By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

An overcast morning with a temperature of 26 (F) -3 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

It was a slow go this morning driving around downtown as businesses were shoveling and plowing there way thru the foot of snow we received the last couple days. The roads were in good shape as I made my way around looking for our beloved falcons. The tree in front of the South Ave. garage looked pretty with snow on it.

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It wasn’t until 45 minutes into my watch that I found Beauty on Kodak Office.  As I approached from State St. I could see her beautyful salmon colored chest on the south side arch.

I stayed with her for a while then I left to look for Dot.ca (DC). I found him when I returned to State St. as he had joined Beauty on Kodak office-he was on the southeast corner of the launchpad with his back to me.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder-sometimes poop can look like modern art as DC shows us thru my camera.

I don’t think Beauty felt the same way as she looked up at DC after that.

I decided before I left them to do their thing I’d go to the north side of the Kodak Office tower for a front look of DC. He appeared to have a full crop, so at least we know he ate today.

And that’s my watch for today-short and sweet, ending with a smile at 9am for finding both downtown resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons safe and sound after our first big snow of the season! 🙂

*After my watch I had to walk Isabella, fellow falcon watcher and friend Jeanne’s dog. We went to the Brighton site where I found prey feathers in the fresh snow telling me that there may have been a falcon on the building eating recently. Afterwards we took a ride thru part of Highland Park to enjoy the snow covered evergreens, so there’s a bonus video as we made our way down the road.

Click the pics below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/0pUnojaFoZ0

http://youtu.be/n8sm065sS4Y

http://youtu.be/CfG8gXeWuGA

http://youtu.be/7nFxqaqytCI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I left Seneca Towers this morning it was snowing lightly with a temperature of 31 (F) -1 (C) and the roads were wet. When I ended my watch the temperature was down to 28 and the roads were getting slick. We are under a winter storm warning until 6pm tomorrow night with snow totals of 8-14 inches forecast

I arrived downtown around 7:30am-I took a ride around checking all the usual spots for Beauty and Dot.ca. I spotted one of them on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR from Bank Place and Aqueduct St. about 7:45am. I went over to Graves St. at Main St. by Aqueduct Park in order to get close enough for a pic that would actually show a falcon. There was no way to identify who it was with all the snow.

I went over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to check the elevator shaft but the snow was coming down too hard to see anything up in there. I made the rounds again stopping by Martin Luther King Jr. Park where crews were clearing snow from the ice skating rink.

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When I got back to check on the OCSR falcon it was gone. After another futile effort to see up in the elevator shaft I opted to call it a watch. I believe Beauty and DC were probably up there out of the bad weather. I left downtown at 8:45am to run an errand before going home and to my delight I was greeted by Billie and 99. They were on the south end of Seneca Towers on the top window ledge facing each other.

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I pulled in my parking lot to watch them at close range, shooting a short video of them then surrendering to the weather as the snow was getting my camera too wet. I won’t be doing a falcon watch tomorrow morning because I’m having a medical procedure done, but I’ll be back at it on Friday morning. I saw 3 out of 4 of our Rochester Falcons today which made me smile, although I would have liked to have seen all of them safe and sound! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/b70kGb8fbU8

http://youtu.be/pLlFaJklMaM

http://youtu.be/VC_tZl3zTjo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The sky was mostly sunny and the temperature was 10 degrees warmer than yesterday morning at 32 (F) 0 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

As I made my u-turn on Seth Green Drive to face Seneca Towers I spotted a falcon on the west side railing. Just as I stopped the car, a smaller falcon flew past it telling me that Billie was the bird on the railing and 99 was the one flying.  She flew off right after him as they headed southeast and didn’t return. While on the east side I stopped to take a pic of the tree in the Bausch&Lomb atrium in searching for falcons. I found Beauty on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office playpen as I pulled over on State St.

I went down to Mill St. for a more open view of her and that’s when I spotted the whiteness of Dot.ca (DC) on the northeast crown of the 20th floor. DC flew south at 7:47am toward downtown just as I got my camera up, and the Beautyful one followed right after him. I barely got her in the frame before she disappeared.

Less than 10 minutes later I noticed Beauty flying above Xerox from the Court St. bridge. She went into a stoop as I pulled over toward Cornhill out of sight behind me. I got out to look for her and while I waited for her to re-surface I checked the river as they had 2 locks open and the water was flowing fast thru them. Then I spotted Beauty on the jail communications tower north side top arm.

Beauty stooped straight down and came back up to land on the same arm again on the jail tower. I tweeted my findings and while I did that Beauty left. Now she was on the top arm south side of the tower-she then flew off to the southeast out of view.

