By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another dark, overcast and humid morning here in Rochester with some light fog in spots. Starting temp was 65 (F) 18 (C) and it was raining for the last part of my watch

I spotted Beauty on the northwest corner of HSBC from Court and Chestnut St. I went down to my spot on Chestnut St. near the Hotel Cadillac to watch but she took off to the west right after I got settled.

I heard the familiar chirp of Dot.Ca (DC) so I knew Beauty had to be near him somewhere close. I made my way down to Woodbury and Chestnut St. parking in front of Manhattan Square Park where I could observe Beauty on the south side 5th column from the southeast corner on  Xerox and DC who was on the southeast corner of the roof.

You must click on my pics to see full version

Sometime just before 7:30am DC left the building but Beauty stayed on her column. As I looked around the back of HSBC for DC I noticed the sun peeking thru the clouds in my rear view mirror. So I turned around to look and I’m glad I did cuz this would be the last of the sun I saw on my watch.

I didn’t find DC so I checked at the Hawkeye and Seneca Towers locations next with no success. I did however see some pretty purple petunias and fall foliage near Maplewood Park across the river from Seneca Towers.

Searching downtown on my way back thru I found that Beauty was still on Xerox but DC was not anywhere that I could see. On that note I left for the Brighton Site (BS). I was very happy to find Miss Pigott at home and she had a male companion watching her from across the back (south side) of the building She was on the west end of the south side vent and he was on the southwest corner of the southeast extension.

<Pigott  <Tiercel (male falcon)

This male had his back to me where I was stationed so I went to where I could see his profile at least. He kept looking at Pigott who was more interested in the starlings above and below her.

There was no vocalizing by either one of them and they stayed like this for just about an hour. Both did some preening and stretching and then at 9:30am Pigott flew toward the male who took off and landed on the southwest extension for a second as Pigott took over his southeast spot. He then flew back over to her and she went up to the south side roof and he took back his corner. After a few minutes Pigott flew back over to the male who flew off around the east end of the building and headed north and that was the last I saw of him.

<male <Pigott>

Pigott left the southeast extension and flew to the southwest extension for a few minutes and then to the northwest extension northwest corner where I left her in the rain that was falling. Upon returning downtown I found DC on the northeast corner of Midtown. He whined a couple different times as I observed him and he was watching something below him-perhaps Beauty was on the lower roof where I couldn’t see her. Anyway, I left him around 10:15am ending my watch.

I saw all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons today which is more than enough to make me smile but I also got the added bonus of seeing a mystery male! 🙂

Check out the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqivM

http://youtu.be/AGPAHmTni7E
http://youtu.be/epDn_1Jc39I
http://youtu.be/I5P2vkFTGDc
http://youtu.be/aqcEtNQOahA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:00 to 7:00 pm

Watchers: Dana, Lou, Joyce and Carol P.

A cooler day with overcast skies.  I started my watch at 5:00 pm.  As I was heading towards the BS location, I received a tweet from Dana and Lou that they were there and that they had Pigott on the south side of the building. By the time I got there, Dana and Lou were gone.  On the south side of the building, I found a falcon on the SW corner of the SE extension.  While I was watching this falcon, I noticed there was a 2nd falcon on the south side of the west end of the building.  It was Pigott.  The first falcon I saw was an adult tiercel (male).  But was this DC?

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I tried to get a good look at the tiercel, but the lighting was really bad.  I can’t say for sure that this wasn’t Dot.ca.

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The tiercel took off and flew around the west end of the south side of the building, landing on the windows and taking off again.

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In the last picture above, I cannot see bands.  The tiercel flew over towards Pigott and she took off with a short burst of vocalization.  That was the only time either falcon vocalized during my Watch.  Both flew together for awhile and then Pigott landed on the SE corner of the west extension and the tiercel on the NE corner.  They flew again and Pigott landed on the west end of the south vent and the tiercel landed back on the SW corner of the SW extension.  They could see each other from those positions.

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I tried to get a really good look at the tiercel, and I do not believe this was Dot.ca, but I can’t be 100% sure.

The tiercel took off and flew over to Pigott, landing on the corner of the building above her.

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At 5:25 pm, the tiercel was gone, leaving Pigott on the south side vent. Joyce joined me on the Watch.  She checked out the area, but could not find the tiercel.

