By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a beautiful morning for a falcon watch with mostly clear blue skies, low humidity and a starting temperature of 62 (F) 17 (C)

Please click on my pics to see full version

Today I had my first falcon sighting from the Broad St. Bridge (BSB)-there was one on the 3rd arm down on the south side of the jail tower.

I drove over to Troup St. for a closer look and found that it was Beauty and the rising sun was shining on her quite nicely making her look almost golden at times.

She was all foofed up and looking around her surroundings for a nice meal to come out of the shadows. Beauty stayed with me for about half hour before flying off to the north.

As I was making my way over to the east side via the Court St. bridge I spotted a falcon flying around Xerox and Bausch & Lomb (B&L). It looked small to me, so I think it was probably Dot.Ca (DC) and as I pulled over he vanished behind the buildings. I took a look around that side then returned to the BSB where I spotted the Beautyful one on the top ibeam west corner (one of her favorite perching spots) of OCSR. I went down to the hole for a closer vantage point. She didn’t stay long-maybe 3 or 4 minutes then she was off heading toward Times Square coming to rest under the southeast wing.

Beauty was on the move this morning-I believe looking for her mate as she stayed but a moment and flew southeast. 10 minutes later as I was on East Ave. I found her on the RGS antenna on her usual perch. To my surprise DC was right below her, this was the first time I’d seen him on that antenna.

<Click it 

While I was watching DC on my camera screen Beauty flew off about 5 minutes later, so I had no idea what direction she went-I stayed with the handsome one. 5-10 minutes later DC stooped straight down leaving my field of vision within a split second behind the building.

And that was the last of my falcon sightings for this quiet Sunday morning. An hour later as I sit on the Andrews St. bridge Dana came along and said that she had been looking and had no luck either. We both left to look some more and while I was  on the east side behind HSBC where the post office used to be I came across a gathering of pigeons, thinking there shouldn’t be any problem for Beauty and DC (if he chooses to not migrate this winter) finding food over the next months as we go from summer to fall and into winter.

I thought perhaps our downtown duo had caught breakfast and were eating on a roof somewhere that couldn’t be seen from the ground. I decided to take a drive and look elsewhere for falcons and whatever else I might find in my travels. I shot straight down Lave Ave. to check the Kodak research building where the late Luzerne, Veteran and Billy had been seen in the past. No luck there so I continued on down Lake Ave. to Charlotte. The usual gulls and ducks were around but no other interesting birds. There was a big ship docked at the Port of Rochester.

I left there and headed west down Beach Ave. along the Lake Ontario shoreline until I got to Russel Station (another place Billy frequented-again no falcon. As I pulled over in the parking lot by the inlet a Belted Kingfisher appeared out of nowhere dove in the water completely submerged and came back out with a small fish in its beak! He took it to a tree where I lost sight of him then another one or the same one flew across to the other side landing in a tree.

It flew toward the water and just skimmed the surface before landing in another tree on my side of the inlet. I forgot all about him when I laid eyes on a bunch of Killdeer in the grass hunting for bugs. They are so much fun to watch-especially when they do their injured wing routine to draw predators away from their young.

I left them to their bug catching and continued to Island Cottage Rd. and the cell tower where Joyce has seen Osprey. This was my lucky day as I spotted 2 on the south side of it. The sun was in a bad spot so all I really saw were silhouettes but I was thrilled just the same. Here it is the end of August and I’m just now seeing my first Osprey!

I left for home at Seneca Towers hoping to see Veteran or Billy but it wasn’t meant to be today. I ended my watch just about 11am  and I definitely had a smile on my face after a lovely Sunday morning watch! 🙂

Please click on the links below to see a photo album and a boat load of videos from todays watch
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqj28

http://youtu.be/lTY7Icv-l0g

http://youtu.be/1mURoazt4Zc

http://youtu.be/I04czKvT5UU

http://youtu.be/Ay1yAPqZbo8

http://youtu.be/aj-80wcYamU

http://youtu.be/pbMZAcbw1QE

http://youtu.be/6EkI8OwDqaQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The air was heavy with moisture this morning and fog engulfed the rooftops of the tallest buildings downtown with a temperature of 67 (F) 19 (C) and dark overcast conditions

Click on my pics to see the full version

My first check point was the Andrews St. bridge-I didn’t see anything from there so I continued on to the Broad St. bridge where I could see a falcon on the 2nd arm of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). Because of the position that particular arm is situated I couldn’t see a falcon bump from the Andrews St. bridge. I drove over to City Hall on Fitzhugh St. to check it out. I found  it was Dot.Ca (DC) with his back to me so I drove around behind the church to the Open Door Mission parking lot where I could see the front of him.

