By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A  brisk 35 (F) 2 (C) degrees this morning in downtown Rochester  with dark dry conditions

Click on the pics to see the full version

I was graced by the presence of 99 today at Seneca Towers as I parked in my spot on Seth Green Dr. He was on the west side railing and at first seemed to be watching to the north. I thought maybe Billie was on the roof eating but that was not the case.

Security guard Michael, was getting off his shift and came over to chat about the falcons. While he was there 99 turned completely around to show us the front of him. He did some looking around, scratching and showing some leg.

99 flew south around 7:15am and I headed downtown after getting a message from Donna that Beauty had stooped off Mercury. I was hoping to find her eating but when I turned off South Ave. onto the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) the Beautyful one was on the Mercury money bag (MMB). She took off soon after, flying west behind the Times Square building (TSB)

I drove west myself and found her with that handsome mate of hers Dot.Ca (DC), on the top arm of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). Same arm with DC up top

I parked on Fitzhugh St. below them as Beauty decided to spread her big, gorgeous wings and  fly east-DC watched her the whole time and a minute later he decided he better fly southeast.

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I spotted  window cleaners on the cherry picker in the Thomson Reuters parking lot as I pulled down Bank Place. This told me that our falcons would most likely not go to Mercury or the Wilder building so I left on my search.

At just about 8am I found Beauty on the 6th column from the southeast corner of Xerox from Woodbury Blvd. I started taping her and she flew off into a stoop streaking down toward the river. I headed over via Broad St. and stopped for an urban gray squirrel to cross the street heading toward Tim Hortons at Central Library, and of course I took a pic as it stopped on the median! lol

Beauty in the mean time, had gone to the TSB landing under the northeast wing. I parked in the hole but her back was to me there so I went down on Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena but I still didn’t like the angle. I then went to the parking lot next to TSB after stopping below.

The back lighting was bad but I stayed long enough to see DC fly in and land on the northwest wing ring. And greet MarkB, a lawyer falcon watcher friend of ours, who works in the TSB, pulled in and said hi before heading up to his office.

<Beauty <DC

I decided to go across the street to the hole behind He’s Chinese and it was a good thing I did because while I had started taping DC flew south followed by Beauty, then they turned back and went to the deck and nest box. I wouldn’t have seen all that from the other parking lot. Beauty as told to me by Donna,  flew out first which I got on tape but I missed DC leave.
Donna also told me that Beauty and DC had bowed-I was very happy to hear that and I thank you very much for letting me know Donna!

I checked out the river as I crossed the Court St. bridge and got my first glimpse of the mural that was painted near the  aqueduct below the BSB near the BCA. Stunning even from that distance!

<Make sure to click them>

I headed to the east side and found Beauty on the 6th column of Xerox again. She flew off almost as soon as I pulled over, returned and took off again as I was taping her going into a sensational stoop toward the river.

I looked for Beauty and DC as I left downtown but I didn’t find them, ending my watch at 9:45am. The fact that our dynamic duo bonded at the nest box left me smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays line up of videos

http://youtu.be/htPNgjcBloU

http://youtu.be/EbPJ7Yba5Nc

http://youtu.be/LJ-e0fax4iI

http://youtu.be/RQGRsRiMDrU

http://youtu.be/gSF3DL5fObM

http://youtu.be/-OOIEqnPbKQ

http://youtu.be/Y2fcJUKVhVg

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a  cold and rainy morning in Rochester with wet snow mixing at times and a temperature of 40 (F) 4 (C)

Not much to report today as my watch consisted of no falcons seen at Seneca Towers and watching Beauty in the rain for an hour.

I first found the Beautyful one at 7:15am on the Wilder buildings green strip (WGS) with her back to the world down near the southeast corner. I parked on Aqueduct St. in the hole behind the Thomson Reuters building.

She was all scrunched down doing her best to keep the rain off the front of her. She flew east around 7:30am at which time I left to check the east side and possibly find Dot.Ca (DC).

I had no luck and so returned to the hole where once again I found Beauty on the WGS only this time she was closer to the southwest corner next to the fire escape ladder.

