rfalconcam - FalconWatch

FalconWatch

Eyes to the Skies

Archive for October, 2012

Morning watch 10-31-12

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was nice to leave for my watch this morning without having to turn the wipers on and have the streets be dry for a change. It was raining here for days before hurricane Sandy even got here! The crows were filling the sky as they left the tree tops of Washington Square Park as I stopped near the Geva theater to look at the east side buildings for falcons. It wasn’t until I drove around the back of HSBC a half hour into my watch that I saw Beauty on the northeast corner of  the building perched with her back to me. She wasn’t moving much and after 15 minutes she flew off heading west in the direction of the river.

img_1491-beauty-on-hsbc img_1492-we-have-lift-off

I immediately drove that way stopping on the Broad St. bridge(BSB) to take a look around. I spotted her on the jail tower and proceeded to park on Exchange Blvd. between Court St. and Cornhill across from the jail for a closer look.

img_1494-beauty-on-jail-tower img_1519-beauty

I checked out the Genesee River from the BSB and the Court St. Bridge and found it to be rolling along at a good clip from the rain of Sandy. Gone were all the rocks that the shore birds hung out on and there were trees and debris scattered around.

img_1522-debris-from-sandy Click for full version img_1523-no-more-rocks

I left Beauty to go check the Brighton site but nobody was around over there and when I returned Beauty was gone from the jail tower. Once again I went to the BSB and I found her on the base of Mercury with a beak full of feathers.

img_1580-b

I walked to Aqueduct Park to observe Beauty more closely. Whatever she had caught while I was absent had gray feathers and was smaller than a pigeon. I’m thinking a Mourning Dove or Northern Mockingbird.

img_1527-what-is-it img_1572-nom-nom

I shared space with her for nearly an hour before she snuck off Mercury without me seeing. I figured she probably went somewhere to digest her breakfast, do some preening and take a nap or two so I took leave and ended the watch. So it was all Beauty all morning and that makes me smile! 🙂

Click the links below for a photo album and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrMdA

http://youtu.be/u1YTtfmuc-A
http://youtu.be/P-WLhZiHZXY
http://youtu.be/2ycx2WTRPNQ

Morning watch 10-30-12

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I left for my watch this morning I wondered what destruction I might find enroute to downtown from superstorm Sandy. I was pleasantly surprised to see very little evidence that we had anything more than a rainstorm. And as I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) another great surprise was Beauty perched on her favorite spot lately the west corner of OCSR top ibeam.

img_1433-beauty img_1435-b

It was a relief to find her safe after the night of wind and rain we had here in Rochester but there were more falcons to check on so I left her after a few minutes to go to the Brighton Site(BS). I drove around the building at BS several times to no avail-there were no falcons around. I left to run an errand stopping downtown on my way through and found Beauty still on OCSR. After taking care of business I once again checked to find Beauty was now on the 2nd ibeam west corner of OCSR and she was seriously looking for something to grab for a meal.

img_1442-beauty

I continued on to check BS again with the same result-no pefas! I then checked out Kodak Park and found nothing after CarolP had just been there and tweeted that she didn’t see anything either. At this point I was going to end my watch until Pat tweeted out that she might have seen 2 falcons fly to OCSR so naturally I had to go see if it was Dot.Ca (DC) with Beauty. I found Beauty on the top ibeam west corner of OCSR but no other falcon was on the building or anywhere around the Times Square/BSB area.  I ended my watch to do a couple more errands. When I was done I figured I might as well check BS one more time and apparently the 3rd times the charm for I spotted DC on a southwest window ledge. He had something up there with a pigeon sized wing but was only just messing around with it and not eating.

img_1445-dc img_1452-dc img_1455-dc

Soon after I heard another pefa vocalize and off DC went to join Miss Pigott on the northwest corner of the building.

img_1477-miss-pigott img_1469-pdc img_1476-pdc Click pics for full version

Now I could happily end my watch having found 3 of  our 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons. Smiling-you bet I was! 🙂

No videos as I had trouble uploading them for some reason

Morning watch 10-29-12

Monday, October 29th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I left for downtown this morning it was wet,foggy and a little breezy. When I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge it was obvious by the fog enveloping the tops of the tallest buildings I was going to have trouble finding falcons. After checking the Times Square area I drove over behind Xerox and parked by the Geva Theater where I could see Xerox,Bausch&Lomb and HSBC. The crows were starting to leave the trees in Washington Square Park and if Beauty was up on Xerox I surely couldn’t see her.

