From Rochester Falcon Watch, Carol P.

I started my watch by driving past the Frontier communication tower, nothing.  Nothing on the north side of the old Changing Scenes Restaurant.  No Falcons on the south side of old Changing Scenes.  BINGO!  There was a Falcon on the base of the Mercury statue.  I parked on Aqueduct St., which put me on the west side of the statue.  A quick check showed me that it was Archer.  He spent most of the next 1/2 hour preening and looking about.  I heard the cawing of Crows behind me and so did Archer.  He took off, heading in the direction of the Crows.  I looked over towards the Wilder bldg and saw Archer in the midst of 7 or 8 Crows.  The Crows never stood a chance and should learn that messing around with a Peregrine is not a good idea.  Mariah would never tolerate a Crow near her nestsite.  It seems that her Grandson Archer has picked up that trait.

The Crows finally decided to get out of Dodge, so they all headed towards the river with a very irate Tiercel on their tails.  I couldn’t find Archer, so I returned to the Wilder bldg, where I spotted a falcon sitting on the south side.  I thought it was Archer, but it turned out to be Beauty.  I found some shade and kept an eye on Beauty.  I was soon joined by fellow Watcher MAK.

We pulled out some chairs and chatted.  It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon.  The sun was shining, but it wasn’t too warm, just right.

Dana, Lou and Kathy O. arrived.  Beauty remained on the Wilder bldg.  A smaller falcon flew in passing Beauty flying towards the river.  Then Beauty took off.  We found both Beauty and Archer sitting on the Mercury statue.  Joyce arrived and reported that Archer had been over on the jail communication tower.

The two falcons on the statue would have made a wonderful painting of a Peregrine pair.  Just as the light was fading, Archer took off on a mission, heading south.  We couldn’t see where he went.  Beauty vocalized a bit, but remained on Mercury’s heal.  We received a phone call from Lynda, who was on the Broad St. bridge with Dan.  Archer was again on the jail communication tower.

It was 8:00 pm and it was getting dark.  It had been a long day, so I decided to head home.  There were no sightings of Callidora today.  We’ll keep looking for her and report if we see her.

Friday –  August 20, 2010

Compiled from Tweets posted by Watchers plus Additional Watch Notes

A = Archer

B = Beauty

C = Callidora

OCSR = Old Changing Scenes Restaurant

Pefa = Peregrine Falcon

6:48 a.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) MAK is BAK/Dan: Broad St Bridge- Archer on top I-Beam of OCSR.

7:09 a.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) MAK/DAN: Archer flew over by Xerox and we lost him.

7:22 a.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) Archer on SE corner of Xerox.

7:40 a.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) Falcon on SW corner of OCSR, top I-Beam. Not sure who yet.

9:47 a.m. – (From Watcher MAK) Good morning falcon watchers it’s good to be back in the saddle again. As Donna reported we only saw Archer early. After Dan left I did the drive around the city looking for our falcons. As I was leaving Frontier communication tower, Debbie H called me and said there was a PEFA on OCSR. I drove over to the Broad Street bridge where I met up with her and we saw that both Beauty and Archer were on the top I-Beam SE and SW corners of OCSR. Debbie left to go to work and I stayed long enough for Archer to stoop on something and then disappear. When I left, Beauty was still on the SW corner. Sorry, no Callidora sighting. Maybe when I go back this afternoon she’ll make her presence known. A Taste of Rochester is on Main Street this weekend so it’s blocked off resulting in heavy traffic on the Broad Street bridge. Have a great Friday everyone!

10 – 10:15 a.m. – (From Watcher Joyce) Took a drive all around downtown before heading to Buffalo. Not a falcon anywhere. Maybe off enjoying area sights.

3:50 p.m. – (From Watcher Carol P.) 3 falcons on north side of OCSR!

5:40 p.m. – (From Watcher Carol P.) 2 on top arm Frontier communication tower. 1 large, 1 small. Definitely male/female.

6:10 p.m. – (From Watcher Carol P.) A on north side OCSR. Female on top north arm of Frontier communication tower.

7:50 p.m. – (From Watcher Carol P.) Kathy O, Joyce and Carol P have a falcon on platform of Frontier communication tower. It was Archer. He took off heading south. Joyce reports falcon on jail communication tower.

8:16 p.m. – (Posted by Donna for MAK) Watchers out right now are as follows: Jeanne, Brian, Kathy, Carol, Joyce, Dan, Larry with Cleo, Dana, Lou, Marcia and MAK….and maybe a few falcons.(phew)! From Frontier Parking Lot. Beauty on Xerox.

8:45 p.m. – (From Watcher Joyce) Beauty and Archer side-by-side ee-chupping on the 4^th and 5^th columns of Xerox, south side.

9:59 p.m. (From Watcher MAK) No Callidora tonight but she might have been one of the 3 on OCSR this afternoon and I think she was on the platform of Frontier communication tower at one point. It was a very interesting afternoon watch. There seemed to be another adult on OCSR other than ours. CaroP, Kathy O and myself all agreed but couldn’t see leg bands to confirm.

(From Watcher Carol P.) As MAK said above, it was a very interesting late afternoon/evening Watch. When I first arrived on the Andrew St. Bridge, there were three falcons on the north side of OCSR. I immediately thought Callidora had returned after not being seen for a few days. But, I started to have my doubts. Beauty was on the top I-Beam, I believe it was Archer that was flying around and then heading south towards the Time Square Bldg where I lost sight of him. So, who was the 3^rd Falcon sitting on the 2^nd I-Beam down?

It looked a lot like Archer, but seemed bigger. More the size of a female. MAK and Kathy O arrived and we all agreed that this bird looked too large to be Archer. The smaller Falcon (which we again assumed was Archer flew back around and then out of sight again. What was going on?

Beauty remained calm, preening. The very white breasted adult on the 2^nd I-beam seemed just as calm.

I cannot make any guesses as to the identity of this 3^rd Falcon. There was no visible aggression. There was just a tiny bit of vocalization. Beauty took off towards the Frontier communication tower and we believe Archer followed. MAK saw wings flapping on the platform of the communication tower. Was this Callidora?

Since we were unable to ID the 3^rd adult, it may always be a mystery. And was Callidora also near by? We may never know. Such is the reality of Falcon Watching.