By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

So I had a little stomach bug all week but I’m better now and boy what a welcome back watch it was from our beloved Rochester Peregrine Falcons for me! They kept me busy for pretty much the whole 8 hours I was out . It was 37 (F)  3 (C) with a brisk wind and overcast when I started at 6:45am. The sun came out and it turned out to be not a bad day at all.

I made a trip around the city as I didn’t see any falcons right away, but after 15 minutes Beauty appeared on the Mercury money bag (MMB) as I came up on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB).

After 20 minutes passed Beauty flew to the nest box which clued me in that Dot.Ca (DC) was on his way. Sure enough he came flying in and landed under the northeast wing of the Times Square Building (TSB).

25 minutes later Beauty went to the MMB and Donna let me know DC went to the nest box as I missed that. Thanks D! Beauty then flew to the nest box and DC back to the northeast wing. 10 minutes later Beauty was on the base of Mercury briefly and then to the east side railing of Widows Walk and DC went to the heel of Mercury. Busy!

Remember to click my pics to see the full version

Beauty caught breakfast over by Widows Walk a minute later and took it to the north side of the TSB on a west end column and of course DC showed up immediately. I parked next to Keybank in the hole to watch.

He first landed on the first column toward the front  and then decided he had to be next to her. She started plucking and eating as he did his best to act like he wasn’t interested. HA! We know better and so does she as she seems to lure him with food all the time!!  You know what they say-the way to a mans heart is thru his stomach! Less than ten minutes of that and DC couldn’t take it anymore so he flew off to the northwest. Beauty squawked something to him,cached her food back on the ledge she was eating on and then she too flew northwest.

<DC  Beauty> Click em

5 minutes later Beauty was on the MMB and as I drove up to the BSB I caught DC fly in and attempt to mate with her but she wasn’t ready for it.

Click it to see Beauty

They both flew to the nest box after that. DC flew over to the MMB after a quick moment and 5 minutes later they were both gone.

Did I say they were busy this morning!? 5 minutes later I spotted Beauty flying to the east side railing of the Widows Walk  while DC landed near that column Beauty stashed her food.So I went back to the hole to observe again.

Beauty quickly flew north and DC went over to Widows Walk below where Beauty had just been-I think he was looking for that food!  Unfulfilled,DC flew north as well!

Donna let me know that Beauty was in the nest box 5 minutes later so I drove back up to the BSB where I still couldn’t see her but no worries for a couple moments later she flew up to the southeast wing facing toward the southwest.  This is another cue I take from the Beautyful one that means DC has gone to Pigott at the Brighton Site (BS). Off I went and as I drove past the cubby on the west side I heard loud echupping. I stopped and listened for several minutes and then DC came shooting out in his usual missile launch style going to the southwest corner. Pigott appeared on the front edge of the cubby a half minute later and then she flew to the southeast corner.

<Pigott   DC>

They both left the building 20 minutes later and didn’t return and I know why. They were afraid of the crazy geese that are taking over the roofs at BS! lol

Oh yes they are busy too!  I left to return to downtown and as I approached I spotted 2 falcons flying northeast and out of view behind the OCSR. After no success in finding a falcon I returned to BS and found Miss Pigott on the northwest corner of the west extension. She got fidgety after just a couple minutes and took off to the northwest which is the direction of downtown. She didn’t return so back downtown I went arriving just before the 11 o’clock hour finding Beauty at the southeast wing looking southwest. I parked on the BSB and 5 minutes later she took wing headed northwest. Busy!?

I drove over to the Andrews St. bridge to have a look at the north end of Beautys territory when Donna(TY) once again let me know that Beauty was at the nest box. I found DC at the southeast wing as I parked up on the BSB. He flew down to the deck  and then went into the nest box. Beauty had snuck out when I wasn’t looking at some point. Beauty showed up a few minutes later at the nest box and DC beat feet outta there flying up to the southeast wing. Beauty had food at the nest box and DC dropped down to the deck-a tug of war ensued with DC winning and he took it up to the back of the northeast wing ledge to eat.

