By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a soggy, foggy, dark morning in Rochester with a temperature of 38 (F) 3 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

Other than the sound of raindrops on my car and umbrella it was a quiet morning watch with not much going on in the falcon world. After one trip around downtown I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the top ibeam west corner of OCSR from the Broad St. Bridge at 7:45am. I drove down to the hole parking lot for closer viewing-he was facing out at first then turned his back to me.

8 minutes later Beauty flew in to join DC but he wasn’t feeling sociable this morning and flew off seconds later. I got a snippet of the Beautyful one arriving but missed DC departing.

Beauty pooped after DC left and moved over to the spot he had occupied before leaving her for parts unknown.

Now, had I not witnessed this changing of the guard I might have thought it was the same falcon up there the whole time because I never found DC again after a couple trips around checking the usual spots.

I went over to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel after Beauty turned her back to me, but the view of her wasn’t any better from there. I returned to the hole to share space with Beauty for just a bit longer, deciding to take off myself. My last look at Beauty with her back to me trying to stay as dry as she could under the cover of the OCSR ibeam.

After one more check for DC proved futile I left happy that I had seen both of our downtown pair of Peregrine Falcons.

I didn’t see Billie or 99 this morning at Seneca Towers but I still had reason to smile knowing Beauty and DC were well, as I ended my watch at 9:15am. 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/7coQxg8ta7c

http://youtu.be/-K7Sh0R32LA

http://youtu.be/b9uTBr2Y-Ag

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Mostly cloudy skies prevailed with patches of blue sky here and there and a temperature of 26 (F) -3 (C)

Click on the pics to see full version

I’ve been using the Court St. Bridge (CSB) as a vantage point a lot lately as Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) have been hunting and flying on the east side in the morning. It gives a better view of the east side than the Broad St. bridge. So as I pulled over on it today I spotted a falcon on one of the many northwest corners of Bausch & Lomb (B&L).

I thought it was DC and reported as such, but I couldn’t be sure from that distance so I drove to Broad St. parking next to the Central Library below B&L for a closer look. After taking off at 7:38am I could tell it was the Beautyful one by size and dark underside.

I went over to Court St. across from the Court St. garage to watch as Beauty flew above Xerox and started her hovering hunting style. I watched her stoop to the southwest over my head and behind me toward Cornhill.

I decided the best spot was the CSB and after Beauty returned to hover above Xerox she stooped again-this time back behind HSBC to the east. She appeared above Xerox again before another stoop in which I had a front row seat for as she whizzed thru the airspace like a missile, descending lower and lower as she passed thru the Frederick Douglass-Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge between the arch and Route 490 below it with sensational precision. Here’s a pic of the bridge to give you an idea of what I’m describing-the fastest animal on the planet in a stoop that was easily over 100 miles an hour.

She just missed her target, a pigeon, near Cornhill Landing them returned to the air above Xerox, circled around B&L and back near Xerox at 8am. Beauty stooped to the east toward the University Ave. area vanishing quickly and didn’t return this time. I found her half hour later on the northeast corner of Crossroads as I was pulled over on the Andrews St. bridge.

She was eating with her back to me so I went to Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park at Main St. where I had the best view of her.

I only stayed a few minutes as I had an appointment to get to. I’ve been wanting to check out High Falls so I wanted to stop there real quick before I left downtown. I got a bonus sighting of workers stacking kegs in a tree shape at the Genesee Brewery-I think they were stringing lights on it. The falls were flowing slowly.

I checked Seneca Towers on my way past but saw no falcons. I ended my watch just before 9am with a smile! 🙂

Click on the pics below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/GEsAMdYMuk0

http://youtu.be/-NUmJiz0V00

http://youtu.be/StLMbH6Agok

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Mostly cloudy skies and a chilly 24 (F)  -4 (C) degrees this morning

Click on my pics to see the full version

As I made my way around downtown I spotted Beauty under the southeast wing of Times Square (TSB) from the Andrews St. bridge. I whipped down to Basin St. in the hole and discovered Dot.ca (DC) was under the northeast wing watching Beauty as she was eating.

<DC

I couldn’t see either one of them very well from there so I went over by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) on Exchange Blvd. where I could see Beauty very well but only DC’s tail feathers. I thought this would be ok as I fully expected DC to join Beauty to try and get some food from her.

Sure enough, about 5 minutes later DC flew over and landed next to Beauty at which point she started mantling (spread her wings over food to guard it) her food.

You can see DC land by the Beautyful one on my snippet movie. DC ended up going in on the ledge out of view and when he tried to get some Beauty took her food and flew off leaving him looking for scraps.

Beauty showed up under the northeast wing for a few seconds then flew northeast-DC crossed over to the northeast ledge then he flew east right around 8am. I spotted a falcon with its back to me on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR as I was pulled over by the Radisson Hotel near Main St. I thought it was DC but it turned out to be Beauty.

I found out it was Beauty when I drove over to Broad St. where I found DC back under the northeast wing of TSB. I pulled over next to the BCA where I could see both of them.

