By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another soupy day from some very oppressive humidity. It was overcast and dark with a starting temp of 73 (F) 23 (C)

Darkness hung on a long time this morning making for some bad photos but in the darkness I found something bright as I arrived downtown around 6:10am on my way to the east side via the Court St. Bridge. The colored lights on the Rundell Library were still going  so I stopped to shoot a video before continuing on to look for Beauty. I found her on the southeast corner of HSBC .

She was on the hunt as she stooped twice and returned to the same spot with nothing to show for her efforts. At 7am the Beautyful one flew off to the west above Xerox out of view. As I was looking for her from the Andrews St. bridge I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam at the north corner of OCSR. I drove to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to observe.

DC took off at 7:19am after a short stay on OCSR. As I stopped at the intersection of Church and Fitzhugh I noticed 2 falcons on the northeast corner of City Place. I got very excited-thinking juvie since that’s where our juvies hung out a lot. It was actually Beauty and DC.

<DC <Click on my pics for a full version

They flew off soon after I landed in the Hochstein parking lot to watch. Beauty had prey in her talons and DC wanted it-he tried to take it from her by flying under her and inverting himself which is classic food exchange form. Beauty thwarted his attempt and they both flew over to the  Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). Beauty landed on a south side beam in the lower white section and DC came to rest directly above her in the lower red section.

Beauty began plucking feathers and eating while DC could only watch from above and let out a little whine now and then.

DC-Hey save me some will ya?

Beauty- No way I’m hungry!

I looked up and couldn’t see DC-I didn’t know if he left or just moved in where I couldn’t see him but I decided to go to Brighton and look for Pigott around 7:45am. I found her easily as she was on the south side roof at the west end of the building. I shared space with Miss Pigott for about 10 minutes when she stooped to the southeast.

I had somewhere to be so I ended my watch at that time but as it turned out my watch was extended because while driving across the Driving Park Bridge I spotted a falcon. Of course I had to investigate-I pulled over and put my hazard flashers on and started clicking away. It was a juvenile Peregrine Falcon and it was eating on the west side roof of the Kodak Hawkeye plant on St. Paul Blvd. Distance and darkness did not work in my favor in ID’ing it but I don’t think it was banded. I believe it was female judging by the size and quite dark.

Several crows started harassing it and it was squawking at them before it flew off to the south onto a lower roof. The crows left it alone after that.

The juvie really looked dark and I thought that if it was one of ours it had to be Rosetta but I couldn’t see any bands so I can only speculate. It walked to the south end of the roof it was on and I whipped down to the east end of the bridge where I thought I could get a close up pic and ID it. No such luck-I had time for one pic before it flew off after an Osprey to the south. It was 9:20am and now I really had to end my watch.

I had noticed one particular window that stood out on the building and so I will end my report with a pic of it.

Keep smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and MANY videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqij8

http://youtu.be/noX28fmiVb8
http://youtu.be/gKpuqHwGfj0
http://youtu.be/wTK9J_qa4KE
http://youtu.be/ga04RYK0ixI
http://youtu.be/zKVjubPPZYA
http://youtu.be/KodqCHGOc2Y
http://youtu.be/kTpBAhJCPjI
http://youtu.be/Es0xTl2DyBo
http://youtu.be/CyCFk0cAqeA

By Rochester Falcon watcher MAK

A much better morning than the last couple days with clear skies,still humid and a temperature of 65 (F) 18 (C) to start

As I was making the rounds on the east side I spotted Beauty fly in from the east right above me and land on the northeast corner of HSBC and I thought she had a small package in her talons. I drove to Chestnut near Broad St. to observe as she just stood there crouched  for at least 20 minutes with her back to me. Finally the Beautyful one stood up and revealed her treasure then started plucking feathers.

She ate some and then stood over it again for a few minutes before flying off to the northwest leaving the leftovers behind. I stopped on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to check out the river for activity and found the usual-a Great Blue Heron hunting,ducks swimming and dunking their heads under the water and gulls flying every which way and hanging out in the shallows. And I had a ladybug on my windshield.

After a few minutes I made my way over to the Andrews St. bridge where I spotted a falcon on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). I drove over to City Hall and found that it was Beauty on the northeast cube. She had her back to me from the parking lot so after a while I went to Church St. where I could see the front of her.

Beauty did some preening and ever so softly whined from time to time. She also pulled out a few of her small white feathers as she is still molting and pooped. She moved toward the inner beams under the platform and it was at this point I left to check out the Brighton Site around 8:30am.

