Rochester Falcon Watcher: Carol P.

Beauty and her friend, an unbanded Tiercel, have been seen at the Kodak Tower, the old nestsite of Mariah and Kaver.  When I arrived downtown around 10 am, I found Beauty on top of the Kodak Tower on what we Watchers call the Arch Ledge, east side.  She took off and flew around the top of the building, gracefully circling the “lilies” that Kaver so loved.

Around 11:10 am, the Tiercel flew in, I believe from the north.  He landed on the northside of the Kodak Tower, on the arch ledge.  Beauty flew around, both were vocalizing with high pitched scrrreeeeeeing.  Beauty ended up settling on the east side arch ledge, just around the corner from the Tiercel.

Beauty took off, heading downtown (south),  she came back, flew around the bulding and then flew off again.  She was gone for quite awhile, finally returning and stooping over me and down into the gorge.  She again returned to the tower, landing on the east side arch ledge.  This is where I left her, to go search for Lady Pefa (LP) at Kodak Park.

Kathy O joined me and we spotted LP on the NW corner of the blue building she hangs out on at about 1:40 pm.

It was snowing and it was really cold.  Brian H and Joyce joined us for a little while before I had to leave.  It was great seeing Beauty & her friend and Lady Pefa all in one day.  Yay!

Carol P.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
I arrived downtown a little before 7:00am today. I had no luck finding any falcons in the usual spots so I went over to State St. and Kodak Office. I guess this now has to be listed as one of the usual spots for I found Beauty on the northeast corner of the 16th floor on the Kodak Office tower. For nearly 2 hrs. I watched her do nothing until she decided to fly over to the north side of the building same ledge closer to the west end. I found an alley called Frankfort St. for the best view I could get. She seemed to have found cached food there and after eating she flew off heading north right straight at me. As she passed overhead I lost her in the snow and when I turned back around a smaller falcon took almost the same route. I left at that point to pick up Brian and Meet Joyce over at the Brighton location. That pefa was gone by the time we got there. When I got to Kodak Office both Beauty and her male companion were there. Beauty left for a bit and came back with a pigeon which she ate while he watched.(same as yesterday) I ended my watch after 8 falcon filled hours with Beauty on the left side of the arch on the north side of Kodak Office. She was alone. 🙂

By falcon watcher MAK

My watch started with Beauty up on her favorite column of the Xerox building 5th one on the south side. She left when I wasn’t paying attention. I searched quite awhile when suddenly while stopped at a traffic light a falcon appeared out of nowhere to go after some flying pigeons I was watching. It was an un successful stoop. The light changed and I had to move on so I lost track of it. After riding around parts of downtown I’ve never seen before with no sightings I decided to check out the Frontier Communications Tower. I parked on the street in front of the City Hall parking lot facing Kodak Office to the north. No need to look at the tower cuz before me I saw falcons on the arch of the Kodak Office Tower. I took off for State St. to get closer for pics. I ended up on Verona St. I got my pics and decided to go park on State St.for a different angle. While I was trying to get Beauty and her male friend lined up for more digiscoping they flew away and I missed what direction they went. I stayed for a bit to see if they might return. They didn’t and so I left for home ending my watch. I have only 1 pic good enough to post. Can’t wait for the sun to shine in the morning again! 🙂

Beauty and her friend on the Kodak Office Tower

This afternoon I ventured out for a falcon watch. After an hour of searching I came across Beauty and her tiercel friend. They were up on the southeast corner of the launchpad on Kodaks Office Tower. Beauty was enjoying a meal as he watched. After she was done she circled the tower a few times and landed above the old nestbox site east side. She stayed there for about 30 minutes. During this time he flew in front of her several times circling the tower and landed on the launchpad to finish her leftovers. A little before 5:00pm Beauty flew off to the east and I quickly lost sight of her in the snow that was coming down. When I left at dark the tiercel was still eating on the southeast corner of the launchpad. I was very happy to see the Beautyful one after being away for a couple weeks.