I drove over to Woodbury Blvd. on a hunch that she might have gone to Xerox-I found Beauty on the south side 6th column over from the southeast corner.

At 8:18am Beauty stooped toward Cornhill once more. From the Court St. bridge I spotted her on the 2nd arm south side of the jail tower. I then drove to Troup St. on the south side of route 490 across from the jail to get a closer look at Beauty.

At 8:31am Beauty spread her big gorgeous wings and flew south without any urgency, leaving my field of vision.

I wouldn’t see her again until 9:10am when I found her on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR from State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel.

I left Beauty to look around downtown one more time for DC but I didn’t find him. When I got home to Seneca Towers there were no falcons present. Even tho I saw DC,Billie and 99 only briefly, I still had to end my watch with a smile at 9:40am as I did see all 4 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons today! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/Kgn4neAihVM

http://youtu.be/iRoNAs_uxxE

http://youtu.be/8n8q2qBEhVQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was mostly cloudy with a cold temperature of 22 (F) -6 (C)

I found Beauty on the top ibeam northwest side of OCSR from the Andrews St. bridge around 7:45am as I was on my way back from the east side. I drove to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to watch her as she had her back to me.

That’s the long and short of my story-I spent my entire watch looking at the back of the Beautyful one as she occasionally preened and turned her head. I searched for Dot.ca to no avail and ended my watch at 9am at Seneca Towers where I saw no falcons this morning. Just as I started to write this report I glanced out my living room window at the right time and saw 99 fly up toward the northwest corner of the building. That certainly made me smile! 🙂

One link below to click on to see Beauty in all her splendor and glory

http://youtu.be/u_KnK2sDnH8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I was finally able to get out for a falcon watch!  The sunshine was awesome, but I would have liked it to be a little bit warmer than the 26 degrees (F) I read on a downtown clock.  Brrrr!

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JUST A REMINDER TO CLICK ON A PICTURE TO SEE THE LARGER VERSION

Kodak Park and the BS locations were the first places I checked.  No luck finding any falcons there.  I headed downtown and spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on a light pole near the pull-off on Exchange in Cornhill.  After I took a few pics, the hawk took off and headed east, towards downtown.

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I turned my attention towards downtown.  From the Exchange pull-off, I was able to see two falcons on the B&L building, both on southwest corners.  That’s where I headed.

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From the south side of B&L, I could see that it was Beauty on the top and Dot.ca on the bottom.

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I found a spot that was a little closer to watch them on Court St.  Beauty spread her wings and took off, stooping over St Mary’s Church, which was behind me.  My last view of her was as she flew low over the church with her talons hanging down.  The nearby pigeons had taken flight and I assumed she was on the hunt.  Dot.ca remained on B&L and he was looking in the direction Beauty had headed.

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When Beauty didn’t return, I started to wonder if she had a successful hunt and might be on a building back behind the church. So, I headed over to the other side, but had no luck finding her.  But, I did find out what probably caused her to stoop low over the church.  A juvie Red-tailed Hawk (RTH) was on the house just to the south of the church.  My bet is that this church hawk was probably Beauty’s target.

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After the hawk took off over the park, I returned to my spot on Court St.  Beauty had rejoined Dot.ca on B&L.  I was happy that the RTH had been able to leave without being harassed.

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Since the gates were up on the Court St Garage I headed up for a different view.

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A Coopers Hawk was hunting just north of the B&L building.  It was scaring up pigeons as it passed over.  I looked up in time to see Dot.ca take off and  stoop straight down the face of the building.  He pulled up and raced to the north, chasing the Coop. Dot.ca then turned back and took a swipe at the pigeons that had taken flight.  Before returning to his spot on the B&L building, he flew directly over me.

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Just as I was tweeting that I was going to end my downtown watch, both Beauty and Dot.ca took off heading northwest towards the Times Square bldg. and OCSR.  I did look for them, but was unable to find where they went.

On my way home, I checked out Seneca Towers and found one falcon on the south end, SW corner antenna.  I could only find this one falcon.

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I ended my afternoon watch at Russell Station, finding no falcons there.

It was so nice to get out for a falcon watch today!

I’ll leave you with a picture I took of a very patriotic Mercury.  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Sunshine, for a change, dominated the sky this morning with a chilly temperature of 27 (F) -3 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

I had sun and light at 7:15am when I stepped outside today at Seneca Towers for my morning watch, but I also had falcons! Pulled over on Seth Green Drive, I spotted a falcon on the west side railing. I believe it was 99 but with its back to me I can’t be sure.

