By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a wonderful weekend to be out and about watching falcons.  Beauty and Dot.ca were very active this weekend.  I saw them hunting, having dinner together, defending their territory and just hanging out with each other.  Here is just a little bit of what I saw on my weekend falcon watches.  Enjoy!

Just put your cursor over a picture and it will describe what it is.  You can enlarge any of my pictures by clicking on them.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

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I ended my Saturday watch with a stunning sunset at Buck Pond.  Love this spot for sunsets!

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Sunday, November 30, 2014

My day started with a visit from my neighborhood Red-tail Hawk.  She loves to sit up in these trees.

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This morning fellow watchers MAK and Larry O reported that both Beauty and Dot.ca were actively hunting over the river and the Cornhill area.  When I arrived, I found both Dot.ca and Beauty on the Widows Walk, which is behind the Times Square Bldg on the west side.  Dot.ca was eating with Beauty by his side.  She had quite a large crop and he was working on expanding his own.  Both were well fed today.

Here are my pictures from today’s falcon watch.

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So ends my weekend falcon watch.  I enjoyed every moment of the time I spent with Beauty and Dot.ca!  Hope you enjoyed it too!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was an overcast and warm morning in Rochester with a temperature of 49 (F) 9 (C) at 7am

Click on the pics to see the full version

I had to search for a falcon this morning-taking in the sights on Main St.as I went along.

When I finally found a falcon it was off to the races as there were no dull moments in todays watch. Beauty was hunting on the wing above Xerox and the surrounding area as I parked on Court St. across from the Court St. bridge. A few minutes later she flew to Times Square (TSB) landing under the northeast wing. I parked down in the hole parking lot to observe her from there.

Beauty left within a minute of my arrival and headed back across the river hunt from above Xerox. She rode the wind currents up there a lot as she hovered above watching for a meal to turn up.

I was now parked on the Court St. bridge where I had a much better view of things to come. The Beautyful one made her first stoop toward Cornhill unsuccessfully as I jumped out my car to see her fly thru the Frederick Douglas/Susan B. Anthony bridge (simply put, I call it the route 490 arch bridge) and come out by Cornhill landing on the other side. I checked out the river while I waited for her return. And she did-showing up over South Ave. near the Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) building before flying above Xerox again.

Stoop number 2, some 5 minutes later was a carbon copy of the first one. More flying and hovering above Xerox then she made her 3rd stoop straight down toward South Ave. by BCBS around 8am and returning to circle above Bausch & Lomb (B&L) before going back over to the air space above Xerox. Beauty no sooner got back when a 4th attempt at stooping for breakfast scared up 2 pigeons by Cornhill but they got away and back above Xerox she went.

By this time Larry was over at the Strong Museum of Play parking lot watching from the south as Dot.Ca (DC) joined her in flight. They split up after some fine flying-I lost track of Beauty as I followed DC-he went to Times Square and landed under the northeast wing. I drove down to the hole to watch and Larry joined me a few minutes later with his dog Harold.

Larry left to watch Beauty from the Court St. bridge and DC flew off at 8:33am and went up to the southeast wing ring of TSB. I first parked on Exchange Blvd. by the main entrance to the Blue Cross Arena as DC did a little preening and rousing.

I then decided it would be a better angle parked over on Broad St. next to the Gannett newspaper/Democrat and Chronicle building right below TSB.

I had just gotten started taping DC when he flew south very fast. I went up on the Broad St. bridge to have a look around and spotted him on the top arm of the jail tower. Larry tweeted that he too, saw him there from the Court St. bridge.

I drove over to Troup St. which is the best spot to watch our falcons when they are on the jail communications tower but when I arrived DC was gone. I then joined Larry on the Court St. bridge where we watched some nice tandem flying by Beauty and DC above Xerox and B&L.

