By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

1:00 – 2:40 pm

The winds of change hit Rochester (NY) this afternoon.  Earlier temps went into the mid 50’s (F), and then the high winds arrived, with 50-60 mph wind gusts.  Over the next few days, the temps will plummet as the polar vortex dips down from the north.

I started my falcon watch at the Kodak Tower, where I found Beauty on a south side arch ledge, directly above where the old Mariah and Kaver nest site was located.

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About 15 minutes after I arrived, Beauty took off and headed south.  I followed the best I could, but by the  time I made it to State St, she was gone.  I found one of the last parking spots on the Broad St Bridge near the library.  Flocks of pigeons filled the air, swirling overhead.  Then I saw a falcon head in from the east.  Imagine the fastest creature on the planet with a 50 to 60 mph tail wind.   Peregrine Falcons love to fly in high winds.  They are masters of flight.  I on the other hand was having a hard time, leaning against my car to steady myself.

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I couldn’t tell if it was Beauty or Dot.ca.  The falcon zipped behind the OCSR and did not reappear.  From the Radisson, I checked up into the elevator shaft.  No falcons there.  Now where did that falcon go?  After checking the surrounding buildings I finally found a falcon, in fact two falcons.  Both Beauty and Dot.ca were on the Ellwanger and Barry Bldg on State St.  Dot.ca was on the ledge eating and Beauty was on the northeast corner.  I had to laugh when Joyce texted the following to me; “Boy, we sure do have fat and happy falcons.  Always eating.  LOL”  There is definitely a large food supply for our Peregrines here in Rochester.

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From in front of the Rochester Plaza, I was able to get a closer look.

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Beauty left, but I didn’t see which direction she took.  Dot.ca finished his meal and took off, heading south.  I found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the south side top Ibeam of OCSR.  They were just a few feet apart.

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This is where I left them at the end of my downtown falcon watch.  On my way home, I checked Hawkeye, Seneca Towers and Russell Station.  No falcons seen at any of these locations.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Wow, 55 (F) 12 (C) degrees in January is outrageous for Rochester, but I’m not complaining because in a couple days it’s forecast to be in the teens and single digits. Of course the warm temperature didn’t come with brighter conditions as the sky was overcast again. It was raining by the end of my watch.

Click on the pics to see the full version

I spotted both Billie and 99 on the west side railing of Seneca Towers when I first landed on Seth Green Dr. 99 flew off, came back, then they both flew off to the north behind the building. Buffalo Billie returned to the railing and soon after 99 joined her coming to rest real close to his girl.

These two are so cute the way they gaze at each other and follow each other around all the time.

Billie and 99 took turns stretching as they watched their territory and each other.

<99  <Billie>

Billie started to turn and spread her wing as she hopped about a foot away from 99 as he watched. 99 then decided to spread his own wings and show her.

I watched Billie and 99 for the better part of an hour when she flew off and headed south at 8:33am. 99 and I watched her as she leisurely flew above the river gorge. Then about half minute later 99 took off after his mate.

They didn’t come back so it was time to go downtown. I checked the elevator shaft of OCSR first-nothing found there. I spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury plucking feathers so I went to the hole and parked on Aqueduct St. to watch.

I shared space with the Beautyful one for over an hour as her crop grew and grew. She quit eating around 9:45am and just stood there barely moving-we call this a food coma. I took a ride around town but didn’t find Dot.ca. I returned to my spot in the hole and soon after Larry and Harold came by for a minute.

I ended my watch at 10am as Beauty started eating again and it began to rain. I left downtown smiling after seeing 3 out of 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/CkMrBZ2qwq0

http://youtu.be/_RK_LZX1Ivc

http://youtu.be/kjHQARNK0eY

http://youtu.be/3cJQhZC–Y8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

10:00 am to 1:30 pm

Cold to Snow to Sleet to Freezing Rain!

I decided to start with a drive along the lake, hoping to find some wandering falcons, or maybe a Snowy Owl.  No luck finding either.  Although I did find these “falcons” at Braddock Bay and this beautiful Blue Jay.

