By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We are warming up-it was 15 (F) -9 (C) a whopping 23 degrees warmer than yesterday morning with calm winds and a brighter sky

Click on the pics to see the full version

I was pleasantly surprised to see a falcon on the west side railing of Seneca Towers as I pulled over in my spot on Seth Green Dr. It was Billie and she was looking around for something or someone.

Soon after I arrived Buffalo Billie flew off to the south and came back with 99. He landed on the northwest corner of the roof and she landed briefly on the railing again before flying off to the south once more.

Billie didn’t return this time so I was sharing space with 99 alone. I could only see the top of him but he was facing me so that I could see him pretty good considering the distance it is from where I park up to that corner.

The sun broke out around 8am and lit 99 up as he was actively watching the territory. I stayed with him until almost 8:30am-I first tweeted that I was leaving him and just as I started the car he took off.

Once downtown, I checked the OCSR elevator shaft and found Dot.ca (DC) on the south side ledge. He was turned sideways showing me a full crop with closed eyes.

I left DC to rest and relax while his food digested, checking the north side ledge before setting out to search for the Beautyful one. After a trip around downtown I spotted Beauty on the northeast corner of the Crossroads building from the Broad St. bridge. I drove down to Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park and across Main St. from OCSR for the best vantage point.

She had a full crop and soon after I started watching her she feaked a couple times leading me to believe she had just finished eating.

Beauty moved around a little and it seemed like she had food in her talons but clearly she was full and had no more room for any more. She pooped and got settled in all foofed up to keep warm.

I left Beauty around 9:30am thus ending a successful watch in which I saw all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons. Later on after I took care of some business I stopped on my way home at High Falls. I hadn’t been there in a very long time and was curious as to how frozen they were after all the bone chilling temperatures.

The falls were about half way frozen but still flowing pretty hard. On the north side of the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge the Genesee River was starting to get frozen over-it’s been frozen below Seneca Towers for over a week now.

That’s all she wrote folks-I left for home all smiles after an enjoyable morning! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/2NAYNHmakh0

http://youtu.be/LGMWDQJ25Ho

http://youtu.be/3b_kATfT8bM

http://youtu.be/sFKlDXLzEEE

http://youtu.be/phIIqA2ixj4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Holy frozen falcons! The temperature when I ventured out for my morning watch was -8 (F) -22 (C). Thankfully the wind was calm and the sun was shining once it came up.

I decided that Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) had to be in the OCSR elevator shaft because of the sub-zero temperature so I went directly to Bragdon Place to check the south side ledge. There was a falcon there which I thought was DC-he was standing sideways so I could see his whiteness.Then he tucked way in showing his back.

Suddenly, I heard people yelling and as I looked in my rear view mirror I saw 2 teenage boys fist fighting in the middle of the street. They worked their way down right next to my drivers side door-I put my camera down and put my window up all poised to drive away if I had to, but then they stopped and ran back up the street. Again I looked in my mirrors to see another fight had broken out behind me on the sidewalk. Those two teenagers then stopped and ran up to St. Paul St. with the other two out of view. As I was about to leave to check the north side ledge 6 cop cars came flying around the corner. A worker from the hotel came out and started talking to one officer while I gave my account to another one. Phew, that was a bit unsettling!

So I drove over to Main St. by the Radisson Hotel and could barely see Beauty tucked up tight way in on the side of the north ledge with her back to me as well.

I left to get a hot coffee and when I returned the Beautyful one and DC had not moved so I left a peaceful falcon scene after a not so peaceful watch around 9am. Yes, I was smiling as I drove away knowing our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons were accounted for and safe! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a very short snippet video and another one showing the back of a falcon

http://youtu.be/SbXU8eWhOoY

http://youtu.be/3cGTh_m55-Y

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Back to brr-ish temps for one day with a temperature of  7 (F) -14 (C) overcast sky and snow falling

Click on the pics to see the full version

There was nobody around at Seneca Towers as I set out on my morning falcon watch today. I fully expected to find falcons in the OCSR elevator shaft due to the weather but Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) fooled me- I was hard pressed to find them at first. Finally, around 8:15am I came across DC on the south side arch of Kodak Office (KO). This was a surprise to me because that is a favorite spot of the Beautyful one-maybe he was waiting for her. He had his back to me as I was pulled over on State St.

It was so cold that my camera was having trouble focusing, of course the dark lighting, snow falling and distance didn’t help either. Around 8:35am I drove over to Verona St. on the west side of KO for a front view of DC and just as I got there he flew south in a big hurry. I thought perhaps he saw Beauty but he returned about 5 minutes later to the same spot on the arch.

