By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A chilly 45 (F) 7 (C) degree start with sun and blue skies

Click on the pics to see full version

I started my watch on Seth Green Drive as I spotted a falcon on the northwest corner of the roof railing-it flew off right away and returned to land on the west side railing.

I really struggled to decide who this falcon was, poor pre-dawn lighting and distance make it so hard to ID these falcons. I thought at first it was Veteran because it was so white on upper chest and looked small to me.

It flew off and went behind the trees then flew above the building and landed on an antenna at the south end and was vocalizing which could mean another bird was near. I was able to ID this bird as Billie from the silver band on her right leg and the darkness of her front. I’m still not convinced that it wasn’t Veteran on the railing. Definitely NOT the new male.

She flew off and never came back so I left for downtown. I found Beauty on the base of Mercury around 7:30am with food. She had a Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker she was plucking feathers from to prepare to eat.

Within 10 minutes Dot.Ca showed up on the 2nd ibeam of OCSR and a minute later he flew to the Mercury money bag (MMB).

Beauty finished eating moved to the back of base where I couldn’t see her then flew off around 8am. DC flew down to finish up her leftovers right after she left.

With one more bite to go DC finished, feaked and flew off when I wasn’t looking. Around 8:30am I spotted Beauty on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR preening in the sun. She started napping so I left to look for DC.

I found him on the Times Square building under the northeast wing-I didn’t stay long as I have a busy schedule today.

I checked Hawkeye and Seneca Towers but came up empty. I ended my watch at 9:15am with a smile after enjoying another nice morning falcon watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to see more pics and videos
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqj6u

http://youtu.be/UcphA5oqKXw

http://youtu.be/8NyBEjJenGs

http://youtu.be/SYWQ-S9goao

http://youtu.be/Zwna41TXSMI

http://youtu.be/OAgxKRUFPL4

http://youtu.be/CqWo8zH5xoc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Chilly, damp, wet, windy start to the day with a temperature of 49 (F) 10 (C)

Click on the pics to see full version

Before I even left my apartment I was on watch this morning-as I was closing my bedroom window, 2 falcons flew by down near the tree tops heading south. So I grabbed my camera and binoculars and out the door I went. When I got out to Seth Green Drive and turned around I just got a couple shots off before a falcon which was on the roof railing near the northwest corner took off and flew south.  I can’t say with any certainty who it was.

This falcon didn’t return after 5 minutes so I left for downtown as it started to lightly rain. When I got to the Broad St. Bridge a heavy misty rain was falling as I spotted Beauty over on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. I went over to the Radisson Hotel near Main St. to be closer and I also checked the elevator shaft for Dot.Ca (DC)-he wasn’t there.

I left Beauty around 8am to look for DC as she turned her back to the world for a nap, protected for the most part from the misty wind driven rain. I found DC on the Kodak Office launchpad southeast corner-he was facing out and watching the area intently.

Even DC looked dark this morning. At 8:24am he spotted something to the southeast and took off fast heading that very direction.

I went that way myself and soon found out what he had seen-Beauty with FOOD! As I came up on the hole I spotted both of them on Mercury from Exchange Blvd. I pulled down Bank Place and parked where it meets Aqueduct St. The Beautyful one was on the base plucking feathers and DC was above on the money bag.

<Click it

For the next 10 minutes DC tried to act like he wasn’t interested in that food but when beauty wasn’t looking he would look down at her.

<Click it

Beauty finished eating, feaked and went up on the green part of the base before flying off-DC flew off after her at 8:50am.

<DC

I found Beauty on the Wilder green strip but never did find DC again. Beauty was napping on and off so I left her to check the elevator shaft for DC from Bragdon Place.

As I drove up to St. Paul St. to leave there was a big beautiful Red-tail Hawk on the roof of the new RTS bus terminal. Of course, I had to stop for pics-they are my favorite hawk after all. He pooped and flew off after a few short minutes.

