By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(3:30 – 5:00 pm)

As I type up this report, I can hear the wind howling outside and the snow is falling at a good clip.  It was a cold, blustery, snowy day here in Rochester, NY.  Not sure if the temperature made it to the freezing mark or not. That’s November in Rochester for you.  We received less than an inch of snow, but this was the first measurable snow this Fall.

When I left work, I headed down Mt. Read Blvd heading south towards downtown.  I was just approaching St Paul Blvd when I saw a Peregrine Falcon chasing a gull over a parking lot on the east side of Mt Read.  The falcon broke off the chase and continued flying south.  I was caught in traffic, so no pictures.  By the time I was able to turn around, I was unable to find the falcon.  I even checked the Ridgeway Kodak Park area, wondering if it might have gone there.  But, sorry to say, I could not find the falcon.

Onward to downtown Rochester, where I found Dot.ca on the Kodak Tower launch pad, south east corner.  He did not stay there long, taking off and heading south towards downtown.

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Of course I headed in the direction I had last seen him.  After searching all over and not finding any falcons, I drove over to the Radisson and checked out the elevator shaft of the OCSR.  There was definitely a falcon up there on the north side ledge, and based on size, I am fairly certain it was Beauty.  It’s a great spot for the falcons to get out of the weather.  All the Rochester Falcons over time have used this sheltering spot, including Mariah and Kaver.  In fact, Mariah showed this spot to Archer, and he showed it to Beauty and now Dot.ca knows!

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There was a whole lot of traffic downtown and you cannot park on the north side of the Broad St Bridge.  Not sure what event is happening this week in downtown Rochester.  Since Beauty looked like she was settled, it was time to check on Pigott at the BS location.  It was 4:30 pm and I was already losing light.

At BS, I found Pigott on the west end of the south side vent.  Ten minutes later, Pigott took off and flew around to the east side of the building.  Dot.ca had arrived on the south east corner of the south east extension.  Pigott was on the south east corner of the east extension.   By 5:00 pm, it was dark and snow was moving in.  Just before I left, Dot.ca took off and stooped over the field to the south of the building, which was snow covered.  I did not see him return.  Pigott remained where she was.  There was no vocalization between them at all.

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It was time for me to leave.  I went home via the lake route, but it was way too dark for me to check for Billy or the Latta tiercel.

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took during my watch today.  Be sure to click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Brrr this  morning with a starting temperature of 26 (F) 3 (C) , a coating of icy snow and a wind that made it feel like 18.

From the Broad St. bridge (BSB) I spotted a falcon on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I drove to the hole for a closer view but it had its back to me and it was too dark out still to ID it, although I suspected Dot.Ca (DC) because of the tiny bit of white I could see.

I got tweets from Donna and then Annette that they could see  a falcon on the Mercury money bag (MMB). From where I was I couldn’t see Mercury and by the time I did get a look it was gone. Thank you for your help ladies! When I looked back to OCSR there were 2 falcons both facing me and clearly by the naked eye I could see Beauty had joined DC with 4 windows seperating them. I drove over by the Radisson Hotel and Main St. for a more open view of things.

Click on my pics to see the full version

The conditions were bad for picture taking this morning but I did get a few that were usable. DC left at 7am after spending about 10 minutes with Beauty. Even with the dark conditions I couldn’t help but notice the reflections of Mercury on the shiny newly cleaned windows of OCSR.

<Click it

I shared space with the Beautyful one for half hour or more when I decided to check the Brighton location (BS) to see if DC had gone there since I wasn’t able to find him downtown. I arrived at 8am finding DC was on the southeast corner of  the southeast extension and Pigott was on the east end of the south side vent. Pigott  flew off and DC followed behind going very fast to the southeast beyond the trees and started stooping on something that I couldn’t see.

<Pigott> <DC>

When they returned, DC went to the east end of the south side vent and Pigott to the east side upper roof.

<DC      Pigott>

About 5 minutes later Miss Pigott flew south and returned to land on the southeast corner of the southeast extension. They stayed in these spots for the next 45 minutes preening and looking around. Just before 9am Pigott flew off going southwest this time followed again by DC and were harassing a gull this time. She came to rest on an east side window ledge and he to the southeast corner of the southeast extension.

<DC <Pigott> <DC

Only a couple minutes passed when I caught a glimpse of them flying toward the northwest quickly leaving my field of vision behind the building. I waited 10-15 minutes but they didn’t return so back downtown I went, finding Beauty and DC back on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR in pretty much the same spots that they had been before I went to BS. I left them like this ending my watch at 9:30am.