DC then took a few steps to his right and turned around showing me his back. I decided to take a ride to look for Beauty but all I found was fog so I returned to Fitzhugh St. where things were looking up and so was DC.

DC did some preening,scratching and rousing in the next half hour or so as I got settled in to hang out with him.

Just before 7:30am DC started to whine as I was watching him on my little camera screen. I looked up and expected to see Beauty come flying in but I was too late-she had already snuck in and landed on the east side of the platform with food.

DC remained above her on the arm for a few minutes and then I guess he couldn’t stand seeing her eat alone and so he flew off to the south and came back with his own little morsel of food. He landed on a beam in the white section below the platform on the south side.

It didn’t take him long to polish it off and Beauty was whining at him as she had finished eating her breakfast. She moved down off the platform behind the southeast cube where I could barely see her tail feathers so I went over to the parking lot next to the Hochstein School of music where I found her sleeping on the north side under the platform across from her mate.

DC moved up in the red section and turned around facing the Beautyful one and that’s how I left them. I had a busy day ahead of me and they seemed all settled in so I opted to end my watch at around 8:30am. I love seeing them spending so much time together-I can’t help but smile!  🙂

PS-I think it’s safe to say we’re done with fledge watches since the juvies have not been seen in a week

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/G5R-emtCv4M

http://youtu.be/bAsbHskc9nI

http://youtu.be/K1rthWjSf10

http://youtu.be/grGXAfyE3gY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning was not quite as humid as yesterday but it was just as dark and overcast with a temperature of 66 (F) 19 (C) at the start

Please click on my pics to see the full version

I started my watch today at the City Hall parking lot after spotting a falcon on the top arm of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) from the Andrews St. bridge (ASB). It was Dot.Ca (DC) and he was looking for a meal-watching something down below him.  5 minutes later he was outta there as he flew east toward the river out of view.

I too went east hoping to find him or Beauty or maybe even a juvie. As I pulled over on Woodbury St. I spotted Beauty on the 5th column of the south side of Xerox-she flew off just as I stopped going around to the west side and out of sight. After a ride around downtown I ended back on the ASB where I spotted 2 falcons on FCT-both were on the platform railing opposite each other. Back to the City Hall parking lot where I identified DC as the one on the north side then down to Fitzhugh St. by the Sister Cities garage to ID the one on the south side as Beauty.

DC moved down  near the northeast cube then to a beam by the southeast cube. Beauty started to whine at him.

I moved down under the tower to see DC better but he was in where I could only see his tail feathers so I went back over by the garage to watch the Beautyful one.

Beauty was very relaxed as she preened-she would look back over her shoulder now and again to have a look at DC, then she’d give out a little whine and continue preening. She lost her footing once and righted herself by spreading out those id wings of hers.

They both seemed to be content and settled in for a while so I chose to end my watch at 8:30am and get on with my day. It so makes me smile to see our resident downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcon pair spending so much time together these days! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out the mornings videos
http://youtu.be/QGq29xNPLyU

http://youtu.be/TQp3sSP7ewU

http://youtu.be/9rqrNMMExNI

http://youtu.be/Ja9gI3KJzKE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was another dark, muggy morning with no sun and a starting temperature of 66 (F) 19 (C)

Click on my pics to view full version

I started my watch with Dot.Ca (DC)-he was on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR as I pulled over on the Broad St. bridge (BSB). I shot down to the hole for closer viewing.

I left the hole to park on Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park for a from below view of him. DC walked a few feet to the east and stretched his wing and tail feathers-it appears he may be molting.

I shared space with DC for about half hour then I took a ride on the east side-I hadn’t checked there yet. I went a different route than my usual to check Xerox and HSBC (I didn’t check the south sides) and found no falcons so I returned to the BSB to find DC gone. Back to the east doing my regular route and bingo, I found Beauty on the south side of Xerox on her old perching spot-the 5th column over from the southeast corner.

She didn’t stay put for long-about 5 minutes after I arrived on Chestnut St. the Beautyful one flew off going in and out of view near the southwest corner. I could hear DC chirping but didn’t see him so I drove to Court St. where I could see the west side. Beauty landed on the southwest corner momentarily then flew off to the north where DC joined her briefly near Bausch & Lomb (B&L). He disappeared behind Xerox and Beauty kept flying back and forth above and eventually landed on the roof apparatus that the juvies used to land on.

