rfalconcam - FalconWatch

FalconWatch

Eyes to the Skies

Archive for December, 2012

A Falcon Watch As 2012 Comes to a Close….12/31/12 – Falcon Seen Today: Beauty, Pigott and BST

Monday, December 31st, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Wow!  Can this really be the last day of 2012?  So much happened this year, good and bad.  But in the end, one young eyas flourished in front of our eyes.  We were all saddened by the loss of Unity and Archer earlier this year, but happy that Beauty’s injuries healed and that she was able to return to Rochester to raise young Orion along with her new mate Dot.ca.

Next year is an unknown.  Beauty has remained here in Rochester and so has Pigott.  A new, unbanded tiercel has been hanging out with Pigott at the BS location. 2013 will definitely be a very interesting year.  Stay tuned.

I had quite a nice afternoon watch today with all three current Rochester Falcons.  Here is my last report of 2013.

My tweets, along with the tweets of the Rochester Watchers that  do not post their own reports:

11:30 am (Carol P) – “BS. After seeing Mak DT I decided to head over to the BS location to visit with the very handsome BST who is still on the same window.” – Beauty was on the to I-beam of the OCSR, north side.

12:00 pm (Carol P) – “BS. BST left without a sound in stealth mode!”

12:10 pm (Carol P) – “BS. BST has returned.”

12:30 pm (Carol P) – “BS. BST just started kakking and tore around to the front of the bldg. He is not happy with the noisy crows!”

12:30 pm (Carol P) – “BS. There was a falcon in the tree in the south side. Just as I was going to take a pic it tore off low to the east!”

12:50 pm (Carol P) – “BS. No falcons have returned yet. Larry and Harold have joined me.” – Harold is Larry’s new dog.

1:10 pm (Carol P) – “BS. No falcons have returned yet. Larry and Harold have joined me.”

1:30 pm (Carol P) – ” BS. P&BST here now. All 3 Roch Pefas seen today! Just saw tandem hunting as 1st P then BST went after a pigeon.”

1:51 pm (Brian H) – “RTH on top of Monroe Square, formerly Sears bldg.  Cool!  I’ll keep looking as I wander

2:00 pm (Carol P) – “DT. On my way home via DT. Miss B is up on the TSB at base of NE wing.”

2:30 pm (Carol P) – “At KP for a end of year look. No falcons seen.”

2:30 pm (Brian H) – “Short Wander today.  Too much slush for me.  Hawk was gone.  No other raptors spotted.”

3:50 pm (Lisa McK) – “At BS, found 2 falcons.  1 on NE  corner of east extension.  1 tucked in on the window sill on SE side of east extension.”

4:00 pm (Lisa McK) – “Found the little gray screech owl again.  Happy New Year’s everyone.”

4:30 pm (Larry O) – “BS Falcon watch. Both Falcons on east extension.”

4:40 pm (Larry O) – “BS Falcon watch. BST did what appeared to be a quick stoop to the north, but broke it off quickly, and flew back to the extension.”

4:40 pm (Larry O) – “BS Falcon watch. BST flew around to the north face of the East extension and it against the window sill.” – I’m pretty sure Larry saw BST go to the nighttime roost.

*************************************************

Although it was bitter cold and the wind was blowing the snow around, the sun was bright.  Perfect for a winter falcon watch.

I decided to check out Beauty first, so I headed downtown arriving around 11:30 am.  My first stop is usually always the Andrews St Bridge (ASB).  On my way, I passed MAK who was also checking on Beauty.  We both ended up on the ASB and after spotting Beauty on the top IBeam of the OCSR, NE side, we had a nice chat before splitting up.  MAK was going to get closer for a few more pics of Beauty and I decided to head to the BS location.

Beauty on top IBeam NE side OCSR - 12/31/12*

*

*

*

*

By noon, I was parked and watching BST on a windowsill under the tree ledge on the east end of the building.  He was very actively watching everything around him, head continuously turning back and forth.