I must say DC was a busy boy this morning and it’s starting to look like he may be staying for the winter. They sure do keep us guessing don’t they!? Something else they do is make me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/zpCxJqyuSMA
http://youtu.be/5ZJfX5YJP_8
http://youtu.be/lH4DHNwSGOI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The day started out mostly cloudy but the sun did shine off and on at first, then overcast skies prevailed. The starting temperature was 34 (F) 1 (C)

I came across Beauty on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner around 6:45am from the Broad St. bridge. I drove down to Graves St. for a closer look.

Less than 10 minutes later Beauty flew to the Times Square building and landed under the northeast wing, she flew out over the river and returned to the same spot. I believe she was looking for Dot.Ca (DC).  I was parked in the hole watching her preen a little but mostly she was looking over her territory.

I left the Beautyful one to check the Brighton site and see if DC might be there with Pigott. I was half right-Pigott flew in from the east and landed on the southeast corner of the southeast extension as I arrived at 8am, but no DC. She walked over to the corner above the roof top tree a couple minutes later and was watching a crow telling it a thing or two.

After she convinced the crow to leave by jabbering at it Miss Pigott flew to the front of the building on the northeast corner of the northeast extension. She mostly preened for the next half hour as I left around 8:45am.

As I made my way down Exchange Blvd. I spotted a falcon fly off Times Square headed north so I went straight down State St. to City Hall where I found Beauty on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower.

It was nearly 9am and I hadn’t seen DC yet so I was starting to think he blew out of town with that wind yesterday on migration. Beauty left after a couple minutes  and I went to the Andrews St. bridge to have a look around. I could see a falcon on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad. When I got over there my thoughts of DC having left on migration were put to rest-it was DC.

He turned his back to me so I went down to Mill St. to watch and from there I spotted Beauty above him on the cupola.

<Click it

After a few minutes DC flew southeast but Beauty stayed a couple minutes longer before she flew off over the river and then headed south out of view.

It was a dreary watch as far as the weather goes but I still ended my watch with a smile at 9:40am after seeing all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to watch 3 videos from this mornings watch

http://youtu.be/R1CWpcPIEaE
http://youtu.be/_Q9U_-omMaY
http://youtu.be/i2XpdbWIEBU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I spent my whole watch down by the lake (Ontario) (9:30 am to 1:30 pm).  That wasn’t my intention, but that’s how it worked out today.

There was a high wind warning posted for Rochester, NY with sustained winds of 25-35 mph and gusts of 50 mph.  I started my watch by driving along the lake shore, checking out the spots we have seen falcons recently. Latta location, no.  Russell Station, no.  Charlotte/Summerville, no.  There were dark clouds over the lake and the lake was full of white caps.

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After finding no falcons on my lake route, something made me return to Russell Station (RS)  instead of heading downtown and I’m really glad I did.  I was parked in the small parking lot just north of RS when I saw a bird on the antenna at the west end of the building.  At first I thought it was a crow, because it was crouched over.  Not the usual posture of a Peregrine Falcon.  I drove around to the south side where I had a better view.  It was definitely not a Crow.  It was a juvenile Peregrine Falcon.

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The reason this juvie was hunched over was because of the high winds.  She was having trouble hanging on to the antenna she was perched on.  Every now and then she would let go and hover and then let the wind catch her.  When that happened, she would add the speed of the wind to her own and zip around the smoke stacks and then return to the antenna to ride it again.  To me it looked like she was playing.

Just after I sent a text out that there was a falcon at RS, she took off again and let the wind carry her to the west.  I lost sight of her and she did not return to the antenna.  I drove back around to the north side parking lot and watched from there.  Dana and Lou joined me.  I saw about 6 pigeons fly from the building.  That’s when I spotted the juvie on the north side between the two stacks on the ledge below the top row of windows.

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Kathy O joined.  It was windy and rainy now, so we all stayed in our cars.  Finally it cleared up for a little while.  Dana was able to verify that the band was black over green.  We are fairly certain that this was Billy, the juvenile that has been seen here recently.  It had been a few days since she had been seen by anyone, so it was great seeing her.

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She remained in that spot for a long time.  But, she finally took off and again took flight, flying on the high winds.  Dana and I saw her stoop towards the small pond to the north and zip over the water where there was a group of mallards swimming.  She did’t get one and returned to fly around the stacks.

