By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a dark overcast and rainy morning with a temperature of 65(F) 18(C)

I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) at 5:10am to find Dan in his chair. I got mine out and joined him after he gave me a great big welcome back hug.  He told me that there hadn’t been too much activity yet and that Beauty was on cam 4 and Dot.ca (DC) on the 2nd southeast arm of the jail tower.

About 15 minutes later Beauty flew to the west corner top ibeam of OCSR and DC went to the south corner. We could see one eyas up at the nest box.

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We missed DC leave the building-old eagle eye Dan found him on the jail tower on the second northeast arm. He blended in well!

Around 6am Beauty left OCSR and went to the nest box as we could see her back and 2 eyasses. One of them was wingercising.

I checked out the river to see that there were only ducks down there featuring a mama and her 4 ducklings.

At 6:15am DC flew to the southeast wing ring at the very top of the Times Square building only to fly over to the west corner top ibeam of OCSR as the sky started to spit a few raindrops. 5 minutes later the Beautyful one flew to cam 1

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It stayed this way for the next half hour or so when DC flew down off OCSR-we thought maybe he was trying to catch something. We lost him behind Thomson Reuters and then Beauty flew off cam 1 and disappeared as well. Dan left at 7am and as I drove down to the hole (Aqueduct St.) DC appeared from the north made a U-turn and ended up on the south corner top ibeam of OCSR. I went to Graves St. next to Aqueduct Park and Main St. for a closer look at DC. Meanwhile, Donna and Annette reported that Beauty was at the nest box feeding the kids.

15 minutes later DC flew to the southeast wing ring again and I went to watch from in front of the Blue Cross Arena.

Around 7:30am Beauty started kakking and flew out toward the river and returned landing on the column above the nest box. One of the kids that I could see watched her land.

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I watched as everyone got settled in to do some stretching, preening and posing for the next half hour. Looking down every once in a while to check on their kids.

I left to take care of some business and when I returned a little before 10am DC was now on the column above the nest box and Beauty was over on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. It was raining pretty good at this point of the watch so I left them as they were to head home to Seneca Towers (ST).

I found Seth on the north end top window ledge with his back to me when I arrived at ST. It was foggy and the rain was getting my camera wet so I didn’t stay more than a couple minutes thus ending my watch a little after 10am.

After 2 months away from our beloved Rochester Peregrine Falcons, I did a lot of smiling on watch today as my world was back to normal again! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/twLjQ_3uS0k

http://youtu.be/5N4FUOnA0Kk

http://youtu.be/4mhiW_zFkrc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:45 – 7:15 pm

Joined by Watcher Kathy O.

It was a very pleasant evening, perfect for watching falcons.  I arrived on the Broad St Bridge and was soon joined by Kathy O. From there, we could see no falcons, so we moved in closer to the Times Square Bldg at Falcon Watch Central (on Broad St across from the Blue Cross Arena).  Immediately we saw Beauty up on the ledge above the nest box.  She must have just arrived as we were moving our cars.

Two of the three eyases were visible.  Beauty took off, heading west.  We waited to see if she would return.  When she didn’t, Kathy and I headed down to Aqueduct St. aka “the hole”.  From there, Kathy spotted Beauty.  She was on the north west corner of the Widows Walk, prepping food. Dot.ca was on the top IBeam of OCSR.  We assumed that Dot.ca brought in food to Beauty and she took it to Widows Walk.

Beauty took off with the food and took it to the nest box to feed the eyases.  Dot.ca remained on the Widows Walk railing.

Kathy turned on the live streaming video on her phone so we could watch Beauty feed the eyases.  We could actually hear them where we stood, all the way from the nest box.  It’s amazing how sound carries.

It was after 7:00 pm, time to end our watch.  Dot.ca was gone from Widows Walk.  We found him on Mercury’s heel.

It was a very pleasant and peaceful watch.  All was well.  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:30 to 10:15 am

Watchers that joined me:  Larry O.

