By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

I joined Kathy O, Ginny and MAK on the Broad St Bridge.  There was flying and hunting by both Beauty and Dot.,ca, while storm clouds moved in from the northwest.  By 8:00 pm, it started to rain and Beauty made sure all 4 eyases were safely inside the nest box while she remained on the perch standing guard in front of them.

Rochester (NY) and much of the north east was hit by thunder & lightning, high winds and torrential rain.  We heard from our friends up in Ontario, Canada.  They were hit especially hard and quite a few of the young eyases nesting there came to ground.  All but one, a very small male named Heaton, survived.  I am very sorry for the loss of this young falcon.  Fly Free Heaton.

Here are some pictures from my Tuesday evening falcon watch.

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This is what the sky looked like as the storm started to subside.  The lighting was very eerie.

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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

The evening falcon watchers again met on the Broad St Bridge.  Tonight’s watchers included Kathy O, Lisa McK, Dan, Ginny, MAK, Carrie, Shaky and me, Carol P.  After last night’s storms, the cooler temperatures and cloudy sky were very welcome.

Dot.ca brought in food and met Beauty at the nest box.  She took the food from him and went to the base of the Mercury Statue to prepare it.  While feathers were flying there, Dot.ca flew up to the northeast wing ledge on top of the Times Square Building.  After prepping the food, Beauty returned to the nest box platform where she fed all four eyases.  I walked over to the front of the Blue Cross Arena aka Rochester War Memorial, where I had a better view.

Here are some pictures from tonight’s Falcon Watch.  If you place your cursor over the picture, it will tell you what is going on in that pic.  You can also click on any pictures to enlarge them.  Enjoy!

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Here’s a picture of some of the Rochester Falcon Watchers that were on watch this evening.  Goodnight everyone!

– Be sure to click on this one to see the full picture!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

After some strong t-storms last night we started the day with overcast, humid conditions with a temperature of 67 (F) 20 (C)

Ginny and I joined Dan on the Broad St. bridge (BSB) at 6:30am. Upon our arrival Dan promptly gave us the scoop-Beauty had flown south just before we got there and Dot.Ca (DC) was on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR. We could see all 4 eyasses up at the nest box. Well, 3 eyasses and 1 eyas head! lol

Dan left at 6:45am and a few minutes later Beauty showed up on the south column 1 level above the nest box. We went down to the hole to observe. A minute later she flew off heading north toward DC as he flew off OCSR and went up to the northeast wing ring. I forgot to tweet this out-sorry!

<Beauty   DC>

Beauty flew to the column above the nest box-it stayed this way until DC flew off at 7:18am into a stoop toward the river and didn’t return.

5 minutes later Beauty took off toward the river stooping over the Blue Cross Arena (BCA)-she returned to land on the main cam.

The Beautyful one stayed perched there until 8:11am  when she flew north and returned to land on the south column once again.

Beauty hung out there until she flew off  kakking at 8:21am after a Turkey Vulture.  She returned to Times Square and landed on the column above the nest box one more time.

We ended our watch at 8:45am leaving a peaceful scene with Beauty perched above her babies. I found another neat pic at Seneca Towers as I saw it across from the elevator on the 2nd floor-made me smile! 🙂

Click it to see a larger version

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/981NBwE66L4

http://youtu.be/4ZMBBT0b17E

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A great morning for a watch with a temperature of 64 (F) 18 (C) and sunny blue skies

The day started out with a fly by from Luzerne outside my Seneca Towers apartment. The other day as I was stopped on the 4th floor I noticed across from the elevator there was a picture of Mercury and the Times Square building, so last night I took a pic of the pic.

make sure to click on all my pics to see the full version

As we were getting ready to leave I got a message from Donna that Beauty was alarm calling at the nest box downtown, so Ginny and I left straight away. When we arrived on the Broad St Bridge (BSB) at 6:15am Dan was sitting in his chair on the south side of the bridge. I asked what was going on and he said that Dot.Ca (DC) had come in with food and Beauty chased after him kakking. DC landed on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner and was eating while Beauty went up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB).

