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Eyes to the Skies

Archive for June, 2013

Morning watch 6-12-13

Wednesday, June 12th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A nice clear morning with blue skies,sunshine and a starting temperature of 54 (F) 12 (C)

I began my watch at 5:15am downtown and when I didn’t find Dot.Ca (DC) I left for the Brighton Site (BS). I found Pigott there by herself perched on the east extension 2nd window down in the corner where the southeast extension meets the east.

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Miss Pigott spent a lot of time preening and stretching but she also watched some starlings that were flying back and forth to the trees below her. I started out in the big parking lot on the east side since none of the park and ride people were there yet but as they started arriving I got out of their way and parked in one of the driveways at the back of the building to observe Pigott.

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She kept stretching so I kept taking pics so we can see the damage to her tail and left wing feathers. Pigott is not quite herself as a result of whatever caused these injuries. She is normally an active gal and I have not witnessed her sleeping very many times but toward the end of my watch she was mainly sleeping. That’s a good thing for she needs to rest so that she can recover. She didn’t leave her window spot so I didn’t witness her flying today, but the last couple days she seemed to do alright when on the wing.

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I left Pigott around 7:15am after sharing space with her for a little over an hour and a half. When I arrived downtown I could see DC on the south corner top ibeam of OCSR in the bright sun. To his left I could see white feathers scattered about on the ibeam and stuck in spider webs so I knew there was a feeding.

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Parked in the hole I walked over to the stairs where it goes up to the Broad St. Bridge so I could see him and Beauty who was perched on cam 4 on Times Square.

img_0055-old-flat-head img_0058-me-and-my-shadow Click on my pics to see the full version

Beauty hopped down to the deck where I couldn’t see her so I took a walk over to Aqueduct Park to watch DC but I couldn’t see him thru the trees. I checked out the river and stood below Mercury to shoot a couple pics. I then decided to end my watch with everything peaceful in the falcon world.

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It was a very uneventful morning watch but I did see all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons and that, as you well know, always puts a smile on my face! 🙂

Check out my videos by clicking on the links below

http://youtu.be/zk9nKWB9Hyc
http://youtu.be/zI8ZsLrz19A
http://youtu.be/WddrOpBlE1c
http://youtu.be/XX-hwAxZwhI

Falcon Watch (Downtown) & a Long Visit with Pigott (BS) – 4-7:30 pm – 6/11/13

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I arrived downtown at my usual little before 4 pm time.  I parked on the Broad St Bridge (BSB) and after a quick look around the area, I found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the top IBeam, south side, OCSR.  Beauty was at the south corner preening and Dot.ca was hard at work, prepping a meal for the three eyases in the nest box.

Beauty and Dotca who is prepping food on Top IBeam OCSR 6-11-13*

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At 4:05 pm, they both took off from the OCSR.  Dot.ca had the meal he just prepared and Beauty had nothing.  They raced towards the Times Square Bldg (TSB), neck and neck!  Both flew up to the TSB a few feet apart, then screeched to a halt and veered to the right, where I could not see them.  I waited to see if they would come out the other side the TR Bldg, but they did not.  Less that a minute later, I saw a falcon fly up to the nest box platform and then disappear inside the nest box.  Many thanks to Donna from the Rfalconcam who informed me that Beauty was inside the nest box feeding them.  Well, that answered that question.  Beauty must have grabbed the meal from Dot.ca and then fed the eyases herself.

Beauty and Dot.ca Race to Feed the Eyases! 6/11/13*

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Soon after being outmaneuvered by Beauty, Dot.cat returned to the OCSR, this time settling on the south corner south side top IBeam.  It wasn’t long before Beauty finished feeding the eyases and then went up to the top of Cam 4.  She then flew off the camera and headed east, over my head and then back to the TSB, landing below the SE wing.  She did this a couple times before she finally settled.  Looked like she was in hunt mode.

Dot.ca on OCSR 6/11/13Beauty beneath SE wing on TSB - 6/11/13*

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Since all was quiet and peaceful downtown, it was time to visit with Pigott at the BS location to see how she was doing.  I arrived at about 4:45 pm and found her on the east side of the building, two windows below the tree ledge.  She remained there until 7:20 pm, when I left.