I left Joyce at BS a little after 6:00 pm and headed downtown.  The wrestlers were in town, so there was a lot of traffic around the Blue Cross Arena.  I found a falcon on top of Xerox on the SW corner.

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The falcon took off from Xerox, stooping to the south east.  I did not see it return, so I checked out the rest of downtown.  After looking all over and not finding any falcons, I decided it was time to head home.  Joyce had tweeted that she had ended her watch at BS due to darkness and it was time to end mine.  I turned my car around on the Andrews St Bridge and spotted a falcon on the top arm of the Frontier Communication tower.  So that’s where I headed next.  From the front of City Hall, I could see the falcon up there, but due to distance and darkness, I could not make an ID.

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Oh, before I forget, Dana did see the juvie at ST earlier in the afternoon.  Now it was time to end my Watch.  Goodnight everyone!

Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  I had to lighten most of them due to poor lighting conditions.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Overcast and gloomy with a temp of 60 (f)  16 (C) it was raining by the end of my watch

I found Beauty on the southwest corner of  HSBC at 7:10am-I parked on Chestnut St. near the Hotel Cadillac to watch as she was looking for a prey bird. They were hiding or sleeping in for I didn’t see any other birds in the vicinity.

10 minutes later Beauty flew off to the west quite nonchalantly. I left to look for her but was unsuccessful so I checked Hawkeye and Seneca Towers-nothing at either location was seen.

I returned to downtown at around 8am and from State St. saw a falcon fly in from the west to land on the northwest corner of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) platform railing. From the City Hall parking lot I was able to ID it as the Beautyful one!

At first I thought it was Dot.Ca (DC). I didn’t stay for long and left to check the Brighton site. Arriving there just before 8:30am I was disappointed to find that yet again Pigott wasn’t home. Despite that and the dreary weather I did have a bright spot-some vivid mums on Mt. Hope Blvd.

Click on my pics to see full version

My next stop was the Broad St. Bridge where I found a Great Blue Heron shopping for breakfast, 2 cormorants and a gull hanging out in the river.

<Click it 

No falcons around there so I took a ride down State St. to the Andrews St. Bridge to have a look from there. The last place I checked with my binocs was the Kodak Office tower and bingo, I saw a PEFA on the southwest corner of the launchpad. I stationed myself on State St. near the intersection of Platt St. for a closer view. I determined that this was DC and he was definitely in hunt mode as it began to rain.

I left him after a brief stay thus ending my watch at 9am. 2 bright spots on this dreary morning that made me smile were mates Beauty and DC! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/9Puwwewvm_w
http://youtu.be/ZmNQNl0tQc4
http://youtu.be/NkXEFCUD0Uc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

3:50  – 7:00 pm

Watchers: Dana, Joyce, Brian H, Kathy O, Lisa McK & Carol P.

My first stop was Seneca Towers to check on the juvie Peregrine Falcon that has been seen there recently.  She was on top of the building on the west side  on a railing overlooking the river.  I was just getting ready to tweet out the sighting when I received a tweet from fellow Watcher Dana, who was just a couple of cars away from me.  lol  Dana joined me and we chatted while watching the beautiful young falcon who had a full crop.  The juvie was actively watching the surround area.  Joyce and Brian H joined us.

We are working very hard to get an ID on this falcon, but so far we’ve had no luck.  She is usually very high up on the building, which is a very good thing, and due to overcast skies, the lighting has been bad.  But, we continue to try.  The only thing we know for sure is that she is banded with a black over green band and a silver USFW band with no tape on it.

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Just after Dana left, the ST juvie stooped off of the building and passed over us heading southeast.  She quickly returned empty-taloned and landed on the west side of the building, but further north.

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While we were watching the juvie, Kathy O and Lisa McK tweeted that they were out at the BS location looking for Pigott.  They could not find her.

Donna, a forum member, reported that there was a falcon on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT), seen through Rfalconcam Pan Cam/Cam  #1 from the downtown nest site.  Thanks Donna!

It started to lightly rain, so we ended our ST juvie Watch, leaving her on the west side of the building.  I headed downtown and found Kathy O and Lisa McK at the City Hall parking lot watching Beauty on the south side of the Frontier Communication Tower.  She was facing north.  Kathy and Lisa had checked the downtown area the best they could, but could not find Dot.ca.  There was a whole lot of traffic downtown tonight due to the first Rochester Amerk’s game at the Blue Cross Arena aka War Memorial on corner of Broad St and Exchange.

