By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Todays starting temperature was 42 (F) 5 (C) with overcast skies and a fine misty rain falling from that sky

The trick was on me today for this Halloween 2014 as I saw no falcons at Seneca Towers or Hawkeye either before or after my watch and no Dot.Ca (DC). Somebody forgot to tell them that you’re supposed to go trick or treating at night!

I was late getting downtown (around 8:30) as I had to give a friend of mine a ride. I stopped on State St. across from the High Falls parking garage to check the Frontier Communications Tower from the north as I often do when entering downtown from Lake Ave./State St. I could see a falcon on the northeast cube so I went to the City Hall parking lot on Fitzhugh St. to check it out. She had her back to me but turned her head enough so I could positively ID her as Beauty. She was eating something for the first few minutes.

When Beauty was done eating she did some feaking and turned around briefly so I could see the the front of her. I was taping her at that time so no pics.

I left to look around for DC to no avail so I returned to watch the Beautyful one some more. I went to the Open Mission parking behind to see the front of Beauty but the back lighting was bad, making for dark photos.

Joyce thought she might have had DC over at the Brighton site yesterday so I took a ride over there and came up empty. Once again, I returned to watch the back of Beauty on the FCT for awhile longer. It was getting late and I was ready to end my watch but I wanted to check the elevator shaft of OCSR one more time for DC from the Radisson Hotel at Bragdon Place. He wasn’t up there but I could see Beauty over on FCT very well from there.

I left for home at Seneca Towers, checking Hawkeye on the way but as I said at the beginning of this report Billie and 99 were not seen. I ended my watch at 11am smiling for my Halloween treat of having an all Beauty watch! 🙂

Only one video today-just click on the link below to view it. HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!
http://youtu.be/3kXhNgzux_k

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:00 to 6:30 pm

It was 47 degrees (F) this evening.  Just before I left home, I received a tweet from Joyce that she had spotted an adult Peregrine Falcon at the BS location.  It was eating on the building.  According to Joyce it looked like it might be Dot.ca, but she needed to check her pictures later for a better look.  It would not surprise me at all that Dot.ca still visits this location.

I decided to head downtown to see if I could find both Beauty and Dot.ca.

From the Broad St Bridge I spotted a bird on top of the Mercury statue.  Definitely NOT a falcon.  lol

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Continuing my search, I found a falcon that I believe was Beauty on the south side of the Xerox Tower, 5th column in from the southeast corner.  She was facing southeast.

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At 5:52 pm, Joyce and Brian reported that Billie and 99 were at the ST location.

At 5:55 pm, Beauty took off and headed northwest towards the Times Square Bldg.  By the time I made my way back to the Broad St Bridge, she was nowhere in sight.  I drove over to the Radisson and looked up into the OCSR elevator shaft.  It was dark up there, but I could just make out a falcon moving around a bit on the north side ledge.  The south ledge was empty.

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I parked near the Radisson and waited to see if Dot.ca would join her.  He had not returned by 6:25 pm and I tweeted out that I was going to end my watch due to darkness.  Just as I was getting ready to leave, ee-chups echoed from inside the elevator shaft. It was too dark to see anything, but I have no doubt that Dot.ca had joined Beauty at their nighttime roost.  It was time for me to go.

Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The conditions were changeable today with sun and clouds and a starting temperature of  42 (F) 5 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

It wasn’t until 8:10am that I found a falcon this morning when I spotted Beauty on the southeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad. She had her back to me and I tried a couple different spots before I found one on State St. where I could see the side of her and the sun was out by then as well.

She stayed there for 10 minutes mostly preening and then she pooped before flying east at 8:19am.

I took a ride thru Browns Race and saw a pretty planter with mums in it that were still looking bright and vibrant.

I spotted  the Beautyful one under the southeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB) from the Andrews St. bridge.

I drove down to Exchange Blvd. and  parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) to observe. Beauty had her back to me for the most part but she did turn around long enough for one beautyful pic.

I watched Beauty for about half hour then I went to get coffee and when I got back she was gone. I drove around looking for her and Dot.Ca (DC) plus I checked out the river. Just before 9:30am I spotted beauty under the southeast wing again only this time she had food.

Since she was busy eating I thought I would look for DC on my way out of downtown and luckily he was on the southeast corner of the Kodak launchpad. I pulled over on State St. to watch him as I did Beauty earlier.

