By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Gad zooks it was 30 degrees warmer than yesterday morning at 22 (F) -6 (C) with very little wind, bright sunshine and blue skies. I think we have finally turned the corner toward more spring like conditions!

As I began my watch at6:25am from the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I spotted Beauty up on the Bausch & Lomb (B&L) buildings north side northeast corner. I drove over to the east side and when I pulled over to observe her she was gone. As I got back to the BSB I saw her up on the north end of the Crossroads building so I drove to State st. for a closer look.

I shared space with the Beautyful one for 15 minutes or so when she gave a look toward the Times Square building (TSB) and flew off in that direction.

Just as I was to tweet it out I got a text from cam watcher and birthday girl today Donna that Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) were at the nest box bowing. So I shot right up to the hole (Aqueduct St.)  and parked next to the Keybank. DC was under the northeast wing of TSB and soon after Beauty flew out from the nest box around 7am.

Don’t forget to click my pics to see full version

20 minutes later Beauty flew in and landed under the northwest wing while DC was still under the northeast wing-both had their back to me.

<DC   Beauty>

Beauty looked to be in hunt mode and a few minutes later at 7:23am she flew north in a hurry and a second later DC followed after her.

<Beauty in flight

I drove north to the Andrews St. bridge and spotted the bright whiteness of DC on the north corner top ibeam of OCSR-I went to Bragdon St. by the Radisson Hotel to be closer.

After a look around downtown and not finding Beauty I left to check on Pigott-she wasn’t home so I returned to downtown about 8:30am. I spotted a bump on the Kodak Office launchpad northeast corner and drove down State St. pulling over just before Platt St. it was Beauty still looking for a meal.

I didn’t stay long as I had to get going-as I came to the State and Main St. traffic light I spotted DC under the northeast wing of TSB so back to the hole I went parking between the Thomson Reuters and Philipone buildings to check him out.

It was almost 9am and time to leave- with  the nice pair of falcons I spent the last 2-3 hours with and the nice weather I couldn’t help but smile!  🙂

Click on the links below to see our downtown duo

http://youtu.be/poF_pHmVWE8
http://youtu.be/TWvOn_BI3S4
http://youtu.be/xzGtnDU9tY4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sunrise at 6:37 am.  Sunset at 6:04 pm.

Today Rochester (NY) broke two records.  This morning the temperature dropped to -9 degrees (F).  It broke the low temperature record for this day AND the record for the lowest temperature in the month of March.  It was -8 when I headed out to work.  Just by chance, the picture on my tablet was the Time Square Bldg!

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At 3:40 pm, I checked out the Kodak Park area.  No falcons seen there.

When I first arrived at the BS location, there were no falcons there.  I waited about a 1/2 hour and decided to head downtown.  As it usually happens, as I was driving away, I looked back and saw a bump on the northwest corner of the west extension.  Pigott had arrived just as I was leaving.  Of course I turned around and spent some time with her.  She was very alert to her surroundings and preening when she wasn’t looking around.

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I left Pigott and headed downtown.  From the Broad St Bridge, I could just make out a falcon on the OCSR top Ibeam at the west corner.  From the Andrew St Bridge, I had a better view.  From there I could see a 2nd falcon on the northwest corner of the Cross Rds Bldg.  At first I thought it was Beauty on the Cross Rds Bldg because this bird looked larger and had its back to me.  The falcon on the OCSR top IBeam looked smaller.  But when it turned around, it looked too dark to be Dot.ca.  Sometimes the afternoon light or lack of on some days, makes it hard for me to ID them.  Especially from a far distance.

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At just before 5:45 pm, both took off.  The tiercel (I am just not sure if it was Dot.ca or not, sorry) followed Beauty and high pitched ee-chups filled the air.  They flew very low heading west, where I lost sight of them.  Donna posted a picture on the forum from the camera at the nest box taken at 7:44 pm.  It showed Beauty inside the nest box and a 2nd falcon outside on the corner.  So that answers my question about where they headed.  They didn’t stay there long,  About a minute or so later, they were both flying on the north side of the OCSR.  Beauty flew up into the elevator shaft and the tiercel looked like he was going to follow, but instead landed on the top IBeam closest to the elevator shaft.