You can see that Beauty is still molting in that last pic. DC flew over Beauty and headed southwest toward the river and went into stoop formation as he passed above me. Half a minute later Beauty flew off to the northwest past B&L. I left to check around downtown and as I pulled in the parking lot of the Inn on Broadway I spotted Beauty on the RGS antenna. I drove over to East Ave. to spend some time with her.

I got a call from a friend who needed some help so I left my watch and thought I would return, but it took longer than I thought. I had to stop home (Seneca Towers) first and when I got there I spotted Veteran up on the northwest corner.

It was 8:15am and there was no sign of the female I saw yesterday. I ended my watch smiling for I had see our dynamic downtown duo and my own resident Peregrine Falcon! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/kxa_Nz2IEsA

http://youtu.be/qmK1h1O06gA

http://youtu.be/3QtTScYq2DI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P. / Photos by Joyce

Monday Afternoon – August 18, 2014

Kathy O reported that she had a falcon at the BS location.  I joined her there and we both watched a falcon flying over the building.  We caught up with falcon on the south side of the building on the corner just above the vent.  It was time to get out the scope.

Joyce had been downtown with a falcon on the jail tower.  She first thought it was Beauty, but later verified that it was Dot.ca.

This falcon was definitely a female based on size.  She had a very dark helmet, flat head and salmon colored chest.  She looked a lot like Beauty, but with subtle differences. One being the two thin white stripes that radiated from her nostrils up over her forehead.  She was gorgeous, but aren’t they all!

Bobby, a young man who told us he and his class used to watch the falcons on the Kodak Birdcam, stopped by.  He was thrilled to see the falcon close up through the scope.  We could see that she was banded with a black over green band and a silver band, but we couldn’t read the numbers on the green/black band.  Joyce took lots of pics, but was also unable to see the numbers.

Joyce sent the pictures to MAK for her opinion.  We all believe that this falcon was not Beauty.  That she was a visitor, possibly passing through on her migration.

You can bet that the Rochester Falcon Watchers will be out there to try to ID this falcon, if she returns.

Stay tuned!

Click pics to enlarge…

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a very dark,humid, overcast morning with a starting temperature of 62 (F) 17 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

My first falcon was Dot.Ca (DC) after checking downtown I made my way over to the east side and pulled over on Woodbury St. as I always do to check Xerox,HSBC and Bausch & Lomb. I managed to spot DC on the southeast corner in on the roof a bit and I could see that he was eating as he kept popping up so I could see him.

DC was silhouetted by the sun which was behind him so I drove over to Chestnut St. by Martin Luther King Jr. Park. It was there that I saw his bright white chest and the heart on his face that told me it was him.

It was soon after that he finished eating and flew out, touched one of the columns like he was going to land then changed his mind and flew around to the west side where I lost sight of him behind the building. That was the last I saw of him today. About 5 minutes later I spotted Beauty on the RGS antenna from the parking lot of the Inn on Broadway. I quick drove over to East Ave. for a closer look.

I spent the next 2 hours with the Beautyful one as she preened, stretched and rested. Most of the time resting! I kept hoping to see a juvie come flying in to knock her off but that didn’t happen. I do believe the kids are gone for good now-I haven’t seen one since Sunday. I thought Beauty would fly off a couple different times but then she settled back down and when she pooped and still didn’t go I decided I would.

I checked the Brighton Site (BS) since a banded female had been seen there 2 nights ago by Kathy. Joyce and Carol joined her using a scope and long lens camera, but they couldn’t get a positive ID. They thought perhaps it was Beauty as it was dark like her but it had white stripes above the cere which Beauty does not have. After checking all over downtown more than once I concluded my watch on the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls. I found a Belted Kingfisher, 3 Cormorants and about a dozen Canada Geese on the north side-no falcons.

I ended my watch at 10:30am and headed home to Seneca Towers where I spotted a falcon on the south end of the building perched on a ledge above the top set of windows. It was dark like Beauty and at first it was sleeping so I didn’t see its legs or profile.

Finally after 10 minutes it woke up and turned its head-I knew immediately that this was not Beauty. The malar stripe was way too high to be Beauty. I got pics of both sides of her face and a front view awake and asleep.

Next I needed her to show me some bling-she cooperated by scratching her head with the left leg. She had a black over green leg band and I could see at least one 7 and possibly two. You might recall we had a female juvie by the name of Billie born to Gleig and Diamante (son of Mariah&Kaver) in May 2013 at Central Terminal in Buffalo hanging out along the Lake Ontario shoreline last year. She wore a black over green leg band #77 over AX. It’s a very good possibility that this is her.