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After awhile, we lost sight of Billy and could not find her.  I was very happy for the time we had with this young falcon. It started to rain again, so I decided to end my watch at 1:30 pm.  I hope we see a lot more of Billy in the future and that she finds a place of her own and a mate.

There was still a lot of beautiful fall leaves before the winds started, but I bet there’s a lot less now.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature as I walked out the door today was 44 (F) 6 (C) with partly cloudy skies and a busy breeze that would get much busier this afternoon. We’re under a high wind alert today

I didn’t find Beauty until nearly 7am this morning as I found her under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB). She was seen on the Mercury money bag (MMB) on cam before that while I was looking for her on the east side. She stooped over the river a minute or so later and ended up on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. Beauty flew off fast to the southwest at 7:17am.  I think she was looking for Dot.Ca (DC).

In my travels to find Beauty and DC I took in what’s left of our fall colors and when I didn’t find them I drove over to Brighton. I found no falcons there today.

Be sure to click on my pics to see the full version

I returned to downtown at 8am finding the Beautyful one once again on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I parked in the hole behind Keybank to observe and had a visit from Larry and his dog Harold. After a quick hello they continued on their walk to Aqueduct Park.

Suddenly Beauty saw something and flew off  at 8:21am. I got a tweet from cam watcher Annette who said a falcon was on the MMB but when I got to a place where I could see, it was gone. It was most likely DC.

Click them

Then Larry tweeted that he saw 2 falcons flying around the Andrews Terrace apartments so I went looking from the Andrews St. bridge. I didn’t find them and when I returned to the hole I spotted DC on OCSR top ibeam near the south corner-the sun was on him making it blinding to look at his white chest.  He took off a minute later while I was looking around for Beauty-I found her on the southeast corner of Widows Walk.

She flew over to the back of the TSB where DC was with food-he took off with it as I was crossing Exchange Blvd. to go to the parking lot next to TSB. Beauty ate a tiny little morsel that DC left behind and then she flew northwest.

Right after she left around 9:05am Shaky sent out a tweet that a bigger falcon chased a smaller falcon off the large FCT dish. At 9:06am Beauty flew up under the northeast wing of TSB and a few minutes later she started whining and looking down at DC who had  food on the back of  the TSB.

<Beauty <DC

DC was eating especially fast for about 15 minutes and then he spotted Beauty above followed by her landing a couple feet away from him-you can see her wing as she lands in the last pic below if you click it.

<click it

The party was over as Beauty walked aggressively toward him prompting him to grab his prize and fly off leaving a small piece behind.

<Click it  

Beauty made short work of the tidbit and flew off. I ended my watch at 9:40am smiling from all the antics of our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcon pair! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos from my busy watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi8E

http://youtu.be/YOcbPaTXmAM
http://youtu.be/xHczhI4vWuU
http://youtu.be/WxET9TolNcI
http://youtu.be/FZ6jMOCoPhU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a cold, blustery day with just a couple teases of sunshine during my five hour watch.  (10 am – 3 pm) I spent the first one and a half hours of my watch checking out the lake area for falcons.  Sorry to say, I did not see any falcons at Latta, Russell Station, Charlotte-Summerville, Seneca Towers or Hawkeye.  While I was heading downtown, Dana tweeted that she had spotted Pigott at the BS location.  Pigott was eating on the north side of the building on the center lower roof.

As I approached Kodak Office (11:30 am), I could see that both Beauty and Dot.ca were on the Kodak Tower.  Dot.ca was on the north east corner of the launch pad and Beauty was above him on the cupola.  Seems to be a current favored spot for these two.

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They seemed pretty settled, so I headed over to the BS location to see Pigott, who I hadn’t seen for a couple days.  I joined Dana on the north side.  Pigott was just finishing her meal when I arrived and I had just missed Larry O.  (Noon)  Dana left at a little before 1:00 pm.  She drove through downtown on her way home and reported that Beauty and Dot.ca were still on the Kodak Tower.  I stayed with Pigott until she took off and flew over to the NE corner of the NE extension at 2:30 pm.  All the time I was watching her, she was hyper aware of her surroundings.  Her head was in constant motion, back and forth, back and forth and up now and then to watch a bird pass overhead.  Here are a few pictures I took of Pigott while I was there.

