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Archive for September, 2014

Tuesday Evening Falcon Watch and Catch-up 9/30/14

Tuesday, September 30th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My evening watches continue to get shorter.  Tonight I only had a little over an hour (6:00 – 7:15 pm) before it was too dark to see anything.  At least the weather has been nice.

When I arrived downtown at 6:00 pm, I found Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) on the southwest box below the platform.  Last night she had been on the northwest box.

Beauty on SW Box on FCT 9-30-14Beauty on SW Box on FCT 9-30-14*

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At 6:08 pm, Beauty took off and headed south.  I made my way over to the Broad St Bridge, which was filling up with cars. There’s always something going on at night in Rochester.  I looked for both Beauty and Dot.ca, but could find neither of them. The Great Egret was hunting on the south side of the bridge.

Beauty on SW Box on FCT 9-30-14Beauty on SW Box on FCT 9-30-14*

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There were window washers on the south side of the OCSR.

Window Washers on OCSR 9-30-14*

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I drove around downtown, but had no luck finding any falcons, so I headed back towards the Times Square Bldg.  Finally, I found Beauty on the south railing on the Widows Walk.

Beauty on Widows Walk 9-30-14Beauty on Widows Walk 9-30-14Beauty on Widows Walk 9-30-14*

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At 7:06 pm, she took off and headed east.  Hmm, wonder where she was heading?  🙂  Yep, I caught up with Beauty on the south side of the Xerox Tower.  She was on the 4th column in from the southeast corner.

Beauty on the South Side of the Xerox Tower 9-30-14*

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By this time it was too dark to see much, so I ended my watch at 7:15 pm.  It was a nice quiet and peaceful watch spent with Beauty.  Sorry to say, that I never did find Dot.ca.  I passed the beautiful building that is host to our falcons nest box, the Times Square Bldg on my way home.

Times Square Bldg at Night 9-30-14*

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Now to catch up a little bit.

Sunday, 9/28/14

On Sunday, Dana and I did some falcon watching after I finished helping with maintenance on the nest box cameras.  Beauty and Dot.ca were both hanging out downtown, so we decided to check out Hawkeye, Seneca Towers and the Kodak Park Research Labs.  No falcons seen there, so we continued on to Russell Station where Dana had seen a juvenile Peregrine Falcon earlier that day.  We were pleased to find the young falcon just above the lower catwalk on the west stack.  This falcon is unbanded.  We do hope that it decides to spend the winter there.

Unbanded Juvie Peregrine Falcon at RS 9-28-14Unbanded Juvie Peregrine Falcon at RS 9-28-14*

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Unbanded Juvie Peregrine Falcon at RS 9-28-14Unbanded Juvie Peregrine Falcon at RS 9-28-14*

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Monday, 9/29/14

I didn’t have long to watch last night (Monday), but I did spend some time with Beauty.  She was on the northwest box on the Frontier Communication Tower.  Joyce had been there earlier and had seen both Dot.ca and Beauty there.

Beauty on FCT North West Box 9-29-14Beauty on FCT North West Box 9-29-14*

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It has been very quiet downtown the last few days, just the way I like it.  Goodnight everyone!

Morning watch 9-30-14

Tuesday, September 30th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another stellar weather morning with a starting temperature of 56 (F) 14 (C) and sunny, blue skies

Click on the pics to see the full version

I began my watch at Seneca Towers from Seth Green Drive by the visitor parking with Mr. Yellow Tape (MYT) on the west side roof railing.

img_0007-mr-yellow-tape

I then spotted Billie on the south end top window ledge of the building, so I went back to my parking lot to check her out closer.

img_0010-buffalo-billie img_0025-do-you-hear-what-i-hear img_0035-all-foofed-up

She flew off after 15 minutes and went around to the west side of the building. When I got back out to the road I saw that Mr. Yellow Tape was still up there on the railing and she was too.

img_0036-billie-and-male img_0038-yellow-tape<MYT    Buffalo Billie>img_0040-billie

A few minutes later they both flew south-he went first, she followed immediately and they didn’t come back. Off to downtown I went-while on the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) I spotted a falcon on the base of Mercury. I went directly to the hole to find it was Beauty and she had food.

img_0045-beauty

The sun was behind her making for poor back lighting so I headed up to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) for a better look. Shortly after I got up there Beauty stopped eating. Dot.Ca (DC) came flying in coming to rest on the opposite side from Beauty on the base. She was bowing but he would not return this bonding act. Hmm

img_0048-here-comes-dc img_0049-beauty-bowing-to-dc

DC walked over right in front of her and at first I thought he took her food and flew off up to the heel of Mercury with it. Once up there I could clearly see that wasn’t the case-he had no food.

img_0051-dc img_0052-beautay img_0053-bdc

DC stayed only a minute then he was off again heading west. The Beautyful one hopped up on the green part of the base and looked around.