There were a couple bees bothering her as I taped a video before quitting for the day. She seemed very relaxed and the fact that there was a lot of white wash (poop) on the building below her told me that she’s been perched there before or another falcon of course. Maybe Veteran has perched there as well-I do hope whoever she is she is bonding with him. He lost his mate Luzerne and I’ve so hoped that he would hook up with another one quickly.

Yep, you guessed it-this made me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/Y2GqER-B-VM

http://youtu.be/dXpAPeeKwNQ

http://youtu.be/LvZ0Y2z6Afw

http://youtu.be/Ndhdx2gmj2E

http://youtu.be/wYnzFvPdRsg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another lovely morning for a watch with a starting temperature of 52 (F) 11 (C) and gorgeous sky from the sun rising

Remember to click on my pics to see the full version

I began my watch with Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR-I went down to Graves St. by Aqueduct Park for a close view of him.

I stayed with DC about 10 minutes then set out to look for Beauty and the kids. I found the Beautyful one but no juvies again today. I spotted her on the RGS antenna from the Inn at Broadway parking lot. I took a couple pics then I drove to East Ave. for a closer look but she was gone.

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I found a pretty bench on East Ave. and DC on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) top arm-with his white chest shining in the sun it was hard not to see him.

A couple minutes later DC flew down to the 2nd arm of FCT and started watching some little birds below him. He also did some primping and preening.

Around 7am DC started whining as he announced to me that Beauty had arrived. I looked up to see her on the same top arm he had been on. She too, did some whining of her own.

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Beauty stayed only 10 minutes or so then started to whine and flew off to the southwest in a big hurry. DC remained to do some stretching and scratching.

DebbieH came by around 7:45am on her way to work and while we were chatting DC flew off to the southeast. I drove around for the next hour and a half and wasn’t able to find another falcon. I ended my watch around 9:30am at the High Falls. Our downtown pair of Peregrine Falcons continue to make me smile as they are spending time together renewing  their bond to each other! 🙂

Click on the links below to see my videos from today

http://youtu.be/yzKYLydDIEs

http://youtu.be/zXwq1A-crZU

http://youtu.be/sL2UN65mq9c

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a fine morning for a falcon watch with mostly sunny skies and a starting temperature of 58 (F) 13 (C)

Please click on my pics to see the full version

I checked the east side last this morning finding Beauty on the south side of HSBC-I parked on Chestnut St. and sat on a bench in Martin Luther King Jr. Park (formerly Manhattan Square Park) to watch her. The first 10 minutes I spent looking at her back and while she preened. Then she walked down the ledge to pick at a small bit of food.

After the Beautyful one was done with her scraps she went up to the bottom of the roof railing before flying over to the southeast corner.

I shared space with her for the better part of an hour as she preened,pooped(twice), stretched ,scratched and roused.   There was a pretty bed of flowers in the park that caught my eye.

Just before the 8 o’clock hour Beauty flew west out of view behind buildings. I caught up with her on the Kodak Office tower (KO)-she was on the southeast corner of the launchpad and she was vocalizing. Soon after I heard the distinct sound of Dot.Ca (DC ) chirping and then they were both in the air. He landed on the southeast corner of the 20th floor and she on the south side just a few feet from him.

A few minutes later Beauty flew off to land on the northeast corner of the 20th floor opposite from DC. There was a lot of whining and chirping happening as they stayed this way for the next half hour. Beauty got some napping in and DC preened and kept an eye on the territory.

Around 8:45am DC flew toward the High Falls going fast and getting lower and lower as he went out of sight quickly. He never returned and Beauty stayed where she was catching a few winks. No juvie sightings today-tomorrow’s another day.

I ended my watch at 9am smiling as I spent most of  3  hours looking at Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out my videos from today
http://youtu.be/fT8tjp0A5_o
http://youtu.be/tL91q3gQCaA
http://youtu.be/ZoiiEDuEvg8
http://youtu.be/4j0GwdwDsHM
http://youtu.be/ufflZDAK9p4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was misting and the sky over downtown was very dark as I made my way down St. Paul St. to start my morning watch. A starting temperature of 63 (F) 17 (C) to start-the sun was in and out during my 4.5 hour watch

Please click on my pics if you want to see the full version

I started todays watch with Dot.Ca (DC) who was on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR.  I parked at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to watch him.

DC flew off to the south and returned to the same spot on OCSR and a short time later he flew east out of view.

I left to look on the east side for him and spotted a juvie on the northeast corner of Xerox-KathyO let me know that she was north of Xerox and could see it too, I was on Court St. by HSBC. As we were communicating with each other the juvie left and neither one of us saw what direction it went.