For the approximately 2 1/2 hrs I was there, she did all the normal things Peregrines did when they weren’t hunting or just flying around.  Pigott preened and stretched and slept and even pooped 3 times while I was there.  She just seemed to be relaxing on what was an very overcast evening with a little bit of sprinkles now and then.  She was actively tracking the movement of every creature that passed through her airspace, including starlings, sparrows, crows, gulls, and even a Great Blue Heron, which she watched with keen interest.  There were a few times I thought she was going to take off, especially when the crows got a bit too close and were vocalizing a little too loudly.

But, she remained on this windowsill for the entire time I was there.

Pigott at BS - 6/11/13Pigott at BS 6/11/13  *

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Pigott at BS 6/11/13Pigott at BS 6/11/13*

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Since I was starting to lose light and Pigott seemed to be content where she was, I decided to head home at 7:20 pm.  All was quiet and peaceful at the BS location.

On my way home, I stopped on the BSB and found Beauty up on Pan Cam (Cam #1) at the nest box.  She was sitting there keeping guard over the eyases.  I looked everywhere for Dot.ca but couldn’t find him.

Beauty on Pan Cam #1 at Nest Box - 6/11/13*

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It was time to head home after a very long day.  I was very happy to have seen all three Rochester Falcons this evening, plus the 3 little eyases in the nest box.  Each day this week promises to get better weather wise.  Remember to keep your eyes to the sky!  You never know what you’re going to see.  Goodnight Everyone!

Morning watch 6-11-13

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This mornings weather conditions were overcast, 65 (F) 18 (C) and very soupy as in humid! It rained on and off with light to moderate downpours.

Making it to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) by 5:20am-I had a look around and could not see Dot.Ca (DC) anywhere so I headed over to our Brighton location (BS) to see if he was there but most importantly to check on Pigott who has sustained tail and wing feather damage and loss from some unknown incident. I found our pretty PEFA on the window below the roof top tree on the east side of the building (there’s also a tree that grows on the west side roof above the cubby).

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Pigott started to whine a minute after I got there and then DC came flying thru past her and around to the back (south side) of the building. She took off as well and landed on the southeast corner of the southwest extension.

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You can see the damage to her feathers on the left wing in that last pic. I started to tweet out the action when DC came barreling in from the south whining as well and tried to mount her. She slipped right out from under him, flew out to the south and right back to the same spot while DC flew to the opposite corner.

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Pigott continued to whine and looked like she was mantling for some reason.  DC started preening before taking off to the southeast at which point Pigott stopped whining, turned around and started eating something.

img_0010-dc<DC>img_0011-dc-watching-pigott Pigott>img_0021-pigott-whines-while-eating img_0022-pigott

At 6:05am I received word from cam watcher Campgee that Beauty had left the nest box. Thanks Camp! Pigott finished eating,turned around facing east,whined and settled on her corner, so I left for downtown.

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Camp tweeted that Beauty had returned to the nest box with a big breakfast for the eyases around 6:20am. Then Donna followed by Ei reported that DC had been on the main cam when Beauty came in with the food. Thank you ladies-your help is truly appreciated! When I arrived on the BSB I didn’t see DC anywhere in the area so I drove the big circle around downtown and as I made my way back to the BSB I spotted Beauty on the column above the nest box at 6:45am. I drove down to the hole next to He’s Chinese to hang out with the Beautyful one as she was facing northwest.

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Beauty did some preening and just plain perched for the next half hour before flying down to the deck and into the nest box. I had another look around downtown before driving back to BS to look for DC. I found him on the window under the east side roof top tree as it started to rain pretty hard.

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I continued on past the east side extension and found Miss Pigott on the northeast extension 2 windows down.

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I must note that when I saw Pigott fly this morning she seemed ok and tho there’s no way of knowing if what she was eating was brought by DC or caught by her the fact is she did eat. So that being said I ended my watch at 8:30am with a smile! 🙂

I have provided 2 links below for videos from our Rochester Peregrine Falcon females for your viewing pleasure

http://youtu.be/tuDoIWghi9k
http://youtu.be/1gPPRLMvNec

Falcon Watch and a Visit from Carol C from Florida! – 6/9/13

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sunday – June 9, 2013

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day and we were expecting a visit from on-line falcon watchers Carol C and Lorraine from Florida.  I had sent and email out to all the watchers that we had a guest and many turned out to meet Carol.

left to right Larry O, MAK, Shaky, Carol C, Kathy O and Dana on the Broad St Bridge. 6-9-13*

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We took Carol on a t0ur of the area and both Beauty and Dot.ca came out to greet her!

