By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The day dawned at 28 degrees (F) -2 (C) with a beautiful sunrise and blue skies-that changed when lake effect snow showers and dark skies moved in and out

My first sighting was a colorful light show on State St. near the High Falls district. I am greeted by it every morning as I get off of 490. City Hall on Fitzhugh St. looks nice too with lights in the trees!

Click on my pics to see the full version

I found Beauty at 7:12am on the southeast corner of HSBC  in the semi-dark looking for breakfast to show up.

She didn’t stay long after I arrived on Chestnut St. south of HSBC to watch her. She flew northeast prompting me to go to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB). I found her next on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I set up in the hole (Aqueduct St.) to observe the Beautyful one.

I left to check for Pigott since I hadn’t seen her yesterday and wanted to have a good look at her to see that she was doing ok since she most likely was Beautys’   foe in the battle on Wednesday and Thursday. As I approached from the northeast I saw a falcon on the southeast corner of the southeast extension. As I came around from the south side of the Brighton site (BS) it flew off to the north and didn’t come back. As I waited for a return I couldn’t help but notice the gorgeous sunrise.

<Click it

I returned to downtown where I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB). He finished eating something as I arrived in the hole.

It started to snow and after 10 minutes I went looking for Beauty-when I came back I found DC now under the southeast wing and Beauty on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. I just barely caught DC land near Beauty as he soon joined her in a snow flurry.

<DC  <Beauty

I left our downtown duo in a flurry to check for Miss Pigott one more time-she was there this time when I arrived around 9:1oam. She was on a top window ledge in  a corner where the east side meets the northeast extension. She had her back to me but in ususal Pigott style made plenty of head movements as she kept track of her surroundings. The next series of pics shows her being herself in the hour I spent with her.

<sticks out her tongue

A little after 10am Miss Pigott flew off to the southeast and didn’t return.

CarolP had Beauty and DC on the OCSR so I didn’t need to check on them thus ending my watch. It certainly put a smile on this watchers face to see all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons  looking and flying good! 🙂

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

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi_I

http://youtu.be/oNi8GxKnNpM
http://youtu.be/Ml8gxn7NlTg
http://youtu.be/ehXZiQQxYK0
http://youtu.be/QgjBS9n7Lf0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce (wnyfalconfan)

Checked on Pigott the day after the downtown battle. Although we are not sure who the second female was, just wanted to make sure she appeared okay. Here she is with a full crop.  Pigott definitely eats well!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 20 degrees colder this morning than yesterday at 34 (F) 1 (C) less windy but just as dark and overcast

I arrived downtown half hour before first light like yesterday and in my travels to find a falcon I came upon a nicely lit tree in front of the South Ave. garage.

Click on my pics to see a larger version

At 7:15am I found a falcon up in the elevator shaft of the OCSR on the north side-I checked out the pic and when I looked back up there it was gone. Falcon watching is a game of split seconds-one second you see them and the next you don’t.

I could not say who this was but I had a falcon.  I went to the Broad St. bridge (BSB) and spotted the tiny bump of a falcon on the northeast corner of Xerox. While stopped at a red light on Broad St. at Chestnut St. I grabbed my camera and a split second before I pushed the shutter button it flew off and I got the tip of the tail feathers in the frame. Anyway, it stooped toward the river and so I drove straight ahead to the BSB where I spotted a falcon on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. Upon closer inspection from the hole I easily identified it as Beauty. I went to Graves St. for an even closer view.

Beauty was keeping a watchful eye on the Xerox area in between looking for breakfast. As I was tweeting Beauty left. Donna reported to me that she saw her leave. Thank you for your support!

So I drove up to the BSB again and noticed one falcon circling above Xerox-my heart sank and I thought we were in for another long day. It flew over to the Chase building and back very non-chalantly so I suspected it was Beauty scouting the area for prey or foe. She stooped toward the south and I lost her behind buildings-soon after she reappeared empty-taloned and alone! Phew!! Beauty flew around the east side a bit more and left my field of vision. I went and looked for her but didn’t find her until I returned to the BSB. She must have been feeling confident that there was no other PEFA around for she was out in the open on the Mercury money bag (MMB).

