were 2 eyasses in view up on the deck.

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Approximately 5:45am Beauty went down to the nest box ledge showing us her back. I had a feeling DC was on the Wilder Green strip (WGS) so I took a walk down by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) and sure enough he was next to the fire escape ladder and he was snoozing!

I re-joined Dan up on the bridge and a few minutes later DC appeared over the river crossing over the bridge to our left and disappeared to the southeast. Dan left after that and I packed up and went down to the hole where I spotted DC flying over the Wilder building with food in his talons. He flew out over the river around Mercury, came back through circling Widows Walk (WW) back over Wilder then behind Times Square (TSB) then I lost sight of him as he went southeast. I left Beauty and the kids up at the nest box to look for DC.

I didn’t find DC until I returned to Basin St. in the hole to watch Beauty who was now on the column above the nest box. She was pointed toward the back of TSB so she actually led me to DC. He was on the back lower north side of the building just below the roof line plucking feathers from his prey.

DC started eating and when he finished he seemed like he was contemplating what to do-should I stash it here or take it somewhere else?

DC opted for taking it with him-Beauty flew out to meet him over the Philipone building but he didn’t give it to her so she started squawking at him and gave chase, catching up to him over the parking lot next to the TSB and grabbed the food from him.

I drove up to the BSB to see where everybody went. The Beautyful one had taken the leftovers to the base of Mercury, had a few bites then took what was left to feed to the kids. DC went to the 2nd ibeam south corner of OCSR.

At 7:14am DC flew off OCSR and swooped down over the top of the nest box area then flew over to the heel of Mercury to pick at his talons from his breakfast.

Meanwhile Beauty was finishing up feeding the kids’ their meager meal.

Beauty went to cam 1 to relax after the kids were done eating-DC remained on Mercury’s heel as I left for awhile.

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While I was gone Larry stopped for a quick watch before work reporting Beauty and DC where I had left them and that he saw an eyas winging and one near the main cam. When I returned around 9:30am Beauty was on cam 1 sleeping and DC was on the Mercury money bag.

I had come full circle by ending my watch the same way I started-seeing Beauty on cam 1. I checked Seneca Towers when I got home at 10:10am-there were no falcons on the building. That’s ok because our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcon family gave me plenty to smile about on this morning watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out todays videos

http://youtu.be/pu6OgEEuKwI

http://youtu.be/LYwTHIAQ-fM

http://youtu.be/nYFZFIw3EIw

http://youtu.be/Qy-VQ4V3O_U

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Tonight I was again joined by fellow Watcher Kathy O.

5:45 – 8:00 pm

After an almost all day rain, it was nice to have a little dry time to watch our falcons.  The sun made a brief appearance before it clouded up again.  Temps were in the 60’s I believe.  I needed a jacket since it was a little chilly.  Tomorrow we will return to much warmer temperatures.

We started our watch out on the Broad St Bridge.  From there we could see all three eyases at the nest box.  Both Beauty and Dot.ca were soaring high above the Times Square Bldg.  I believe they were doing a combination of keeping their territory clear, looking for hunting opportunities and showing their young ones a bit of what flying is all about.

For the first 15 minutes the sun was full in our faces, making it very hard to see the nest box.

Once the clouds moved in, it was much easier to see the activity at the nest box.  Lots of wing action up there.

Beauty came down lower, flying around the Times Square Bldg and then settling on the Mercury statue’s heel.

This was our view from Falcon Watch Central, on Broad St at the top of the stairs leading down to Aqueduct St, aka “the hole”.

From there we had a very nice view of the eyases when they came out onto the nest box platform.

Dot.ca flew over us and around the Times Square Bldg, definitely giving flight instructions.  He flew up to the very top of the building and landed on the southeast wing ring.

Beauty took off and flew high again.  Kathy and I were thrilled to see her make a long stoop to the northwest.  She returned empty-taloned to the top of the Mercury statue.  Dot.ca flew past the nest box and over to OCSR and landed on the top IBeam.

During all of this flying by Beauty and Dot.ca, there were a lot of wings flapping away at the nest box.

Beauty again took off (we assumed on a hunt) and Dot.ca flew to the Mercury statue, landing on the heel.

Kathy and I ended our watch at 8:00 pm.  All was peaceful and quiet.

Soon the eyases will start to take those first flights.  We figure it might happen as soon as this Sunday, June 14th.  So we will be starting the official fledge watch on Saturday.

Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a dark overcast and rainy morning with a temperature of 65(F) 18(C)

I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) at 5:10am to find Dan in his chair. I got mine out and joined him after he gave me a great big welcome back hug.  He told me that there hadn’t been too much activity yet and that Beauty was on cam 4 and Dot.ca (DC) on the 2nd southeast arm of the jail tower.

About 15 minutes later Beauty flew to the west corner top ibeam of OCSR and DC went to the south corner. We could see one eyas up at the nest box.

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We missed DC leave the building-old eagle eye Dan found him on the jail tower on the second northeast arm. He blended in well!

Around 6am Beauty left OCSR and went to the nest box as we could see her back and 2 eyasses. One of them was wingercising.

I checked out the river to see that there were only ducks down there featuring a mama and her 4 ducklings.