He was very actively watching over his kingdom. I shared space with him as he did some posing and preening.

DC stayed up there facing the sun which kept fading in and out behind the dark clouds that were moving in and at 10:10am he flew southeast and didn’t return.

I ended my watch at 10:40am when I got to Seneca Towers-nobody was there but I did see both Billie and 99 in the afternoon when I returned home from walking Bella. They were facing each other on the top window ledge on the south end of Seneca Towers, prompting me to smile for having seen all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons today! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/SE985P9pwg4

http://youtu.be/FkwHCmUpTig

http://youtu.be/jw1oBcdXzG4

http://youtu.be/OeJnjIYaMZs

http://youtu.be/6ByE_vNo0mc

http://youtu.be/HWpMHZ6fB8c

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:45 – 6:30 pm

It was much colder tonight than it was yesterday when we broke a record high temp with a 78 degree day.  Temps were in the 50’s (F) with dark clouds and a bit of light rain on and off.  My week day evening watches are getting shorter I’m afraid.

My route into downtown Rochester usually takes me by the Kodak Tower first.  I parked near Frontier Stadium and checked out the south and west side of the tall building.  There was a falcon on the west side of the launch pad and it looked like it had food. It took off and and flew around to the north side.  I could hear loud ee-chups and the falcon reappeared, landing on the southeast corner of the launch pad, then moving out of view.

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I headed over to the northeast side of the Kodak Tower where I was able to see the falcon on the northeast corner of the launch pad.  I do believe this was Dot.ca, due to the smaller size and very white chest.  While I was watching Dot.ca, Joyce and Brian reported that they had a falcon up inside the OCSR elevator shaft.  Probably Beauty.  Due to his behavior and vocalization, I really thought she might have been somewhere on the Kodak Tower.  Was there something else that had his attention?  I checked all sides of the Kodak Tower, but did not find anything in the low light.  Dot.ca remained on this corner looking north until 6:20 pm, when he took off and headed south towards downtown.  It was dark by then.  There were no further vocalizations after what I heard when I first arrived.

I’ll leave you with a few pics of the Kodak Tower and Dot.ca.  Goodnight all!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The morning was dark and overcast with a temperature of 51 (F) 10 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I saw our Seneca Towers falcons for the first time in 4 days this morning. YAY When I first looked I saw 99 on the west side railing. I grabbed my camera and he was gone when I looked back up. He returned and a few minutes later Billie arrived landing on the railing to his left. They both feaked so I believe they had just eaten up on the roof. His crop was full-hers was not.

<99> <Bllie>

Billie and 99 hung out just a few minutes before flying southeast at 7:47am with Buffalo Billie leaving first followed by 99.

<Buffalo Billie<99

I left for downtown finding Beauty under the northeast wing and Dot.Ca (DC) above her on the northwest wing ring of Times Square (TSB).  I parked on Basin St. in the hole by the Wilder building to observe. They flew off  to the north a few minutes later.

I also went north to look for them and found DC on the northeast corner of the Frontier Communications Tower platform from State and Church St. I drove to the City Hall parking lot to check him out.

DC was just looking around for a few minutes then he flew west at 8:39am

I made my way back to the hole as I spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury with food. She was plucking away at the feathers.

Suddenly, she stopped eating-I heard vocalizing and in a blur, DC flew in, and as Beauty took off with her food, he tried to grab it from her.

He proceeded to follow her over to the Irving Place building where she came to rest on a chimney and DC landed on the peaked roof above her.

I watched them until 9:30am as Beauty ate and DC looked down at her in between watching the area.

I would have liked to stay to see if DC got any of the Beautyful one’s leftovers (I’m sure he did) but I had to be somewhere. I ended my watch smiling after seeing all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/s4UbzPsUn1s

http://youtu.be/RBMdiE91ts4

http://youtu.be/3z51y7Mmay4

http://youtu.be/gTui4kmHUrI

http://youtu.be/Qk7t4vrIWuQ

http://youtu.be/GkWzJG5h7Zc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A very mild fall morning with a busy breeze, overcast conditions and a starting temperature of  64 (F) 18 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

For the 3rd straight day I have seen no falcons at Seneca Towers or Hawkeye either before or after going downtown for my watch. I’m sure they’re out there somewhere-probably just changed up their routine.