I went to the hole to see the front of her and get a good look at her for any sign of injury-thankfully she looked in tip top shape and Beautyful as ever.

I shared space with her for 5-10 minutes then she stooped down in the river and came back up empty-taloned and flew west out of sight.

10 minutes later she turned up under the northeast wing on the Times Square building (TSB). I hung out by He’s Chinese food restaurant for 15-20 minutes then went searching for Dot.Ca (DC). From the Andrews St. bridge about 9:15am I could see a falcon under the southeast wing of TSB and when I returned to my spot by He’s I could see that DC was perched there across from Beauty.

<Beauty

DC had a very full crop and was picking at something that was stuck to one of his talons. Now KathyO had checked the Brighton site and found a falcon which had its back to her so she didn’t know who it was maybe half hour before DC showed up with his full crop. Hmm… I wonder. lol

Beauty flew east half hour later and DC remained to digest his food. I took off looking for Beauty on the east side with no luck in finding her. When I got back to the BSB Dan was there-I caught him up on the events of the last couple days and then I left to look for Beauty again. As I was at the Radisson Hotel checking the elevator shaft I saw Beauty fly up to the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR and land.

She had eaten a meal for her crop was full. I returned to BSB with Dan. LarryO walked up with Harold as they were out for a hike. Dan and Larry left after a few minutes and I decided to check for Pigott. I came up empty at the Brighton site-I so wanted to see Miss Pigott and check her out for injuries in case she was the female Beauty was fighting yesterday. On my way downtown Ei reported 2 falcons on OCSR. Thank you! DC was with Beauty just a few feet away from each other on the top ibeam southeast side.

Beauty was napping on and off as DC preened. All was calm and peaceful in downtown Rochester as I ended my watch at noon to go to an appointment. Smiling-you bet I was!  🙂

Click on the links below to see my videos of the day

http://youtu.be/PH2XafzaiYA
http://youtu.be/Rgc6AlFm9Zw
http://youtu.be/VCd95RPJAI4
http://youtu.be/PCmcXVd7kN0
http://youtu.be/AGS_cGxSSZk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I’ll just add a little bit and a few pics from my watch today.  Most of our watch was spent staring up at the sky and watching Beauty and the other female flying between Xerox, B&L, HSBC and points east.  That’s why MAK, Dana and I ended up at the Strong Museum parking lot.  Now and then they would land, but never for too long.  They would be up again and flying.  When there was an opening, one or the other would stoop on and hit the other.  The battle has now entered its second day.

If you’re wondering why Dot.ca has not joined the battle, it’s because the male (tiercel) is much smaller than these females and will usually not become involved.  He could easily be injured by the females.  He is usually nearby watching.  Now we just watch and wait to see how this will all turn out.

Here are some pics I took during today’s watch, just to give you a taste of what we were seeing all day.

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*  Remember to Click on Any You Would Like to See Larger

I would like to thank all the Rochester Falcon Watchers that joined the Watch today to keep their eyes to the sky.  MAK, Dana, Kathy O, Larry O, Lisa McK, Pat, Debbie H, Joyce & Brian. Your help was greatly appreciated.

We will continue to keep an eye on the situation and report what we see.

Goodnight Everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The day started out warm at 53 degrees (F) 12 (C) but it was dark,dreary and overcast with a very busy breeze

I won’t be doing my usual detailed report because there was so much that went on and most of it was repetitive.In order to see as much of the action as possible we had to watch from a distance and even then we missed a lot behind buildings, so therefore I don’t have many pics from the day because of dark conditions and distance. Plus, we had to watch them as closely as possible in case one went down and you really couldn’t take your eyes off  of them very much.

