By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

6:38am and 36 degrees (F) 2 (C)-that’s what the bank clock on Main St. said when I started my watch. Still a bit dark out as I made my way to the east side where I saw the familiar shape of  Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC. I parked in my spot and right away she got busy stooping down the south face of the building. Gone in a blur and returning in a blur!

3 times she took off after a pigeon coming back empty taloned twice and the 3rd time not coming back at all. Instead, she flew over to the Times Square building (TSB) and parked herself at the nest box as told to me by Donna, one of our many fantastic camera watchers. Thank you one and all for your constant help!

It was about 6:55am and much lighter out than when I started as I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB). 10 minutes later Dot.Ca (DC) made his appearance as Beauty flew over to Mercury,and not wasting any time they mated on the money bag. DC went to the northeast wing and Beauty went to the nest box.

Now parked in the hole (Aqueduct St.) by Keybank, I watched DC fly off past Widows Walk to the west until I couldn’t see him anymore-he was flapping the whole time. Beauty then came out and flew over to the southwest corner of the Wilder building. I had to move for a better view so I parked out on Exchange St. between the Times Square and Philipone buildings.

As I was watching the Beautyful one I got the feeling someone was watching me, and sure enough on the sidewalk stood DebbieH. I put down the window and told her to jump in but she didn’t get to stay for long as Beauty took off.

Debbie got out to look as I drove around to the hole again and stationed myself near the stairs that lead up to the BSB where Debbie was standing. I could see that Beauty had gone to Mercury and signalled to Debbie. She waved and went to work as I shared space with Beauty.

At around 10 minutes after 8 (with my camera hanging out the window) a man from the Thomson Reuters security team came up to me and asked what I was doing and if I was a terrorist! I chuckled and said no, I’m watching the falcons and pointed to Mercury-then he chuckled and said, oh I didn’t recognize you in the car. I remember seeing you on foot dragging a cart around. I said yeah, I put the cart in storage when I was given this car.  And that was that! lol 10 minutes later Beauty flew off touching down under the southeast wing for a sec then over to the northeast wing. I left for the Brighton site (BS) thinking that’s where DC had gone but when I arrived Pigott was by herself on the southwest corner.

She whined  a little on and off looking north toward downtown for you know who-DC.  Miss Pigott flew off going from one corner to another before settling back on the southwest corner.

I waited and watched with her for half hour or so then I left to go back downtown. Just as I got up to Broad and Exchange Blvd. I spotted Beauty flying over to the southwest corner of the Wilder building.  I drove down to the hole after the light changed and saw DC fly over and they mated.

When finished DC flew over to the deck of the nest box next to the main camera. I thought finally they will go in the nest box and bow to each other when Beauty flew over but DC took off before she could get there and went up to the northeast wing and she went in the nest box.

A few minutes later at 9:30am Beauty flew to the Mercury money bag and DC stayed put under the wing. We all stayed in our chosen spots for 15 minutes and then Beauty flew to the south-I turned to look at DC and he was gone. Next I watched Beauty fly to the nest box as DC came screeching in to swoop her as  she landed-then DC took off out of view and Beauty went to Mercury.

Again I drove to BS thinking DC went there and again I found only Pigott perched on the same southwest corner of the west extension. I stayed half hour and went back downtown when DC didn’t show up.

Arriving at 10:55am I found Beauty to be on the money bag of Mercury and DC under the southeast wing. I parked in the hole and observed them until 11:30am when Beauty flew to the southwest corner of Wilder and DC flew off. Beauty took off to the north,DC followed, then they came back thru and DC landed briefly under the southeast wing. They had me moving back and forth and I think they may have mated on Mercury when I couldn’t see them, for when I cleared the Thomson Reuters building I saw Beauty on Mercury and DC was flying back up to the southeast wing on the TSB.

They both left when I wasn’t looking and I ended my watch at just before noon. The thing that made me smile most today was that guy thinking I could be a terrorist! 🙂

I have provided links for more pics and videos below-just click and view

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWraJg

http://youtu.be/cLf3bNtF-HY
http://youtu.be/9GK7GcR0umU
http://youtu.be/0GWvp27s05U
http://youtu.be/1FCrMdzr6EE
http://youtu.be/SjT2MHhXonM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I got a really late start to my afternoon watch today, arriving downtown at about 6:00 pm.  I was only going to do a quick sweep of the two peregrine falcon locations, but ended up staying out for close to 2 hours.