BST at BS - 12/31/12*

*

*

*

*

BST (the unbanded tiercel at the BS location) took off and returned to the tree ledge on the east side.

BST at BS on Tree Ledge - 12/31/12BST at BS - Yes, BST, I see you have no bands. - 12/31/12*

*

*

*

*

At 12:30 pm, BST started to KAK KAK KAK!  I looked around, but all I could hear was the loud CAWing of the neighborhood Crows.  BST was not happy with them.  He took off and tore around to the front of the building (north side).  I waited to see if he would return, but he didn’t.  I checked out the area and found a Peregrine in the same tree in the south side woods that Dana and I saw Pigott awhile ago.  Just as I was going to take a picture, the falcon took off, flying fast and low heading east.  I am not sure if this was BST or Pigott.  I parked my car where I had a good view of the east side of the building and was soon joined by Larry O and his new dog Harold.

The tree I saw the falcon sitting in before it took off heading east. - 12/31/12*

*

*

*

*

I left Larry and Harold and took a ride heading east.  I really wanted to know where P&BST were headed when they flew in that direction.  I was stopped at a red light when I spotted a falcon heading back in flying towards the BS location.  I turned around and headed back, finding a falcon on the NE corner.  This Peregrine was kind enough to show me her banded legs.  Yep, it was Pigott.  She had finally returned.

At 1:30 pm, Pigott took off heading east, this time chasing a Pigeon.  BST came off of the SE side of the building (I didn’t know he had returned) and followed Pigott as she chased the Pigeon into the tree line.  Neither had luck catching the Pigeon.  I had witnessed my first tandem hunt between Pigott & BST!

Pigott landed back on the NE corner and BST landed on the tree ledge on the SE corner.  That is where I left them at 1:45 pm.

Pigott at BS Location - 12/31/12BST at BS Location - 12/31/12Pigott at BS Location - Yes, Pigott.  I see your band.  Thank you. - 12/31/12*

*

*

*

*

On my way home, I drove through the downtown area looking for Beauty.  She was pretty easy to see up on the NE corner of the Times Square bldg at the base of the NE wing.

Beauty on Times Square Bldg. - 12/31/12Beauty on Times Square Bldg. - 12/31/12*

*

*

*

*

I was very happy to end my last watch of 2012 after seeing all three current Rochester Falcons.  Happy New Year everybody!

I just have to leave you with one more picture I took today.  It’s a picture I love to get, 2nd only to the take-off shot.  Remember to click on any picture to see a larger version.  Bottoms up from Pigott! 🙂

Bottoms Up!  from Pigott! 12/31/12

Last morning watch of 2012 12-31-12

Monday, December 31st, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well I sat on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) for 25 minutes when the bridge dwelling pigeons finally woke up and flew out from their night time roost under the bridge in the aqueduct. I thought for sure Beauty would come streaking in to grab one of them for breakfast but she didn’t. Donna posted pics of the Beautyful one on the money bag hand of Mercury around 1:00am so I figured she was sleeping in today as she had a late night.  Hmm, maybe Peregrine Falcons celebrate New Years a day earlier than us! lol  I watched Pat who works in the Thomson Reuters building struggle to walk down the BSB sidewalk on her way to work as they did a lousy job of clearing it for walkers. And minutes later DebbieH came by on her way to work and we discussed how bad the sidewalks were for people to walk down. She usually likes to walk but today she accepted my offer to give her a ride to  the Ebenezer Watts building at Broad and Fitzhugh streets where she works cuz the sidewalks were so hazardous. After I dropped her off I took a spin over to the east side to see if by chance Beauty was hunting over there. Turned out to be a good call as I found her on the northeast corner of the HSBC railing. And she was in hunt mode as she struggled to keep her footing up there in the wind.

