By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Todays starting temperature was 53 (F) 12 (C) with overcast skies breaking up into sunshine and blue skies late morning.

I made my way downtown by 5:20am and as I could see a falcon on the Mercury money bag (MMB) while stopped at the traffic light at Broad and Exchange Blvd. I drove straight over to the hole to park and watch as it was Beauty up there.Campgee had tweeted that Dot.Ca (DC) was feeding the kids a meager snack. Thanks!

At 5:26am Beauty flew to the nest box and then I saw DC chasing a crow over the Philipone building. After running it out of the area he flew over to the MMB.

10 minutes later DC whipped overhead to the back of the Times Square building (TSB) where he stooped on a crow twice before it escaped to a ledge near Widows Walk. DC went as low as 2 feet above the parking lot over there giving me thrills and chills before backing off and flying over to and landing on the MMB. He was in definite hunt mode!

He stayed about 5 minutes and was off flying very fast to the northwest. I took a ride that way and found him on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) top arm northeast side.

Click on pics for full version

I was parked on Montgomery Alley behind the Open Door Mission that resides on Plymouth Ave for the best view of DC. He didn’t stay long before he took off to the northeast at 6:55am.

I drove to the Broad St. Bridge to have a look around and spotted DC on the cupola of the Kodak office tower (KO). I took off to State St. and as I was just about to stop he flew off  quickly and then I lost him behind the building. It was still somewhat early so i decided to try my luck finding Pigott over at the Brighton site (BS). This would be the 7th day in a row I haven’t seen Miss Pigott, and thankfully she has been seen sporadically by the other watchers so we do know she’s just wandering and not in trouble. I miss this pretty Peregrine!

I returned to downtown after a short stay and as I was parked on the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) in my search for DC I watched a gull eat some mac salad from a food container.

Click em to see full version

After I failed to find DC I ended up parked on the east end of the BSB. The spot I was in provided me with a view of Kodak office (KO),FCT,Crossroads,OCSR, TSB,jail tower and Time Warner communications tower (TWCT). I saw Beauty pop up on the front ledge of the nest box at 7:00am.

Campgee reported that DC had brought food for his family while I was running an errand. TY Since I was on that side of town I checked BS one more time to no avail-Pigott was not there. 🙁  On my way back downtown just before 9am I stopped at my spot on Exchange St. across from Fitzhugh St. where I have a view of Mercury,OCSR,TSB and the jail tower. I saw Beauty and DC fly to the nest box and then I continued on to the hole after seeing DC fly to the MMB. Upon parking the car DC flew off to the OCSR top ibeam south corner.

With all peaceful and calm I ended my watch at 9:15am with a smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from this mornings watch

http://youtu.be/THG-6HoUToQ
http://youtu.be/fCLG1TzbH98
http://youtu.be/AHqY5Jvomb8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Todays starting temperature was 49 (F) 9 (C), chilly enough for me to put gloves on but the sun shone bright and the skies were blue!

I arrived downtown at 5:20am and drove straight to the hole (Aqueduct St.) and couldn’t see any sign of Dot.Ca (DC) but the sliver of a moon looked nice behind Mercury.

I gave it a while and then drove up to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to join Dan-he hadn’t seen any action either. While business was slow I took a walk down under the BSB and checked out the graffiti on the walls in the old aqueduct.

Always click my pics for the full version

At 6:03am we spotted DC fly to the main cam and land on top, his newest guarding spot. Beauty came flying out of the box and flew east over the river to the southwest corner of the Radisson Hotel. She grabbed cached food and took it back to the nest box with her. Annette,Ei and Campgee all let me know Beauty was feeding the eyases. Thanks girls!

At 6:24am I tweeted that DC flew to the heel of Mercury, but Donna let me know it was actually Beauty. Thanks for the heads up! 5 minutes later she was off to the deck.

Beauty would go in the nest box 5 minutes later and DC flew over to the base of Mercury and started eating something.

DC made short work of whatever he had up there taking no more than 5 minutes to finish eating. He then flew east crossing the river and disappearing behind the Hyatt Hotel momentarily and circle back over the river to the top ibeam south corner of OCSR.