Beauty on Mercury 6/9/13Dot.ca on Main Cam 6/9/13*

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Beauty on Mercury 6/9/13Dot.ca on Main Cam 6/9/13Beauty on Mercury 6/9/13*

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Too soon, Carol had to  leave (we do love visitors!) and as she was getting into her car, Beauty flew overhead as if to say goodbye to one of her many fans!

Carol C and Lorraine get ready to leave. - 6/9/13Beauty says goodbye to Carol and Lorraine! 6/9/13*

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It was so nice meeting you Carol and Lorraine!  Hope you come back to visit again soon!  🙂

After they left, all the Watchers headed home except for Dana and I.  We decided to head over to the BS location to find Pigott.  When we pulled up to the front of the building (north side) we found her sitting on a ledge close to the center of the building.

Pigott at BS 6/9/13*

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Pigott flew around to the west side of the building.  We found her on the south side of the west extension.  We noticed that some of her feathers appeared to be torn on her tail and left wing.  At first I thought she was molting.  When I got home, I checked out my pictures.  I got in touch with Dana and asked her to check her pictures and let me know what she thought.  We both decided to send some pictures to Jenny at the DEC, including the Watchers who frequently checked out this location.  Jenny did contact me today and said she will be sending the pictures to their vet.  This is the same process we followed when Beauty had injured her foot last year.

While we were there, we saw Pigott fly around the building quite a few times.  She is quite active.  When we left her, she had settled on the north west corner of the building, watching over her territory and preening.

A Day Spent in Canada – Quest & Kendal’s Banding Day, A Visit to Rosetta McClain Park & A Burlington Fledge Watch 6-7-13

Monday, June 10th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Again catching up!  Here are some pictures from a day spent up in Canada with good friends and doing what I love to do, Watch Falcons!  Kathy, Lisa, Dana and I rode up together and met Joyce and MAK there.

First up, attending Quest’s and Kendal’s banding day.  It was overcast and spitting rain, but we still had a wonderful time.

Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13*

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Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - LUNA*

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Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - LUNAQuest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - CARINAQuest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - KIMANI*

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Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - KIMANIQuest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - KIMANIQuest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - MURRAY, ANN & DONNA*

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Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - PUTTING THE EYASES BACKQuest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - QUEST REUNITED WITH HER EYASESQuest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - QUEST & KENDAL GUARD THEIR YOUNG*

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Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - QUEST, GOOD JOB MOMMA!Quest & Kendal's Banding Day 6-7-13 - QUEST AFTER BANDING IS FINISHED*

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After attending the banding of Quest and Kendal’s young eyases, we got together with some of our Canadian friends and paid a visit to Rosetta McClain Park.  This is the park that Big Frank set up a hawk watch during the migration along Lake Ontario.  He used to tell me how beautiful it was there and I have to totally agree.  It is a gorgeous park and we had a very nice visit with our friends Ann, Carol, Cory and Patty (I hope I’m not forgetting someone).  Here are some pictures from our visit.

Rosetta McClain Gardens Park - 6/7/13Rosetta McClain Gardens Park - 6/7/13 - BIG FRANK'S "SPOT" WHERE HE LIKED TO WATCH THE MIGRATION GO THROUGHRosetta McClain Gardens Park - 6/7/13*

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Rosetta McClain Gardens Park - 6/7/13Rosetta McClain Gardens Park - 6/7/13Rosetta McClain Gardens Park - 6/7/13*

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We said goodbye to our friends, promising to come back up for a visit.  Our next stop was to the Yellow Pages Bldg to see if we could find Linn and Reuben.  We did see both of them keeping guard over their eyases.  It was getting late, so we had to continue on.  It was time to head south, towards home.  But before we did, we stopped at Burlington to help with their fledge watch.  When we arrived, we had just missed the rescue of Sarah, who had come down for the 2nd time.  We joined our friends Sue and Bill McC and Bruce from CPF and other regular watchers at this location.  Joyce and MAK also joined the fledge watch.  They had been there when Sarah was rescued.

We stayed until dark, when Tracy from CPF arrived and, after making sure that Sarah was ok, she returned her to the nest box.  It was so much fun watching these newly fledged Peregrines.  Today (7/10/13) Sue McC posted that all four fledglings are doing well.  This is such good news.  All four have fledged successfully and are strong fliers!  Here are some pictures from our fledge watch at Burlington.

