By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

11:00 am – 6:30 pm

Temps in the mid-70’s (F) and partly cloudy.  A perfect day!

Watchers During this Time: Dana, Dan, Larry O, Joyce, Susan, Brian and Carol P.

At 11:00 am, I joined my friend and fellow watcher Dana on the pedestrian bridge.  She had spotted Beauty in the Falcon Sucking Tree (FST), a dead tree hanging over the top of the east side gorge wall.  Beauty would not be the last Peregrine Falcon to visit this popular spot during my watch.

Beauty remained there for about 1 1/2 hours.  Dana and I went into the Brewery for lunch and when we returned to the pedestrian bridge a little before 1:00 pm, Dan was there, checking out the falcon in the FST.  We joined him, thinking that it was Beauty, but surprise, surprise, Genesee had replaced his mom.  lol  Genesee didn’t stay long.  He took off, heading west.  He gained altitude to climb over some buildings and headed towards the Kodak Tower.  He landing on the southeast corner of the 15th floor.  As we watched him, he walked around to the south side and pulled out a food cache.  It looked like a wing.  Genesee brought it back out to the east side ledge and ate a small meal. (1:10 pm)

At 1:40 pm, Genesee finished eating and returned the wing to where he had found it.  He then took off and returned to the gorge, landing on the FST.  Larry O and his two grandchildren joined us.

2:30 pm – Genesee left the FST and flew in front of the falls.  He turned back and skimmed the water in front of the trees on the south side of the island below.  He never came out the other side of the trees.  I walked down to the east end of the bridge and found Genesee in a tree on the island.  We all agreed that he had chased something into the trees.  He is definitely attempting to hunt and I would not be surprised that he has been successful.

Genesee left the tree and flew towards the east side gorge wall.  Over the next 1/2 hour, he landed on 4 different spots on the wall.  It is very difficult to find a falcon on this wall.

At about 3:10 pm, Genesee took off for the 5th time and flew along the gorge wall, then landed in the FST.  He wasn’t alone. We were very surprised to see Cadence there!  We never saw her arrive.  Both juvies were looking towards the gorge wall. Something had their attention.  We soon found out what it was when a squirrel walked down the limb towards Genesee and scared him off! Genesee quickly returned to the FST, landing behind Cadence, who had not moved, and the squirrel was gone.

3:20 pm – Genesee took off, quickly flying west.  He met up with Dot.ca just south of the Kodak Tower and there was a food exchange between them.  Genesee took his meal towards the Frontier Communication Tower and Dot.ca landed on the Powers Bldg.  Cadence remained on the FST.

Joyce, Susan and Brian joined the watch.  We spotted an adult falcon on the Kodak Tower, south side arch ledge.  We thought it was Beauty.

After awhile, Cadence took off and flew over the river, diving on the gulls, ducks and geese.

She returned towards the FST, passed it and landed on the BOWED TREE!  I had been waiting a very long time to see a falcon land there.  Finally a falcon on the Bowed Tree, which is a dead tree limb off the east side gorge wall closer to the pedestrian bridge.  She remained there for a long time, checking out the people waking by on the bridge, the deer walking below her and the small birds that flew by her.  Oh, and how could she resist the lose piece of bark in front of her.  This girl does love to chew on things.  lol

Cadence again took off, this time flying under the bridge.  Dana and Brian quickly walked to the other side of the bridge to see if she went through, but she did not.  Cadence had landed under the bridge.  Another spot we had seen many falcons land in the past.  From the east end of the bridge, we had a very good view of her.

Many of the juvies have markings on the back of the heads that look like a face.  Doesn’t it look like Cadence has eyes in the back of her head?  🙂

At about 5:50 pm, Cadence left the gorge, heading south towards downtown.  The only falcon in sight now was Beauty on the Kodak Tower.

6:15 pm – We spotted a falcon zipping in from the east.  It went supersonic as it stooped into the gorge in front of us.  A juvie named Genesee had arrived in the gorge.  He didn’t stay long.  After chasing the gulls for a few moments, he flew over the falls and headed south towards downtown.  Well, that was a fun way to end my 7 1/2 hour watch!