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I left Pigott at 2:30 pm and headed back downtown where I found both Beauty and Dot.ca still on the Kodak Tower.  They weren’t budging.  lol

I rechecked the lake area and found no Peregrines.  But I did find another type of falcon.  A Merlin was hunting from a light pole across from Shallers on Island Cottage/Edgemere in Greece (NY), near the lake (Ontario).  It is very interesting to see the differences in how Peregrines and Merlins hunt.   While Peregrines fly high and stoop at high speed on their prey, this Merlin was hunting birds on the ground from the pole.  I watched as he swooped over the grass scaring the small birds that were foraging there into flight.  He (I say he, but I have no idea if this was a male or female) missed and flew up to another pole near the street.  He then took off again, this time heading west down Edgemere Dr.  I drove home that way, but could not find the Merlin.  I do love these feisty falcons, but rarely see them.  While I was watching the Merlin, Kathy O was checking out the Latta location.  She texted me that there was no falcon there.

I’ll leave you with a few pics of the Merlin.  Be sure to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning the weather was cold, breezy and overcast with a temp of 34 (F) 1 (C) to start but before my watch was over it was snowing

Every morning I see the crows leaving their night time roost from the trees in Washington Square Park. I guess the city will have to pay for some more pyro-technics to shoo them away again as they have for the last 2 years. They just keep coming back!!

Make sure to click on my pics to see the full version

I discovered Beauty on the east side of HSBC around 6:45am-she had her back to me and 5 minutes later she turned,spread her wings and  flew over to the northeast corner.

I went to my spot on Chestnut St. by the Hotel Cadillac to watch as she walked a few feet over grabbed cached food and flew off back to the northeast corner to eat it.

As the sun arose from its slumbers behind Beauty it lit her up.  She finished up eating and flew west  quite nonchalantly and I followed.

I found the Beautyful one 10 minutes later on the northeast side of OCSR top ibeam. I stayed a few minutes and left to sheck the Brighton Site.

I found Pigott just before the 8 o’clock hour on the west side roof eating. She finished up after half hour and flew around to the front of the building where I found her on the northwest corner of the middle section.

Tiny raindrops started falling from the sky as I set out to return downtown after spending an hour with Miss Pigott. As I entered downtown from Cornhill on Exchange Blvd. I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) followed by Beauty fly up to the nest box area. I pulled over in front of the Blue Cross Arena to observe. Less than a minute later DC shot out and flew up under the northeast wing of  the Times Square building (TSB). Beauty came out from the nest box to perch on the front ledge of it.

I then drove to the hole where I could see DC better and at 8:45am he flew east in a big hurry. A few minutes later I found out why he was in such a hurry-he caught breakfast and had taken it to the north side of the lower roof on the back of TSB. Feathers were a flying!

I tweeted out my findings and to my surprise when I looked back up there DC had been replaced by Beauty. I think she was looking for DCs food as she flew to a spot further down looked around and then flew over to the east side railing of Widows Walk. She led me right to DC who was on the northeast corner below her at just about 9am.

They stayed like this for 10 minutes then Beauty flew north followed by DC-monkey see monkey do!

DC

I caught up to them on the Kodak Office tower-DC was on the northeast corner of the launchpad and Beauty was above him on the cupola. The very light rain was turning into small snow drops as I parked on Mill St.

I left these two together (which is the theme lately for them) ending my watch around 9:30am with a smile! 🙂

Below are links for a photo album and many videos from my watch-just click and view

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi76

http://youtu.be/atYgUt-h6So
http://youtu.be/38zgEFlQB38
http://youtu.be/17F1VabDx2g
http://youtu.be/QMOs6xChEtY
http://youtu.be/bd253rR1Bw8
http://youtu.be/hwXm81iP7I8
http://youtu.be/VdGr_k1Q1c8
http://youtu.be/hcbn-Jxqv8c

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 36 (F) 2 (C) when I walked out the door this morning with dark snow clouds moving in from the north,east and west. They eventually moved over the city dropping snow,ice pellets and rain on and off.

As I drove on to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) after checking the east side for a falcon I watched one fly up to the deck and land next to the main camera. I drove down to the hole next to He’s Chinese to see that it was Beauty. I also noticed Dot.Ca (DC) up under the northeast wing of the Times Square Building (TSB).

<DC   <Beauty>

10 minutes later the 2 of them flew out over the river and Beauty returned landing on the deck first then up to the main cam. I didn’t see where DC went off to.

