By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another gloomy, overcast morning with a little fog early and a temperature of 35 (F) 2 (C) ending with a fine misty rain

Click on my pics to see the full version

It wasn’t until about 7:45am that I found a falcon this morning as I made my way over to the east side. Both Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) were on the south side of Xerox-she was on her favorite column, the 5th and he was next to her on the 4th from the southeast corner.

I parked on Chestnut St. by Martin Luther King Jr. Park to share space with our beloved downtown pair where I could face them. They were in hunt mode, watching their surroundings from the tallest building in Rochester.

At about 8:15am DC took off to the south followed immediately by Beauty who went into stoop formation and quickly left my field of vision. When they didn’t return I went looking and in my travels spotted the nice decorations at The Inn on Broadway.

I ended up on Basin St. in the hole next to the Wilder building where I found Beauty on the east side railing of Widows Walk (WW) and a holiday banner with Times Square in the background.

The Beautyful one started out doing some preening then the head bobbing started. I thought she was fixing to hunt on a prey bird but when she flew off to the north side of Times Square I found out what she had been watching.

DC snuck in at some point with food and had it on one of the columns on the lower back half of Times Square without me noticing. He flew off with a little of his food and finished it on the north side railing of WW, while Beauty took his spot on the column and ate a small portion DC left behind.

They both made quick work of the small portions they had then Beauty flew over to the lower roof of WW below DC  who had a full crop, for a short time. As I was tweeting out my findings they both took off unbeknownst to me until I looked back over there right around the 9 o’clock hour.

I left Basin St. for Bank Place on the other side of the hole where it meets Aqueduct St. because Beauty had flown to the Mercury money bag (MMB) and that was a better spot to view her. She did a lot of preening while I watched her there.

I was thinking since DC had eaten that he might have gone to his man cave up in the OCSR elevator shaft to rest and digest his meal, so I left Beauty to look for him. From the Radisson Hotel driveway I found DC on the south side ledge (his favorite side of the shaft).

I left downtown for home about 9:20am and as I pulled over on St. Paul St. to check Seneca Towers before I got to Seth Green Drive, I spotted Billie on the south end of the building perched on a pipe near the southeast corner. I continued on to park in the Northridge Church parking lot where I noticed 99 up on the northwest corner railing. Just as I got my camera up Buffalo Billie came flying in and landed on a pipe near 99.

Apparently, she had caught a small prey bird on her way over for she started plucking feathers as I was taping a video. They both had their back to me so I left for my spot on Seth Green Dr. at the other end of Seneca Towers. 99 was gone when I got there but Billie was looking big and beautiful as she ate her breakfast.

Billie stopped eating for a minute or so as she was looking at something, then this big girl flew off to the south with the prey in her talons at 9:47am.

I waited to see if she would come back and when she didn’t I ended my watch at 10am. For the 2nd day in a row I got to see all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons which as you know makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/WIUVDB_-zlM

http://youtu.be/CSJ3xF9WoF0

http://youtu.be/KamqePeT9DU

http://youtu.be/CW8jhRGLPYE

http://youtu.be/UTEiG9DRKjc

http://youtu.be/wEZbTJexjkw

http://youtu.be/wxHF56ZqhNQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My watch time is very limited right now, so I was happy to find the time to get out today.  It was overcast and lightly raining the whole time I was out and the temp was hovering between 36 and 37 degrees (F).  At least it wasn’t the freezing cold we usually get this time of year.

JUST A REMINDER TO CLICK ON A PICTURE TO SEE THE LARGER VERSION

Since I was only able to get out once this week, I wanted to check all the falcon locations, starting with the west end of Kodak Park.  I did find a falcon there, but it wasn’t a Peregrine.  The smallest of the falcons in this area, a Kestrel, was hunting from the tall silver still.  Both Unity and Archer used to hunt from these same stills.

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I saw no falcons at the BS location, where Pigott used to hang out.  All was very quiet there.

Downtown, I found Dot.ca on the south side of the OCSR on the top IBeam.

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I left DC to look for Beauty and when I returned Dot.ca was gone.  I went on the hunt again, looking for a falcon.  Just as I arrived at the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT), a falcon came in fast, landing on the southeast box below the platform.  It was Beauty.  She began to preen, periodically shaking the water from her feathers.