Many people stopped by to ask what we were looking at and were thrilled to see our young falcons.  Every day we see our two juvies is a gift.  I am so happy that so many watchers were on hand to see both juvies and adults.  It was a wonderful day for a Falcon Watch!  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A chilly start with a temperature of 56 (F) 13 (C) but once the sun came up it shone bright and beautiful

I could hear a juvie from the west side balcony this morning but I couldn’t locate him. After checking the perimeter of Seneca Towers and finding no falcons I headed for downtown. I found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC around 6:15am.

She few over to the RGS antenna 5 minutes later. I drove to Elm St. at Chestnut St. next to the Hotel Cadillac and to my surprise spotted Cadence on a shorter antenna below the Beautyful one after I heard her whining.

Beauty pretty much ignored her whiny daughter as she did a little preening. I was zeroed in on Cadence as she was looking up at mom and really screaming most likely “I’m hungry” when Beauty took off heading northwest. Cadence closed her mouth immediately and followed mom after half a minute or so.

I followed as well and 10 minutes later I spotted Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) on the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad from the City Hall parking lot. I whipped down State St. and found Beauty on the northeast corner and DC on the southeast corner of the launch pad. Both juvies were circling their parents on the tower and they had lots to say to them. Cadence settled on the northeast corner of the 20th floor and Genesee on the west side below the playpen on the peaked roof.

It was like winning the lottery to see all 4 together but it didn’t last long as DC and his boy flew off while I was fixated on mom and Cadence while taping a video. I still had the 2 Beauties preening until mom flew off without me seeing her. So it was now just me and Cadence, which is almost like having Beauty still there as Cadence looks so much like her mama.

Beauty returned around 7:30am coming to rest on the southeast corner of the launchpad-she flew off soon after and a few moments later a pigeon flew past Cadence and she took off after it to the west behind Kodak out of view. A minute later Beauty came back to the southeast corner of the launchpad.

I left her to go to the Cook Iron store to see if anyone could tell me who the artist of the falcon mural on the back of the building was-the guy gave me one of her business cards. Looks like her specialty is falcons.

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I searched downtown one more time and as I pulled onto the Broad St. bridge I saw a juvie on the lower Thomson Reuters roof but it flew off as I was getting out the door. It was chasing pigeons over the river to the north and disappeared behind OCSR. That was it for my downtown watch as I passed KO I could see Beauty still up there on the launchpad. I left for Seneca Towers and upon my arrival on Seth Green Dr. I spotted Bith on the west side railing.

The building security guard came over to chat with me about the falcons and Bith flew off while we were talking. I ended my watch at 8:40am smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/gVcDyGuGBLU

http://youtu.be/AvRXEfjXBH0

http://youtu.be/A3MK55oWxPU

http://youtu.be/QXdYUMjzQN8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There were clouds and sun with a temperature 0f 63 (F) 17 (C)

Last night falcon watcher and good friend Lynda came over to check out the Seneca Towers Falcons and they all showed up for her! We had juvies on the west railing close up and on the south side bridge ledge with food. The adults did some flying overhead close and also landing on the west side railing to end the night.

All 4 here at Seneca Towers last night but nobody this morning. I got an early start downtown as a result and my first stop was Andrews and St. Paul St. to check if there was a name on the falcon mural I took a pic of yesterday. No name or signature but there was a cool phrase-If we forget our passion our hearts go blind.

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I found a juvie on the southeast corner of the HSBC railing like yesterday but it wasn’t there for long and I didn’t get a leg band shot to ID it.  When it flew off it went southeast

I spotted Beauty from the Andrews St. Bridge (ASB) on the lower white section of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT) east side railing. I started out in the City Hall parking lot but it wasn’t a good angle.

I went down in front of City Hall where she showed up much better as she did some serious preening and pooped for me too! Pooparazzi was on duty.

The Beautyful one sytretched out her beautyful wings and

flew southeast around 7:15am

5 minutes later I came across who I thought was Cadence but after checking pics on the larger computer screen I could clearly see the silver leg band on his right leg-it was Genesee. He was asleep on the west side railing of Widows Walk. I watched from Broad St. at first.

After Genesee woke up, did some preening and a couple stretches he hopped over to north side railing at which time I drove over to Fitzhugh St. to observe him. A couple minutes later he stooped toward the parking lot next to Times Square and I lost sight of him.