At 6:15am DC flew to the southeast wing ring at the very top of the Times Square building only to fly over to the west corner top ibeam of OCSR as the sky started to spit a few raindrops. 5 minutes later the Beautyful one flew to cam 1

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It stayed this way for the next half hour or so when DC flew down off OCSR-we thought maybe he was trying to catch something. We lost him behind Thomson Reuters and then Beauty flew off cam 1 and disappeared as well. Dan left at 7am and as I drove down to the hole (Aqueduct St.) DC appeared from the north made a U-turn and ended up on the south corner top ibeam of OCSR. I went to Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park and Main St. for a closer look at DC. Meanwhile, Donna and Annette reported that Beauty was at the nest box feeding the kids.

15 minutes later DC flew to the southeast wing ring again and I went to watch from in front of the Blue Cross Arena.

Around 7:30am Beauty started kakking and flew out toward the river and returned landing on the column above the nest box. One of the kids that I could see watched her land.

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I watched as everyone got settled in to do some stretching, preening and posing for the next half hour. Looking down every once in a while to check on their kids.

I left to take care of some business and when I returned a little before 10am DC was now on the column above the nest box and Beauty was over on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. It was raining pretty good at this point of the watch so I left them as they were to head home to Seneca Towers (ST).

I found Seth on the north end top window ledge with his back to me when I arrived at ST. It was foggy and the rain was getting my camera wet so I didn’t stay more than a couple minutes thus ending my watch a little after 10am.

After 2 months away from our beloved Rochester Peregrine Falcons, I did a lot of smiling on watch today as my world was back to normal again! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/twLjQ_3uS0k

http://youtu.be/5N4FUOnA0Kk

http://youtu.be/4mhiW_zFkrc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:45 – 7:15 pm

Joined by Watcher Kathy O.

It was a very pleasant evening, perfect for watching falcons.  I arrived on the Broad St Bridge and was soon joined by Kathy O. From there, we could see no falcons, so we moved in closer to the Times Square Bldg at Falcon Watch Central (on Broad St across from the Blue Cross Arena).  Immediately we saw Beauty up on the ledge above the nest box.  She must have just arrived as we were moving our cars.

Two of the three eyases were visible.  Beauty took off, heading west.  We waited to see if she would return.  When she didn’t, Kathy and I headed down to Aqueduct St. aka “the hole”.  From there, Kathy spotted Beauty.  She was on the north west corner of the Widows Walk, prepping food. Dot.ca was on the top IBeam of OCSR.  We assumed that Dot.ca brought in food to Beauty and she took it to Widows Walk.

Beauty took off with the food and took it to the nest box to feed the eyases.  Dot.ca remained on the Widows Walk railing.

Kathy turned on the live streaming video on her phone so we could watch Beauty feed the eyases.  We could actually hear them where we stood, all the way from the nest box.  It’s amazing how sound carries.

It was after 7:00 pm, time to end our watch.  Dot.ca was gone from Widows Walk.  We found him on Mercury’s heel.

It was a very pleasant and peaceful watch.  All was well.  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:30 to 10:15 am

Watchers that joined me:  Larry O.

When I arrived downtown at 5:30 am (yes, 5:30 am) it was very cold.  By the time I ended my watch, it  had warmed up nicely.  I had hoped to find Dan on the bridge, but he wasn’t there.  Larry (and his dog Harold) joined me for about an hour.  It was great to see them.

Sorry I don’t have time to leave a detailed report, but I did want to share some pictures I took during my morning watch. Hope you enjoy them!

As you can see, a falcon’s morning is a very busy morning.  Lots of hunting and feeding and caring for their eyases.  At one point, Beauty started to kak and chased a Turkey Vulture east, over the Xerox Bldg.  Dot.ca stooped low over Main St on the other side of the Wilder Bldg and came back up clutching a small bird.  He and Beauty are in constant hunt mode, so they can feed their three growing eyases.  The eyases have lost a lot of of their white fluff feathers and are turning into golden, brown juvies (juveniles).  It won’t be long before they’ll be running up and down the well wall and taking those first flights.

Then the fun really begins for the Rochester Falcon Watchers!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Joyce asked me if I wanted to hang out with her this afternoon and go birding-I said sure and she picked me up along with her dogs Abby and Casey. Our first stop was Irondequoit Bay where we saw killdeer, a gull, some Turkey Vultures and 1 Peregrine Falcon for a split second and then it was gone.

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Next stop was Braddocks Bay where we saw a Bald Eagle in a tree very far away.

From there we visited Hogan Point where we hit it big in a grassy field. Seeing Bobolinks (first time for me), Meadowlarks, Eastern Kingbirds, Osprey and a Coyote that was sent packing by a Red-winged Blackbird that perched in a bush nearby and just kept squawking and displaying until the coyote turned around and slowly walked away into the tall grass out of sight.

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It was time to end our outing or so we thought, for as we were heading toward Seneca Towers (ST) from the north down St. Paul Street I looked up near the Northridge Church at East Ridge Rd. and St. Paul and spotted Seth flying above us to our right heading the same direction. He flew up to the antenna on the south end of  the ST roof and landed. Joyce turned around and we parked on St. Paul to observe him.

Suddenly Seth started vocalizing and then there were feathers filling the air as Billie snuck in with prey and started plucking it on the southeast corner below her mate.

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Billie had a few bites and then she flew off with her meal around to the west side of the building then headed north. Seth remained on the antenna as Joyce dropped me off and we ended a great afternoon with nature. Truly we had more than enough reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a few more pics from the day and a snippet video

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqkJa

http://youtu.be/LFi1_x7lfJ4