By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

While I was on an evening falcon watch with fellow Rochester Falcon Watchers Joyce and Lisa McK, Beauty laid a 2nd egg at about 7:40 pm.  WOOHOO!

When I arrived downtown a little after 6:00 pm, I found Beauty standing on the nest box platform in front of the scrape where her one egg was.  She took off and flew low heading east.  I was watching from the Broad St Bridge (BSB) and did not see her come out over the river.  So I drove closer to the Times Square Bldg (TSB) and saw a tail sticking out on the NE wing ledge of the TSB.  At first I wasn’t sure if it was Beauty or Dot.ca or the unbanded tiercel that visited now and then.  So, down to Aqueduct St I went.  From there, I could see that it was a tiercel up there and later determined that it was indeed Dot.ca.

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It was a warm evening with temperatures near 70 degrees (F), and the winds were gusting to close to 30-40 mph.  Dot.ca was having a really hard time hanging on up there!

While I was watching from the parking lot just off of Aqueduct St. (aka the hole), a tweet came in from Joyce.  She was up on the BSB, but soon joined me.  Right after Joyce arrived, Lisa McK pulled up on my other side.  It was nice to be able to chat with them from inside my car.  It was really windy out there.  Beauty came out on the nest box platform next to the main camera base for a few moments and then went back into the nest box.

At about 7:00 pm, we split up.  Lisa went over to the BS location.  When she first arrived, Pigott was soaring above the building and then landed on the NW corner of the west extension.  Joyce headed north to check out the Hawkeye plant, where she and Brian had spotted the unbanded tiercel a few days ago, and some of the taller buildings in that area.  She had no luck spotting any falcons.  I drove up to the BSB, but was still unable to see Beauty inside the nest box.

Since it was quiet downtown, I left Dot.ca and Beauty on the TSB and made my way over to the BS location, where I found Lisa and Pigott.  Lisa had to leave, so I spent a little while watching Pigott on the NW corner of the west extension.  Like Dot.ca she was struggling to remain up on the corner in the high winds.  It wasn’t easy for her, as she almost had to take flight a few times.  But she was determined to remain where she was and she did.

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Just about the time Beauty had laid her 2nd egg (thanks Ei for the tweet!), I was on my way down town to check on Beauty & Dot.ca one more time before heading home.  I didn’t read Ei’s tweet until I was parked on the BSB.  From there I could not see Beauty, since she was laying on both of her eggs.  I could not find Dot.ca.

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I only stayed for about 15 minutes, leaving just after 8:00 pm.  It was getting dark, but it was still warm and very windy.  I took a few pics in the low light of the Times Square Bldg and the nest box holding Beauty and her two eggs.  Goodnight everyone!  It’s a very happy day!

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON ANY PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE LARGER.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Not a bad start to the day at 47 (F) 8 (C) although a short light rain shower came down soon after I arrived downtown.

Dan was on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) when I arrived at 6:05am and he left when it started raining-he doesn’t like to watch from inside his car. I was informed by Donna that Beauty was in the nest box and at about 6:15am Dot.Ca (DC) showed up landing at the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) briefly and then he went to the nest box. DC flew to the Mercury money bag (MMB) soon after and some time after that Beauty flew to the base of Mercury without me seeing.

Thanks to Donna who was helping me out on the nest box comings and goings. I must also thank Joyce and Annette for their tweets this morning as well. It’s a great help when you’re by yourself trying to watch more than one falcon. I went to the hole to have the best view of them. So Beauty started whining to DC and he obliged by flying down to mate with her. Beauty remained on the base and DC went somewhere out of view-probably hunting for breakfast.

A few minutes later the Beautyful one flew to the northeast wing, walked to the back of it I assume looking for cached food as this is a favorite food cupboard for these two. Her crop was pretty depleted and she came back up to the front of the ledge with no snack.

She dropped down to the deck and at 7:00am DC showed up with food leaving it for her and then flying across the way to the MMB. I went back up to the BSB and Beauty managed to sneak over to the base of Mercury while I was watching DC.  She landed on the northwest corner which is the only spot not visible from the bridge. Donna let me know she left the nest box so I went back to the hole on a hunch that she was over there eating and sure enough that’s where I found her. DC flew to his egg in the nest box a couple minutes later to sit on it according to Donna and he only stayed a minute or so before flying back to the MMB.