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Beauty stretched out her wings and took off.  She flew over me heading south.  I expected to see her continue towards the Times Square Bldg, but she turned around.  She flew directly over me and then landed on the north end of the City Place Bldg, which is directly south of the Frontier Comm Twr.

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Beauty ducked out of view for a long time.  This is where we’ve seen her take baths on warm summer days.  Finally, she popped up onto the edge of the building.

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After a few minutes, she took off and headed back towards the FCT, again landing on the southeast box.

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I left Beauty to go look for Dot.ca.  From the Broad St Bridge, I could see DC on the southeast corner of the Times Square Bldg. below the nest box level.

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Dot.ca took off while I was driving down to Aqueduct St, so I didn’t see which direction he headed.  Beauty was still on the Frontier Communication Tower when I ended my downtown watch.  I was not able to find Dot.ca.  Both had full crops, so both had eaten well today.

A quick stop at Seneca Towers and Russell Station on my way home.  No falcons found at either location.

It was a nice to see both Beauty and Dot.ca during my watch.

I’ll leave you with some pictures I took during my travels.  Enjoy!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was raining lightly and overcast throughout my watch today with a temperature of 36 (F) 2 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

After a quick look around Kodak Office I went to Bragdon Place  next to the Radisson Hotel to check the south side ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft. To my delight Dot.ca (DC) was up there.

Soon after arriving DC spread his wings and flew out crossing over the river before flying back to land on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR.

I couldn’t see him from my location because he had landed close to the elevator shaft so I drove around to the other side of the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to find not only DC but Beauty as well. She was at the other end of the ibeam near the south corner.

<Beauty>

<DC>

At 7:46am DC flew over to the Times Square building (TSB) and came to rest on the northeast wing ring. Beauty stayed put so I drove over to the parking lot next to the TSB to watch DC as he likes to hunt from way up there. When I pulled in a couple sparrows and starlings were flitting around but DC didn’t seem to notice them.

DC watched the area and almost took off 3 times before finally spreading his wings and flying off in a hurry to the northeast at 8:03am.

I drove to where I could see OCSR to find that Beauty was gone from the top ibeam.  So I set out to find them-making my way back to where I started at Times Square. While stopped at the traffic light at Exchange and Broad St.,  I took a pic of the tree and wreath in the Times Square lobby.

I turned the corner onto Broad St. and noticed Beauty up on the Mercury money bag (MMB) around 8:15am, so I pulled over by the Blue Cross Arena to share space with her.

She was checking out below, above and behind her down toward the river. The Beautyful one flew off a minute later heading northeast-the same direction that DC had gone.

I went in search of our beloved downtown pair but was unable to locate them so I left for home. When I arrived at Seneca Towers, 99 was on the south end of the building on an antenna so i went to the south end of my parking lot to observe him.

At 9:03am 99 flew north out of view momentarily, then returned to land on a pipe apparatus near the southeast corner of the building.

99 flew off at 9:16am to the south and a split second later Billie was right behind him. They flew around the building a couple times then came down to the south end where Buffalo Billie landed on a different pipe apparatus at the south end of the building.

<99 <Billie

99 landed on the southwest corner for a second then flew off around the building and came back to land on the same spot I first found him-on the short side of south end antenna.

I proceeded to tweet out what I had seen and when I looked back up they were both gone. I waited a minute or two before ending my watch at 9:30am. What a fun watch this morning as I saw all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons making me smile from ear to ear! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/3iM1tTKT7f0

http://youtu.be/eNAG7V5t7Y4

http://youtu.be/a3RKkfpcGVc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was snowing when I left Seneca Towers for my watch with a temperature of 33 (F) 0 (C) and overcast skies. It had stopped snowing by the end and was replaced with a misty rain

Click on my pics to see the full version

Just as I was about to turn onto Andrews St. from St. Paul St. I spotted this pretty wreath on the Tapas Lounge (FYI-very good food there).

I checked Kodak Office (KO) after this but there was nobody on it. I then went to the east side and found nothing until I stopped at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. and found a falcon up in the OCSR elevator shaft on the south side ledge. I could see it with my binoculars but the snow made it impossible for my camera to focus on it.

