By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Well folks there isn’t a whole lot of  falcon news to report this morning but I thought I’d touch base with everyone anyway. As I approached the Broad St. bridge today the road crew was  hard  at work  paving  the intersection of Exchange and Broad streets directly below the Times Square building. They had very bright lights on the scene that were blasting me as I passed through. It was no surprise that I saw no falcons anywhere near this area so I drove directly to the east side. I found Beauty on the northwest corner of  HSBC.

Unfortunately I had just the one pic that was good enough to post due to dark conditions and my inability to find a suitable place to observe the Beautyful one. She remained there for my entire watch.

I want to voice my opinion about the fact that Archer has been practically non-existent  over at KP lately. In the last week there has been only 1 or 2 sightings reported of him being there. I believe he may be spending his nights downtown near Beauty these days perhaps strengthening their bond before he sets off on migration in a month or so. I say this because he has been downtown so much lately not only first thing in the morning when I get there but at other times during the day too! We continue to learn as we go from our Rochester falcons.

Tomorrow morning I won’t be out for a watch as I am going on a transmitter retrieving trip with Joyce,KathyO,Dana,Lisa McK and CarolP.  If you’ll recall last winter a gull with a transmitter was spotted in Charlotte. Carol received  an e-mail from the professor in Montreal that another gull of his is showing no movement and requested help in retrieving the transmitter. He has given the co-ordinates of where it may be near and so being the adventurous bunch that we are will be going on a road trip about 80 miles southeast of Rochester to hopefully help him out with this matter. Wish us luck and have a great Friday everyone!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

There wasn’t any reason to write a report yesterday morning for I saw Beauty when it was still dark out on the railing of  HSBC for a brief moment and then she was gone.There were no more sightings for the remainder of my watch.

I kept the truck to go to a doctor appointment yesterday and after I dropped Sue off at work I checked KP with no sightings there. I decided to go check out the Osprey nest site in Hilton after the doctor and talked my friend Tesa into joining me. We  saw only the male adult and one other in the nest and they both left within an hour but we saw a little bit of flying from them first. They are just gorgeous in flight!

Fast forward to this morning…seeing no falcons around the Broad St. bridge area I drove to the east side as is my usual routine. No sightings over there either but as I made my way back to the bridge I spotted someone up on the base of Mercury.

Due to the darkness at that time I was having trouble getting a positive ID but I could clearly see that this falcon was looking for some breakfast after a little preening first!  Looking down at some birdies below Mercury and then eye-balling some pigeons flying over the river.

It wasn’t until 5 minutes before I had to leave that I found out  it was Archer that I was observing.  I got a text message from Donna telling me that Beauty was at the nestbox.

I immediately looked up at Times Square and sure enough there she was the Beautyful one! I was so intent on watching him that I totally missed her sneak in.  Once again MAK gets to play games with these two! lol I soo love it!!! That’s all there is and there ain’t no more!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

With no sightings in the Broad St. bridge area I drove through to the east side and found Beauty on the southwest corner of HSBC. Still dark out I drove down Clinton Ave. past Washington Square park and while stopped at the traffic light at Court St. she flew off to the southeast corner. I went down Court St. eastbound,made my u-turn in front of the post office and parked in my usual spot facing west to watch the Beautyful one.

Notice as the sun gets closer to rising the pics get lighter. I had the sun  behind me and the moon in front of me with the bonus of Beauty!

She flew off in the direction of Times Square so I beat feet over to the Broad St. bridge.  While in transit Beauty and Archer met in the nestbox (thanks to Donna for letting me know) and as I arrived I saw Archer fly from there to the Wilder fire escape ladder.

He was barely there long enough for me to get down to Aqueduct St. and snap off a pic. I don’t know if Beauty was still in the nestbox at this point for I wasn’t aware that Archer had met her there until I was on my way home and got a text from Donna of the fact. Our Rochester falcons being their usual sneaky selves!! Anyway, Archer flew from Wilder to the OCSR building and landed on the south corner 3rd ibeam down.