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The bay was almost totally frozen over, but not quite.  There were people on the ice and the open water.  Ice Fishermen and Duck Hunters too.

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I drove along the lake, checking out the smaller bays and Russell Station.  No falcons found.  My last lake stop was Charlotte. Both the Charlotte and Summerville Piers were empty.  No people or birds.

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There have been a lot of changes at the Port of Rochester.  One major change is that the parking lot is now an open area of water.  Not quite sure how this will all look when completed, but the parking area will be missed during the busy summer months.

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My next stop was Maplewood Park, which is across the river and just north of Seneca Towers.  From there I could see a falcon on an antenna on the northwest corner of the building.  I was too far away to ID this bird and it had its back to me.

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After leaving Seneca Towers, I headed south down Lake Ave.  No falcons at Hawkeye.  As I approached the Kodak Tower, I could see both Beauty and Dot.ca on the north side.  Dot.ca was on the northwest corner of the launchpad and Beauty was on a north side arch ledge.  By the time I made my way to the north end of Mill St, both had taken off and heading west.  It wasn’t long before they both returned, Beauty to the northeast corner of the base of the playpen and Dot.ca to the small antenna that juts off the north side of the playpen.

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They took off again, tandem hunting to the north.  First Dot.ca returned and Beauty was close behind him.  They both landed on the same spots they left.  Dot.ca had a successful hunt, returning with prey.  It was very small and it didn’t take him long to finish his meal.

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My friend and fellow Falcon Watcher Kathy O joined me on the watch.  While we were there, the weather worsened.  First Snow, then sleet.  At 12:45 pm, Beauty took off.  She flew directly over us and stooped into the gorge, heading east. We waited for her to return, but she didn’t.  Dot.ca remained on the Kodak Tower.

Kathy had to leave, so I went looking for Beauty.  I found her on the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg.

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While I was parking my car, Beauty took off and flew over to the OCSR.  She landed on the north corner of the top Ibeam.

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She took off and flew around to the south side of OCSR.  I again went looking for her and could not find her.  After looking around downtown, I headed back to the Kodak Tower.  As I approached, I could see a falcon flying around the top of the tower. Again parked on the north end of Mill St, I could see both Beauty and Dot.ca.  She was on a north side arch ledge and he was on the base of the playpen, directly below her.

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This is where I left them when I ended my watch at 1:30 pm.  By the time I got home, the sleet had changed to freezing rain. Tomorrow we are under a high wind warning, so hang on to your hats!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Dark, overcast (sounds like a broken record doesn’t it!?) and calm with a temperature of 24 (F) -4 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

How excited was I to see Billie and 99 at Seneca Towers this morning to start my watch!? I hadn’t seen them in 5 days!! Billie was on the west side railing by herself at first and a minute later 99 came barreling in to land on the northwest corner pipe.

A few minutes later Billie stooped down into the river gorge and came back up to land on the northwest corner below 99.

A minute later she was off again and 99 followed suit too. Buffalo Billie came back landing on the west side railing again and 99 returned to his pipe. No catches were made as they kept looking for prey birds.

Billie took another shot down in the gorge and when she returned she decided the northwest corner of the railing was a good spot-it was also closer to her mate 99 who had a little slip and spread his wings to catch himself.

Around 8:10am 99 flew off past Billie who darted off after him. They didn’t come back so I left for downtown. It took 2 trips around downtown before I spotted Beauty on the northwest corner of the Kodak Office (KO) tower from Fitzhugh St. I drove down to State and Brown St. for a front view.

Around 8:40am Dot.ca (DC) flew in and landed on the northeast corner of the launchpad then quickly flew off and down to an antenna in the playpen.

<Click them

Neither one of them had anything in their crops so they were looking to change that as they kept an eye out for a pigeon to fly out from a hiding place on the tower.