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By 7:00 pm, we were losing light, so we called it a Watch.  The weather people are reporting that the temperatures will remain mild over the weekend, but that there is a chance of rain both days.  Oh, well, it’s the weekend! WooHoo!

No extra pics tonight.  I’ll try to get some over the weekend.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We had some rain and storms during the night and the sky was overcast making it a very dark morning. The humidity is high and the starting temp was 61 (F) 16 (C)

After checking the east side and coming up empty I stopped on the Broad St. bridge and spotted a falcon on the top ibeam west corner of OCSR. This is usually Beautys’ corner but today it was Dot.Ca (DC) that was perched there. I went down to the hole for a better look at him.

I left him after a few minutes to check the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) for Beauty but she wasn’t there so I left to check Hawkeye. As I was stopped at State St. and the ramp to get on the inner loop the ivy growing on the overpass wall intrigued me as it had many different colors from the same plant. Nature sure can paint a pretty picture!

When I arrived at Hawkeye it was foggy and the mist from the lower falls was pretty thick as well but I could see that there was no falcons in the vicinity or on the building or stack. I proceeded to Seneca Towers where I checked every side of the building but saw no PEFAs adult or juvie. I returned to downtown stopping on the Andrews St. Bridge where I could see DC on the north corner top ibeam and Beauty under the southeast wing of the Times Square building. I drove to Bragdon St. across the river from where DC was for a closer look.

I left after a couple minutes to check out Beauty but she was gone when I got to Times Square. I then went over to City Hall and found her there on the FCT at 8:15am on the top arm northeast side. I parked on Fitzhugh St. to observe her.

I left her to go to the Brighton Site-on the way thru I saw DC was still on OCSR. Arriving at 8:45am once again Miss Pigott was not around for me to see-no worries cuz she’s usually seen at night. Back to downtown I went finding that Beauty wasn’t alone on the top arm of FCT. DC was preening just a couple feet away from her.

<Click it for full version <Click it for full version

I was parked on Fitzhugh St. in front of City Hall by Church St. I got distracted and missed both Beauty and DC fly off. Beauty landed on the middle arm northeast side and walked over next to the pole but I didn’t find DC until I went to the City Hall parking lot where his location wasn’t blocked from my view. He was on the bottom arm northwest side.

<Click it <B  DC>

I stayed with them until 9:45am as they hung  out keeping each other company, thus ending my watch.

Keep smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my videos

http://youtu.be/tyDzdnHlVqA
http://youtu.be/pia43oszjLU
http://youtu.be/lPE3c1aeBYI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

3:50 pm – 7:15 pm

A warm day near 70 degrees (F), but by the time I started my Watch the clouds were moving in.  As I type this, it is pouring out!

My first stops were the Seneca Towers (ST) and Hawkeye plant (HE).  No falcons seen at either location.  I made my way through the downtown area and ended up on the east end of the Broad St Bridge (BSB), looking directly into the sun.  There was a falcon on the Times Square Bldg (TSB) on the ledge at the base of the NE wing.  I later determined that this was Dot.ca.

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Dot.ca stooped to the north side of the TSB.  A couple minutes later, he returned to the ledge at the base of the SE wing.  DC was hunched over looking at something approaching the building.  A 2nd falcon flew over the TSB heading south to north.  At first I thought it was Beauty, but what happened next told me it wasn’t.  After the 2nd falcon passed the TSB, DC took off and I got a quick glimpse of him stooping on the other falcon before I lost sight of them behind the buildings.  I waited to see if they would reappear, but they didn’t.

I checked out the area and found Beauty on the jail communication tower, looking north, the same direction the other two had headed.  This was when I knew for sure there had been a 3rd falcon downtown.

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I then found Dot.ca on the top arm of the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).

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DC didn’t stay on FCT long.  While I was watching Beauty, he took off.

Fellow Watchers Joyce and Brian H had checked on Pigott at BS.  They found her on the south side of the building on the vent.  They then reported that they had found the juvie falcon at Seneca Towers.  She was flying around a bit and Joyce reported that they thought she was hunting.

Meanwhile, I headed over to the Frontier Comm Tower, hoping to find Dot.ca.  From there, I could see a falcon on the Kodak Tower, SE corner of the launchpad.  So, that’s where I headed.

