By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Much colder this morning than yesterday and just as dark and dismal. While I was on the east side of the city looking for Beauty I got a tweet from Donna who was manning the camera that Beauty was on Mercury.  It took me longer than usual to get to the Broad St. Bridge as they have things torn up with construction over there and so she was gone when I got there. I looked for the Beautyful one for half hour and as I sat in my car on the bridge facing east I spotted her making her way over to the Hyatt Hotel. She landed on the southwest corner with her back to me.

I left the bridge and parked down by Aqueduct park to see the front of her. She was trying to bring up a pellet when I first got there.

I got out the car and started walking across the Main St. bridge toward South Ave. to get even closer and just as I stopped and propped my camera up to take pics she flew off. I watched her cross the river heading northwest behind OCSR and come back into view above it soaring quite high. It soon became apparent what she was looking at-a couple of  large birds that may have been hawks below her. Minutes later there were 5 of them and she just kept hovering above  keeping an eye on them. That’s the last I saw of  her, for I got a phone call from my friend Tesa that her Golden Retriever Molly had died on her kitchen floor and so I ended my watch to go offer my support.

I was real happy to see Beauty this morning even if it was for just a short time and tho I was very sad for the loss of  Molly (she was like my own) I chose to remember the good times and managed to break out with a half smile! 🙂

One  link below for a video of  Beauty on the Hyatt Hotel

http://youtu.be/ArvK_fcxbR4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a warmer day in the 50’s this afternoon, but very cloudy and rainy.  I was not able to do a falcon watch today, but I want to keep up posting the tweets left by the other Watchers that are not posting their reports.  It’s important to record all of the Rochester Falcon Watchers observations.

Today’s Tweets from Rochester Falcon Watchers that do not post their reports:

1:50 pm – Lisa McK – “At BS, 2 falcons on east extension.  2 days to ROC the Day.”

3:10 pm – Kathy O – “BS Falcon report .. Found P and BST on east side .. One on SE corner roof and the other on window ledge up against bldg on south side.”

3:40 pm – Kathy O – “BS falcon report .. Food being prepped on south vent.”

4:30 pm – Kathy O – “BS falcon report – falcon report .. Joyce here in the pouring rain with me .. P still eating on south vent .. BST has taken shelter some …”

5:00 pm – Joyce – “P is tucked in on a windowsill where E & NE wings meet.  P is 3 Floors down at her nite roosting spot Lisa discovered. Still can’t find BST.”

Kathy let me know that when Pigott was eating, BST did not beg at all.  Another observation of behavior to record.

There were no sightings of Beauty on Camera #1 today.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature when I left the house was around 50 degrees and it was dark and dreary. Since I was not having any luck finding Beauty I decided to take pics of the decorated trees around the city and add them to my album for all of you to enjoy too! My favorite was in the lobby of the Clinton Square building shown below.

Click pic to see larger version

While parked on the Broad St. Bridge DebbieH drove by waving on her way to the South Ave. garage. I waited for her to come walking up on her way to work. We had a nice little visit then she was on her way. I drove around town again after she left and then headed to Brighton. I saw no bumps on the front or west sides of the building but as I rounded the back of the building I spotted Pigott flying after BST on the east side. They first flew south then doubled back flying over the building to the front where I couldn’t see them. I waited and BST returned to land on the southeast corner by the roof top tree.

I enjoyed his company for a bit and then I took a ride around the building to see where Pigott might be. I didn’t find her so I re-joined BST on the east side. He was busy preening and I believe he may be molting as I’ve witnessed lots of white down feathers coming out of him the last few days.

At about 9:30am BST flew off to the south-I watched him til I couldn’t see him anymore and then I waited to see if he would come back.

When he didn’t I went back to downtown to find the Beautyful one. After another few times around town I noticed a pefa scaring up pigeons on Main St. near the Liberty pole as I turned off Franklin St. onto Main. I can’t say for sure but it is my opinion that it was most likely Beauty as I saw her chasing pigeons in this same location one day last week as well. I wanted to stay and look for her some more but I had to leave at the time. I did return later after noon but wasn’t able to find her. So today my pics and videos are all BST which should make y’all smile since he is so darn cute! 🙂

Click the links below for more viewing pleasure

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrP7g

http://youtu.be/dfEpwD1jxpI
http://youtu.be/2-f6QEAUK40

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A mostly cloudy & cold day with just a hint of sunshine.  Today I was happy to see all three Rochester Falcons, although it took me a while to see all three.

