By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well I had to remove another 3 inches of snow from my driveway this morning as the old lake effect snow machine kicked up over nite once more. The temperature dropped back down as well, it was 12 degrees (F) -11(C) when I arrived downtown and checked the bank clock on State St.-light wind and snow was falling

I found Beauty on the north side ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft at 7am from the Radisson Hotel near Main St. I apologize for the poor quality of my pics and videos today as the frigid temps really make it hard for my camera to focus.

I left her to check around for Dot.Ca (DC) and as I came back from the east side I spotted him on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I drove down to the hole to see him from a closer position.

I went back to the Radisson so I could see both Beauty and DC. They weren’t doing much so I left them just before 8am to check for Pigott over at the Brighton site (BS).

<DC

When I arrived at BS around 8:15am Pigott was perched on the northeast corner of the east extension. She had her back facing out and she wasn’t moving her head enough to get a good look at her. I watched from the south side of the large east parking  lot and then from the north end.

Miss Pigott wasn’t doing much other than keeping an eye on her surroundings so I only stayed about 20 minutes. Upon returning downtown I could see the back of a falcon under the southeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) from Exchange St. I went down Bank Place (the one way street next to the Phillipone building) and parked where it meets Aqueduct St. facing the Mercury statue because there was a falcon on the money bag hand as well. It was DC and he was directly across from Beauty who was on TSB behind me.

<Click it to see DC> 

So I drove around to the other side of the hole to see Beauty but she was gone. I then drove over to the Radisson Hotel because I just caught what I thought was a falcon flying up into the elevator shaft of OCSR. And it turned out to be Beauty who was back on the north ledge. I turned my head to look at DC on Mercury and now he was gone! These 2 were really playing games with me today!! lol Now since I was parked by Main St. I couldn’t see the south ledge of the elevator shaft so I went over to Bragdon St. at the north end of the Radisson and bingo, I could see DC up on the south ledge across from his mate the Beautyful one. I figured they would be up there out of the cold and snow that was falling for a while so I ended my watch at 9:15am. I left our fair city smiling after seeing all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below for videos of our beloved falcons

http://youtu.be/28v3gQCqvxc
http://youtu.be/8IvBQoPpqyc
http://youtu.be/S2zRYm0ZE2Q
http://youtu.be/jHm4se49218

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I left the house with a few snow flakes in the air and as my watch went on the intensity picked up a bit-the temperature was 25 (F) -4 (C) with overcast conditions

I spotted Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC in hunt mode at 7:15am. I parked next to the Midtown Manor apartments on Broad St. to observe her.

She stayed half hour and then flew off to the west-I watched her as she turned south when she got past Bausch & Lomb (B&L).

I drove down Broad St.crossed the bridge and went over to the Court St. bridge to have a look at the east side buildings and found the Beautyful one on the west side of B&L near the northwest corner.

She was still in hunt mode. At 8:05am Beauty flew off headed straight toward me-she glided right over me heading southwest toward the jail tower. The next few pics are a sequence of Beauty flying off B&L-you must click on pics for the full version.

I lost her briefly and then she showed up over the river chasing a pigeon. The rock dove escaped her, veering off to the east and she continued down river. The last I saw her, she stooped near the Andrews Place apartments. I left for the Brighton Site (BS) after a quick look around downtown. When I arrived there I ran into Larry and Harold-there were no falcons present. I had a chat with Larry, then I returned downtown to find Beauty and DC on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR at 8:40am. When I first spotted them I was in the hole (Aqueduct St. and it appeared that DC was eating something.

I then drove over to my spot by the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to watch our downtown pair, as the snow fell on us DC was no longer hunched over like he was eating.  Beauty and DC faced each other from just a few feet away. I had to leave at 10am but I left with a big old smile on my face-I love it when they hang out so close together! 🙂

Check out my videos by clicking on the links below

http://youtu.be/4ei7jkT4U-w

http://youtu.be/SZBqM2c9lw8

http://youtu.be/zE9Y7vFDf5Y

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We got 4-5 inches of snow over nite but it was done snowing when I got up today for my watch. The temperature as I cleared the snow out of my driveway was 22 (F) -6 (C) and it was overcast

I found Beauty at 7:15am on the northeast corner of  Bausch & Lomb as I scanned the east side buildings with my binoculars from the Inn on Broadway parking lot. I first went to Broad St. next to Xerox to observe her as she ate breakfast.