img_1396-crows-leaving-washington-square-park img_1398-crows-in-washington-square-park img_1401-foggy-downtown

I figured I’d go over to the Brighton site and give the fog a little time to lift and come back to have a look see. Turned out to be a good call for there was no fog at the top of the Brighton site building and I found Dot.Ca(DC) on the west end of the south side vent.

img_1411-dc img_1413-dc-blowing-in-the-breeze-at-bs

10 minutes later DC flew around the building and came back to the south side landing on a southwest corner briefly before flying off to the north.

img_1414-dc-in-brighton img_1421-dc-ready-for-take-off

I made 2 more trips around the site looking for him or Pigott to no avail so I returned to downtown. I spotted Beauty up next to the main cam with her back to me on the Times Square building. I then drove down to the hole to park and walked over by He’s Chinese to be sure it was the Beautyful one. She let out a little whine as I took this one pic of her.

img_1422-beauty

I  tweeted it out and when I looked back up there she was gone. I took a spin around the city without finding her and then checked KP with no sighting there either. I ended my watch happy to have found Beauty and DC but wishing I had seen Pigott and KPF too with the big storm coming later today. My concern for our falcons is with the predicted high sustained winds with gusts from 60-70 mph. I will definitely go out tomorrow to check but the conditions may keep me from seeing very well.  No matter-come rain or shine I’ll be watching and if I see any or all of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons I’ll be smiling! Stay safe everyone!! 🙂

One video link below of DC click it to view

http://youtu.be/PTI2Mf6eGgU

Morning watch 10-28-12

Sunday, October 28th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was dark and there was a very fine misty rain this morning as I left for my watch. It took me some time but I finally found Beauty on her night time roosting spot high up on the 5th column of Xerox south side.

img_1360-beauty img_1362-taken-by-manhattan-square-park-on-chestnut-st

I was parked on Chestnut St. by Manhattan Square Park to observe our downtown matriarch as she was slow to get out of bed this morning! Not surprising as all the prey birds were not up either, it was very quiet. I left the Beautyful one after 20 minutes to go to the Brighton site to check for falcons. It was quiet there as well with no birds visible or heard except for 2 birds of prey. I spotted Pigott preening on a southeast window ledge on the back of the building. And a minute later I noticed Dot.Ca(DC) on the west end of the vent.

img_1363-pigott Pigott  img_1366-dc Dot.Ca

Less than 5 minutes later Pigott started vocalizing prompting DC to fly over to the window ledge to her left and then 30 seconds later he flew to a southwest corner and was looking around for breakfast.

img_1367-dcp img_1368-dc-departs img_1369-dc Click pics for full version

I stayed with them for about 25 minutes and decided to go check KP. I got lucky to find KPF on her favorite perch-the railing by the red door. Due to the weather conditions I wasn’t able to get a picture of  her and she flew off to the north out of sight after just a minute or so after I found her. Timing is everything sometimes and so I was successful in locating ALL of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons this morning. I waited half hour or so for her return and when she didn’t I drove back downtown. From the Broad St. Bridge I found Beauty on the southwest side of OCSR on the top ibeam. She had her back facing out and then I went down to the hole for closer viewing in the dismal,dreary rain.

img_1391-beauty

I shared space with Beauty for nearly an hour before ending my watch and leaving downtown with a big ole smile on my face for having seen 4 falcons! 🙂

Links for videos below-just click to view them

http://youtu.be/aUElG_b6vMk
http://youtu.be/fTPUURi1J1c
http://youtu.be/zNSXGQcDAnA

Morning watch 10-25-12

Thursday, October 25th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a warm humid morning in downtown Rochester for this time of year with the promise of a high near 80. My first glimpse of a falcon was that of one flying from east to west over the river,Blue Cross Arena and Hall of Justice/jail. I was on the Broad St. Bridge at the time. I took a ride and saw Beauty fly to the top ibeam northside on the OCSR from the Andrews St. Bridge. I then went over to Bragdon St. so I could walk across the Sister Cities pedestrian bridge to the back side of OCSR for closer viewing.

