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Archive for August, 2015

Morning Falcon Watch 8-31-15

Monday, August 31st, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was mainly overcast and hazy with a temperature of  65 (F) 18 (C)

I started my watch with Billie and Seth again this morning as they were in their spots opposite each other on the top north window ledge of Seneca Towers. I’ve not seen a juvie here in a few days. I left them preening to go downtown as I was anxious to see Beauty since she had not been seen in a couple days.

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As I landed on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) I spotted Dot.ca (DC) and Genesee flying in between the Crossroads and OCSR buildings. Genesee landed near the northwest corner of Crossroads and immediately started eating as dad flew on to land on a top arm of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT).

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I drove down on State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel that has recently been taken over by Holiday Inn. Genesee didn’t eat for long so it was a small piece of food that he may have gotten or stolen from DC.

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Genesee flew over to FCT screaming at DC then they both flew east over the hotel out of view. A couple minutes later one of them came back thru landing on the top arm of FCT then off to the south. I took a ride around town and found DC on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad around 7:15am.

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I was cinched in at Brown and State St. to watch our fast little flyer as he launched himself into a stoop only to return and land on the northeast corner of the playpen netting.

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He barely got settled before he was off again going into a stoop passing in front of me right over State St. to the north out of view quickly. Holy FAST flying falcon! He returned empty taloned then stooped to the east before coming to rest on the southeast corner of the playpen netting.

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Once again he was off after a few minutes heading northeast and returning to the northeast corner of the netting around 7:45am. Phew, he was wearing me out just watching him!! I left when I spotted a falcon landing on the middle arm of FCT. With its back to me from the City Hall parking lot it looked dark and so I thought it was Beauty.

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At 8amI decided to go down in front of City Hall on Fitzhugh St. for a better angle and when he turned and spread out to walk further in on the arm I could see the leg bands identifying him as Genesee.

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Genesee got settled with his back to me so back to the City Hall parking lot I went. He stayed about 20 minutes then flew north out of my field of vision. As I left I checked to see that DC was still on KO so I went in search of Beauty.

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I didn’t have to look for long as I spotted her on the base of Mercury  from the Broad St. bridge at 8:30am with her back to me at first but then she turned and picked up prey in her beak. Soon feathers were flying as she started to prepare breakfast.

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She barely got started when a screaming Genesee came flying in fast from the east and knocked her off. It all happened so fast I didn’t know if he took the food or if it was left behind. One of them flew back toward Mercury then disappeared behind Thomson Reuters. I had just begun to zoom in on the Beautyful one for a video when it took place so you can see the mugging. haha! 5 minutes later I saw Beauty land on the east side platform railing of FCT as I was stopped at the traffic light at State and Church St.

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I left downtown to check the Medley Center before ending my watch. All I saw there were a couple turkey vultures and some pigeons.

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On my way home I checked St. Ann’s Home and the Rochester General Hospital but saw no falcons. To give you an idea where the Medley Center (2.5 miles from ST)and other buildings are situated I took pics from the east balcony on my 16th floor at Seneca Towers.

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I ended my watch at 10am content that Beauty was ok and most certainly smiling because of it! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/iulP4sSWcGc

http://youtu.be/GSqh9MrFxJo

http://youtu.be/HG9LDuEmgNM

http://youtu.be/0alMzktZaJc

http://youtu.be/vXefmY3Wtes

http://youtu.be/rmH35ZDVkqk

Evening Falcon Watch – Big Frank & A Juvie at Medley Ctr! – 8/30/15

Sunday, August 30th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

5:45 pm – 8:15 pm

Another late start for my falcon watch.  I left for my watch at about 5:30 pm.  It was another gorgeous day with temps in the 70’s, blue sky and sunshine.  I really wanted to see Big Frank (BF) again.  In all of the pictures I took of him yesterday, I could not see the silver USFW band that should have been on his right leg.  I asked our Canadian friends about that last night and was told by Carly that he had this band, covered with white tape when he was banded and during fledging.  Other watchers verified that they could not see a band on BF’s right leg.  We will probably never know how he lost it.