It was time to get the truck home thus ending a watch that kept me on the move! Enjoy the day everyone!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Well I must say that after a little over 2 hours into my watch with no sightings I was getting a bit perplexed! I drove to the pedestrian bridge at high falls to see what I could find there and just as I started to get out of the truck I spotted a bump under the platform waaay over on the Frontier Communications Tower. Patience is a beautiful thing to have when you’re a bird watcher of any kind! So I drove over to the City Hall parking lot to see who I would be sharing space with…The Beautyful one!

I watched Beauty preen and just perch there being her usual pretty self  when she decided to move in further under the platform.

I thought she was all cinched in for a nap and since it was just about time for me to go home I was going to wrap it up. One nanno second before I tweeted it out she flew off to the southeast out of view and then reappeared landing on her favorite perch under the platform. Then out of nowhere Archer flew right in front of her going southeast also and came back to land directly above Beauty on the platform railing.

It had been a quiet Sunday morning up until this point. Beauty started whining at Archer while he did his best to pay no attention her. Aggravated by his ability to ignore her she flew over to the other side of the tower under the platform where I couldn’t see her and continued with her barrage of whining getting louder as time went on.

I left the parking lot and drove down on Fitzhugh St.to my spot in front of the sister cities parking garage to try and locate Beauty with no luck but she was in there somewhere under the platform whining. After 15 solid minutes of this Archer left flying in the general direction of the Times Square building with Beauty shooting out right behind him. I thought they had probably gone to the nestbox so I tweeted that I was leaving,  made a u-turn to head up to Main St. to go home and then I spotted Beauty on Widows Walk.

Yup, she was still WHINING!!! I tweeted it out saying goodbye again and as I started driving again she flew over to Times Square where she met up with Archer as I went the opposite direction to go home. There was a bit of sunshine this morning so I took advantage and shot many pics of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons. You’ll find them at the link below. Have a great day everyone! 🙂

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By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Well folks we may have a new routine as this morning when I arrived downtown there was a falcon on the base of Mercury just like yesterday. Only it was Beauty yesterday and today it was Archer.

He preened for a bit and then flew over to the nestbox landing next to the main cam.

Soon after he flew out going back over to the base of Mercury as Beauty took his place next to the main cam.

The Beautyful one had alot to say to him this morning as she had her back to him at first and then turned around to face him as he sat perched across the way on Mercury. He was pretty much ignoring her as he preened and she whined. He must have decided he’d heard enough and flew over to join her in the nestbox. Having received a text from CarolP that I should join her,Dana and Lou out in Hilton to check out an Osprey nest I jumped at the opportunity and left downtown for a new kind of watch.  Dana and Lou discovered this Osprey family a few days ago according to CarolP. There are 3 juvies and they have all fledged. The last one fledged last night and they were there to witness it. Here is a sample of the pics I got at the Osprey nest site. Remember to click on the pics for a larger view.

I also shot a video of them but it was of poor quality(I really need to practice) however you can hear them vocalizing so I uploaded it anyway and here is the link for that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b0cDycwMoo

One  pic of an adult Osprey flying off to grab breakfast for the youngins and I think a juvie poking its head up out of the nest.

That’s all folks! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Well imagine that! I arrived on the Broad St. bridge expecting to have to drive right through to the east side to make my usual rounds looking for a Rochester Peregrine Falcons and as I glanced up at Mercury there she was in all her glory…the Beautyful one!  Sitting perched on the base and in hunting mode with darkness all around us I made my u-turn and parked it!

In between looking around at which prey item she wanted for breakfast she preened and rousted(shaking her body).

Ahh, it was just like old times watching her up there on Mercury. It’s been a while since I hung out with her here. With every turn of her  head I thought she might stoop on the pigeons that were just starting to stir below her coming out of their overnight roosting spot across the river under the Convention Center.