img_1248-b-beauty img_1259-beauty

Beauty was nibbling on something small, perhaps cached food. 10 minutes passed when Dot.Ca flew in out of nowhere and went past Beauty close enough to try to grab whatever she was eating. She diverted his attempt and was quite vocal about her displeasure. After he was denied he flew over to the Crossroads building and landed on the northeast corner to watch her.

img_1251-dc img_1269-beautyful

Dot.Ca left about 10 minutes later. 20 minutes later Beauty flew over to the Frontier Communications Tower and returned to OCSR landing on the west corner top ibeam this time. I missed her leave and 10 minutes later I watched her fly to the 2nd ibeam north corner and she had a woodpecker which was still alive and put up quite a struggle before succumbing.I believe it was either a male Downy, male Hairy or Red-bellied(which I’m leaning toward) woodpecker judging by the red on it’s head.

img_1265-beauty img_1266-beauty-and-woodpecker

For some reason I had a mental block and kept tweeting that Beauty was on the west corner instead of the north-sorry.

I stayed with the Beautyful one for a half hour longer and then I had to leave for a personal issue that came up. Beauty sure looked good in the sun this morning as she gave me a look and got a face full of feathers.

img_1271-hi-there img_1275-feather-face

So after a 2 hour watch I left her to finish her breakfast. Keep smiling! 🙂

Links below for 2 videos

http://youtu.be/SKvpTFuyheU
http://youtu.be/a1YJGa5kJyM

Morning watch 10-24-12

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I approached the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) on a dark but rain free morning, I could see that the circus had the entire south side of the bridge filled in with their trailers. The Court St. bridge is closed off completely- inundated with circus vehicles and activity.

img_1121

So I took a quick look around for a falcon and when I didn’t find any I moved on to the east side. Nothing over there so I took a ride around the city. Finally, after making a mistake and having to get on Interstate 490, I returned via Clinton Ave. to the east side and spotted Beauty up on the northwest corner of HSBC.

img_1126-beauty img_1129-beauty

5-10 minutes later she took off and quickly left my field of vision. I tried to find her to no avail so I elected to take a ride to the Brighton site. Happily I found Pigott on a southwest roof corner.

img_1143-pigott

10 minutes later Dot.Ca (DC) came flying in from behind me making a lot of noise. Pigott flew out to meet him as they both quite vocally chased a gull together. After driving the poor gull (who didn’t know what direction to flee) out of the area they returned to the building. DC went to the farthest west roof corner on the south side and I lost sight of Pigott. Then suddenly I could hear her echoed echupping and DC started chirping back. I thought she must be in the cubby so I took a look and sure enough there she was, but as soon as I got over there  she walked in farther where I couldn’t see her.

img_1133-dc

At this time a man stopped to ask for directions and I lost both of them. Next, I found them on the west side on opposite corners. DC left while I was watching Pigott and then she flew to a southeast window ledge. I could see that she had a full crop.

img_1163-pigott

These two gave me quite a busy time trying to keep up with them, (especially Miss Pigott) flying out and back to the building many times landing on window ledges and roof corners. They did this together 90 percent of the time. Much different from Beauty and DC who only occasionally fly together.

img_1165-pdc img_1175-pigott P img_1191-dc1 DC

Pigott flew to the front of the building while DC and I remained in the back and when she came back she went to the vent on the south(back) side and landed on it.  Pigott walked the length of the vent twice almost like strutting her stuff ending up on the east end of it. DC was on a southwest corner and Pigott flew over to a corner opposite him.

img_1198-pigott img_1228-pigott Click it for full pic

They both flew south and returned to the vent. While I taped Miss Pigott, DC snuck off on me. I waited a bit for DC to return and when he didn’t I said goodbye to Pigott and headed for downtown. It took a couple trips around the city but I eventually found Beauty on the top arm north side of the jail tower.

img_1236-beauty

I watched the Beautyful one for a few minutes from Exchange Blvd. just south of Court St. and then I ended my watch. I smiled as I left the city for I had seen 3 of the 4 Peregrine Falcons that grace our Rochester skies! 🙂

For more pics and videos click the links below

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrMMA

http://youtu.be/gA4eYe50I80
http://youtu.be/aFOxyAWC0tc
http://youtu.be/gbBFASC304k

Beauty and the Bees Video from 10/14/12

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I don’t have much time to go through my videos and download them, but here is one that I really wanted to share.  I took this video on 10/14.  Beauty was just finishing eating up on the ledge above the nest box.  Dot.ca was above her at the base of the northeast wing patiently waiting for her to finish.  At first I didn’t notice that she was being bugged by what I assume were Yellow jackets (YJ’s).

