By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I left for my watch at 7am it was raining and 54 degrees (F) 12 (C) and during the course of my watch the temperature dropped to the 30’s and heavy fog took over downtown

It stayed dark for quite a while this morning as I searched for our beloved falcons. As I was coming down Main St. from the west side I spotted a falcon on the Mercury Money Bag so I drove down to the hole to check it out.

Wreaths at church on Fitzhugh St. and City Place tree

Make sure to click on my pics to see the full version

I think it was Beauty but it’s hard to tell from the 2 pics I managed to get before flying off. I checked around downtown a couple times finding a PEFA on the 2nd ibeam north corner of OCSR as I was parked on the Andrews St. bridge. I went over to State St. for a closer view but it was gone when I got there. I left to check the Brighton Site (BS) after no success in seeing another falcon.

Cornhill lights and Mt. Hope florist window display

The rain picked up shortly after I arrived at BS where I found Pigott on the southeast corner of the southeast extension. While I shared space with her she preened and looked around.

When I returned to downtown the bank clock on Main St. said 38 (F) and the tops of the building were covered with heavy fog. It was virtually impossible to see a falcon on them if they were there.

<East side <north from BSB <Kodak Office

I checked as well as I could but had no luck in finding anyone on my last watch for a month. I’m leaving this afternoon for Arkansas to spend the holidays with my sister, brother-in-law and niece-I return January 21st. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all and until I see you and our Rochester Peregrine Falcons again keep smiling!! 🙂

One video link of Pigott in the driving rain below-just click and view

http://youtu.be/l6T3R7v4LgI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

When I stepped out of work today, it was raining and very foggy.  I could barely see the smokestacks at Kodak Park.  I went over to check for a falcon, but it was impossible to see anything.

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I considered not continuing my Watch due to the poor weather, but decided to try my luck at finding the falcons.  BS was my 2nd destination.  There I found both Pigott and Dot.ca on the east end of the building.  Pigott was on a south facing window on the east extension.  Dot.ca was above her on the southeast corner of the east extension.

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It started to rain even harder, so I headed downtown to look for beauty.  I checked all the normal spots from the Broad St Bridge before heading over to the Radisson to see if she might be up inside the OCSR elevator shaft.  On my way over, I spotted a large bird on the Widows Walk, but couldn’t stop due to the traffic.  No falcons were in the elevator shaft.  Beauty had been seen at Kodak Office this morning, so that was my next destination.  But first I backtracked to Fitzhugh St to get a look at the bird on Widows Walk.  I parked in front of the church and got my first good look.  This was not a falcon.  It was big and white and it was a Snowy Owl!  There was a Snowy Owl in Downtown Rochester.  🙂

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It’s too bad it was so cloudy and overcast.  The lighting was horrible for taking pictures.  The snowy took off and then came back landing on the northwest corner of the Widow Walk.  I think the sirens scared the owl.  After a short while, the owl was gone again.  I waited to see if it would return, but it didn’t, so I took another look around from Beauty.  By just before 5:00 pm, it was already dark, so I called it a Watch.

I’ll leave you with a 2 minute video I took of the Snowy Owl on Widows Walk.  Just click on the link below to my Youtube video.  Enjoy and goodnight!

http://youtu.be/B78zbNPThQE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We are having a heat wave here in Rochester,NY as I left the house to a balmy 43 degrees (F)  6 (C) with light rain and dark conditions throughout my watch

I had trouble finding a falcon downtown again today so just like I’ve done the past few days I took pics of  decorations and lights and then drove to the Brighton site (BS) to look for Pigott.

You must click on my pics to see the full version

I arrived at BS about 8am and spotted Pigott on the west end of the south side vent as I came around to the back of the building. Miss Pigott took off after a minute going east past the tree line and disappearing into the overcast sky.

She didn’t return so after a couple trips around the property (in case she snuck back without me seeing)  I left for downtown.  As I made my way down State St. I could see a falcon on the northeast corner of the launchpad. I went down to Mill St. to find that it was Beauty and she had some food in her crop.

At 9am the Beautyful one flew off and circled the tower, landed somewhere out of my view then flew back out and landed on the northeast corner of the playpen.

I went to State St. for a different angle on her after I checked each side of the tower to see if maybe DC was up there. No luck in seeing him today.

Beauty seemed to get settled in so I ended my watch at 9:30am wishing I had seen DC but smiling for having seen the girls today! 🙂

Click on the links below to see my videos

http://youtu.be/l1xcmP-bAtI

http://youtu.be/W0YeRGVM1wQ

http://youtu.be/-lsz-rFX46U

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Since Beauty, Dot.ca and Pigott had all been seen today, I decided to head out to Russell Station to visit with the juvie falcon seen there earlier today by Joyce and Brian.  Here are a couple of  the tweets that Joyce sent.

2:35 pm –  RS: Juvie falcon and juvie RTH behind RS off Ling Rd. Both are on tall telephone poles. RTH eating scraps off pole.

2:52 pm – RS: Juvie falcon chased RTH back across Ling Rd. PEFA sitting on pole where RTH was eating scraps. Was it stealing falcon leftovers?