We decided to meet on the Broad St. Bridge and ride around in her car to look for PEFAs. After no luck from the ground we went up on the South Ave. Garage roof-from there Kathy spotted a falcon on the Time Warner cell tower across the river. We took a ride over and parked in the Time Warner parking lot and sat on a picnic table while we observed what we thought at first was a juvie. I was concentrating on the legs to get a pic of the right band-I got one, but it puzzled us because it was silver but had yellow feet. Tesh is silver with blue feet, so we thought maybe it was Nettie and that her tape had fallen off. Well when this falcon showed her front I could see that it was in fact, the Beautyful one.

Kathy then noticed another falcon on a beam behind Beauty and he started chirping-it was DC begging for food that she had.  Beauty started plucking feathers and DC started to whine-no peace for her even when the kids aren’t around! lol

DC flew over to join Beauty on her beam and she stopped eating immediately. He made a couple crouched advances toward her, as if he was trying to intimidate her into giving up her prize-I guess I don’t have to tell ya he failed and after a minute or two he returned to the  beam he came from.

<Click> Click>

Beauty started eating again only to stop again a few minutes later. Kathy and I left to get my car from the BSB as I was about ready to end my watch. We were going to meet at the pedestrian bridge at High Falls(I usually stop there on my way home)-I was half way there when Kathy tweeted seeing a falcon on the southwest corner of Xerox. I doubled back and as I pulled over on Woodbury St. Kathy tweeted seeing another falcon on the southwest corner of Bausch & Lomb (B&L). I confirmed Beauty on B&L and DC on Xerox.

DC  took Beautys place and she went to another corner below him and started eating again.

<Click it 

I ended my watch smiling at 10:30am after sharing space with the resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/gRlD-4WVD8o

http://youtu.be/1nUcNYjuao0

http://youtu.be/9MIH1lECdao

http://youtu.be/5tbetxhiT7I

http://youtu.be/HgnzFnP_sk8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

For the most part it was mostly cloudy but the sun did make an appearance briefly-the starting temperature was 52 (F) 11 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

As I pulled on to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I spotted Beauty on the Times Square building (TSB) under the northeast wing. She had her back to me so I parked over in front of the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) on Exchange Blvd. She tried to bring up a pellet and was watching everything around her-she flew off 10 minutes later heading southeast.

The Women of Faith convention was at the BCA making for a busy time near the BSB so I decided to go up on the South Ave. garage roof where I would have a birds eye view of downtown. Right away I spotted Tesh eating and pulling feathers from prey on the railing below the Mercury statue.

Carol had been on the pedestrian bridge at High Falls and was now on the BSB watching Tesh as well. I noticed 4 guys on the Wilder roof and Carol saw Dot.Ca (DC) fly in and land on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR. As I was taping down in the river I spotted a Black-crowned Night Heron.

Tesh continued picking at her prize oblivious to everything going on around her. When she had her fill she flew off and up to the base of Mercury with the leftovers then she headed north over the river.

Carol left to return to the gorge and I came down from the garage and went to the hole to hang out with DC for a few minutes.

While I was there the guys on the Wilder roof were shoveling stones into a hose that took them down to a lower roof. I thought maybe DC was keeping an eye on them.

Carol tweeted that Tesh was in the Falcon sucking tree (FST) so I headed over to the High Falls. When I got there Carol was on the observation deck with a heavy mist coming down from the falls-I opted for keeping my camera dry so I didn’t join her.

Suddenly Tesh flew off crossing the river and turning around when she reached the west side of the gorge and returned to the FST. A couple minutes later Carol tweeted that a Red-tail Hawk was on the the west side gorge wall so we believe that’s why Tesh went over there.

In between catching some shut eye Tesh was keeping track of that hawk. Dana joined me and Carol came over from the observation deck.

Dan came by a little bit after that just in time to see Tesh fly out the tree toward us on the bridge and at the last second veer up and over the railing not too far away from us. This big juvie girl then circled back and we could see that there was another hawk she was escorting over to the Genesee Brewery where it landed.  Tesh turned around and flew directly over us very close-so cool, and continued up river disappearing behind OCSR.

Dana then spotted another Red-tail over on a building near BB station-this one was a youngster.

I was ready to head out with a smile after the send off Tesh had given me, thus ending my watch at 10am. 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/AtMN_GCLY2E

http://youtu.be/qWUY69OD-us

http://youtu.be/v7Rg43_3V6k

http://youtu.be/k6QE3099zAU

http://youtu.be/X4Na3LiSrJU

http://youtu.be/z6yp4D2sB9U