When he was done he took off to the north and Beauty was also gone. Since I had no falcons downtown I thought I’d try BS one more time and driving in from the back I spotted 2 falcons battling high above the building. I stopped to watch from a great distance because if I had gone near the building I would have missed most of it. It reminded me of DC diving on Beauty early in the season with no aggressively hard hitting. They seemed to be the same size from where I was as they went further east away from me and after several minutes I lost them in the sky. I then moved in closer to the service road behind the BS building to see 1 of the falcons swoop very low on the south side barely clearing the tree tops. I would see this male do this many more times before all was said and done. They were gliding on the busy winds above the building until I lost them so I drove around to the north(front) side of the building. I found an unbanded male on a northwest window ledge.

Unbanded male

He took off and started circling and patrolling above the building when I heard what I thought was an alarm call and then I saw nothing for like 20 minutes. I was about to leave when I saw this male chasing what turned out to be Pigott all around and above the building. I was watching from the south(back) of building. Pigott landed on the roof above the south side vent while the unbanded tiercel(male) flew continuously above the tree tops on the south side and around the building making some awesome maneuvers.

Pigott

If Pigott wasn’t impressed I sure was! He took a short break landing on the east end of the south vent and then they both flew to the front of the building.

Unbanded male

Pigott came to rest on the west end of the south side vent and watched while this fancy flier put on another flying display for us.  He eventually vanished to the north after an hour of practically nonstop action. Pigott flew south out of view around 1:20pm and then 20 minutes later I went downtown to wait for Joyce to tag in for a watch. There were no falcons to be found in the downtown area as I sat on the Andrews St. bridge. Joyce let me know she was going to BS first so I ended my watch at 2:30pm just 15 minutes shy of 8 hours. I’ll tell ya what-I couldn’t ask for more reasons to smile on this day! 🙂

I have provided links below for more pics of my watch and a few videos-just click and view

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrbcg

http://youtu.be/3u0ths4w-Lw
http://youtu.be/nJ-0Q5bGwDM
http://youtu.be/cN_gVlw2gP0
http://youtu.be/KHGOvfqVBaw
http://youtu.be/JgnuGlHd3ZY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I was at work when I started getting tweets and lots of them.  Seems Pigott came for a visit to the Times Square Bldg nest box and the virtual watchers were wondering who the visitor was.  Forum member Kris G was the first to post a picture asking “Who is this?????”  NCAFalcon asked “Is This Pigott?”  Shaky answered “Yes”.  This happened at about 12:30 pm and soon after Pigott left, Beauty entered the nest box.  No battle between the two females was witnessed.  Here is a picture from the Rfalconcam main camera of Pigott in the nest box.

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A few of the Rochester Falcon Watchers that were able to, went downtown as quickly as possible.  Joyce & Brian H went over to the BS location where they found Pigott and MAK remained downtown where she reported that Beauty and Dot.ca were on the Times Square Bldg.  All was quiet at both locations.

When I got out of work I immediately went downtown to see if I could find any falcons.  All of the Watchers that had been out earlier were no longer there.  I drove all over downtown and could not find Beauty or Dot.ca.  My next stop was the BS location.  No falcons there either.  Hmmm, where had they all gone.  An hour and a half into my watch I finally found my first falcon.  It was Pigott and she must have just arrived at 5:15 pm.  I parked my car and watched as Pigott found a cached meal and ate it on the NW corner of the west extension.

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After finishing her meal, Pigott took off and stooped on a Red-tailed Hawk that got a little too close for her liking.  She thumped it a few times and then returned to the NW corner of the west extension.  Kathy O joined me and we kept watch together at BS while Joyce and Brian H texted that they were downtown with Dan & Susan C.  Larry O joined Kathy O and I for little while before he had to leave.

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Pigott remained ever vigilant until something got her attention to the north.  She took off and flew in that direction.  Kathy O was able to keep her in view with her binoculars.  When she was pretty far north Kathy saw that she had intersected with another peregrine falcon and they were battling.  Kathy watched them for a long time before they split up and she lost sight of both of them.  I texted at 6:06 pm that there was a battle SE of downtown, but none of the downtown Watchers saw anything.  At 6:20 pm, Joyce texted that Beauty had arrived on the nest box platform.