I had to get going but I left smiling at 9:15am after a 4 falcon morning watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/r3iEZCzG-Zc

http://youtu.be/MKfDVIo6YVU

http://youtu.be/ouVtZuuaRSU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Overcast. windy with a few snowflakes flying and a temperature of 31 (F) -1 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I had the same start as yesterday morning-I checked the elevator shaft of OCSR from Bragdon Place by the Radisson Hotel and I ended up spotting Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side. So over to the other side of the hotel I went for a closer look.

Beauty stayed there until about 8:25am then she spotted something and flew west behind OCSR out of sight.

A moment later I saw both Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) flying near Times Square (TSB). Beauty landed under the southeast wing then DC landed right next to her and there was a standoff because the Beautyful one had food. I started taping them from the Radisson which is quite a distance and could just barely make out something in her talons on my little LCD camera screen as she hopped further away from DC and started eating.

I went to the hole and parked on Basin St. to watch from a closer location. DC waited a couple minutes then moved a bit closer making Beauty move over more so that I could only see her tail feathers.

So now I decided to go park on Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) for a better view. From there I couldn’t see DC so well but it didn’t matter because at 8:42am he flew off to the east.

DC returned soon after and this time I could see him as he stared at Beauty and her food. A minute later he flew east again.

I had a feeling DC went to the Mercury money bag so I left to see and sure enough there he was as I pulled over around the corner onto Broad St.

I thought for sure DC would be paying Beauty another visit to try and grab some of her grub which I believe was cached food because I never saw her pluck any feathers. So, I went back over to the hole where I could watch the action better.DC did exactly that-he flew over and landed near Beauty, whom I couldn’t see because he was blocking my view. I started taping just before he went out of view too and kept taping until all of a sudden DC flies into the picture with a leftover wing and lands where he had just been and starts to eat. And Beauty ends up on the MMB.

Now I don’t know exactly how DC ended up with that wing-either there was a food exchange or DC got his own cached food. At any rate, they both ate this morning. I moved back over to Broad St. next to the BCA as DC was finishing up his meager morsel. He flew off going over me to the south out of view and right after that at 9:28am Beauty flew off and headed north.

I ended my watch smiling after another food motivated, entertaining watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/GdG1zkdeKBo

http://youtu.be/gaQoGHJgFKg

http://youtu.be/7q1xZK0zhFg

http://youtu.be/TrJdjHLPhzo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The first morning of 2015 was windy, overcast with a few show flakes in the air and a temperature of 21 (F) -6 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

Happy New Year everyone!

I started my watch downtown with Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I had gone down to Bragdon Place by the north end of the Radisson Hotel to check the south side elevator shaft ledge and spotted her from there. I went over to the south side of the Raddison by Main St. to get closer to the Beautyful one and to check the north side ledge of the elevaor shaft-Dot.ca (DC) wasn’t on either side.

Beauty flew off while I was tweeting her whereabouts and I caught up with her around 8:10am on the south side arch of Kodak Office Tower (KO). I pulled over on State St. just below and across the street from the tower.

About 5 minutes later DC came flying thru past Beauty and she took off after him as they headed southwest. 5 minutes later DC returned by himself and came to rest on the southeast corner of the launchpad.

DC spotted Beauty flying in and went down to the northeast corner of the launchpad-Beauty circled the tower a couple times then landed back on her south side arch.

A couple minutes later DC flew around the tower twice coming in and out of the screen as I was taping then settling on the east side arch of KO. A long period of preening occurred  as they seemed to be quite relaxed.

<DC <Beauty

Around 9:30am DC flew east and Beauty promptly flew south a split second later. The last shot I got of Beauty was of her pooping-I thought, what kind of parting gesture is that!? lol

I took a look around downtown but didn’t find them so I headed out vowing to return later for the New Year’s toast. New watchers Patricia Rose (Patty) and her husband Frank joined the group which included KathyO, Shaky and his wife Carrie, CarolP, Dan, Joyce, Jeanne, Pat, Larry and his faithful dog Harold, SusanC, Lisa and myself. As always, there were smiles all around as we toasted a new year of Rochester Peregrine Falcon watching! 🙂

< Photo from rfalconcam

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/WHnL7ZM_bNk

http://youtu.be/1U6R2R_yGn4

http://youtu.be/Hy5f-IIM2EA

http://youtu.be/r67i-yUzkFQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a cool 18 (F) -8 (C) when I started out this morning and when I ended my watch the bank clock on State St. said  16, so it went down while I was out! One nice thing tho, the sun was shining!!