I was a bit late arriving downtown today at 8am as there was a major traffic back up on Lake Ave. due to milling of the intersection at Lyell Ave. I didn’t have to look for long as I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to see both Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) on the base of Mercury. He was in the green part and she was on the corner behind him on the concrete part. She stood there facing him and he kept looking over his shoulder at her.

At one point, he turned so much that he lost his balance and almost got blown off by the wind.  A couple minutes later DC flew off to the northwest and a minute after that it was revealed what he kept looking at over his shoulder-FOOD. Beauty started plucking feathers after she looked around to see that the coast was clear. Funny little man, that DC! Here I thought he was looking at Beauty, but as you can plainly see on one of my videos he was interested in what was under her.

She went to the far side of the base where I could only see the top of her head at times-so I went down to the hole where I could have seen her had she not flown off before I got there.

I went in search of these tricky little falcons and 20 minutes later  I spotted DC from across the river on Bragdon St. where I was checking the elevator shaft. He was on the Elwanger and Barry building across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel eating. By the time I got to State St. he was gone so I continued on and found him on the base of Mercury. No doubt he was checking for any leftovers Beauty had left behind earlier.

I drove down to the hole where Bank Place meets Aqueduct St. and caught him just before he flew off to the Times Square building at 8:32am coming to rest under the southeast wing.

Now parked on Basin St. and facing Times Square I could see Beauty under the northeast wing with her back to me. DC feaked a bit then flew off less than 10 minutes later to parts unknown.

Beauty turned to watch DC fly away and this is how I spent the rest of my watch-sharing space with the Beautyful one. I checked for DC on my way out of downtown but didn’t see him again. I ended my watch at 9:45am. That boy makes me smile on a regular basis with his food loving antics! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/k7aMYHTjEc0

http://youtu.be/Mc8AQ1JSv8Q

http://youtu.be/v9fjqGZSeL8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a beautiful fall evening.  Before I arrived downtown at about 5:45 pm, Joyce had texted at 4:18 pm that she had juvie Peregrine Falcon at the BS location.  She took pictures, so hopefully she’ll be able to tell if this young falcon was banded or not.

I found Beauty up in the OCSR elevator shaft and from the front of the Radisson, I could also see Dot.ca on the Frontier Communication Tower’s northeast box below the platform.

Joyce joined me near the Radisson and while we were chatting, loud ee-chups filled the air.  Dot.ca flew up into the elevator shaft and out again.  He headed east over the river and “U-turned” back towards the OCSR, this time zipping up into the elevator shaft to the north ledge.  All was quiet.  We walked over to where we could see both elevator shaft ledges, but by then it was too dark to see anything.  We believe that both Beauty and Dot.ca were there.

Joyce had to leave, so I headed over to the south side of the Xerox Tower and stayed there until 6:30 pm.  No Falcons arrived, so I believe that both Beauty and Dot.ca roosted together in the OCSR elevator shaft last night.

*NEWS ABOUT JUVIE SEEN AT BS LOCATION BY JOYCE:

“I checked my pics last night.  I don’t think the juvie at BS is banded.  I had some take-off shots and couldn’t see any bands.  But, I didn’t get any standing leg shots.”

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a cool 37 (F) 3 (C) degrees at the start with sunny blue skies

Click on the pics to see the full picture

For the second day in a row there were no falcons present at Seneca Towers or Hawkeye. I didn’t find any falcons on my first trip around downtown but as I was stopped at the traffic light at Chestnut and Broad St. I raised my binocs to check around. I could see Dot.Ca (DC) under the northeast wing of Times Square, so I went to the Broad St. Bridge where I found Beauty on the base of Mercury eating around 7:45am.

DC flew over to the Mercury money bag (MMB) about 20 minutes later.

The Beautyful one finished eating, did some feaking and walked away from where she was eating. She proceeded to do more cleaning up and pooped before jumping up to the green part of the base.

Beauty turned around to face me after some more feaking, sporting a full crop, then she did a wing stretch and settled down.

In the meantime DC flew off into a stoop toward the river, flew over to Times Square landing under the northeast wing and immediately off into another stoop before returning to the MMB with no food.

DC was very alert and ready to grab an unsuspecting bird for breakfast. Beauty took off around 8:20am and flew downriver and up into the elevator shaft of OCSR. DC spotted something flew out over the river and hit a very small bird twice before going back up to the money bag. This birdie was so small that I couldn’t even see it in his talon.