At 6:00 pm, from the Broad St Bridge I could see that Beauty was in the nest box on the Times Square Bldg.  She was facing out, looking over her territory.  I checked around the city and could not find Dot.ca anywhere.  Everything was quiet and peaceful.  Even the Broad St Bridge was empty, unlike how busy it was all weekend.  Clouds were moving in and covering the setting sun.

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Since everything was quiet downtown, I drove over to the BS location to check things out over there.  Both Pigott and Dot.ca were home.  Pigott was softly vocalizing from the south side vent and Dot.ca was flying around, landing in different spots.  He ended up next to Pigott on the vent.  Both had food and they were eating side-by-side.

Dot.ca on the left and Pigott on the right.

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After finishing their meal, they both did some flying, both chasing off the Crows that came too close to the building.  Hopefully the Crows will learn that they should stay away from the building now.  No more steeling cached food with these two on alert.

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Lisa McK joined me on the watch for awhile before she had to leave.  Just after Lisa left (of course!), both Pigott and DC flew to the cubbyhole on the west side of the building, where it looks like they may nest this year.  Much better selection than last year’s choice!  This is a large flat ledge that is covered on three sides.

I could hear their loud ee-chupping and vocalizations fill the air.  When I drove around for a better view, they were both deep inside the nook.  I could hear them, but I couldn’t see them.  Finally Dot.ca flew out and headed north.  Pigott then came into view.  She was looking north and she was quiet.  She flew out and landed on the NW ledge of the west extension, looking north.  North it was!

By the time I arrived downtown, Beauty was up on top of the Wilder Bldg on the SW corner.  She was softly vocalizing.  I looked around for Dot.ca, but could not find him.  I had to wonder if he and Beauty had copulated before I got there.

It was getting dark at 7:50 pm and it was time for me to end my watch.  As I pulled out of the parking lot next to the Wilder Bldg, I could clearly see Beauty up on the corner, keeping watch over her territory.

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Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

At one degree above freezing it felt like a heatwave this morning! Not much wind and no sun as my day started.

My first run across the Broad St. Bridge(BSB)  found no falcons so as per usual I went to the east side of downtown which had no results either. As I came back down Broad St. I could see a falcon on the Mercury money bag. I stopped on the bridge to ID it and then I drove down to the hole to observe Beauty.

I was parked on Bank Place, a one way street that goes to Aqueduct St. from Exchange Blvd.-it runs along the south side of the Philipone building and straight ahead is Thomson Reuters. I was facing east toward Mercury so the Times Square Building(TSB)was behind me and I couldn’t see the nest box so I turned left onto Aqueduct St. Dana was parked there and yelled to me-she had to go to jury duty around the corner so she stopped to check things out. While chatting Beauty flew to the nest box which signals that Dot.Ca(DC) is incoming. Sure enough as I rounded the corner into the parking lot on the north side of the Philipone building I could see that DC had arrived under the northwest wing of the TSB.

I drove over to park in front of the Blue Cross Arena to observe. Donna reported to me that DC had swooped Beauty once after she went to the nest box which I missed. 20 minutes later DC flew out and swooped her just one time again. He then proceeded to fly over to Mercury landing on the money bag briefly and was off again circled the TSB and went behind it out of view. Meanwhile Beauty had left the nest box so that’s why DC was off flying. I spent 30 minutes looking for them with no luck so I left for the Brighton Site(BS) to see if DC had gone there to Pigott.

When I got there I could here echupping coming from the broken window on the west extension where we think they had a failed scrape last year. Soon after stopping Pigott appeared in the window. She flew out and back again briefly echupping the whole time.

Click pics for full version

I wondered where DC was and then Pigott went around to the south side of the west extension and landed on the southwest corner. Then I saw DC land on her and start mating-I could only see his wings flapping from where I was parked so I quick drove over there and just as I stopped they finished. DC flew to the northwest corner as Pigott remained on the southwest corner whining a bit.