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img_0064-beauty-up-to-the-green img_0065-approach img_0078-beauty

A few minutes later Beauty flew the same direction as DC and I found her on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower.

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It  was noisy by the Sister Cities garage from road crews, so I went down to the City Hall parking lot to share space with Beauty. She had her back to me from this vantage point as she preened. I left her 10 minutes later to look for DC after I checked FCT for him.

img_0105-beauty-preening

As I looked for DC from the Andrews St. bridge I saw Beauty fly off FCT  head my direction, cross the river and disappear behind the Water St. buildings. Next I saw pigeons scatter to the south over the river by the Radisson Hotel and then Beauty came into view as she flew back to the northeast cube of FCT.

img_0107-beauty-flying-up-to-cube img_0108-beauty-on-her-cube-from-asb

As I made my way down Andrews St. to State St. I spotted a falcon on the top arm of FCT. When I got back to the City Hall parking lot Beauty had moved off the cube and was now on a north side beam. DC , who was on the arm took off soon after I arrived.

img_0110-dc img_0116-peek-a-boo

I headed down State St. on my way home when I couldn’t help but notice a bright white spot on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad. I went down to Mill St. to observe DC way up there on Kodak. He had catching breakfast on his mind as he watched all bird activity in the near vicinity.

img_0125-whitey-on-the-right img_0126-dc

I stayed with DC for the next half hour until he spotted something and flew south from the tower.

img_0131-dc img_0137-dc-ready-to-go img_0138-wings-up

I left for home checking Hawkeye and Seneca Towers-I had no falcon sightings at either place. I ended my watch smiling at 10:15am after a nice morning watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a photo album and videos
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqj7q

http://youtu.be/IbX1nKGC15g

http://youtu.be/TItJD9gwkfQ

http://youtu.be/7NRLLr5mg3k

http://youtu.be/nj6fjiu2NfY

http://youtu.be/lg0EyEGSw6w


Morning watch 9-29-14

Monday, September 29th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There were some thin clouds this morning but still sun -filled with blue skies for the most part and a starting temperature of 56 (F) 14 (C)  The sky to the north was dark at the start but cleared out as the sun rose

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

I dedicate this report to Luzerne, the female that was here with Veteran before Billie. She was found deceased on a sidewalk near Seneca Towers a few weeks ago with injuries that would tell us that she died after hitting the building.

I started my watch at Seneca Towers (ST) out at the entrance of the visitor parking where I can see the west side of the building thru the trees. Soon, after the leaves are gone I will have more places to watch from. Our new male with the yellow tape on his right leg band was up by the northwest corner on the north side with his back to me-he was partially blocked by the railing. He stayed with me about 10 minutes then flew southwest-the take off shot showed his yellow tape thankfully.

img_0001-mr-yellow-tape-at-seneca-towers img_0004-seneca-towers-male-mr-yellow-tape img_0005-mr-yellow-tape-flies-off-seneca-towers

Mr. Yellow Tape did not return so I made my way downtown. My first stop was the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) whereI could see Beauty on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). The road crews had all the paving equipment ready to start St. Paul St. and Andrews St. I drove over to Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities  garage to observe the Beautyful one.

img_0006-beauty-on-fct-cube img_0008-beauty1 img_0014-beauty1 img_0015-beautyful

I stayed with her for half hour then left to look for Dot.Ca (DC). I checked all of downtown twice with no luck. I stopped on the Court St. bridge to check the river-I saw the usual suspects-pigeons, gulls and ducks. Then I went back to FCT to see if Beauty was still on her cube-she was but way to the back of it where I could only see her from the City Hall parking lot. Right above her was DC with his back to me under the platform.

img_0024-bdc1

Beauty was napping and I’m pretty sure DC was probably doing the same. He wouldn’t turn around at all and barely turned his head in the time I spent watching him and his mate.