Beauty kept looking in my direction-I believe she may have been watching the cherry picker over on Broad St. where a couple guys were cleaning windows on the Thomson Reuters building behind me. She shook the rain off herself a few times and preened a tiny bit while I watched her. In one pic her expression seemed pretty disgusted with the weather-I wasn’t too thrilled with it myself! lol

I left her to it and thought since DC hadn’t shown his face he might be in his man cave, the OCSR elevator shaft. I drove over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to check it out and sure enough he was high and dry on the north side ledge.

I had to drop my car off for some repairs so I ended my watch at this time, around 8:30am. I was happy to have seen any falcons at all in the dismal weather which made a smile cross my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a couple videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/67A_PGr7oTQ
http://youtu.be/n4m0Fq2kNYQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was quite overcast this morning with rain falling at the very end of my watch and a starting temperature of 37 (F) 3 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

Billie and 99 were not at Seneca Towers as I left for my morning watch.  I arrived downtown at 7am to a nice surprise-Beauty on the Mercury money bag (MMB) where I haven’t seen her in a very long time. I was parked on the Broad St. bridge (BSB).

Beauty was keeping an eye on her territory when she suddenly spread her wings, turned to her right and flew off to the west.

I was going to follow her when I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the south corner top ibeam of OCSR. I took a couple pics then drove over to Graves St. at Main St. next to Aqueduct Park. He flew off shortly after I got there heading south over the river.

I took a ride around the block down South Ave. to the BSB where I noticed DC fly up under the northeast wing of Times Square (TSB). I went to Basin St. in the hole first but his back was facing me, then he turned and I thought I would go down Exchange Blvd. parking out in front of the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) so we could see the front of him.

DC left TSB somewhere around 8am-I rode over to Fitzhugh St. to find Beauty on the south side platform railing of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). Soon after DC showed up on the east side railing and Beauty flew off, followed by him.

I was just about to pull away when Beauty comes flying from the north straight up Fitzhugh St. with prey in her talons. I left to look for her checking Widows Walk and the near vicinity-after coming back down and pulling into the City Hall parking lot I spotted her up on the northeast corner of City Place. Feathers were flying as I parked out on Fitzhugh St. and that’s when DC came flying in to join her.

I decided to go up to the roof of the Sister Cities parking garage hoping I would be able to see the Beautyful one better but that didn’t work, however it gave me a great view of DC as he planned his strategy for getting that food.

DC was cracking me up watching the feathers as they surrounded him and blew away. Then he saw an opening and made his first attempt at the food by sauntering over to Beauty. I could hear some vocalization and then I could see just the tips of their tails come into view on and off. I believe he did get a few bites at this time.

DC resurfaced on the east side of the corner and planned his next attack

A few minutes later he made the big move as he rushed Beauty and chased her off the roof. They spiraled down the north side of City Place as he tried taking the food out of her talons in mid air. Luckily, I was taping at the time so y’all can see it. They went out of view for a second or two then came back up into view as DC continued the chase straight down Fitzhugh St. to the north out of my field of vision. That was the last I saw of them as I had to get going. I checked points north as I left downtown to no avail. Talk about smiling-I was laughing out loud at that little show as I ended my watch when I arrived home at Seneca Towers  where I ended my watch at 9:30am! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out todays videos
http://youtu.be/Ify-jKJbLj0

http://youtu.be/LNg_YyDTPyQ

http://youtu.be/xQkc1XUGGoA

http://youtu.be/9GSHMtx9RA0

http://youtu.be/4bQqmc5wJyQ

http://youtu.be/tdrpKt7NIl8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a chilly 44 (F) 7 (C) with a brisk wind and sunny blue skies

Click on the pics to see the full version

I started my watch this morning like yesterday with 99 on the west side railing at Seneca Towers. He flew off to the south end after circling above a couple times coming to rest on the tallest antenna at the south end of the building.

Billie flew in from the south and after doing some laps herself landed on the shorter antenna next to 99.

They both flew off together awhile I was tweeting and returned to the south end with Billie landing on the west side railing and 99 further down on the tall antenna.

One of the security guards came out to see what I was taking pics of as one of the aides told him there’s a lady out there every day taking pictures. He was into it once I pointed out the falcons, and Billie gave him a flight show passing by 99 then landing below him near the southwest corner of the roof.

They flew southwest with 99 taking the lead and I left for downtown. As I turned onto the Broad St. bridge I saw a falcon flying above Xerox-it quickly disappeared and when I turned around facing the Times Square building (TSB) I saw Dot.Ca (DC) under the northeast wing with his back to me. I drove down to the hole parking on Basin St. where I noticed Beauty over on the lower northeast corner of Widows Walk (WW) plucking feathers from a fresh kill.