Suddenly around 9am DC went into a stoop, disappearing behind the Rundell Library and shooting out from the river side above the Broad St. bridge crossing the river and scattering a couple small birds by the southeast corner of the Blue Cross Arena right in front of us. There were big smiles on our faces!! With no falcons in sight Larry and Harold left for home and so did I. I didn’t find Beauty or DC on my way out of downtown nor did I have any sightings at Seneca Towers when I got home. Today, I think I was smiling the entire watch!  🙂

Check out the links below to see todays videos featuring Beauty on the wing in 3 of them

http://youtu.be/tyJXf0-vuno

http://youtu.be/OvbdwCVWwEc

http://youtu.be/vafOvOq32mw

http://youtu.be/DWieI5WQToU

http://youtu.be/gcwvUpQOm-k

http://youtu.be/BwKc37ieFDE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today it was overcast with a temperature of 26 (F) -3 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

I drove down Bragdon Place to check the elevator shaft and found Beauty on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR at about 7:30am. She turned her back on me as I was taping her, so when I was done I drove over to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel. The Beautyful one didn’t want us looking at her this morning as she turned her back on me  again, prompting me to cross the river once more to Bragdon Place.

Around 8am I took a ride around downtown looking for Dot.Ca with no luck. I returned to Bragdon Place to watch Beauty who was still hanging out on OCSR.  She flew off around 8:25am going over to the Crossroads building next door landing near the northeast corner. Beauty stood there for a few minutes and then picked up cached food from below her and walked down to the corner to pick at it.

Beauty turned her back to me yet again so guess where I went-State St. once more to watch her eat.

About 20 minutes later Beauty finished up eating, feaked and stooped toward the river out of view fast. I went looking for her and ended up on the Andrews St. bridge where I spotted DC on the Kodak Office playpen northeast corner on the netting. When I got down to State and Brown St. I noticed Beauty right below DC.

I watched as Beauty looked up at DC, who lifted his back end and pooped, then he looked down at her! Nice way to show your regards for your mate. lol

And that’s all she wrote folks-I left our downtown pair together on Kodak as I made my way home to Seneca Towers. No falcons seen there this morning. That poop sure did send me on my way with a great big smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/AGZzSzxPbMA

http://youtu.be/jsczSb-yhFs

http://youtu.be/Unkkusd_Htc

http://youtu.be/EGUUX-0gqyk

http://youtu.be/A80xTh1pUIs

http://youtu.be/Ntyz7C0X_BQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(1:45 – 4:00 pm)

My falcon watch started at the BS location, where I found no falcons.  We have had falcons come in during past winters, so we will continue to check this location.

Downtown, I found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the south side of OCSR on the top IBeam.  Dot.ca was on the left and Beauty on the right.  They were only a few feet apart.

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It was 26 degrees (F) and lightly snowing.  Beauty took off and chased after some pigeons, before landing on the base of the Mercury statue.

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She didn’t stay there long.  Beauty took off and flew over the river heading north.  She flew over the Radisson and then headed back towards the OCSR, where she flew up to Dot.ca.  I thought she was going to knock him off, but she continued past him heading west.

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I looked for Beauty, but could not find her.  So, I went back to the Broad St Bridge to keep an eye on Dot.ca.

After awhile, he took off.  He headed west and I saw him chasing a large flock of Starlings on the west side of the Times Square Bldg.  I took another tour of the downtown area.  Finally, from the Andrews St Bridge, I saw a falcon on the Kodak Tower.  It was Dot.ca on the south east corner of the playpen netting.  He was very close to where the old Mariah and Kaver nest box had been located and he had a very large crop.

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I ended my downtown watch and headed over to Seneca Towers.  There was one falcon on the south end of the building, on an antenna on the SE corner.  This was the only falcon I could find at this location.

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I ended my watch at Russell Station.  No falcons seen.

