By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 5 (F) -15 (C) degrees to start but the sun was shining bright

Click on the pics to see the full version

My watch started like it did yesterday-with part of a falcon showing on the northwest corner of Seneca Towers. I think it may have been 99 but can’t be certain. It left when I was tweeting it out.

Arriving downtown just before 8am I found Beauty on the north side ledge-I thought it was Dot.ca (DC) but was proven wrong a little later.

I left the Beautyful one to look for DC and found him big as life under the northeast wing of the Times Square building.  There’s just no denying the whiteness of his white feathers! lol It appeared he had some food in his crop and prey feathers were stuck to the ledge in front of him.

DC looked around his surroundings for the most part but he also picked at his talons, pooped and stretched while I watched him from Aqueduct St. down in the hole.

A t 8:42am DC took off from Times Square-I watched him go out over the river, go out of sight for a couple seconds then reappear before flying up into the OCSR elevator shaft.

I drove over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. where I could see Beauty still on the north side ledge of the elevator shaft-it looked like she had food in her crop . I pulled forward and stopped in the hotel driveway where I could see them both- just barely seeing some of DC’s wing feathers on the south side ledge. I eventually went down to Bragdon St. for a full look at DC.

I called it a watch at just about 9am as it was obvious Beauty and DC were on break in their shelter and probably would stay there for some time to come since they both had eaten. This is the kind of stuff that makes me smile-food in our beloved falcons and a quiet falcon world! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos
http://youtu.be/N8Ph39Nj0HU

http://youtu.be/xH-NXoDbdFw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was mostly cloudy with a slight breeze out of the north and a temperature of 18 (F) -8 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

As I looked up at Seneca Towers this morning I could just barely see the top of a falcon head on the northwest corner.

I didn’t stick around to wait for it to show itself. I arrived downtown about 8am and as I was checking the OCSR elevator shaft from Bragdon St. I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the top ibeam southeast side. I drove around to the other end of the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to observe him from a closer distance.

Just like yesterday morning he was looking mostly south. I left Whitey, er, I mean DC to go look for Beauty. As I was pulled over on the Andrews St. bridge I noticed DC was on the northeast wing ring of the Times Square building (TSB) around 8:30am.

I left to get closer to DC once again parking on Irving Place which is a one way road behind Times Square.

DC flew off to the north as I was taping him. I thought he might be hunting some pigeons that flew the same direction but it turned out that he just scared them into flight as he flew through. I headed north myself and after a quick trip around downtown with no luck finding the Beautyful one I stopped on the Court St. bridge to check the river and water bird situation.

I then returned to my spot by the Radisson Hotel at Main St. where I found DC on the north side ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft-he was preening.

I wish I had seen Beauty but she was seen by watcher Pat this afternoon on Mercury as she tweeted and Joyce also saw her there, so no worries on that front. I had to end my watch at 9am but when I eventually got home to Seneca Towers at 11:15am 99 was there to greet me as I pulled into my parking lot. He was on the top set of windows (22nd floor) at the south end of the building and appeared to have a full crop.

There’s not a whole lot of room to just pull over in my parking lot and I got a couple disgruntled looks from other residents so I said see ya to 99 and moved on smiling after an all tiercel (male falcon) morning! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos
http://youtu.be/wEmRdtSGdpI

http://youtu.be/HLNgrnD0dnk

http://youtu.be/Sqsaee4a2sQ

http://youtu.be/UWephMVjjRE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast with a few snowflakes in the air and a temperature of 33(F) 1(C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I checked the OCSR elevator shaft first but nobody was in it but as I was stopped on the Main St. bridge I glanced over at the statue of Mercury and spotted Beauty on the base eating. I drove over to Broad St. and parked next to the Blue Cross Arena to watch her.

She finished up soon after I arrived did some feaking, turned around, pooped, turned around, roused then slipped off the other side of the base and flew north past OCSR a little after 8am. I thought she would go in the elevator shaft since she had just eaten but apparently she wasn’t ready to rest yet.

I then drove up on the Broad St. Bridge and when I made my u-turn I could see the brilliant white of Dot.ca (DC) on the top ibeam of OCSR southeast side. Now I had a dilemna-where to watch him from since my parking spot by the south side of the Radisson Hotel by Main St. was taken. I went over to the Main St. bridge put my hazard lights on and took a few pics and a video. DC feaked a couple of times so I knew he had been eating recently.