I left his whiteness around 9am to look for Beauty to no avail, stopped for coffee and returned to see that DC hadn’t left his spot on the KO south side arch. Left him again to search for Beauty and this time I was successful-while stopped at the traffic light at South Ave. and Broad St. I spotted her up on a southwest corner of Bausch & Lomb (B&L). I drove to Court St. across from the Court St. garage to observe her-she too had her back to me.

I decided to g0 around the block to Clinton Ave. where I could at least get a side view of Beauty before ending my watch.

Now that I had seen both of our downtown pair of Rochester Peregrine Falcons I could leave smiling at 10:25am! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/xGO0QNA_aS4

http://youtu.be/oa0PyxZInn0

http://youtu.be/C4jkJ_lyTJg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a warm morning at 31 (F) -1 (C) degrees with overcast conditions and snow falling throughout my watch

I was kind of surprised to see a falcon on the west side railing of Seneca Towers as I started out on my watch today. I’m pretty sure it was 99 perched so pretty with the snow falling down around him. He didn’t stay long for as I had just started taping a video of him he dove off down toward the river gorge and didn’t come back.

I headed down Seth Green Dr. to go downtown and see what Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) were up to. From the Radisson Hotel I spotted DC quite easily as he was facing out showing his whiteness from the north side ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft.

The snow was giving my camera a hard time focusing and I couldn’t see much better with my binoculars but I believe Beauty may have been tucked way in on the south side ledge. DC moved way in on his ledge where you could barely see him so I set out for a drive around downtown. Below is my best shot of DC as my camera wanted to focus on the snow rather than my subject, DC.

<Click it

I didn’t find Beauty so I assume she was up in the elevator shaft with DC. I checked out the river, then to Tim Hortons for coffee. There were cops, an ambulance and a fire truck there-I found out that a kid had been stabbed on an RTS bus and went in there to hide. Rochester has become a very violent city-sad. Anyway, I checked around downtown one more time and came up empty at seeing a falcon. I ended my watch at 9:15am figuring there would not be much if any falcon activity.  Keep smiling folks-spring begins in 67 days! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/NR_f9WfpcFs

http://youtu.be/Xflg2e2FaMQ

http://youtu.be/WYbSjisMnvU

http://youtu.be/gOUUA5_rnRM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

12:00 – 2:30 pm

Today was so much nicer than recent days.  Temps soared into the mid-20’s (F).  It was a heatwave and the sun was out for awhile.  lol

I started my watch at the west end of Kodak Park (KPW).  No luck finding a falcon there, but I was very excited when a gorgeous adult Bald Eagle flew overhead, low.  I didn’t even have to get my binocs, s/he was that close.  Beautiful dark body, with white head and tail.  I scrambled to turn my camera on, but was only able to get a couple pictures as it continued on, heading south. What a lovely bird and a wonderful way to start my watch.

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While I was at KPW, Kathy O and Brian were downtown.  Kathy tweeted that both Beauty and Dot.ca were on the Kodak Tower. A little while later, she tweeted that both Beauty and Dot.ca took off heading south.  From the Broad St. Bridge Kathy reported that Dot.ca was eating on the base of Mercury and Beauty was on the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg.  They were still in those spots when I made my way to Aqueduct St. aka the hole.

Dot.ca’s white chest was glowing in the sunlight.  He had a very full crop.

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Beauty was keeping watch from the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg.

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Dot.ca continued to eat.  I’m pretty sure that Pigeon was on the menu.

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Dot.ca moved to the far side of the base of Mercury where I couldn’t see him.  Kathy could see him from where she was on the Broad St. Bridge.  She told me he had finished his meal and was preparing to take off.  Just as he took off, Beauty landed and picked up what remained of his meal.  After a few moments, she took off with it and flew over the Cross Rds Bldg, landing next to Dot.ca at the north end (this is where he went after leaving Mercury).

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Kathy joined me and Brian headed home.  We stayed until Beauty finished her leftovers and left the Cross Rds Bldg.  Dot.ca remained at the north end.  Kathy and I made our way over to the Andrews St. Bridge and found that  Beauty was now on the north side of OCSR on the top Ibeam.

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Kathy headed home and I went to Seneca Towers where I found two falcons.  One was eating on the northwest corner and the other was directly above on the railing.  I was at too far a distance to be able to get an ID, but I assume that they were Billie and 99.

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My last stop was back at KP West.  I was hoping to find a falcon there, but I didn’t

As I wrap up my falcon watching weekend, I’ll leave you with these words of wisdom for these cold & icy winter days.