They could see each other-both flew off 30 minutes later with Pigott going to the window scrape and DC going to the cubby on the east extension. She joined him and they echupped for 5 minutes out of my view,then DC shot out of there in a blur going to the southwest corner. Pigott came out to the front edge of the cubby making soft sounds and whines as DC ignored her to preen with his back to her.

Miss Pigott then went back in the cubby after 10 minutes continuing to make the sweet little sounds. 15 minutes later DC flew to the north roof and landed in on it where again I could only see his wings flapping as he and Pigott(who snuck over there without me seeing) were mating again. DC flew north when they were done and Pigott went to the northwest corner. DC did not return after a few minutes so I left Pigott looking north to return to downtown. As I approached downtown traveling down Exchange St. I could see DC under the southeast wing of TSB.

DC stayed up there for the next 30 minutes preening and looking down at the nest box then he flew off circling above the Philipone and Wilder buildings. Unbeknownst to me, Beauty had flown out of the nest box and was on the southwest corner of the Wilder building waiting for him. I fumbled with my camera as they caught me off guard when DC mounted her and they mated. They both flew off out of sight afterward.

Click it to see DC exit left

They came back into view flying in front of the nest box then he went to the money bag of Mercury. She flew past him and he jumped off to follow her to the north out of view. They would come in and out of view flying all over the downtown area with DC diving at her from time to time. After 20 minutes of this on the wing show DC went to the southeast wing ring and Beauty disappeared.

After 15 minutes of preening DC bolted off the ring to the  southwest meeting up with Beauty and chasing her to the nest box. Just as she was to land he swooped on her,she went in the box then he swooped one more time before going to Mercury.

He stayed 10 minutes then flew off to the east. Beauty had also left the nest box. I drove back to BS after searching in vain for them arriving at 12:15pm. Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent whining and a few minutes later DC flew over her.

She followed him quite noisily as they went to the back of the cubby for another long winded echup fest followed by the sound of mating. Next  DC came shooting out flying over to the southwest corner of the west extension. Pigott remained in the cubby out of my view as I decided to end my watch. Just some thoughts before I end my report-I think the fact that DC never went to the window scrape, instead leading Pigott to the cubby where they bonded may mean that he wants that to be the scrape now. This would be a much safer spot for babies stretching their wings than in an open broken window and it’s well protected from the elements and that my friends makes me smile! 🙂

Click the links below for more of my pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWraBA

http://youtu.be/_XC2dxBZmvw
http://youtu.be/IW6AjdSgrh0
http://youtu.be/Iif7QMDpFtk
http://youtu.be/pFOmj2foYBs
http://youtu.be/eQui9b8OkBE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce (wnyfalconfan)

Enjoy the final episode of Beauty and Dot.ca’s action-filled day…

Picasa Slideshow – Beauty & Dot.ca Copulation

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My part of the Rochester Falcon Watch was all about aggression.  But by the end of the day….well, let’s just say there was a change in behavior that surprised all of us.  Now for my part of the watch.

It started at about 10:30 am.  I arrived on the Andrews St Bridge in time to see Dot.ca chasing Beauty all over the downtown area.  This was just the beginning of what I would witness during my 6 1/2 hour watch.  Due to a show at the convention center, there was no where to park on the Broad St Bridge during the time I was there.  I ended up on Aqueduct St aka the hole.  From there, I could see both Dot.ca on the Mercury statue’s moneybag hand and Beauty was on the 2nd IBeam down near the south corner on the OCSR.

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Both had their eyes on the other.  After all the flying and chasing they did before I arrived, they were both taking a breather.

11:35 am – They were both off!  The chase continued.  Beauty flew up into the nest box and Dot.ca did a few passes in front of her before ending up on the SE wing ledge at the top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB).

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11:45 am – Dot.ca left the TSB and flew down to the Mercury statue, landing on the moneybag hand.

11;50 am – Beauty came out of the nest box.  This time it was her turn.  She flew straight at Dot.ca and knocked him off of the Mercury statue.  Beauty chased Dot.ca across the river heading NE.  I lost them pretty quickly after they flew behind the Hyatt.  When they didn’t return, I drove around looking for them.