When I first arrived, I found an adult on the white vent cap above the section of the mall that contained the carousel.  I quickly took a picture and then he took off, over the mall heading northeast.  I headed to the north side of the mall.

Big Frank at Medley Ctr - 8-30-15

As I drove around the east end of the mall, I could clearly hear the vocalizations of a juvenile Peregrine Falcon.  I spotted a falcon on the roof, just as it took off, heading southwest.  Back to the south side of the mall, where I could still hear the whining call of a juvie.  It was up on top of the same vent cap that had just been vacated by the adult.  I tweeted out that I had an adult and juvie at the Medley Center.

Juvie at Medley Center -8-30-15Juvie at Medley Ctr - 8-30-15Juvie at Medley Ctr - 8-30-15

Juvie at Medley Ctr - 8-30-15Juvie at Medley Ctr - 8-30-15Juvie at Medley Ctr - 8-30-15

At 6:20 pm, the juvie stooped low in front of old Macy’s store entrance then back over the carousel roof.  I found it on the north end of the carousel roof.  Joyce joined me at this time.

Juvie at Medley Ctr -8-30-15Juvie at Medley Ctr -8-30-15Juvie at Medley Ctr -8-30-15

The juvie took off at 6:25 pm and stooped to the south. Returned to Medley Ctr and chased a pigeon.  Now back on the north side of the carousel roof.  Some serious hunting attempts by this young one!

Juvie on Medley Ctr with Pigeon - 8-30-15Juvie on Medley Ctr with Pigeon - 8-30-15Juvie on Medley Ctr with Pigeon - 8-30-15

It went down to a lower roof and then to a vent cap on the north side.  Joyce saw the juvie take off yet again at 6:50 pm, heading north.  I drove around to the north side of the mall, while Joyce remained on the south side.  At 7:00 pm, a falcon flew over me, heading northeast.  I believe this was the juvie.  Joyce and I were back on the south side, when Joyce saw an adult fly in from the west then land on the south end of the carousel roof.  It was Big Frank!

Big Frank on Medley Center -8-30-15

First Kathy O, then Lisa McK joined us.  They were there just in time to see Big Frank for a few moments before he flew over to the glass peaked roof at the east end of the mall.  He then took off heading north.  (7:20 pm).

At 7:25 pm, Larry O tweeted from downtown on the pedestrian bridge.  There was a falcon on the netting on the Kodak Tower.

Big Frank returned to the peak of the front entrance where the carousel is on the south side.  He remained there until approximately 8:00 pm, when Joyce saw him head south.  We ended our watch at 8:15 pm.

On her way home, Joyce checked the downtown area and found Dot.ca up inside the OCSR elevator shaft.  She did not find Beauty.

During our evening watch, we had positively ID’d the adult falcon at the Medley Ctr as Big Frank.  I was not able to see any bands on the juvie.  Goodnight everyone!

Morning Falcon Watch 8-30-15

Sunday, August 30th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a warm start to the day with a temperature of 67 (F) 19 (C) and dark overcast conditions

My watch started today at Seneca Towers where I found Billie at 6:30am on  Seth’s favorite spot on  the north side top window ledge.

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She wouldn’t be alone for long as Seth came flying in a couple minutes later landing as if he had food and then went to the opposite side from his mate.

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I had thought I heard a juvie whining but I believe it was Billie as she was vocalizing when Seth flew in and continued on and off a little bit afterwards. Seth seemed to get settled in as Billie preened so I guess he didn’t have food with him. I left them for downtown around 7:15am.

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When I arrived on the Andrews St. bridge I couldn’t help but see and smell the smoke from a fire at the Buckingham Commons building over on Plymouth Ave. near the Frontier Communications tower. Shaky tweeted it out about the same time I did. Here’s a pic he posted to twitter.

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There were police blocking off all the roads in that area as I made my way into the City Hall parking lot but I had to leave because the smoke made for a tough time breathing. I pulled over south of Kodak Office on State St. to watch first. You could see the spray from 2 hoses thru the smoke.

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I drove to Main St. and Plymouth Ave. to view from that side. There were fire and police personnel all over the place. There were no more flames but still plenty of smoke as they got it under control.