DC flew northeast and came back thru going past Beauty then up under the northeast wing again. Beauty stopped eating until he landed then resumed eating her breakfast.

It was only a matter of time before DC would make his move to get that food from the Beautyful one. Just before 8:30am he flew northeast again but this time he landed on the northwest corner of the upper roof of WW. After a couple minutes he could take it no longer as he walked over to the northeast corner right above Beauty.

A few seconds later DC was off and down to knock Beauty out of the way to get to the food-She flew off to the north as he ate the few bites that were left.

DC finished it off did some feaking and then flew off and less than a minute later a traffic officer, Mike (he works Main and State St.) pulled up next to me and asked if I could see the falcons. He had never seen them before and I said unfortunately you just missed them. I told him some facts about Peregrines and showed him pics from my camera. He was very excited after I told him a few of their favorite spots he might look to see them. I had  to get going as he pulled away ending my watch at 9:15am after checking Hawkeye and Seneca Towers. Another 4 falcon watch ended with a smile! 🙂

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

http://youtu.be/NXudHCX-7Ew

http://youtu.be/YzF4t8u4g2s

http://youtu.be/i3p88fLPdds

http://youtu.be/uBWGL_2q8_M

http://youtu.be/7ULcDyaiOII

http://youtu.be/so5-YWUmSMY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning was warmer with a temperature of 53 (F) 12 (C) and overcast windy conditions

Click on the pics to see the full version

I was treated to seeing Billie and 99 at Seneca Towers this morning. When I first got set up on Seth Green Drive I saw 99 on the west side railing at 6:40am.

At 7:47am 99 flew down to the south end of the building where he landed on the roof antenna then attempted to land on the southwest corner-the wind kept him hovered just above it.

Billie flew in from the southwest and joined him on the wing as they gave me a lovely air show riding the wind currents. When they were done they settled on the antenna close to each other-they were so cute acting all excited to see each other. You can see it on one of my videos.

Billie flew off and did some showing off for 99 going out over the river and around the building back by him again as he watched from his spot on the antenna.

Buffalo Billie ended up landing on the northwest corner of the roof showing only her head as if to say peek a boo while 99 remained on the antenna looking her direction. A few minutes later 99 flew off to the east out of view and his girl flew off right after him.

I left for downtown at that point where I spotted Beauty under the northeast wing as I turned onto the Broad St. Bridge from South Ave. I went down to Basin St. in the hole just in time to get a couple shots of her as she flew off to the north at 7:20am.

I flew north myself and caught up to the Beautyful one as she joined Dot.Ca (DC) on the Frontier Communications Tower. She was on her northeast cube and he was right above her on the northeast corner of the platform.

While I was admiring the changing leaves on a couple trees and a phone booth by the Frontier building DC left the tower but Beauty remained to do some preening.

I had leave early today ending my watch around 7:50am but I was smiling for having shared space with Rochester’s 4 Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/Q0cGJ9iflBg

http://youtu.be/DcDEU3ed-rY

http://youtu.be/ohDEJHCVIP4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a cool start with a temperature of 41 (F) 5 (C) and sunshine

Click on the pics to see the full version

No falcons seen at Seneca Towers or Hawkeye either before or after my downtown watch. As I arrived just before 7am I spotted a falcon on the ledge above the nest box from the Broad St. bridge (BSB). It stooped down as I was driving toward Times Square (TSB) and I lost it. After checking around the area surrounding the hole I went back up to the BSB where I saw Beauty flying above Xerox.

I taped her as she was flying around the east side above Xerox, Bausch & Lomb and HSBC from Woodbury Blvd. After about 5-10 minutes she slipped back behind Xerox to the northeast where I lost sight of her. 10 minutes later I spotted the Beautyful one under the northeast wing of TSB-I went to Basin St. in the hole next to the Wilder building to watch.

Beauty kept an eye out for a prey bird to show itself and she found one below as she turned and zeroed in on a little bird on the ledge between the northeast and southeast wings one level above the nest box. She flew down and disappeared for a couple minutes and I thought she had left without me seeing-then suddenly reappeared to the front of the ledge and started plucking feathers.