Walk Like a Penguin and Drive Slowly! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I want to dedicate this watch report to fellow falcon watcher and friend Glo Thomas who passed away early this morning. RIP Glo

It was a warm (compared to the past few days) 19 (F) -7 (C) degrees this morning as I headed out with overcast calm conditions

Click on the pics to see the full version

I checked the OCSR elevator shaft first and found it to be falconless. I then drove over to the Broad St. Bridge as I spotted a falcon on the base of Mercury with its back to me from the hole. It turned out to be Beauty. I had time to get a couple pics and when I took my eyes off her to tweet out my findings she snuck off.

As I made my way down Exchange Blvd. I glanced over at Widows Walk and the roof of City Place as I always do and noticed Beauty up on one of the chimney structures on City Place, so I pulled into the parking lot next to Times Square to observe her. This is a spot the Beautyful one likes to eat and true to form, she started plucking feathers from a fresh catch soon after I arrived.

The white down feathers of whatever she had up there kept sticking to her chest, head, back and beak. If it weren’t for the fact that a small bird lost its life to feed Beauty it might almost be funny to see her all covered with little white feathers.

It seemed as though Beauty spent more time pulling feathers than she did eating as I watched her for about an hour.

I left her to it at 9am so I could try and find Dot.ca (DC). He wasn’t around the Times Square area obviously since he didn’t visit Beauty so I went over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to check the OCSR elevator shaft-nothing on the north side ledge. Then I drove down to Bragdon Place and that’s where I saw DC on the south side ledge just standing there facing north.

I ended my watch at that time because I had to tend to some business in Brighton-I checked the Brighton site but no falcons were there. When I arrived home to Seneca Towers (ST) at 10:30am I spotted the head of falcon on the northwest corner from Seth Green Dr. When I looked again with camera in hand and ready to shoot it had turned around and all I could see were tail feathers. They were moving like it was eating but I can’t say for sure.

It disappeared so I drove out to St. Paul St. and checked the north end of ST from the Northridge Church but the falcon was gone. I had a nice watch and saw 3 of the 4 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons to come away smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/8SU7beS8Y9I

http://youtu.be/9lYHHp-Xj3I

http://youtu.be/_lDR5-gfFhc

http://youtu.be/wT4hsWm_cMw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Hooray for the weekend!  I couldn’t wait to get out and get a falcon fix.  🙂

It was cold, only 9 degrees (F) when I left the house.  Brrrr!  Can’t wait for Spring!

Because I saw a falcon at KP West the other day, that’s where I started my watch.  As luck would have it, I found a falcon on the lower catwalk of the east smoke stack.

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I stayed there for 1 1/2 hours, hoping that this falcon would take flight and maybe come a little closer.  No such luck.  The whole time I was there, the falcon preened, pooped and looked every which way.  But it did not moved from its spot on the catwalk.

At 12:30 pm, I decided to head downtown.  I found both Beauty and Dot.ca up inside the OCSR elevator shaft.  Dot.ca on the south side ledge and Beauty on the north side ledge.  When I first arrived, parking in front of the Radisson, they were ee-chupping to each other.  My first clue that they were up there.  lol

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While I was keeping an eye on Beauty and Dot.ca, I heard the unmistakable chittering of a Kestrel.  This is the vocalization a Kestrel will make when it is upset.  It was stooping over and over again over the trees on the other side of the river.  A quick check with my binoculars and I could see what was upsetting the Kestrel.  There was a Coopers Hawk in the tree.  After about 15 minutes, the Coop took off and so did the Kestrel.  Beauty and Dot.ca never moved during all of this.

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At 1:30 pm, I headed out of downtown to check Seneca Towers (ST).  From far back on Seth Green Dr, I was able to see a falcon on the northwest corner.

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From the north side, I had a better view of this falcon, but at too far a distance to make an ID.

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After checking out all sides of Seneca Towers and not finding a 2nd falcon, I headed back to the west end of Kodak Park.  The falcon I had seen there earlier was gone.

I was happy to get out after a busy work week to finally see some falcons!!!  Yay!

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took while downtown.  The river is almost frozen over.  Enjoy!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was mostly cloudy with a short peak at the sun-cold temperature of 8 (F) -13 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I started my watch with Dot.ca (DC) on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. After I checked the south side ledge of the elevator shaft from Bragdon Place. I drove around to Main St. end of the hotel to check the north side ledge-both were empty and to my surprise DC was facing me up on the top ibeam.

10 minutes later the sun peaked through the clouds and DC started to pluck feathers from food he had underneath him.