From the Andrews St Bridge, I could see that Dot.ca had returned to the Mercury statue.

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At that point Brian H had joined the Watch.  He was up on the South Ave ramp garage and texted that Beauty was on the top Ibeam of the OCSR at the south corner.  Back I went, to Aqueduct St.

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At 12:40 pm, Dot.ca again took off and flew towards the OCSR where he dove on her a few times before gaining altitude and flying high above the TSB.  I lost sight of him, but Brian H reported that he flew south past the Cornhill area.  We both thought he might have headed back to the BS location.  Lisa McK had joined me and we both decided to join Dana over at the BS location, after warning her that Dot.ca might be on his way.  We were all right.  That is exactly where he headed.

When we arrived, we met Dana on the west side of the building.  She pointed out Pigott who was on what we assume will be their scrape ledge and she was vocalizing loudly.  Dot.ca had arrived and he flew around the south side of the building.  I followed and found him on the SE corner.  It wasn’t long before he took off heading east.  We all thought there was a good chance he would end up downtown again.  Before I headed back downtown, I found Pigott on the SW corner of the west extension.  She continue to vocalize and look off towards the north.  I said goodbye to Dana and Lisa and headed back downtown.

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From in front of the Blue Cross Arena, I could see that Beauty was inside the nest box on the TSB.

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When I turned the corner, I found a spot to park and found Dot.ca where?  Yep, you guessed it.  He was back on the Mercury statue.

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2:15 pm, Another stand-off with Beauty at the nest box and Dot.ca on Mercury.  I saw a familiar car drive by.  It was Joyce and Brian heading out.

At about 2:30 pm, both took off again, heading south west.  Again I lost sight of them quickly.  I checked all over the city and had no luck find them.  It was time to go back out to the BS location.

2:50 pm.  No falcons at the BS location.  It was very quiet out there.  I stayed for a little while, but when no falcons appeared, it was time to go back downtown.

I drove all over looking and could find no falcons.  Finally!   At 3:35 pm, I saw a falcon fly in and land on top of the Xerox Bldg on the SW corner, but not for long.  I quickly found a parking spot and got out of my car.  The falcon on Xerox launched itself from the building and clashed with another falcon.  I could hear their cries from the street below.  To me they were very close in size and I had to wonder if this was Beauty and Pigott.  You be the judge.  Here are a couple pics I got of the combatants.

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Most of the time I was looking up into the sun, so it wasn’t long before I lost them.  Time to head back to the Times Square Bldg.

At 4:00 pm, I found Beauty again at the nest box on the TSB and Dot.ca back on the Mercury statue.  I assumed this was Dot.ca.  At 4:10 pm, he flew up to the TSB and dove a few times on the nest box and then settled on the SE wing ledge at the top.   At 4:20 pm, Dot.ca took off and flew towards the NW.  I hoped he was headed back to BS.

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At 4:35 pm – Back to the BS location where I found Pigott on the SW side of the west extension.  She was very quiet, so I assumed Dot.ca wasn’t there.

At 4:45 pm – Back downtown.  One falcon on the SW wing ledge on the TSB.  Dana and Donna verified that Beauty was not in the nest box.  Thanks ladies!  I was very sure that this was Beauty at the SW wing.  She was preening and looking very relaxed to me.  No sign of Dot.ca at either location.  At 5:00 pm, it was time for me to call it a watch. Now for the rest of the story!

At 6:20 pm, Joyce and Brian returned downtown and found Beauty on the corner of the Wilder Bldg, making soft noises.  Dot.ca was on, you guessed it, the Mercury statue.

At 6:40 pm, the first witnessed copulation between Beauty and Dot.ca happened on the Wilder Bldg.  Afterwards, Dot.ca returned to the Mercury statue.

At 7:25 pm, a 2nd copulation!  and a 3rd after that! Here is a picture of Beauty on the corner of the Wilder Bldg where they copulated, taken by Camera #1 from the nest box.

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After watching the aggression between them all day, I couldn’t believe it.  But, I was very happy that it happened.  The next few days should be very interesting indeed.

Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see in a larger size.

Goodnight everyone!