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I was never close enough to see if the tiercel (male) was banded or not.  It was probably Dot.ca, but I just wasn’t sure.  He didn’t stay there long.  A few minutes later, he joined Beauty inside the elevator shaft.

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Since they both seemed to be settled in and the sun was setting, I left just before 6:00 pm.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I checked the temperature upon arising this morning it was -7 degrees (F) -22 (C)  This is brutal anytime in Rochester but on March 6 it’s downright WRONG!  However, the sun was shining bright. We

I arrived downtown around 6:20am and had quite the time trying to find a falcon. I finally spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR at 6:50am.

DC left around 7:10am when I was looking for Beauty. I found both of them on Xerox 10 minutes later. Beauty was on the west side roof and DC was on the northwest corner.

<click on my pics to see full version

A few minutes later Beauty flew off and ended up on Bausch & Lomb (B&L) on the west side near Archers’ corner. DC remained on Xerox.

Beauty flew off at 7:40am and ended up on the west side of HSBC-phew, keeping old MAK busy today! She flew off before I could get a pic and then DC left Xerox around 8am. At 8:10am I spotted Beauty on the southwest corner of Xerox and DC was back on the northwest corner. Bookends on the tallest building in downtown Rochester!

<Click it  <DC    Beauty>

I left them to go check on Pigott at the Brighton Site but she wasn’t home so after 15 minutes I went back downtown. I first found DC on the north corner top ibeam of OCSR when I parked in the Radisson Hotel driveway to check up in the elevator shaft.

I went to the Andrews St. bridge and noticed a bump on the west corner top ibeam of OCSR, I proceeded to drive down State St. and parked across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel where I could see our downtown pair. Just before I called it a watch at 9:15am Beauty walked over from the corner and got situated.

<Beauty> DC>

I couldn’t help but smile after the fun time I had chasing these 2 on my watch this morning!  🙂

Click on the links below to check out todays videos

http://youtu.be/QQ0MVJEcTso
http://youtu.be/6oGZ_ZkSY3c

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well the temperature was up about 10 degrees from yesterday morning but still cold at 16 (F) -9 (C) by early March standards. Our average high is around 40 for this time of year. Anyway, the day has started with overcast conditions and light snow has been falling since I left for my watch at 6:25am

From the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I easily found Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam south corner of the OCSR building with that bright white chest of his sticking out like a sore thumb.

He’s keeping a close eye on his territory in case UT wanders back downtown. After a few minutes I left DC to look for Beauty and I found her eating on the south side of Bausch & Lomb (B&L) southeast corner. She finished up with her meal shortly after I arrived parking on Broad St. between Xerox and Midtown. She had a mess on her beak and spent several minutes trying to clean it up by feaking and scratching at it with her talon.

When she was done, off she flew to the west.

I made my way over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. at 7am to see that DC was still on OCSR top ibeam south corner and Beauty had gone straight to the elevator shaft to take cover and digest her meal on the north ledge.

10 minutes later DC slipped off  and flew southwest disappearing behind Main St. buildings. I left for the Brighton Site (BS) thinking maybe DC went there since that’s the direction he flew.

When I arrived at 7:30am I found Pigott on the west end of the south side vent-she was scrunched down and had her feathers foofed up to keep warm.

Miss Pigott flew off to the south less than 5 minutes after I arrived-I watched her with my binocs until she vanished into the cloudy southern sky.

I waited and watched for the next 15 minutes but she never returned so I went back downtown to make a last check before ending my watch. DC was gone but the Beautyful one was still on the north ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft.