No luck in Brighton-Pigott was nowhere to be found so back downtown I went. I spotted Beauty on the north side when I heard her call out. She soon started moving toward the west side where she ended up.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement on the other side of the tower. It was DC directly across from Beauty on the east side, both under the platform of the FCT. They could see each other if they wanted to but Beauty was napping and DC was busy preening.

<Click it      DC>

I called it a watch and left them to it just past the 9 o’clock hour. I was happy to see DC up there sharing space with Beauty-made me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqije

http://youtu.be/zoXNbOIPwys
http://youtu.be/uvUKvxAvT-M

http://youtu.be/75yY-tUQ9fs
http://youtu.be/ysfbqlEbi2s
http://youtu.be/dR8eqh4g5qg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Just as I was approaching City Hall (6:45 pm), I heard Peregrine vocalizations filling the air.  I looked up in time to see a Falcon zip up to and land on the west side, south end of City Hall.  I quickly parked my car and looked up.  Just above me on top of the roof line was an adult Peregrine.  After getting some good looks thorough my binoculars, I verified that it was Dot.ca.  He spent a lot of time walking along the roof and looking down.  I had to wonder if he had been on a hunt and that his prey had escaped by landing on the ground nearby.  I looked around and could not see anything.

Dot.ca was vocalizing quite a bit and he was being answered by Beauty, who was about 1/2 way down the Frontier Communication Tower on the south side.  I love to hear them “chat” with each other.  lol

Here are a few of the pics I took of DC on City Hall.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Crows were coming through and landing on nearby buildings.  CAW CAW CAW! Dot.ca watched their every move, but did not give chase.  A bee was buzzing right in front of him and he was fascinated with it.  Finally about 7:15 pm, he took off heading northwest past the FCT, where Beauty remained.  It wasn’t long before Dot.ca returned and landed on the top arm of the FCT.  Now both B&DC where there. Larry O joined me at the Hochstein parking lot on the south side of the Frontier Comm Tower, with his dog Harold.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Just before 8:00 pm, first Beauty and then Dot.ca took off, heading SE towards downtown.  Once the Falcons had left, Harold decided it was time for he and Larry to leave too.

*

*

*

*

*

Even though it was getting dark, I decided to drive around the downtown area before I ended my watch, hoping to find Beauty and DC before heading home.  I did not find Dot.ca, but I did find Beauty at one of her nighttime roosting spots.  She was on top of the Xerox Tower on the south side, 5th column in from the SE corner.

*

*

*

*

*

It was time to end my evening Watch.  Happy to have seen both Beauty and Dot.ca.  Oh, and one more thing.  Larry O reported seeing Pigott eating out at the BS location at 4:30 pm.  Good night everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another warm, humid start with a temperature of 63 (F) 17 (C) -it started out kinda clear but fog moved in and changed that.

I was on my way leaving the east side after not seeing Beauty on HSBC when I decided one more check around it was in order. It was a good call because I found the Beautyful one on the northwest corner with food. I parked on Chestnut St. to check her out.

The air was so moisture laden that I had to keep my wipers going, and when I got back in my car I  had to turn on the defroster to clear the inside. Beauty had flown off without my seeing her and when I got to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) the fog was quickly taking over at the surface more so than the building tops at first. As time went on everything was enveloped in fog and from the BSB at around 7am I couldn’t see anything beyond OCSR or Times Square. The jail tower was hard to see too.

<Jail tower Click on pics for full version

I took a ride and found Beauty on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) just before the fog took it over. She was on the beam that crosses between the southeast and northeast cubes with her back to me. The fog took over quickly in a matter of 5 minutes as you can see in the next sequence of pics.

Since Beauty had eaten I figured she would settle in to digest her meal so I decided to leave for the Brighton site (BS). I met up with DebbieH briefly before I left.  On the way down State St. I stopped and took a pic of OCSR which was looking quite eery. And as I crossed the Ford St. Bridge off Exchange Blvd. to Mt Hope Ave. I took a pic of the sun that was trying to burn thru the dense fog.

Upon arriving at BS the fog had taken over there as well but I was able to spot a white chest on the west end of the south side vent. I thought this has to be Dot.Ca (DC) and as I scanned the rest of the vent I could barely make out the shape of a falcon on the east end who was Pigott.