After the battle that ensued at the end of the day yesterday between Beauty and another female I thought I’d better get downtown well before first light. I arrived around 6:40am and didn’t find a falcon until after 7am when cam watchers Donna and Annette reported seeing a falcon on the Mercury money bag. Thanks ladies! I was on the east side at the time and when I got to the Broad St. bridge (BSB) I got one pic and then it was gone.

I can’t say who this is but I’m pretty sure it’s not Beauty. The Beautyful one went to the nest box on 2 separate occasions but not for long. As a matter of fact there were no landings today by either Beauty or the other female that lasted very long. I am just in awe of the stamina and endurance these 2 falcons had as they battled or chased each other for 8 solid hours.

The first sighting of the 2 came around 7:45am when Beauty left the nest box to meet her nemesis over the river. She has a notch out of her left wing  and a bit of her tail as well. They started out pretty mellow-not really engaging but flying close and making some intimidation type moves toward each other.

<Beauty

Fellow watcher DebbieH reported seeing a falcon on the north side of OCSR which had to be Dot.Ca (DC) because I had the females in sight. DC stayed out of the battle spending most of the time watching the conflict from afar but he did fly near them a few times thru out the day. Dana joined me on the BSB around 8:10am. The first engagement happened around this time above Xerox and after this first round Beauty flew to the nest box and the other female landed on the southwest corner of Xerox. Cam watcher FlaDonna reported Beauty at nest box and Shaky confirmed. Thanks FD and Shaky!

This lasted a very short time and then they met over at Xerox again to continue their territorial dispute. The day in a nutshell consisted of  Beauty and this intruding female  in the air almost non-stop either chasing or stooping each other or just soaring and gliding to conserve energy in close proximity to each other in between fight rounds. They did all their battling on the east side of the river around Xerox,Bausch&Lomb, Midtown,HSBC and to the southeast of that over East Ave, and Alexander St. area. Back and forth,back and forth ALL DAY!  KathyO and Joyce checked the Brighton site for Pigott as we suspect she is the other female but we haven’t been able to confirm it. Miss Pigott was not there then or on 2 other occasions when I went over to check. Around 10am Joyce spotted DC on the northwest corner of Xerox watching the war.

<DC    <girls

Based on pics from yesterday Dana said Beauty is slightly smaller than other female who has a notch out of her right side wing as seen by Joyce. Larry and Lisa were watching near East Ave. somewhere on their lunch breaks. Dana and I started on the BSB and after CarolP arrived I spotted DC on the Kodak launchpad. I drove over to ID him then rejoined Dana and Carol. The 3 of us ended up in the Strong Museum of Play parking lot where we would stay for the rest of our watch. Joyce bounced around with Brian joining at some point.

<DC with a full crop

Around 1:30pm the girls locked talons and fluttered down,down,down out of view and we didn’t see them re-surface so we thought they went to the ground. OY! They appeared above Xerox soon after relieving our anxiety. At this point the battle was picking up in intensity. Around 2:30pm the female landed on a pipe on the Xerox roof while DC was on the northeast corner Xerox. Soon after she flew over and landed above DC.

<Click on pics for full version>

Around 2:45pm one of the girls landed on the southeast corner of Xerox and the other quickly flew in and jumped on her. They wrestled to the edge and fell off-talons locked together going into a free fall all the way down the tallest building in downtown Rochester! All I could do was watch  as we screamed and thought surely they went to the ground, but again they re-surfaced and flew above Xerox. After that things seemed to slow down thankfully and hopefully neither one got injured. DC turned up under the northeast wing of Times Square around 3:20pm as things were winding down with our battling females.