<DC

DC flew off around 8:30am heading east. I stayed a few more minutes watching Beauty across the way on OCSR then I left to have a look around for DC with no luck. I arrived home at Seneca Towers, with no falcons around I ended my watch at 9:05am. Once again DC put a smile on my face with his food antics! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/krG8ATe-UwU

http://youtu.be/dClRL_9T23k

http://youtu.be/I9zGynxTZ4M

http://youtu.be/Lf8-ZNfW0IU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was an ugly morning-very dark and overcast with fog and a persistent misty rain falling. Temperature was 40 (F) 4 (C)

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I found Dot.ca on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR around 7:30am while I was checking the elevator shaft from Bragdon Place.

DC has his back to me so I drove over to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to view him from the front. He didn’t stay for long as he dropped off and headed straight down int a stoop. I lost him behind the hotel and he never re-surfaced.

I left for the Times Square area and spotted Beauty from the hole on Aqueduct St.-I left for the Radisson Hotel near Main St. for the closest view of her. She was on the southeast side of OCSR top ibeam with her back to me. There’s a pedestrian bridge that goes above Main St. connecting the Radisson with the Rochester Convention center-every year the city puts snowflakes on it for the holiday season.

The Beautyful one spent just about the whole 20 minutes that I watched her preening-not really in hunt mode as you would expect first thing in the morning. She flew northeast at 8am.

I caught up with Beauty around 8:30am on the south side arch of the Kodak Office tower after searching downtown for half hour-she was on the south side arch of the Kodak Office tower. Again she had her back to me and spent time preening.

I left to look for DC and when I returned to State St. and Beauty on the south side arch of Kodak Office I spotted DC on the east side arch. They both had their backs to me now.

<Click it 

I didn’t stay long thus heading home to Seneca Towers where I found Billie on the south end antenna. I was just about to start taping her when a loud bang from a garbage truck emptying the dumpsters scared her off to the south.

I ended my watch at 9:50am with a smile, happy to have seen Buffalo Billie for the short minute or two that she was in my sights! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/KWC_0IIOGmA

http://youtu.be/HBKSDUi2XPk

http://youtu.be/HUVeT_zjC7Y

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another gloomy overcast morning and chilly with a temperature of 24 (F) -4 (C)

Well, I had about as uneventful a watch as I’ve ever had this morning. It was more like a road trip than a falcon watch as I drove around in circles for most of the 2 hours I was out. My first and only sighting didn’t come until 7:47am from the Andrews St. Bridge. I spotted Beauty on the top ibeam west corner of OCSR-her back was to me so I didn’t know it was her at the time.

I drove down to the hole and parked on Aqueduct St. for a closer view in order to ID it as the Beautyful one. She did some preening while keeping an eye out for breakfast.

Beauty flew off at 8:05am in a big hurry and went into a quick stoop and out of view to the south. That was the last I saw of her. The take off shots are not clear at all because she went so fast but the shadows on the window were a bit clearer.

I searched downtown for the next hour and during that time I received messages from both Donna and Carol that Dot.ca was at the nest box for a brief minute around 8:08am. I just missed him as I went to the east side after Beauty flew off. I had an appointment to get ready for and so I ended my watch at 9:10am as I checked Seneca Towers and found no falcons there either. I still smiled for seeing Beauty, as it’s a privilege not everyone gets to do! 🙂

One link below to click and watch today

http://youtu.be/k7wwjBkMxUM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another dark, overcast morning in our fair city with a starting temperature of 40 (F) 4 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I made my way over to the east side of the city after checking everywhere else and found not one, but two falcons. I think you know them-Beauty, who was on the 6th column and Dot.Ca (DC) who was on the 4th column from the southeast corner of Xerox on the south side.

I watched them for half hour as they faced each other turning their heads here and there to look for prey birds. While I was cleaning the lens on my camera Beauty took off. About a minute later DC flew off as well and joined Beauty above Xerox where they flew together momentarily then left my field of vision. I caught up with DC as he went to Times Square and came to rest under the northeast wing.

I parked on Exchange Blvd. by the main entrance to the Blue Cross Arena for the best view of him. At 8:11am DC flew south behind me then back above me headed northeast, quickly disappearing behind the Philipone building. A few seconds later Beauty came into view from the west-she flew due east in the direction I last saw DC and she disappeared behind Crossroads.

I went in search of and as I landed on the Broad St. bridge I spotted DC on the northeast corner of Crossroads. I first drove down to Graves St. where I took a couple pics and decided I’d see him best from State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel. Unfortunately, he was gone when I got there.

As I check my tweets I see that I forgot to report that I found DC at 8:50am back on Xerox after searching the city. He was on the 4th column from the southeast corner south side where he had been earlier when the Beautyful one was on the 6th column.

DC left the building without me seeing around 9am. I decided to end my watch at this point but as I got to the Kodak Office tower  I spotted Beauty on the southeast corner of the launchpad so naturally I pulled over on State St. to hang out with her for a few minutes.

Beauty flew south at 9:20am and I flew north to Seneca Towers where I ended my watch at 9:35am after finding no falcons there. Keep smiling everyone-it makes people wonder what you’re up to! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/RWFutTF2qcE

http://youtu.be/ptMkqIk9xXY

http://youtu.be/paaIe32HRSE

http://youtu.be/TweMgKbn-qs