Some Tweets from Today:

7:25 am – Annette on RFalconcam Now – “Beauty on Money hand.” – As seen from Camera #1

7:42 am – Annette on RFalconcam Now – “She flew away.” – As seen from Camera #1

10:30 am – Carol P – “Here at BS and no falcons in sight. Not even in the trees.”

11:50 am – Larry O – “Brighton Falcon watch. Have 1 Falcon on South East extension inside of structure.”

12:00 pm – Larry O – “Brighton  Falcon watch. Completed 1 circle. Only see 1 Falcon.”

12:4o pm – Carol P – “Back at BS. Finally a falcon where Larry said on NW extension. I could not find B anywhere DT.”

12:50 pm – Carol P – “2 falcons at BS Now.”

1:20 pm – Carol P – “BS. Both are on the west end of the bldg now. Pigott is on the south corner and BST is on the north corner.”

2:20 pm – Carol P – “DT. I left P&BST at BS to check for B before I head home. Again no luck finding her.”

2:21 pm – Carol P – “DT. Well isnt it always the way? Beauty came out to say goodbye as I took one more look. She is on the SW corner of the Hyatt. All 3 seen!”

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Today I went to the BS location first, arriving at 10:30 am.  I circled the building quite a few times and had no luck finding any falcons.  My only companion there was this little cutie.

It was time to check out downtown to see if I could find Beauty.  I circled the downtown area looking into every nook and cranny.  Beauty was no where to be found.  I decided to head over to the High Falls area for a visit to the pedestrian bridge we used to watch Mariah, Kaver and their young from.  I was the only one on the bridge, so I walked around and took some pictures and a video and just hung out for awhile.  From there I had a great view of the downtown area, but I still could not see Beauty anywhere.  Here are some pics I took while there.

Here’s a picture of what my friend Dale named the Falcon Sucking Tree many years ago which is located on the gorge wall.  During the summer months, it is covered with leaves and I believe that every one of Mariah’s 43 children made it into this tree, including Mariah and Kaver and Cabot-Sirocco.  There seems to be a falcon magnet within its’ branches!  My friend Patty from Canada requested that I include a picture of this tree in my next report.  Here it is Patty!

There were small Christmas Trees all over the High Falls area decorated in all different colors.

At 11:50 pm, my phone received a tweet.  It was from Larry O and he was at the BS location and had spotted a falcon.  I immediately headed back over there.  I needed to get my falcon fix for the day!

When I arrived at BS at 12:40 pm, Larry was gone and I quickly found one falcon on the NE extension and it was Pigott.  I circled the building hoping to find BST.  When I came back to where Pigott was, I finally spotted BST.  He must have flow in while I was driving around.  BST was very close to Pigott on the NW corner.  It wasn’t long before Pigott flew over BST and landed on the SW corner, just to his right and that’s where they remained until I left a little after 2:00 pm.

On my way home, I stopped downtown for one last look for Beauty.  After driving around the whole downtown area and not seeing her, I ended up on the Andrews St Bridge.  Where was she?  At 2:20 pm, I tweeted that I was heading home and that I had no luck finding Beauty.  Before leaving, I checked the area one more time with my binoculars and THERE SHE WAS!  Beauty was on the Hyatt at the SW corner (river side).  This is becoming a favorite spot for her this winter.  I was very happy to see her.

It was so great seeing all three Rochester Falcons both weekend days.

While I was on the pedestrian bridge at High Falls, I took a video of the area.  It is such a beautiful place and brings back such good memories of watching Mariah and Kaver and their young ones learning to fly and hunt there.  This is where Rhea Mae, Quest and Linn learned from their parents how to be successful Peregrine Falcons.  🙂 If you would like to see it, just click on the link below.  Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/lsvtVXDJ6dg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As is my regular routine of checking for falcons I check from the Broad St. bridge (BSB)first and then go to the east side. The crows roost over there in Washington Square Park and surrounding area during the night. This morning as I drove thru, most of them were gone but I stopped to video tape them since their has been lots of interest in the mobs of crow lately. I then proceeded to look for Beauty or any other falcon that might be around enjoying the Christmas lights on the Liberty Pole,East Ave. and Main St.