Kathy had to leave, so I stayed until about 6:45 pm, just missing the arrival of Lisa McK at BS.  While I was on my way downtown, Lisa reported that both Pigott and Dot.ca had arrived at the BS location and that they were both in the cubby/scrape ee-chupping.  By the time I arrived downtown, no watchers remained on the Broad St Bridge, so I went searching for Beauty.

At 7:26 pm, Joyce rejoined the search after dropping off Brian H.

After much searching, I finally found Beauty at 7:30 pm up on the top NW arm of the Frontier Communication Tower.  She was facing north towards the Kodak Tower, so I found a parking spot in the City Hall Parking lot and texted out that I had found her.  Joyce joined me and we chatted while watching Beauty.  In the fading sunlight, Beauty glowed.

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Within 10 minutes of finding her, Beauty took off heading east.  She did not seem in any hurry, but by the time we drove over to the Andrews St Bridge, we could not find her.  Joyce had to leave, but I was determined to find her one more time.  It’s what we watchers do.  lol

After checking out the downtown area thoroughly, I returned to the very crowded Broad St Bridge.  There were no parking spots due to yet another function at the Blue Cross Arena, so I pulled over as far as I could and took a look at the Times Square Bldg (TSB).  It was 8:00 pm and it was getting dark, but I could still make out Beauty’s shape on the SE wing ledge at the top of the TSB.  She was preening and keeping a watchful eye over her territory.

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So after Pigott’s brief visit at the TSB nest box this afternoon and a battle between Pigott and another peregrine falcon (unidentified) later in the afternoon, my evening watch ended quietly.  At the end of the day, all three Rochester Falcons were seen with no apparent injuries.  This is a good thing.

Many thanks to ALL the Rochester Watchers that came out today to keep an eye on Beauty, Pigott and Dot.ca.  You all are the best!  🙂

Be sure to click on any pictures you’d like to see larger.  Thanks!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

During my three hour after work watch, I witnessed lots of activity by all three Rochester Falcons.  Of course Dot.ca was seen at both locations, downtown Rochester and the BS location.

When I first arrived downtown, at a little bit before 4:00 pm, I could find no peregrines anywhere, so I went searching for them.  After checking out the whole downtown area, and coming up empty, I headed back to the Broad St Bridge (BSB), parking my car at the center of the bridge, facing west, and looking at the Times Square Bldg. (TSB).  Always at this time of day, I am looking into to the sun as it sets behind the TSB.

I grabbed my binoculars and took a look.  Quickly I found both Beauty, in the nest box and Dot.ca (DC) on the SE Wing ledge at the top of the TSB.

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After awhile, I couldn’t see Beauty any longer at the nest box, but she might have gone in.  A huge thanks to Lisa McK & Carla for answering my question about whether Beauty was still in the nest box or not.  She was not.

My first clue that she was no longer in the nest box was when the pigeons on the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) took off in frenzied flight, like they were being chased by a, well, a peregrine falcon.  Hot on their tails was a blur of steel grey and white with tapered wings.  For those that don’t believe that pigeons are fast fliers, they should see how fast they are when being chased by a peregrine falcon.  They are amazing fliers in their own right.

Pigeons took flight between the Broad St Bridge and the Court St Bridge to the south.  Beauty chased them south down the river, then turned north, chasing another group.  This group of pigeons dove down towards the surface of the river to avoid being captured.  Beauty continue, all out, passing low over the Broad St Bridge, just in front of where I was parked.   It is nearly impossible to follow there flight when they are so close to you.  The pigeons eluded Beauty and she flew back towards the TSB, landing in the nest box.  Dot.ca had not moved from the SE Wing ledge.

Between 4:55 and 5:05 pm, so much happened, it was impossible to get tweets out without missing something, so I just pocketed my phone and watched.  First Beauty and then Dot.ca left the TSB.  Beauty landed on the base of the Mercury statue and Dot.ca joined her to copulate with her.