Burlington Fledge Watch - 6-7-13Burlington Fledge Watch - 6-7-13Burlington Fledge Watch - 6-7-13 - BRIDGE LIFTED FOR A SAIL BOAT*

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Burlington Fledge Watch - 6-7-13 - THE OTHER 3 FLEDGLINGS MINUS SARAHBurlington Fledge Watch - 6-7-13 - THE WATCHERS; US & CANADABurlington Fledge Watch - 6-7-13 - FLEDGLING FLYING!*

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Burlington Fledge Watch - 6-7-13 - FLEDGLING FLYING!*

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We stayed with Tracy and Bruce until they all settled down for the evening.   It was time for this very tired, but happy bunch of watchers to head home after a wonderful day spent with good friends and watching the birds we love to Watch!

Morning watch 6-10-13

Monday, June 10th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This mornings weather conditions were over cast and warm with a temperature of 63 (F) 17 (C)

I arrived downtown at 5:16am and since I didn’t see Dot.Ca (DC) in the area I left for the Brighton site (BS).  I found Pigott on the west end of the south side vent.

img_0011-pigott1Please remember to click on my pics to view the full version

After a check around the rest of the building I was satisfied that DC was not present. I observed Miss Pigott as she checked the time,watched for prey, pooped and took off to the front of the building only to return to the vent.

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Oh I almost forgot-around 6am I received tweets from Annette saying that Beauty had left the nest box and returned with food for the eyases. Ei also reported that DC provided that food. Thank you ladies!

Pigott continued to look for breakfast and spread her wings quite a few times in the next half hour before flying off to the southwest at 7am.

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I noticed from a couple of yesterdays pics that Pigott had some tail feathers missing but at the time I considered it to be a molt she was going thru. Last night on their watch, Dana and CarolP got some pics that clearly showed much damage to her tail feathers and left wing. It looks more like the feathers were ripped or torn off rather than fell off or pulled out as happens when molting. We will monitor the situation to ensure that she is able to hunt in order to feed herself. I observed Pigott flying and so did Dana and CarolP and none of us noticed her having any difficulty.

Pigott didn’t return so I went back downtown. I found Beauty on the base of Mercury with her back to me when I arrived in the hole to watch and a few minutes later I spotted DC under the northeast wing.

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Beauty barely moved for the next 35 minutes as she napped a little and when she did finally wake up and turn to her left I noticed a small package under her. She had a few bites and then took off with it flying to the nest box to feed the kids. Imagine my surprise to find that the Beautyful one was sitting on prey!

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I didn’t see him leave but sometime while I was watching Beauty, DC left the building. I went to the Andrews St. Bridge to have a look around the north end of the territory and found him on the west corner top ibeam of OCSR at 8:10am. I drove down to State St. and parked across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel for closer viewing.

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DC didn’t do much of anything in the 15 minutes I shared space with him. I think he was keeping an eye on the window washers across from him on the Crossroads building.

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The sky started to spit a few raindrops as I decided to end my watch at 8:30am.  I saw all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons who make me smile every day of my life! 🙂

Click on the links below to view some videos from the day

http://youtu.be/n3GqFeF4GN4
http://youtu.be/E0EfRMUDQig
http://youtu.be/qCH-4g2bI6s
http://youtu.be/kd5cn66wqOI
http://youtu.be/wJDUEn-_joc

Morning watch 6-9-13

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The starting temperature this morning was 57 (F) 14 (C) with calm and clear conditions.

When I arrived in the hole at 5:20am  there was no sign of Dot.Ca (DC) so I drove to our Brighton site (BS). As I pulled in the driveway I saw a falcon on the front of the building. It was DC on the northwest corner of the northwest extension. I drove around the rest of the building and found Pigott on the southeast corner of the southeast extension. She was whining a little bit.

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I drove back around to the front of the building just in time to see DC fly off to the northwest in the direction of downtown. I went back to the east side to watch Miss Pigott. About 10 minutes later cam watcher Campgee reported that DC brought food and Beauty took it to feed their eyases. Thank you Camp! Pigott preened for a few minutes and then she did some walking.

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She walked to the northeast corner of the southeast extension stopping above the tree that grows on the roof there.