<Pigott <DC

They both slipped off when I wasn’t looking or maybe while I was watching and just couldn’t see them thru the fog.  At any rate shortly after I heard Pigott whining and then I saw her fly across the back of the building real low from west to east. I think she was looking for DC hence the whining. I checked around the building 3 times and determined that they had both left the premises. With that I ended my watch around 8:30am. Tho it was a dismal watch I still saw all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons and for that i had a little smile cross my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/_MjrOPq3FvY
http://youtu.be/LLBLIQvJgqg
http://youtu.be/3Ujm-YFfvtw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

6:30 pm to 7:55 pm

It’s been getting harder and harder to spot any falcons on my evening Watches.  After not seeing any falcons for two day (well, I did hear one on Monday) I was happy to find Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT), just below the platform on the south side.  Finding a falcon there is very hard.  If you don’t get the right angle, you will not find them.  So, the Watchers have learned that they need to search the FCT from all directions. Today I was able to see Beauty from the Hochstein parking lot on the south side of the FCT.  She was tucked in just below the platform, in a small spot of sunlight.  Most of the framework below the platform was in shadow.  I set-up the scope to verify that it was indeed Beauty. (6:30 pm)

*

*

*

*

*

Kathy O joined me and while we were chatting with Rob, who stopped by and was checking out Beauty through the scope, Kathy spotted Dot.ca who flew in and landed on the top arm of the FCT.  (7:14 pm)

*

*

*

*

*

At approximately 7:30 pm, fellow Watcher Joyce tweeted that she was at the BS location and that Pigott was on a west extension windowsill completely across from the cubby.  So we had all three adult Rochester Falcons in view during the evening Watch.

Dot.ca stooped off of the FCT over City Hall.  He pulled up and continued flying east, flapping his wings rapidly.  He was on a mission.  Kathy and I lost sight of him when he flew over the river, still heading east. (7:40 pm)   There had been no vocalization by him or Beauty.  When Kathy and I ended our Watch at 7:45 pm, Beauty remained where she had been, under the platform dozing.

On my way home, I did a quick check of Kodak Park.  No falcons seen there.

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took last night.  One of the deer at the BS location and a couple of the Great Blue Herons I spotted on the river near the Broad St. Bridge.  Goodnight everyone!

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

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This mornings weather was pretty much like yesterday-humid,dark,overcast with the same temperature of 68 (F) 20 (C).  A little fog but not dense like yesterday.

I found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC in hunt mode for sure. She stooped to the east and flew back to the same spot then 5 minutes later she stooped to the southeast as I was watching from Chestnut St. in front of Manhattan Square Park. Then from right below her on Court St.

The Beautyful one returned and switched to the front of HSBC on the railing of the southwest corner.  Soon after taking off to the southeast again.

Take off sequence>

Beauty came back and landed on the railing of the southeast corner. She stayed there for the next 15 minutes and just before 7am she flew northeast and that would be the last I saw of her on my watch.

As I faced the east I couldn’t help but notice the fantastic sunrise happening before me.

Don’t forget to click on my pics for the full version

15 minutes later as I searched for Beauty I spotted a falcon on the north corner top ibeam of OCSR from the Andrews St. Bridge. I was very excited since this is a favorite spot of Dot.Ca (DC) and I haven’t seen him in 2 or 3 days. I drove to Bragdon St. for a closer view so I could ID him. He didn’t give me much time as I got one pic before he was off to the northeast. I could barely make out the heart shape on the side of his face but the white chest confirmed it for me.

Due to poor light conditions today, my pics are not very clear. After a trip around downtown with no sign of a PEFA I left for the Brighton Site (BS). Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent all scrunched down and poofed out.

Miss Pigott started preening and at one point seemed like she would take off but she faked me out and went back to preening.

<Click it for the fake out

I shared space with her for the next half hour and then she flew off for real heading east and she didn’t return.

I waited a bit before heading back downtown. I did a search of the city but couldn’t find any falcons so I ended my watch at 8:45am. I saw all 3 current resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons on my watch this morning so I had good reason to smile as I headed out! 🙂

Just one video link below for you to click and view today

http://youtu.be/dsEHsQlQQd8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Talk about being in the soup-the humidity today is thick enough to cut it and it created some dense fog on the building tops making it hard to find falcons in the second half of my watch. The beginning temperature when I arrived downtown at 6am was 68 (F) 20 (C)

My routine since the juvies fledged was to check the frontier Communications Tower and Kodak Office first but I have changed that just like Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) have changed their routine since the kids left. I now start on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB)and work my way to the east where lately I have found the Beautyful one on HSBC and today was no exception as I found her on the east side of it.

Beauty flew off before I could stop and I next found her on the southeast corner of HSBC. There were crows in Manhattan Square Park (I was parked in front of it on Chestnut St.) sounding off and I also heard a cardinal chirping and so hoped it stayed out of Beautys’ sights. It did and Beauty took off fast after 10 minutes to the southeast in break neck speed and I lost her behind the trees quickly.

