By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We got a couple more inches of snow overnite-when I started out it was 22 degrees (F) -6 (C) and dark. The skies were overcast and it was snowing by the end of my watch

Once again this morning Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) gave me a hard time trying to find them. In my early travels I took some festive pics to share.

Click on my pics to see the full version

My first sighting was a small looking falcon flew over the hole and ended up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building around 7:38am. I was on my way back from checking Kodak Office (KO) when I saw it. After getting down to the hole I got one half way decent pic before it took off when I was examining the pic to decide who it was-I think it was DC.

I didn’t know which direction to go so I went to the east side first-20 minutes later as I came up on KO again I spotted Beauty on the south side arch below the launchpad.

10 minutes later as I was wiping the salt spray from a bus that whizzed by off my lens the Beautyful one left KO. I headed toward downtown and as I was stopped at the traffic light under the inner loop overpass on State St. I notices the wall mural.

At 8:10am I found Beauty and DC on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR-he was eating. I started in the hole then moved to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to observe.

DC stopped eating which prompted me to look over and see that Beauty had left so he was probably watching her (doing my job) fly off. After a minute or so he went back to eating and a few minutes later Beauty returned with some food of her own. I believe she had a leftover wing to eat while DC appeared to have a fresh meal.

<DC  Beauty>

I left them to it and went over to Brighton to check for Pigott, arriving there about 9am. I didn’t know if she would be around since LarryO had been there a little while earlier and reported not seeing her. Thankfully she was home as I spotted her on a south facing top level floor on the northeast extension. Miss Pigott had her back to me the whole time I stayed turning her head to have a look see as she normally does.

I departed after 45 minutes or so as Pigott seemed quite settled. It had started snowing and as I got closer to downtown it picked up in intensity. I had to go over by the Radisson Hotel in order to see if there was a falcon on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR-there was and her name is Beauty!

I didn’t see DC around so I chose to end my watch at 10am. Having seen all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons sent me on my way with a smile! 🙂

I have several videos today of which I have provided links for-just click and view

http://youtu.be/S-LcHDNg2xk

http://youtu.be/v8IrbsWBrwI

http://youtu.be/2V1ouUOIGBk

http://youtu.be/GgRzhIwdyBU

http://youtu.be/byfI0fY_v-Q

http://youtu.be/DJNt6csuOUM

http://youtu.be/6f7p_Oj2RrY—

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I was able to find all three Rochester Falcons before the sun set.  Rochester (NY) is cold and snowy right now.  Brrrrr!

Beauty was downtown on Mercury’s money bag hand.

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After looking for Dot.ca and not finding him downtown, I headed over to the BS location.  Both Dot.ca and Pigott were on the east end of the building.  Dot.ca was up on the tree ledge finishing a meal and Pigott was on a south facing window on the east extension.

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Dot.ca finished his meal.  Pigott took off and flew around to the north side of the building and Dot.ca followed.  I found them both on the north side of the east extension.  This is the spot we frequently find Pigott roosting at night.  Dot.ca was two windows below her.

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<— You need to click on this one to see both Pigott and Dot.ca.

I left them to go back through downtown.  Beauty was gone from the Mercury statue.  I did look up into the OCSR elevator shaft, but it was too dark and snowing too hard to see if she was up there.  The sun had set and it was time for me to end my watch at 4:45 pm.

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took after my watch tonight.  Please remember to click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!  Keep warm and safe!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Oh it was cold this morning-so cold that my camera had trouble focusing in a bone chilling temperature of 11 degrees (F) -12 (C) with a wind chill at -2!   However, there was bright sunshine to help a little bit

I  think our beloved falcons stayed in bed under the covers extra long today because it was so cold out. In my travels I drove by the Martin Luther King Park (formerly known as Manhattan Square Park) ice skating rink  with it’s festive decorations.

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

I couldn’t locate Beauty or Dot.Ca (DC) downtown so after almost an hour of searching I opted to go over to Brighton and check for Pigott. It turned out well for me as I found Miss Pigott on an east side window where it meets the northeast extension on the top level. This pretty Peregrine was preening and stretching her wings in the cold air.

She spent less than 10 minutes with me when she flew off to the east with an intense look on her face-she meant business and I felt sorry for whatever she caught up with as she took flight. The last I saw of her was a shadow on the building.