I’ll leave you with this picture I took of a log on the river below the BSB.  The ice formation coating the one end reminded me of a crystal chandelier.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The start of my day was chilly at 30 degrees (F) -1 (C)  but not much wind to speak of and when the sun came up there were no clouds for it to fight through to shine down.

I arrived downtown at 6:45am and found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC.

She was facing me as I parked on Broad St. in the back of the building (east side) but she was watching the southern skyline. Waiting and watching for Dot.Ca(DC) to make an appearance. 15 minutes later Beauty flew off to the west toward the Times Square building(TSB).

I thought for sure I would find DC when I got there but he wasn’t present. Instead, Beauty was under the southeast wing and as I crossed the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) I saw Dan in his lawn chair on the south side of the bridge. I made a u-turn and joined Dan to watch Beauty. It was just a little too chilly to sit in lawn chairs on the BSB so after half hour or so I got in my car to warm up. Dan said he was leaving soon so I went down to Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena to wait with Beauty for DC.

Larry had seen Dan just before he left and came by to chat with me for a minute before leaving himself. In the meantime, Beauty was doing a lot of stretching up under that wing-probably to get ready for another day of flying around the city at blazing speeds with DC on her tail.

DC was quite late to show up this morning compared to the rest of the week. At 8:37am Dana tweeted  from the Brighton location that she saw a falcon fly from there to the north, which is in the direction of downtown. It took him all of 2 minutes to fly the distance of just under 3 miles. Beauty flew down to the nest box screaming as he approached. He flew in front of the Times Square building to show her that he had arrived. DC then flew up under the northeast wing of the TSB.

DC watched from above as Beauty called out to him from in the nest box. He would take his time preening and picking at his blood stained feet before flying off for the first swooping session of the day some 40 minutes after arriving.

It was a very short 2 swoop affair and then up under the northeast wing again. Donna texted me that she was on the livestream chat and  MarkB, an attorney that works on the 10th floor of the TSB had said any watchers that were out could  go up to his office to watch. Of course I said yes and tweeted Dana to ask her(she declined) as she was the only other watcher out and about at the time. I found that the view to the east was terrific but to the north and south quite limited because of the columns on the building that were on either side of the window.I actually set up in the empty office next to Marks.

<Front of Times Square looking up Always click on my pics for the full version

I didn’t see any action for about 35 minutes and then Beauty flew out over the Philipone building across the street and DC flew after her chasing her back to the nest box. Soon after she was off again flying north past  OCSR. A few minutes later I caught a glimpse of a falcon flying high above the Court St. bridge and out of sight to the south. I watched Beauty and DC tear up the sky with their after burners kicked in making it nearly impossible to get them in focus and that’s if I could even get them on cam. I surely enjoyed the show as a couple times they flew right at me and up above to where I couldn’t see them. Most of the time it was DC pursuing Beauty diving on her here and there but Beauty did chase him at times.

Just before I had to leave, as Mark had to get going, Beauty flew to the south corner of OCSR 2nd ibeam down-DC buzzed her as he flew by and then he went over to Mercury and landed on the money bag hand. I thanked him for the opportunity and went to the parking lot by He’s Chinese to watch Beauty and DC for a couple minutes before ending my watch at 11:15am. What a fantastic time I had watching from a birds eye view putting a big old smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my photo album and some videos from todays watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrZ-A

http://youtu.be/WfpPhH55qH8
http://youtu.be/UMh6s38Tl_0
http://youtu.be/oYHEdRlPdw4
http://youtu.be/Kn4mliIC_Vg
http://youtu.be/VWh68qp67BQ
http://youtu.be/_kh5BYMiwSU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Too tired to leave a full report of a very long day, but I wanted to leave you with some pictures I took during my watch today.  I think I used at least a 1/2 tank of gas going back and forth between the Times Square Bldg, the BS location and Kodak Office where Beauty spent some time.

Watchers today included, in the order they arrived downtown, MAK, Dan, Larry O, Dana, Kathy O, Lou & Brian H.  Oh, yeah, and me!  Lots of watchers out today.

Lots of flying by all three Rochester Falcons, Beauty, Pigott and Dot.ca.  OK, here are some pictures from my watch.