Looking at my small camera screen I thought she had cached food because it was so small but when I got home and looked at the video on my computer screen, I could see that it was a fresh kill. So, I believe she caught it on the back of that ledge.

She finished up her meager meal filling the right side of her crop then did a whole lot of feaking.

I left for coffee and when I returned at 8:05am Beauty was gone-I knew she would be, that’s just how it goes sometimes. lol

5 minutes later I found Dot.Ca on the north side ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft and Beauty across from him on the south side ledge from across the river near the Radisson Hotel. I don’t know how happy he was that Beauty and I found him in his man cave-he looked to be in the ready to fly away position as he looked at her, then seemingly at me. lol

I decided to leave them to it and head home, ending my watch at 9:15am all smiles knowing our downtown Rochester Peregrine pair were together and well! 🙂

Click on the links below to watch todays videos
http://youtu.be/-8SM8RrPwRU

http://youtu.be/KhYuTaR7hyk

http://youtu.be/dOh_SpS7bGk

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

12:00 – 3:00 pm

It was a very cold and windy day with temps in the 30’s during my watch.  The only good thing was the bright sunshine and bright blue sky.  As long as you stayed inside your car, it was tolerable.

The BS location was my first stop.  Lots and lots of Canada Geese surrounded the building and a Coopers Hawk was on the hunt.  No falcons seen or heard while I was there.  When I was leaving, a truck passed me that had snow on it!

As I was passing the Blue Cross Arena, I saw a falcon fly up to the Wilder Building and land on top of the fire escape.  From Aqueduct St, aka “the hole”, I could see that it was Dot.ca.  I looked around the area for Beauty, but could not find her.

Dot.ca was busy preening and watching every bird that flew through the area.  It looked like he was going to take off and follow one of those birds, but then he’d settle back into a good preen.

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At 1:45 pm, Dot.ca took off heading east over the river.  As I was watching him, I saw Beauty drop out of the OCSR elevator shaft and follow him.  Well, there she was!  lol

I drove around but could not find any falcons.  At 2:00 pm, I ended my downtown watch.  On my way home, I checked out Hawkeye.  No falcons there.  Next came Seneca Tower (ST).  There was a falcon on the south end of the building above the windows.  It looked small, so I assumed it was 99 since I could see a silver band.  A larger falcon, Billie?, was on the east side railing.

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Both took off and soared gracefully together over the building.  It was a wonderful way to end my watch.  Oh, and I did check out Russell Station too.  No falcons seen there.  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Windy and cold with a temperature of 36 (F) 2 (C) throughout my watch with partly cloudy skies

Click on the pics to see the full version

When I stepped out of Seneca Towers this morning the cold north wind smacked me in the face like a ton of bricks. I didn’t see Billie or 99 anywhere on the building and as I drove down St. Paul St. I spotted a large bird on the railing near the Hawkeye nest box. It turned out to be the Red-tail Hawk that occasionally perches there.

I continued on to downtown-when I was making my way to the back of the parking lot of The Inn on Broadway to check the east side I spotted another raptor. This time it was a Cooper’s Hawk on the Inn’s roof top antenna-it flew off to the west soon after I pulled over.

<Click it

As I made my way back to the Broad St. bridge (BSB) I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) under the southeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB). I drove down to the hole for a side view since he had his back to me.

DC flew off around 7:15am diving on a crow over by the Blue Cross Arena, coming up into view over the Philips building and back down out of view several times. When he didn’t surface again I left the hole for the BSB but didn’t see him around the area until I made a u-turn and noticed him up on the deck near the nest box. I drove down to get closer but he was gone the next time I looked up there. I went for a ride and when I returned to the Times Square area I spotted Beauty and DC on the Wilder building-she was on the green strip and he was on the fire escape 2 floors below her.

They would check each other out every once in a while to see that the other was still in its spot. They also checked me out when a homeless person dropped their bag of cans and bottles near where I was parked as it was quite loud.

They both spotted something up in the sky but I didn’t-of course, their eye sight is way better than mine.

I was checking pics on my camera when I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye fly east-it was DC and the Beautyful one took off right after him around 7:45am. The search was on again and it brought me right back to the hole where I found DC once again on the fire escape of the Wilder building-this time he was on the top railing just below the green strip.