When I arrived on the south side of Russell Station (RS) at 4:00 pm, I found the juvie falcon on a telephone pole on the east side of RS.  I stayed there until she took off and flew towards Russell Station and landed on the top catwalk of the west side smokestack at at 4:50 pm.  By this time it was getting dark and after searching the stacks, I could not find the falcon.

Of course we can’t know for sure that this was Billy, but I do believe that it was her.

Here are some pictures from my late afternoon watch.  Please be sure to click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

Juvie falcon on telephone pole, east side of Russell Station.

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A Chinook flew over, heading towards the lake.

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Juvie Falcon took off and flew to the west side smoke stack at Russell Station.

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I’ll leave you with a couple pics of Christmas lights I really liked on a house near the lake.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We started the day at the freezing mark of 32 (F) 0 (C) with clouds to start, but the sun shone brightly for most of my watch

I had quite the time looking for falcons in downtown Rochester today so after almost an hour of unsuccessful hunting I left for the Brighton Site to try my luck there. I managed to find more decorations at Bausch & Lomb, on Andrews Terrace apartments balconies a couple shops on Mt. Hope Ave. and Mercury looking like he’s reaching for the moon.

<Bausch & Lomb   Make sure to click on pics for full view

Andrews Terrace apartments

Mt. Hope Blvd.

As luck would have it Miss Pigott was home and perched on the southeast corner of the southeast extension under the tree top roof. She did some preening but mostly turned her head a lot as usual to watch her surroundings.

I got a sequence of the life of a poop. lol

I left Pigott around 8:30am and went back downtown to see if I could find Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC). 40 minutes later I spotted them on Midtown as I was coming around the back of HSBC on Broad St. The Beautyful one was on the northeast corner and DC on the southeast. Every once in  while she would whine.

<DC

I moved to Atlas St. at Elm St. to be closer to them. DC flew off around 9:45am and returned 20 minutes later flying above Beauty-she flew off after him as they headed toward the river. I followed behind and found them on the Kodak Office tower. DC was on the southeast corner of the launchpad and Beauty was above him on the east side of the cupola.

They were just hanging out and blowing in the breeze as I ended my watch at 10:20am. Smiles take over my face whenever I see all 3 of Rochesters’ Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the lins below to see my photo album and some videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjBs

http://youtu.be/UftbnNuc7AU

http://youtu.be/m9fuopJOvPs

http://youtu.be/W-8QE8KeICw

http://youtu.be/R0ed-ZJeYyo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Between 3:45 and 5:00 pm, I was able to find all three Rochester Falcons before it got dark.

1st stop – Kodak Park.  No Falcons seen there. (3:45 pm)

2nd stop – BS location.  Both Pigott and Dot.ca were on the east end of the building.  Pigott was on a south facing window on the east extension and Dot.ca was above her on the southeast corner of the east extension.  Just as I was parking my car, Dot.ca took off and zipped around to the north side of the building.  After taking a few pics of Pigott, I drove around to the north side and found Dot.ca on what may possibly be their nighttime roost, on a north facing window on the east extension. (4:00 pm)

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The sun was setting quickly, so I moved on.

3rd stop – Downtown Rochester.  After searching the downtown area, I ended up at Kodak Office where I found Beauty up on the southeast corner of the launchpad. (4:00 pm)

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While I was downtown, fellow Falcon Watcher Dana was at Charlotte.  Here are her tweets.

4:13 pm – Charlotte falcon watch – juvie black over green bands hunting ducks & pigeons over river near Shumway & O’rorke bridge!

4:35 pm – Charlotte falcon watch – juvie rested in a tree near bridge, then flew north hunting towards the lake where I lost her.  Getting dark. Bye!

After finding Beauty, I headed north to take the Lake route home, hoping to find the juvie Peregrine that Dana reported seeing hunting.  Sadly, I could not find her.  By 5:00 pm, it was too dark to see much, so I ended my watch, happy to have found Beauty, Pigott & Dot.ca.

There are many small, decorated Christmas trees all over downtown Rochester.  Here is one that is in front of Kodak Office.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher  MAK

It is warming up around here as todays starting temperature was 25 (F)  -4 (C) it snowed a couple more inches over nite but it stopped as I left for downtown. Overcast at first the sun broke thru at the very end of my watch

While looking for falcons I came across more lights and a fire was in progress at Scio and University St. with many emergency and police vehicles.

Click pics for full version

Finally as I was coming back from checking the Kodak Office tower (KO) driving south bound toward Times Square I spotted a falcon flying above the river going north. I turned around and drove down State St to find Beauty on the southeast corner of the launchpad on KO and she was plucking feathers off some food.

Beauty finished in a few minutes so I believe it was either cached food or she ate the lions share of it elsewhere and finished it off on KO. No matter because she had a full crop so i knew that she had a good meal.

A couple minutes later Dot.Ca (DC) flew in landing very close to the Beautyful one to check out what food might be left-it wasn’t much because he only nibbled for  half a minute or less. After that they spent some time looking at each other and then preened together.