I only stayed a few minutes since there’s no parking on that bridge. I took a chance on going over to Bragdon Place to see if I could see DC from there and as luck would have it, I could. What hit me most was how full his crop was-I didn’t notice it as much from the Main St. bridge.

The corner of the Radisson Hotel was giving me a little trouble in the focus department but there was no missing that crop blurry shots or not!

I was curious as to where the Beautyful one had gone so I left DC to digest that meal in his crop. I found her on the Kodak Office launchpad, southeast corner. She blended in well as I pulled over on State St.

Beauty was looking south with her back to me when I decided to end my watch around 9:20am.

She sure looked pretty with a few snowflakes around her as I left downtown smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/GWBQSRibBfM

http://youtu.be/Fh5KZSNRVZE

http://youtu.be/KBR4HT01tY4

http://youtu.be/HwenSwvxpQU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another wonderful weekend of falcon watches.  Cold and sunny on Saturday (18 degrees) and warmer and overcast, drizzly/rainy on Sunday (40 degrees).

Saturday, January 17, 2015 (11:00 am to 2:15 pm)

No falcons at Kodak Park West or the BS location.  Downtown I found Beauty and Dot.ca on the north side of the Cross Rds Bldg (CRB).  Beauty was on the northwest corner and Dot.ca was on the north end.  They remained on the Cross Rds Bldg for much of my watch.  Both flew north down the river to chase a Red-tailed Hawk over the Genesee Brewery and returned.  Joyce and Brian H stopped to visit for a short while.

Here are some pics from my Saturday watch:

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Sunday, January 18, 2015 (12:30 pm to 3:00 pm)

Today I was able to find all 4 Rochester Falcons plus a beautiful Snowy Owl on Buck Pond (Greece, NY) near Lake Ontario.

It was really busy downtown, so I wasn’t able to watch from the Broad St Bridge.  When I arrived downtown, I found Beauty on the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg and Dot.ca on Widows Walk.  Dot.ca took off, heading east.  I looked for him, but could not find him.  Beauty remained on the CRB.  It was a much warmer day today, but it was overcast.  Drizzle turned to rain by the time I ended my watch.

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After ending my downtown watch, I checked out Seneca Towers and found two falcons on the north end.  One on the NW corner and one on the ledge above the windows on the north end.  I was too far away to make any positive ID’s.

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On my way home I took my normal route along the lake.  There were no falcons at Russell Station, but I was happy to find a small lump out on Buck Pond that turned out to be a beautiful Snowy Owl.  It was very dark with a black cap.  Brian said it was probably a juvenile female.

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So, I saw all 4 Rochester Falcons during my watch and ended it with a beautiful Snowy Owl.  All was quiet and peaceful both days.  I do so love the weekends.  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

HEATWAVE-at 39 (F) 4 (C) it was 41 degrees warmer than yesterday morning! It was also windy and overcast with rain forecast for later

Click on the pics to see the full version

When I arrived in my spot on Seth Green Drive I spotted 99 on the northwest corner of the roof on Seneca Towers.

99 was mainly looking to the south, maybe for prey or maybe for his girl Billie. At any rate, he was actively watching over his surroundings as he pooped and stretched.

I shared space with 99 until he didn’t want to be seen anymore as he moved over onto the north side out of view. I left for downtown checking the OCSR elevator shaft first as has become my routine. I wasn’t surprised when I found nobody home- I thought perhaps Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) might be out enjoying the warmer temperatures. I made 2 trips around downtown before I spotted DC on cam 1 from the Broad St. bridge around 8:30am.

DC didn’t stay for long as he flew off at 8:29am heading northeast toward OCSR. I got the take off shots then headed over to Bragdon Place to check the elevator shaft. There he was up on the south side ledge preening.

As I arrived Donna reported that DC had been at the nest box at 8:13am before flying over to cam 1. I watched him preen a few minutes then left to look for the Beautyful one.

I stopped on the Andrews St. bridge to take a look around and that’s when I spotted the salmon front of Beauty on the top ibeam northwest side of OCSR. I took off for State St. and pulled over across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to observe her, unfortunately her back was to me. She preened a little looking over her shoulder at times.