I called it a watch at 8:20am and before leaving our fair city had a look around for DC without success. I saw all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons giving me reason to smile! 🙂

Check out the links below by clicking on them to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/PnLA0AwvCzw
http://youtu.be/ioRh-sDnTAw
http://youtu.be/fwvYguEC6Mo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Yet another frigid start to the day here in Rochester with a beautiful sunrise sky on the horizon-at 2 degrees (F) -17 (C) my camera and I struggled to get in focus pics as the sunrise turned into dark overcast skies

Click on my pics to see full version

The sky makes the city look tiny doesn’t it?

So after having another UT in town yesterday I got started earlier today on watch finding 2 falcons on the east side of the city at 6:40am. Beauty was on Bausch & Lomb (B&L)  on the southeast corner of the south side when I first spotted her from Woodbury St. and a falcon was on the northwest corner of Xerox.  As I made my way around to Broad St. I found that they had both switched-she was now on the northeast corner of the east side of B&L  eating and he was on the northeast corner of Xerox.

<Beauty UT?

I believe it was UT but can’t say for sure-I only saw his back. I say this because when Beauty finished eating I heard the male chupping and squeaking and it did not sound like Dot.Ca (DC), then she flew off followed by him a few seconds later. They flew west out of view around 7:05am.

<Beauty

As I approached on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) I saw 2 falcons flying south of the Times Square building (TSB)-one kept going south (if it was indeed a falcon) and the other went back to OCSR flying in front of the nest box area and then Beauty suddenly shot out from near nest box area and chase after the other smaller falcon,I think it was UT, behind TSB where I lost them. I went looking for them and ended up on the Andrews St. bridge when Donna let me know that Beauty was on cam 1. Thanks for the help! I drove directly to the hole and saw Beauty and also a male up above her under the northeast wing with his back to me. The cold would not allow for a good focus on my camera so I had trouble when I did see the side of the face in identifying it as either UT or DC .

Turns out it was DC on TSB so I don’t know if he chased UT out earlier when I thought I saw the 3 falcons and lost sight of them for 15 minutes-that seems most likely. I left for the Brighton site (BS) and when I got there at 8:10am there were no falcons present. Upon my return to downtown Beauty was still on cam 1 and DC still under northeast wing. I pulled over in front of  the Blue Cross Arena for a side view.

<Beauty DC>

Beauty flew off cam 1 as I was watching DC and I wouldn’t have known where she went if Shaky hadn’t tweeted out that she was on the base of Mercury. Thanks Shakymon! I went up to the BSB where I could see her and DC.

<Beauty

Well, I don’t know if UT is out there watching or if he left the area but hopefully DC didn’t hurt him. All was quiet as I ended my watch at 9:10am. Keep smiling everyone! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/fMwKekp0Xak
http://youtu.be/ZkbjsTpZw-c

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sunrise at 6:41 am.  Sunset at 6:00 pm.  When I ended my watch, after 6:00 pm, the temperature was 10 degrees (F).  Not sure where the windchill was.  All I can say is, boy was it cold out there!

After reading that there was an unbanded tiercel (UT) (male falcon) seen in the nest box around noon, I knew I had to get downtown to check things out.  I joined MAK on Broad St at about 3:50 pm.  She had been keeping an eye on Beauty and an unbanded male.  Beauty’s behavior was quite accepting.  He was all over the place, showing her what an awesome flier he was.  Zipping back and forth and at one point he attempted to copulate with her.

When I first arrived, Beauty was up on the base of the Mercury statue.  UT whizzed by her and landed at the nest box.

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UT took off and continued to show off for Beauty.  Then, it almost happened.  As MAK and I watched, UT approached Beauty and attempted to copulate with her.

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Beauty remained on the base of Mercury and UT landed on a chimney on top of the Wilder building.

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UT hunted the pigeons along the river and Beauty joined him.  They were flying together.  Both ended up on the OCSR.

While I remained on the Broad St Bridge, MAK went over to the BS location, where she found both Pigott and Dot.ca.  DC had a very full crop.  Larry O joined MAK there, and Lisa McK joined me downtown.