When I arrived downtown at 5:30 am (yes, 5:30 am) it was very cold.  By the time I ended my watch, it  had warmed up nicely.  I had hoped to find Dan on the bridge, but he wasn’t there.  Larry (and his dog Harold) joined me for about an hour.  It was great to see them.

Sorry I don’t have time to leave a detailed report, but I did want to share some pictures I took during my morning watch. Hope you enjoy them!

As you can see, a falcon’s morning is a very busy morning.  Lots of hunting and feeding and caring for their eyases.  At one point, Beauty started to kak and chased a Turkey Vulture east, over the Xerox Bldg.  Dot.ca stooped low over Main St on the other side of the Wilder Bldg and came back up clutching a small bird.  He and Beauty are in constant hunt mode, so they can feed their three growing eyases.  The eyases have lost a lot of of their white fluff feathers and are turning into golden, brown juvies (juveniles).  It won’t be long before they’ll be running up and down the well wall and taking those first flights.

Then the fun really begins for the Rochester Falcon Watchers!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Joyce asked me if I wanted to hang out with her this afternoon and go birding-I said sure and she picked me up along with her dogs Abby and Casey. Our first stop was Irondequoit Bay where we saw killdeer, a gull, some Turkey Vultures and 1 Peregrine Falcon for a split second and then it was gone.

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Next stop was Braddocks Bay where we saw a Bald Eagle in a tree very far away.

From there we visited Hogan Point where we hit it big in a grassy field. Seeing Bobolinks (first time for me), Meadowlarks, Eastern Kingbirds, Osprey and a Coyote that was sent packing by a Red-winged Blackbird that perched in a bush nearby and just kept squawking and displaying until the coyote turned around and slowly walked away into the tall grass out of sight.

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It was time to end our outing or so we thought, for as we were heading toward Seneca Towers (ST) from the north down St. Paul Street I looked up near the Northridge Church at East Ridge Rd. and St. Paul and spotted Seth flying above us to our right heading the same direction. He flew up to the antenna on the south end of  the ST roof and landed. Joyce turned around and we parked on St. Paul to observe him.

Suddenly Seth started vocalizing and then there were feathers filling the air as Billie snuck in with prey and started plucking it on the southeast corner below her mate.

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Billie had a few bites and then she flew off with her meal around to the west side of the building then headed north. Seth remained on the antenna as Joyce dropped me off and we ended a great afternoon with nature. Truly we had more than enough reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a few more pics from the day and a snippet video

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqkJa

http://youtu.be/LFi1_x7lfJ4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a beautiful evening after all that rain and cold temperatures.  It was near 60 degrees and sunny.  Before I arrived, Lisa McK and Kathy O had texted that Beauty was chasing a whole bunch of Turkey Vultures out of the area and on her way back, she went after a Great Blue Heron that had been flying low over the river.  Kathy said that Beauty hit the heron 3 times.  She went over to check on it, and found a heron on the ground, near the library.  As far as she could tell, it was ok.

When I arrived on the Broad St Bridge, Kathy and Lisa were gone.  Beauty remained on top of the main camera (at the nest box), where they reported seeing her.

Beauty flew off main camera over to Camera #1, aka Pan Cam.

I looked around for Dot.ca (DC) from the Broad St Bridge, but could not find him.

It was time to drive around downtown to see if I could find him.  While I was searching, Kathy O called to let me know she was also looking for DC.

After driving all over downtown, and having no luck finding him, I returned to the Broad St Bridge.  From there, I could see a falcon on OCSR on the west corner of the top IBeam and Beauty was gone from Cam #1.  Kathy was closer and we both thought this falcon was smaller and lighter in color than Beauty.  After a few minutes, Beauty flew to OCSR and landed near Dot.ca on the top Ibeam.  She didn’t stay long, flying to Camera #1.  Kathy and I were both happy to have found both Beauty and Dot.ca together.

From the Broad St Bridge, I could see one of the eyases at the nest box.  Joyce texted to let me know that this was Cadence. Thanks Joyce!

I ended my watch at 7:30 pm.  All were accounted for.  All was quiet and peaceful, just how I like it!