Beauty on the Kodak Tower, on the south side of the launchpad.

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Pigott and Dot.ca at the BS location.

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At the end of our watch Kathy O and I searched everywhere for Beauty.  We didn’t want to leave without finding her.  Finally, at 6:00 pm, Beauty flew up to the Times Square Bldg and landed on the SE wing ledge at the top.  She seemed relaxed and was preening.  No Dot.ca in sight.  It was time for us to call it a day, after find Beauty safe and sound.

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Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 30 (F) -1 (C) clear and a bit breezy this morning when I started my watch. Eventually spring will arrive here in western New York!

As I came back to the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) after checking the east side I found Beauty on the base of Mercury-a different place for her to start out first thing. I drove down to the hole to see the front of her and then she flew over to the top ibeam south corner of OCSR after a minute or so.

5 minutes later Beauty flew over to the Times Square building(TSB) and landed under the southeast wing. She was facing south so I parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena on Exchange St. to observe.

She stayed there for 45 minutes watching for Dot.Ca(DC)to come a calling as the Brighton Site(BS) is that direction. At 8:00am Beauty flew down to her nest box and DC flew in landing under the northeast wing directly above the nest box.

I went over to the parking lot between the Wilder and Philipone buildings and parked by He’s Chinese resturant. Less than a minute later he was off on his first swoop session of the day.

DC swooped on Beauty who was making all kinds of noise in the nest box about a dozen times and then returned to the northeast wing ledge. He took a 20 minute break then he flew off making a half hearted attempt at catching a starling,broke it off quick and flew up under the southeast wing.

<Northeast wing -Southeast wing>

Around this time Larry was up on the BSB watching. DC spent the next hour and a half up there in a relaxed state mostly looking down at the nest box. He did a little preening,stretched out his wings a couple times,scratched at his head and picked at his talons here and there. At 9:45am DC flew off and started swooping at Beauty in the nest box.

Again DC swooped a dozen or so times and went back under the southeast wing. 10 minutes later Beauty shot out of the nest box and DC was on her in an instant as they both flew east toward the river. It all happened so fast I couldn’t get out of my car in time to see where they went after they flew over the Philipone building.

DC chasing after Beauty

I drove up on the BSB to have a look around and found my dear friend and veteran watcher Dan sitting in his lawn chair on the south side of the bridge. I found a parking spot and joined him asking if he saw where Beauty and DC went. He said he had just gotten there and didn’t see anything yet so I got him up to speed on what’s been going on here this past week. When we finally get warmed up around here Dan will be my early morning watch buddy as he will come down at sunrise too. Within 5 minutes we spotted Beauty and DC as he was chasing her back and forth over the river to the north past OCSR. At one point Beauty inverted herself,talons up but they never made contact. As a matter of fact, we never saw any contact although they did dive on each other from time to time. We lost them to the far north past high falls for over 30 minutes and then they came barreling in from the east . Beauty landed on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR while DC buzzed her a couple times and went to the TSB landing under the southeast wing.

Clearly she didn’t look like she was enjoying herself!

Beauty took off flying directly over to DC who took flight as she approached and then she chased him behind the TSB to the west out of view.  A couple minutes later they returned with the Beautyful one landing on the south corner top ibeam of OCSR. DC swooped on her 2 or 3 times before flying west out of sight. 10 minutes later around 11:15am, Beauty flew to the base of Mercury and started munching on cached food.

I left Dan and Beauty 10 minutes later to see if DC had gone to the Brighton site(BS). I found Pigott at home on the southeast corner above the south side vent and she was looking north which would in the direction of downtown.

She flew to the west vocalizing and came back to the east end coming to rest under the tree on the southeast corner.

Just before noon Miss Pigott flew off to the north and didn’t return so I stayed at BS as CarolP had downtown covered at this point. The next sighting I had was when KathyO showed up to join me half hour later. We chatted for a bit and just as I was about to get ready to end my watch we saw 3 raptors above the east end of the building as we were parked in the parking lot on that side of the building. One was a large hawk and the other 2 were Peregrines. The larger of the 2 was squawking up a storm as it thumped the hawk once while the other stayed back. They chased it out of the territory and the male who was none other than DC landed under the tree on the southeast corner.