img_4808-beauty

Beauty stayed up there practically getting blown off many times and waited for her shot at a pigeon. About 15 minutes passed when she dropped off the railing,went into a stoop and disappeared around to the front of HSBC.

img_4812-beauty-going-into-a-stoop

All I saw after that was lots and lots of pigeons scattering in fright mode.  Looked for nearly an hour for her but couldn’t find her so I drove over to Brighton as the sun started to shine brightly! I found BST with his back to me on an east side window ledge below the roof top tree that grows there.

img_4822-bst img_4824-bst

LarryO came by for a few minutes with his dog Harold as BST turned to his left so we could see the white front of him.

img_4828-bst img_4841-bst

BST stayed there for nearly 2 hours preening at times but mostly sleeping. I wonder if Pigott goes to the same place as Beauty when we can’t find them. lol

img_4831-bst img_4835-bst img_4836-bst

2nd only to Orion as being the most photogenic falcon I’ve ever taken pics of. At 11:00am I decided to leave for downtown to find Beauty before heading home. As I got ready to turn onto Church St. from Fitzhugh to check the Frontier Communications tower  CarolP drove by waving. I followed her to the Andrews St. Bridge and had a short chat with her as I spotted Beauty on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR. I drove over to Bragdon St. next to the Radisson Hotel for a closer view of Beauty and take a couple quick pics.

img_4846-beauty

I wish Miss Pigott had shown up while I was at the Brighton Site but I did begin and end my watch with Beauty and spent some time with the dashing BST in between. 2 good reasons for this watcher to leave for home with a smile on her face! 🙂

Links for a few more pics and 3 videos are below

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrSDA

http://youtu.be/oWadCm3G4oQ
http://youtu.be/ZTP7C2yXzFA
http://youtu.be/epAfZv5ZvoA

A Sunny, Cold & Windy Sunday Falcon Watch – 12/30/12 – Falcons Seen Today: Beauty, Pigott & BST

Sunday, December 30th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

We got some snow overnight, just a few inches, and it was really cold and windy, but the sun was shinning.  It had been awhile since I’d seen that bright orb in the sky!  lol

First, here are my texts from today:

11:30 am – “BS. Falcon still on same window Mak reported looking around back to me. Lots of ice falling off bldg.”

11:40 am – “BS. Looks like BST to me. He keeps looking southeast.”

12:40 pm – “BS. P just flew in. Lots of glorious ee chupping.”

1:10 pm – “BS. P&BST seem to be settled in. Both preening. Both on east end. Pigott is on window 2 below tree. BST on top window on south side east end”

1:30 pm – “DT and I found Beauty on the top Ibeam of OCSR SE side. All 3 current Roch falcons seen!”

1:50 pm – “DT. Miss B has left the bldg!”

1:50 pm – “DT. B on mercury.”

2:10 pm – “DT. B took off and chased a gull down river. Back on top Ibeam OCSR.”

3:00 pm – “At BS. Left B on OCSR and all her gull friends DT. B&BST have not moved.”

3:30 pm – “BS. Lisa here now. P&BST preening and snoozing. Time to go!”

*********************************************************

It wasn’t until 11 am that I was able to get out for my Falcon Watch.  I decided to head to the BS location first, where BST had been spotted this morning.  When I arrived, BST was in the same spot on the east end of the building on a south facing top window.  It was nice to see him, since no one had seen him yesterday.  BST was sitting with the sun warming him on this cold day.  He was kind enough to show me his unbanded legs, so I knew for sure this was BST.  I remained there for awhile hoping that Pigott would show up and she finally did.

At 12:40 pm, BST announced the arrival of Pigott when she flew in from the SE.  Glorious ee-chupping filled the air.  Pigott landed on the roof just above BST.  They continued ee-chupping until she flew to a nearby window on the east side of the SE extension (under the tree ledge).  They were on the same exact level and could easily see each other.  Here are some pics of BST & Pigott from today’s watch.