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He then took off and flew above the river, north of the BSB.  Beauty joined him and they put on an incredible aerial ballet.  Beauty then stooped towards the pigeons on the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) and Dot.ca landed on Mercury’s heel.  He then took off and they tandem hunted, but they were not successful on their hunt.

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After tandem hunting, they both flew up to the nest box.  From where I was standing on the BSB, I could not see what they were doing in there.  Then Dot.ca came out and flew up to the SE wing ledge.  I did not see Beauty come out of the nest box.  While I was leaving the tweet about what happened, I lost track of both Dot.ca and Beauty.  I waited awhile, but when neither returned, I headed over to the BS location.

At 5:40 pm, I found Pigott and Dot.ca flying around the building.  Pigott was carrying a pigeon, which I assume she caught.  She landed on the SW corner of the west extension to start prepping her meal.  This is very close to the cubby they may use as their scrape and seemed to be a favorite spot for Pigott to eat her meals.  Dot.ca continued to zip around the building before landing somewhere out of sight.

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The winds were gusting and it was very cold.  She had to spread her wings quite often to catch her balance while she prepared her meal, feathers flying everywhere.

Now I wish I had gotten a picture of this, because this was definitely a first.  We’ve seen many Turkey Vultures (TV’s) floating over the BS building, passing over on their migration.  Today, one came much lower, heading straight for Pigott and her meal.  I didn’t realize that the TV was so close to Pigott until it looked like it was going to land next to her on the roof.  Just before the TV landed, Pigott started loudly kakking, directly into the face of the TV.  She gave no ground.  I don’t know who was more surprised, Pigott or the Turkey Vulture, who immediately launched itself up and got out of there as fast as possible.  Pigott went back to eating, like nothing had happened.  Another WOW for my watch today.  lol

After finishing her meal, Pigott cached the remainder of her meal on a lower ledge.  I am sure that all the prey cached on this building probably attracts other birds, like the Turkey Vulture today and the Crows I witnessed stealing a meal from her recently.

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Pigot flew into the cubby aka scrape and ee-chupping filled the air.  Dot.ca came from out of nowhere and landed in the cubby also,  The vocalizations got even louder.  I do think that they may have copulated, but I could not see them.  Dot.ca came out, leaving Pigott in the cubby.

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Dot.ca did a lot of flying over and around the building, landing on a window on the south end of the SW extension.

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Pigott remained in the cubby while Dot.ca retrieved the remainder of her meal and took it to the east end of the building to eat up on the tree ledge at 6:15 pm.  I stayed awhile longer and then decided to end my watch for the evening.

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But first, one more check downtown to see if I could find Beauty before heading home.  After checking out the downtown area, I found Beauty up on the TSB on the SE wing ledge.  She was preening and watching over her territory.

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All was quiet at both locations and all three Rochester peregrine falcons were seen making it a very good day.  At 6:50 pm, I headed home.

Good night every one and be sure to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Thanks for checking out my falcon watch report!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was more like winter today than spring.  I would say it was a return to winter, but our winter has never ended.  The calendar says it’s spring, but winter has other ideas.  When I arrived downtown just before 4:00 pm, it was snowing so hard, I could barely see the buildings surrounding me.  I was parked on the Broad St Bridge, facing west towards the Times Square Bldg.  Through the heavy snow, I could just barely make out the familiar shape of a peregrine falcon on the OCSR, top SE IBeam, near the south corner.  This was one of Beauty’s favorite spots, but I could not positively ID this falcon.

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I could not see if there was a falcon in the nest box.  Ei and Joyce very nicely let me know that there was no falcon there.  Thanks so much!  At about 4:10 pm, a patch of blue sky appeared above and let the sun appear for just a few moments.  By 4:15 pm, it was snowing heavily again.  You just have to love this weather!