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

(One of my yard Mourning Doves)  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a chilly 26 (F)-3 (C) with dark conditions and light snow throughout my watch

Click on the pics to see the full version

It wasn’t until 7:45am that I found a falcon. It was Dot.Ca (DC) up on the north ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft. I found him as I was parked at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. After a couple minutes DC turned around and eventually turned his back to the cold world outside of his man cave. The sun shone thru for a few minutes while I was there.

I left DC to look for Beauty-I found her about 8am on the Kodak Office playpen southeast corner. She wasn’t easy to see with the snow that was falling in varying degrees, but I was able to get a few pics that are somewhat clear. Beauty had her back to me at first, then she turned to the left to give a side view at least.

I shared space with the Beautyful one for about 20 minutes when she flew south out of view.

While making the rounds to look for Beauty I checked on DC-he was still in the elevator shaft with his back facing out. I wasn’t able to locate Beauty again. I had to be somewhere so I ended my watch at 8:40am. I wasn’t done though for when I got home to Seneca Towers I found a falcon on the east side as I was in the Northridge Church parking lot. I believe it was 99 on the top window ledge of the 2nd apartment down from the southeast corner.

99 gave me just enough time to take a few pics, then while I was taping him, he flew off heading north and didn’t return. So I saw 3 out of 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons today which is worthy of a big old smile on this falcon watchers face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/i-Ct4EORmzk

http://youtu.be/KhsprQu_Vdw

http://youtu.be/O6lTPbWa9DU

http://youtu.be/-qo2oq2wPKM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I steeped out from Seneca Towers this morning into a winter wonderland of fresh snow that covered everything. The temperature was 28 (F) -2 (C) degrees with light snow falling and virtually no wind making for a quiet and peaceful scene

Click on my pics to see the full version

Happy Thanksgiving!

I left Seneca Towers without seeing any falcons this morning but I was fortunate enough to find both Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) downtown. My first sighting was from Woodbury Blvd. where I spotted Beauty up on one of the southeast corners of Bausch & Lomb (B&L). I drove over to Clinton Ave. parking out in front of the Frontier building to confirm it was her.

She turned her back on me so I went over to Broad St. between Midtown and Xerox where I could see that she was eating breakfast. As I pulled over I noticed DC flying above B&L then he vanished to the northwest behind Clinton Square.

Around 7:45am Beauty stopped eating and a couple minutes later flew off as DC came streaking in. She went northwest and he circled B&L 3 times then went southwest behind the buildings. I left to check around from the Broad St. Bridge and that’s where I re-established  a view of Beauty on a southwest corner of B&L. I went to Court St. by the Court St. garage for closer viewing and spotted DC was at the opposite end from the Beautyful one on a southeast corner.

A few minutes later Beauty flew east followed by DC-I lost sight of them behind Xerox at this time. They returned shortly after to B&L, both landing on the same southwest corner Beauty had been on previously. Beauty landed first with DC landing to the right of her then walking back behind out of view momentarily and showing up to the left of Beauty. She had gotten her leftovers while she was gone and he wanted some.

When it was apparent that Beauty wasn’t going to share, DC flew back to the southeast corner he had left before and then he flew up to the northwest corner of Xerox to watch Beauty as she finished eating her leftovers.

While I was taping DC a small bird flew right below him at which time DC flew off  Xerox, circled above Beauty then went back to Xerox. Beauty finished up her leftovers and perched on her corner to watch DC.

At 8:17am DC stooped off Xerox out of view then resurfaced to land on Archer’s corner-named after Beauty’s first mate Archer who spent about a week on this corner with 2 injured legs. This is one of the southwest corners of B&L-each corner of B&L has several corners. DC had caught his own Thanksgiving Day meal and started plucking feathers right away.

