By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hello everyone!  My early morning watch began on the Broad St. bridge as most of them do. I first saw a falcon chasing pigeons up river and soon another joined it. One of them stooped over the Cornhill area and disappeared. The other, our very own Beauty returned and landed on her favorite perch, the infamous moneybag hand of Mercury. She stayed a few moments and then flew above the Times Square building,the Hall of Justice and jail and made her way to the jail tower where I saw Mr. T too!

Mr. T top right and directly below him Beauty on the bottom right(make sure to click pic to enlarge)

I drove over to get a closer look  and naturally Beauty decided to go back to Mercurys moneybag hand! I took a pic of Mr. T and headed back over to Broad St. thinking he would follow Beauty. WRONG! I no sooner got there and she was off to the jail tower again!!!

Beauty

Mr. T

I drove back to Troup St. and watched them on the jail tower for about 20 minutes at which time Beauty flew fast to the west stooping on something and then I lost sight of her. I looked for Mr. T but he had left while I was watching her.  Sometimes that’s how it goes for a falcon watcher. After searching for about 45 minutes without locating either falcon I left downtown.

After running errands I took a look at Kodak Park as I was in the vicinity but Lady Pefa wasn’t home! I decided to take a ride down to Charlotte and have a look but CB wasn’t around either! I left to pickup Sue from school and on the way home we spotted a Peregrine on a light post on route 390N near East Henrietta Rd. at about 12:30pm. I figured it was probably one of the Brighton falcons and Joyce tweeted that very thought!

After eating lunch I headed back downtown and when I arrived at about 2:15pm I found Beauty on the base of Mercury. I parked by the Blue Cross Arena facing towards Xerox with a good view of our Beautyful one and I spent the next hour and a half taking pics and watching.

She was turning her head alot and I felt like she was surveying her downtown territory or looking for Mr. T! Suddenly Beauty was off heading east over the river and the South Ave. parking garage. Then she started gliding and hovering above Midtown and the Bausch and Lomb building.  At this time I noticed Mr. T flying from the southeast into the picture and they were both flying and soaring around the roof of the Xerox building for a solid 5 minutes! One of them landed on the north side of the roof while the other one flew around it and back and forth. The one on the roof was off and they were flying together a little bit when one landed near the northwest corner of the roof and again the other one showing off by circling and flying back and forth above. I lost sight of the one in the air so I decided to ride over but when I got there they both had left. Darn! I searched but never found them again after that. I had a very nice day of falcon watching courtesy of Mr. T and our very own Beauty!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I was later than usual to arrive downtown on my morning watch as I had to take Sue to school first. I had heard from Donna that I missed some sort of commotion near the nestbox area but all seemed to be fine when I arrived about 8:20am.  I found both falcons on Mercury. Beauty was on the outstretched moneybag hand and Mr. T on the head.

They stayed for about half an hour then flew off towards the Times Square building over top of the Thomson Reuters building and there was plenty of vocalization in the air. Beauty landed on a small ledge at the southeast corner of the Times Square building just below where Jemison had made his first flight directly across from the nestbox.

Mr. T circling and soaring above her and both vocalizing. He flew off while I took the pic of Beauty. She left shortly after that and I drove around searching for them. It wasn’t until I returned to the Broad St. bridge 30 minutes later that I found them on Mercury in the same spots as earlier. While I was on the east side checking out the area  I found what I have determined to be cached food on an east side ledge halfway down the HSBC building. At first I thought it was a Peregrine based on the colors but after watching for a few minutes it didn’t move. It was quite a large stash without a head and part of it was dangling off the edge.

Anyway, at around 10:45 both falcons flew off Mercury. I never found them again after that so I concluded my watch and set out to run some errands and write my report. Have a great day everyone!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hello everyone! After being sick for the past few days it felt good to get out and have myself a falcon watch. Sorry to say I didn’t see very much to report on, but it’s all good just the same.

I arrived downtown about 6:15am, after a quick look at Mercury and the OCSR building I took a quick tour of the east side near Xerox and HSBC with no sightings. Upon arriving back on the Broad St. bridge I spotted a falcon up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building through the chimney smoke of the Thomson Reuters building.

I couldn’t tell who it was until I drove down to Aqueduct St. for a clearer and closer view. It was the Beautyful one and I was smiling! She flew off and down to the nestbox. I drove back up to Broad St. and parked near falcon central for pics. It was at this time I spotted Mr. T under the southeast wing of the Times Square building. Beauty immediately flew up and landed on the main camera.

They only stayed for a short time and both suddenly flew off fast towards the Cornhill area where I lost sight of them behind buildings. I spent the remaining 45 minutes of my watch searching for them to no avail. LarryO and Cleo stopped by while I was on the Andrews St. bridge to get a report and off they went. I took a couple pics while on the Court St. bridge of the raging Genesee River and to get a view of the Broad St. bridge and surrounding area. Have a great day everyone! 🙂