Beauty flew up into the OCSR elevator shaft, north ledge and UT landed on the south end of the Cross Rds Bldg.

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UT knew that Beauty was up inside the OCSR elevator shaft, but he could not figure out how to get up there.  He landed on top of the elevator, above her.

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The sun was setting and Lisa drove over to the BS location.  Both Pigott and Dot.ca were still there.

I moved closer to the OCSR and watched UT try over and over again to get up inside the elevator shaft.  While he tried, he was vocalizing with a high pitched wailing sound.  He landed a view times on a structure below Beauty.  I waited for the sun to set, leaving after 6:00 pm.  UT had settled on the south side top Ibeam, close to the elevator shaft.

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Tomorrow will be an interesting day.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Freezing and frigid-those are the f words that describe this morning! 5 degrees (F) -15 (C) with a slight breeze making the wind chill below O. Overcast with snow falling-sigh…

2 trips to the east side to start my watch bagged me a falcon named Beauty at 7am. She switched it up on me and  was eating on the south side of Bausch & Lomb on the southeast corner. Her usual spots lately have been the east and north sides. Hey, variety is the spice of life right!?

Once again I apologize for the poor quality photos-my camera has had enough of the cold temperatures and does not like to focus in them. Beauty finished eating cleaned up a bit, waved good bye and took off flying northwest toward OCSR.

<Click on pics to see full version

Off I went to my spot at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. where I can see up in the elevator shaft of OCSR-there she was, Beauty had gone directly to the north ledge instead of  the ibeam first, which is her usual routine. You can’t really see her in my pic but she was there.

I left for the Brighton site (BS) and when I arrived about 7:30am there were no falcons at home. I went for coffee and when I returned 10 minutes later I found Dot.Ca (DC) on the south side vent west end. He was scrunched down in what I call the buddha style and he had his feathers all foofed up to stay warm.

I watched him turning his head every which way and then he seemed to see something that he keyed in on.

I thought perhaps it was Pigott so I pulled out to take a ride around the building and as I got on the east side I spotted Pigott on an east facing top floor window ledge on the southeast extension-she had her back to me.

I just noticed that I failed to  tweet out that I saw Miss Pigott at BS-sorry, I have a lot on my mind. (rolls eyes) So I made one more check downtown before ending my watch. Just as I was pulling over at the Radisson hotel the Beautyful one came flying out from the OCSR elevator shaft. She made a few flights in front of the southeast side of OCSR and returned to the north ledge of the elevator shaft.

I promptly ended my watch at 8:55am after seeing all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons safe and sound and in case you’re wondering-I was smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/DL5C-5aRwsk
http://youtu.be/-QG6WUUQvko
http://youtu.be/yKAlCwkUtjs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sunrise at 6:44 am.  Sunset at 5:58 pm.  Temps in the teens.  Overcast.  Light snow.  OK, I’m ready for Spring please!

Kodak Park first.  No Falcons found there, but two adult Red-tailed Hawks were hanging out with each other.  (11:30 am)

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I arrived at the BS location close to noon.  At first I couldn’t find Pigott.  She arrived at 12:20 pm, landing on a window on the east side, two below the tree ledge.

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At 12:54 pm, Pigott took off heading east fast.  She did not vocalize.  It didn’t take her long to return and she wasn’t alone.  At 1:00 pm Pigott returned and Dot.ca was right behind her.  They both landed on the east end extension.  Pigott on the left and Dot.ca on the right.  They looked like bookends up there.

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While I was there, they both went off on tandem hunts to the east.  Also, Dot.ca went after a gull that got a little too close.  The gull was screaming as it neared the building and screaming when Dot.ca went after it over the east end parking lot.  The gull got out of there as fast as it could!

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I had to end my watch at 3:00 pm, so I headed downtown to search for Beauty.  From the Andrew St Bridge, I finally found her on the southeast corner of the Federal Building.  I went to tweet it out and found that my phone battery was dead.