As I made my way back to the BSB I spotted her on the money bag hand of Mercury from the Main St. bridge. Went down to Aqueduct St. and parked in the hole where I had a good look at the Beautyful one.

She stayed there looking for her breakfast for about 10 minutes and then she flew off to the OCSR building. She landed on the west corner top ibeam and quickly moved to her left a bit.

Beauty walked further to her left a couple more times, settled for maybe 45 minutes  and flew off heading west. I made a trip around and couldn’t find her so I left for a Brighton(BS) check.  I first spotted LarryO pull in to BS he went left and I went right in the road around the building. I found BST on the east extension on a window ledge facing south.

Larry had doubled back and caught up with me and as he pulled up BST flew off. I pointed to him for Larry to look and then BST landed on the south (back)side vent. Larry parked and we watched BST for a few minutes.

Larry had to go and I stayed watching BST about 20 minutes before he flew off going west.

I had to get going myself so I ended the watch.  It so makes me smile to start my day with falcons! 🙂

Click the links below for more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrPzA

http://youtu.be/G_dikMq1rgo
http://youtu.be/GaMKxrsiGrc
http://youtu.be/GaMKxrsiGrc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Very dreary, cloudy day with rain.  But there was lots of falcon activity for the Rochester Falcon Watchers on this rainy Saturday.

Texts From Today:

10:00 am – Carol P – “At KP. As usual no falcons. Raining now. Will check DT next.”

10:01 am – Larry O – ” at Brighton with Mak. So nice to see a pair of Falcons doing their thing.”

10:10 am – Carol P – “DT. Beauty on top IBEAM of the OCSR preening. Peaceful here. BS next.”

10:30 am – Carol P – “At BS. Again I just missed my fellow watchers. Oh well. Both Pigott and BST are quiet on the west side of the bldg. Happy to see all 3 again.”

11:10 am – Carol P – “BS. Kathy O here now. P flew NE & looped around to the back of the bldg. Now on the north side. Cant find BST now.”

11:40 am – Carol P – “At BS. No falcons now. Dana here now. Kathy O had to leave.”

12:10 pm – Carol P – ” BS. Dana found P in the trees behind BS. The crows didn’t like that and she decided to leave. Back on BS.”

1:00 pm – Carol P – “BS. P now preening on NE side of bldg. No sign of BST. Starting to rain again. Dana and I leaving BS now.”

2:10 pm – Jeanne – “Falcon just flew past Xerox and Chase.”

2:38 pm – Ei on Rfalconcam Now – “Beauty on Mercury again.” – As seen from Camera #1

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My Falcon Watch started at KP.  I arrived there at 10:00 am.  As usual, I could not find any falcons.  I will continue to check out this area throughout the winter.

My next stop was downtown Rochester.  MAK & Larry had tweeted that there was a lot of activity over at the BS location, but first I had to check on Beauty.  At 10:10 am I was parked on the Andrews St Bridge and from there, I could see Beauty on the OCSR top Ibeam at the far west end.  She was preening and all was quiet downtown, so I decided to head out to the BS location to see what Pigott & BST were up to and to meet up with my fellow Watchers.

I arrived at the BS location to find that I was on my own, at least for a short time.  I found Pigott up on the NW corner of the building and BST below her on a windowsill.

BST took off soon after I took this picture and I did not seen him again f0r the rest of my watch.  Kathy O joined me and we chatted while we kept an eye  on Pigott.  We kept looking for BST, but we couldn’t find him.  Pigott took off heading NE and we lost her behind the tree line.  She swung right and circled around to the south.  We found her on the back of the building (south side).  At 11:40 am, Kathy had to leave and Dana joined me.  That’s when Pigott took off.  Dana and I split up and covered different sides of the building.

At noon, Dana found what she thought was a falcon in the trees behind the building on the south side.  At first we thought it had to be a Red-tail Hawk, but after getting a little closer, we verified it was indeed a Peregrine Falcon name Pigott.  Usually these trees would fill up with Crows at the end of the day.  At first she was all by herself, just looking around, probably in hunt mode.  A few Crows came in and landed in the tree below her, cawing loudly.  They were not very happy having a falcon in their tree.  Dana and I were amazed as Crows started to  stream in from the west and landed in Pigott’s tree and all around her.  CAWING & RATTLING filled the air.