Click on the pics to see the full version

I got downtown a little late this morning but I found Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) right away from the Broad St. bridge. They were on the southeast side top ibeam of OCSR and the Beautyful one was nibbling on something.

<Click it

Beauty> DC>

At about 8am DC spotted something and flew off to the east, returned and landed closer to Beauty. Suddenly, DC flew off after another falcon to the south over the river and disappearing behind Thomson Reuters. Beauty didn’t seem too concerned for she started eating again. It looked to be the same size as DC so I believe it was a tiercel (male falcon) probably passing thru as I never saw it again. DC returned, landed on the top ibeam south corner then flew off to the north this time. Beauty flew northeast soon after, returned to OCSR then left again. I went north and found DC on the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad southeast corner facing northeast.

At 8:33am DC flew off to the west out of view and half a minute later 2 falcons came into view. They were vocal as they touched talons then circled KO and flew west touching talons 2 more times, then leaving my field of vision. I came to the conclusion that it was Beauty and DC since they didn’t seem to be acting aggressive when they came together. Perhaps it was their way of reassuring each other that the coast is clear now.

15 minutes later I found both Beauty and DC on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I left to get coffee and when I got back Beauty was gone, but she came back to land near DC, who was napping with his full crop.

Beauty did some preening while DC took a nap. It was obvious from their relaxed state that the other falcon was gone.

Satisfied that the danger had passed, I ended the last watch of this year at 9:30am on a peaceful note with a smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/4hoqk9X-fxc

http://youtu.be/R4wz_70Z_to

http://youtu.be/B_W5-PK3o74

http://youtu.be/hSCZpaaKRVc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was snowing great big flakes when I walked out of Seneca Towers this morning-as fast as I brushed the snow off my car it got covered again. The temperature held steady throughout my watch at 23 (F) -5 (C) and right around 9am it stopped snowing and the sun came out with some blue sky

Click on the pics to see the full version

When I arrived downtown I knew it was going to be tough to find Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) because of how hard the snow was coming down. I surely wasn’t going to find them on buildings from a distance and if anybody was up in the OCSR elevator shaft I couldn’t see them. So I took my time driving around and as the snow started letting up I checked the elevator shaft again from Bragdon Place by the Radisson Hotel. Nobody up there, but as I glanced over at the Kodak Office tower I could see a falcon on the southwest corner of the launchpad.

From there I couldn’t see a second one on the south side arch, so when I got over there I was pleasantly surprised to find both Beauty and DC. She was on her arch and he was above on the launchpad.

It was at this time the snow stopped and things started to brighten up-they both did a little preening and DC stretched some before flying off while I was tweeting, so I missed it.

No worries tho because he returned at 9:37am to land on the southeast corner of the launchpad, then proceeded to walk over to the southwest corner as the Beautyful one watched from below. DC then took off and headed north before returning once again to the same corner he had just vacated.

I thought they would stay this way soaking up the sun and so I signed off to end my watch at 9:46am but just as I was to pull away the busy one DC, flew off and came to rest on the southwest corner of the playpen.

Now I officially ended my watch and drove off smiling after a snowy morning watch turned bright and sunny! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/EOboO8Epwl8

http://youtu.be/yyD80lo73l4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 29 (F) -2 (C) with overcast skies and a few snow flakes in the air

Click on the pics to see the full version

I found Beauty on the Mercury money bag a soon as I got to the Times Square area downtown this morning. She was perched there looking quite Beautyful as she did some serious preening.

Beauty scratched and roused while she kept a look out for breakfast and Dot.ca who was hiding this morning.