And then after about 30 minutes she dropped off into a stoop over the river. Missing her mark she flew up crossing over the bridge ahead of me and buzzed around above the Blue Cross Arena a bit before heading out to the Cornhill area stirring up the pigeons that reside over there.

It was time for me to beat feet home so I tweeted that she had gone out of my view and just before I sent it out I looked up at the nestbox just as she arrived.

Landing next to the main cam I quickly shot off a couple pics tweeted it out after changing the message and sped out of there for home.  As I approached Plymouth Ave. driving westbound down Broad St. I spotted the wing flapping of a small falcon headed south toward the jail tower. I do believe it was Archer saying good bye to me as I passed through. What a great parting gift for this Rochester falcon watcher! Keep your eyes to the sky cuz ya just never know what might be passing overhead!!!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Talk about just in the nick of time! Not only did I have to wait ’til the last minute for a sighting but I don’t even think it was Beauty now.  I do believe  Beauty and Archer have changed their game plan as far as old MAK is concerned. They must know I am crunched for time these days so instead of playing hide and seek they are just trying to tease me with a brief appearance and then “poof” all gone, bye-bye!! lol  After driving around the city a few times with no luck finding a falcon( and  no doubt making people waiting for a bus think I’m stalking them by driving by so many times teehee)I parked it on Fitzhugh St. and waited for Beauty and/or Archer to arrive on the FCT. As the clock ticked away every large bird that flew into view was checked out and then as I was about to get ready to leave I saw the familiar wing flap of a Peregrine Falcon! Yay with no time to spare it landed on the top arm west side of the FCT. I quick took a couple pics as I saw that it was looking down and in hunt mode. I tweeted that it was Beauty but after looking at my pics on the computer screen I believe it was Archer. He took off fast in a half stoop and that was that. This all took place in less than a minute! PHEW what a rush! So here are the 2 pics I got and you can be the judge of who it was up there.

Isn’t it amazing how I can say so much about so little!?! lol Have a great day everybody and remember to smile often cuz it makes people wonder what you’re up to!!!   🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

20 minutes…that’s the amount of time I’ve spent with the Beautyful one in the last 3 days. I am very thankful for it and even though I don’t have much to report I do have a few pics to share. I left the house without my binoculars or my scope this morning (dummy) but I did have my camera so I wasn’t totally naked, so to speak. lol  After making the rounds in the dark which is how it is these days ’til just before 6:00am I parked  on the Broad St. bridge. I got antsy sitting there without my trusty binocs seeing as how everything is a bit of a distance away. So I decided to go over to my spot on Fitzhugh St. in front of the sister cities parking garage just down the street from city hall and wait to see if either Beauty or Archer would show themselves on FCT. As I crossed Main St. and the Frontier Communications tower came into view I spotted her right away. Beauty was under the platform on her favorite perching location on the tower.

Woohoo!!! I hadn’t seen her since Sunday and felt quite blessed to find her with only 20 minutes left before I had to head home. I don’t know what it’s like to watch falcons flying in the gorge at high falls like the other watchers so just to sit and watch one preening as Beauty was doing might seem boring to them but it’s what I am used to and it’s enough for me. In between picking and plucking at her feathers she would look to the north toward Kodak Park I assume for Archer.

I left downtown having gotten my falcon fix, smiling the whole way home! Gee did I say I didn’t have much to report? I do have the gift of gab when I am writing a report sometimes!! I hope everyone has a super day!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It was a dark morning and very humid as I arrived downtown.  Soon after  it started to rain lightly. Nearly 2 hours into my watch I finally spotted a falcon on the Frontier Communications Tower 2nd arm down on the west side.

It had stopped raining and so I got out my window mount for some photos. After zooming a couple pics I determined that it was Archer. His head was on a swivel as he was watching some birds in one of the trees below the tower. They were smart to stay put or else they would have been breakfast!