<click>

Pigott never came back so I left to see if I could find a PEFA downtown. After a couple trips around the usual places they hang out I found Beauty on Kodak Office (KO) as I was on Mill St.  I was looking on the launchpad as this is a favorite spot and just happened to catch her profile on the south side arch which is above the old Mariah & Kaver scrape area. I haven’t seen her there since last winter since this is one of her favorite winter spots.

I decided to go to State St. so I could observe the front of the Beautyful one. Below the D of the KODAK letters on the building there were some pigeons hiding out. Lucky for them Beauty wasn’t paying attention!

I left Beauty as she was resting to look for DC but I didn’t find him until I returned to State St.  He had joined Beauty while I was out and about searching for him. I spotted him on the southeast corner of the KO launchpad above where Beauty was still perched on the arch. His back was facing me so I went over to Verona St. which is on the west side of KO near the Rochester Red Wings baseball park.

Beauty was napping and DC had a full crop so I figured it was safe to assume they were settled in for a rest period as they soaked up the sun on this cold day. I ended my watch at 10am with a smile on my face as I saw all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons today after a slow start-but hey, better late than never! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my videos

http://youtu.be/kPY92d_ZD2E
http://youtu.be/d71D2Pz5eHw
http://youtu.be/G1smXg51kjM
http://youtu.be/sQ8-luvsdiw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

On my side of the city we got 5 inches of snow last night-when I got downtown there was maybe a couple and in Brighton I could see the grass with them getting even less. That’s how lake effect goes-it creates snow bands of varying degrees. The starting temperature was 20 (F) -7 (C) and with the wind chill factor it felt like it was 11 degrees (F) -12 (C)

Bausch & Lomb in the dark       Click on all my pics for full version

I didn’t find Beauty until almost 7:30am as I returned from the east side. She had visited Mercury, as reported to me by Donna while I was on the east side looking for her. When I reached the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I saw Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I took a ride over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to see the front of her, from there I could see her nibbling on a wing.

The Beautyful one finished less than a minute later and got cleaned up-one of her talons got special attention.

She seemed to get settled so I took a drive around to look for Dot.Ca (DC) -after an unsuccessful search for him I went to our Brighton Site (BS) where I found Pigott at home. Around 8:30am I found Miss Pigott on the northeast corner of the northeast extension. Initially I watched her from the front of the property and when she turned toward the east I went to the east side to observe her. She did a lot of looking around while I was there which is normal for her. Around 9am she gave me the look, flew east and never looked back.

With that I made my return trip to downtown and found DC on the Mercury Money Bag (MMB). I was parked at the end of Basin St. in the hole and I could see OCSR from there as well as Beauty was in the same place I left her on the top ibeam southeast side. DC was very busy watching a prey bird below him so busy that he slipped and almost fell off. Beauty and I just watching the show.

DC stooped on whatever he was fixated with but missed and went back to the money bag perch to continue watching it all over again. He finally gave up and flew over to OCSR, grabbed the wing leftover that Beauty had been eating on earlier and flew off to the east. Again, Beauty and I watching his antics.

After that I couldn’t help but end my watch smiling for not only DC the entertainer but also for having seen our 3 beloved resident Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Below you can click on the links to view my videos

http://youtu.be/93wCqEe4ppg
http://youtu.be/e6zPwyWXVgk
http://youtu.be/QIsdwvQ7Q6E

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

3:40 pm – 4:30 pm

This afternoon it was bitter cold with temps in the 20’s (F).  I made it a quick watch because I was hoping to find all three Rochester Falcons before it got dark.  My first stop was the Radisson where I was able to see Dot.ca up on the south side of the OCSR, top IBeam and Beauty up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the south side ledge.  I just got one picture of Dot.ca before he started to vocalize.  He took off and circled the OCSR building once and then headed northeast.  Beauty remained where she was.

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I quickly drove over to the BS location and found Pigott on a south facing window on the east extension.  She had her back to me and she was intently watching the flow of Crows flying by.