Just before 6:30am Beauty went down to cam 1 and we could see 2 eyasses out on the deck

<Click it

About 5 minutes later the Beautyful one flew out to chase DC back to the deck where she grabbed the tiny bit of food. Beauty fed it to the kids and  DC went to the Mercury money bag (MMB). DC was after something down in the hole behind the Thomson Reuters building where we couldn’t see him as he swooped down in there 3 times returning to the MMB each time.

DC settled down to do some beak picking as he had feathers stuck to it.

Beauty finished feeding and returned to cam 1. Things were quiet for a bit so we checked out the river-I saw my first Great Blue Heron (GBH) of the season.

<Click it>

Dan left at 7:15am and we went down to the hole-just a couple minutes later both Beauty and DC  stooped on the same bird near the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) -both missed! Beauty returned to cam 1 and DC flew up under the northeast wing of TSB.

<Click it

Beauty flew off 5 minutes later when we weren’t looking. DC kept us entertained while she was gone.

Beauty returned to cam 1 for a brief stay then flew south and at 7:52am DC flew out around Mercury then headed north.

Ginny and I went for coffee while we didn’t see any falcons and when we got back we had OCSR top ibeam bookends with Beauty on the west corner and DC on the south corner.

At about 8:20am Beauty left OCSR and returned a couple minutes later to the same spot with DC remaining on his corner. We ended our watch at 8:30am leaving a peaceful falcon world with a smile! 🙂

Only 1 video link to click on to view today

http://youtu.be/UUSkKvUyZGs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning started out sunny with blue sky and started to cloud up toward the end of the watch with a starting temperature of 60 (F) 16 (C)

Fellow watcher and friend Ginny from New Jersey is in town and staying with me until Friday morning so she will be joining me on my watches this week.

We arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) around 6:30am today and spotted Beauty on cam 1 so I drove down to the hole parking lot for a closer look.

At 7:02am the Beautyful one flew off to meet Dot.Ca (DC) who was bringing a small package in from the north.

DC landed under the northeast wing and Beauty landed next to him quite vocally, snatched the food and took it down to the nest box to feed their fast changing/growing eyasses.

<DC

Beauty landing sequence

It was such a small bit of food that we couldn’t even see it in her talon so at the time we didn’t know she had food until Annette tweeted that food had arrived. Thanks! DC looked down toward the nest box then north and flew off at 7:04am stooping after something. He returned with nothing and landed under the northeast wing again.

Annette (TY) reported Beauty left the nest box about the time we saw DC fly off toward OCSR at 7:20am. He joined his Beautyful mate on OCSR.

Beauty was on the top ibeam west corner and DC was on the south corner-as Ginny said, they were bookends. Beauty started napping right away.

<Beauty    <Click it  <DC

At 7:54am Ginny saw Beauty fly off to the northeast-she went out over the river then flew to cam 1 while DC stayed on OCSR. We stationed ourselves on Aqueduct St. where we could  keep an eye on both of them. Beauty continued her napping while DC looked her way.

<DC 

Around 8:10am Ginny spotted DC walk a few feet from the corner into the shade as I watched Beauty give a couple hand signals.

Our downtown dynamic duo then began snoozing on and off so Ginny and I decided to end our watch with big ole smiles on our faces! 🙂

Click on the links below for more pics and videos from today

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqjl0

http://youtu.be/iHIy3qTDuN0

http://youtu.be/5Sl4Yi6sljU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Flag Day and Fathers Day!  A most beautiful weekend.

Lots of flying and hunting by Beauty and Dot.ca this weekend.  One eyas has made it out to the platform below main camera.  White fluff is falling out and gorgeous brown juvie feathers are appearing.  Soon Tesh, Nor’easter, Mercury and Nettie will join their parents high above downtown Rochester.  : )

Here are some pictures from this weekend.  Enjoy!

Saturday, June 14th (Flag Day)

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Sunday, June 15th (Fathers Day)

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Have a nice evening everyone.  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Mostly cloudy skies prevailed this morning with a temperature of 55 (F) 13 (C)

As I stopped on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to start my watch and have a look around I could see Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR.

Then I spotted Beauty 1 level above the nest box on a south column of the Times Square building (TSB)-I drove down to the hole at this time to get closer.

<Beauty   DC>

Beauty would glance down at the nest box now and again while she looked around for a prey bird to fly thru. She kept track of DC as well waiting for him to possibly catch breakfast so she could feed their family of 4.