At 8:29am Beauty flew off to the southwest and didn’t return. I went and looked around for DC but never found him. I got a call from Larry saying he was 99.9% sure he saw a falcon at the Brighton site (BS) as he drove by on his way to work. He didn’t have time to stop so I headed over there directly.

Little did I know that Beauty had gone over to BS for when I got there it was her on one of the northeast corners.

I fully expected to drive around and find DC there as well but he wasn’t-I’ve suspected he and Beauty go to the BS when I can’t find them anywhere downtown. Remember, DC hung out there with Pigott and when Beauty first came to Rochester she was seen at BS so it was not a big surprise to me.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay to see if DC showed up but I imagine he probably did at some point. So I ended my watch at around 9:30am.  It was an all Beauty watch this morning which makes me smile every time! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/qDsGuo_57z0

http://youtu.be/ptmWvDct-7Q

http://youtu.be/pK51twdLdMY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature dropped a few degrees while I was on watch starting at 39 (F) 4 (C) with dark overcast conditions

Click on the pics to see the full version

Billie and 99 weren’t at Seneca Towers (ST) when I started my watch today-that’s because they were at the Kodak Hawkeye plant down St. Paul St. from ST. As I was on my way to downtown I spotted them on the railing near where the nest box is up there. I pulled into a parking lot across from them.

After a few minutes 99 flew off heading east then to the south end of Hawkeye then back to railing to land on the other side of Buffalo Billie.

99 flew off a couple minutes later followed by Billie heading north-probably going to Seneca Towers which is that direction.

<99

<Billie>

I left for downtown and found Dot.ca (DC) right away on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR from the hole parking lot.

A minute later DC started chirping loudly as Beauty came flying in-he took off after her and went up to the north ledge of the elevator shaft-Beauty flew east out of view. I drove to the Radisson Hotel y Main St. to confirm who flew up in the elevator shaft.

Beauty came by and DC flew out after her heading east then they went over by the Wilder building where one of them stooped over by Times Square. DC ended up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) and soon after Beauty appeared on the Mercury money bag (MMB). So it was back to the hole parking lot for me.

Right around 8:45am I heard a gun fire, then a minute or so later another one-luckily I had Beauty and DC in my sights and knew they weren’t being shot at, matter of fact they didn’t seem bothered by it at all. They flew off when I wasn’t paying attention. DC ended up on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR briefly, then he stooped to the south. Next I found him under the northeast wing of Times Square-I saw feathers flying and thought he had food but I was wrong for when I went up to the Broad St. bridge I saw Beauty at the back of the ledge with food.

DC had made an attempt to take her food once before I got to the bridge and again after.

Finally on DC’s 3rd attempt to grab food (I have it on video) from Beauty, she flew off with it and he was right on her tail going up Broad St. and out of sight. About 10 minutes later I spotted Beauty on the northeast corner of Widows Walk eating. I drove to Fitzhugh St. for the best view of her.

DC came flying thru around 9:39am alarm calling as he passed above Beauty then he came back and landed above her on the railing.

10 minutes later DC flew off and landed next to Beauty to try and snag that food, but she thwarted his attempt by turning her back to him. I had to come around to the parking lot by Times Square to see them. At about 10 am DC made his move (on video) to get his hot little talons on that food-he failed as Beauty flew off with it and him right behind her. They flew along the north face of TSB to the east with much vocalization and out of view.

I drove over to the BSB and spotted DC on the green part of the base of Mercury briefly, then he flew off to join Beauty who was under the northeast wing of TSB.

By the time I made the u-turn they were both gone so I ended my watch at around 10:15am. What a good time I had following Beauty and DC today and the fact that I saw Billie and 99 too put a great big smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/-uU0jqrq_yo

http://youtu.be/RypWJVjQnoY

http://youtu.be/pEwmr5sSE_o

http://youtu.be/LxUrlaBt3Lk

http://youtu.be/9jAZ9HQCiXM

http://youtu.be/p4UdFvAIn-c

http://youtu.be/-tm_X06jgok