5 minutes later Beauty went down to the nest box as DC flew in landing on the deck by the main cam. Next thing I knew I was hearing some faint chupping.  I found out there was bowing involved also and then DC flew away followed by Beauty half a minute later.

<DC>

I found them a minute later on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR a few feet away from each other. I drove over to Main St. by the Radisson Hotel to observe our 2 love birds. Beauty preened while DC  looked around with his back to her.

<DC <Click it>

<Beauty<Click it>

I left them around 7:30am to check the Brighton Site (BS) as it  started to snow.  When I arrived there it was sunny with blue skies, one trip around the building and it was snow pelleting-the dark clouds had followed me. Oh and there was no Pigott. I returned to check downtown before heading out. Beauty and DC were in the same spots as I left them on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. Every time I see Beauty and DC hanging out together it makes me smile! 🙂

Check out the links below to see our dynamic duo in action

http://youtu.be/EyP5klbQLl0

http://youtu.be/AxPj_h-cCq

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My afternoon falcon watches have been reminding me more and more of that old Carole King song.  You know the one.

“Where you lead, I will follow.  Anywhere that you tell me to.”

It usually doesn’t take me long to find Beauty and Dot.ca and when I do, they are usually together.  Today was no different.  I found them both on the Mercury statue.  Beauty was on the base of the statue and Dot.ca was on the upthrust hand that holds a money bag.

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It was really cold this afternoon and threatening clouds had moved in.  It felt like it would snow at any moment.  In fact, they are calling for a chance of snow overnight.  We’ll see.

I moved out to the Broad St Bridge to get a different view of the falcons.  First Beauty spread her wings and took off, flying north down the river and over the Radisson.  She turned towards the OCSR and landed on the south side top IBeam.  She wasn’t there long before Dot.ca took off and joined her.  lol  It is fun watching these two.

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Dot.ca on the left and Beauty on the right on the south side of OCSR, top IBeam.

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While I was watching Beauty and Dot.ca on Mercury, I spotted this very large gull on the river below.  I believe it is a Herring Gull.  Almost twice as big as the Ring-billed Gulls.

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It was time for me to move on.  Next stop the BS location.  I found Pigott on a window on the south side of the east end of the building near the corner.  She had her back to me. Joyce joined me on the Watch.  We didn’t stay long, because we were losing light quickly and I wanted to check out the lake areas.  This is the best picture I was able to get of Pigott at BS.

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I left Joyce and headed north towards Lake Ontario.  By the time I arrived at Charlotte/Summerville, it was dark, but I could still see the antenna at the Coast Guard Station and it was empty.  Russell Station was next and again I could find no falcons.  I did take a picture of the towering dark clouds building over the lake (Ontario).

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My last stop was Latta Rd.  No falcon there either.  It was time to head home.  My Watch was short and sweet, but seeing all three resident falcons made it a good watch.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It rained overnite but I had only overcast skies and a temp of 46 (F) 8 (C) on my watch

After a trip around the city I came up on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) from the east and spotted the Beautyful one on the Mercury money bag (MMB). I drove down to the hole parking on Bank Place, next to the Philipone building as she kept looking below her, I assume for a cache-10 minutes later Beauty flew out and back to Mercury coming to rest on the base this time and started eating a small piece of cached food which she finished off quickly.

Another 10 minutes passed when she flew east, back to the base briefly then off again heading northwest. I went looking and when I came back to the BSB I saw that both Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) were on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I was surprised to see them so close to the OCSR window washers who were around the corner on the southwest  side. I first observed from the hole and then went up to Main St. at the Radisson Hotel.

The 2 love birds perched up there just looking toward each other with their backs to the world. Togetherness  is a beautyful thing!

<Beauty><DC>

I left them to it and went to the Brighton site for a check. No Pigott and I thought maybe it was because of the high-pitched alarm of some sort that was going off on the front of the building on the east side complete with 2 flashing strobe lights. Off I went, back to check downtown where I wasn’t able to locate any PEFAs. I ended my watch at 8:45am -as I made my way down Exchange Blvd. to leave I saw a falcon on the MMB and just as I thought about going back it flew off headed north toward OCSR. One last glimpse of one of our Perergrine Falcons to send me off smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/DSxahBVSWcU
http://youtu.be/eBa8eiU_lmA
http://youtu.be/vb0s3E5PTVQ
http://youtu.be/qnPBXfT3jSo
http://youtu.be/q7wdRRP4o8k