Made my neck hurt just watching him! Teehee  He stayed up there for about half hour before taking off flying to the south toward Times Square.

I waited to see if he would double back on me like he and Beauty love to do and when he didn’t I headed over to the Broad St. bridge. Checking the nestbox,Mercury,Wilder building,OCSR,jail tower and Widows Walk and finding nothing I took a tour of the city. Round and round I went without a glimpse of Archer or Beauty. The Beautyful one is being quite secretive lately. I hung out on the Broad St. and Andrews St. bridges for an hour or so before calling it quits. The sun came out as I was leaving our fair city for home. Until next time keep your eyes to the sky cuz that’s where the Peregrine Falcons are people!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Falcon games: rule #1 Don’t panic! After getting Carols’ tweet yesterday morning about the battling pefas I immediately went into nervous mode. Sue had already left for work and I was stuck at home with no wheels in which to go check on our Rochester falcons. I made some calls for a ride and got nowhere. I left a message with Dan explaining the situation. He didn’t respond until late afternoon saying that he had gone to KP and found no falcons there around noon-1:30pm. I had been checking the archives all day without seeing either Beauty or Archer visiting the nestbox. Dan didn’t check DT and so I started to get really unsettled. I had previous plans to go out last nite so I couldn’t go on a watch. Dan and Carol saw Unity at KP in the evening but no Archer and nobody went downtown to check on Beauty. I texted Donna around 8 or 9:00pm to have her check the archives and still at that time nobody had been to the nestbox. At 10:45pm on my way home I thought I saw a bump on the 5th column of Xerox(Beautys’ roosting spot at night). This made me feel a little better but I would truly be relieved in the morning when I could be sure I had seen the Beautyful one.

Fast-forward to daybreak. I searched downtown to no avail and after talking to Donna decided to go to Kodak Park to see if I could at least find Archer. If I could find him I’d know he was alright if  by chance he was involved in the battle high above KP as reported 24 hrs. ago by CarolP.  I spotted Unity on the north side of the tall still on the top catwalk.

Unity

Having not found Archer I left KP and drove back to downtown. I searched everywhere with no sightings of Beauty or Archer. The police had the perimeter around the FCT blocked off for a run or walk of some kind so I couldn’t get close to look up into the inner structure. I parked on the Andrews St. bridge and took some pics of the river that was drained quite a bit for what I assumed was some work being done down river just before the high falls. I then went to the Broad St. bridge and took more pics of the river. Starting to get a bit panicy for not having seen any falcons I drove over to the pedestrian bridge at high falls and took more falconless photos.

Truly I was sweating it at this point! I left there and headed back to KP after a quick sweep of the city. Upon my return I found Unity in the same spot as my previous visit but no Archer. Now I was in full panic mode! Where were Beauty and Archer? Were they alright or just hiding on me like they do. I made a decision to go home and have a fast breakfast and take my morning meds (as I’m sure my blood pressure was building) and go back to the downtown area. Just as I was starting to pull out of lot 77 at KP I noticed a falcon on the catwalk of the still to the east(right) side of the tall still. Was this Archer or had Unity moved over. I drove down to lower Weiland Road to where I could view the north side of the tall still and BINGO I could see her on the tall still and Archer on the east still. I breathed a sigh of relief tweeted it out and went home.

Archer

I returned downtown and searched the east side of the city and as I drove through the intersection of  Andrews St. and St. Paul Blvd. I saw a falcon on the 2nd arm of the Frontier Communications Tower. Goose bumps were now covering my body as I raced down to park on the bridge and get my binoculars fixed on it. Eureka,zowee,yipee,yahoo it was the Beautyful one!!!

Beauty

She was perched up there as if she didn’t have a care in the world (which she probably didn’t) for we humans are the ones that THINK too much! I tweeted the good news, sat there for a few minutes enjoying the view of our downtown female falcon and called it a watch!  WOOHOO!!!!  🙂

For my album of the day follow this link:

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