<Beauty  <DC>

About 7:20am DC stooped off the back of Mercury down into the river but returned without a catch to the MMB. Beauty then took off with her leftovers and while I tried to keep track of her DC  left. I took a ride to the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) to check the north end of their territory and spotted Beauty on the top ibeam of the OCSR near the elevator shaft so I believe she probably cached her food up there. She took off right after I found her. Donna let me know Beauty was at the nest box so I decided to go to Brighton (BS) looking for DC whom I couldn’t locate.  I made it to BS just before the 8 o’clock hour and found Pigott by herself on the northwest corner of the west extension.

I shared space with Miss Pigott for the next hour and a half in which time she preened,scratched, stretched and practically turned her head 360 degrees in the process.

Pigott also pooped and when I checked my LCD camera screen it looked yellow to me. I’ve only seen white poop so I’m hoping there’s nothing wrong with her.

On the larger computer screen it doesn’t look as yellow so maybe the lighting made it look that way.  Larry stopped by on his way to work to say hi and then he was off at some point while I was there. I returned to downtown about 9:30am checking from both the BSB and ASB I didn’t find any falcons but Joyce and Donna let me know Beauty was on her egg so I ended my watch at that time. Our Rochester Peregrine falcons are in a normal pattern and all is well in the PEFA world here in Rochester at the moment and that my falcon loving friends makes me smile!  🙂

Check out the links below for more pics and some videos from my watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrduA

http://youtu.be/cWs98-bVqsI
http://youtu.be/nnBKkq0pUpQ
http://youtu.be/ff2hWSn-awU
http://youtu.be/C7dQchv67zc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Yes, we have an egg!  Woohoo!  Here’s a picture of Beauty and her first egg, taken by the Rfalconcam cameras on 4/16/13.

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Ok, on with my evening Watch Report.  Earlier, on live streaming video, I had seen Dot.ca visit the nest box and lay on the egg.  It was for only a few minutes, but it was good to see.  It was also reported that he had brought food to Beauty throughout the day.

I arrived downtown a little after 6:00 pm.  I parked on the Broad St Bridge (BSB) and from there I could see Beauty up at the nest box.  She was on the perch in front of the scrape, guarding her egg.  No tiercels were in sight.

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At 6:35 pm, Beauty left the nest box and flew towards the OCSR, landing on the west end of the top IBeam.

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A Kestrel flew in and landed on the south end of the Cross Rds Bldg at about 7:00 pm.  When it first arrived, Beauty vocalized just a bit, ee-chupping.  Other than that, there was no reaction to the arrival of the Kestrel.  After about 5 minutes, the Kestrel took off and headed east.  Again, no reaction from Beauty, except to watch the Kestrel fly by her.

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Since there were no tiercels downtown and all was quiet, I decided to head over to the BS location.  I found Dot.ca on the SW corner of the SW extension.  I could not see or hear Pigott.  At 7:30 pm, Dot.ca took off heading east and around the building, heading north.

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That’s when I heard soft chupping (falcon vocalization) sounds coming from the cubby.  I drove around the building and found Pigott sitting on the lip of the cubby.  She flew the short distance to the SW corner of the west extension.  I watched her for a few moments as she looked north.  This made me wonder if Dot.ca had perhaps gone downtown to visit Beauty and his egg.  So, at 7:35 pm, I decided it was time to head home, but first a quick trip downtown to check one more time on Beauty.

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On my way downtown, I received a tweet from Rfalconcam Forum member Ei saying Beauty had returned to the nest box.  Thanks so much Ei and a big thanks to all the camera watchers that help us out when we’re on a watch.  It is so helpful!  That’s exactly where Beauty was when I arrived on Broad St.  I checked the area to see if there were any tiercels nearby, but found none.  All was peaceful at both locations and I saw all three Rochester Falcons.  It was time to head home. (7:55 pm)

On the recent evening falcon watches, we have been seeing some really pretty cloud formations with gorgeous lighting.  I’ll leave you with a few pics of a cloud formation I saw during my watch.  My pictures don’t do the colors justice.  They were so vibrant and beautiful.  I’d never seen a cloud formation like this one.  Goodnight everyone and remember to click on any pictures you’d like to see larger.