img_0025-beauty-catching-a-few-winks img_0027-bdc img_0028-dc2

I left them around 9:15am to rest and enjoy the nice weather as I wanted to get home to Seneca Towers to try some different spots to look for falcons on the property.

img_0029-awake-with-a-full-crop img_0030-sleeping-beauty

I started over on St. Paul St. at East Ridge Rd. in a church parking lot that Dana had watched from yesterday when she saw both Billie and Mr. Yellow Tape. They had also been seen by Pat on the top floor (22nd floor) north side windows. Our new mystery male was there-I took a couple pics then left for my ST east side parking lot for a closer look.

img_0031-north-and-east-side-seneca-towers img_0032-yellow-tape-male-on-north-end-windows

I’m used to seeing the south and west (river) side of ST from Seth Green Drive visitor parking area where the falcons seem to frequent the most. I was now viewing the east and south sides from the furthest spot on the properties north end backed up to a chain link fence. There was a tree messing with my focus as I had to shoot thru an opening in the leaf filled branches. Unfortunately, Mr. Yellow Tape took off when my view was obscured by the tree for a second, so I didn’t get the take off shot that I had hoped for so as to possibly get an ID on this mystery male.

img_0034-mryellow-tape img_0035-yellow-tape-male

You can clearly see the band with the yellow tape on his right leg. Right after he disappeared I heard vocalizing and when I stepped out from under the tree and looked I saw a falcon on the northwest corner with its back to me. I thought it was him but it turned out to be Billie as I could see the silver band on her right leg band.

img_0040 img_0040-buffalo-billie img_0041-billie1 img_0045-billie-is-talking

Buffalo Billie stood up and showed her left side profile and her black over green band then settled back down. I left to walk around to the west side to see if I could see her better from there and I could.

img_0046-billie img_0054-22-floors-up-north-end-seneca-towers img_0056-buffalo-billie img_0058-billie-from-below-on-west-side

Suddenly a Turkey Vulture appeared above me and as I was watching it Billie left the building and didn’t come back. My camera battery was about to die so I called it a watch at 10:30am.  I saw all four current Rochester Peregrine Falcons making me smile from ear to ear! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/kFx_TxDaf0c

http://youtu.be/VWUY1O04vuA

http://youtu.be/fISuIuv3YRg

http://youtu.be/ZuutMNKSSlQ

http://youtu.be/Rf8mH1z2yt8

http://youtu.be/V8A_xVnd3Yk

http://youtu.be/d6ebUc28Kd8



Morning watch 9-28-14

Sunday, September 28th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I must sound like a broken record as we have another gorgeous fall day with bright blue skies, sun and I had a starting temperature of 54 (F) 12 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

As I turned my car around to face Seneca Towers I spotted the new male on the west side roof railing, or maybe it was Billie or Veteran-I got fooled yesterday so maybe I’ll just say the falcon I saw flew off after I shot only a couple pics of him. lol

img_0001-falcon-on-st img_0003-falcon-at-st-this-morning

I left for downtown when it didn’t return. As I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the Mercury money bag (MMB)-he flew down to the base and jumped up to the green part and started eating cached leftovers after spotting them from above.

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DC was looking dark this morning and he had a feather stuck to his beak that he tried to knock off many times with no luck.

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The sun finally rose enough to shine on DC and lighten him up a bit-he did some stretching and looking around the area. Pigeons and Starlings were flying thru quite regularly but DC didn’t go after any to my surprise.

img_0043-dc-in-the-sun-stretching img_0044-a-dc-doll-for-you-d img_0055-dc1 img_0064-dc-stretching

I spent over an hour watching our favorite little tiercel as he stretched at times, showed his leg band and just stayed perched and alert and handsome!

img_0066-dc img_0074-another-stretch img_0085-dc-showing-his-bling img_0089-dc-looking-east

At 8:29am DC flew west and less than a minute later returned to the base of Mercury-or so I thought. I got 2 pics of a falcon with a feather stuck to its beak before it turned away from me. DC had a feather stuck to his beak so I assumed it was him. It was NOT-it was in fact Beauty and she had food. They pulled the old switcheroo on old MAK!

img_0091-we-have-lift-off img_0092-see-ya<DC Beauty>   img_0093-feather-on-beak-is-it-dc img_0094-feather-on-beak-dc-right

I drove down to the hole to see the front but still didn’t know for sure it was Beauty as the sun was behind her making her very dark on my little LCD camera screen.