Pigott was the other falcon and she flew to the west side of the building. Kathy rode over and found her on the northwest corner near the broken window that we believe was their scrape last year. I went over to say my goodbyes to Kathy leaving her to cover the site, therefore ending my watch at about 12:50am. Today it seemed that DC was more interested in harassing Beauty in flight rather than stalk her at the nest box which is not exactly courtship behavior. However, he continues to treat Pigott like a mate. Keep smiling everyone! 🙂

Below I have provided links for more pics and videos from the day

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrZvA

http://youtu.be/fTbXMRcaNjA
http://youtu.be/79JVVPyUIkQ
http://youtu.be/7r45pyVOEEQ
http://youtu.be/bxCXmNowICw
http://youtu.be/_Xd0knvj-UE
http://youtu.be/dbJkeb1e6XM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

When I arrived downtown, I found both Beauty (B) & Dot.ca (DC) on the Times Square Bldg (TSB), DC on the SE wing ledge at the top and B inside the nest box facing out.

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Donna and Ei (thank you!) informed me that Beauty had cached what was left of her last meal under the main camera.  Between 3:45 & 4:45 pm, neither Beauty or Dot.ca moved from their spots.  This was actually the first time I had seen him downtown on my late afternoon watches.  At 4:45 pm, Dot.ca took off, flew down to the nest box platform, grabbed the prey and took off with it.  He carried it up to the NW wing ledge, a spot that was not visible from where I was parked on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB).  Beauty came out of the nest box and flew around the building.  Dot.ca took off and the chase was on.  He ended up on the TSB NE wing ledge and she landed on the SE wing ledge.  They were directly across from each other.

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They both took off.  DC flew south and Beauty followed before breaking off the chase just past the Court St Bridge.  I lost track of where Dot.ca went because I chose to watch where Beauty went instead. She circled back and flew over me heading north, gracefully gaining altitude and circling high above before heading farther north where I lost sight of her.

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The behavior I witnessed today, Dot.ca taking Beauty’s leftovers and heading south, is something I saw him do several times last year.  When Archer was visiting both Beauty at the TSB and Unity at KP, I have to wonder if he took food back and forth between them.  If this is a normal behavior when there are multiple nest sites established by one tiercel (male).

After Dot.ca headed south and Beauty did not return, I decided to head over to the BS location, where I found both Pigott and Dot.ca on the east end of the building.  DC was on the tree ledge and Pigott was directly below him on a windowsill. (5:30 pm)  I did not see either of them eating, so I don’t know what happened to Beauty’s leftovers that Dot.ca took.  There really wasn’t much left, so he may have eaten it before I arrived or cached it away somewhere.

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I didn’t stay long because I wanted to check on Beauty one more time before I headed home.  So back I went downtown, parking on the Broad St Bridge.  At 5:45 pm, I found Beauty back at the nest box.

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Ten minutes after I arrived, Beauty took off and flew south towards the jail communication tower.  She then turned back, heading north and flew behind the TSB.  I did not see her come out the other side, so she probably headed northwest or landed somewhere back there.  I waited awhile and when she did not return, I decided it was time to head home at 6:05 pm.

On the way home, I stopped at KP for a quick look.  I found one of the KP red-tailed hawks, but no peregrine falcons.  While I was there, Kathy O called to say she was at the BS location and that both Pigott and Dot.ca were flying around the building together.  Then she lost sight of both of them and could not find them after circling the building a couple times.  Just then a tweet came through from RfalconcamNow.  This is a tool used by our virtual watchers on the Rfalconcam Forum to report what they were seeing on camera to the watchers in the field.  Great tool!  Thanks Shaky!  It was Donna and she reported that Dot.ca had returned to the Times Square bldg and was diving on Beauty who was on top of the nest box.