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
WordPress,the site we put our watch reports on is messed up today so no pics in the report.

It was a cool 33 (F) 1 (C) when I left for my watch this morning but unlike yesterday the wind was calm.
I made my way to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) by 6:10am and I found Dot.Ca (DC) under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB). He didn’t stay long leaving about 6:30am after chasing a crow. Dan was on the BSB so I joined him to watch Beauty as she was on the base of Mercury. She went to the nest box at 6:45am. Dan left around 7:15am and since DC didn’t return I went to the Brighton site.

I found him there with Pigott-they were both on opposite corners of the roof above the cubby on the south side. They flew to the cubby and had a loud echup session and then they returned to the cubby roof and mated on the southeast corner. DC flew to the west extension southwest corner and she stayed. An EMT stopped to ask why he has been seeing people look at the building. I told him about the falcons and he thanked me and left.Just before 8:00am Pigott went to the cubby and started echupping while DC ignored her. DC flew to the southeast corner of the cubby roof and Pigott flew to the southwest corner of the west extension and for the next 45 minutes
they both preened.

At 9:00am DC flew over to Pigott and they mated again then DC went in the cubby. Pigott flew around to the south side and landed on a window ledge 4 levels down. DC flew out the cubby and Pigott went in. I drove around to the west side where I could see the cubby and heard echupping going on in there. I got a message from Donna that there was a male at the nest box with Beauty so I left for downtown to check it out.

When I arrived on the BSB I couldn’t see any falcons so I took a ride to the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) to check the north end of the territory. From there I spotted a very white chested tiercel judging by the size on the southeast corner of the platform railing. I drove to Fitzhugh St. for closer viewing. He was scrunched down so I couldn’t see if he was wearing leg bands and I didn’t get any pics to convince me of who it was before it took off. I missed his exit as I was tweeting about him.

I drove to the BSB and found DC on the Mercury money bag (MMB) at 9:30am. He flew to the northeast wing of the TSB so I went to the hole to watch closer. He went to the back of it out of my field of vision so I drove back up to the bridge to find that he was gone. I would hear from Donna and Joyce that Beauty was in the nest box. Thank you ladies and thanks to Annette who tweeted earlier this morning that the Beautyful one was in the nest box.

At 10:00am DC was next to cam 4 and Beauty was next to the main cam near the well wall. I was informed that there was food up there and a few minutes later DC flew to the MMB while Beauty stayed. I went to the hole and hung out by the bottom of the stairs that go up to Broad St. which is what we call Falcon Watcher Central. I had a view of both falcons from there. The 3 of us spent the next 45 minutes in our chosen spots. About 10:50am Beauty flew over to the south corner top ibeam of OCSR. A few minutes later DC went to the deck by the main cam and returned to the MMB a couple minutes later. 5 minutes later Beauty flew off to the north and DC followed behind. I lost them behind OCSR so I took a ride to the ASB to check the north end of the city but no luck. I went back to the BSB and waited for 20 minutes before I spotted a male and female falcon flying high above the TSB area and then they floated out of view. 10 minutes later I noticed several Turkey Vultures soaring near the High Falls area.

I ended my watch at 11:45am just shy of 6 hours. I saw all 3 of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons which always makes me smile! 🙂

Try the links below from my watch.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrdmg

http://youtu.be/df-eKJL2g1A

http://youtu.be/Ux9Fb7cSoIY

http://youtu.be/OIRiMnXTdAs
http://youtu.be/L650-9i_uK8

http://youtu.be/gptKU8FTegk

http://youtu.be/Yn_QlyNLcDA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

First things first here-I want to say YAHOO as Beauty finally laid an egg around 2 :30pm this afternoon!  🙂 And now for our regular scheduled report. lol

It was pretty balmy when I left for my morning watch at 6:00am. 59 degrees (F) 15 (C) and a strong wind out of the south.

Beauty was on cam 4 when I arrived downtown so I parked in the hole to watch.   Dot.Ca (DC) arrived 10 minutes later, landing on the deck. He didn’t stay up there long as I watched him fly over to the Mercury money bag (MMB). Again he flew off after 10 minutes going to the northeast wing. Beauty flew out of her nest box to the base of Mercury and DC flew down to mate with her.