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While I was watching Beauty, I was parked on the Andrew St Bridge, next to a very large pothole!  They are starting to get big enough to swallow a bus!!!

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There were a bunch of Crows in the park next to me and they were very noisy.  Beauty finally had enough of them and stooped low over the park and the river.  She continued south, scattering pigeons in all directions.  I watched her turn back towards me and up into the OCSR elevator shaft.

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It was time for me to end my watch after seeing all three Rochester Falcons safe and sound.

Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Back to overcast, dark and cold conditions this morning with a starting temperature of 15 (F) -9 (C) and we are not to go much higher than that for a high today

My falcon watching time is short these days as I have a lot going on but I’m thankful I am getting out at all to share time and space with our beloved falcons. Beauty made it easy for me today-I found her at 7am on the OCSR building top ibeam near the south corner.

I parked by the Radisson Hotel near Main St. to get the best angle on her and was able to see that she had a bulge in her crop so I knew that she had eaten earlier. It does my heart good to know that they’ve eaten in this cold weather. I hung out with her for about 40 minutes in which time she preened and napped off and on. A quick check around did not produce a Dot.Ca (DC) sighting so I headed out for the Brighton Site (BS).

No luck finding him or Pigott at home at BS-after waiting about 10 minutes I went back downtown only to find the Beautyful one in the same spot as I left her on OCSR. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hang out with Beauty but she did give me a falcon fix this morning and for that I could certainly muster up a smile as I ended my watch around 8:30am! 🙂

One link below for a video of Beauty

http://youtu.be/JpbSQV2x9ro

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sunrise at 6:46 am and Sunset at 5:58 pm.

We had a little reprieve from the frigid temperatures today.  The temps made it into the 30’s (F) and the sun was out for much of my watch which started at about 11 a.m.  My first stop was Russell Station.  No Falcons there, but I did see a juvenile Bald Eagle fly by just off shore over Lake Ontario, heading west.  I checked Charlotte, and Hawkeye.  No sign of Billy at either of those locations.  (11:26 am)

Downtown, I found Dot.ca on the OCSR, north side top IBeam near the north corner.

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From the Andrew St Bridge, I saw a large group of Red-Breasted Mergansers (RBM) swimming on the river between me and the Main St Bridge.  Always good to see them doing well.

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I went to search for Beauty and found her on the Times Square Bldg on the northeast wing ledge.  (12:24 pm)

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There was no place to park on the Broad St Bridge because of the car show that was in town, so I ended up watching Beauty from Aqueduct St (aka the hole).  I stayed there for over an hour.  Since there was not activity, I headed over to the BS location where I found Pigott on the east end of the building on the corner above the tree ledge.  (1:57 pm)

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Soon after I arrived, Pigott took off and flew around the south side of the building heading west.  I caught up with her, finding her on the northwest corner of the northeast extension.

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At 2:50 pm, I saw a Red-Tailed Hawk fly over the building and so did Pigott.  She took off and chased the RTH out of her territory.

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After chasing the hawk away, Pigott returned to the southwest corner of the west extension.

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Crows were cawing loudly to the west of the building and Pigott does not like the Crows anywhere near her building.  So off she went to chase the Crows out of her territory.  She returned, landing on the southeast corner of the southwest extension.

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Pigott walked back on the roof and I lost sight over her.  I assume she may have been looking for cached food, even though she already had a full crop.

I left Pigott at a little after 3:00 pm and drove through downtown one more time before heading home.  At 3:25 pm, I spotted Beauty in the same spot I had left her, on the Times Square Bldg, NE wing ledge.  Dot.ca was no longer on the north side of the OCSR.  It was time to end my watch.  I just missed seeing fellow watcher Larry O, who arrived after I left.

Looks like the frigid temperatures will be returning to Rochester tomorrow, high 19 degrees (F) with a couple inches of snow expected.  Keep warm everyone!  Goodnight!