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It was time to look for falcons but I had trouble finding any as I drove around downtown searching.  Finally just before 8am I found Dot.ca (DC) on the north side ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft. He looked dark and I thought it was Beauty at first as he was crouched down sleeping.

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He woke a few minutes later and stood up, turned and gave me a look that told me it was him as I could see the heart shape he has on the side of his face.

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I spent the next half hour with DC-he looked like he had food in his crop as he got settled into nap mode again so I left him to look for Beauty. I wasn’t able to find her and thought perhaps she left the area because of all the smoke earlier. As I crossed the Veterans Memorial bridge I spotted Billie on the railing of the northwest corner of Seneca Towers and Seth in his spot on the top window north end.

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Seth watched Billie as she spread her wings and flew off then returned landing on the northwest corner below the railing this time.

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I left them at 9am to check the Medley Center for Big Frank. I was about to leave when he showed up and landed on the round roof cap he was on yesterday above where the carousel is located in the mall.

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He was in hunt mode as he watched pigeons fly past turning to follow them and I thought he would go after them.

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Instead, he started preening and pulling a few feathers out as he is in a molt. In between, little Big Frank would look at birds flying thru and would get crouched down and ready to strike only to change his mind and go back to preening. He tried to extract a pellet at one point.

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Again, Big Frank looked like he would take off after a pigeon but settled back down. He spread his wings  and  crouched down in the ready position but changed his mind at the last second. Smart bird to conserve his energy for a sure thing!

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I left for home with a smile on my face at 10:30am after a busy watch full of falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/B-DGDlla8As

http://youtu.be/Vovwfnc_SKk

http://youtu.be/lZ91M0oW9YE

http://youtu.be/CGegAvK6nrY

http://youtu.be/rjMFyPlJopY

Evening Falcon Watch – Big Frank Visits Rochester! – 8/29/15

Saturday, August 29th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Fellow watcher and friend Dana had been reporting that she’d been seeing a falcon at the Medley Center (aka the Irondequoit Mall).  Her first report was on August 25th.  Dana tweeted again this morning that there was a falcon on the roof at Medley Ctr.  MAK was able to check this falcon out and with a clear picture of the the bands, get an ID from our friends at the Canadian Peregrine Foundation (thanks Tracy and Kathy!).  Also, thank you Dana and MAK!

From Tracy:  “This falcon hatched in 2013 at the Etobicoke Sun Life nest in Ontario, Canada, and named Little Big Frank after one of our dear fallen comrades who was a falcon watcher for a decade at this nest site.”

Big Frank was a close friend to many of us here in Rochester and is dearly missed by all of us.  Having his namesake visiting here in Rochester and doing well makes us very happy!  🙂

At 5:25 pm, Dana tweeted that the falcon was back at Medley Center on the glass peaked roof.  I decided it was time to visit with Little Big Frank.

I arrived at the old mall at 6:15 pm.  It took me about 15 minutes to find a falcon.  It was on a white cap on the roof at the center of the mall.  I could only see it from the south side.

Big Frank at Medley Center -8-29-15

We also found out that Big Frank is our Dot.ca’s half-brother.  They have the same father.

Big Frank (BF) took off heading north.  I drove over to the north side and waited to see if he would return.  It wasn’t long before I saw a bullet heading directly towards me!  It was Big Frank and he was skimming the parking lot, about a foot off the ground. He passed me and just missed grabbing a pigeon that had been flying close to the ground.  BF flew towards the mall and over it, landing on the glass peak.

Big Frank at Medley Ctr -8-29-15

He took off again heading south.  It was time to drive over to the south side of the mall.  This mall has been closed for many years and there is very little traffic.  The parking lot is starting to be overgrown with grass and weeds, and there is a lot of garbage.  The only store still open in the mall is Sears, which is located at the east end.

Back on the south side, I found Big Frank on the roof above the carousel, which you can still see behind the glass.  Here are a series of pics I took while he was there.