He returned to the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) briefly and then he vanished. Beauty stayed on the base of Mercury.

I drove up to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to have a look around for DC and found Dan in his lawn chair. He said he arrived 5 minutes after me and saw the mating. Beauty flew off and went into a stoop 15 minutes later and came back into view landing at the northeast wing of TSB where she stayed until 7:00am. DC flew in going to the deck and Beauty went down to join him at the nest box then he flew up to the northeast wing.

<Beauty  DC> Make sure to click on the pics to see the full version

DC flew off and circled the TSB and landed back at the wing and 5 minutes later flew south in a hurry. He came back into view over the river near OCSR and continued to the east side hovering above Xerox and seemed to be patrolling the territory. We lost sight of him behind Xerox and then Dan had to leave. The Beautyful one was still at the nest box so I took a drive to check the east side but came up empty for DC.

I left for the Brighton site around 7:45am to check there. When I arrived I found Pigott on the front edge of the cubby on the west side.

She had her back to me at first and she was mostly preening for the better part of an hour until DC came flying in-then she started echupping like crazy and went to the back of the cubby where I couldn’t see her as he flew around the west side. DC went in the cubby with cached food he got from the roof above the cubby and they had an echup session that lasted a minute.

All was quiet and then DC shot out of there flying east out of view. 10 minutes later Miss Pigott flew out and landed on the roof above the cubby. She was walking back and forth up there.

Pigott

I drove to the back (south side) of the building and spotted DC on the southeast corner near the east extension. Less than a minute later he flew to the cubby and Pigott followed.

Pigott

By the time I got back around there was loud echupping coming from the cubby and seconds later DC flew out. It was quiet for 10 minutes so I took a ride and found DC on the roof above the east end of the south side vent. Minutes later he flew to the roof above the cubby,grabbed a little cached snack and took it to the west end of the south vent to eat.

DC

When he had his fill he took the leftovers to the cubby for Pigott. There was a lot of vocalizing and then DC flew out circled above and left the area.

DC

I gave it a few minutes and when he didn’t return I left for downtown. Upon arrival I found DC up under the northeast wing and Beauty in the nest box.

Even though UT was not seen I have a feeling he’s still out there lurking and watching the happenings of his lovely lady and DC. I ended my watch at 10:00am with a smile on my face! 🙂

Click the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrddA

http://youtu.be/w7-kI-DVa0E
http://youtu.be/tsADTWkvIIE
http://youtu.be/5xILW-PEs14
http://youtu.be/5xILW-PEs14

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

After rushing downtown last night, along with many other Rochester Falcon Watchers, I didn’t know what to expect this evening.  Viewers of the live streaming video were surprised by the appearance of an unbanded tiercel in the nest box last night.  I was one of those people watching.  Needless to say I and other watchers made there way downtown to see what was going on.  We were in for an evening of a lot of flying by this very speedy tiercel.  He put on quite the display for Beauty.  Dot.ca was seen with Pigott out at the BS location, but he never came downtown.  So it looks like UT, the unbanded tiercel that was with Beauty before Dot.ca’s return from migration was back.  Or was he ever gone?  When Dot.ca returned, there were no witnessed battles between him and UT.  UT was just gone.  Now he’s back.

The Rochester Watchers that answered the call of an unbanded tiercel in the nest box were Dan, MAK, Joyce, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Dana, Lou and myself.  Thanks everyone!

Today I arrived downtown at around 6 pm.  I could not find any falcons at first.  But, finally from the BSB, I spotted a peregrine on the jail communication tower.  I was pretty sure it was Beauty.  When Joyce and Brian arrived, they went over for a closer look and verified that it was her.

Oh, and a big thank you to Kathy O, NCAFalcon and Ei for letting me know that Beauty was not in the nest box.  🙂

Joyce and Brian left after being out all day and I remained on the Broad St Bridge (BSB) with the full sun in my eyes as it lowered.

At 7:05 pm, Beauty took off and headed north towards the Times Square Bldg (TSB).  She flew past it and then landed on the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg, but not for long.  She was off again, making wide, graceful looping circles just north of the TSB.  I drove closer to the building and found Beauty on the ledge directly above the nest box.  In fact, camera watchers would be able to see her on Camera #4.