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On my way home, I checked downtown again and Beauty was still up inside the elevator shaft.  No sign of Dot.ca.  I was happy to have found all three Rochester Peregrine Falcons during my short late afternoon falcon watch.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

25 degrees (F) -4 (C) and overcast with a biting wind that made it feel even colder

I found Beauty on the Mercury Money Bag (MMB) as I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) about 7:25am  after checking the east side. I drove down to the hole to see the front of her. I stopped at Bausch&Lomb to take a pic of their atrium.

<Click it

Less than 10 minutes later she flew off to the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR  and joined Dot.Ca (DC) who had snuck in under my radar.

<Click it <DC <Beauty

About 15 minutes later DC flew off and I thought went up in the elevator shaft but when I looked he wasn’t up in there. Beauty flew east a minute later.

A few minutes later I watched the Beautyful one return to the same spot on OCSR only to fly off and go over to the Times Square building under the northeast wing.

I left Beauty to look for Pigott over in Brighton but she wasn’t there-however, I did see Miss Pigott on an east side window this afternoon when I was walking Jeannes’ dogs.  I got back downtown around 8:35am and found Beauty and DC back on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR and DC was just finishing up eating something. I started in the hole on Bank Place then drove over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to watch our downtown duo as DC cleaned himself up and Beauty rested with her back facing out.

<DC        <Beauty

<Click it   <DC>

They seemed settles so I ended my watch a little after 9am. After seeing all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons, a smile appeared on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view some videos

http://youtu.be/tjMjLQa-xoU

http://youtu.be/XdxxMzqnNu0

http://youtu.be/9HxdG3B6AfY

http://youtu.be/oAz2ARIzduA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We got an inch of snow covered by some freezing rain over nite with a starting temp 0f 34 (F) 1 (C) and overcast skies

As I stopped on Woodbury St. to check Xerox and HSBC I spotted a falcon on the southeast corner of HSBC -I drove to Broad St. and got one shot of it then  it flew off. I next found a falcon and I’m assuming it was Beauty in both incidents circling and hovering above Xerox and Bausch&Lomb (B&L) area. My heart sank and I got a knot in my stomach thinking there was another battle setting up. Thankfully that didn’t happen!

Lots of flying going in and out of view around the east side just like battle day and at one point another falcon came into the mix but with no aggression toward each other and the obvious size difference I figure it was Dot.Ca (DC).

DC flew south in a stoop and never came back-Beauty did a stoop of her own that was like supersonic fast toward the river and that was the last I saw of any falcons during my watch.

I left after unsuccessfully looking for Beauty and DC to check out the Brighton Site-no luck there and no luck after returning to downtown either. I did see some peaceful flying  on the east side of downtown which had me smiling after I was sure there was no kind of battle going to take place and I ended my watch at 9:30am. 🙂

Click on the links below to view some flying videos

http://youtu.be/d6Wj-Auw4-E
http://youtu.be/r95puNNKQDw
http://youtu.be/ES428DPESHw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My watch started with a Red-tailed Hawk and ended with a Snowy Owl, with three Peregrine Falcons in the middle.  Not a bad way to spend a cold, mostly cloudy Sunday.

I started my watch today at 11 am, heading out to the BS location first.  On my 2nd circle around the building, I ran into Joyce and Brian.  They told me that they had seen a falcon zip around the building heading south. Guess I just missed her.  lol  I stayed there for about a 1/2 hour and when she didn’t return, I went downtown, where I found Beauty eating on the northeast corner of the Widows Walk (WW). (11:35 am)

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At 12:25 pm, Beauty finished eating and Dot.ca joined her.  Dana joined me on the watch.

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After awhile, Beauty continued her meal and filled up her crop.  Dot.ca had a full crop himself and just remained nearby watching over Beauty.  Every now and then they would softly “wail” to each other.  By 1:35 pm, Beauty finished her meal (again).  Dot.ca took off heading south and Beauty took off heading north.   Dana and I looked for Beauty, but could not find her.  We decided to head over to the BS location.  There we found Dot.ca on the southwest corner of the southwest extension and Pigott was finishing a meal on the southeast corner of the southeast extension. (1:50 pm)

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Both Pigott and Dot.ca started to alarm call – kak-kak-kak and they both took off heading south, fast.   We could not see what they were after.  A few moments later they flew back to the west side of the building.  We found both of them in the cubby and they were vocalizing by ee-chupping to each other.