On my way home I checked Hawkeye and Seneca Towers-no luck at either of those locations. I ended my watch at 9:30am after a nice surprise at the and there with the hawk! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/qhHElRfmjhM

http://youtu.be/_svv0Mn7lwo

http://youtu.be/OPRAsw_DyFY

http://youtu.be/PcF-8b14YfM

http://youtu.be/Q4o7Qe5RkZQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a warm start this last morning of summer with a temperature of 67 (F) 20 (C) and partly cloudy skies

Click on my pics to see full version

I started my watch at my residence, Seneca Towers finding the mystery male on the south side roof railing- a spot he seems to favor.

Unfortunately, I don’t have good lighting first thing in the morning so it will be very hard to get an ID on this falcon. At 7:12am Billie came flying in from the southwest, passing closely by him then landing about 20 feet away on the railing.

They didn’t really look at each other too much while perched and there was no vocalization at any time between them.

<Billie

At 7:26am the male flew off and went right past Billie, close, just like she had done to him. He landed down on the west end of the building.

I left Seth Green Drive to go back to my parking lot where I would be much closer, but by the time I got there the male was off and Billie had taken his place. She flew off as he came by her and they circled the building flying close together. Billie came back around and landed on the southeast corner but took off soon after-I never saw either one again.

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I left for downtown and found Dot.Ca (DC) under the northeast wing of the Times Square building around 7:50am. He was just perched up there facing out at first but turning around to show me his back after about 10 minutes.

I had to leave for an early morning appointment and I wasn’t able to find Beauty as my time was short. I ended my watch at 8:15am. Stay tuned and keep smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/InM1kVaAej4

http://youtu.be/flUcl6ec-cU

http://youtu.be/mnknme9N6xA

http://youtu.be/W8fgpgBnAB0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There was a mix of sun and clouds with a temperature of 59 (F) 15 (C)

Click on the pics to see a full version

As I turned around to face Seneca Towers I saw our new mystery falcon fly in from the south and land on the south side roof railing where it was yesterday when I saw it. It stayed a short 5 minutes then flew south and didn’t return.

I left for downtown and on my way down St. Paul St. the sun showed itself behind some clouds-of course I had to take a shot as I drove along.

I stopped on the Andrews St. bridge first to have a look around and I was able to see the white of Dot.Ca (DC) on the south ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft and Beauty on  the top ibeam near the west corner.

I drove over to Bragdon Place but DC was gone from the elevator shaft when I got there so I went to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to watch the Beautyful one. She had her back to me and was looking to and fro-I think for DC. Around 7:45am she walked to the west corner and flew off toward the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT).

I caught up with Beauty as she landed on the northeast cube-lo and behold she led me right to DC who was on a cross beam to the large disk below her. One of them whined a little bit.

They both did some preening-DC had food in his crop. Every once in a while they would look at each other then carry on with preening.

Around 8:10am DC flew southeast but Beauty stayed behind and continued to preen. I stayed a few minutes then went in search of  DC.

I drove to Bragdon Pl. to check the OCSR south side of elevator shaft and there he was facing out making it easy for me to spot him in the shadows. I could also see Beauty over on FCT from there.

I left assuming they were cinched in for a while. I checked Hawkeye on my way home to Seneca Towers and found no falcons at either location. I ended my watch at about 9am with a smile, as I thought about DC going to his man cave to get away from Beauty! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/znV51SiTqk0

http://youtu.be/sZHyHIosxeI

http://youtu.be/-CpB_aF2Ubg

http://youtu.be/QB0oAUTsEQ0

http://youtu.be/C0ytxZY15_0

http://youtu.be/x33Dg_3rpWo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was quite a chilly start to the day this morning with a temperature of 37 (F)  3 (C) degrees and sunny blue skies once the sun came up

Click in the pics to see the full version

Yesterday, Joyce saw a new falcon on the top window ledge (22nd floor) on the west end of the Seneca Towers building. She found a black over green band on the left leg and yellow tape on the right leg band. I believe I saw the same bird this morning on the west side roof railing after it started out on the same window ledge that Joyce saw it on. It had a depleted crop and was trying real hard to catch breakfast-flying off many times and returning with nothing to show for its efforts. A couple pics seem to show yellow on the right leg band-distance and darkness made for some not so good pics.

