From Rochester Watcher Carol P.

I returned to the Kodak Tower at 3:45 pm. Watchers were gathered at the bench in front of the old Bru Restaurant. I joined Shaky, Carrie and Ellen. They informed me that Mariah had just taken off, heading NE over the gorge. Shaky ran out to the bridge in time to see Mariah fly out of sight over a red brick building on the other side of the gorge. Jeanne joined us.

During the lull, I walked out to the pedestrian bridge to see if I could spot Mariah. I didn’t find her, but I did find Dan S. He told me that he had just been at Midtown Plaza and saw two Falcons flying around, possibly hunting. It was quiet, so he assumed it was Beauty and Archer.

4:30 pm – Mariah returned to the K-Tower, SE corner of the playpen.

Larry O joined the Watch.

5:10 pm – Mariah again took off heading NE over the gorge. Carrie, Shaky and I hurried out to the pedestrian bridge and saw Mariah flying around the red brick building on the other side of the gorge. She seemed to be chasing pigeons or crows. We saw her land on the corner of the building.

I said my goodbyes to Carrie and Shaky and headed over to see if I could find Mariah’s location. Just as I found the building she was sitting on, she took off (of course!) heading north.

5:40 pm – I drove over to Midtown Plaza. All was quiet.

5:47 pm – Beauty jumped up onto the nest ledge, east side of MP.

5:53 pm – Beauty did a little bit of flying and then returned to the nest ledge.

6:09 pm – I drove back to the K-Tower and spotted Mariah on the SE corner of the playpen.

6:22 pm – Mariah flew off heading SW.

6:32 – 7:04 pm – Back to Midtown. Beauty was sitting on the Columbus Bldg. fire escape. No sign of Archer. Before I left, she flew off of the fire escape and returned to the nest ledge.

7:09 pm – Mariah was back on the K-Tower, SE Corner playpen. By the time I parked my car, she was gone.

7:35 pm – Back to Midtown. Now this was a little crazy to watch. Archer came in with a Starling sized, headless bird clutched in his talons. He landed on Midtown and started to pluck feathers. Beauty wanted the food. She flew to him, expecting him to hand it over. Nope! Archer grabbed the food and landed on top of Midtown, plucking again. Beauty tried again, Archer took off with the food. This went on for quite awhile.

7:54 pm – Archer finally lands with the prey on the NE corner of the lower section of Midtown, very close to the nest ledge. Beauty landed next to him and FINALLY snagged her dinner.

8:02 pm – Beauty took the prey to the B&L building and enjoyed her meal. Archer took over on the nest ledge, jumping down into the gutter.

This is defintely behavior I haven’t seen before. They were both off of the nest ledge more than they have been while incubating the eggs and it was a chilly, windy day.

It was time for me to head home. I drove by the K-Tower for one more look, but didn’t see Mariah there. Lots of activity today. Hopefully things will remain peaceful.

Carol P.

From Rochester Watcher Carol P.

It was a long day of Falcon Watching today, so I’m going to write this report a little differently. Thanks to ALL the watchers that showed up to help keep an eye on Mariah and Archer and Beauty. 🙂 OK, here goes………

9:45 am – Arrived downtown. Mariah was on the Kodak Tower (K-Tower), SE corner of the playpen, base.

10:00 am – A Turkey Vulture flew very close to the K-Tower and floated towards the north. No reaction from Mariah.

10:05 am – Mariah started ee-chupping. Took a quick flight around the tower and then landed (again) on the SE corner of the playpen.

10:08 am – Mariah ee-chupped again, but did not move.

10:12 am – Mariah ee-chupped at third time. This time a small Falcon swooped in towards the K-Tower landing on the cupola above Mariah. I assumed this was Archer. Both he and Mariah took off, flying together towards the gorge (east), touching talons now and then.

10:25 am – When neither Mariah or Archer returned, I drove down to Midtown Plaza (MP). Archer was sitting on the SE corner, preening. I assume Beauty was laying on the eggs.

10:39 am – Back to K-Tower. Mariah was back. She was on the SE corner of the launch pad. I was joined by Kathy O and Helen.

11:20 am – Mariah took off, stooped on something west of the K-Tower. She then headed south, came back and chased the crows on Bldg 10, then landed on the playpen base, south side.

11:25 am – Mariah stooped off of the K-Tower into the gorge.

11:33 am – Mariah returned to the SE corner of the playpen.

11:40 am – Another TV flew by. No reaction from Mariah.

12:07 pm – Mariah flew off heading west. Hunting?

12:25 pm – Mariah returned landing on east side of the launch pad, then moved to the SE corner.

At this time Kathy O reported from Midtown Plaza. No Falcons in sight.

12:45 pm – Mariah flew off heading east over the gorge.

1:10 pm – Mariah returned, landing on the arch ledge on the south side of the K-Tower. Some ee-chupping was heard.