Just before 7am DC switched corners and flew to the west corner top ibeam of OCSR-I mistakenly tweeted out that he went to the south corner at the time. I missed Beauty leave Times Square while watching him.

I went in search of the Beautyful one when she didn’t come back. When I returned to the BSB she was on the base of Mercury and DC was gone from OCSR. I stopped by the Blue Cross Arena to watch Beauty from there just before the 8 o’clock hour

5 minutes later Beauty flew northwest and DC showed up on OCSR top ibeam south corner a minute later. I thought perhaps there had been a food exchange between them but Beauty never returned. I went down to the hole for closer viewing of DC

I took a drive after about 10 minutes but couldn’t find Beauty-I believe she was probably on the hunt somewhere I don’t know about. No worries, as DC was watching their 4 not so little anymore darlings in the nest box. I ended my watch on that note, around 8:30am.

As I pulled onto Exchange Blvd. which changes into State St. when you cross Main St. I could see the right lanes on both Main and State streets were closed with cones blocking them. Police were blocking all side streets along the route as well, which was more than likely for some kind of running event to take place.  Happy Fathers Day and keep smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/dtlAUgZVxVc

http://youtu.be/bvy1yXGd7uk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Yes, the humidity has left us and the temperature has gone down. 54 (F) 12 (C) to start the day with sunshine and breezy conditions

Happy Flag Day!  SALUTE!

I spotted Beauty on the main cam as I drove across the Broad St. bridge (BSB) around 6:30am and  after I stopped my car in the hole parking lot she flew off heading southeast.

Click my pics to see full version

The Beautyful one flew out to chase Dot.Ca (DC) back to the deck where she grabbed the food he had brought with him and took it to the nest box to feed their family of 4-then he flies off. This is their regular morning ritual.

This time DC flew to the 2nd ibeam south corner of OCSR-sometimes he goes to the statue of Mercury. He was still looking to catch more food and at 7:05am he stooped off OCSR and ended up on cam 1 empty taloned.

DC was very alert turning his head very quickly and very often-still in hunt mode.

I had to quit early today at 7:50am so, that’s all she wrote for this short but sweet morning watch in which I saw both downtown adult Rochester Peregrine Falcons doing their thing which includes making me smile! 🙂

Click on the link below to view my one and only video today
http://youtu.be/j79KxJMFaG0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was dark, humid and overcast with a temperature of 68 (F) 20 (C) during my watch today

I spotted Dan as I turned onto the Broad St. Bridge sitting  in his chair with an umbrella at his side all ready for the rain that was in the area. I pulled over, got my chair and joined him. He promptly gave me the scoop-Beauty was in the nest and Dot.Ca (DC) was on the Mercury money bag (MMB). He said there had been a food exchange over the hole earlier.

At 6:44am Beauty left the nest box and flew to the top ibeam west corner of OCSR. DC remained on Mercury and I could see an eyas at the front of the nest box. Light rain started falling and Dan got out his umbrella to cover my camera as we huddled on the bridge.

Soon after DC flew south until he became a speck in the air and vanished. Dan left and I went down to the hole to watch Beauty. DC appeared on the top ibeam near the south corner and Beauty was gone. DC looked like he had food but I believe he was actually picking tidbits off his talons for Annette (thanks) tweeted that Beauty had brought food to the nest box and was feeding the kids. So I had missed the food transfer at 7:14am. I decided to go over to the Radisson Hotel near Main St. where I could see DC on OCSR closer and could also see the nest box on Times Square where Beauty was feeding the eyasses.

Around 7:20am DC flew east crossing the river only to return and come top rest on the top ibeam south corner.

Next time I looked toward Times Square around 7:45am Beauty was up on the column above the nest box, so back to the hole I went to share space with her. She slept a little and preened a little and slept a little and, well… you get the picture.

Meanwhile, DC was still on OCSR probably dozing off too! Beauty was cracking me up as she was looking around with her eyelids shut-she did a few poses and a real good rouse (shaking her feathers).

This made me smile as I ended my watch at 8am and left a peaceful falcon scene! 🙂

Click on the links below to watch todays videos

http://youtu.be/AcQh6TXC_oo

http://youtu.be/VITNS3jn9HI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A beautiful 70ish degree (F) evening with a nice breeze.  Darker clouds to the west, but it never rained during my 6:30 to 8:30 pm watch.