<looks like yellow on band

This falcon had a brownish front and looked small to me which would make it a male, but I really can’t say for sure. Like I said, it flew off many times returning to the same spot on that west side railing. It showed me its back and turned around giving me lots of leg shots-they just were not very clear.

As the sun came up in the east and shone on this falcon it got washed out-so it was either not enough light or too much here this morning. Darn! At 7:22am it flew off and took a left heading off to the east. I waited 5-10 minutes but it didn’t return this time.

I left for downtown wondering where Billie and Veteran were and hoping they hadn’t battled with this falcon and gotten hurt. Hopefully, we’ll have some answers soon-stay tuned!

Traffic downtown was terrible today with roads on the east side being paved and the Fringe Festival closing Court St. next to HSBC as it is taking place at Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Shaky had tweeted earlier that Beauty was on the base of Mercury eating so she was seen this morning but not by me-she eluded me today. I found Dot.Ca (DC) as I was scanning with my binocs from the Broad St. bridge (BSB). He was on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad and the closer I inched my way over through the traffic the whiter he looked.

The bright blue sky behind him was quite the contrast to his whiteness! He flew off like white lightning around 8:30am and headed south after hanging a right turn.

I checked the Frontier Communications very thoroughly a couple times and I also checked the OCSR elevator shaft twice as well besides the rest of downtown-no Beautyful one! At 9am I found DC on OCSR from the Andrews St. bridge (ASB)-he was on the top ibeam near the west corner on the north side with his back to me.

At first he looked like his eyes were closed and after a while he turned sideways. I left him to have one more look for his girl but she was hiding well.

A couple pics of the Fringe Festival area on the east side while I was over there.

As I left downtown I checked to see that DC was still on OCSR. No sign of a falcon at Hawkeye or Seneca Towers but that didn’t stop me from smiling as I ended my watch at 10:15am! 🙂

Click on the links below to see the videos from todays watch
http://youtu.be/WhWqOTxXU6A

http://youtu.be/_bFMy5coGxY

http://youtu.be/29LzKQsPnfU

http://youtu.be/TTqJFkUqM-0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was pretty much overcast and foggy with a starting temperature of 47 (F) 8 (C) and a short glimpse of the sun

Click on the pics to see the full version

As I made my way to the visitor parking at Seneca Towers to turn around and face the building, I noticed big girl Billie on the northwest corner roof railing.

I started to tape her and didn’t even notice that Veteran was up on the railing as well-he wasn’t there when I first saw Billie. He started feaking, so I believe he might have been down on the roof eating prior to perching on  the railing.

Buffalo Billie flew off first around 7am followed a split second later by her beau, Veteran-they were headed south when I lost them behind the trees. I left for downtown and ran into some issues with road work being done on the east side. They were paving Woodbury St. so that was closed and so were parts of Court St. I ended up over on the west side on Fitzhugh St. where I found Beauty on the northeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) around 7:30am.

Only one pic came out well enough to post due to the lack of light this morning. She was all foofed up to stay warm.  I left the Beautyful one after 5 minutes to check the OCSR elevator shaft for Dot.Ca (DC). Parked on Bragdon Place, I could only see the south side and he wasn’t there. I checked FCT and saw that Beauty had left the cube and was now on the south side platform railing. She flew off and appeared to be going down on the platform. After checking the north side of the elevator shaft from Main St. I headed back to FCT and found Beauty on the west side railing. I pulled over on Plymouth Ave. to observe.