I drove over to Euclid St. which takes you behind the Hotel Cadillac. Unfortunately, Picassa had a glitch and most of my pics were lost while I was downloading them so I have none from this location, but I did get a video that will be listed at the end of my report. After half hour the Beautyful one finished eating, did some feaking then flew off to the northwest toward OCSR and that’s exactly where I found her once I caught up with her. I thought she went up in the elevator shaft since that’s been her usual spot lately after eating, so I parked by the Radisson Hotel at Main. St. to have a look. She fooled me and was on the top ibeam of the northeast side with her back to me.

I stayed a short time as I figured she would be napping and digesting her meal so I could check the Brighton Site (BS). I arrived over there around 8:30am to find Pigott on the southeast extension on a top floor east facing window ledge.

A couple minutes later Dot.Ca (DC) flew in from the east and landed on the southeast corner of the east extension and Pigott flew off to join him flying to the northeast corner and coming to rest.

<DC<Click it to see Pigott and DC

<Pigott>

These 2 stayed this way with their backs to me for an hour as DC gave me a look over his shoulder a few times and Miss Pigott at least gave me some semi side profiles.

<DC<Pigott>

I left them at 9:35am to make googoo eyes at each other and returned to downtown. I found Beauty in the same spot as where I left her on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR. She was facing in my direction and trying to get some shut eye.

I left our sleeping Beauty at 10am and ended my watch with a smile after seeing all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons doing just fine! 🙂

Click on the links below to see our falcons in action

http://youtu.be/O4lfEXCuUAE
http://youtu.be/p-BIJVqfOQY
http://youtu.be/TiyNbeNAoSU

http://youtu.be/1Tak8Wj_ZXI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sunrise at 7:09 am.  Sunset at 5:36 pm.

Overcast, light snow and a temperature of 23 (F) degrees during my falcon watch.

The KP Falcon (KPF) continues to hang around.  Today KPF was on the east smoke stack, on a small silver box next to a red light.  But this was on the west side of the east stack, not the normal east side.  The area looks identical to the other side.

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You have to wonder if this is a wintering bird that will head out soon.  We’ll soon find out!

On my drive over to the BS location, I received a tweet from Pat that she had one falcon on the building there.  Just before I arrived, joining Pat on the west side of the building, Dot.ca flew in and joined Pigott on the southwest corner of the west extension.

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Both Pigott and Dot.ca took off.  She landed on a south facing window on the west extension, across from the cubby.  For the next 15 mins or so, Pat and I witnessed some real fancy flying and a nice aerial display from Dot.ca.  There was a lot of ee-chupping by both of them as Dot.ca would land on a window below her, then off again, zipping around and landing on a window to her right, then above her.  There was no copulation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see that soon.

As the snow lightly fell, they both settled on the west end of the building.  Pat and I ended our watch at BS and I headed downtown to look for Beauty.  I found her up inside the OCSR elevator shaft tucked in on the north ledge.  Because it was snowing and her back was to me, it was really hard to see her up there.

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All 3 Rochester Falcons plus the KP Falcon were seen during my watch, all doing well.  Goodnight everyone.  Keep warm and safe!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today the conditions were overcast with a starting temperature of 16 (F)  -9 (C)

After one trip around downtown without success I spotted Beauty on Bausch & Lomb as I was stopped at the traffic light at Broad and South Ave. around 7:30am. She was eating on the northwest corner.

She finished soon after, did some feaking and flew off to the northeast. That would be the last I saw of the Beautyful one today.

After a look around for her I left for the Brighton site. On the way over I got a tweet from Larry that he saw a falcon on the northwest extension. So when I got there I found it to be Pigott on the northwest corner. Soon after she flew over to the west extension and landed on the southwest corner and started to pick at something briefly at 8:14am.

I saw stray feathers every now and then float by as she was just perched doing nothing. This told me that Dot.Ca (DC) might be up there somewhere with food. Sure enough as I drove around to the southwest side of the building I spotted DC eating on the southwest corner of the west extension.

Pigott had a full crop so I figure DC was eating her leftovers as he likes to do that with Beauty as well. He stopped for a minute to watch Pigott fly off to the west and return to her corner across from him, then resumed filling his crop. He finished up,did some feaking and settled in for a rest period. Pigott seemed like she was going to chill for a while as well.