You couldn’t help but notice his whiteness, so when Larry and his dog Harold pulled up next to me and he didn’t notice DC, I thought it was funny because he said something about Beauty up on the green strip, whom I missed fly in to land right above DC. lol Larry only stayed a couple minutes as he and Harold were going on a hike to check out  bridges along the Genesee River.

Beauty did some preening and DC kept an eye on the vicinity checking for prey birds to come out of hiding. They surely are a handsome couple with their contrasting colors.

How could we not fall in love with these wonderful creatures when they bring us such beauty and interest!?

I left our downtown pair of Peregrine Falcons to do their thing. I checked Hawkeye, the Medley Center in Irondequoit and Seneca Towers to no avail before ending my watch at 9:45am. Another watch spent with Beauty and DC making for many smiles to cross this watchers face! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a photo album and videos from todays watch
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqkDQ

http://youtu.be/T4JPyjhIwxA

http://youtu.be/Vt3z0B-PLj8

http://youtu.be/hHUGGh1Cqv0

http://youtu.be/Q61CdBYkeZI

http://youtu.be/k3WKz66y7g4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

1:30 – 3:30 pm

It was a cold, dreary, rainy, raw day!  Brrrrr!  But that didn’t stop me from checking up on the the Rochester Falcons.

My first stop was the BS location, where Joyce had seen both a small juvie Peregrine Falcon and an adult Tiercel (male falcon) over the past week.  I circled the building a couple times, but had no luck seeing or hearing any falcons there.

My next stop was downtown Rochester, which was a zoo with the circus in town.  Lots of traffic around the Blue Cross Arena aka the Rochester War Memorial.  I was still able to get around ok, I just couldn’t park on the Broad St Bridge.

After looking around Xerox, the Times Square Bldg and all points in between, I finally found a falcon tucked into the OCSR elevator shaft on the south ledge.  I was not able to ID this bird or see if there was a second falcon up there.  From the Andrews St Bridge, I checked the north side of OCSR and the Frontier Communication Tower.  No falcons there.

Next, I drove over to the Kodak Tower, where I found Beauty on the south side arch ledge, directly above where the old M&K Kodak Nest Box used to be located.  She had her back to me and she was preening.

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I wanted to get a front view of her.  As I was driving around the  north side of the building, she took off and flew around the building.  I believe that she landed on the launch pad, but was unable to find her.  By this time it was starting to sleet, so I ended my watch after seeing both Beauty and Dot.ca.

On my way home, I checked out Hawkeye, ST, KP Research Labs and Russell Station.  I saw no falcons at any of those locations.  I’ll leave you with a picture of Lake Ontario which was quite turbulent, with white capped waves.

Remember to turn back your clocks an hour before going to bed tonight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a cold 37 (F) 3 (C) degrees with a brisk wind and overcast dark conditions

You must click on my pics to see the full version

I left Seneca Towers around 7:30am and it was still pretty dark. Billie and 99 were not around as I left for downtown. Things didn’t lighten up much as I pulled over on the Broad St. bridge after a look around at the usual spots. I was facing the east when I spotted a tiny figure of a falcon (Beauty) on the southwest corner of Bausch & Lomb (B&L) that is called Archer’s corner. A second later I noticed wing flapping and the white front of another falcon (Dot.Ca) (DC) on another southwest corner to the right. I believe he had just landed. I drove to Court St. across from the Court St. garage to park and check them out-it was about 8:15am.

<Beauty<DC

They had their backs to me when I first pulled over but DC turned to his left facing Beauty soon after giving me a side view. Beauty flew east a few minutes later and DC turned around to face that direction. I thought he would fly off too after pooping but he stayed and after a couple minutes the Beautyful one returned and landed under the southwest elevator and Archer’s corner.

Around 8:31am DC flew west and Beauty followed right behind him. I too, flew that way toward the Broad St. bridge and drove around downtown looking for them. I found them some 25 minutes later back on the east side. From Woodbury Blvd. I spotted them on the south side of Xerox-Beauty was on the 4th column and DC was on the 6th column from the southeast corner, one column separating them.

<Click it

Beauty flew off to the east around 9:05am and returned soon after coming to rest on the 5th column right next to DC .

<Click it

They were facing each other when I left them at 9:15am in the rain thus ending my short gloomy watch.

I did however, leave with a smile as I tend to do after sharing space with our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/ioJ6m8QK7S8

http://youtu.be/ot3OMDJqUy0

http://youtu.be/17_hOqMVJgc