BST at BS location - 12/30/12BST at BS location showing his lack of bands - 12/30/12BST at BS annoucing Pigott's arrival - 12/30/12*

*

*

*

*

BST at BS location just after Pigott arrived - 12/30/12Pigott at BS location - 12/30/12Pigott at BS location - 12/30/12*

*

*

*

*

Pigott at BS location - 12/30/12*

*

*

*

*

They were both preening and snoozing, so I went to check on Beauty.  I arrived downtown at 1:30 pm.  Beauty was on the top I-Beam of the OCSR on the SE side.

Beauty on top I-Beam of OCSR SE side - 12/30/12*

*

*

*

*

At 1:50 pm, Beauty took off while I wasn’t looking, but ended up landing on Mercury’s money bag.  She had her back to me, but her head was in constant motion.  There were 100’s of  Ring-billed Gulls swirling over the river north and south of the Broad St Bridge where I was watching from.  Starlings were busy clinging to the the nearby buildings, looking for something to eat.  During the summer, we watch them do this, snatching up spiders and bugs.  Not sure what they were getting on this cold winter day.  The Pigeons were huddled on top of the Blue Cross Arena aka War Memorial.  Every now and then one of the Pigeons would take flight and join the gulls.

Beauty on Mercury 12/30/12*

*

*

*

*

At 2:10 Beauty took off heading north down the river.  She flew past the OCSR and then circled back.  As she passed over the river, one of the gulls drew her attention.  She went into a steep dive and drove the gull down towards the river.  She would gain altitude and then dive again on the same gull over and over again.  Finally the gull escaped, flying low over the water, heading north.  Beauty broke off the attack and headed back towards me.  She hovered directly over me.  I was able to take one picture before the battery in my camera died.  Beauty turned and flew back over to the OCSR, landing on the top IBeam she had been on when I arrived.  She settled in for a good preening.

Beauty took off from Mercury to head north down the river - 12/30/12Beauty flew back towards me after attacked a bull over the river - 12/30/12*

*

*

*

*

I remained for awhile watching Beauty preen and then returned to the BS location where at 3:00 pm, I found Pigott and BST in the same spots they were in when I left for downtown.  Lisa joined me and we chatted while we watched P&BST.  Both were preening and snoozing.  So at 3:30 pm, I said my goodbyes to Lisa and headed home.

Finding all three current Rochester Falcons made it a very good day.  Soon it will be the new year.  The days will get longer and can spring be far away?  lol  OK, lots more winter weather before I should be thinking of spring.  🙂

I’ll leave you with a few pictures I took today.  Remember to click on the pictures if you would like to see a larger version.  Thanks!

100's of gulls over the river south of the Broad St Bridge - 12/30/12One gull keeping an eye on me from the railing of the Broad St Bridge - 12/30/12Geese arriving at Canal Ponds Park on my way to Falcon Watching 12/30/12

Morning watch 12-30-12

Sunday, December 30th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well we got another 5 inches of snow last night so I had to dig out before leaving for my morning watch.  It was about 10 degrees colder than yesterday BUT the sun was shining brilliantly which was a welcome sight since it was last seen days ago. I couldn’t really park on the Broad St. Bridge as the parking lanes were buried in snow so I went to the Main St. Bridge turned on my hazard lights and started watching for Beauty. Still too dark to see if she was in the elevator shaft I did have a good seat in case she flew out and over to Mercury. She did not but as I was looking upriver some 25 minutes after arriving I spotted 2 separate groups of frenzied pigeons flying near Court St. One group broke off to the east and the other group made their way toward Cornhill with Beauty on their tail feathers. After I lost sight of them I checked around for the Beautyful one to no avail so I headed to Brighton. Upon driving around to the east side of the building I found the handsome BST in a corner on a south facing window ledge on the east extension.