<Pigott   DC>

I left them to digest their breakfast and headed for downtown to see if I could find Beauty but that didn’t happen, so I ended my watch at 9:15am. It made me smile to see all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons with full crops on my watch this morning! 🙂

Click on the links below to see videos of Pigott and DC

http://youtu.be/2HSjSa_HjuY

http://youtu.be/ZZYCNPmGpUA

http://youtu.be/JpEvAOyJWDA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

During my late afternoon watch, it was 23 degrees.

Sunrise:  7:11 am – Sunset:  5:36 pm

When I got out of work today, I immediately checked out the stacks at Kodak Park.  I could see no falcons on the east side of the stack, but finally found one on the west side of the west stack, lower catwalk.

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I left the KP Falcon and went next to the BS location where I found Pigott on the northwest corner of the northwest extension.  I knew when Dot.ca flew in by her reaction.  She looked like a cat ready to pounce, following his flight to the corner of the north west corner of the west extension.

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Dot.ca was messing around with something on the roof.  At first I couldn’t see what it was.  Finally he pulled out a pigeon wing.  He didn’t eat any of if, finally pushing it back onto the roof out of sight.  I’m sure it was a cached meal.

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He kept looking down where there was a bunch of Canada Geese close to the building eating the snow covered grass.  He was probably thinking “Wow! Beauty and Pigott would be very impressed if I could get one of them!”  lol

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I left them on their corners and headed downtown to look for Beauty.  Traffic was stopped on the Ford St Bridge, so I took a picture of the city from there.

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From the Court St Bridge, I spotted Beauty up on the northwest corner of the Bausch and Lomb Building (B&L).  She was looking over the river towards the Times Square building, watching the swirling flock of Pigeons that seemingly tirelessly flew back and forth below her.

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After watching Beauty and the almost full moon that rose behind the B&L building, I headed down to the lake to look for Billy.  Sorry to say, I did not see her or any other falcons at Charlotte or Russell Station.  While I was checking out that area, Kathy O reported from the BS location that one falcon had flown from the west end to the nighttime roosting area on the north side of the east end of the building.  She was pretty sure it was Dot.ca.

Goodnight everyone and keep safe wherever you are.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I stepped out into a calm -2 degree (F) -19 (C) outside world this morning-when the sun came up it shone bright with not a cloud in the sky

At 7:15am as I made my way back from checking the east side I spotted Beauty under the northeast wing of the Times Square building from Broad St. She was showing her back so I parked on Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena to get a side view. The extreme cold was affecting my cameras focus this morning so there were few pics that were any good to show you.

Beauty did a little preening but mostly just stood there perched and soaking up the suns rays. By the look on her face she seemed to be in a mood. Maybe woke up on the wrong side of the perch!  lol

Beauty left the building when I wasn’t looking around 8:05am. I took a ride around downtown but didn’t find her or Dot.Ca (DC) so I set out to check the Brighton Site (BS).  As I made my way down Elmwood Ave. I came upon a doe laying in the road-it had been hit by a car. I stopped and put my hazard lights on so nobody else hit her and called 911-she was laying on her belly with her legs tucked underneath her and blood around her mouth. She tried to stand but her back legs were both broken so I got my fleece falcon rescue blanket out and covered her. She let me pet  and talk to her-soon after she lay her head down and expired. Animal services came and I helped the officer load this beautiful deer in his van. RIP 🙁

I made it to BS around 9:15am and found a sleeping Pigott on a top floor east facing window ledge on the southeast extension.

She woke up and did some preening and stretching in the half hour or so that I spent with her.

I said goodbye and headed back downtown where I found Beauty on the north ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft. She had her back to me at first but turned slightly to her left so I could get a couple nice pics of her to share with y’all.

I was running late so I only spent a few minutes with our Beautyful one-turns out that soon after I ended my watch DC was spotted by falcon watcher Pat so all 3 Rochester Falcons were seen this morning. I drove off just before the 10 o’clock hour smiling as my last view was of  Beauty! 🙂

Click on the links below to see our Rochester girls on video

http://youtu.be/DjfNdNZIRyU

http://youtu.be/lXjmyN2oqMk

http://youtu.be/84-y1TAS1I8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Starting temperature as I stepped out of the house this morning was 8 (F) -13 (C) with snow falling throughout my watch

I spotted Beauty on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner at 7:05am. I parked on Graves St. by Aqueduct Park across Main St. from OCSR to view her.