At 4:25 pm, I could not see the peregrine on OCSR.  Through the snow, which was coming down in very large, wet flakes, I could see Beauty at the nest box on the Times Square Bldg. and Dot.ca at the top of the building on the NE wing ledge.  He was tucked into the base of the wing and he was eating.  Every now and then the clouds would part and it would stop snowing, but it always quickly started up again.  It was 30 degrees and the winds were picking up.

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The snow again stopped for a short while and I was able to get a better view of Dot.ca up on the NE wing ledge on the Times Square Bldg.  He had food up there, but it was very small, whatever it was.  He took off with his small package of food and headed south towards the BS location.  With all the snow, I did not see him hunt, like I did the last time he did this.  It is very likely this was some small bird he had caught and brought in to the Times Square Bldg.

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While I was watching Dot.ca, Beauty returned to the top SE IBeam on the OCSR and she was preening,  Since she was settled, I decided to take a trip over to the BS location.  When I arrived there at 5:00 pm, I found Pigott eating on the south side of the west extension roof, directly across from the cubby/possible scrape.  There was some vocalization when I first arrived, but it was quiet while Pigott was eating.  I watched her while she ate.  Dot.ca was not in view and I wondered if he had returned to Beauty.

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After she finished her meal, Pigott took off and flew around the back of the building (south side) and looped around to the east end.  I drove around the loop that circled the building and found Pigott on a top window on the south side of the east extension.  She was very quiet, so I thought possibly Dot.ca was gone.  Wrong!  I looked over to south side of the building and found Dot.ca on a top window on the east side of the SE extension.  All was quiet at BS, except for the high winds whistling around the building and of course the ever present spring-time snow.  At 5:40 pm, I left Dot.ca and Pigott at the BS location to check on Beauty one more time before heading home.

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It was 5:55 pm, when I parked on the Broad St Bridge, which was mostly empty today, unlike yesterday when the BSB was filled with concert goers.

Beauty was in the same spot I left her.  On the OCSR SE side top I-Beam near the south corner.  She had her back to me, but I could see her head moving back and forth watching everything around her.

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Over two hours after starting my after work falcon watch, I had seen all three Rochester Falcons.  All were safe and I observed no aggression between any of them, making it a very nice watch!  It was time for me to end my watch at 6:00 pm.

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Goodnight Everyone!  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Thanks!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I arrived downtown a little before 6 pm to a packed Broad St Bridge and a line stretching half way across it.  I found one of the last spots at the east end of the bridge, near the Rochester Library.  From there, I could look back at the Times Square Bldg and the surrounding area.

It was 33 degrees at that time and the winds were gusting, making it feel like 20 degrees.  I was dressed for the weather, but many of the folks waiting to be let into the Blue Cross Arena for a concert by Green Day, were not.  Some had T-Shirts on and no jackets.  Brrrrr!  They had a long wait to get in.

From the north side of the Library, I could see Beauty at the nest box, but no Dot.ca in sight.

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At 6:20 pm, Dot.ca flew in with the winds.  I first spotted him flying over the river between the OCSR and the Radisson.  Watching a peregrine falcon fly in high winds is incredible.  One of my favorite things.  He was doing all kinds of maneuvers.  Gaining altitude, just to stoop low over the river, chasing the pigeons and pulling up just before reaching the Broad St Bridge.   He turned around, heading north down the river and approached the OCSR, flying up the side of the building,  and reaching both talons out in front of him reaching for and nailing the landing on the top IBeam on the SE side.  Wow!  I could never get enough of watching them fly like this.  I checked the nest box and Beauty was still there.

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At 6:25 pm, Dot.ca was settled on OCSR and Beauty in the nest box on Times Square Bldg.  The line of concert goers had reached me, stretching across the entire length of the Broad St Bridge from the Blue Cross Arena aka War Memorial to the Library and the line was still growing!  Time for me to check on Pigott at the BS location.

I arrived at the BS location at about 6:40 pm and found Pigott on the east side of the building on a window directly below the tree ledge.  She was busy preening and stretching and watching over her territory.  All was quiet there and after finding all three Rochester Falcons safe and sound, it was time for me to head home at about 7:00 pm.