Turns out it was Dot.ca (DC) because I left there to check KO again and found Beauty there on the south side arch just before 8am.

The snow was starting to let up at this point. The Beautyful one flew off to the west disappearing into the murky overcast sky at 8:02am.

I waited a couple minutes to see if she came back then I left to check the elevator shaft from the Radisson Hotel once more. DC was gone and  spotted Beauty, who was now on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR with her back to me.

I decided to go down to the hole parking lot for a front view of Beauty.

Beauty was busy looking around the area. I couldn’t stay long as I have a party to get to as soon as I finish this report. I didn’t find any falcons at Seneca Towers again today, however, I did see one flying over the river yesterday afternoon from my living room window. I ended my watch at 8:45am smiling for having seen Beauty and DC on a quiet morning in downtown Rochester! 🙂

Click on the pics below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/l1dPxL_9cmQ

http://youtu.be/VyWGHO7Q4EM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

An overcast morning with a temperature of 26 (F) -3 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

It was a slow go this morning driving around downtown as businesses were shoveling and plowing there way thru the foot of snow we received the last couple days. The roads were in good shape as I made my way around looking for our beloved falcons. The tree in front of the South Ave. garage looked pretty with snow on it.

<Click it

It wasn’t until 45 minutes into my watch that I found Beauty on Kodak Office.  As I approached from State St. I could see her beautyful salmon colored chest on the south side arch.

I stayed with her for a while then I left to look for Dot.ca (DC). I found him when I returned to State St. as he had joined Beauty on Kodak office-he was on the southeast corner of the launchpad with his back to me.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder-sometimes poop can look like modern art as DC shows us thru my camera.

I don’t think Beauty felt the same way as she looked up at DC after that.

I decided before I left them to do their thing I’d go to the north side of the Kodak Office tower for a front look of DC. He appeared to have a full crop, so at least we know he ate today.

And that’s my watch for today-short and sweet, ending with a smile at 9am for finding both downtown resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons safe and sound after our first big snow of the season! 🙂

*After my watch I had to walk Isabella, fellow falcon watcher and friend Jeanne’s dog. We went to the Brighton site where I found prey feathers in the fresh snow telling me that there may have been a falcon on the building eating recently. Afterwards we took a ride thru part of Highland Park to enjoy the snow covered evergreens, so there’s a bonus video as we made our way down the road.

Click the pics below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/0pUnojaFoZ0

http://youtu.be/n8sm065sS4Y

http://youtu.be/CfG8gXeWuGA

http://youtu.be/7nFxqaqytCI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I left Seneca Towers this morning it was snowing lightly with a temperature of 31 (F) -1 (C) and the roads were wet. When I ended my watch the temperature was down to 28 and the roads were getting slick. We are under a winter storm warning until 6pm tomorrow night with snow totals of 8-14 inches forecast

I arrived downtown around 7:30am-I took a ride around checking all the usual spots for Beauty and Dot.ca. I spotted one of them on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR from Bank Place and Aqueduct St. about 7:45am. I went over to Graves St. at Main St. by Aqueduct Park in order to get close enough for a pic that would actually show a falcon. There was no way to identify who it was with all the snow.

I went over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to check the elevator shaft but the snow was coming down too hard to see anything up in there. I made the rounds again stopping by Martin Luther King Jr. Park where crews were clearing snow from the ice skating rink.

<Click it

When I got back to check on the OCSR falcon it was gone. After another futile effort to see up in the elevator shaft I opted to call it a watch. I believe Beauty and DC were probably up there out of the bad weather. I left downtown at 8:45am to run an errand before going home and to my delight I was greeted by Billie and 99. They were on the south end of Seneca Towers on the top window ledge facing each other.