At this time Kathy O reported that she witnessed a changing of the guard at Midtown Plaza. One of the MP falcons headed north, but never arrived at the K-Tower.

1:25 pm – All was quiet. Dawn and Jeanne arrived.

1:30 pm – I ended the first part of my Sunday Watch.

To be continued………..

Carol P.

From Rochester Watcher Jeanne.

I started out downtown and just looked at midtown– nothing. Then I went to
Kodak. Mariah was flying around the tower in the bright blue sky. She landed
at the base of the playpen. A few minutes later, she stooped on something and
went to the 19th floor. Then she flew again and went to the launch pad. When I
left at 9:15, she was still there.

I went downtown and saw a peregrine on the corner, tucked in, of the knights of
columbus building. I think it was the female.

Jeanne

I arrived downtown around 9:30 am. Mariah was up on the Kodak Tower, SE corner of the launchpad. All was quiet for the next 1 1/2 hours. She did ee-chup now and then. Turkey Vultures and Crows were near the tower.

Marcia joined me a little before 11:00 am. We decided to check out Archer and Beauty over at Midtown Plaza.

Watchers Diana R, Dana, Lou, Lisa McK and Dawn joined us. We stayed there for awhile, witnessing 2 changing of the guards on the nest ledge.

At 12:05 pm, Dawn called from the end of the pedestrian bridge near Kodak Office. She was with Dan S and they saw Mariah flying around the communication tower with another Falcon. She returned to the K-Tower and the 2nd Falcon headed downtown.

At approximately 12:15 pm, Archer flew over the Xerox Tower, kakking. He landed for a moment before taking off and landing on Midtown.

We believe that it was Archer that flew over to the Kodak Tower to non-aggressively fly with Mariah. Beauty remained at Midtown on the eggs.

At 2:30 pm, we headed back to the Kodak Tower. Kathy O had been keeping watch over there. We joined her.

Mariah vocalized with ee-chupping quite frequently while we watched. She chased the Crows off a few times. Marcia had her scope, so we were able to get a good look at Mariah. She looks good.

Around 3:00 pm, Mariah flew off the tower and landed on the east side on the 16th floor. There must have been leftovers on the ledge, because she pulled out a pigeon sized bird and started eating. By the time she had finished, her crop was huge. It was great seeing her eat and this was evidence that she was successfully hunting. Dana joined us.

At 4:00 pm, Mariah took off and flew east, out over the gorge. About 5 minutes later, she returned to the K-Tower trailed by a 2nd, smaller Falcon. We assume it was Archer visiting again.

Mariah landed on the east side of the launch pad and the smaller Falcon flew high above her. There was a bit of vocalization, but it wasn’t an alarm call. There seemed to be no aggression by Mariah or the other Falcon.

The 2nd Falcon then flew off towards downtown, leaving Mariah on the Kodak Tower.

So, what’s going on? Is Archer keeping Mariah from flying too close to Midtown Plaza, meeting her and flying back with her to the K-Tower? This is a first for all of us, so we’ll all keep Watching and reporting what we see.

When I left at 4:30 pm, Mariah was still on the east side launch pad. Kathy O drove downtown and reported seeing either A or B eating on a building north of Midtown Plaza.

Kathy O was the only Watcher downtown this evening. She reported that when she left at 7:45 pm, Mariah was dozing on the SE corner of the K-Tower launch pad and either Archer or Beauty was up on top of the Xerox Tower. All was quiet.

The weather is going to be much cooler and windy tomorrow. Hope more Watchers are able to make it downtown to help us keep an eye on this situation.

Carol P.

We are 99.999999% sure that Mariah has returned to the Kodak Tower. During my 3 hour Watch this afternoon, she mostly remained on the K-Tower.

As Jeanne reported, there were workers on the Tower, under scaffolding which covers the top three floors of the tower. She flew by them a few times, but it was nothing like banding day. Thank goodness!

We did see a split wing tip, so again we’re pretty certain it’s Mariah.

She was very intent on ousting the 5-6 Crows that thought they could just hang out on the lower Bldg 10, just north of the K-Tower. We saw her make several
stoops on them. But, they’re pretty stubborn and kept returning. I have no doubt Mariah will win this battle.

Kathy O and Dan saw Mariah on the top I-Beam of the old Changing Scene’s Restaurant. I arrived just as Mariah flew off of the OCRS and headed toward us down the east side of the gorge. She passed directly over us and straffed the pigeons on the Brewery. She then returned to the K-Tower.

When I left at 3:30 pm, Mariah was sitting on the SE corner of the launch pad (K-Tower) and a quick visit to Midtown showed Archer sitting calmly on the SE corner of Midtown. All seemed very calm.

I truly hope that many Watchers will be out to keep an eye on the situation.

Carol P.