Most of us know about Yellow jackets are.  Yellow jacket is the common name in North America for predatory wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula.

The Falcon Watchers were bothered by these pesky critters most of the summer, especially out on the Broad St Bridge.

I do believe that it is Yellow jackets bothering Beauty and that they were after the remainder of the prey.  Of course that didn’t bother Dot.ca who came down for his share after Beauty walked away.

At the end of the video, you can hear Beauty vocalizing when Dot.ca comes down.

Be sure to keep watching Beauty and her reactions to the YJ’s.  Hope you all enjoy.

I will try to post more videos in the near future.  I have a couple I would like to share showing Beauty (I believe) flying over the river.

Over this past weekend, I did see all 4 Rochester Falcons; Beauty and Dot.ca downtown, Pigott at the BS location and KPF at Kodak Park (KP).  There were also three falcons seen downtown this weekend.  Thankfully it has been quiet the last few days.  We will definitely keep an eye on the situation.

http://youtu.be/nSnyxpGDXts

Enjoy!


Here are a few pics from this past weekend.
Click on each picture to enlarge.

Beauty on Base of MercuryKPF at KPBeauty on Base of MercuryPigott at BS LocationDot.ca & Beauty on Top IBeam of OCSR; South Side

Morning watch 10-23-12

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Twas a dark and rainy morning in our fair city as I searched for our falcons.  After a couple spins around downtown I found Beauty on the OCSR west corner top ibeam. I watched her for a few minutes from the Broad St. Bridge when DebbieH came by on her way to work. I told her to hop in and then we rode down to the hole for closer viewing.

img_1108-beauty-trying-to-hide-from-the-rain

Now you might ask why does MAK post such terrible pics-it’s simple, I want to share what I see with everyone. Come rain or come shine life goes on for the falcons-they can’t hibernate in their warm,dry homes when the weather is bad like we do.  So Deb left for work and about 20 minutes later Beauty left as well. Off I went in search of again and I found the Beautyful one on the northwest corner of HSBC.

img_1103-beauty-on-hsbc-with-prey img_1105-beauty

I had a hard time between the rush hour traffic and construction on the east side I was afraid she would leave before I could find a place to view her. She was eating something up there and suddenly she vanished from view and the next thing I saw was Beauty stooping straight down the face of the east side of HSBC. I lost her behind a tree and never saw her again over there so I left to look for her once again. And once again she was on the west corner top ibeam of OCSR. At this time I decided to swing by the Brighton site to see if Dot.Ca or Pigott were around but no luck there. I returned to downtown and found that Beauty was still on OCSR. I watched her from the hole for a few minutes and then she went out of sight. I thought she had left until Donna let me know that she ducked around the corner.

Off to the Andrews St. Bridge to see her and when I looked I could see Dot.Ca on the top ibeam north corner straight down the beam from Beauty.

img_1116-dc img_1117-bdc Click it for full version

I observed them for a bit as the rain started to come down harder making me decide to end my watch. I was sure that they would be staying put for awhile as they get some protection from the rain up there.

img_1115-beauty Beauty img_1118-dc Dot.Ca

Not very good pics today but hopefully I’ve left you with a smile knowing that our downtown Rochester Peregrine pair is wet but safe and sound! 🙂

Morning watch 10-22-12

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It took me about half an hour to find a falcon this morning as I made my way back to the Broad St. Bridge from a ride around the city. I found Dot.Ca(DC) under the northeast wing of the Times Square Building(TSB).

img_1011-dc

He left 20 minutes later and 20 minutes after that Beauty showed up landing on the deck by the nest box.

img_1016-dc-taking-off Click pic to see DC fly off the back img_1020-beauty Beauty

15 minutes later Beauty flew off very fast over the river kakking the whole way.