A couple bonus pics from after I ended my watch at 8:30am-snow on trees in Highland Park and a Red-tail Hawk in Mt. Hope cemetery

I  left  happy with a smile knowing our downtown pair of Rochester Peregrine Falcons had eaten and were safe and sound-a blessing I was very thankful for on a peaceful Thanksgiving Day morning! 🙂

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

http://youtu.be/g_bGsRq5bmI

http://youtu.be/p6CxGj5XdaM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another dark overcast morning with a temperature of 34 (F) 1 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I found a falcon on the 5th column from the southeast corner south side of Xerox at 7:30am as I was pulled over on Woodbury Blvd. I drove over to Chestnut St. for a closer look but it was gone when I got there. I’m pretty sure it was Beauty as that is one of her favorite spots. As I approached the Broad St. bridge (BSB) I spotted her up on the base of Mercury where she was plucking feathers.

She had her back to me so I went down to Aqueduct St. in the hole to observe while she prepared her breakfast.

The Beautyful one decided to turn around and show me her back again so back up to the bridge I went. Beauty’s crop looked like she had swallowed a tennis ball!

I left Beauty to have a look around downtown for Dot.Ca (DC) but there was no sign of him. When I got back to check on Beauty I found that she was done eating and had cached her leftovers on the green part of the base where she was now perched. I parked on Broad St. next to the Blue Cross Arena to hang out with her a little longer. A wing from her cached leftovers was sticking straight up to her right as she feaked and picked at her talons.

At 8:57am Beauty flew off and went up into the OCSR elevator shaft-the last shot on my snippet movie today shows her going up and in.

Another check for DC proved futile so I left for home after an all Beauty morning falcon watch as when I got home to Seneca Towers at 9:20am I didn’t see Billie or 99.  Any time spent with Beauty always brings a smile to my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to see videos of Beauty
http://youtu.be/9pK1N_rtWwg

http://youtu.be/ZixU1W6l-ZI

http://youtu.be/1xOBcvFo4SQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a very dark overcast morning with a temperature of 43 (F) 6 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

Right out of the gate today I heard a falcon vocalizing as I crossed the parking lot to my car at Seneca Towers. I looked up but didn’t see it anywhere on the east side, nor did I see one as I left and checked the west and south sides. Onward to downtown where I found Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR.

I left her to look for Dot.Ca (DC) but wasn’t able to locate him and when I returned Beauty was gone. I did see 2 Black-crowned Night Herons in the big tree at Aqueduct Park so I took a walk down there to check them out.

Right around 7:30am Donna tweeted that DC was on the nest ledge. Thanks Donna-with all the leaves gone I was able to see him thru the trees.

As I made my way up to the hole I saw DC fly from next to the main cam around to the back of Times Square (TSB).  He came to rest on the north side near the northwest corner and soon after DC flew back around to the front  of the building landing under the northeast wing, then off again to the north out of sight.

I went north too and came upon both Beauty and DC on the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad. He was on the northeast corner and she was in the middle of the east side. It looked like she was eating something from behind as she had her back to me as I was parked on State St. near Platt St.

DC turned around so I went further up State St. just past Brown St. where I could see the front of them. At 8:07am DC went off into a stoop heading north at break neck speed straight down State St. and as he reached Jay St. he hung a left and flew out of view.

Beauty had flown off too and when DC returned to KO they circled around KO together presumably looking for prey. Beauty landed on the northeast corner of the launchpad with food. She walked back to the spot on the east side where she had previously been with the food in her talon.  DC landed on the northeast corner right after she moved.

DC flew off after a quick look at the food Beauty had and landed on the southeast corner  to watch the Beautyful one as she plucked feathers.

DC walked toward Beauty and she turned her back to him, so he flew off around the building and returned to the southeast corner.  Every time DC made a move toward Beauty she turned her back to him-he went from one corner to the other. It was pretty darn funny to witness as he tried to sneak up behind her a couple times and give up when she turned to face him and thwart his attempts to get some grub.

Beauty settled on the northeast corner and watched Beauty eat for a few minutes then he turned his back on her.

At 8:26am DC took off again leaving my field of vision-I caught a glimpse of him flying below the southeast corner at which point Beauty stopped eating and walked over to the northeast corner of the launchpad. She feaked and pooped then walked half way back stopping between her leftovers and the corner.