Just before 4:30pm one female flew southeast out of view in the direction of BS so I left to check that site but I found no PEFA there. It was getting dark and started raining so I met up with Carol and Dana on the BSB saying my good byes and calling it a watch at 4:45pm some 10 hours after I started it. It was very hard to watch all this fighting-it seems they are not going to quit until there is a dramatic ending. I hope this isn’t the case but in the mean time I’m going to keep smiling because both Beauty and her challenger survived todays territorial war! 🙂

I have provided links below for several short videos of the action today-not the best but you will see some of what we witnessed

http://youtu.be/GG4I-e2jqiU
http://youtu.be/2U7UZEy5xe8
http://youtu.be/519qeH1w04U
http://youtu.be/tdZvPVh9eWo
http://youtu.be/Bl4pNytJzDs
http://youtu.be/h6PHf8e-U5k

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I arrived downtown at about 3:45  pm, to find what I thought were only two Peregrine Falcons on the Times Square Bldg.  Dot.ca was up on top of the SE wing ring and who I thought was Beauty, was on the SE wing ledge.  It didn’t take me long to figure out there was a third falcon there too.

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This 3rd falcon started chasing the falcon on the wing ledge and they both headed over to the jail communication tower.  Based on size, these were both females and they were battling.

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They both flew back to the Times Square Bldg, one landing on the ledge above the nest box and one continued to fly above the building.

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They both took off again and headed towards the OCSR where one landed on top of the disk on top.

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Both Chased each other before heading back to the Times Square Bldg.  One landed on the SW wing ring and one on the NE wing ledge.

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Dana joined me and we watched the two females flying over the Xerox bldg.  They stayed close and stooped on each other.  It seemed to go on forever before a larger and smaller falcon (female and male) returned to the Times Square Bldg.  We think it was DC with one of the females.  I won’t even begin to guess which female was which.  It was quiet for awhile.  MAK joined the watch and then Pat.  Just as we thought, just maybe the 3nd female had left, there she was and the fight continued.  This time over OCSR and the Hyatt.  By this time it was getting too dark to take pics, so I just put my camera away and watched with my binoculars.  The two falcons moved to the OCSR, one landing on the top disk and one flying around.  As it grew darker, we could no longer see the falcons.  We assumed that they were both up on the OCSR, but we couldn’t be sure.

I called Kathy O to see if she could check the BS location when she left work and she did.  She checked every bump on the building, but it was dark and she could not find any falcons there.

At 5:30 pm, it was still quiet and very dark.  There was nothing more we could do until tomorrow morning when MAK, Dana and I am sure other Watchers will check things out.  I’ll be back down as soon as I am able.  Before I headed home, I drove over to the Radisson and checked out the elevator shaft and listened.  All was quiet.  Tomorrow is another day and I sure do hope it’s a peaceful one.  Goodnight everyone.

Oops, before I forget.  I’ll leave you with a short video that I took of both females falling from the Times Square Bldg locked together.  Neither was injured during the fall, but they sure did get really close to the street below before releasing each other.  All the shakiness at the end is me running towards where the falcons came down before realizing with a very large sigh of relief  that they had both gotten away safely.  It shows one falcon diving towards the south side of the building.  You have to look very closely to see them and you can here there vocalizations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvF-czgx5f8&feature=youtu.be

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

At 33 degrees (F) 1 (C) the same as yesterday but the conditions were totally different with overcast and foggy skies and occasional very light rain

I found Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam south corner of the OCSR building for my first sighting of the day around 7:25am.

I left him to look for Beauty driving across the Main St. bridge eastbound, I stopped to take a picture of the Christmas lights on the walkway above Main St. that goes from the Radisson Hotel on the left to the Rochester Convention Center on the right.

<Click it

I found the Beautyful one on the east side up on the southwest corner of HSBC. Within a couple minutes she did one of those drop off the building right into stoop formation takeoffs going after 2 pigeons that looked like they were glued to each others side. Like a missile Beauty went after them and at around 10 feet above Chestnut St. she pulled up THANKFULLY as I nearly had a heart attack over it, then she flew east out of sight. It’s exciting enough just to watch a PEFA stoop on prey but this was a little TOO exciting if ya know what I mean!

I looked around but never found her again and on my way back thru I saw that DC was gone from OCSR so I moved on to the Brighton Site. Arriving there just past 8am I found Pigott on the west end of the south side vent. She was scrunched down and all foofed up moving her head to and fro checking out her territory.