<Click it

I pulled in my parking lot to watch them at close range, shooting a short video of them then surrendering to the weather as the snow was getting my camera too wet. I won’t be doing a falcon watch tomorrow morning because I’m having a medical procedure done, but I’ll be back at it on Friday morning. I saw 3 out of 4 of our Rochester Falcons today which made me smile, although I would have liked to have seen all of them safe and sound! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/b70kGb8fbU8

http://youtu.be/pLlFaJklMaM

http://youtu.be/VC_tZl3zTjo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The sky was mostly sunny and the temperature was 10 degrees warmer than yesterday morning at 32 (F) 0 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

As I made my u-turn on Seth Green Drive to face Seneca Towers I spotted a falcon on the west side railing. Just as I stopped the car, a smaller falcon flew past it telling me that Billie was the bird on the railing and 99 was the one flying.  She flew off right after him as they headed southeast and didn’t return. While on the east side I stopped to take a pic of the tree in the Bausch&Lomb atrium in searching for falcons. I found Beauty on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office playpen as I pulled over on State St.

I went down to Mill St. for a more open view of her and that’s when I spotted the whiteness of Dot.ca (DC) on the northeast crown of the 20th floor. DC flew south at 7:47am toward downtown just as I got my camera up, and the Beautyful one followed right after him. I barely got her in the frame before she disappeared.

Less than 10 minutes later I noticed Beauty flying above Xerox from the Court St. bridge. She went into a stoop as I pulled over toward Cornhill out of sight behind me. I got out to look for her and while I waited for her to re-surface I checked the river as they had 2 locks open and the water was flowing fast thru them. Then I spotted Beauty on the jail communications tower north side top arm.

Beauty stooped straight down and came back up to land on the same arm again on the jail tower. I tweeted my findings and while I did that Beauty left. Now she was on the top arm south side of the tower-she then flew off to the southeast out of view.

I drove over to Woodbury Blvd. on a hunch that she might have gone to Xerox-I found Beauty on the south side 6th column over from the southeast corner.

At 8:18am Beauty stooped toward Cornhill once more. From the Court St. bridge I spotted her on the 2nd arm south side of the jail tower. I then drove to Troup St. on the south side of route 490 across from the jail to get a closer look at Beauty.

At 8:31am Beauty spread her big gorgeous wings and flew south without any urgency, leaving my field of vision.

I wouldn’t see her again until 9:10am when I found her on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR from State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel.

I left Beauty to look around downtown one more time for DC but I didn’t find him. When I got home to Seneca Towers there were no falcons present. Even tho I saw DC,Billie and 99 only briefly, I still had to end my watch with a smile at 9:40am as I did see all 4 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons today! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/Kgn4neAihVM

http://youtu.be/iRoNAs_uxxE

http://youtu.be/8n8q2qBEhVQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was mostly cloudy with a cold temperature of 22 (F) -6 (C)

I found Beauty on the top ibeam northwest side of OCSR from the Andrews St. bridge around 7:45am as I was on my way back from the east side. I drove to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to watch her as she had her back to me.

That’s the long and short of my story-I spent my entire watch looking at the back of the Beautyful one as she occasionally preened and turned her head. I searched for Dot.ca to no avail and ended my watch at 9am at Seneca Towers where I saw no falcons this morning. Just as I started to write this report I glanced out my living room window at the right time and saw 99 fly up toward the northwest corner of the building. That certainly made me smile! 🙂

One link below to click on to see Beauty in all her splendor and glory

http://youtu.be/u_KnK2sDnH8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I was finally able to get out for a falcon watch!  The sunshine was awesome, but I would have liked it to be a little bit warmer than the 26 degrees (F) I read on a downtown clock.  Brrrr!

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JUST A REMINDER TO CLICK ON A PICTURE TO SEE THE LARGER VERSION

Kodak Park and the BS locations were the first places I checked.  No luck finding any falcons there.  I headed downtown and spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on a light pole near the pull-off on Exchange in Cornhill.  After I took a few pics, the hawk took off and headed east, towards downtown.

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I turned my attention towards downtown.  From the Exchange pull-off, I was able to see two falcons on the B&L building, both on southwest corners.  That’s where I headed.

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From the south side of B&L, I could see that it was Beauty on the top and Dot.ca on the bottom.

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I found a spot that was a little closer to watch them on Court St.  Beauty spread her wings and took off, stooping over St Mary’s Church, which was behind me.  My last view of her was as she flew low over the church with her talons hanging down.  The nearby pigeons had taken flight and I assumed she was on the hunt.  Dot.ca remained on B&L and he was looking in the direction Beauty had headed.