Dan left around 7am and I drove down to Graves St. by Aqueduct Park to get closer to DC. He did some preening and lots of stretching while we shared space.

At 7:40 DC flew toward the Times Square building as I quickly lost sight of him behind buildings.

I couldn’t find him so I left for the Brighton site arriving there just before 8am. While I was parked in the rear of the building Larry pulled up next to me on his way to work momentarily. I had to tell him that Pigott was not home today-I haven’t seen her in days during the morning hours but other watchers have seen her on the evening shift.I’m really looking forward to our next visit!

I returned downtown when I received a tweet from Annette saying both Beauty and DC were feeding their babies. Thanks again! I was back on the BSB at 8:30am I spotted both parents out flying above the Thomson Reuters and Philipone buildings. The Beautyful one ended up on the deck and then went in the nest box. DC flew to the south corner top ibeam of OCSR and that’s where I left him ending my watch at 8:45am.

It’s been slim pickin’s getting to see Beauty outside of the nest box for very long lately, but whenever I do it makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a couple videos I shot on my watch and more pics as well

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiGC

http://youtu.be/aR8PdgkuL4A
http://youtu.be/WrDVEl14TWc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I arrived downtown a little before 4:00 pm and could find no falcons from the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  Donna was kind enough to let me know that Dot.ca was in the nest box guarding the eyases.  So, I was looking for Beauty and I did not have to wait long for her to return.  She flew in carrying prey from a successful hunt and landed on the base of the Mercury statue. (4:00 pm)  Immediately feathers started flying, pigeon feathers to be exact.  Beauty ate a little bit herself before flying up to the nest box to feed the eyases. (4:25 pm)

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Beauty entered the nest box to feed the eyases and Dot.ca came out.  Dot.ca ended up on the Wilder bldg for a little snooze.

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At 4:45 pm, Beauty flew out of the nest box carrying the remainder of the food she had just fed the eyases.  She flew over and headed NE across the river.  She returned quickly without the food, so she cached it somewhere over there near Main St.

Beauty returned to the nest box to watch over the eyases.  It was quiet for awhile.  Dot.ca did take off when I wasn’t looking.

At 6:00 pm, Kathy O tweeted from the BS location that it was quiet and she could not find any falcons there.

Soon after that, at 6:15 pm, Dot.ca returned and landed under the SE wing at the top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB).  Beauty flew out of the nest box and flew over me again heading NE over the river.  I was determined to see where she was headed.  I ran to the back of the parking lot, keeping her in sight and saw her land on the Radison.  She walked onto the roof and came back with the leftovers she had cached there earlier.  One thing we have learned while watching these birds, they have multiple spots they cache their food.

Beauty flew back over me heading for the nest box and another feeding.

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At 6:45 pm, she finished feeding (thanks Joyce and Ei!) and brought the remainder to the base of the Mercury statue.  Dot.ca decided to make a meal of what was left.  He landed next to Beauty and she let him have it.  She flew back to the nest box and Dot.ca ate his fill.

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Kathy O and Lisa McK had joined me on the Watch.  At 7:00 pm, all was quiet, so we ended our Watch.  Just as I was leaving the last tweet to let everyone know where the falcons were, Dot.ca finished his meal and flew to the OCSR, 2nd Ibeam down near the south corner to keep guard over his family.

Tomorrow is another day to keep your eyes to the sky!  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well we had a cold front come  through yesterday and temps are closer to normal for this time of year than they have been. This morning it was 52 (F) 11 (C) to start and overcast.

I was in the hole (Aqueduct St.) at 5:20am with no sign of Dot.Ca. I went up to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to join Dan at 5:45am. He had been there since 5am and had seen DC either. Not 10 minutes later I spotted DC on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR plucking feathers.

Around 6:05am DC took his package to the nest box and from the BSB it looked like Beauty grabbed it and flew out and back with it. DC then took off behind the buildings and then appeared on the Mercury money bag (MMB).