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I’ll leave you with a couple pictures from downtown this evening as I was watching Beauty and Dot.ca.  As always, just click on any pictures you would like to see larger.

Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Todays weather changed on me very quickly as it was 41 (F) 5(C) when I left the house with a little wind and very light rain. An hour after I arrived downtown the wind started howling,the temperature dropped and the rain turned to moderate snow.

I began my watch at 6:30am on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) finding no falcons anywhere in the vicinity. I drove to the east side and still found no falcons so I went back to the BSB to wait and watch. At about 6:50am Beauty showed up on the Mercury money bag which I am going to start referring to as MMB for ease of tweeting when I’m in the field.

Click on the pics for full version

Beauty and I would share space for the next 35 minutes as I was parked on Bank Place- the one way street that leads down to Aqueduct St.(the hole) from Exchange Blvd running west to east. It goes along the south side of the Philipone building running parallel with Broad St. to the south. Beauty looked above her a few times and I thought Dot.Ca had arrived but no he was staying late with Pigott today. When the weather turned ushering in a cold front Beauty who was having a little trouble holding on decided to fly over to the nest box to take cover.

Beauty and I waited another half hour or so for DC to show up and then I decided to go to the Brighton Site (BS) to look for him. As I passed the main entrance to the Blue Cross Arena I noticed some people camped out in front of it. One of our forum members Bobbie Ireland reported that the musical group Green Day was to play there, so these people obviously like them enough to endure the nasty weather conditions to get tickets.

I arrived at BS around 8:00am to find nobody was home or at least not where I could see or hear them. I hung out for half hour driving around the building periodically to check and finally I found Pigott on the east side ledge where the roof top tree grows.

Now I don’t know if she was up there the whole time back on the ledge out of sight or she could also have been in the cubby on the west side or in the broken window scrape on the west extension. She soon walked to the southeast corner and perched there.

I stayed just about 15 minutes more and after no luck finding DC after a trip around the place I left for downtown leaving Miss Pigott in a snow flurry. Rolling into downtown at 9:00am I spotted Beauty on the deck next to cam 4 so I drove down to the hole parking next to Keybank which is in the Wilder building. I observed from Basin St. a one way alley which runs east to west from Aqueduct St. out to Exchange Blvd. alongside the Wilder building.

Beauty hopped back into the nest box a couple minutes later. 5 minutes later I looked up to see a falcon fly thru from out front of the Times Square building (TSB) over the Philipone building headed east quickly leaving my field of vision. I drove up to the BSB to have a look around parking far enough out to see in the nest box. Nothing until 10 minutes later when Beauty flew up to the deck landing on the corner between the main cam and cam 4 with her back to me. At first I wasn’t sure if it was her until I spotted DC up above under the northeast wing toward the back of the ledge.

<Click it to see DC  

15 minutes later at just about 9:30am DC disappeared then reappeared in the same spot and he was eating something. I think it was cached food for he flew down to the deck with a small chunk in his talon. I could just barely see Beauty behind him and then he took off.

I don’t know if he gave his prize to Beauty or if he took it with him. Beauty ended up out by cam 4 and then went back into the nest box.

Beauty left a few minutes later and returned to the nest box with food.  DC turned up under the southeast wing and minutes later they both took off to the north.

I ended my watch at this time just before 10:00am.

Just some thoughts from what I’ve observed since DC came back from migration. The first week was spent swooping on Beauty either in the air or at the nest box. Last week was spent mating and taking food from downtown to Pigott at BS. The last couple days Beauty and DC have been playing games with food and he has finally bowed to her in the nest box with some echupping. A slow progression compared to what has taken place at BS with Miss Pigott whom we have never seen him swoop. There has been much bowing, echupping and mating since his return with Pigott which is normal Peregrine behavior. And so we continue to learn together as we await the arrival of eggs. Keep smiling! 🙂

Click the links below to view videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/xyJSkNO4omc
http://youtu.be/g26-UOnsVs4
http://youtu.be/gB9twsKPn38
http://youtu.be/tu41JVeK61U