The Crows became bolder and bolder, physically hitting her and landing right next to her.  They wanted her out, but Pigott wasn’t moving.  As I watched, I could see her lunge at the closer Crows and she turned herself around.  Now she was facing me and she still didn’t want to leave her tree.  Finally, at 12:10 pm, after showing those Crows who was boss, she spread her wings and took off, heading back towards her building.  Dana and I followed her.  Pigott flew around to the north side of the building and that’s where Dana and I left her at 1:00 pm.

Some of you are probably saying, “Oh, sure Pigott had a stand off with a mob of Crows”.  Well it’s all true and here’s the proof.  I just happened to catch it all in a video.  Just click on the link below.  Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/NjHGcpppsSU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was very overcast and dreary out this morning with on and off sprinkles but when I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge my day brightened as I spotted Beauty on her Mercury money bag! I shared space with her for the next 15 minutes and then she left flying  northwest.

I left downtown to check the Brighton site and boy did I have action over there! When I arrived I was greeted by Miss Pigott whom has eluded me since I got back from my trip. She was on the northwest corner of the building straight out from where the scrape is located.She then flew to the front of the building landing on a west facing window ledge. It was at this time I decided to take a ride around the building to see if BST was around.

He wasn’t on the east side where I’ve found everyday this past week and as I rounded the front of the building I spotted Pigott stooping on the west side. When I got closer I realized she wasn’t going after prey-it was BST and they both flew around to the west side landing on window ledges across from the nook.  They were only a few feet apart and had lots to say to each other.

After a minute or so BST walked to the far corner of the ledge he was on out of sight.

Remember to click on the pics for a larger version

They stayed like this for a while and then things picked up. Pigott started the action flying from one spot to the other landing on various window ledges and roof top corners while BST preened.Then he got in the act as they played a game of cat and mouse flying to the front of the building and back keeping old MAK on the move as well! They perched up by the scrape for a bit and then returned to the back near the nook. It all seemed playful like they were getting to know each other.(my opinion)

What a couple of head scratchers these 2 are eh!?  Pondering their next move no doubt as they flew off-ladies first so we know BST is a gentleman.

What great entertainment for this watcher on a dull day weather wise. Time flew by and before I knew it I had to get going but just as I was going to leave LarryO stopped to see the action. Pigott and BST seemed to be settled down for the time being and so Larry and I left to get on with our day. I had a blast watching Miss Pigott and BST this morning as there really wasn’t a dull moment and yes I went home smiling the whole way! 🙂

Click the links below for more photos and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrPqg

http://youtu.be/eZojz9pdse8
http://youtu.be/MeM1T7PGj-w
http://youtu.be/AK48RtS5kgY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another quick falcon watch, but tonight I got to see all three Rochester Falcons.  That is always a very good thing.  🙂

Texts from Today:

2:05 pm – RfalconcamNow – Shaky – “Beauty on Mercury’s money bag.” – Seen on Camera #1

2:06 pm – RfalconcamNow – Ei – “Beauty on Mercury.” – Seen on Camera #1

2:28 pm – RfalconcamNow – Annette – “Beauty on Mercury’s money bag.” – Seen on Camera #1

3:30 pm – Kris G – “From KrisG: One pefa seen on NE corner of roof at BS-chest not very white so maybe P?”

4:00 pm – Carol P – “DT. B on Mercury.”

4:30 pm – Carol P – “BS. 2 falcons here on NW side.”

4:50 pm – Carol P – “BS. Leaving P&BST? Together on NW side of bldg close to each other. Yes they can see each other.”

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After checking the KP area with no luck finding any falcons, I drove towards downtown Rochester, arriving on the Andrews St Bridge.  I like starting here, because it gives me a great 360 degree view of the downtown area.  From there, I can see almost all the buildings that Beauty lands on.  I knew that Shaky, Ei and Annette had posted that Beauty was on the Mercury statue a little after 2 pm, and she was still there.   I parked on the Broad St Bridge and got out of my car.  With temps in the 40’s and no wind, it seemed much nicer than the past few nights.  Beauty seemed to be content on her money bag, so I decided to head over to the BS location, where Kris G had reported seeing one of the falcons.