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In the next 40 minutes Pigott lost her balance and saved it hanging on with her talons, cranked her head way back to watch a very loud gull ,pooped and preened a bit.

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Suddenly she started to whine at 6:40am,spread her wings and flew off  to the southeast in a big hurry, flying out of my view quickly.

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I stayed in the east side parking lot for 10 minutes and then I drove out to the back service road to watch from there where I could see the entire back half of the complex. After 20 minutes I decided to check the north (front)  side of the building and as I came back around to the south (back) side again I spotted something white to the back of the south side vent. A quick pic revealed a PEFA but as I checked it out on my cameras little LCD screen it didn’t look like Pigott or DC. And while I was checking it out the bird left. Check it out and see what you think.

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When it didn’t come back I returned to downtown arriving just before the 8 o’clock hour. Beauty was on the main cam and DC was nowhere in sight.

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I first parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) and then went to the hole next to He’s Chinese to share space with the Beautyful one. RTS buses started turning off Broad St. onto Exchange Blvd. so I knew Main St. was closed for some reason. I drove up on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) and found the crews removing logs from below the Main St. bridge in the river where they were jammed from the winter.

img_0052-log-clearing-time-again img_0057-splashRemember to click on my pics to see the full version

10 minutes later Beauty was gone from the main cam and I received word from cam watcher Donna that Beauty was feeding the eyases scraps in the nest box. Thanks D! Beauty came to the front of the nest box where I could see her.

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I thought I better go check BS again to see if DC was there but he wasn’t and neither was Pigott so back downtown I went. As I turned the corner from Exchange to Broad St. at around 9am I saw Beauty fly off the base of Mercury and go to the nest box. Beauty went back to the base of Mercury a minute later and then Donna let me know DC was in the nest box.

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I was now standing by the stairs at Falcon Watcher Central when Beauty flew off Mercury over the BCA and circled back behind the Thomson Reuters building on the river side where I lost site of her.

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I drove to the Andrews St. Bridge to have a look around for Beauty and could see a PEFA on the base of Mercury. It looked like it was picking at food.

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I drove off and when I reached the BSB the falcon was gone and a couple minutes later at 9:30am LarryO pulled up behind me with his dog Harold. 5 minutes later as we watched the log jam activity I spotted DC on the 2nd ibeam southwest side of OCSR as CarolP was now parking in front of my car.

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We were expecting Carol Cloutier and her partner Lorraine from Florida to meet us at 10am. They did arrive and CarolC was thrilled to be here and see both DC and Beauty who had moved out to the front ledge of the nest box where she could be seen. About 10:20am DC flew to the base of Mercury as Shaky joined us, then DC flew to the main cam and Beauty exited the nest box and went to the south corner 2nd ibeam of OCSR.

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KathyO and Dana came by to meet and greet CarolC at this time as well. Beauty left OCSR when none of us were watching at some point around 10:45am. We took pictures with CarolC and chit chatted a bit then at 11am I said my good byes and called it a watch.

img_0092-larrycarolpshakycarolcloutierkathydana

There were plenty of smiles on the BSB this morning and it was very nice meeting Carol and Lorraine! 🙂

Click the links below to view more pics and 3 videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiHG

http://youtu.be/WjIyr666r7E
http://youtu.be/21i4Kz0OqHc
http://youtu.be/s3E6au3EvPo


Toronto falcon,fledge,banding watch 6-7-13

Saturday, June 8th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Joyce and I took a trip to Toronto yesterday for the banding of Quest and Kendals 3 eyases. Lisa,Dana and Carol rode with Kathy, so there was a good Rochester turn out for the affair.

After hearing of Sarah, one of the fledglings at the Burlington Bridge site,having fledged but was missing since Thursday nite we made a point of stopping there first. Luckily, we saw all 4 fledglings and all was right with the falcon world there. They have  3 girls and a boy-Isabella was the last one to fledge yesterday. Sarah,Isabella,Hadfield and Lancaster

img_0008-juvie-at-burlington Isabella all alone in the nest box

Onward to Harlequin for the banding after a quick stop at Burlington for we would be going there on our way home for an evening fledge watch. The weather wasn’t the best-overcast, a little chilly for this time of year and a misty to very light rain on and off all day. This year instead of the window washer rig to extract the eyases just one guy repelled down to the nest box from the roof.