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From Mill St, on the east side of the tower, I could see that it was Dot.ca up there, and he was looking north.  I never found the 3rd falcon.  So, hopefully, DC just escorted it out of his territory.

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Larry O joined me on Mill St just as Dot.ca took off and headed back towards the downtown area, southeast.

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We both drove around downtown, but neither of us could find Dot.ca or Beauty.  I even checked up inside the OCSR elevator shaft twice tonight.

As the sun was setting, I drove over to the BS location to see if I could find Pigott.  I circled the building twice and could not find her.  Kathy O joined Joyce and Brian at ST and was able to see the juvie before it left.

I returned downtown and checked out the downtown area one more time, but again could not find Beauty or Dot.ca.  It was time for me to head home as it was already getting dark at 7:15 pm.

I’ll leave you with some pictures I took during my Watch today.  Goodnight everyone!

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Most importantly, I found the Mt Hope Cemetery Zombie Station.  With Halloween approaching, it’s good to know where it is located!  lol

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The day started partly cloudy with sunshine and a temperature of 61 degrees (F) 16 (C)

After checking the east side and coming up empty I noticed a falcon on the Times Square building (TSB) under the northeast wing as I was stopped on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) for a look around at 7:10am. I drove down to the hole to get close enough to ID this falcon but it wasn’t there anymore. I then drove down Exchange St. and parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena where I could see Dot.Ca (DC) at the back of the ledge plucking feathers from prey.

He spent about 25 minutes eating and when he was done he walked out to the front of the ledge feaking and cleaning himself up after his meal.

I drove down across from the TSB so I was under DC as he did some stretching and just being cute

DebbieH came by before work for a couple minutes to see DC and I. After she left I made my way over to the Brighton Site (BS) as DC preened on TSB.

Arriving at BS at 8:30am I was alone for Pigott was not around. I got a tweet from cam watcher and good friend Donna aka DJC or DJ saying there was a falcon on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). She thought it was Beauty and she was correct as I drove directly over to Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities parking garage to positively ID her.

The Beautyful one didn’t stay there for long. At about 8:50am she pooped and walked around the cube and hopped  to the inside of the tower.

I had to go to Church St. by the Hochstein School of Music to see where she was from a different angle. Her eyes were already closed as she was tucked in the shade for a rest.

I left her to it and took off to check on the Hawkeye and Seneca Towers locations. I didn’t find any falcons but I did find some pretty scenery as the transformation of the trees into their colorful fall foliage has begun here in western New York. I ended my watch at 9:45am admiring the images down in the river on both sides of the Driving Park Bridge.

Fall is my favorite season and its colors are a big reason as they make me smile a lot! 🙂

Click on the links below to see more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiuq

http://youtu.be/B-5MRxIxAWk
http://youtu.be/PcNUPEj0pR4
http://youtu.be/ozddn-Mod6E
http://youtu.be/rMxbZQg3bhg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

6:30 – 7:40 pm

Yet another lovely fall evening in Rochester (NY).  Temps again in the 70’s (F).  I am really enjoying the continuing mild temperatures.  The weather people have them continuing through the weekend with a chance of rain.

At 6:30 pm, I started my Watch, by first checking out ST and Hawkeye.  I saw no falcons at either location.  I pulled into the YMCA to check the west side of the Hawkeye plant and spotted a Red-tail Hawk sitting on the YMCA bldg near a security camera.

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I headed downtown and could not find Beauty or Dot.ca on the Kodak Tower or the Frontier Communication Tower.  From the Andrew St Bridge, I could see that the OCSR elevator was down, so drove over to Main St and checked up inside the elevator shaft.  Although it was getting dark, Dot.ca was very visible on the north side ledge because he was facing out.  Beauty was up there too, on the south side ledge with her back to me.  Her tail was hanging over the ledge, otherwise it was really hard to see her.

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While I was watching Beauty and Dot.ca, Kathy O was over at the BS location with Pigott. Joyce had seen her earlier, so I decided to stay downtown for what little time I had before it would be too dark to see anything.