Kathy and I said to each other in unison, “See you downtown!”.  Kathy beat me by a few minutes.  I found her on the Broad St Bridge and parked in front of her.  Kathy told me that she had seen two falcons flying near the Xerox bldg. when she first arrived  We could see nothing now.  After about 2-3 minutes, I spotted a familiar figure flying in from the SE.  It was Beauty and she was coming towards us, over the library.  She slowly circled above us, and then flew towards the OCSR landing on the SE top IBeam.  She was alone.  (6:45 pm)

Beauty settled in to do some preening.  While I stayed downtown to keep an eye on Beauty, Kathy went back to the BS location and found both Pigott and Dot.ca in the same spots I had seen them earlier in the day on the east side of the building.

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At 7:00 pm, we officially ended our watch.

With the weekend here, hopefully more watchers will be able to be out and about to keep an eye on things.  I know I will be!  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We got a couple inches of snow overnite and the temperature was 27 (F) -3 (C) as I saw on the bank clock on Main St. when I arrived downtown. I found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC and she was dining on something.

10 minutes later she took off to the west so I took off too! As I approached the Times Square building (TSB) from the east I could see a falcon under the NE wing and as I got to the middle of the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) it flew off. I was thinking Beauty but when it started swooping at the nest box I knew it was Dot.Ca (DC) aka the Swooper!  Sheesh-I don’t even know if Beauty got to finish her meal as she must have seen him come up from the south and then she booked over to her nest box. By the time I got parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) he was just about done swooping and then he went up under the northeast wing.

DC took off and started swooping again,then back under wing, then off again,then a few more swoops then he went under the southeast wing.

Again DC was in swooping mode a couple more times and then he flew out over the river and came screaming in to swoop a few more times and then back up under the northeast wing. More swooping and back to wing a couple times and then DC flew to the east out of view only to return, circle the TSB a couple times,fly above the nest box a couple times then he flew off out of my field of vision to the southeast. Beauty then flew out of the nest box and went east. I was only one hour into my watch at this point! Phew already! I waited and when nobody returned I took a ride around the city. I didn’t find DC but I did manage to locate the Beautyful one on the top ibeam southeast side of  OCSR. It was snowing at this point and it would continue for the rest of my watch in varying degrees of intensity.

After sharing space with Beauty for a few minutes from Aqueduct St.  I left for the Brighton site to see if Mr. Swooper was at home with Pigott. Indeed they were both home she was on a top row window ledge on the east side below the tree ledge. DC was under the tree at the southeast corner. Both had their back to me and the snow that was coming down.

The snow really picked up and I could hear Miss Pigott whining to DC. She flew off to the southwest while DC remained on his corner. She returned a few minutes later and landed one window over from where she was before.

Click the pics for full version

At 9:10am Pigott flew off followed by DC-they had a cruise around the building  then returned to the east side. DC went back to his southeast corner under the roof top tree and Pigott  came to rest on the top east side corner window ledge where it meets the east extension where she started whining on and off again.They would remain like this for the next 45 minutes while the lake effect snow squall was coming down quite heavily. Just before the 10 o’clock hour DC flew off followed by Pigott circling around the building and returning to the east side. He landed once again under the roof top tree and Pigott below him on the 2nd window down.

Click the pics for full version

We would all hang out like this for half hour with more whining out of Pigott and then they took of almost simultaneously flying northwest out of view. I waited a few minutes and when they didn’t return I booked back to downtown just in case they both went to pick on Beauty. I found her half napping with one eye shut on the Wilder building green strip. A place I haven’t seen her on since last year.

10 minutes later just about 11:00am Beauty flew off to the east where I lost sight of her as I was in the hole where the buildings block your view a lot. I moved to find her on the base of Mercury and she had a prey item that she was eating. I thought she had caught something but there was no feather plucking, so obviously she had grabbed cached food.

Beauty cleaned up after her snack and exited on the river side flying  north.

I found her on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I stayed a few minutes and ended my watch at 11:15am. It really made me smile to see Beauty on the Wilder building again as it means nesting season is upon us-even if DC isn’t ready to cooperate! 🙂

Click the links below to view my photo album and videos from todays watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrZng

http://youtu.be/IdcPbdncNOI
http://youtu.be/83ZqFIxjuMI
http://youtu.be/YSdimA3eouw
http://youtu.be/-0cAq8BEz4w
http://youtu.be/56sUXbi4H8U
http://youtu.be/hSy7Vp7ODS0