Around 6:3oam Dan said I’m going to make the sacrifice and go home now so DC will fly off Mercury. It’s a long standing joke amongst the watchers that whenever somebody leaves after long periods of time watching and waiting for something to happen the birds go into action. Well, this morning that’s exactly what happened-as soon as Dan pulled away from the curb DC flew off over to the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner.

I drove down to the hole and then to the Radisson Hotel near Main St. to watch. DC flew east out of my field of vision just before 7am.

I went in search of him but came up empty so I left for the Brighton site to see if Pigott was home. Again I was disappointed in not seeing her. Back downtown I went after waiting 15 minutes for her. When I returned at 7:50am DC was on the south corner top ibeam.

He had his back to me at first and was sleeping on and off. DC ended up turning around to face me and in between catching some winks he would do a little preening.

It looked like DC was hunkered down for a while so with everything peaceful I called it a watch at 8:30am. I didn’t see much action today but I still left smiling because it means no drama! 🙂

PS-Thanks Campgee and Annette for your rfalconcam now  tweets this morning!

There’s 2 links below for videos-just click and view

http://youtu.be/LfBy0qOBcoM
http://youtu.be/DxB_7OKbEwA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I went to bed last night there was a thunderstorm happening and when I got up this morning more of the same. The temperature was 67 (F) 19 (C) and still quite humid.

I started my watch at 5:20am in darkness and pouring rain and not having much luck finding Dot.Ca (DC).  As I was on State St. looking for him I got a tweet from cam watcher Campgee saying Beauty left the nest box and returned with food.  I continued looking for DC when at 5:55am Camp tweeted that Beauty left again so I decided to go check things out near the Times Square building. Thanks for the assist Camp! From the hole (Aqueduct St.) I managed to locate DC on the 2nd ibeam southeast side of OCSR so I settled in to keep an eye on him.

I caught DC sleeping a couple times and at 6:15am he took off heading for the Mercury money bag (MMB) but he couldn’t land on it because the Beautyful one was perched on it. I just love it when these guys sneak in without me seeing them. He flew over to the main cam and landed on it.

<DC     Beauty> Click on pics for full version

We all stayed in our positions for the next 10 minutes and then Beauty made the first move by flying off down toward the river out of view. DC flew down into the nest box and I drove up to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to look for Beauty.

Beauty resurfaced flying past the nest box to check on things before returning to the MMB.

She stayed only a couple minutes then flew east across the river behind the Chase building leaving field of vision. I next spotted her flying above Midtown then Bausch&Lomb and finally Xerox where she hovered-most likely checking the pigeon scene over there. I drove over there after I lost sight of her but she kept coming in and out of my view as I was down amongst all the buildings. I decided to go back to the BSB where I had a broader view of things. I could see DC up on what I thought was the nest box roof  but after getting closer with a different angle I could see he was perched on top of cam 4.

I had lost Beauty to the southeast at this point so I parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena on Exchange Blvd. to observe DC up close and personal. At 6:46am DC flew across to the top of the main cam and I drove up on the BSB again to catch Beauty hovering above Xerox again before vanishing. I then went to the hole to watch DC.

All was calm for 5 minutes or so and then a starling and sparrow caught DCs eye flying across from the Wilder toward Philipone building. DC zeroed in on them and dropped off the main cam, immediately going into stoop formation and diving at break neck speed past me and behind as I couldn’t turn around fast enough to see the catch. I spotted motion out of the corner of my eye and saw DC fly up to the Wilder green strip with his small package where he started plucking feathers.

He only stayed up there briefly pulling a few mouthfuls of feathers out and then he flew to the nest box to feed his family. Now just to show you how fast these birds get things done-DC left the main cam at 7:01am,made his catch in seconds flew up to the green strip at 7:02am, plucked some feathers and was in the nest box at 7:03am feeding babies. It all took a little over a minute!  They are magnificent!!! 5 minutes later Beauty showed up on the MMB.

I left the hole and drove up to the BSB and as I came to a stop Beauty flew off  tot he east. I could see her over behind the Rundell Library by Court St. and South Ave. scaring up the pigeons before losing sight of her. I drove over that way and ended up in the parking lot on Woodbury St. next to the Geva Theater. I saw a PEFA fly to the jail tower and land on the top arm south side.