img_4751-bst img_4776-hi-buddy img_4789-whats-up-there1 img_4777-bst

He had his back to me as usual but did look around every once in a while so I could see his cute face. He didn’t seem to be interested in leaving his spot where he was protected from the bitter cold northwest wind that was blowing quite vigorously. I shared space with him for over an hour expecting Pigott to fly in but she never showed. BST started to get sleepy as his eyes slowly got heavier until they closed for a nap.

img_4764-getting-sleepy img_4781-sleepy-head

I left him to it and made my way back downtown to see if I could find Beauty whom has been scarce during the day lately. Today would be no different as I spent the better part of an hour looking everywhere for her. I stopped to check the elevator shaft and she was not up there either. I went over to the Broad St. bridge to find a couple of mini bulldozers working on clearing snow from the sidewalk and parking lane on the north side of the bridge and dumping it into the river.

img_4792-time-to-clean-up img_4793-into-the-river-it-goes

I ended my watch at this point  as I have a few things to get done today. Keep smiling everyone- it makes people wonder what you’re up to! lol 🙂

One link for a video of the dashing BST

http://youtu.be/QdkVh4Cd1PA

A Wintery Afternoon Falcon Watch – 12/29/12 – Falcons Seen Today: Beauty and Pigott

Saturday, December 29th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It’s winter in Rochester and it lived up to it’s name today.  Snow all day long, making it very hard to find falcons!  But we did!

Here are my tweets from today:

11:50 pm – “DT. Checking out snowy downtown Rochester. No sign of Miss B yet. Very slick out here so be careful if you venture out.”

12:00 pm – “DT. With this snow its impossible to tell if B is in the elevator shaft or not.”

12:50 pm – “BS. Pigott still on SW corner. No sign of BST. and the snow continues…”

1:10 pm – “BS. P just took off heading south. Waiting to see if she returns.”

1:40 pm – “BS. RTH just flew thru landing in a tree NE of here. No pefas challenged but the Crows sure did!”

2:40 pm – “Back at BS with Kathy O. No falcons seen yet.” (Went looking for Pigott and found a Merlin eating on a telephone pole.)

2:50 pm – “BS. Pefa flew in and landed at east end.” (Larry and Harold joined Kathy and I.)

2:50 pm – “BS. I believe it is Pigott.”

3:50 pm – “Kathy O and I checked the DT area. No luck finding Beauty. With snow its impossible to see if she is in elevator shaft. Time to head home.”

****************************************************

I started my watch downtown and attempted to find Beauty (11:50 am).  No luck.  I even looked up inside the elevator shaft, but because of the snow, it was impossible to see if she was up there.  The Ring-billed Gulls were very active in the snow.  Flying back and forth over the river.  Starlings too.  The Pigeons chose to huddle together for warmth on the roof tops.  The snowplows were plowing the sidewalks on the Broad St Bridge, but it was almost impossible to get to the sidewalk from the street due to all the snow piled up.  So lots of folks were forced to walk in the street until they could get to a spot where they could climb up onto the sidewalk.  Very dangerous, since the conditions were so slippery.  Brian told me that he had almost been hit yesterday evening by a guy driving and texting!

Here’s what I saw looking up into the OCSR elevator shaft.  Was Miss Beauty up there?  No way to know for sure.

OCSR Elevator Shaft 12/29/12*

*

*

*

*

After checking all over the downtown area, I headed over to the BS location to see if I could find Pigott & BST (12:50 pm).  There was a few inches of snow on the roads, and they were slippery, but as long as you took it slow, you were ok. When I arrived at BS, I found Pigott up on the SW corner.  I drove around a couple times, but could not find BST anywhere, so I returned to where I had seen Pigott.  She had moved over to the other side of the extension, where I had seen both her and BST share a meal.