img_0095-beauty-not-dc img_0096-beauty-with-a-mouthful

At this point I decided to go for a ride and to my surprise I spotted DC on the top ibeam, north corner of OCSR from State St.

img_0099-dc-as-seen-from-state-st

Now I was intrigued, since I thought I had left DC on the base of Mercury eating-so I went to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to see the front of DC and where I could see Mercury. Yep, it was definitely DC on OCSR and he still had a feather on his beak AND it turned out to be the Beautyful one on Mercury! I went back to the hole for one more look at Beauty, just to be sure.

img_0101-dc-still-with-feather-stuck-to-his-beak-on-ocsr img_0103-dc1 img_0105-beauty

Just before 9am Beauty finished eating and flew off. I caught up with her over on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT).  I went to the parking lot by the Hochstein School of Music to check out the tower-there were people going in the school for an event there as I spotted Beauty on the east side across from the large disk.

img_0108-beauty-on-fct img_0109-beauty-on-fct img_0111-beautyful

She was mostly preening and I left after a few minutes. I checked OCSR for DC before heading out of downtown-he was gone. I checked Hawkeye and Seneca Towers before ending my watch at 10am-no falcons at either site. I took some pics of the fall foliage along the river gorge while out on my floors west side balcony when I got home-there’s just a splash of color so far. This is the playground of Buffalo Billie and the male of her choice! lol

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I really did have to smile over the fact that Beauty and DC played a little falcon game with me today! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/8ipqWxX5HjU

http://youtu.be/l310LUtezZI

http://youtu.be/PNZXssIYFlg

http://youtu.be/rS-lahb7StE


Saturday Evening Falcon Watch – Three Seen Again – 9/27/14

Saturday, September 27th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I started my watch at 5:30 pm, when I found Dot.ca, who I had not found last night, on the north side of OCSR on the top IBeam.

Dot.ca on top IBeam OCSR North Side 9-26-142-dotca-on-ocsr-northside-9-26-14Dot.ca on top IBeam OCSR North Side 9-26-14*

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He was looking around and bobbing his head a lot.  I thought he was going to take off, but he never did while I was watching him.  I decided to go look for Beauty.  There was a lot going on downtown tonight.  I found a spot on the Broad St Bridge and got out of my car to check the river on both sides.  For the first time, I saw the Great Egret that MAK has been reporting about. A very beautiful bird and a skilled fisher-bird.  There were also two Black-crowned Night Herons hunting on the river.

While I was watching all the birds gathered on the river, I heard a Peregrine vocalization and looked up to find Dot.ca had arrived.  He was up on the northeast wing ledge on the Time Square Bldg.

Dot.ca on the Times Square Bldg 9-26-14*

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Something seemed to have his attention, but until he took off and sped towards the Hyatt, I had no idea what it was.  I soon had my answer.  Dot.ca dove towards the big Hyatt letters on the west side of the hotel and another Peregrine flew off.  He chased it around to the east side of the hotel and then broke off the chase.  Dot.ca returned to the Time Square Bldg and landed on the northeast wing ring at the very top of the building.

Dot.ca on the Time Square Bldg. Wing Ring 9-26-14*

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While he kept guard over the nest box building, a streak flew in from the west, over the river and continuing east.  It was Beauty and she was chasing the 3rd falcon.  I lost sight of them when they passed behind the old Midtown Plaza.  It wasn’t very long before Beauty returned and flew up to the south side of the Xerox Tower.  This all happened just before 7:00 pm.

A little after 7:00 pm, Dot.ca flew to the Xerox Tower and landed on the west side, 3rd column in from the northwest corner. He’s been seen there a lot lately.

Dot.ca on West Side of Xerox 9-26-14*

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I drove over to the Geva Theater area and was able to see both Beauty and Dot.ca on Xerox.  Beauty was on the southside 4th column (not 5th as usual) from the southeast corner.

Beauty and Dot.ca on Xerox 9-26-14*

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I stayed and kept watch a little longer before the sun was setting and I was losing daylight.  Both were settled in and all was quiet and peaceful when I ended my watch at about 7:15 pm.  This is what I saw as I was leaving the downtown area. Something is definitely missing.  🙂

AK! 9-26-14*

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I’ll leave you with a few pics I took during my evening Watch.  Enjoy and goodnight!

