By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I checked the cams before I left this morning to find Beauty at the nestbox so I left the house immediately to try and catch her there. As I expected when I got there she was gone but I did find her over on the HSBC building southwest corner. I found a suitable place to take a pic or two of her in the semi-darkness. I then  drove around to the various locations where I could inspect the other sides of the building to see if Archer was around.  He was not!

I drove back around to view the Beautyful one and after a moment she flew off headed toward the Times Square area. I followed behind and when I arrived on the bridge I could see the back of a falcon. I thought it was Beauty because I’m very familiar with her back since she has shown it to me so much. Donna texted to say that both Beauty and Archer were up there.

I missed him flying out from the scrape but did see Beauty fly off toward Mercury. I went down to Aqueduct St. to have a look around and found her on that side of the base of Mercury.

Showing her back side and then turning around before flying off to the east. This was the last I saw of her and I never did see Archer. Though they were brief glimpses of our resident matriarch this morning it was enough to give me the falcon fix I seem to always crave. I soo love these creatures! Until next time keep putting a smile on your face even if you don’t want to!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Another chilly start to the day in our fair city! Parked on the Broad St. bridge a little over an hour into my watch I finally spotted a falcon on the 2nd arm of the FCT. I drove over to take a look and after taking 1 shot with my camera it flew off. I believe it was Archer.

After a few moments I saw movement inside the framework but couldn’t quite see what it was so I drove over to Plymouth Ave. for a different angle. On the platform I spotted Beauty picking at something.

She then hopped over into the middle of the structure and flew out and up to the platform railing on the north side.

The Beautyful one spent a half hour preening and picking out white feathers from her chest. She suddenly looked to the north and flew off in that direction in a very casual flight. Did she see Archer in the distance I wondered? She didn’t return and after 10 minutes of waiting I decided to call it a watch. Smile people it doesn’t cost a thing! lol  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

On a chilly 42 degree morning I had to go searching for our resident falcons and I found both Beauty and Archer on the east side of town. Archer was on the east side of the HSBC building and as I drove north a bit to get a look at the north side I found Beauty perched on the northwest corner.

Make sure to click on pics for full version

About 15 minutes later Archer flew off and around to land on the railing close to Beauty.

Moments later Beauty flew off followed by Archer and they were headed in the general direction of the Times Square building. Sure enough when I arrived on the Broad St. bridge I could see at least 1 falcon up at the nestbox. I pulled over and tweeted it out and soon got a text from Donna that both Beauty and Archer were up there. He flew out of there without me noticing for when I took a pic I could only see Beauty and she was facing out so I knew he wasn’t there any longer.

I then drove down past the Thomson Reuters building to check the Wilder building and just as it came into view I caught Archer  flying off the fire escape ladder after a Starling. He chased it out over the river and gave up and then it went after him as he made his way over to the base of Mercury! I chuckled at that,what a crazy bird having escaped the clutches of death and then pushing it’s luck like that! Nature is a wonder!!!

While I was following Archer, Beauty left the nestbox and so I drove down to Aqueduct St. in search of the Beautyful one. I found her on Widows Walk and while I did so Archer moved in  on the base of Mercury close to the foot and I could just see his head peeking up.

I barely had time to snap off a pic of Beauty before she flew over to the ledge one level directly above the nestbox area.

And from a different angle by falcon central on Broad St.

Archer had left and I could find him nowhere in the Times Square area so I assumed he went over to KP. That thought was confirmed when I received a tweet from CarolP that he was there with Unity. I left Beauty perched and preening up on the spot above her scrape to head home for breakfast. Until next time keep smiling! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

What an easy find I had this morning! For the first time EVER as I came down the ramp off 490 I looked up at the Frontier Communications Tower to see both Beauty and Archer. He was on the top arm and she was on the 2nd arm directly below him on the south side.

Make sure to click on pic for full view

Still a bit dark out at first as I sat there on Plymouth Ave. watching them the sky behind the OCSR building started to light up from the rising sun.

Beauty and Archer both took off flying to the south and then coming back toward me and heading west after that going higher and higher until I couldn’t see them anymore. I went for a little jaunt to see if they went to the nestbox and as I pulled up to park on the Broad St. bridge some 15 minutes later I spotted a falcon on the platform railing over on the FCT. So they had doubled back on me the little sneaks! I drove back over and parked on Fitzhugh St. I tweeted that Archer was on the railing and Beauty was under the platform eating but after checking my pics I found that it was the other way around.

Archer ate for 20 minutes under the platform while Beauty waited patiently. When he had his fill he  took the prey up to the platform where Beauty took over eating. At first he watched her from the railing above and then he half hopped/half flew over to the east railing.

Beauty took the prey over to the east side of the platform and finished it up as Archer watched.

She then flew up to the north railing where she cleaned herself up before flying off to the south toward Times Square and returning to perch under the platform. Archer remained on the east railing the whole time.

They both preened as I sit watching them. I took videos of them and put together a photo album of which I will post the links to at the end of this report.  I ended my watch with them seemingly hunkered down for a rest after their shared breakfast.