img_1026-beauty-leaving-to-join-dc

20 minutes later DC showed up under the southwest wing of TSB with a prey item and then Beauty flew in to land under the southeast wing to watch him as he prepared it for consumption.

img_1029-dc-with-prey

DC was not wanting to share his treasure with Beauty which I find interesting since when he is at BS with prey he takes it right to Pigott. When downtown he seems to take prey from Beauty instead of giving it to her. Perhaps because Pigott is younger than him and Beauty is older-hard to figure him out sometimes. lol Anyway, DC left with his prey and Beauty went to her nest box about 15 minutes later. Shaky came by on his way to jury duty and after he left DC returned empty taloned landing under the southeast wing for a few seconds and then took off again. A few minutes later I found him on OCSR 2nd ibeam southeast side with prey and then Beauty flew over to join him coming to rest about 10 feet away.

img_1039-bdc Click this pic for full version

He picked at it for a few minutes then flew to the TSB with it landing under the northwest wing and Beauty followed and landed there as well.

img_1043-dc-exits-with-the-goods Click them for full version img_1046-beauty-and-dc

DC teased Beauty for 5 more minutes with what was left of his food then he flew off to the east followed by the Beautyful one a minute later. I found him 30 minutes later on OCSR top ibeam by the north corner and a minute later Beauty flew in and landed below him on the 2nd ibeam and she was nibbling on something.

img_1058-bdc Just remember to click all pics for the full version

Beauty flew over to the Frontier Communications Tower platform and either finished eating or cached what she had for she wasn’t there for long before she returned to OCSR and landed about 25 feet away from DC on the top ibeam northeast side.

img_1061-beauty img_1066-bdc Click it

She was whining with her back to him-falcon games  you gotta love them! lol I left them and went to the Brighton sight and KP but I didn’t find a falcon at either sight. So after seeing our resident downtown pairing of Beauty and Dot.Ca on a gorgeous fall morning I had more than enough reason to smile! 🙂

Click the links below for more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrL6g

http://youtu.be/iSvMswoAR4o
http://youtu.be/O8tzdTX4FEw
http://youtu.be/tLrBxxyMUD0
http://youtu.be/S86gsx1WCeM
http://youtu.be/5bTy7yp9_o8


Morning watch 10-21-12

Sunday, October 21st, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

What a Beautyful and breezy morning I had with sunshine and blue skies-perfect for falcon watching. I found Beauty on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR. I shared space with her for 3 hours from below the OCSR, next to the Radisson Hotel and over by the Rochester Convention Center. She watched pigeons fly up and down the river,preened,pooped and napped.

img_0932-beauty-watching-pigeons img_0929-beauty-poops img_0951-sleepy-head

At about 9:00am Dot.Ca showed up under the northeast wing and half hour later he flew off and landed under the southeast wing.

img_0949-dc img_0963-dc img_0964-dc

Beauty flew over my head to the east and DC followed behind her out of my view. A minute later Beauty was on the base of Mercury and 10 minutes after that DC landed there as well. There was a little echupping and a bow or two and then they both took off heading east above me once again and out of my sight.

img_0971-beauty img_0973-beauty-bowing-to-dc Click for the full version

5 minutes later Beauty was on OCSR again top ibeam northeast side. A woman from Florida named Gina stopped to ask me what I was taking pics of ,so I showed her Beauty on my camera screen and she flipped out saying her husband would love this since he was a bird watcher. I told her the history of our falcons, handed her a rfalconcam business card and off she went to tell her husband as he was eating breakfast in the Radisson Hotel. Beauty flew off to the east one more time only to return some 40 minutes later.

I decided to go to the Brighton sight and look for Miss Pigott. As I stopped in the back of the building and started searching window ledges I found the very grown up Pigott on a southeast corner window.

img_0985-pigott img_0998-pigott

In the 40 minutes that I stayed with her she didn’t move a whole lot and I figured since she had a full crop she wasn’t going to do much. I had to get going but I left smiling for having seen 3 falcons on my watch! 🙂

Click the links below for pics and videos of all 3 falcons

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrLyA

http://youtu.be/TaQEHCX0uKw
http://youtu.be/4SZO5yagoT0
http://youtu.be/S–CBKylP9A


Sponsored By

Times Square
powered by Shakymon