I left our downtown duo to check for Pigott over at our Brighton site but she wasn’t home when I was there so I went back downtown. Beauty and DC were still on the KO launchpad so I took a drive over to the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge to check out the High Falls. They were half frozen and the other half was flowing at a pretty good clip.

I looked west to KO and could see Beauty and DC still in their same spots took a shot of them and called it a watch at 9am.

Click it

It so makes me smile to see them hanging out in such close proximity! 🙂

Click on the links below to see some videos I have shared

http://youtu.be/egdYhT1Ji0o

http://youtu.be/V71bLmxTmO4

http://youtu.be/GCA8dFKEmlc

http://youtu.be/G9-YKPZoGbk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Holy deep freeze-the temperature when I checked the local TV station said 8 degrees (F) -13 (C) when I was getting ready to leave for my watch. We were having a burst of moderate to heavy snow that made the roads pretty darn slick-you really had to drive slow as it dropped a couple inches of snow in an hour or so

I drove around the city for about 45 minutes at the start of my watch with no falcon sightings but I did find some more pretty lights and stuff!

Click pics for full version

Finally as I was checking the Kodak Office (KO) tower from the Andrews St. Bridge I spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of the launchpad. I drove down to Mill St. for a closer look but due to poor lighting, distance and snow falling I didn’t know who it was at first. Now I can say that it was Dot.Ca (DC)-he flew off after a couple minutes and then I saw 2 falcons in the air circling the tower. They went to the other side where I couldn’t see them so I went up to State St. on the north side of KO to find they were both there.

I thought one of them had food but Beauty on the left was preening and DC on the corner was looking south and pretty much ignoring his mate. I left to check for Pigott at our Brighton site around 8am and found her perched on the southwest corner of the west extension. She was all foofed up to keep warm and was keeping an eye on her territory.

I stayed with Miss Pigott for 20 minutes and then I had to leave for a dental appointment around 8:40am. I saw all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons on my short watch and mustered up a smile for that! 🙂

One video link below-just click and watch

http://youtu.be/F7cWWpS48FY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

OK, what are the chances.  I’m leaving work, walking to my car in the parking lot with my co-worker Patty at 3:30 pm.  I look up and see a bird flying overhead.  I say to Patty, there goes a falcon.  Definitely a Peregrine Falcon.  I really love when that happens.  🙂

The falcon had flown in from the east and was heading west towards the Kodak Park area where Unity used to hang out.  I watched the falcon until it flew out of sight, over the Kodak Park Plant aka Eastman Business Park.  I jumped in my car, after cleaning a couple inches of snow off of it and headed in the direction I had last seen  the falcon.

From the parking lot, I spotted an adult Peregrine Falcon on the east smokestack on the south side of the lower catwalk.  Of course I did not have my camera with me.  I tweeted out that the falcon was here and then headed home to grab my camera.  When I returned, my fellow watch Dana was there.  I did get a few pictures before the falcon took off and headed south at 4:30 pm.  We waited to see if the falcon would return, but it did not.  I had to be somewhere, so I ended my watch, just as the sun was going down.

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Dana, Joyce and Brian had been down at Russell Station and had spotted a juvie falcon hunting off the stacks there.  I sure do hope it was Billy.  Oh, and Brian says he saw a Gyrfalcon flying along the lake shore.  I would love to see one in the wild.  They reported that it had been snowing quite a bit when they were there.  Here is a picture taken from KP looking north showing the snow clouds over the lake.

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There was a full moon (or close to a full moon) rising as I ended my watch.  Between all the watchers out today, there were 5 different falcons seen in the Rochester area.  Pretty awesome!  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast and cold with a little light snow at times this morning with a temperature of 16 (F) -9 (C)

I was on the east side taking a couple pics when I got a tweet from Donna that a falcon  whom she thought was Beauty was on the Mercury Money Bag (MMB). Thanks for the assist D!

Click pics to see full version

I went to the Broad St. bridge and saw the back of  Beauty on Mercury. I continued down to the hole to see the front of her. She flew off less than 10 minutes later heading north.

I headed over to Kodak Office and found her there on the south side arch where she’s been going for the past few days. She was there less than a minute then took off to the south.

I went to Brighton after not finding the Beautyful one and came upon both Pigott and Dot.Ca (DC). He was on the northeast corner of the east extension eating and she was watching him from  the southeast corner. Same as yesterday-no sharing !

<DC

About 10 minutes later Pigott walked across to where DC was and he flew off with his food to where she just came from.  A minute later he flew over and kicked Pigott off his original corner and she went back to her corner.

<DC   <Pigott>

Pigott said the heck with you and flew off to the east to find her own breakfast. DC then finished his meal and flew to the southeast corner of the southeast extension briefly  then back to the southeast corner of the east extension before flying north..

I returned to downtown to find Beauty on the southeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower for a minute before she flew north.

Beauty had ended up on the south side arch of Kodak Office.

I ended my watch at 9:15am- anytime I see all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons is reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos

http://youtu.be/qZacy-CzRV0
http://youtu.be/2tK3utcO05E