I drove down to Woodbury St. near Washington Square Park where I found Beauty on the southwest corner of Xerox. The fog hadn’t dropped down on our fair city yet. She stayed about 5 minutes then flew out above Bausch & Lomb and doubled back flyimg behind Xerox where I lost sight of her.

As I went to find her I stopped on the BSB and found a Great Blue Heron down in the river who had a very large fish in its mouth and trying to swallow. At first I thought it was drinking as it had its beak in the water but then I saw that it had a fish. He would try to swallow  then put it down in the water again repeating this several times until he eventually got it down. You can see the big bulge in the top of  its neck after he swallowed the fish. BIG GULP!

I left at 7am when I noticed Beauty up on the  top ibeam west corner of OCSR  and headed to State St. to view her. I pulled over took a pic then tweeted it out and when I looked back up she was gone!

This is when the fog started to quickly take over the tops of the buildings in our fair city so I decided to go to the Brighton site (BS) in hopes to find not only Pigott but DC as well-he wasn’t seen yesterday.

Click on it to see the full version

As I made my way past the west side at BS to the back (south) side of the building I spotted a falcon on the roof of the west extension and it flew off and around to the east side out of view before I had the car in park. I waited a bit before driving around to look. I thought it looked small and thought maybe DC but never found him. I did however find Miss Pigott on the east side 2 windows down below the roof top tree. She was soaked just like yesterday!

And just like yesterday she was on the run going back and forth along the window ledge a few times before settling where she started from. I sooo love watching Peregrines walk and run-it’s funny as all get out!

I shared space with Miss Pigott for an hour or so then headed back downtown. The fog had gotten worse while I was gone so if Beauty or DC were up on the building tops I couldn’t see them.

<East side <Kodak Office

I called it a watch and headed home at 8:50am with a smile for having seen our 2 female resident Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/KwsWpKQnk_w
http://youtu.be/OQbmY1jPuJw
http://youtu.be/QqHkcqaoNjw
http://youtu.be/PN7Wnu-Xgk8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another late start for my Monday Watch.  It rained on and off all day long, and when I left my house at 6:45 pm, it was still raining.  Temperature  69 degrees (F) with dark clouds moving through.  Even with the rain, I decided to head downtown to look for the Rochester Falcons.

First stop was the Kodak Tower.  I ran into a bit of traffic near Frontier Field.  Red Wing fans were heading into the stadium for an evening game.  The Red Wings have been doing really well and their faithful fans wouldn’t let a little rain stop them for cheering for their team.  I was able to pull over and check the K-Tower.  No falcons seen there.

Next stop, the Frontier Communication Tower.  No falcons there either.  From the Andrews St Bridge, no falcons seen on the north side of the OCSR or any of the surrounding buildings.  I drove around HSBC, B&L, Xerox and Midtown Plaza.  The Crows were lined up on the Frontier Bldg, where Baron and Voyager chased them such a short time ago.

*

*

*

*

*

It was time to head over to the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  It was raining most of the time I was driving around downtown.  Here was my view from where I parked on the BSB.

*

*

*

*

*

The Rochester Library, said to have a ghostly inhabitant, was bathed in beautiful lights.  I really love that they do this now.

*

*

*

*

*

Finally, it stopped raining, allowing me to get out of my car for a quick look around the area.  First I checked out the area for falcons and again found none.  I checked out the river on the north side of the Broad St Bridge and spotted an adult Black-Crowned Night Heron (BCNH).  Just beautiful!

*

*

*

*

*

I spent some time watching the BCNH  in hunt mode, searching for dinner.  Dark clouds were moving in, so I hurried across the street to check the river on the south side of the BSB.  There I found the juvie Black-Crowned Night Heron near the library on a rock.

*

*

*

*

*

It started to rain, so I continued my search for falcons.  Since it was getting late, I headed back over to Woodbury St, parking on the south side of St Mary’s Church.  From there I could see the south side of B&L and the Xerox Tower, where we had seen Beauty after dark recently.  At 8:15 pm, I heard very loud ee-chupping fill the air.  I looked all over for the Peregrine that was vocalizing, but never did  see one.

This is where  I was parked with I heard the loud ee-chupping.  It sounded like it was coming from the B&L bldg.  I did search the building the best I could in the dark, but could not find any falcons.

*

*

*

*

*

At 8:30 pm, it was still raining and very dark.  Time for me to head home.  I believe the rain will end tonight and tomorrow should be a nicer day for looking for our falcons.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I stepped out the door today the humidity slapped me in the face-it was overcast with rain in the forecast and the temperature was 57 (F) 14 (C)

I found Beauty on the east side of HSBC and not 5 minutes later she flew off to the southwest.