Pigott at BS on SW corner - 12/29/12Pigott just before she flew south. - 12/29/12Pigott after she returned on the SE corner - 12/29/12*

*

*

*

*

At 1:10 pm, Pigott took off, heading south.  I remained at the BS location hoping she and maybe BST would return.  When she hadn’t returned, I decided to search for her in the direction she headed.  I found a falcon eating on a telephone pole.  At first I thought it might be a juvenile Peregrine.  It was snowing so hard, it was really hard to get a good look.  Kathy O found me and we both decided it was a Merlin, not a Peregrine.  First Merlin I’d seen in a long time.  The Merlin finished eating and took off, so Kathy and I decided to head back to the BS location.

Merlin on Westphal Rd. - 12/29/12*

*

*

*

*

Very soon after we arrived, Pigott flew in, landing on the SE corner of the building (2:50 pm).  Larry O and Harold (his new dog) joined us for awhile.  We looked for BST, but again were unable to find him.  We remained for about an hour, before heading back downtown to see if we could find Beauty (3:50 pm).  Kathy and I searched while it continued to snow, but we could not find her.  I again checked up into the elevator shaft, but again it was too snowy to see if she was up there.

Beauty had been seen earlier today and Pigott is staying close to her building.  It was time to head home, but I would certainly be out again tomorrow to check on the Rochester Falcons.

I’ll leave you with some pictures I took during my Falcon Watch today.

Snow covered Mercury - 12/29/12Working on the Power Bldg in the snow. - 12/29/12Working on the Power Bldg in the snow. - 12/29/12*

*

*

*

*

Looking over the river towards Kodak Office - 12/29/12

Another snowy morning watch 12-29-12

Saturday, December 29th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There was a steady light snow coming down from the heavens on this mornings watch making everything look clean and white. However, it didn’t make falcon watching the easiest thing to do as my pictures are dismal today. That’s ok cuz if the falcons have to deal with it so should I! Shortly after I landed on the Broad St. Bridge Beauty landed on the out stretched money bag hand of Mercury.

img_4662-beauty img_4666-beauty img_4672-beauty

She stayed with me in the semi darkness and snow for 10 minutes and then she was off to the east across the river and out of sight. Happy hunting Beautyful!  As I took a drive around to find her I came across some brave souls who were on a cherry picker getting ready to wash windows on the Powers building at Main and State streets.

img_4677-window-washing-in-the-snow

I never found Beauty so I ventured over to Brighton. It was snowing a little harder over there but I spotted Pigott on the southwest corner of the west extension looking big as life.

img_4681-pigott

A few minutes after I arrived LarryO came by with his new dog Harold. They went for a walk as I stayed with Miss Pigott. She wasn’t doing much of anything except looking north and shaking the snow off her every once in a while.

img_4684-pigott img_4698-pigott

Larry left and I ended up hangin’ with Pigott for a little over an hour. I think she was looking for BST to show up-so was I but that didn’t happen. Perhaps he was off eating breakfast somewhere. At about 9:30am after a 2 hour morning watch I ended it with snow falling just as I had started it. And you can be sure I left smiling for I love falcons and snow! 🙂

Links below for a couple snow filled videos

http://youtu.be/bA1foGrLDy4
http://youtu.be/xfNYvUd9G9Y

A Friday Evening Falcon Watch – 12/28/12; Falcons Seen Today Beauty, Pigott & BST

Friday, December 28th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Lots of snow on the ground, but thankfully most of the roads have been cleaned up.  The city and the towns did a great job.

No more shoveling to do, so I was free to do my evening Falcon Watch!

First though, here are my tweets and tweets from the other Rochester Falcon Watchers that do not post reports, just to keep you up-to-date.

8:00 am – Larry O – “Brighton Falcon watch drive by. 1 Falcon on the northeast extension.”

4:10 pm – Carol P – “DT. Miss Beauty has returned to Mercury.”

4:10 pm – Lisa McK – “At BS, 1 falcon by tree on SE side.”

4:30 pm – Carol P – “DT. Beauty took off heading NE.”

4:40 pm – Carol P – ” DT. Beauty is now tucked into the OCSR elevator shaft on the north ledge. Night B!”