Big Frank at Medley Ctr -8-29-15Big Frank at Medley Ctr -8-29-15Big Frank at Medley Ctr -8-29-15

Big Frank at Medley Ctr -8-29-15Big Frank at Medley Ctr -8-29-15Big Frank at Medley Ctr -8-29-15

At 7:25 pm, he took off again.  I circled the mall twice, but could not find him.  It was starting to get dark, so I called it a watch and wished him good luck on his hunt.

On the way home, I checked out Seneca Towers.  There was one falcon on the north side ledge above the windows.  That’s all I was able to see there.

Oh, and one other thing we learned today.  Big Frank was banded a female, but they were not certain if he was a he or a she.

Goodnight everyone!

Morning Falcon Watch-and a Canadian visitor 8-29-15

Saturday, August 29th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a mostly sunny morning with a starting temperature of 57 (F) 14 (C)

I started my watch at the north end of Seneca Towers with Billie and Seth on the top window ledge across from each other just like yesterday. There was a tiny piece of food hanging over the edge in front of Buffalo Billie so I believe breakfast had been served.

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I got a tweet from watcher Dana that she saw a falcon on the peak  of the roof at the closed down Medley Center mall in Irondequoit. I opted to leave Seneca Towers to check it out. When I arrived at the north side of the mall I could see it immediately as it looked big to me-so probably a female.

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I couldn’t get any closer from that side so I went around to the south side parking lot. My first leg shot didn’t show a leg band on this adult but after a few more pics it became visible. It also had a fascinator on its beak.

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It was in hunt mode with its choice of starlings, sparrows, mourning doves or pigeons that were flying all over the place.  It was preening, stretching and scratching as it thought about what bird to go after.

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It made a choice and flew off at 8am to the west behind the next peaked roof.

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I drove down to where I could see it on a round exhaust type roof structure on the roof where the carousel is housed in the mall.

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It stayed there for about half an hour then it crouched down as 2 mourning doves came flying in and landed on the lower roof in front of us both. It watched them for a couple minutes then turned, spread its wings and flew after a pigeon to the other side of the mall out of view.

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The flight pics show some frazzled feathers so I believe this big falcon is molting. It returned unsuccessful in its hunt and landed on the front of the roof peak above the carousel where I was able to get pics of the left leg band. It’s a Canadian adult Falcon with a black over black (Canadian colors) S/39 band.

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It took off for the last time around 8:45am and didn’t return after flying north out of view.

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We’re waiting for information back from our friends in the Canadian Peregrine Foundation as to who and where this falcon is from.  I left for downtown going past Seneca Towers so I could clock the distance between it and the Medley Center-2.5 miles. I find it interesting because the distance between ST and the Times Square nest site is also 2.5 miles and from there over to the Brighton site is 2.5 miles as well. Just a something to ponder.

I arrived on the Andrews St. bridge downtown at 9:10am and spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad.

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While I was driving down State St. it flew around to the southwest corner of the launchpad so I went to Verona St. on the west side of Kodak to see it from a closer vantage point. It was Beauty and she too was in hunt mode watching pigeons below her.

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I left her to it and took a ride around downtown but saw no more falcons. As I was exiting downtown I passed the Beautyful one who was still on Kodak at 9:45am when I ended my watch. I’m sure you know that I was smiling after seeing a falcon that was visiting from Canada or has it got a nest site in the area!? Stay tuned! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos featuring our little Canadian friend

http://youtu.be/Gbi2eRIRGDY

http://youtu.be/Nm2xg0xeRmw

http://youtu.be/_CURsotJnqU

http://youtu.be/0Xqm3ZzomUg

http://youtu.be/PYeC-Ry2hu8

http://youtu.be/MAC8UP87FlA

Morning Falcon Watch-a visit from Genesee 8-28-15

Friday, August 28th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A bit of a chill in the air this morning at 52 (F) 11 (C) degrees but the sun shone bright with blue skies

Last night (Thursday) a falcon flew past my living room window as I sat in my recliner-this prompted me to get up and go out to the west side balcony to have a look /see. Once out there I spotted Seth on the south side ledge of the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge. I looked down as a juvie started whining as it flew at the tree top level toward the north end of the building out of view. Seth took off a couple minutes later and it went quiet as well with no more sightings.