Miss Pigott  had some food in her crop and at one point she pooped, spread her wings seemingly ready to fly off but changed her mind and settled back down.

Soon after that she flew off to the southeast and didn’t return. I waited about 20 minutes then left for downtown. As I drove down Exchange Blvd northbound  I stopped to take a pic of the foggy east side of the city.

<Click it

where I was unsuccessful in finding a falcon. I ended my watch a little past 9:30am happy and smiling for having seen all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Todays starting temperature was 33 (F) and 1 (C) and a bit cloudy at first but the sun came out and blue skies took over-a real nice winter day watch

As I turned onto State St. from Church St. I spotted him right away on his corner-that would be Dot.Ca on the north corner of the OCSR building. I pulled over snapped 1 pic then he flew off to the northeast toward the Andrews Terrace Apartments to stir up the pigeons. I got a very blurry bad take off shot.

I drove to the Andrews St. bridge to look for DC and spotted him back on his corner and Beauty was on the same ibeam on the northeast side of OCSR. I proceeded to go over to Bragdon St. by the Radisson Hotel for closer viewing.

<Click it <DC <Beauty>

About half an hour later I watched DC take a running start and fly over to the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) landing on the top arm northeast side while Beauty stayed behind.

I shared space with the Beautyful one for another half while she preened and gaped (gaping, a behavior where the head is thrown back and the bird appears to be swallowing air. Although in still shots it can look to less experienced watchers as if he’s calling, there are no sounds made during gaping and it’s actually a very different “look” than when they are vocalizing. Researchers are not sure why gaping takes place, but there are a couple theories: one is that gaping is a peregrine’s way of dislodging feathers that may get caught in the throat following preening. The other theory is that gaping equalizes the air pressure in their ears after a change in altitude or “sudden changes in barometric pressure, as when a cold front moves in” (described by Steve Sherrod in “Behavior of Fledgling Peregrines”).

I left Beauty as she turned her back to me and got cinched in and DC who was in hunt mode over on FCT to check on Pigott over at the Brighton Site (BS). When I first got there I saw a falcon fly toward the north (front) side of building so I drove around and on the east side I saw it land on the roof by the tree and take off again flying north again. I could hear distant whining so I figured DC had arrived.  When I reached the east side again I saw tail feathers hanging over the ledge by the tree (Pigott) and DC was up on the southeast corner of the east extension whining because Pigott had food.

<DC> <Pigott>

When Pigott was finished eating she came forward on the ledge and that’s when DC made his move by flying over to the same ledge and sneaking in from behind Pigott to grab her leftovers and make the great escape with it. (I have it on one of my videos) He’s a very funny character that DC! lol

<Pigott

<DC

He took his stolen goods back to the same corner on the east extension and started eating briefly. He stopped and took it across to the southwest extension to finish it off. Eventually Pigott flew over and went past him on her way to the west side as he was feaking and cleaning up. I found her on a south facing top window ledge on the west side extension.

<DC

DC flew off and I wasn’t sure where he was until I noticed his reflection in one of the windows where Pigott was perched. I just stayed put and watched them as he echupped.

Miss Pigott decided to to take a walk to the corner (she loves to get her walks in). At around 10am KrisG and her hubby Bill stopped by for half hour.

<Click it   <DC

That’s all she wrote folks-Kris and Bill left and I had to get going as well. I had another nice watch seeing all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons and a couple of falcon watching friends which always puts a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view some videos

http://youtu.be/H4C1xbROiBM

http://youtu.be/RFwMBjCt8JQ

http://youtu.be/8QDn2q7S4b4

http://youtu.be/8Is_V8p1tbM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another dark and dreary overcast day here in Rochester,NY but warm with a starting temperature of 37 degrees (F) 3 (C)

My first hour was falconless so I left downtown to check on the Brighton Site (BS) arriving there at 8:10am. Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent looking around her territory. 10 minutes later she took off to the east going into a stoop as she approached the treed area.