Again click on the pics for a full view

I had a very enjoyable watch with our downtown pair today. I hope I was able to capture it through my pics and videos so that all of you can enjoy it too! Have a great day and keep smiling!  🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ojLaxQQNE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV1mfL0xVzI

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By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Today is a triple D day…dark,damp and dreary!. I was parked on the Broad St. bridge after driving around for nearly an hour when I spotted a falcon over on the top arm of the FCT west side. I drove over to Fitzhugh St. and parked in front of the sister cities ramp garage to get a closer look. I determined that it was Archer. Not a good day for picture taking but I took some anyway!

He flew off when I wasn’t looking so I had no idea what direction he went in. I got a message from Donna that she wasn’t getting tweets on her phone from me or Carol but they were going to the forum. I thought it funny that I didn’t get a tweet from Carol this morning over at KP. Anyway, she told me Carol had 2 over there and so when Archer didn’t return to FCT I decided to see if he had gone to KP. If I found 3 falcons there then we would know Mr. C had been there earlier with Unity and CarolP. As luck would have it I went there in vain for all I saw was Starlings and Pigeons. Not a falcon in sight so…back downtown I went.  I found Archer on the platform railing west side of the FCT and he was sporting a FULL crop!

At times you could barely see his head over that huge packed full crop! I figure he had himself a nice breakfast while I went on a wild falcon chase over to KP looking for him!

I ended my watch with Archer preening himself and Beauty hiding from me.

Fellow falcon watcher Lynda was nice enough to pick me up for a watch last night. She had already been downtown and saw no falcons so we decided to try our luck at KP. We found Unity on the north side of the tall still top catwalk. We left to get a bite to eat and upon our return as we sit eating we didn’t notice a falcon on the pigeon box eating too! CarolP drove up and alerted us of the fact. It was getting darker out and this falcon seemed quite dark to us. We thought it might be another mystery falcon but we determined that it was probably Unity after Carol got the scope on it and saw black over red on it’s left legband. KathyO also joined us. After it was finished eating it took the remains up to the east stack second catwalk and cached it in a corner. Then it went out of view. We were down in lot 73 so Lynda and I decided to go up to lot 77 to see if we could find it. This falcon had gone up to the railing of the catwalk and it looked like Unity to me. I have put together an album from KP(link at bottom of this report). Notice the difference from when Lynda and I saw Unity on the tall still and when we all saw her(if it was her) on top of the pigeon box. Lighting is everything and so you be the judge…was it Unity or a different falcon? Have a great day everyone and smile often!  🙂

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By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It was still a bit dark out when I spotted a falcon on the southwest corner of the HSBC building. I wasn’t quite sure who it was until it got a bit brighter out. My pics are grainy because of distance and darkness but I could see who it was thanks to my trusty binocs…BEAUTY!

Parked on the street that leads into the Strong Museum of Play I had to drive to a location where I could see the front of her to be positive and just before I drove off I could barely see a dark image hanging off the east side of the building.

Parked in front of the post office as is my usual place I saw the moon and I could see that it was Archer up there on the east side of HSBC because I spotted the white feather on his right wing with my binocs .

He flew over to the northwest corner landing on the railing and I had to move again where I could view him and see Beauty too.

I parked across from the Columbus building just down from the Hotel Cadillac where I had gone another time. I clicked off a couple pics and then a guy in an SUV stopped next to me and said I couldn’t park there cuz I was blocking the entrance to the side street. I said no I’m not and he said you’re in front of the parking garage entrance and I’m one of the construction workers and if we need to move equipment through here you are in the way. I said I am not blocking the side street and the garage isn’t being used anymore so how is that a problem besides I can move if need be? He said I can have you ticketed so I gave up and left. But before I did I looked up at HSBC to see that both Beauty and Archer had left. I said thanks a bunch and went searching for them. I spent over an hour looking around the city with no luck. I checked out the river while parked on the Broad St. bridge and took a video of one of the Great Egrets fishing again so that link will be at the end of this report. As I sat there watching and waiting for a falcon to show up I took pics of the fading moon behind the Times Square building and Buddy the gull was in on it too!

Have a great day everyone and keep smiling!  🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knj1RIQLmXQ

From Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Well, I’m as certain as I can be that I saw all four Rochester Falcons this evening. At 6:30 pm, dark clouds were approaching from the west. I knew I probably didn’t have much time before it started to rain. My first stop was Kodak Park. Just as I arrived, I saw a falcon flying in from the northeast and landing on top of the tall still. I looked around for another falcon with no luck. It was time to head downtown.

After searching for awhile, I found Beauty on top of the HSBC building, southeast corner. Brian had reported seeing her flying over that area earlier today in the high winds. I let him know she was there and moved on. He texted me to verify that he could see her from his apartment. Cool!

I can’t be 100% sure, but I believe it was Archer that I found on the top I-beam of the north side of OCSR. Now it was raining quite heavily. Time for me to move on. Back to KP.