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This morning I saw nobody from the balcony but when I checked the north end of Seneca Towers (ST) from the back of the residents’ parking lot I was greeted by Billie and Seth on the top window ledge. I’ve not seen Billie up there for a very long time.

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Around 6:38am while I was taping them, Billie flew east followed by Seth a minute later-they didn’t return so I left for downtown.

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From the Andrews St. bridge I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office (KO) playpen netting so I went down to State St. near Brown St. for closer viewing. During my commute DC flew up to the northeast corner of the launchpad then back down to the netting as I pulled over.

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While I was taping him, DC flew off toward the river and went into a stoop before leaving my field of vision just before 7am.

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When he didn’t return I left to search downtown and I didn’t have to look for long as I spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury from the Court St. bridge. I whipped over to the Broad St. bridge (BSB)  to get closer to the Beautyful one. She had a small piece of meat that she picked up in her beak to show me.

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There were bees buzzing around her head as she stood there over her small package. At the time I thought perhaps she wasn’t eating it because there was a juvie to give it too. She flew off while I was looking down in the river so I don’t know if she took it with her or not but she definitely wasn’t eating it.

img_0028-hi-beautyfulimg_0031-bees-bugging-beauty<Click to see the bees

So I set out once again in search of and ended up back by KO with DC who was back on the northeast corner of the playpen netting. At this time Donna (thanks a lot) tweeted out that there were 2 falcons on the Frontier Communications Tower so I beat feet over there to find Beauty on the north platform railing and a juvie on the west side railing with its back to me.

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Based on size I thought this was Genesee, I drove over to Plymouth Ave. to view the juvie from the front-it flew off to the north just as I started to tape it.

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I caught up with this juvie around 8am as it was perched on the 16th floor southeast corner of KO. From State and Platt St. I could also see that DC was still up on the KO netting and Beauty remained on FCT.  It wasn’t long before I was given a few leg shots to ID Genesee as the juvie that keeps coming back home.

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After looking around his surroundings Genesee flew off at 8:17am, circled the tower twice then knocked dad off the netting and took his place as DC flew east. Genesee spent lots of time preening in a hyper fast mode that had his head spinning so fast I thought he might need traction when he was done! lol

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At 9am Genesee flew east toward the river going into a stoop just like dad had done earlier before going behind the apartment building I was parked next to on State St. by Platt St.

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I didn’t find him again and I hope he keeps dropping by for these little visits. I left for ST where I found Seth on his north end top window ledge as I crossed the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge around 9:30am.

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I checked him out from East Ridge Rd. near St. Paul Street as he kept looking down at something below him either on the bridge,in the river or the trees in the gorge. I left him to check those places from the west balcony of my 16th floor at ST but all I found was an Osprey to the south in the Osprey tree on the west bank of the river gorge.

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I ended my watch at 10am after having been given plenty of reasons to produce smiles galore! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos of which there are many and a photo album with more pics

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqkLw

http://youtu.be/vV53lN2xCZ0

http://youtu.be/X9LKNnwZj8o

http://youtu.be/tR_GTn0i8sw

http://youtu.be/w6KR3dGt8ZE

http://youtu.be/_eWb8JytZq4

http://youtu.be/9jBsvewOF0A

http://youtu.be/JuEqHaY0rIE

http://youtu.be/8lquz4_y43o

http://youtu.be/M39fsG8jfJA

Morning Falcon Watch 8-26-15

Wednesday, August 26th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast with a temperature of 59 (F)  15 (C)

I found  a falcon on the north end of Seneca Towers (ST) top window ledge with its back to me. I have no idea who it was but it was on Seths’ spot-it could have been a juvie, I just don’t know. It flew off when I was looking at the pic of it.

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No other falcons seen there today so I left for downtown. I spotted Dot.ca (DC) from the Andrews St. bridge as he was on the north corner top I-beam of OCSR with his back to me.

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He couldn’t be seen from State St. so I drove over to Bragdon Place at the north end of the Radisson Hotel to observe. From there I still could only see his back until he turned his head and stood up to stretch.