Beauty on Kodak Office Tower

Beauty above the old nestbox site on Kodak Office Tower

By falconwatcher Joyce

There have been several attempts to try and ID the female peregrine at Kodak Park (KP) by many Rochester watchers, including Kodak employees. Last September, our KP falcon was very happy to show us her purple band (a sign that she was from the Midwest), but we couldn’t distinguish anything on the black/red bi-colored band. Lady Pefa eluded us many times, and the weather was not cooperative when we did find her. As we went through the fall and into winter, it was obvious that Lady Pefa wasn’t migrating, and stayed to claim the Kodak power plant and stacks as her territory.

New Years Day was a fun celebration with all the Rochester watchers downtown, in spite of the rain. As we all said our farewells, I told Carol P that I would probably be heading out to KP later. I dawdled downtown looking for Beauty and her friend. Then I stopped for a bite to eat with Casey & Abby (canine falconwatchers). I even took the long way there, checking out Kodak Research area first. As I pulled into our KP parking area, I saw Carol’s car, and in the distance she was waving and pointing up. I saw a bird on the antenna, thinking a coop or red-tail. I looked through my binoculars – a peregrine! I wasn’t expecting that, and grabbed my stuff, and slowly walked to the other end of the parking lot, and like Carol, left my phone behind. I couldn’t believe it, the KP falcon on a building near us. Just as I got to where Carol was standing, her battery went dead. Carol said she had been with Lady Pefa for almost an hour, and I thought “Why didn’t I come straight here.” I continued with the picture taking as Carol went to get her scope, hoping for an opportunity to catch markings on the bi-colored band.

Lady Pefa was posing so nicely, but her right side was facing us, the side with the FWS purple band. There was no way to see the black/red band unless she moved. Then, she stretched! “Please, oh please, let us see your other leg.” I clicked away as she finally exposed her left leg for a few seconds. Then she resumed her perch. Lady Pefa lifted her left leg again, as if to say “Can you see it now?” When she placed it back on the pole, she lost her balance, then her grip, and it looked like she fell off the antenna. Lady Pefa flew to the east.

Here are 2 photos that have been enhanced and zoomed…

Well, do we have an ID? Close, but not 100%. After canvassing several watchers, the consensus was 7 ? on black, and H on red. Some voted for 73/N, and others 71/N. We consulted the Midwest Peregrine banding database and found information on seven female band numbers. Attached are the possibilities of Midwest peregrines with 7?/H. Possible Midwest Band ID In several of my pics, the second number looked distorted (possibly from light or pixels). Because it was very cloudy, I had to use a higher ISO and the pictures get grainy when enlarged. I investigated the markings in more detail, and enhanced my best photo. I saw a blurry vertical line for the second number, but it didn’t appear to have curves or width. Bands numbers/letters are centered over each other. I typed the 70’s numbers over N. The alignment that best matched is 71/H.

Take a look for yourself. Let us know what you think. We still need more evidence that one of these two Lucas County (Toledo) falcons is our gal. Rest assured we’ll be back there again this weekend with scopes and cameras to try again.

Kodak Park Peregrine Falcon – New Year’s Day
(Click on slideshow and watch like a movie at 1 sec. You can also click on the 1st photo and run through individually. If you want to see a larger picture you can click on the magnifying glass and zoom in.)

Enjoy,
Joyce

Rochester Falcon Watcher: Carol P.

January 1, 2011 Falcon Watch

Happy New Year to all the Rochester Falcon fans!  If you’ve been keeping up with the Falcon Watch Reports and Imprints, you know that we have been keeping Watch on a 2nd female Peregrine Falcon northwest of downtown Rochester at Kodak Park (KP).  The Rochester Falcon Watchers have been trying very hard to get a positive ID.  On January 1st, after meeting many of my fellow Watchers downtown for our traditional toast to a successful new Falcon season, I decided to drive over to KP, hoping to see the Peregrine we had temporarily named Lady Pefa.  We already knew that she was banded with a purple USFW band and a Black/Red band.  The purple USFW band told us she had been banded somewhere in the Mid-west.