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Quest was by herself to defend her nest site against the big bad man as her mate Kendal, like last year stayed away until after the kids were put back following getting their leg bands. Our own Rochester born Quest was quite brave making lots of noise as well as swooping back and forth and landing on the ledge to either side of the intruder at her nest.

img_0031-quest img_0066-gonna-get-you img_0070-coming-to-get-you Click on my pics for the full version

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After the eyases were lowered we went up into the Harlequin building across the street from the nest building for the banding festivities. It was determined that Quest and Kendal had 3 girls and all were quite feisty!

img_0094-meet-luna<Luna img_0117-carina<Carina img_0126-and-introducing-kimani<Kimani

After they got their new bling they were taken back across the street and we watched as the eyases were put back into their nest box safe and sound. Quest finally got to check on the kids after the intruder left with his ropes and broom.

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Once she was sure the kids were ok she flew off to yell at Kendal who finally showed up. They ended up on the roof of the Harlequin building.

img_0175-quest-and-kendal img_0181-kendal-feather-beak<Kendal

Photographer and good friend Ann Brokelman took us to Rosetta Mclean Gardens where the late great Big Frank did his raptor counts after the banding. Patty Gale and 2 other friends of Franks-Cory and Carol also joined us there. We saw 3 screech owls and their mom, baby racoons in a tree cavity, a few black squirrels and many birds and flowers. It’s a grand park right next to the shore of Lake Ontario and I can see why Frank loved it so much there.

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We all had a grand time at the park. Patty joined us to check on Linn and Reuben at the Yellow Pages site after we left Rosetta. There wasn’t much going on there so we didn’t stay long. It was close to rush hour in Toronto and if we would stand any chance of making a fledge watch at Burlington we had to get going.

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It took 2 hours but we made it and soon after we arrived Sarah did some flying and wore herself out causing her to keep losing altitude and come to the ground. At first we thought she had landed on the bridge road but after walking to the other side Sue McCreadie, one of CPFs regular watchers for the site, spotted Sarah under the bridge. And she didn’t appear to be injured-PHEW! Sues’ husband, Bill came with a blanket,placed it over Sarah and took her to be placed in a carrier until Tracy Simpson could get there to check her out and release her.

img_0263-this-is-sarah-at-1014g-shes-a-load-to-keep-in-air img_0269-sarah-after-being-rescued Her 3 siblings> img_0280-a-meeting-of-the-minds

Tracy released Sarah into the nest box after getting bitten and gouged (obviously Sarah was just fine and feisty) and with all fledglings accounted for Joyce and I left for the states and home around 9:30pm.

It was a fun filled day with friends and falcons but it was especially nice to see The Rosetta Mclean Park where Big Frank spent so much time while he was here on earth.  🙂

Check out the links below for many more pics of the day and 3 videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiGg

http://youtu.be/TV2d01iIQII
http://youtu.be/pB7u5flwWqI
http://youtu.be/gNig9E3CfEU


Tuesday & Wednesday Catch-up Falcon Watch Report – 6/4 and 6/5/13

Thursday, June 6th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Here I am catching up yet again.  lol  I’ve been heading downtown after work arriving just before 4:00 pm and staying til 8:00 pm and later.  During these two days of Watches, I was joined by many of my Falcon Watch friends, including Kathy O, Joyce, Lisa McK, Larry O, Brian H and Dan S.  I was helped by on-line Watchers Ei, Donna, Kris G and NCAFalcons.  What a team we make!  With the fledging of three eyases coming very soon, we will need all the help we can get, so please consider helping with the fledge watch if you are able.

There was a lot of hunting attempts, successful and not.  Clearing the territory of what they consider threats.  Lots of vocalizations by both Beauty and Dot.ca.  Standing Guard and feeding their young eyases.

So, here are some pictures I took during my watches.  Sorry I don’t have more time to leave a detailed report.  If you hover your cursor over a picture, it will tell you what is.  Be sure to double click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Enjoy!