I could however, see a feather hanging from his beak as he flew off Mercury over to Times Square coming to rest under the northeast wing where he started eating. I drove down to Basin St. in the hole by  the Wilder building where I saw him pluck very few tiny feathers before consuming his prey very quickly with his back to me. He spent maybe 10-15 minutes on it then turned to face me and show off his whiteness.

DC stayed perched up there for quite some time surveying his territory and just being himself until 9:33am when he flew north.

I checked Kodak Office and the Frontier Communications Tower but didn’t see anyone. Next, I checked the OCSR elevator shaft but Beauty wasn’t there.  I spotted her on the northeast cube of FCT from the Andrews St. bridge as I came back from Bragdon St. on the east side. My thinking is that she had come out of the elevator shaft when DC took off-he keeps close tabs on her and vise versa.

I didn’t have time to look for DC as I had an appointment to get to, but I’ll bet he was up in the tower somewhere near Beauty. I ended my watch at 10am smiling after a bright and sunny watch spent with our downtown Peregrine Falcon pair! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/og9HGnVaTKs

http://youtu.be/MGnh9GQLqu8

http://youtu.be/-jGo2J6sLYU

http://youtu.be/3aDUk0evZpo

http://youtu.be/YDW2I-VMI5k

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Saturday – 10/25/14

Went on a road trip with Kathy O, Lisa McK and Dana to Syracuse to visit with Pigott and her unbanded and unnamed mate.  On our way we stopped at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.  This is one of my favorite spots.  We weren’t disappointed, in fact we were thrilled to see 10 Bald Eagles and a large assortment of ducks we were able to ID with the help of Lisa’s bird book.  Pintail Ducks were a life bird for me.  They are beautiful.  Two juvie Bald Eagles were hanging out together and chatting with each other.  At the Knox-Marcellus Marsh we saw 8 Bald Eagles; 2 flying over the marsh and 6 on the ground, five surrounding one juvie eagle that was mantling food.  There was only one adult in that mix.

We then spent the day at Syracuse, mostly searching for Pigott and her mate.  We saw no falcons until the male came in to hunt at about 5:00 pm.  It was fun watching him as he stooped after birds over the city and landed on different buildings.  As our light was fading, the Crows started to stream into the city, so like Rochester.  Finally, a 2nd falcon zipped through and landed on the Chase sign.  About 15 minutes later, the male also flew to the Chase building.  By this time it was too dark to see them, so no way to positively ID them.  I do believe that it was Pigott coming in after spending the day elsewhere.

During the day, we checked out the whole city, but were unable to find them.  We were all able to finally see two falcons at the end of the day.

Sunday, 10/26/14

I didn’t get downtown until 5:00 pm.  When I was parking on the Broad St Bridge, a falcon flew in from the east, over the river and landed on top of the Mercury statue.  There was a lot of activity on South Ave across between the South Ave Ramp Garage and the Riverside Convention Center.  Lots of police and fire fighters.  I took a few pics and then moved closer.  I was shocked to see a helicopter landed on the street, blade spinning.  It was a mercy flight copter.  When the engine started to crank, I quickly changed to video as the helicopter took off and flew directly over me heading southwest.  Now that wasn’t something I ever saw on my falcon watch!  Joyce later texted me that there had been an EMT convention downtown and that the mercy flight helicopter had landed there on Thursday.

When I looked back at Mercury, the falcon was gone.  From the Radisson Hotel, I could see a falcon up inside the elevator shaft on the south ledge with its back to me.  Sorry to say, I was never able to ID this falcon as Dot.ca or Beauty. I remained downtown until 6:30 pm, when it was too dark to see anything.  Up until that time, no falcon had landed on top of the Xerox building.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Back to gloomy overcast conditions this morning with temperature of 49 (F) 10 (C)

Truth is there isn’t really much to report today as I saw the back of  Dot.Ca for about 10 minutes. He was on the top ibeam of OCSR southeast side.

One of the times I was returning from the east side, I spotted a falcon on the base of Mercury-it appeared to be eating but when I got down to the hole to watch, it was gone. The rest of my 2 hour watch was spent in search of falcons. Nothing seen or heard at Hawkeye or Seneca Towers either before or after my downtown watch. Keep smiling folks! 🙂