4:40 pm – Lisa McK – “At BS, P is in attack mode.  Both falcons came off bldg  after a red tail hawk.”

4:41 pm – Lisa McK – “RT hawk mafe the mistake of landing in a tree to the east. Pigott was not happy.”

4:41 pm – Lisa McK – “No birds in sight.  Looking to see if they returned.”

4:41 pm – Lisa McK – “1 falcon on NE corner, checking out the area.”

5:10 pm – Carol P – “BS. Lisa had to leave. looks like Pigott on the NE corner. No BST in sight since RTH incident. Waiting 2C if he returns to roost.”

5:20 pm – Carol P – “BS. P just flew down the night roost NE end 4th window down. No vocalization. Too dark to see much.”

Donna reported this afternoon through RfalconcamNow that Beauty was seen on the Mercury statue:

Beauty on Mercury: 3:24 pm; off Mercury: 3:28 pm and on again at 4:04 pm.- as seen on Camera #1.

**********************************************

Just before I left to go downtown, Donna had reported that Beauty was on Mercury, but by the time I arrived, just before 4:00 pm, she was gone.  I drove around looking for her and ended up on the Broad St Bridge and there she was, again on Mercury’s money bag at 4:10 pm.  At 4:40 pm, she was up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the south ledge, her evening roost.

Beauty on Mercury 12/28/12Beauty on Mercury 12/28/12Beauty in the OCSR elevator shaft south ledge - 12/28/12*

*

*

*

*

While I was watching Miss Beauty settle in for the night, my fellow Falcon Watcher Lisa McK was watching over at the BS location.  She had reported that a Red-tailed Hawk had stumbled into the area and both Pigott and BST were on the attack.  Lisa said that the hawk landed in a very short tree on the east side of the building and Pigott was not happy.  She dove over and over again on the hawk until it finally left.  BST was also involved in the attack.

Pigott returned to the NE corner of the building, but Lisa was unable to find BST.  I joined Lisa at BS at about 5:00 pm.  Pigott remained on the NE corner.  I was also unable to find BST on the building.

Pigott at NE corner at BS location - 12/28/12*

*

*

*

*

Lisa had to leave, but I remained until Pigott flew down to her nighttime roost on a window (4th down) on the NE side of the building at 5:20 pm.  There was no vocalization, like I’ve heard other evenings when BST joined her.  It was dark by this time, but I could still make out Pigott on the windowsill.  I drove closer to the building to see if I could see BST near her, but he wasn’t there.  I left soon after that.

The weekend is upon us and I’m sure that, although snow is predicted, there will be many Watchers out and about   I know I will be!

Morning watch 12-28-12

Friday, December 28th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The roads were clear and lovely this morning-a vast improvement  from yesterday because of the foot of snow that fell on us here in western New York. On my way to downtown Donna tweeted that Beauty was on Mercury(thanks D) so as the statue came into view I had a look. She was on the base of Mercury and I could see she had breakfast.

img_4575-feather-face img_4589-beauty-with-prey

The Beautyful one worked hard on that pigeon to prepare it for consumption, pulling lots of feathers out at a time as you will see in a video I took of her. I stayed with her for 35 minutes parked next to the Philipone building in the hole as she finished up and flew off to the north out of view.

img_4590-hi-beautyful img_4592-beauty-ready-for-takeoff

I did a run around the city looking for her with no luck so I departed for the Brighton site(BS).  I was pleasantly surprised to find both BST and Pigott in attendance. And as an added  bonus I could keep track of them at the same time for they were near each other on the northeast ledge where the roof tree grows.  BST was right under the tree.

img_4596-bst-and-pigott Click on this pic to see them in a larger version

They were about 25 feet away from each other with their backs to me but I was able to get a few pics as they would look over their shoulder every once in a while.