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Morning watch 9-27-14

Saturday, September 27th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We;re having quite a stretch of nice weather here in western New York-warm days and cool nights with lots of sunshine and blue skies. Today the starting temperature was 54 (F) 12 (C) when I set out for my morning watch

Click on my pics to see the full version

After a quick check of my apartment building Seneca Towers, I left for downtown as no falcons were around. I found Beauty on the east side as I made my way down Chestnut St. pulling over by the Hotel Cadillac. She was on the northeast corner of HSBC with her back mostly facing me and she was in hunt mode. She quickly pooped and flew off going into a stoop down the east side of HSBC out of view then surfaced and flew west.

img_0005-beauty-on-hsbc img_0006-poop img_0007-off-she-goes

I followed in turn, driving west to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) where I caught up with her on the base of Mercury. At first she started picking at something for half a minute then she started looking to and fro while partially mantling. I thought perhaps she had caught something on her way over but when she finally started to pluck feathers and eat she showed me what she had, it was small. I figured it was only cached leftovers since she didn’t take much time to eat it!

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The Beautyful one finished up, did some feaking, roused once or twice as the sun was now fully on her, then flew off out over the river. She flew down river to the north past OCSR then turned west flying behind OCSR on the north side and disappeared.

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After checking the river and finding a Great Egret hunting below the south side of the BSB I headed straight to the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) as that’s the direction Beauty was flying and that’s where she likes to rest and digest after a meal. When I arrived on Fitzhugh St.Beauty was on her favorite FCT spot-the northeast cube with a pretty full looking crop.

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I left her after a few minutes to look for Dot.Ca (DC)-He wasn’t seen last night by Carol so I wanted to find him to put everyones’ mind to rest. It took a couple trips around downtown but I finally found him on the north side of the Times Square building (TSB). He was on the 5th column over from the back of the building and he was plucking feathers from a Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker.

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I shared space with DC from the parking lot next to TSB as he devoured his breakfast. He finished it as he went to the back of the ledge, then stood up and came to the front, feaked a few times and pooped.

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DC then made his way down to the ledge below the column he had been, walked back and forth a few times as he wiped his beak off as he went along . When he was sufficiently cleaned up he flew off to the north with a very full crop.

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I left downtown after that to see if I could catch somebody on Seneca Towers and I was rewarded with not only Veteran but Billie showed up as well for me. I love it when they cooperate! As I stopped on Seth Green Drive by the visitor parking I saw Veteran on the west side roof. He flew off over the roof out of view then showed up again landing on the northwest corner.

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Right after that Billie came flying in and Veteran moved over as she landed on the corner. She was in hunt mode-he moved even further down the roof just before Buffalo Billie flew off. Veteran followed right behind as they flew to the south and didn’t return.

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I’d say I had plenty to smile about after this watch as I called it quits at 9:40am! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a photo album and todays videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqj7I

http://youtu.be/3zllRgAtSe4

http://youtu.be/_BVrtC11Lok

http://youtu.be/29RTNRCHobs

http://youtu.be/N6F3I7It4LI

http://youtu.be/0NksH1vDXw8

http://youtu.be/paEv5XiS5Ts

Morning watch 9-26-14

Friday, September 26th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a very nice morning for a falcon watch with light winds, blue skies and sunshine and a starting temperature of 50 (F) 10 (C)

Click on my pics to view the full version

It was good to get back in the saddle after missing 2 days due to car trouble. I checked Seneca Towers before leaving for my watch-as I got to Seth Green Drive I glanced up at the building and saw a falcon on a different spot on the west side roof.  It flew off before I could get turned around. The photo below shows where I saw the falcon fly from.

img_0015-falcon<Click it

So after waiting a few minutes with the falcon not returning I left for downtown. As I came thru the intersection of State and Main St. I spotted Beauty under the northeast wing of the Times Square building. I turned down Bank Place to the hole and just as I pulled over on Basin St. by the Wilder building I saw Dot.Ca (DC) spread his wings and fly off the southeast wing ring.

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Now this just wasn’t going to work because as beauty-ful as it is I didn’t think we wanted to look at her back, so I drove over to Exchange Blvd. and parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena to at least get a side view.

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This wasn’t cutting it either as she started preening the right side of her body and we were on her left side. I went back to the hole on Aqueduct St. behind the Philipone building and the Beautyful one cooperated by turning so we could see her beauty-ful-ness!