I thought I’d check the elevator shaft to see if maybe Dot.Ca (DC) was up there out of the weather. Sure enough as I pulled over in the Radisson Hotel driveway I could see his tail hanging down over the south ledge. Before I left I couldn’t help but notice a tree that not only still had leaves on it but Christmas lights as well. Guess the city crews have been too busy with snow removal to take down the lights!

The snow and dark conditions made for poor photo taking so I didn’t stay long and left to check on Pigott over at the Brighton Site (BS). When I first arrived at 8:05am nobody was home, but on my 2nd trip around the building Miss Pigott came flying in from the east and came to rest on the southeast corner of the east extension.

I was able to get a couple almost good shots of her as she’s much closer than downtown birds. I stayed with Pigott until about 8:40am then I returned to downtown. I had a hard time seeing up in the elevator shaft of OCSR because the snow was coming down harder but I could just make out a falcon on both the south and north ledges with their backs to me.

I’m sure it was Beauty and DC. I ended my watch at 9am having seen all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons. Smile-it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/uNIjmsBqAkI

http://youtu.be/kZ0nFeIDQ2M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I have really been hoping to either prove or disprove that the falcon we’ve been seeing at Kodak Park was Dot.ca.  Today we finally have proof that it is not Dot.ca.

At 9:00 am I checked the east side of the smoke stacks and spotted a falcon on the little silver box (LSB) next to the red light.  This is a favorite spot for this falcon.

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At 9:26 am, MAK reported from downtown that both Beauty and Dot.ca were on the OCSR.  This was my chance to check the stack again at KP.  Was the falcon still there?  Or was it Dot.ca and now he was downtown with Beauty.  I soon had my answer.

At 9:45 pm, the smoke from the stacks parted and there, on the little silver box next to the red light was a very white chested adult Peregrine Falcon.  I quickly tweeted out that there was still a falcon at KP and MAK answered that she still had Dot.ca up on the OCSR.  Watcher Teamwork!  🙂

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The KP Falcon is a mystery falcon!  Let’s hope we are able to positively ID this falcon, or at least find out if it is banded or not.

When I left work, the falcon was still on the little silver box next to the red light above the lower catwalk on the east side of the east smoke stack.  But, it was facing north instead of south.  🙂

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Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

About 4 inches of snow fell over nite at my house so after taking care of that I set out for downtown with a temperature of 14 degrees (F)  -10 (C) cloudy conditions and light snow falling

After checking downtown, I spotted Beauty eating on the northeast corner of  Bausch & Lomb (B&L) around 7:35am  from the parking lot of the Inn on Broadway. I left to get a closer spot to view her but she left while in transit.

Click on my pics to view full version

I searched downtown but never found Beauty again so I shot off to the Brighton Site (BS) where I arrived around 8:35am. I found Pigott on an east facing top floor window ledge on the southeast extension with her back to me. I parked so that I was on her left side for picture taking purposes.

Miss Pigott did some preening but mostly stayed tucked in on the ledge. I left her after half hour or so to return to downtown. The sun broke thru the clouds and shone bright as I arrived in our fair city. I took a couple trips around and then Beauty appeared on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I parked at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to observe and happened to notice Dot.Ca (DC) up in the elevator shaft on the north ledge.

<Click it

Beauty was looking around and DC started out with his back to me but ended up turning so I could see him better.

<Beauty>

<DC

Beauty flew off as I was watching DC and while I was looking for her in the air DC flew over to the top ibeam where she had just vacated. Little did I know the Beautyful one had flown up into the elevator shaft and landed on the south ledge where I couldn’t see her from where I was parked. I found her after driving further north on the Radisson driveway. Sneaky little falcons! lol

<DC

CarolP tweeted that the KP falcon was on the east stack at the same time I had DC on OCSR so we can safely say that he is NOT the KP bird now. Hopefully we can get an ID on that falcon soon.

Satisfied to have seen all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons I ended my watch at 10am and yes, I was smiling as I pulled away! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/PzH99UL8lKU

http://youtu.be/PMLIBGcq5uA

http://youtu.be/ia_nlSTQ65A