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I stayed with him for nearly 2 hours as he stayed perched in the same position barely moving. He pulled out a feather as he is in a molt and he usually is pretty inactive during that time as witnessed today. Molting is hard on them. I left DC once during that time to look unsuccessfully for other falcons and returned.

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The pigeons and gulls that hang out in the Sister Cities Pedestrian bridge/Radisson area kept me entertained as the pigeons would gather then fly straight toward me. That was a cool sight to see and there was an especially pretty one preening on top of a lamp post while the gulls took turns knocking each other off the flag poles on the bridge.

img_0012-pretty-falcon-foodimg_0013-pigeon-on-a-lamp-postimg_0015-more-relatives-arrive<Click it

img_0017-gulls-lined-up-too<Click>img_0018-pigeons-coming-atcha-mak

I believe DC was napping-at any rate I left him about 8:20am to go in search of and I spotted Beauty on the northeast corner of Widows Walk (WW) from the Court St. Bridge. On my way to Basin St. in the hole to watch her I took a pic from the intersection of Broad St. and Exchange Blvd. while stopped at the traffic light.

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She did some preening and stretching while I taped her, then she flew off at 8:51am. It happened fast and I was fixed on her in my little LCD camera screen and didn’t see DC fly up to take her place right after. When I checked my snippet video I saw him fly up to the corner his mate had been on seconds before him. I was busy watching the Beautyful one fly over to the base of Mercury. I thought I saw movement on the northwest corner of Widows Walk and so I drove to Fitzhugh St. to check it out but DC was gone when I got there.

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In my travels today I saw 2 more murals painted by Sarah Rutherford on a liquor store on South Ave.

Click both of them to see the full version

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I had to get going and ended my watch at 9:15am with smiles for having seen both of our resident downtown adult Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/HJ_9vBInreg

http://youtu.be/zcJH0pQPtUU

Morning Fledge Watch 8-25-15

Tuesday, August 25th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The sun was bright at the start of the day with a temperature of 59 (F) 15 (C) but clouds are now taking over

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My first look from the west side balcony of my 16th floor apartment here at Seneca Towers I didn’t see anything. I was just about to leave when I spotted a juvie flying near the Osprey tree south of here. It looked like it would land on another tree further south when another juvie buzzed by it and then they were both off to the races. Talon tagging and flying together over the river then out of view further south into the tree canopy. That was a fun start to my watch! As I rounded the corner in my parking lot I spotted Seth and Billie on the top window ledge south end of the building. Seth left while I was parking my car but Billie remained.

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I didn’t stay long as she seemed to get settled in. As I scanned downtown with my binoculars from the Andrews St. bridge I spotted the back of a falcon on the east side arch of Kodak Office. I drove down to Brown and State St. where I could see the Beautyful salmon colored front of Beauty. She was looking north very intently.

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She stretched a little and looked east once or twice but she was focused on something to the north for the most part. Seneca Towers is in that direction and I had to wonder if she was watching falcons up there. Anyway, Beauty flew north at 7:20am and I watched as far as I could before she disappeared behind buildings.

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It would be 45 minutes later before I found her again as I was driving thru the intersection of Broad St. and South Ave. from checking the east side I saw a falcon flying toward OCSR and then it landed on the very top round restaurant roof. It took off and circled above the building a couple times then flew southwest to the jail tower and landed on the top arm. I drove to Troup St. for a closer look and to ID it as Beauty.

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She was facing south but looking north for most of the 10 minutes I observed her until she flew north at 8:23am.

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I never found her again and ended up going home after a quick check in the High Falls gorge. I found Seth on the south side top window ledge at the east end of it which is usually where Billie perches. He was in hunt mode and busy watching the sparrows below in my parking lot.

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Seth flew off once while I was looking away but soon returned and started preening a bit.

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I had to get going thus ending my watch at 9:30am. It made smile to see the juvies down by the river this morning as I thought they had moved on! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/SBjDkpd0O8U

http://youtu.be/gC_VZOl73tI

http://youtu.be/Rq6oAdXgzZ4

Morning Fledge Watch 8-24-15

Monday, August 24th, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was an overcast morning with a temperature of 63 (F) 17 (C)

Billie and Seth were on the south end top window ledge to greet me this morning as I started my watch. They were facing each other at each end of the ledge. I started on Seth Green Drive then drove out onto St. Paul St. so I could get a better view of Seth. While I was taping them Buffalo Billie flew south and returned 1 minute later and that was the extent of the action.