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I shared space with Beauty for a little over an hour as she pulled some more molting feathers out of her and had a few looks around the area. At 8:09am she spread her wings, turned around and flew off to the northwest.

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I thought maybe she was going to the Frontier Communications Tower or Kodak Office which are both that direction but all I found was more road milling. All the roads surrounding City Hall will be getting some fresh asphalt-Allen St., Church St. and Fitzhugh St. I found DC on the east side-he was perched on the 5th column from the northwest corner on the west side of Xerox. I probably wouldn’t have even seen him were it not for his white front.

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I was parked on Court St. across from the Court St. garage. He flew off around 8:45am when I was not looking, so I had no idea what direction he went. I drove to the Broad St. Bridge and checked out the river, finding a Great Blue Heron fishing by the Rundel Library-he had some friends there with him.

img_0059-great-blue-heron img_0065-geese-and-a-gull img_0063-gbh

I then got my binocs out and managed to spot DC on the north side of Xerox 3rd column from the northwest corner. Boy he blended in well!

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I left him to look for Beauty but I never found her again and there were no sightings at Hawkeye or Seneca Towers. I had a quiet, uneventful watch, but any time I see falcons is reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/T84YwrG8uAk

http://youtu.be/rsXE_o1_bOg

http://youtu.be/lOzG_D_hx7g



Thursday Evening Falcon Watch – 3 Falcons Seen – 9/25/14

Thursday, September 25th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

The summer weather continues here in Rochester, NY, with sunshine, blue skies and temps in the 70’s (F).

I had a meeting I had to attend at 7:00 pm, so I headed downtown a little earlier than normal, arriving at about 5:30 pm.  Pat had reported that there was a falcon on the Xerox Tower.  First I checked out all the other falcon spots before heading over there.  From the Broad St Bridge, I spotted a falcon on the west side of Xerox on the 6th column in from the northwest corner. I headed over to the south side of Xerox.  From there, I could see a 2nd falcon.  Dot.ca was the falcon on the west side and Beauty was at her spot, 5th column in from the southeast corner.

South and West Sides of Xerox Tower 9-25-14Beauty and Dot.ca on Xerox 9-25-14*

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Beauty on Xerox 9-25-14Dot.ca on Xerox 9-25-14*

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Dot.ca took off and when I caught up with him, he was on the south side of OCSR on the top IBeam.

Dot.ca on OCSR 9-25-14*

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Joyce and Brian H joined me on the Broad St Bridge.  Soon after we noticed that Dot.ca was gone from OCSR, we heard ee-chupping and vocalization from the east.  That’s when we noticed that there were three falcons in the air and two were chasing one.  Based on size, we believe that it was two females and a male.  This is the only picture I was able to get of all three.

Three Falcons Flying Over Downtown Rochester 9-25-14*

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After checking her pictures, Joyce was pretty sure that it was three adults.  It broke up quickly.  Dot.ca landed on the southwest corner of Xerox and one falcon flew over us, heading towards the west.  We were unsure whether the falcon that flew to the west was Beauty or the 3rd falcon.  At this point, we could only see two falcons.

Dot.ca on SW Corner of Xerox 9-25-14 Falcon That Flew Overhead Heading West 9-25-14

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Dot.ca took off and flew fast, quick wing beats, heading northwest.  We followed his flight until he went behind some buildings. He was obviously on a mission.

Since all was quiet I decided to head out to my meeting, but first I wanted to check the Frontier Communication Tower and Kodak Office.  As I was driving down State St, I saw a falcon flying around the Kodak Tower.  It was obvious to me that there had to be another falcon up there somewhere since the flying falcon was diving on something on the northwest side.  Just as I was parking my car, two falcons came off and the chase was on, with lots of vocalizations.

Falcon Flying at KO 9-25-14One Falcon Chasing Another at KO 9-25-14*

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The falcon doing the chasing broke it off and headed south back towards downtown.  The other falcon returned to the Kodak Tower and landed on the southeast corner of the launchpad.

3rd Falcon on Kodak Tower Launchpad 9-25-14*

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This falcon moved in where I couldn’t see it, just before Joyce arrived.  We both checked out the launch pad from all angles, but neither of us could find a falcon up there.   Was it gone or just hunkered down out of sight?  MAK tweeted that she had checked out the Seneca Towers location and was unable to find any falcons there.