Kathy O and Joyce reported from the BS location that they could hear chupping from the cubby area, but could not see any falcons.

At 7:15 pm, a tiercel flew in and landed on the northeast wing ledge on top of the TSB.  Beauty took off and entered the nest box.  Joyce texted that they had seen Dot.ca take off from the BS location and head towards downtown.  So, this was probably Dot.ca, but at the time, we couldn’t be sure.

Lisa McK joined me just as the tiercel flew in.  At 7:25 pm, I texted that all was quiet and that we were ending our watch.  But, Kathy O joined us and both the tiercel and Beauty became quite active, so we decided to stay a little longer.

The tiercel took off and landed on the same ledge above the nest box that Beauty had been on.  Again, camera viewers would have been able to see him on Camera #4.  At that time, there was no way of knowing if it was Dot.ca or UT (unbanded tiercel).

By 8:00 pm, it was getting dark and two ducks (mallards) flew from the direction of the river towards the TSB.  When they got too close, the tiercel launched himself from the ledge and the chase was on.  We watched him chase the two ducks east, back towards the river.  He flew back towards the TSB and veered to the south, flying over the Blue Cross Arena (aka War Memorial).  We thought maybe this was Dot.ca and he was going to return to the BS location.

We were wrong.  He went on a hunt and within 10 minutes, the tiercel returned clutching small prey.  He flew up to the nest box and gave the small offering to Beauty who took it and flew out of the nest box.  She landed on the base of Mercury to enjoy her evening meal.  The tiercel flew into the nest box and finally we received word from RFalconcam Forum member Ei that it was Dot.ca.

Dot.ca flew out of the nest box and landed on the Mercury statue’s money bag hand.  He watched Beauty eating below him, watching over her.  After awhile, Beauty took what remained of her meal and flew southwest with it.  We did not see where she went.  Dot.ca remained on the Mercury statue.

It was dark by this time, so it was time for us to end our evening falcon watch.  All was peaceful.  When I arrived home, Beauty had returned to the nest box.

We’ll definitely be keeping an eye on things and reporting what we see!  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The morning started out a bit chilly at 36 (F) 2 (C) and a little breeze but it warmed up nicely with sunshine and blue skies.

I made my way downtown by 6:10am and when I got to the Broad St. bridge(BSB) I could see a falcon on the well wall. Dan was in his chair and Donna was reporting Beauty in the nest box and UT (unbanded tiercel) on the well wall. Thank you very much! Afew minutes later UT flew toward the river and doubled back going to the nest box. I didn’t know where Beauty had gone because she wasn’t in the nest box anymore. I drove down to the hole (Aqueduct St.) and found the Beautyful one on the base of Mercury northwest corner where you can’t see her from the BSB.

She was eating and suddenly UT came from nowhere and mated with her. I don’t think Beauty was expecting it any more than I was and so my pics were all blurry as I was taken by surprise.

When he was done UT flew over to the Times Square building (TSB) and landed on one of the north side columns for like 10 seconds and then he was off behind Widows Walk out of view.

Remember to click on pics for full version

10 minutes later Beauty flew off Mercury and as I was back up on the BSB with Dan we saw UT flying near the Radisson with food. A few moments later Donna was reporting Beauty and UT in the nest box bowing. I told Dan and we just looked at each other like-how did we miss that!? Anyway, UT flew out the nest box over to the southeast corner of Crossroads and then seconds later off he went. Next I spotted a falcon on the top ibeam southwest side with food missed it leave shortly after and then UT was at the nest box.

Honestly, this tiercel is lightening fast and gives us a hard time keeping up which is why I nicknamed him Rocket the first time he came to town. Joyce had compared pics from last nite and was 99.9% sure it’s the same unbanded male. So he has been lurking all this time perhaps.

At 6:50am Dan and I could see no PEFAs  and a few minutes later we saw one fly to the nest box from behind the TSB. It was UT and he flew out after a couple minutes going south then doubling back to fly past Beauty who was on the top ibeam west corner of OCSR.

Now it was around this time that UT disappeared and Dot.Ca (DC) showed up. I reported UT went to the southside of  the TSB but my pics don’t show any real evidence of whether it was UT or DC in a defensive posture up there.