Kris had texted (through MAK) that she had seen a falcon on the NE corner of the building.  As I pulled down the driveway to the front of the building, I spotted a falcon up on the NW corner of the building extension.  I did a loop around the building to see if I could find a 2nd falcon.  No luck.  Back to where I saw the falcon I spotted on the way in.  I sat and watched this falcon trying to ID it.  The chest was not bright white, so I believe it was Pigott, although, I was losing light and I couldn’t be 100% sure.  She turned around to face west, so I drove around the corner of the building to get a better look.  That’s when I saw there was a 2nd falcon on the west extension, NW corner.  I am pretty sure this was BST. They were close enough to see each other.

Just before I left BS at 4:50 pm, BS flew to a windowsill on the north side of the building below where we believe P & DC 1st chose as a scrape.  There was a little bit of vocalization and then they were quiet.  I left Pigottt on the NW corner and BST on the windowsill.

On the way home, I went back through the city to check on Beauty.  She was no longer on the Mercury statue.  There was something going on at the Blue Cross Arena aka War Memorial.  There were reporters and cameras all over the place and the Broad St Bridge was filling up.  I drove over to Main St. to get a better look into the OCSR elevator shaft to see if Beauty might be there.  It was too dark to tell.  No tail stuck out like the last time.  IT was time to head home.

BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE PICS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LARGER VERSION.  THANKS!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I left for downtown under overcast skies but the wind was calm and the temperature was about 10 degrees warmer than yesterday. I didn’t find Beauty right away but after a drive around the city I spotted her on the money bag hand of Mercury as I parked on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB).

After 20 minutes Beauty flew off over the Blue Cross Arena to the Cornhill area then she doubled back down river and to the east. I lost her behind Midtown as she was most surely in hunt mode and looking to stir up some prey.

DebbieH came by on her way to work  I told her she just missed the Beautyful one and to jump in the car to go look on the east side. We had no luck finding her so I dropped Deb off for work at the corner of Fitzhugh and Broad St. in front of her workplace the Ebenezer Watts building and headed over to Brighton.

As I came around the back of BS on the east side of the building I spotted a falcon on a window ledge but it took off as I pulled over to the side of the road. I waited about half hour but it didn’t return so back to downtown I went. I checked around the city 2 or 3 times when I got a text from DebbieH that Beauty was on Widows Walk. At the time I was over by KO looking so I drove straight down Plymouth Ave. and parked between Broad and Church St. at first.

I then drove down to Broad St. and parked in front of Debbies’  building to be closer to Beauty.

She was still looking for breakfast and after 10 minutes she flew off to the north and I thought for sure she was going to the Frontier Communications Tower or Kodak Office.

I checked both locations with no luck and chose to end my watch as I had to leave for an appointment. Beauty always makes me smile and today was no exception! 🙂

I have links for 2 videos below

http://youtu.be/phRXGn9sp0s
http://youtu.be/PYgP2KkJ42I

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P

Here are the tweets from today:

1:34 pm – Donna C – RFalconcamNow – “Beauty back on Mercury.” – Seen from Camera #1

4:00 pm – Carol P – “DT. Beauty is on top of the Hyatt on the west side.”

4:50 pm – Carol P – “DT. Beauty just flew from the Hyatt directly up into the OCSR elevator shaft. Nite Beauty!”

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My day started out in the 20’s (F) and went up into the 40’s.  Even with the sun shining, it was bitter cold when I arrived downtown at 3:45 pm.  I ended up parking on the Broad St Bridge and found Beauty on top of the Hyatt on the west side (river side).   I stayed on the bridge for  close to an hour keeping an eye on Beauty and watching 4 separate flocks of Pigeons whirling around the sky above.  They did this for the whole hour I was there, never resting.

About a 1/2 hour into my watch, I was joined by Pat for a short while.  She told me that she had checked for Beauty at lunch time, but had no luck finding her. After Pat left, a Coopers Hawk flew through heading south over the library.  Again Beauty didn’t seem to mind another hunter in her territory.

At 4:45 it was getting dark and Beauty took off and flew directly up into the OCSR elevator shaft.  More than likely, she was spending her evenings up there, out of the worse of the weather.  From there she could see everything below her.  Night Beauty!

Right now, I only have about an hour of daylight to look for falcons during the week.  Can’t wait for the days to get longer!

I’ll leave you with some pictures from my watch.  If you would like to see a larger version of the picture, just click on it.  Thanks!