Suddenly around 8:45am DC returned to grab the leftovers and took them to the southeast corner to eat as Beauty watched. This is where I left them as I had to get a couple teeth pulled and had to get going.

When I arrived at Seneca Towers I spotted a falcon on one of the the south end antennas as I pulled into my parking lot. At first I thought it was 99 but when it flew off a couple minutes later I knew it was Billie, as it was much too big to be him. She flew down the west side toward the northwest end out of view.

I ended my watch at 9:10am with a smile after a very entertaining watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/NeDG5ZKHO7c

http://youtu.be/ptkposH9SVw

http://youtu.be/f715f-ZV2ek

http://youtu.be/R_PDVruWhEw

http://youtu.be/gsUMZWhMCbw

http://youtu.be/lGFuMw5jwfc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I left for my watch this morning it was a balmy, breezy 59 (F) 15 (C) degrees the sun made its way up to shine and blue skies prevailed

Click on my pics to see the full version

There were no falcons at Seneca Towers as I began my morning watch-as a matter of fact, there were no falcons downtown either until nearly 8:30am. I searched the city many times until finally Dot.Ca (DC) appeared under the northeast wing of Times Square (TSB). He didn’t exactly greet me with a smile as he lifted his tail feathers to poop! lol The wind was blowing his feathers pretty good and I thought it might blow him to the next county after a couple gusts.

Sometimes it looks like DC is posing for my camera and when the sun shines on his whiteness it can almost be blinding.

I got to share space with DC for about 40 minutes when he decided to fly west at exactly 9am.

10 minutes later I found DC on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find Beauty this morning.

I left DC basking in the sun and headed home. Now that the trees are bare I can check the south and west side of Seneca Towers (ST) from St. Paul St.-nothing seen so I drove further down to the Northridge Church parking lot where I check the east and north sides of ST. Just as I got there I spotted a falcon flying in from the north-it looped around and back to the northwest corner where it landed. A shot of its leg bands showed yellow tape on the right leg so I knew I had 99 in my sights.

99 moved to his left a bit getting off the corner-I imagine because the wind was so strong. He then went back out to the corner and flew off going into a stoop down toward the river gorge.

I called it quits at 9:45am after an all boy morning watch which left me smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/JRfh_a0pZKc

http://youtu.be/ofNpwZDd90M

http://youtu.be/Il5SshFCtR0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another cloudy day, but the temps were a little more tolerable than past days.  Tomorrow, Rochester is under a high wind warning from 1 pm (Monday) to 4:00 am (Tuesday) with southwest winds at 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 60 mph, with a high temperature of 65 degrees (F).  Hold onto your hats!

I arrived downtown and parked on the Broad St Bridge.  Beauty was on top of the Mercury statue and Dot.ca was on top of the Times Square Bldg on the ledge under the southeast wing.

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I could also see the two Black Crowned Night Herons that are still hanging out here in Rochester, in a tree in Aqueduct Park.

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As it started to lightly rain, first Dot.ca, then Beauty took off and flew east.  I watched Beauty as she circled the Xerox bldg and did not return.

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I drove over to the south side of Xerox and found Dot.ca on the southeast corner of HSBC.  Since these two have been inseparable lately, I had a suspicion that Beauty was somewhere nearby.  I was right.  From the Strong Museum parking lot, I was far enough away to see that Beauty was also on HSBC on the northeast corner.

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Brian and Joyce joined me and we chatted for awhile.  It was time to end my downtown watch.  I wanted to check Seneca Towers and Russell Station before the sun set, which happens around 4:40 pm now.

I found two falcons at Seneca Towers on the north end of the building on the west side.  They were both facing west.

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My last stop was Russell Station, where I found no falcons.  I ended my weekend watches with sightings of all 4 Rochester Falcons.  I just love the weekends!  🙂