He flew off a few minutes later circling above the roof then left my field of vision behind the building to the northeast. Unknown to me at the time, Billie joined the mix and landed on the southwest corner of the roof and as I drove back to my parking lot for a closer look spotted 99 on the top window ledge. I had reported the opposite at the time until I was able to see 99’s yellow tape on his right leg band.

<99 <Billie

Unfortunately, Buffalo Billie had her back to me so I have no better pics of her. However, 99 was showing himself very well.

Right around 7:50am Billie left the building as I was taping 99. He took off to join her less than a minute after I stopped taping him. 99 pooped first and then flew south.

I made my way downtown. finding Beauty at 8:10am on her favorite Xerox column-5th one from the southeast corner on the south side from Woodbury Blvd. with her back to me. I drove over to Chestnut St. by Martin Luther King Jr. Park to view the front of her.

A couple minutes later the Beautyful one flew off when I wasn’t looking. I caught up with Beauty on the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad. As I was parked on State St. she was on the southwest corner with her back to me so I drove around to the west side and pulled over on Verona St. While in transit, Beauty turned and I was looking at her back again so back to State St. I went.

Beauty flew southeast around 8:40am. I went in search of and after having no luck I spotted a falcon back on the southwest corner of the KO launchpad around 9:30am. I reported it as being Beauty but I believe it was Dot.ca (DC)

He flew off heading southwest and as I was stopped at the traffic light at Main and State St. I spotted DC on the main cam. I pulled into the hole parking lot just in time to get a shot of him before he flew over to OCSR. He had a full crop.

I had to turn around park near Aqueduct St. to find not only DC but Beauty as well on the top ibeam southwest side of OCSR. She was at the west corner but I didn’t know which was which at first as the sun was making them both look like ghosts.

Beauty flew off around 9:45am and landed further down the ibeam from DC. I love having the sun out but sometimes it shines too brightly and makes our falcons look like a white blob as evidenced below in the last pic of the day.

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So I ended my watch smiling after having seen all 4 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/6Z07JhUl3b8

http://youtu.be/8fF0k_EN_mk

http://youtu.be/1n7xIgyx4Gw

http://youtu.be/jU8q8fE_EWk

http://youtu.be/SLWZHDShX9Y

http://youtu.be/bztZCfJGkm0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a soggy, foggy, dark morning in Rochester with a temperature of 38 (F) 3 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

Other than the sound of raindrops on my car and umbrella it was a quiet morning watch with not much going on in the falcon world. After one trip around downtown I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the top ibeam west corner of OCSR from the Broad St. Bridge at 7:45am. I drove down to the hole parking lot for closer viewing-he was facing out at first then turned his back to me.

8 minutes later Beauty flew in to join DC but he wasn’t feeling sociable this morning and flew off seconds later. I got a snippet of the Beautyful one arriving but missed DC departing.

Beauty pooped after DC left and moved over to the spot he had occupied before leaving her for parts unknown.

Now, had I not witnessed this changing of the guard I might have thought it was the same falcon up there the whole time because I never found DC again after a couple trips around checking the usual spots.

I went over to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel after Beauty turned her back to me, but the view of her wasn’t any better from there. I returned to the hole to share space with Beauty for just a bit longer, deciding to take off myself. My last look at Beauty with her back to me trying to stay as dry as she could under the cover of the OCSR ibeam.

After one more check for DC proved futile I left happy that I had seen both of our downtown pair of Peregrine Falcons.

I didn’t see Billie or 99 this morning at Seneca Towers but I still had reason to smile knowing Beauty and DC were well, as I ended my watch at 9:15am. 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/7coQxg8ta7c

http://youtu.be/-K7Sh0R32LA

http://youtu.be/b9uTBr2Y-Ag

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Mostly cloudy skies prevailed with patches of blue sky here and there and a temperature of 26 (F) -3 (C)

Click on the pics to see full version

I’ve been using the Court St. Bridge (CSB) as a vantage point a lot lately as Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) have been hunting and flying on the east side in the morning. It gives a better view of the east side than the Broad St. bridge. So as I pulled over on it today I spotted a falcon on one of the many northwest corners of Bausch & Lomb (B&L).

I thought it was DC and reported as such, but I couldn’t be sure from that distance so I drove to Broad St. parking next to the Central Library below B&L for a closer look. After taking off at 7:38am I could tell it was the Beautyful one by size and dark underside.

I went over to Court St. across from the Court St. garage to watch as Beauty flew above Xerox and started her hovering hunting style. I watched her stoop to the southwest over my head and behind me toward Cornhill.