It was raining when I arrived, so I didn’t expect to stay too long.  From the warmth of my car, I spotted a medium size hawk land on the guard rail at the east end of the parking lot.  It was the size of a Peregrine and I was pretty sure it was a Coopers Hawk.  I was curious, so I gathered my binoculars and camera, which I tucked under my coat to attempt to keep it dry, and walked across the parking lot for a closer look.  The Coop disappeared on the other side of the guard rail.  I approached very slowly and looked down into a large dip in the ground.  The hawk was nowhere in sight, so I started walking back towards my car.  Before I got too far, a large bird flew up to the building behind me and landed on one of the antennas located on the roof.  My first thought was the Coop had returned.  One look through my binocs told me differently.  It was a Peregrine!  WooHoo!

For about 45 minutes I stood in the rain, taking pictures and trying to keep my camera dry at the same time.  I was afraid if I moved, she’d take off!  She was quite comfortable on her small perch, preening and stretching.  Way more comfortable than her soggy human Watcher.   I didn’t have my cell phone, so I couldn’t call anyone.  I didn’t have my scope, given to me as a gift.  I would have to go to my car to get it and I couldn’t leave.  I knew my old Kodak camera wasn’t strong enough to get any detail on her bands, it would take one of my long lens friends.

It finally stopped raining, but it was cold and overcast.  I could see the purple band, which was facing me, but I never got a look at the 2nd band to verify that it was Lady Pefa.  Just as my battery was dying, I noticed a white truck pull in behind my car.  It was Joyce!  I waved my arms to get her attention and she slowly approached, long lens camera in hand.  By the time she got to my position, my camera literally shut down.  The battery was dead.  Perfect timing!

We were at a fair distance away from the Falcon, but with Joyce’s camera, we hoped she might get some detail on bands.  While Joyce took pictures, I returned to my car to retrieve my scope.  I attempted to set-up my scope, but you guessed it, she took off before I could take a look.  Darn!  She flew off heading north, where I lost sight of her.  We checked out the area and spotted a Coopers Hawk on one of the buildings.  We were unable to find the Falcon.

I finally took time to tell Joyce what had happened.  We checked some of her pics and we could see the USFW purple band and a few shots showed the Black/Red band.  We were fairly certain that Lady Pefa was still hanging out at KP.  Now the question is, who is our Kodak Park Falcon and are we any closer to ID’ing her?

I’ve put some of my pics into a KGallery album.  Just click on the link below.  No sign on needed. 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=171aim5l.2335pqgmx&x=0&y=aflqi2&localeid=en_US

Now to answer this burning question.  A couple of Joyce’s pics shows the Black/Red band.  We shared the pictures with some of the Rochester Watchers to attempt to ID this Falcon.  Joyce will follow this report with a 2nd Falcon Watch report which will include her zoomed in and cropped pics of the band.  We already know that this bird was banded somewhere in the Mid-west, due to the purple USFW band.  The USFW band used by the DEC to band the Rochester Falcons is silver.  We are sure that the red part of the Black/Red band is an “H”.  In the black part of the band there are two numbers, the first we believe is a “7”.  The 2nd number is much harder to read and the consensus is that it’s a “1” or a “3”, but we can’t be 100% sure about this 2nd number.  So, after checking the Mid-west database, we have two tentative possible ID’s and remember these are tentative, so we’ll continue to report her as the KP Falcon or Lady Pefa until we know for sure.

We believe this Falcon  was banded at the nest in 2009.  Strangely enough, both possibilities are from the same county.

71/H – Female banded at the University of Toledo, Lucas County, OH – Name: Unity

73/H – Female banded at the Bayshore Power Plant, Lucas County, OH – Name: Shay

Again, until we get a clearer picture, this is a tentative ID.  We are so excited that we might have a second nestsite here in Rochester in 2011.  We’ll continue to keep an eye on this location and report what we see.