It was 9am and I had to get going as I have a full day planned so when Beauty turned and looked my way I said b-bye with a smile as I can think of no better way to end my watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/GJrJ-pLdx5c

http://youtu.be/mtrz_ddgZMU

http://youtu.be/9BnEztEtNmE

http://youtu.be/3_7tUtjBqLs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Ooo, it was a cool -2 (F) -19 (C) when I stepped out of Seneca Towers this morning. The sun was up and shining brightly but it didn’t do much for warmth. Clouds moved in and covered the sun shortly after I arrived downtown but it was nice to see it for a while

Click on the pics to see the full version

When I stepped out from my 16th floor apartment at Seneca Towers and saw the sun out the east side balcony I knew it meant good things were ahead for me. As I parked in my spot on Seth Green Dr. I saw 2 falcons on the northwest corner-Billie was on the railing with the sun hitting her and 99 was right below her on the roof. A beautiful sight!

Soon after at 7:49am Buffalo Billie flew off and startled 99 into flying off with her as she stooped into the gorge. They both returned as they do most things-together. They came to rest on the northwest corner of the roof-99 where he had been before and Billie next to him.

While I was taping them it looked like Billie might have had food from the way she was moving. On my little camera screen things don’t always look as they really are, for when I watched the video on my computer I could see that there was no food as she walked past 99 to the north side out of sight. I love how 99 watches his girl cranking his head sideways and practically stands on his head. He’s very cute!

99 eventually joined Billie on the north side of the building out of my view so took that as my cue to head downtown and get my car warmed up to thaw out my fingers. There were trucks parked all around the Radisson Hotel on Bragdon Place and in their driveway so I didn’t have anywhere to park so I made my own parking spot to check the south side of the OCSR elevator shaft. There was a falcon up there on the ledge showing its back-I thought it might be Beauty but couldn’t say for sure. This is the point where the sun disappeared.

I left to check the north side ledge of the elevator shaft but again there was nowhere to park so I stopped on the Main St. bridge but I didn’t see anyone up there. I left to take a look around downtown but that was a waste of time-no falcons were seen so after checking the north side again I went back to Bragdon Place to see that the falcon was still there and it was standing a bit more sideways as it preened a little.  At 9am I checked the north side one more time and as they say, the third time’s a charm. This falcon looked a bit smaller to me, so based on size I’d say this was Dot.ca and the south ledge bird was the Beautyful one.

Mission accomplished, as I saw all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons and since I’d had enough of the cold I chose to end my watch at 9:10am. I stopped on the Driving Park bridge on my way home to check out the Lower Falls. They were pretty much frozen but there was still some water getting through. I took a few pics and a video for your enjoyment.

So this frozen falcon watcher smiled all the way home after seeing four falcons and some gorgeous frozen falls! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/agVE2SaTDV4

http://youtu.be/8yIa0VGk9gI

http://youtu.be/tbP6qvO6sbE

http://youtu.be/AhFumFI8gYk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was snowing at a pretty good clip when I started my watch, the temperature was 31 (F) -1 (C) when I ended my watch the cold front that brought the snow was moving in as the snow stopped , the wind picked up and the temperature dropped to 24 (F) -4 (C)

This will probably be the shortest report I’ve ever done. I started on Bragdon Place at the north end of the Radisson Hotel where I could see a falcon standing sideways with my binoculars on the south side of the OCSR elevator shaft. Thru the snow I could see white on it so I assumed it was Dot.ca (DC) . Unfortunately, my camera wouldn’t focus on anything but the snow.

I drove over to Main St. at the south end of the Radisson Hotel where I could see Beauty tucked way in with her back to me. The snow let up enough so I could get a clear pic of her.

And that’s my watch in a nutshell-looking at the back of the Beautyful one. I left her and DC in the elevator shaft out of the weather which I’ve been doing a lot these days. But don’t you think for a minute that I didn’t smile because any day I can see any or all of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons is a good day! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a very short snippet movie and a video of Beauty’s back

http://youtu.be/Dj3VwqxPLTs

http://youtu.be/QMFASs_-z1g

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We are warming up-it was 15 (F) -9 (C) a whopping 23 degrees warmer than yesterday morning with calm winds and a brighter sky

Click on the pics to see the full version

I was pleasantly surprised to see a falcon on the west side railing of Seneca Towers as I pulled over in my spot on Seth Green Dr. It was Billie and she was looking around for something or someone.

Soon after I arrived Buffalo Billie flew off to the south and came back with 99. He landed on the northwest corner of the roof and she landed briefly on the railing again before flying off to the south once more.

Billie didn’t return this time so I was sharing space with 99 alone. I could only see the top of him but he was facing me so that I could see him pretty good considering the distance it is from where I park up to that corner.

The sun broke out around 8am and lit 99 up as he was actively watching the territory. I stayed with him until almost 8:30am-I first tweeted that I was leaving him and just as I started the car he took off.