I drove over to Troup St. just in time to see Beauty fly off to the east once again-pigeons are plentiful over there. I went back to the hole after having no luck finding Beauty and watched DC who was now on pan cam (cam 1).

I looked away briefly and as I looked back up at cam 1 DC was gone. I figured he went in the nest box and I left for the Brighton site. Pigott was not present once again for the 3rd time in a row for me but luckily she was seen yesterday so I know she is ok at least. Probably taking little road trips to occupy her time. On the way over to the site I got a tweet from Ei that Beauty had returned and was now in the nest box. Thank you! I stayed for a bit and returned to downtown where I couldn’t find DC. I ended my watch at 8:30am smiling from having seen some nice action out of Beauty and DC! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a couple videos of DC

http://youtu.be/EN03EYErUp4
http://youtu.be/ep7_8l9bi14

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Yesterday June 1,2013 Joyce and I traveled to Toronto,Ontario Canada to attend a memorial service for the late great Frank Bert Butson known to us as Big Frank. He was a member of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation (CPF) and we Rochester Falcon Watchers had become good friends with him and all connected with CPF. It was a very emotional time for all of his friends and family as we celebrated his life and memories of him. He will be missed deeply and remembered always.

After the services Joyce and I met Patty Gale at the Don Mills/Harlequin nest site for a watch. I was happy to finally meet Patty who before this had been a cyber friend only on fb. We had a good time observing Quest,Kendal and the 3 eyases they have produced this year while we dodged raindrops. When we first arrived at the sight parking in the rear parking lot of Harlequin enterprises we could see 2 eyases in the nest box with Quest out in front of it napping. We walked to the front of the building where I spotted Kendal at the far corner after he had brought himself to my attention by whining.

<Quest and 2 kids   Kendal> Click on pics for full version

<Kendal  Quest>

After a downpour of rain Quest woke up and started flying and Kendal followed suit after some coaxing. They both kept flying around and landing on the Harlequin building where they had a great view of the nest building across the street and their babies in the nest box.

Joyce and I left after 1-2 hours and headed back home around 5pm. We stopped by the Burlington Bridge nest site on the way where Cirrus and McKenzie reside with their 4 eyases. We were pleasantly surprised to find CPF members Tracy Simpson and Bruce Massey on watch there. Fledge watch officially starts at this site tomorrow as the kids have been doing some wing flapping. The parents were flying all around trying to entice the young ones out of the box but it didn’t work. They finally were fed and quieted down for the night.

Joyce and I left at 9pm to make our way home to the states. Although our visit began with tears at the memorial service it ended with smiles! 🙂

Click on the links below for more pics and videos from the day-overcast conditions made for not so great pics today

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiFs

http://youtu.be/InxELvtciS8
http://youtu.be/PVsz3BQ-ED8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Well so much for posting my report last night.  I got my pictures ready and went in to write my report and …. no internet connection!  All the thunder and lightning storms that moved through Rochester finally knocked it out.  So here is a short report to make up for it.

It was another warm day (yesterday) in Rochester, NY and with a cold front heading our way, the weather was ripe for storms.  They were supposed to hit us at 1:00 pm, but they held off until later in the day.  Temps made it up into the 80’s (F).

Morning

Kathy O and Brian H reported from downtown that they had both Beauty and Dot.ca.  I headed downtown first, but it was packed solid with people attending a graduation at the Blue Cross Arena aka War Memorial.  I found a spot to sit for just a few moments and took a few pictures of Beauty up on the Times Square Bldg under the NE Wing.

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Since I could not find a place to park, I headed over to the BS location where I found Pigott on the ledge of the cubby on the west side.  It was a nice shady spot for her.  It was very sunny over there and very windy.  I spent some time with her before I had to leave.

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Evening

After a very busy day, I was able to get back downtown for a quick watch.  There was a very intense thunder and lightning storm moving through Rochester, pouring rain.  Rfalconcam watcher Ei had just tweeted out that Beauty was in the nest box keeping the eyases covered, protecting them from the torrential rain.  No sign of Dot.ca.  Finally the rain lessened a bit.  I moved down to Aqueduct St (the hole) and finally Dot.ca flew in from the east and landed on the Mercury statue.