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Dot.ca flew out of the cubby and landed on the northwest corner of the northwest extension.  After a few moments, Pigott flew up to the southwest corner of the west extension.

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At 3:00 pm, we left Dot.ca and Pigott at the BS location, both with very full crops.  I wanted to find Beauty before I headed home, so I went through downtown, finding her on the north side of the OCSR on the top IBeam at 3:20 pm.

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While I was driving around looking for her, I saw this beautiful Christmas Window on St Paul St.  I’ve passed it many times, but was never able to get a picture of it.

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So, with all three Rochester Falcons seen and all with very full crops, it was time to head home.  I took the lake route home, hoping to see Billy or the Snowy Owl that Joyce and Brian reported seeing on Buck Pond.  This is the pond that I’ve been getting such beautiful sunset pictures.  Sorry to say that Billy was not seen, but Dana and I did find the Buck Pond Snowy.  So, like I said in the beginning, my watch started with a Red-tailed Hawk on a no pigeons allowed light pole and ended with a gorgeous Snowy Owl on Buck Pond.

I’ll leave you with a few pics from the beginning and end of my day.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

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Snowy Owl on Buck Pond

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 21 finger numbing degrees (F) -6 (C) when I stepped out for my watch today with virtually no wind and overcast conditions

I spotted Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC  from Woodbury St. to start the day. As I approached on Chestnut St. I spotted the Liberty Pole over at Main St. between buildings.

I watched her from below on Court St. I love looking straight up a building to see a falcon at the end of the view.

Less than 10 minutes later she flew off to the southwest and when she didn’t return right away I left for the Broad St. bridge (BSB).

A few minutes later Beauty showed up under the northeast wing of the Times Square Building (TSB) and Dot.Ca (DC) was on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. Their backs were facing out so I had to get closer to ID them-I went to the hole.

<DC   <Beauty

DC left the building 10 minutes later so I thought I’d go check on Miss Pigott. On my way I stopped to check out the tree in the TSB lobby.

<Click it   

I found my way to Brighton and found Pigott on an east side window where it meets the northeast extension 2 levels down at 8:10am. I’ll just let the pictures tell you what she did while I shared space with her.

And of course she had to get a walk in.

She stopped and turned her back to the world and that’s how pretty Pigott stayed the rest of the time I spent with her. When I got back to downtown I searched in vain to find Beauty and DC. I ended my watch at 10:30am with a smile for having seen all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons!  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I arrived on the Broad St Bridge just before 10:00 am to find both Beauty and Dot.ca on the south side of the OCSR, top IBeam.  MAK was reporting from the BS location that she had Pigott there, so all three Rochester Falcons were seen today by the Watchers; Beauty and Dot.ca downtown and Pigott and Dot.ca  at BS.

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At 10:55 am, Dot.ca took off heading south towards the jail communication tower and Cornhill.  Soon after Beauty took off.  I checked all over downtown twice before ending up at the Broad St Bridge.  From there I could see that Beauty had returned to the OCSR top IBeam, but I could not find Dot.ca.  So, I headed out to the BS location where Lisa McK was reporting that a falcon had just arrived there and was plucking feathers.  (10:50 am).

I joined Lisa and found a falcon on the SE corner of the east extension.  At first I thought it was Pigott, but after checking my pictures, I believe it was Dot.ca.

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Dot.ca took off and chased a Red-tailed Hawk to the south.

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I headed back downtown and found Beauty still on the south side of OCSR, top IBeam and Dot.ca was up on the Times Square Bldg southeast wing ledge.

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At noon, Beauty flew up to the nest box.

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First Beauty and then Dot.ca took off and flew northeast over the river.  To me it looked like they were in hunt mode.  There was no vocalization, although they had been “chatting” with each other earlier.

They did not return, so I went back out to the BS location and again had no luck finding Pigott.  Back downtown I went.  I found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the south side top IBeam of OCSR.

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Just as I was tweeting that I was ending my watch, Dot.ca took off and successfully hunted.  He ended up on the southeast wing ledge on the Times Square Bldg and started plucking feathers.

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I ended my watch at 2:30 pm.  It was nice to have a nice peaceful falcon watch today.  Goodnight everyone!