What we witnessed tonight wasn’t too aggressive, more a chase to drive out the intruding falcon from their area and lots of loud vocalizations.  Of course our thoughts go to Billie who usually hangs out between Hawkeye and the lake, north of downtown. Could this have been her checking out the area?  Or was it a migrating female that just happened to be passing through and thought she’d stop by for a visit?  At this time, there is no way of knowing.  But you can bet the Rochester Falcon Watchers will be out keeping an eye on the situation.

Goodnight everyone!

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the Black-Crowned Night Heron we saw hunting on the river before the 3rd falcon showed up.

Black-Crowned Night Heron 9-25-14Black-Crowned Night Heron and Great Blue Heron 9-25-14Black-Crowned Night Heron 9-25-14

Wednesday Evening Falcon Watch – 9/24/14

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

What an absolutely beautiful early fall day and evening.  Temps near 70 degrees.

I arrived downtown at 6:00 pm and did not find a falcon until 6:38 pm.  Beauty flew in from the east, past the Times Square Bldg. I watched her from the Andrew St Bridge as she flew up to the Frontier Comm Tower and landed on the middle arm.

Beauty on the Frontier Comm Twr 9-24-14Beauty on the Frontier Comm Twr 9-24-14*

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While I was texting, Beauty took off.  I parked on the Broad St Bridge where I met fellow watcher Kathy O.  There was a falcon on the jail comm tower, but we could not tell if it was Beauty or Dot.ca.  We were already losing light.

Falcon on the jail comm tower 9-24-14*

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While Kathy and I were watching two Black-crowned Night Herons hunting on the river below us, the falcon took off.

Black-Crowned Night Heron 9-24-14*

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We then spotted a falcon on OCSR at the west end of the top Ibeam.  It then took off and landed on the base of the Mercury statue. There was no way for us to know if this falcon was Beauty or Dot.ca.

Falcon on Base of Mercury Statue 9-24-14Falcon on Base of Mercury Statue 9-24-14*

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The 2nd Black-crowned Night Heron (GBNH) landed near the first one and the first one chased it under the bridge and returned to it’s fishing spot, where it successfully caught a small fish.  As the sun set, a Great Blue Heron landed near the GBNH.

Two Herons Hunting 9-24-14*

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Just before 7:30 pm, ee-chupping filled the air.  The falcon on Mercury was gone.  It was too dark to tell where the ee-chupping was coming from.  Definitely two falcons vocalizing.

Before we left at 7:40 pm., Kathy spotted a falcon on the south west corner of the B&L building.  I do wish it would stay lighter longer.  lol  🙂

Falcon on SW corner of B&L 9-24-14*

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It was time to end our evening falcon watch.  Goodnight all!!!

I’ll leave you with some pictures from our evening watch.

Downtown Rochester at Night 9-24-14Downtown Rochester at Night 9-24-14Blue Library in Honor of Officer Daryl Pierson 9-24-14

Tuesday Evening Falcon Watch – 9/23/14

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My evening watches are getting shorter and shorter.  By 7:30 pm, it’s already dark, so I was happy to find both Beauty and Dot.ca on territory.  All was quiet and peaceful this evening.

I found Beauty on the northeast wing ledge on top of the Times Square Bldg, directly above the nest box.

Beauty on Times Square Bldg 9-23-14Beauty on Times Square Bldg 9-23-14*

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Beauty on Times Square Bldg 9-23-14Beauty on Times Square Bldg 9-23-14*

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While she was up there, I looked all over downtown for Dot.ca and had no luck finding him.  At about 7:10 pm, Beauty made her way to her nighttime roost on the 5th column on the south side of the Xerox Tower.  We find her there most evenings after the sun sets.

Beauty on the Xerox Tower 5th Column 9/23/14*

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After seeing that Beauty was settled in, I again searched for Dot.ca and finally found him on the top arm of the Frontier Communication Tower.  He was definitely in hunt mode, looking in all directions.  Dot.ca is a great hunter and did a wonderful job supplying food for his four young ones and Beauty when she was unable to hunt for herself during nesting.

Dot.ca on Frontier Communication Tower 9-23-14Dot.ca on Frontier Communication Tower 9-23-14*

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I ended my watch at 7:30 pm, after the sun set, sending good wishes to Dot.ca for a successful hunt.  Goodnight everyone!

The lights are on and nobody is home - 9-23-14


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