We saw no battle,no chase just suddenly DC flew to the Mercury money bag (MMB) and at the time I thought it was UT. I was able to confirm that it was DC when he flew off 10 minutes later after seeing black leg bands.

DC flew to the TSB and came to rest under the northeast wing while Beauty napped on OCSR.

Just before 7:30am they both flew to the nest box and DC left less than a minute later going back up to the northeast wing. Just before Dan left around this time a couple guys stopped to ask about the falcons. The first man was Jack and the second Brian. Brian said his late aunt Martha Bentley had been a big bird watcher in New York City. He was quite schooled about birds! Donna,Joyce and Ei let me know Beauty was still in the nest box about 10 minutes later. We watchers are very fortunate to have cam watchers to help us when we can’t see a falcon in the nest box. Thanks ladies!

DC flew off a few minutes later circled Mercury and returned to the northeast wing and 5 minutes after that he went down to the deck. He and Beauty both left the nest box area. At 8:00am DC was eating at the northeast wing. I didn’t find Beauty until 20 minutes later as I spotted her on the top ibeam west corner of OCSR. DC flew over and went by her then returned to the TSB northeast wing and Beauty was gone from OCSR. 5 minutes after that DC was gone and Beauty was back on the west corner of OCSR. Sheesh! I watched Beauty for the next 15 minutes and when DC wasn’t showing himself I drove to State St. to check the north side of OSCR and that’s where I found him. He was on the top ibeam about a quarter of the way down from Beauty.

DC moved closer then he and Beauty bowed to each other just before she stooped off the building.

Click it to see them

DC remained on OCSR as Beauty showed up on the base of Mercury with food and was plucking feathers as I arrived in the hole to observe.

She had her fill and then cached the leftovers on the other side of the base.

At 9:15am Beauty and DC met at the nest box briefly then DC shot out of there while Beauty stayed to get some shut eye with a full crop.

DC was nowhere to be found so I let Joyce know that he might be on his way over to the Brighton site where she was watching. He did show up there soon after. Since Beauty was resting I decided to join Joyce and discuss the events of late. That is when she told me about comparing pics and finding that UT was the same bird that got along so well with Beauty just before DC returned from migration. I never saw Pigott as she was in the cubby while I was there with DC up on the northwest corner. DC left 10 minutes after I got there so I went back downtown and Joyce followed soon after. DC beat me easily and was under the northeast wing when I arrived on the BSB.

DC flew north as Beauty was in the nest box and at 10:30am I ended my watch as all was quiet. These guys kept me hopping and smiling today! 🙂

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

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrdVg

http://youtu.be/xsz6ACxFBbE
http://youtu.be/dC22rhM5sfE
http://youtu.be/NU4QoBgF36M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I left for my watch at about 6:05am the temperature was a cool 37 (F)  3 (C) with a bit of a breeze,no precipitation and the Beautyful one was on cam 4.  9 minutes later as I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) Beauty was on the Mercury money bag (MMB).

Click my pics for a full version

At 6:25am Beauty flew to the nest box as Dot.Ca (DC) came flying in with food. He landed under the southeast wing and Beauty flew up next to him.  I drove up farther on the bridge to watch and found Dan in his chair. DC let Beauty have his small package and then he flew across to the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB).

10 minutes later he would fly west out of our view.  Meanwhile, after plucking feathers from the prey item making it look like it was snowing, Beauty had a meager helping and flew over to the base of Mercury. She wasn’t there long before flying to the deck next to the main cam at 6:55am.

Just about a half hour later Dan left so I went down to the hole first where Beauty had her back to me and then I went and parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena.

The sun had come up and made an appearance in between clouds that were rolling through. I left for the Brighton Site (BS) to see if DC was there and sure enough I found him on the southeast corner of the east extension.

He spent most of the time preening and every once in a while I heard Pigott making soft chupping sounds and whining but I couldn’t see her. I decided from where the sounds were coming from she was way back on the tree ledge. At 8:20am DC took off and flew to the west side and I took off in hot pursuit after him.