Besides the low light issue I had to wait for the exhaust smoke from the Frontier roof which would cover Beauty completely when it was  exiting the pipe. Needless to say I played with my pics a lot in Picassa today.

I decided to try a different spot where I didn’t have to deal with the smoke-soon after she flew northwest and I didn’t see her again until I returned at 8:20am from a trip around downtown. Now, she was on the beam that connects the north and southeast cubes with her back to me as she preened.

I left Beauty to look one more time for DC-I had no such luck but I found the Great Egret perched on a branch down in the same area of the river where I saw it yesterday. Then I crossed the Broad St. bridge and found a Black-crowned Night Heron on the north side of the bridge.

Before I left downtown I checked from the Andrews St. bridge-Beauty was still on FCT but I had no DC sightings this morning. I couldn’t help but notice the pretty bed of green and purple behind the Federal building.

This sight sent me on my way with a smile and I ended my watch at 9:30am! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/MCajxor3MAA

http://youtu.be/RWEuk2FBAUU

http://youtu.be/eZ4Gk736DM8

http://youtu.be/QbcXPha38lk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another lovely late summer day here in Rochester, NY.  I got a late start, arriving downtown at about 6:15 pm.  That gave me a little over an hour before the sun set.

I traveled all over downtown and had no luck finding any falcons.  Aqueduct St aka “the hole” was being torn up tonight. Large, deep holes were appearing in “the hole”.  🙂

While I was watching the night crew working, I looked up in time to see a fast flying falcon pass overhead.  It was heading southeast, towards Xerox.  By the time I arrived at Xerox, Beauty had settled on the south side, fifth column in from the southeast corner.  Her normal nighttime spot.  For whatever reason, she loves that spot.  Must give her a great view.

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I headed back to the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  From there I could see Dot.ca on the south side of the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) platform.  It was very busy over by City Hall, but I found a spot to park my car, where I could watch Dot.ca from.

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Dot.ca was definitely in hunt mode, watching everything, head moving constantly.  He took off and stooped towards the northwest.

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I waited to see if he would return.  When he didn’t, I headed back over to Xerox and found Beauty in the same spot I had left her earlier.  Larry O was out for a walk with Harold downtown, but I missed seeing them.  Back to the Broad St Bridge.  I again checked out the surrounding area and found Dot.ca back on the Frontier Communication Tower.  This time he was up on the top arm.

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Back to City Hall.  Dot.ca was still in hunt mode, head swiveling back and forth, up and down.  He took off, again heading northwest.

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I found Dot.ca on Kodak Office on the southeast corner of the launchpad.  The big “KODAK” letters were lit and I was losing light quickly.  My old Kodak digital camera doesn’t do well in low light, but I decided to take some pics to share with everyone anyway.  Sorry for the poor quality.

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At 7:30 pm, the sun had just about set and I ended my watch.  I left Dot.ca to his hunt, hoping that he would be successful.

Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The weather was lovely this morning with sun, blue skies and a chilly 46 (F) 8 (C) degrees

Click on the pics to see the full version

It took a while but I finally found a falcon on the southeast corner of HSBC-it was Dot.Ca (DC) and he had food! He kept stopping to have a long look around the area before resuming the task at hand. About 5 minutes after I arrived Beauty came flying in from the west and circled around past him as he flew off sideways with his parcel of food. They flew around Midtown and Bausch and Lomb before leaving my field of vision to the west.

I went west too and when I got to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I spotted Whitey, I mean DC on the top ibeam southeast side and he was eating again. There was no sign of Beauty so I drove over to the Radisson Hotel near Main St. to watch.

DC made short work of his small package finishing in about 5 minutes. He then did a lot of feaking while he walked back and forth a few times on the ibeam.

At 7:39am DC flew off heading east overhead and going out of view over the hotel then he reappeared and flew straight up into the elevator shaft south side. With the elevator up there, it makes it darker than when it’s down at the bottom-I could see DC clearly with my binoculars but not so much with my camera.