It was still raining when I arrived back at Kodak Park and I was already losing light. No way my poor old Kodak camera would get any decent pics, so I didn’t even bother. 🙂

I easily found a falcon I believe was Unity sitting in the nook above the scrape on the blue building and another falcon deep in the shadow of the chnook. Was this our Mr C? Both had found shelter from the rain. Smart Pefas. 🙂

After watching them for about 15 mins, I decided to head home, statisfied that I had (I believe) seen all 4 Rochester Falcons.

Hopefully, soon, we’ll get a better idea who our mystery Tiercel is.

Goodnite everyone! Sweet dreams!

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

It’s another gorgeous day in Rochester, sunny with gentle breezes but I fear the winds of change are coming soon. I had to search around this morning to find a falcon and when I did I wasn’t quite sure who it was. From the Andrews St. bridge which is a good distance I saw a falcon on the top ibeam of the OCSR at the north corner. I zoomed the pic on my camera but it wasn’t very clear. I tweeted that it looked like Archer only because I could see white on the right wing but the legs looked too long to me, so it may have been the mystery falcon.

It left before I could get any other pics and it was 45 minutes before my next sighting.  As I drove around and around the city I started to get a bit anxious for I hadn’t seen  Beauty  since Sunday and with this mystery falcon around I worried they may have battled. Just as my fears reached their peak I saw her on the FCT perched on her favorite spot under the platform.

She was a Beautyful sight to behold in the bright sunshine! I spent 45 minutes with her as she picked and preened to make herself flight ready.

And then she flew off to the north. I watched her through my binoculars as she went up to the southwest corner of the launchpad on the Kodak tower. She landed,  snuck behind the rocket and out from the other side popped what I believe was a pigeon. She chased behind it flying fast to the west until the church on Fitzhugh St. blocked my view of her.

I waited a few minutes for her to return and then I went searching. Of course in true Beauty fashion she did double back to the same spot on the FCT as I drove around looking for her!

The last pic of her before I left for home.

Since the cameras have been down for a couple days now I took a few pics of the Beautyful one so everyone can get their falcon fix. The link to my album is at the bottom of this report. Have a great day and keep smiling !  🙂

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By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I was hard pressed to find a falcon this morning. While parked on the Broad St. bridge I took a good look at the jail tower with my trusty binocs and I could just barely make out the top half of a falcon.

I drove over to Troup St. to get a closer look so I could ID it but when I arrived it was gone. One and a half hours later as I pulled up on to the Andrews St. bridge I spotted a falcon on the 2nd ibeam of the OCSR building on the north side.

I clicked off one pic and then I saw flashing lights behind me. An officer got out of his SUV and walked up to the truck. I thought to myself what’s this about I know he doesn’t have the lights on just to give me a parking ticket. (You have to pay for parking after 8:00am and it was 8:20am) I asked what the problem was as he stood outside my window. He said I’m not a city cop I’m from Homeland Security and I saw you parked here last week pointing your camera at the Federal building. He went on to say that I had left before he could get down here to check me out. I told him I was taking pics of falcons,etc and showed him the pic I had just taken, He said you have to understand with 9-11 yesterday and all they can’t have people taking pics of the federal building. I assured him I did not take any pics of the federal building and that I understood completely. I then thanked him for keeping us safe and offered him one of the business cards for rfalconcam that Joyce made up and gave me to handout to people. He took it and gave me his card, He left and I drove over to Bragdon St. next to the Radisson Hotel to get a closer view of this falcon. It didn’t look like Beauty or Archer to me. I thought it looked alot like the one that was with Beauty last week hanging around Xerox. The sun was shining bright on the building and I couldn’t get a good shot of it before it flew off. Right now with migrating falcons coming through the area and our Rochester falcons having no distinct routine, it makes our job as watchers challenging to say the least. I didn’t have any more sightings before I had to end my watch. Until next time keep smiling and have a great day! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I dedicate this watch report to the victims,their families and the rescuers of 9-11.

I am a bit scattered this morning for many reasons but I do know I saw falcons on my watch. It took 40 minutes to finally spot Beauty flying up to the nestbox. Donna texted me to say that they were both up there(Thank you D). I went to Aqueduct St. and watched first Archer fly out followed by Beauty. They both flew north so I drove over to the FCT where I found one of them on the second arm east side.

This is where my eyes and brain played tricks with me. At first it looked like Archer then it looked like Beauty but when it flew off it looked like Archer again. I’m so confused! lol It walked to the inside of the arm to perch and this is when it looked like the Beautyful one to me. You be the judge!

Soon after it flew off  and as I drove down Fitzhugh St. I watched it chasing a crow in between buildings really fast over top of me and then down Main St. the crow squawking the whole time. It was fantastic to see. I lost them behind buildings and then I spotted someone on Widows Walk. Maybe Beauty,maybe Archer…your guess is as good as mine on this day!

So there you have it folks! I know I could have done a better job on this report but I am pressed for time and my head just isn’t with it today! Keep smiling  and NEVER FORGET!