Surely you must click these 2 pics to see the full version LOL

I came up on the cubby real slow and put my window down so I could hear anything going on up there-ECHUP ECHUP ECHUP chup chup and loud too! This went on for a few minutes then the sounds turned to a soft low key and then a crow flew by real close. That was the end of that for DC popped out to the edge of the cubby and took off after the crow which smartly landed in the middle of a tree so DC couldn’t thump on it. He passed over the top of the tree and came back to land on the southwest corner.

The whole time I could hear soft sweet sounds coming from the cubby as Pigott stayed in there and wouldn’t come out to show herself to me. That’s ok-hearing her is just as good as seeing her as far as I’m concerned! 10 minutes later DC took off without me seeing cuz I was fixated on the cubby waiting for Miss Pigott to come out and play. She was whining softly at this point and I had to leave for a bit. When I returned I couldn’t see or hear any falcons so I drove downtown to wind up my watch at around 10:30am. From the BSB I could see a falcon at the nest box with its back to me. I would find out when I got home that it was Beauty.

Pigott insisted on hiding from the old MAKster today and I’m pretty sure there will be a lot more of that in the coming days and weeks as she will probably lay eggs somewhere out of sight (if she hasn’t already) and begins incubating. In the meantime we are on egg watch for Beauty as she seems real close to dropping one and you know we’ll ALL be smiling when that finally happens! 🙂

Click on the links below if you wish to view more pics and a couple videos from my watch

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today I started my watch at  6:30am with a temperature of 43 (F)  6 (C) with a misty rain falling at the start. It stopped shortly after I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB).

Dot.Ca (DC) was on the base of Mercury and Beauty at the nest box. I drove down to the hole (Aqueduct St.) where I could see the front of him.

10 minutes later Beauty flew over to the base and they had a quick stare down then DC flew up and around to land on her to mate.

DC flew off and then Beauty flew to the nest box. 5 minutes later DC showed up on the Mercury money bag (MMB).

I drove up to the BSB to find Dan sitting in his lawn chair on the south sidewalk. I joined him and checked out the river to see how mighty it was after all the rain we’ve had the past few days-it was quite high and rolling along pretty darn fast. DC was flying above the river to the east side and back landing under the northeast wing. He stayed only a few minutes then stooped back behind the Times Square building (TSB)  at 7am leaving our field of vision. 5 minutes later Beauty flew out from the nest box to the base of Mercury.

We watched her until Dan left at 7:30am, then I left for the Brighton Site (BS) to see if DC had gone to pay Miss Pigott a visit. There was a rolling billboard by the Blue Cross Arena advertising the American Heart Associations “Heart Walk” which was taking place today filling up the bridge parking.

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When I arrived at BS around 7:45am Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent. DC was not present anywhere on the building.

She was tilting her head to and fro watching the starlings that were in a tree near the lower building where the geese nest on the roof. She may have been watching the lone goose that was on the front edge of that roof.

Pigott flew north at 8:10am and didn’t return so I went back downtown. As I was stopped at the traffic light at Exchange and Broad St. I spotted a falcon on the MMB so when the light changed I drove to the hole. Just as I arrived and looked up I caught Beauty and DC mating on the money bag. He flew to the deck next to the main cam.

I lost sight of him and Beauty so I went back up to the BSB to have a look at the nest box area from farther out and could see someone up there with their back to me. Donna let me know that it was DC  (TY) but where was Beauty? I had visions of her and Pigott going at each other until 5 minutes later when she showed up on the base of Mercury. Phew!

So at 8:45am we had a role reversal of DC at the nest box and Beauty on Mercury. I must say that DCs demeanor toward Beauty certainly changed after the scrape at BS got covered yesterday. I find it interesting tho one thing may not have anything to do with the other. Just before 9am Beauty flew off and DC showed up on the heel of Mercury.

He flew off a minute or two later and went to the northeast wing ledge right above the nest box where Beauty was at this time. Thanks to Ei for letting me know Beauty was in there. We all stayed in our chosen spots for the next 45 minutes and during this time I also watched a guy in a cherry picker change the 2 old American flags on the front of the Times Square building for new ones.