Miss Pigott came back and landed on the south side of the southwest extension briefly then flew west then headed toward the front of the building .

I then heard chupping coming from the cubby but by the time I went around the building to reach the cubby it was quiet. I continued on to the south (back) side of BS and found Pigott on the northwest corner of the southwest extension and Dot.Ca (DC) on the southwest corner of the southwest extension.

<Pigott> <Click it

<DC

They didn’t stay put for long when both took flight heading north toward the front of the building with Pigott returning to the southwest extension.

She was looking around I assumed for DC but he never rejoined her while I was there. She flew over to the west end of the south side vent and got settled in.

I left at this time to look for Beauty downtown since I hadn’t seen her on my watch yet. Let me tell ya, she was hiding very well on me today as I spent over 2 hours searching in vain for her. i even went to the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge to check the High Falls gorge for her. Unfortunately I got a parking ticket on Bragdon St. while checking the elevator shaft for the Beautyful one-I was gone 1 minute from my car and saw the parking enforcement officer as I turned around but it was too late, he already put my info into his electronic meter. 🙁 I finally had to give up and call it a watch at 11:15am which didn’t set right with me.

So fast forward to the afternoon as I was finishing taking Jeannes’ dogs for a walk I got a tweet from Shaky that there was a falcon on the Frontier Communications Tower. I beat feet to Church St. where I pulled over just in time to ID it as Beauty and then she flew southeast. YAHOO!

So I saw all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons today and left for home smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a couple videos

http://youtu.be/W9oeF2R1uVw
http://youtu.be/t7dCpyIua50

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was like a heatwave this morning as I left for my watch the temperature was 34 (F) 1 (C) which is warmer than the high temperatures the last few days. It also meant complete cloud cover which made it dark and dreary

It took me a while but I finally found our downtown duo at 7:30am on Midtown. Beauty was eating on the northeast corner of the top level. Dot.Ca (DC) was on the 2nd level down near the southeast corner.

<DC   

Both Beauty and DC left Midtown while I was tweeting their location. I drove to the Broad St. Bridge and pulled over as I saw Beauty on the base of Mercury and DC  up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building.

<Click it

5-10 minutes later DC flew off and I missed it so I had no idea what direction he went. 10 minutes later DC showed up on the top ibeam of OCSR southeast side. He had a small bit of food he was picking at so I assume it was cached food. 5 minutes later Beauty left Mercury so I left the bridge and went over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to watch DC. There was a gull on a light pole there to greet me when I arrived.

<Click it  

DC finished his small package quickly, cleaned himself up and around 8:10am  flew off and around to the northeast side of OCSR.

To my surprise as I watched DC go in for the landing on the 2nd ibeam I spotted Beauty right where he was heading. Thanks for the help buddy! He landed very close to her and tried to steal a piece but she would have none of that-she shot him a look and he ran, yes I said ran to the north corner! lol

I left them to check for Pigott at the Brighton site-arriving there about 8:30am I found her on the southwest corner of the southwest extension. She was definitely looking for a meal to fly into her radar. It didn’t happen so she flew east for a look past the treed area.

She returned empty taloned, circled the building and landed on the northwest corner of the northwest extension to try her luck from there. She didn’t fair any better there.

At 9:07 Miss Pigott spread her wings and took flight circling the building and coming to rest on the northeast corner of the northeast extension.

Pigott was picking at cached leftovers but there were more feathers than food left on it. She gave up on it and settled with her back to me so I left to return to downtown to wind down my watch. I found Beauty in the same spot as I left her on the northeast side of OCSR 2nd ibeam. She was intent on looking northeast for the few minutes that I stayed with her.

I ended my watch at 9:30am with a smile because I had seen all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons and they had all eaten something! 🙂

Check out the links below to view my videos

http://youtu.be/WJGfWQHZtF4
http://youtu.be/2IldvEDDL-k
http://youtu.be/kjTn3zsd2fE
http://youtu.be/xLwAsWHKNnc