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Dot.ca didn’t stay there long.  He flew over to the OCSR and landed on the 2nd IBeam down near the south corner.  He hunkered down on the ledge in the rain.

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At 8:00 pm it was still raining and all was peaceful, so I called it a Watch.

By Rochester Falcon Watch Carol P.

Another really HOT day on this last day of May.  The record temperature for this day was 91 degrees (F).  We were really close, but I’m not sure if we beat that record or not.  Again, I waited til evening before heading out.  Today I arrived downtown at about 7:00 pm and found Dot.ca on the Mercury statue on the extended moneybag hand.

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Larry O joined me at about 7:30 pm.  We were parked in the lot next to the Wilder Bldg, just off of Aqueduct St. (The Hole).  From there we had a great view of the nest box on the Times Square Bldg (TSB), the Mercury statue, the Wilder Bldg, the Widows Walk, and the OCSR.  All the spots they have been hanging out on lately.  Of course if they fly away from the area, we lose sight of them pretty quickly.  But there was shade here, making the 90 degree evening bearable.

At 7:45 pm, Dot.ca stooped off of the Mercury statue heading towards the Wilder bldg.  He pulled up short just before the iron fire escapes located on the south side of the building.  There were lots of Starlings nesting in this area and it was a favorite hunting spot for our falcons.  Dot.ca turned back towards the Mercury statue and landed on the base where he pulled out some cached prey and started to pluck and nibble.

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A few moments later, Beauty left the nest box and flew up to the base of the Mercury statue next to Dot.ca.  She grabbed the cached prey from him and took the food up to the nest box to feed the young eyases.  Dot.ca returned to Mercury’s moneybag hand.  After feeding the eyases, Beauty returned the remainder of the prey to the base of the Mercury statue and then right back to the nest box.

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After Beauty returned to the nest box, I started to tweet out what happened.  Larry was attempting to get his phone to show live streaming video from the nest box.  That’s when I heard a loud “SMACK!” just above us.  I looked up just in time to see Dot.ca, who was not that far above us, fly back towards the Mercury statue with a Starling clenched in his talons.  I quickly yelled out to Larry to look up!  We both watched Dot.ca land on Mercury’s money bag hand with the Starling.  He didn’t wait long before again taking off and landing on the the 2nd IBeam down on the OCSR near the south corner.  Feathers started raining down.

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We were both amazed to have such a close up look at the hunting abilities of a Peregrine Falcon.  Larry and I both heard the sound of the impact between Dot.ca and the Starling.  Pretty incredible.

At a little after 8:00 pm, Dot.ca finished prepping the Startling and flew up to the nest box with it.  He went in with it and Beauty came out heading south.  We were able to watch Dot.ca feeding the eyases with prey we had just seen him catch, on the Rfalconcam live streaming video on Larry’s phone.  We’ve come a very long way in how we report our falcon watch observations.  In most ways it great, but sometimes I miss seeing things because I’m too busy texting and tweeting.

Larry had to leave, so I drove up to the Broad St Bridge and found Beauty on the jail communication tower, south of the TSB.  She was on the 2nd arm down.  Beauty didn’t stay long.  She took off and headed back towards the TSB and so did I.  By the time I turned right on Exchange and up to Aqueduct St, I was greeted by both Dot.ca and Beauty on the Mercury statue.  Dot.ca was on the moneybag hand and Beauty was on the kicked back heel.  It was a lovely sight. (8:10 pm)

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You will have to click on this picture to see both falcons.

Beauty returned to the nest box and Dot.ca remained on the Mercury statue.

A big thank you to Rfalconcam Watcher Ei for the heads up on what was happening in the nest box during my Watch.

It was so peaceful and quiet at 8:20 pm, when I decided to call it a Watch.  Tomorrow will be warm again with temps in the 80’s (F) and rain on and off.  Enjoy the weekend everyone and remember to keep your eyes to the sky!