I decided to check out the river after I left DC to look for Beauty who was eluding me. I stopped on the Court St. Bridge and took pics from both sides but the best find was from the north side sidewalk where I saw a Great Egret fishing in the river over by the BSB. I don’t recall ever seeing one in the Genesee River before today. It’s amazing how fast they are when trying to catch something as they stretch out that long white neck. The jet black legs are such a contrast to the white of the rest of there body.

I went over to the BSB to get some shots of this large white bird from above. He tried several times to grab something, I think he may have caught a small minnow on one attempt.

45 minutes later on my 5th trip to the east side I finally found the Beautyful one on her spot-the 5th column from the southeast corner of Xerox at 9am. I pulled over on Chestnut St. across from the Rochester Educational Opportunity Center.

A security guard from the school came up from behind and startled me as I was concentrating on Beauty. He asked what I was doing as there had been some complaints about me with the camera. I showed some pics then told him all about our falcons and while I explained, Beauty left the building and I missed it. So, it was back to the drawing board to search for Beauty again. I found her around 9:40am on the middle arm of the Frontier Communications tower close to the pole.

Beauty was preening and pulling out more white down feathers in the sun with a brilliant blue sky behind her. While I was taping Beauty she moved over even closer to the pole where I couldn’t see her. I had to get going so it was no big deal-I checked Hawkeye and Seneca Towers to no avail, ending my watch at 10:10am. I went up the elevator to my 16th floor apartment smiling after a nice little morning falcon watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/wvHWyga7rJU

http://youtu.be/PH1ErtKeasQ

http://youtu.be/Z0qkHk_pKo8

http://youtu.be/Xnyme99MjPI

http://youtu.be/N84vqT6H5l4

http://youtu.be/L-Jv4j0wUSw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A beautiful, late summer evening!  When I arrived downtown, I found Beauty on the SE wing ledge of the Times Square Bldg. Dot.ca soon arrived on the top IBeam, south side OCSR.

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Joyce joined me on the watch down on Aqueduct St, aka “the hole”.  Dot.ca flew overhead and landed on the Times Square at the top of the southeast wing on the ring wing.  Beauty remained where she was.

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As we started to lose light, Dot.ca took off and flew south, heading towards the Cornhill area.  Probably off on a hunt.  Beauty remained where she was until approximately 7:00 pm.  She took off from the Times Square Bldg and headed southeast.  I waited to see if she would return, but she didn’t.

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When neither Beauty or Dot.ca returned, I searched the area and had no luck finding either of them.  At 7:30 pm, it was getting dark and it was time for me to end my watch.  It gets dark so early now.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It stopped raining just as I got into my car this morning-twas foggy and overcast with a temperature of  55 (F) 13 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I found Veteran on the west side roof railing of Seneca Towers. He only stayed a couple minutes before he flew off to the south while I was taping him.

He didn’t return so I left for downtown. I searched for 45 minutes then tweeted that I had no sightings. Of course, I found Dot.Ca (DC) right after that! lol As I was crossing the Court St. Bridge I couldn’t help but notice a white speck on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I took a pic and headed over to The Radisson Hotel by Main St. for closer viewing.

He stayed there for 40 minutes mainly just looking over his territory. At 8:28am DC turned away from me giving me one last look.

DC scratched a feather out of his head, stretched and flew off to the east over top of me and left my field of vision quickly.

It was a half hour before I would see DC again-this time on the southeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower. I got some real skunky shots of him as it was just so dark out before I lost him. I don’t know if he flew away or was hidden from me but I couldn’t see him after checking from 3 different angles.

I had to leave to take care of some business and ended my watch officially at 10am after checking the Kodak Park research building. No Beauty or Buffalo Billie sightings today-it was an all boy watch! Ah, that’s good enough to make me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below  to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/uhg3S4BLVb0

http://youtu.be/bQwatIb36jM

http://youtu.be/Uv7C3HcZP6w