Kathy joined me on the Broad St Bridge until 7:40 pm, when it was time to end our evening Falcon Watch.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of Rochester at night.  It was especially lovely this evening.  Goodnight everyone!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

My watch started with a temperature of 63 degrees (F) 17 (C) and overcast skies

As I checked the north side of HSBC  at 7am I got an instant feeling of deja vu as Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) were up there and she had food while he was begging from a few feet away just like Monday morning. I parked on Chestnut St. just south of the Hotel Cadillac to watch the festivities. DC walked over to her and  unlike Monday he got a chunk and started eating.

<Click it <Find them

They ate together back to back but keeping an eye on each other and I heard eechupping a couple different times. So instead of the normal Peregrine way of bowing and eechupping in the nest box these two do it over a meal. When DC finished his tiny morsel and started begging for more Beauty flew off with her leftovers and he went right along with her.

Beauty landed on the northeast corner and began eating again while DC landed on the northwest corner. Then he started running down the ledge toward Beauty. When he got a third of the way across he flew off and landed behind her on the east side and then jumped up on the ledge above her to really get in her face.

DC started whining again while Beauty finished off her meal and cleaned off her beak. DC went down on the ledge a few feet in front of Beauty as she had enough of him and flew off to the west. DC ran over to the corner to see if she left a crumb behind which she didn’t, and stood there for the next 10 minutes.

<Click it <DC

I left him there to see where the Beautyful one had gone. I stopped to take a pic of the front of Manhattan Square Park.

<Click it

I found Beauty on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) perched on the northeast cube. I parked on Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities parking garage for the best view of her.

I stayed about 15 minutes and left to check our Brighton site-Pigott wasn’t home. I returned to downtown around 8:30am and from the Andrews St. Bridge I spotted Beauty still on her cube and DC right above her on the east side platform railing.

I left to check Hawkeye and Seneca Towers and had no luck finding a PEFA at either location so back to downtown I went. It took me a while but I finally located Beauty on the inside of the southeast cube from Church St. as I was parked in front of the Hochstein school of music.

Beauty preened and rested  as I shared space with her for about 10 minutes and then ended my watch around 9:30am. Once again our dynamic downtown duo entertained and kept me smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/SQbqKX5XC_0
http://youtu.be/VjD0eEHpMk8
http://youtu.be/Qt7foNmK51E
http://youtu.be/qFvfbxzPMw8
http://youtu.be/WwheldLwzZ0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today was another gorgeous fall day with temps near 70 degrees (F).

I first checked Seneca Towers and Hawkeye.  No falcons seen at either location.  But, there was a visitor at the nest site at Hawkeye.  Sitting on the railing near the nest box was a Red-tail Hawk.  As I was driving down St Paul heading toward Hawkeye, I thought the juvie might have been up there, but no such luck.  Love to see RTH’s too though.

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I checked the west side of Hawkeye, just to make sure the juvie wasn’t over there and then headed downtown.  Driving south down State St gave me a great view of a falcon on the corner of Kodak Office.  I went around to the west side to get the sun behind me, which was starting to lower and was quite intense.  After getting a closer look, I found out that it was Beauty on the SE corner of the launchpad.

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From where I was parked on the west side of the Kodak Tower, I had a good view of the downtown area.  I was able to spot a falcon on the NE corner of the Time Square Bldg at the base of the wing.

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While I had Beauty and Dot.ca in view, I received a tweet from fellow Falcon Watcher Kathy O that she was watching Pigott at the BS location on the east side.  I drove down to the Broad St Bridge to get a closer look at Dot.ca on the Time Square Bldg.

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Both Beauty and Dot.ca were busy preening, so I headed over to BS to see Pigott.

I joined Kathy on the east side of the building where Pigott was located on a window 4 down from the roof.

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We were quickly losing daylight.  Like B&DC, she was preening.  lol

At 7:00 pm, she started to ee-chup loudly.  Kathy and I were looking around and finally saw what had Pigott vocalizing.  A falcon streaked over the top of the building heading over to the west side of the building.  Pigott stayed where she was and continued to vocalize, not as loudly as she had when the falcon arrived.  Kathy drove around the building, but could not find the falcon that we both assumed was Dot.ca.

We left Pigott on the east side of the building at about 7:15 pm.  It was too dark to continue our Watch.  Both Kathy and I did check out the downtown area on our way home, but again, it was too dark to see anything.  Oh, I miss those days when it was light until 9 pm.

The sky was beautiful this evening.  Red sky at night, sailors delight.   and it was delightful to us too!  Goodnight everyone!