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This was the first time in a very long time I’ve seen this pair so close together-they’ve been a little busy raising their boys whom I haven’t seen in a couple days.

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I left them as they were for downtown and as  I was pulled over on the Andrews St. bridge I spotted Beauty on the bottom arm of the Frontier Communications tower. (FCT)

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I went over to Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities garage to watch the Beautyful one. The wind was blowing her feathers as she looked around the area.

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Beauty preened a little as the sun broke thru the thick cloud cover for a minute or two. She then walked a couple feet to her right.

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At 7:25am Beauty flew off to the south.

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I left and ended up on the east side behind HSBC where I saw a falcon fly to the southeast corner and land with its back to me. It looked small to me so I think it was Dot.ca or Genesee. I had enough time to get one pic before he took off.

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I saw it flying over near Midtown sending all the pigeons in the area scattering every which way. He landed 3 more times on the same corner staying only long enough for a quick look then off again. I kept losing him behind the buildings in the area as he flew in and out of the area and then I didn’t see him again. I had to get going early today so when I found Beauty on the way out of downtown on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad I didn’t stay too long.

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I ended my watch at 8:15am with a smile ! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/KBq_vk4vuHM

http://youtu.be/GS178oDEDzQ

http://youtu.be/tIELgO0lP68

Morning Fledge Watch 8-23-15

Sunday, August 23rd, 2015

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was sunny with blue skies and a temperature of 57 (F) 14 (C) to start this morning

I found Billie on the top window ledge south side of Seneca Towers (her spot) as I started my day. She did a little preening and stretching before flying southeast after sharing space with me for  few minutes.

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I left for downtown when Buffalo Billie didn’t return. My first stop is always the Andrews St. and today I was pleasantly surprised to have 3 falcons in view from there. Now, who to check first-I opted for Kodak Office (KO).

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Dot.ca (DC) was on the northeast corner of playpen netting on KO. Next I was able to ID Genesee as the falcon on the top arm of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT) when I saw his silver right leg band. And last I checked Times Square (TSB) to find that it was Beauty under the northeast wing.

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So back to Genesee to observe him while he’s still around as I can see Beauty and DC all winter. He was busy while I watched as he preened, stretched, scratched, pooped a couple times and managed to get in a short nap while watching his surroundings.

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Oh and Genesee also had lots to say too!

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Genesee graced me with his presence for about 20 minutes then he spread his gorgeous juvie wings and flew northwest at 7:22am.

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I went north toward KO and found DC to still be on the northeast corner of the playpen but no sign of Genesee so I left DC again.

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The Beautyful one was still on TSB under the northeast wing with her back to the world so I parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena on Exchange Blvd. to get her profile. She too did some preening and stretching.

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At 8am Beauty turned to the north and spread her wings leaving my field of vision. I thought she had flown off but when I drove over to the hole parking lot I could see that she had just moved to the north side of the ledge. Then I found out why Beauty went over to the other side-I heard a juvie whining and spotted a head peeking up from the north side of the back lower section of TSB.

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I decided to go across the street to the parking lot next to TSB for a closer view. I could see more than just his head from there as he continued to yell at mom.

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I thought maybe he was saying feed me but after a while he started plucking feathers and eating something he had under him. So then I thought he was probably saying this is my food and you can’t have it!! teehee

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Beauty flew south just before 8:30am and Genesee finished eating and went to the back of the ledge out of view. I was in need of my own breakfast so I left for home where I found no falcons ending my watch at 9am. How nice to see Genesee again today giving me lots of smiles! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s vidoes

http://youtu.be/VIETYeL_KC8

http://youtu.be/1hyveY5vGL8

http://youtu.be/YgCTb73xa6k

http://youtu.be/R8zpJGZiKsI

http://youtu.be/XOfIwpHmDfM

http://youtu.be/X_um-t8uY6U


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