img_4609-hi-miss-pigott Pigott     img_4634-bst BST

I shared space with these two for 45 minutes as they didn’t do too much other than make eye contact with each other and look out at their territory. Miss Pigott did a little preening but for the most part they were just enjoying each others company as I enjoyed theirs!

img_4612-pigott Pigott  img_4630-bst <BST> img_4632-bst

I had to cut my watch short today to take care of some things but  I saw all 3 of our current Rochester Peregrine Falcons which puts a big ole smile on my face every time! 🙂

Links for 2 videos today are below for your viewing pleasure

http://youtu.be/yTtXNB9pPTM
http://youtu.be/wU2jVljKp_E

A Very Snowy Thursday – 12/27/12 – Falcons Seen During the Day: Beauty, Pigott & BST

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Rochester (NY) received close to a foot of snow overnight.  I was unable to get out this evening to check on Beauty, Pigott and BST, but thankfully all three were seen earlier today.

At 3:40 pm, Lisa McK tweeted the following:  “At BS, 2 falcons found.  On SE extension.”

That was the only tweet from this afternoon.  Thanks Lisa!

At 3:32 pm, Camera #1 caught a nice pic of Beauty visiting the Mercury statue.

5-beauty-on-mercury-at-332-pm*

*

*

*

*

I’ve been meaning to download a video I took on 12/23/12.  It shows Pigott on the roof of the building at the BS location.  It shows her reaction to BST flying in from the east and flying directly over her.  Be sure to turn up the volume if you want to hear some lovely ee-chupping! lol 🙂

Just click on this link to view the video.

http://youtu.be/axQ0CBNihpo

I’ll leave you with some snowy images from today.  The first one is a picture from main cam showing a snow drifted nest box at the Times Square Bldg and the last three are from the parking lot at KP.  If you’d like to see any pictures in a larger version, you just need to click on it.  Thanks!

A Snowy Nest Box - 12/27/12Snowy KP Parking Lot 12/27/12Snowy KP Parking Lot 12/27/12Snowy KP Parking Lot 12/27/12

A snowy morning watch 12-27-12

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I had to make my way thru 3 foot drifts to get to my garage and snowblower this morning so I could get my car out for a falcon watch. Mission accomplished-next was the trip to downtown as the roads were not ideal but better than expected. Still dark when I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) and the parking lanes were not plowed so it was a bit tricky to sit on the bridge and watch for Beauty. I pulled over as far as I could and hit the hazard lights.

img_4457-broad-st-bridge-sidewalk img_4462-snowy-bridge img_4464-main-st-bridge

20 minutes later pigeons started flying across the BSB and at the end of it was Beauty chasing after them flying south to Cornhill and out of view. I set out to find her but was unsuccessful however, I did find lots of snow removal going on around the city. Starting at the ice skating rink at Manhattan Square Park.

img_4494-clear-that-skating-rink img_4497-clear-it-out img_4506-main-st-at-south-ave

After looking for Beauty over an hour at around 8:30am I ventured over to Brighton(BS). I was able to find both Pigott and BST-he was on a southwest window ledge and she was on the other side of the building on a southeast window ledge.

img_4478-bst img_4485-pigott

I stayed with them for about an hour as they were not doing much and had their backs to me. Both seemed settled in for a while so I returned to downtown. After searching all the open areas for the Beautyful one I finally found her up in the elevator shaft of the OCSR building where she is quite protected from the elements.

img_4509-beauty-in-ocsr-elevator-shaft

I couldn’t really stay as there was snow removal activity all around me so I ended my watch and left for home. I was totally ecstatic to have found all 3 of our current resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons safe after the storm. A very good reason to smile on this day! 🙂

Links for a photo album and 3 videos are below-click em and observe

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrRtA

http://youtu.be/9KZPa08u4oA

http://youtu.be/REaKrvfkM38

http://youtu.be/kcnHXyIG2SQ


Sponsored By

Times Square
powered by Shakymon