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When Beauty didn’t return, I started to wonder if she had a successful hunt and might be on a building back behind the church. So, I headed over to the other side, but had no luck finding her.  But, I did find out what probably caused her to stoop low over the church.  A juvie Red-tailed Hawk (RTH) was on the house just to the south of the church.  My bet is that this church hawk was probably Beauty’s target.

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After the hawk took off over the park, I returned to my spot on Court St.  Beauty had rejoined Dot.ca on B&L.  I was happy that the RTH had been able to leave without being harassed.

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Since the gates were up on the Court St Garage I headed up for a different view.

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A Coopers Hawk was hunting just north of the B&L building.  It was scaring up pigeons as it passed over.  I looked up in time to see Dot.ca take off and  stoop straight down the face of the building.  He pulled up and raced to the north, chasing the Coop. Dot.ca then turned back and took a swipe at the pigeons that had taken flight.  Before returning to his spot on the B&L building, he flew directly over me.

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Just as I was tweeting that I was going to end my downtown watch, both Beauty and Dot.ca took off heading northwest towards the Times Square bldg. and OCSR.  I did look for them, but was unable to find where they went.

On my way home, I checked out Seneca Towers and found one falcon on the south end, SW corner antenna.  I could only find this one falcon.

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I ended my afternoon watch at Russell Station, finding no falcons there.

It was so nice to get out for a falcon watch today!

I’ll leave you with a picture I took of a very patriotic Mercury.  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Sunshine, for a change, dominated the sky this morning with a chilly temperature of 27 (F) -3 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

I had sun and light at 7:15am when I stepped outside today at Seneca Towers for my morning watch, but I also had falcons! Pulled over on Seth Green Drive, I spotted a falcon on the west side railing. I believe it was 99 but with its back to me I can’t be sure.

He flew off a few minutes later circling above the roof then left my field of vision behind the building to the northeast. Unknown to me at the time, Billie joined the mix and landed on the southwest corner of the roof and as I drove back to my parking lot for a closer look spotted 99 on the top window ledge. I had reported the opposite at the time until I was able to see 99’s yellow tape on his right leg band.

<99 <Billie

Unfortunately, Buffalo Billie had her back to me so I have no better pics of her. However, 99 was showing himself very well.

Right around 7:50am Billie left the building as I was taping 99. He took off to join her less than a minute after I stopped taping him. 99 pooped first and then flew south.

I made my way downtown. finding Beauty at 8:10am on her favorite Xerox column-5th one from the southeast corner on the south side from Woodbury Blvd. with her back to me. I drove over to Chestnut St. by Martin Luther King Jr. Park to view the front of her.

A couple minutes later the Beautyful one flew off when I wasn’t looking. I caught up with Beauty on the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad. As I was parked on State St. she was on the southwest corner with her back to me so I drove around to the west side and pulled over on Verona St. While in transit, Beauty turned and I was looking at her back again so back to State St. I went.

Beauty flew southeast around 8:40am. I went in search of and after having no luck I spotted a falcon back on the southwest corner of the KO launchpad around 9:30am. I reported it as being Beauty but I believe it was Dot.ca (DC)

He flew off heading southwest and as I was stopped at the traffic light at Main and State St. I spotted DC on the main cam. I pulled into the hole parking lot just in time to get a shot of him before he flew over to OCSR. He had a full crop.

I had to turn around park near Aqueduct St. to find not only DC but Beauty as well on the top ibeam southwest side of OCSR. She was at the west corner but I didn’t know which was which at first as the sun was making them both look like ghosts.

Beauty flew off around 9:45am and landed further down the ibeam from DC. I love having the sun out but sometimes it shines too brightly and makes our falcons look like a white blob as evidenced below in the last pic of the day.

<Click it

So I ended my watch smiling after having seen all 4 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/6Z07JhUl3b8

http://youtu.be/8fF0k_EN_mk

http://youtu.be/1n7xIgyx4Gw

http://youtu.be/jU8q8fE_EWk

http://youtu.be/SLWZHDShX9Y

http://youtu.be/bztZCfJGkm0