I decided the best spot was the CSB and after Beauty returned to hover above Xerox she stooped again-this time back behind HSBC to the east. She appeared above Xerox again before another stoop in which I had a front row seat for as she whizzed thru the airspace like a missile, descending lower and lower as she passed thru the Frederick Douglass-Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge between the arch and Route 490 below it with sensational precision. Here’s a pic of the bridge to give you an idea of what I’m describing-the fastest animal on the planet in a stoop that was easily over 100 miles an hour.

She just missed her target, a pigeon, near Cornhill Landing them returned to the air above Xerox, circled around B&L and back near Xerox at 8am. Beauty stooped to the east toward the University Ave. area vanishing quickly and didn’t return this time. I found her half hour later on the northeast corner of Crossroads as I was pulled over on the Andrews St. bridge.

She was eating with her back to me so I went to Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park at Main St. where I had the best view of her.

I only stayed a few minutes as I had an appointment to get to. I’ve been wanting to check out High Falls so I wanted to stop there real quick before I left downtown. I got a bonus sighting of workers stacking kegs in a tree shape at the Genesee Brewery-I think they were stringing lights on it. The falls were flowing slowly.

I checked Seneca Towers on my way past but saw no falcons. I ended my watch just before 9am with a smile! 🙂

Click on the pics below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/GEsAMdYMuk0

http://youtu.be/-NUmJiz0V00

http://youtu.be/StLMbH6Agok

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Mostly cloudy skies and a chilly 24 (F)  -4 (C) degrees this morning

Click on my pics to see the full version

As I made my way around downtown I spotted Beauty under the southeast wing of Times Square (TSB) from the Andrews St. bridge. I whipped down to Basin St. in the hole and discovered Dot.ca (DC) was under the northeast wing watching Beauty as she was eating.

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I couldn’t see either one of them very well from there so I went over by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) on Exchange Blvd. where I could see Beauty very well but only DC’s tail feathers. I thought this would be ok as I fully expected DC to join Beauty to try and get some food from her.

Sure enough, about 5 minutes later DC flew over and landed next to Beauty at which point she started mantling (spread her wings over food to guard it) her food.

You can see DC land by the Beautyful one on my snippet movie. DC ended up going in on the ledge out of view and when he tried to get some Beauty took her food and flew off leaving him looking for scraps.

Beauty showed up under the northeast wing for a few seconds then flew northeast-DC crossed over to the northeast ledge then he flew east right around 8am. I spotted a falcon with its back to me on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR as I was pulled over by the Radisson Hotel near Main St. I thought it was DC but it turned out to be Beauty.

I found out it was Beauty when I drove over to Broad St. where I found DC back under the northeast wing of TSB. I pulled over next to the BCA where I could see both of them.

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DC flew off around 8:30am heading east. I stayed a few more minutes watching Beauty across the way on OCSR then I left to have a look around for DC with no luck. I arrived home at Seneca Towers, with no falcons around I ended my watch at 9:05am. Once again DC put a smile on my face with his food antics! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/krG8ATe-UwU

http://youtu.be/dClRL_9T23k

http://youtu.be/I9zGynxTZ4M

http://youtu.be/Lf8-ZNfW0IU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was an ugly morning-very dark and overcast with fog and a persistent misty rain falling. Temperature was 40 (F) 4 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I found Dot.ca on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR around 7:30am while I was checking the elevator shaft from Bragdon Place.

DC has his back to me so I drove over to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to view him from the front. He didn’t stay for long as he dropped off and headed straight down int a stoop. I lost him behind the hotel and he never re-surfaced.

I left for the Times Square area and spotted Beauty from the hole on Aqueduct St.-I left for the Radisson Hotel near Main St. for the closest view of her. She was on the southeast side of OCSR top ibeam with her back to me. There’s a pedestrian bridge that goes above Main St. connecting the Radisson with the Rochester Convention center-every year the city puts snowflakes on it for the holiday season.

The Beautyful one spent just about the whole 20 minutes that I watched her preening-not really in hunt mode as you would expect first thing in the morning. She flew northeast at 8am.

I caught up with Beauty around 8:30am on the south side arch of the Kodak Office tower after searching downtown for half hour-she was on the south side arch of the Kodak Office tower. Again she had her back to me and spent time preening.

I left to look for DC and when I returned to State St. and Beauty on the south side arch of Kodak Office I spotted DC on the east side arch. They both had their backs to me now.

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I didn’t stay long thus heading home to Seneca Towers where I found Billie on the south end antenna. I was just about to start taping her when a loud bang from a garbage truck emptying the dumpsters scared her off to the south.

I ended my watch at 9:50am with a smile, happy to have seen Buffalo Billie for the short minute or two that she was in my sights! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/KWC_0IIOGmA

http://youtu.be/HBKSDUi2XPk

http://youtu.be/HUVeT_zjC7Y