After searching downtown with no sightings I went to the High Falls where I found a Belted Kingfisher hunting off a concrete slab in the river on the north side of the Pont De Rennes pedestrian bridge. He dove into the water 3 different times and came back with nothing. I caught a pic of him landing on the slab. There was also a Cormorant perched on a rock with its wings spread out I assume to dry. No falcons and no Osprey were seen in the gorge.

I went to the Andrews St. bridge after I left there and spotted Beauty on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR just before 8am. I drove to Bragdon St. by the Radisson Hotel for a closer view and walked across the Sister Cities pedestrian bridge where I was right below the Beautyful one.

It started to rain so I went back to my car and left for Brighton. As I pulled in the front drive I could see Pigott on the northwest corner of the west extension around 8:30am.

She flew off as I parked the car and returned to the same spot in less than a minute. It was raining at a good clip and Miss Pigott was thoroughly enjoying it as she spread her wings and started running back and forth on the roofs edge.

It reminded me of watching Orion playing in the rain last summer. Pigott flew around the building and landed on the southwest corner spreading her wings once again and disappeared on the roof then reappearing only to fly off again. I couldn’t find her so I drove out to the back service road and was able to see her on the east side roof running back and forth to the front edge with wings spread. She went back to the west side and back to the east before finally settling on a south facing top window ledge of the east extension.

Even on the window she was on the move walking to the corner and settling.

Miss Pigott was quite wet and sporting a new spiked hairdo. I think I had as much watching her rain dancing as she enjoyed doing it! I left her at 9:30am as she started preening. It would take a while with as wet as her feathers were. I took a ride around downtown finding Beauty still on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR but I didn’t find Dot.Ca (DC) at all on my watch. Pigott certainly made me smile this morning with her antics! 🙂

Click on the links below for some videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/6dnl0MkErP8
http://youtu.be/aAauawkYsd4
http://youtu.be/13aAuKQyMRk
http://youtu.be/UN_6WiXV-7g
http://youtu.be/K0LwyNYKnqA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Here are some pics from the past 3 days.  I saw all three adult Rochester Falcons, but no juvies.  I keep hoping for one last visit before they take off, but it’s looking more and more like they’ve gone on their way, started their life journey.  Farewell Baron, Rosetta & Voyager.  Fly Strong and Fly Free!

Be sure to click on any pics you would like to see larger.

Friday – August 23, 2013

Osprey in the Falcon Sucking Tree

*

*

*

*

*

Great Blue Heron in a tree on north side of pedestrian bridge.

*

*

*

*

*

The Osprey dove from the falcon sucking tree into the river.  It seemed like the Osprey was under water for so long.  Finally she came up out of the water with a good size fish.  Water sprayed off of the Osprey as she launched herself into the air.  She flew to the bottom of the gorge below the observation deck.  There she moved around quite a bit before setting on a spot to enjoy her dinner.  A Ring-billed Gull (juvie) decided to try to share, but the Osprey wasn’t in the mood.  In some of this series of pics, you can see the young gull on the ground in front of the Osprey.  Brave gull!

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Kathy O, Dan and I ended our Watch and I drove around the downtown area one more time.  It was getting dark, but I was able to see Beauty on the south side of the Xerox Tower on the 5th column in from the SE corner. Dan reported seeing her there Thursday evening also.

Saturday, August 25, 2013

I spent a few hours downtown Saturday afternoon.  I did find both Beauty and Dot.ca.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Today I did a late morning/early afternoon Watch.  It was much warmer today and by noon, it was downright hot.  I was happy to see Pigott out at the BS location.  She was preening and snoozing while I was there.

*

*

*

*

*

The leaves are already turning on some of the trees and they are starting to fall.

*

*

*

*

*

I left Pigott to go downtown to see if Beauty and Dot.ca were there.  I found Dot.ca on the top IBeam of the OCSR on the north side.  In the shade, smart.

*

*

*

*

*

The moon was high in the sky next to the Times Square Bldg.

*

*

*

*

*

I wasn’t able to find Beauty, so I headed over to the pedestrian bridge at High Falls.  From there I was able to see that Beauty was again in the middle of the framework of the Frontier Communication Tower below the platform.  Both Falcons were out of the sun.  I spent the rest of my watch on the pedestrian bridge where I could see both Beauty and Dot.ca.

There was a lot of activity on the river below.   I watched Kingfisher dive into the water and come up with a very small fish.  It landed low on the island tree and started hitting the fish on the branch over and over again before eating it.

*

*

*

*

*

I’ll leave you with a few more pictures I took during my Watch today from the pedestrian bridge.  Goodnight everyone!

BE SURE TO CLICK ON A PIC TO MAKE IT LARGER!

*

*

*

*

*