DC flew off and Beauty went to the MMB as I chose to end my watch at 10am. All was quiet and all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons had been seen and were doing just fine. I love the American flag and the bonus of seeing 2 new ones put up on Times Square put a very big smile on my face! 🙂

To view more pics and videos from my watch click on the links below

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was raining and 34 (F) 1 (C) when I left for my watch this morning at 6:15am. I had planned on making it a short watch due to the weather but due to circumstances it turned into a 7 hour watch.

It took me a few minutes to notice the bump of a falcon on the west corner top ibeam of OCSR from the Broad St. Bridge (BSB). I drove to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to view from the front for identifying it.

It was Beauty and I sat there for a few minutes pondering whether to stay. I decided she would be there for a while and so I went to the Brighton Site (BS) to see what goes on there this early in the morning. It turned out to be a big bust as I could find no falcons. While on my way back downtown both Joyce and Donna reported that Beauty was at her nest box. Thanks for the help ladies it’s much appreciated. As I approached from Exchange Blvd. I could see a bump on the northwest corner railing of the Crossroads building. I pulled over in front of the Blue Cross Arena at 7:14am and was able to ID it as Beauty.

This is one of her hunting perches but with the rain pouring down I didn’t think she was going to have much luck with that. She would stay there getting soaking wet for an hour and then she flew off to the OCSR building top ibeam southwest side. She flew off a few minutes later and went to the nest box and Dot.Ca (DC) was also there at some point. As I pulled onto Aqueduct St. I saw him fly off the Wilder green strip toward OCSR. I then drove up to the BSB and located DC on the top ibeam southwest side. He stayed only a minute or two and then flew off. I found Beauty on the west corner 2nd ibeam of OCSR so I went back to my spot on State St. to observe. Turns out that was a good call for I never would have seen DC on the top ibeam on the northwest side.

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At 9:43am the Beautyful one took off  and DC stayed. A few minutes later she flew up to where DC was and as she landed he took off flying southwest.

After checking around for DC I went to BS to see if he went there. I found Pigott on a west facing top window near the northwest corner just out from the scrape. I pulled over and noticed an SUV parked with its flashers on just ahead of me. It pulled away and then came up behind me and stopped. I didn’t know if it was someone just watching or maybe there to disturb the birds so I kept my eye on it.

I was parked parallel to Pigott and couldn’t see the scrape so I had no idea what was going on up there until I drove around the building to look for DC. As I got to the front of the building I stopped and checked out the SUV and saw a DEC emblem on the drivers side door. I eventually pulled up behind it and got out to see that it was Jenny Landry the DEC biologist assigned to our area. She explained to me that she had contact with the building owner and there were maintenance people covering up the window where we believed there to be a scrape. This was done for the falcons safety as there were 2 broken windows up there and any eyasses born would be at risk. No eggs were found-good news that Pigott and DC would not be disturbed in that process. This building is a poor choice for nesting as there are constantly vagrants breaking into it so the idea here is to discourage the falcons from nesting there.

Surprisingly, Pigott was calm while the windows were being covered whining a little here and there. When the job was done she took off from  her window and flew back and forth in front of the scrape vocalizing for a few minutes. DC came in sometime after and joined Pigott vocalizing much louder than her and flying around the area and going up to the scrape ledge then turning back.  Pigott flew to the northeast side of the building and landed on a west facing window. She couldn’t see the scrape or DC who had landed on the northwest window and sat there looking at the scrape.

DC

A while later they both flew off loudly vocalizing to the west and Jenny said she saw a 3rd bird which disappeared quickly. They came back with Pigott landing on the 4th window down and DC the 2nd window down on that northwest side. Just before noon DC flew off and returned 5 minutes later with prey landing next to the window he was previously on. Miss Pigott was whining and DC was chirping.

<Pigott  DC>

Pigott flew up to the northwest corner and DC  left with his prize. Jenny and I stayed a bit longer to observe Pigott. When we were satisfied that she seemed relaxed and not all worked up about the scrape we left. I thanked her for trying to make things safe for our falcons and then I drove downtown to check on things there.

Pigott

Beauty was in the nest box and DC on the northwest wing ring .

He flew southwest fast and Beauty left the nest box only to return when DC came back and landed at the northeast wing above her. DC left after a few minutes and then Beauty left as well. I ended my watch about 1:10pm. Hopefully things will stay quiet and settled and eggs will be laid soon giving all of us a reason to smile! 🙂

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