Once downtown, I checked the OCSR elevator shaft and found Dot.ca (DC) on the south side ledge. He was turned sideways showing me a full crop with closed eyes.

I left DC to rest and relax while his food digested, checking the north side ledge before setting out to search for the Beautyful one. After a trip around downtown I spotted Beauty on the northeast corner of the Crossroads building from the Broad St. bridge. I drove down to Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park and across Main St. from OCSR for the best vantage point.

She had a full crop and soon after I started watching her she feaked a couple times leading me to believe she had just finished eating.

Beauty moved around a little and it seemed like she had food in her talons but clearly she was full and had no more room for any more. She pooped and got settled in all foofed up to keep warm.

I left Beauty around 9:30am thus ending a successful watch in which I saw all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons. Later on after I took care of some business I stopped on my way home at High Falls. I hadn’t been there in a very long time and was curious as to how frozen they were after all the bone chilling temperatures.

The falls were about half way frozen but still flowing pretty hard. On the north side of the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge the Genesee River was starting to get frozen over-it’s been frozen below Seneca Towers for over a week now.

That’s all she wrote folks-I left for home all smiles after an enjoyable morning! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/2NAYNHmakh0

http://youtu.be/LGMWDQJ25Ho

http://youtu.be/3b_kATfT8bM

http://youtu.be/sFKlDXLzEEE

http://youtu.be/phIIqA2ixj4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Holy frozen falcons! The temperature when I ventured out for my morning watch was -8 (F) -22 (C). Thankfully the wind was calm and the sun was shining once it came up.

I decided that Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) had to be in the OCSR elevator shaft because of the sub-zero temperature so I went directly to Bragdon Place to check the south side ledge. There was a falcon there which I thought was DC-he was standing sideways so I could see his whiteness.Then he tucked way in showing his back.

Suddenly, I heard people yelling and as I looked in my rear view mirror I saw 2 teenage boys fist fighting in the middle of the street. They worked their way down right next to my drivers side door-I put my camera down and put my window up all poised to drive away if I had to, but then they stopped and ran back up the street. Again I looked in my mirrors to see another fight had broken out behind me on the sidewalk. Those two teenagers then stopped and ran up to St. Paul St. with the other two out of view. As I was about to leave to check the north side ledge 6 cop cars came flying around the corner. A worker from the hotel came out and started talking to one officer while I gave my account to another one. Phew, that was a bit unsettling!

So I drove over to Main St. by the Radisson Hotel and could barely see Beauty tucked up tight way in on the side of the north ledge with her back to me as well.

I left to get a hot coffee and when I returned the Beautyful one and DC had not moved so I left a peaceful falcon scene after a not so peaceful watch around 9am. Yes, I was smiling as I drove away knowing our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons were accounted for and safe! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a very short snippet video and another one showing the back of a falcon

http://youtu.be/SbXU8eWhOoY

http://youtu.be/3cGTh_m55-Y

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Back to brr-ish temps for one day with a temperature of  7 (F) -14 (C) overcast sky and snow falling

Click on the pics to see the full version

There was nobody around at Seneca Towers as I set out on my morning falcon watch today. I fully expected to find falcons in the OCSR elevator shaft due to the weather but Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) fooled me- I was hard pressed to find them at first. Finally, around 8:15am I came across DC on the south side arch of Kodak Office (KO). This was a surprise to me because that is a favorite spot of the Beautyful one-maybe he was waiting for her. He had his back to me as I was pulled over on State St.

It was so cold that my camera was having trouble focusing, of course the dark lighting, snow falling and distance didn’t help either. Around 8:35am I drove over to Verona St. on the west side of KO for a front view of DC and just as I got there he flew south in a big hurry. I thought perhaps he saw Beauty but he returned about 5 minutes later to the same spot on the arch.

I left his whiteness around 9am to look for Beauty to no avail, stopped for coffee and returned to see that DC hadn’t left his spot on the KO south side arch. Left him again to search for Beauty and this time I was successful-while stopped at the traffic light at South Ave. and Broad St. I spotted her up on a southwest corner of Bausch & Lomb (B&L). I drove to Court St. across from the Court St. garage to observe her-she too had her back to me.

I decided to g0 around the block to Clinton Ave. where I could at least get a side view of Beauty before ending my watch.

Now that I had seen both of our downtown pair of Rochester Peregrine Falcons I could leave smiling at 10:25am! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/xGO0QNA_aS4

http://youtu.be/oa0PyxZInn0

http://youtu.be/C4jkJ_lyTJg