DC worked on preparing and eating whatever he had and at about 8am I cranked my neck to take a look at Mercury which was behind me-I got very excited to see Beauty was on the base of Mercury and she too, was eating. The reason for my excitement was because I’d only seen them in the elevator shaft the last 2 mornings.

The Beautyful one had her back to me so I opted for moving to the Broad St. bridge to see the front of her and keep track of DC over on OCSR.

DC stopped eating and a few minutes later Beauty finished up as well. She feaked a few times then slipped off the back of the base and flew over to OCSR to join DC. They were at opposite ends of the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR-she was near the south corner and he was near the elevator shaft.

<Click it

I left the bridge and went back over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. for closer viewing. They were facing each other at a distance with their feathers all foofed up to keep warm.

At 8:29am DC flew off to the north side ledge of the elevator shaft and tucked way back in on it.

And a couple minutes later Beauty followed suit by flying up and next to DC on the north ledge. There was bowing and vocalizing involved.

I decided to end my watch as I assumed they would stay up there for a while to digest their food and keep out of the cold a bit. My fingers and feet were frozen so it was time to start the engine, put the window up and crank up the heat as I left downtown at about 8:45am. Our beloved Beauty and DC had put a big ole smile on my face today by ending my watch with them in the elevator shaft instead of spending the entire time in there! 🙂

After I checked all 4 sides of Seneca Towers (no falcons) I decided to take a short ride down St. Paul St. to Seneca Park below the zoo to see if I could find any birds amongst the trees-it’s very quiet and serene there this time of year. I didn’t think there would be any shore birds as I figured the pond was frozen. As I entered the park I saw the remnants of what a beaver can do to a tree and to my surprise as I came around to the west side of the pond there was a round opening in the pond where many ducks,gulls and geese had gathered. Man made no doubt. The last video below is of the time I spent with them. Enjoy!

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/8f1dFmRR3Co

http://youtu.be/fLtSz_lD9KI

http://youtu.be/AlYFQ1nOWu8

http://youtu.be/wbihs84zVYc

http://youtu.be/ADqaBPtS9ac

http://youtu.be/U73Jdqy1kzM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Snowing, dark and a bit breezy with a temperature of 19 (F) -7 (C). It was however, 12 degrees warmer than yesterday morning-a virtual heat wave!

Click on the pics to see the full version

There were no falcons at Seneca Towers for the 5th straight day-I guess they’re staying hunkered down just like Beauty and Dot.ca (DC). I tried to check the OCSR elevator shaft when I first arrived downtown but it was snowing too hard to see up in there so I took a ride around stopping on the Court St. bridge to check out the river. I taped a video from both sides of the bridge then headed back to the Radisson Hotel to check the elevator shaft again. The snow had let up enough for me to see Beauty on the south side ledge.

I could see a dark image tucked way back in on the north side ledge with my binoculars but couldn’t get a pic to show it.

Around 8:45am Beauty turned sideways and gave me a look at her. I tweeted that I was leaving and just as I started to pull away the Beautyful one flew out from the elevator shaft and went over to the top ibeam and landed near the south corner. As the snow stopped and the sun came out I checked the north ledge again and could definitely see the dark shape of a falcon-DC.

I drove to Graves St. by Aqueduct Park for a short visit with Beauty before heading out at 9:15am. Not much happening on watch the past few days, but at least we know Beauty and DC are doing ok. Now if Billie and 99 would show themselves I’d be a happy camper.

I smiled as I drove away – satisfied that our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons are weathering the bitter cold polar vortex that has drifted down over a large portion of the country! 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays videos

http://youtu.be/O1d5Ekm6D-E

http://youtu.be/I4BcHspmIYo

http://youtu.be/6fuoH-qfVtk

http://youtu.be/diHCqupOPTI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another frigid day in Rochester, NY.  When I woke up this morning, it was 6 degrees (F) with -16 windchill.  I hope that everyone affected by this bitter cold weather is keeping safe and warm.

This is just a quick report.  Everyday, when I leave work, I always check the two smoke stacks at the west end of Kodak Park aka Eastman Business Park.

During the day, I noticed that the pigeons that gathered on the building on the west side of Mt Read were flying frequently.  I kept checking to see if anything was chasing them, but I never did see anything.  Finally, at the end of my day, I found what may have been causing the pigeons panicked flight.

There was an adult Peregrine Falcon on the east side of the lower catwalk on the east stack.  It was on a small silver box that I have seen other falcons on.  Here are a couple of pics taken with the small Kodak camera that I had with me.

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Sorry that the quality of the pictures aren’t very good due to the distance.

So, is this a wintering falcon or possibly one of the locals?  Hopefully it will stay for awhile so we can ID our visitor.

Stay warm everyone!!!