DC on Nest Box Platform 6/4/13 DC on Nest Box Platform 6/4/13*

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Dot.ca on Main Cam 6/4/13DC on Nest Box Platform 6/4/13*

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Beauty on OCSR 6/4/13Beauty on Mercury's Money Bag 6/4/13*

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Dot.ca Bringing in Food 6/4/13Beauty Flies Overhead 6/4/13*

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Pigott at BS Location 6/5/13Pigott at BS Location 6/5/13*

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Beauty and Dot.ca Guard Their Eyases from Above 6/5/13Beauty Keeping Her Airspace Clear - 6/5/13*

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Dot.ca Hunting Starlings off the Wilder Bldg 6/5/13Dot.ca Hunting Starlings off the Wilder Bldg 6/5/13Dot.ca Hunting Starlings off the Wilder Bldg 6/5/13*

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Beauty Collecting Cached Food from the Radisson 6/4/13Dot.ca Takes off From the Wilder Bldg 6/4/13*

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and this is a whole other story! 6/4/13and this is a whole other story! 6/4/13

Where Duck Laid her Eggs 6/4/13*

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Heron Flies Overhead 6/5/13Serenaded by Finches 6/4/13Great Blue Heron Walking Along the River Edge 6/5/13*

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Raccoon Hunting by Flipping Rocks and Eating What he Finds 6/5/13I call this Dan's Cloud - He Really Liked It! 6/5/13Casey & Abby Patiently Waiting for their Mom (Joyce) to end her Watch 6/4/13

Morning watch 6-6-13

Thursday, June 6th, 2013

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a warm overcast morning with a starting temperature of 58 (F) 14 (C) and rain was on the way.

I arrived downtown at 5:18am and drove to the hole (Aqueduct St.) as is my usual routine of late. Dot.Ca (DC) was nowhere in the vicinity so I drove to the Brighton location(BS) determined to see Pigott. I arrived about 5:30am and as I rounded the west side of the building I heard the sweet sound of Miss Pigott whining. I looked up and saw a bump on the southwest corner of the southwest extension.

img_0002-dcDC

I couldn’t see the beak opening on this falcon when I heard whining so I immediately started looking around for another bird. Sure enough there was one on a west side window ledge 2 down in the corner where it meets the west extension and that beak was moving.

img_0014-pigott img_0021-pigott-whines

After 7 days of not seeing her I was finally laying my eyes on the wanderer Pigott! And an added bonus was that DC was there too,meaning it just may be that he roosts there at night. It doesn’t prove it but it’s definitely looking that way. Not exactly a good thing considering he has a family to protect downtown and can’t do that if he’s at BS.  I backed the car up to where I had a better look at Pigott and when I checked the southwest corner again DC was gone. Miss Pigott would continue to whine on and off quite loudly for at least an hour after he was gone and then she settled down to do some preening.

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Just before 6:30am it started to rain lightly and then a thunderstorm rolled thru startling Pigott when the thunder rumbled from the sky! Around 7am I received reports from cam watchers Donna and Annette that Beauty was feeding her 3 little white fuzz balls after a tug of war ensued with dad over the food. Also Campgee had tweeted right after I arrived at BS that Beauty had left the nest box and returned. Thanks ladies! Pretty cool to be in Brighton and have  peeps from New Jersey,Germany and Canada letting me know what’s going on at the nest box 2.5 miles away. Anyway, after a while Miss Pigott moved to her right (south) and cinched herself in tight up against a column to better protect against the rain.

img_0031-hi-pigott img_0038-pigott-to-other-side-of-window img_0039-see-ya-pigott Click on pics for full version

Now my plan had been to stay until Pigott left for the day so I could at least see what direction she went and possibly follow her but the rain put a damper on that idea. It was obvious she wasn’t going anywhere as she was showing her back and not really moving much. She did have a bit of a bulge in her crop so she didn’t even have to fly off to hunt. I left Pigott at 8:20am to check out the action downtown before heading home. I stopped on Exchange Blvd. near Fitzhugh St. in the Cornhill district as I usually do when returning from BS to scope out the scene from the south.

img_0042-from-cornhill Click it for full view

I didn’t see DC on the top ibeam near the south corner of OCSR until I got to Broad St. They are sheltered pretty good on the ibeams from inclement weather.

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My pics started and ended with DC but clearly this 3 hour watch was all about Pigott and for the first time since May 29th I could report that I saw all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! Smiling?-you bet! 🙂

There are links to 4 videos below-all Pigott. Just click and view

http://youtu.be/MWOyu6liexM
http://youtu.be/o-6wA3TuXdo
http://youtu.be/nw6rIdwtkro
http://youtu.be/vnnkZrIcZ3s


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