When I arrived downtown, I had just missed Larry O and Brian and the Broad St Bridge was lined with parked cars.  Lauryn Hill was playing at the Blue Cross Arena aka Rochester War Memorial.  I looked for a spot to park, but could not find one.  No watchers were in sight, so I headed down to Aqueduct St aka “the hole”.  Viewing from there is not the best.  It was good for viewing the Times Square Bldg and surrounding buildings, but once the falcon flies over and past those buildings, you lose sight of it.  That’s what happened today.

I was getting a good look at Dot.ca up on the northeast wing ledge, when Kathy O pulled in behind me.

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Just after Kathy arrived, Beauty flew over us low, heading towards the Times Square Bldg.  She landed on the front (east) side of the building and landed on a narrow ledge below nest box level.

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Beauty soon took off and flew up to the nest box.  Dot.ca remained on the north east wing ledge.

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At about 7:05 pm, first Dot.ca took off heading east fast.  Beauty took off and followed him.  We waited for him to return, but they didn’t.  They had to be out on a hunt, but still close enough to keep an eye on the nest box.  This is one of the drawbacks of watching from the hole (Aqueduct St).  Kathy and I waited for close to an hour and Beauty and Dot.ca did not return to the Times Square Bldg.  At 8:00 pm, Kathy headed home and I decided to drive around the city to see if I could find them.  On my way back down Broad St, I heard a familiar voice yell out my name.  It was Dan.  He had found a place to park and was watching from his favorite spot on the south side of the Broad St. Bridge.  I was able to find a parking spot further down.  When I was walking towards where Dan was sitting I saw that there was a falcon on the northwest corner of the library.  It was Beauty and according to Dan she had been there for close to an hour, buzzing the ducks and flying over the river.  This is where we had seen her feeding Orion before he left.

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About 5 minutes after I joined Dan, Dot.ca flew in from the south and he was carrying prey.  He went straight for the nest box.  Beauty took off and landed on the nest box platform right behind Dot.ca.

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Beauty grabbed the food from Dot.ca and took off with it.  Dot.ca also took off and headed towards the Mercury statue landing on the top.  Beauty circled around and flew directly into the nest box to feed the eyases.

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When Dan and I left at 8:35 pm, Beauty was still in the nest box and Dot.ca was still on Mercury.  Here is a picture showing where Beauty was located on the library.  Oh, and that’s Dan!  lol

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Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This mornings weather was pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday-overcast,humid,light rain on and off and a warm 69 (F) 21 (C)

Initially, I didn’t see a falcon as I started my watch on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) so I took a ride down to the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) to check out the north end of  downtown. I just happened to be looking at Mercury with my binoculars when a falcon appeared from the east and flew to the south side of OCSR. I went straight away to the hole to find Dot.Ca (DC) on the 2nd ibeam southeast side of OCSR at 6:39am.

DC was in hunt mode and stooped down toward the river out of my field of vision and I didn’t see him come back up so I went up to the BSB for a look around. From there I could see the Beautyful one perched in front of the nest box but DC was nowhere in the vicinity that I could see.

So I went for a ride down State St. for a look and I found big daddy DC on the 2nd ibeam north corner of OCSR with his back to me so I drove over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to watch. DC was definitely looking for a meal to fly under his radar and I could see Beauty perched out in front of the nest box from my location as well.

DC flew off to the northwest out of site at 7:09am and when he didn’t return I left to go back to the hole-as I arrived I saw Beauty fly out and back to land on cam 1.

Little did I know that DC had snuck in a minute or so later and landed under the northeast wing directly above Beauty as I just happened to look up and spot him there.

For the next half hour or so Beauty posed for me on cam 1 and just before she pooped it looked like she was yelling look out below!

Beauty left cam 1 when I was watching DC-Donna let me know that Beauty had gone down to the nest box. Thanks D-you’re always a big help to me. Not to be out done by his lovely mate, big daddy DC also did some posing as well.

With all things peaceful, I ended my watch at 8:20am-how can I not smile after sharing space with our beloved downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/h-KFQPzz7Vg

http://youtu.be/S30wyxgryR0

http://youtu.be/TQZ1CaU-3gs