I ended up down by FCT when I spotted a falcon flying to and landing on the small FCT from the intersection of Plymouth and Main St. It turned out to be Beauty as she flew off and around to the east side railing of FCT. Dot.ca (DC) flew in and came to rest on the top arm of FCT. I could hear a juvie whining and I suspect it was on the platform with food. Perhaps Genesee had caught whatever he stooped on and was warning mom and dad that they couldn’t have any.

I had an 8 o’clock appointment to get some work done on my car so I had to leave but I drove out of downtown smiling after having seen Genesee for the first time in a few days! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/1lpHFJDDRhs

http://youtu.be/ATbQDlR1BdA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Time to share some images and my report from the last few days.  Sorry, my life has been a little crazy lately.  We’ve been seeing the juvies less and less.  Their time with us is coming to an end and soon they will be off on their own Peregrine Journey.  But in the meantime…..

On Sunday (8/2/15) I spent a lot of time looking for the falcons downtown and just relaxing on the pedestrian bridge.  Kathy O joined me .  We did see both Cadence and Beauty flying over and in the gorge.  Cadence is looking absolutely gorgeous, flying high and well.  Poor Beauty is looking a little ragged as her molt continues.  But soon she will grown new and fresh feathers and be herself again.  🙂

On Monday evening (8/3/15), I spent time with my friends Carrie and Shaky.  Larry O was our wandering watcher that evening.  There was an adult on the Power’s Bldg, east side railing.  I do believe it was Beauty.  From the east end of the pedestrian bridge, we could see two birds flying over and landing on a large white building, west of the Kodak Tower.  It was too far to be sure, but we believe it was two falcons.  By their behavior, it may have been our two juvies.

Shaky attempted to find out what the name of this building was, but had no luck.

At 8:00 pm, I received a text from Larry.  He was pretty sure he had a falcon on a building near the old Mid-town Plaza, but had forgotten his binoculars.  So, I headed over to check it out.  By the time I got there, the falcon was gone.  From the Broad St Bridge, I could see that Beauty was still on the Power’s Bldg.  This was my view looking south.  The river was very low, showing most of the river bottom.

As daylight was fading, Beauty took off heading east.  I lost sight of her as she passed behind the Xerox Tower.  I found a falcon on the southeast corner of HSBC.  The falcon took off towards Xerox and disappeared into the darkness.

After my appointment yesterday morning (8/4/15), I did go over for a closer look at the white building we had seen from the pedestrian bridge Monday evening.  It is in the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood.  I interrupted Susan B. and Frederick Douglas’ tea time!  🙂

I circled the building, which is located next to railroad track, but could not find any signs or markings on the building to give me a clue as to what it is or was.  Does anyone know?  Please leave any info you may have in the comment section below. Thanks!  There were no falcons seen in that area yesterday.

From the pedestrian bridge, I spotted a falcon on the Frontier Communication Tower below the platform on the south side. There was a 2nd falcon on the northwest wing ledge of the Times Square Bldg.  I was at too far a distance to ID either bird.

On my way home, I stopped to check on the Seneca Towers (ST) falcons.  From across the river, I could see one falcon on top of ST on the west side railing.  My search continued at the Kodak Park Research Labs, where I found an adult Peregrine Falcon on the south side of the building near the SW corner.  It was a large falcon, so I believe it may have been Billie.

This location is across the river, northwest of Seneca Towers.  Very close.  When we first found Billie, she was hanging out on these buildings.  We actually thought that she might nest here.

The sunsets and rainbows seen in the gorge have been spectacular.  I’ll leave you with a couple pictures I especially liked. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was an overcast morning to start, with a temperature of 62 (F) 17 (C).   It became sunny with some clouds then back to overcast

I began my watch at Seneca Towers (ST)

on the west side balcony of my 16th floor with a juvie on the south side ledge of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. It had its back to me so I couldn’t tell who it was.

I went down to my car and found Billie on the south side top window ledge-she started out with her back to me in the middle of the ledge then she walked over to the right (east) side end of the ledge, which is her preferred spot.

With no other falcons in view and Buffalo Billie looking quite content, I left for downtown. Arriving downtown about 6:20am, from the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) I could see Beauty in the Powers nest box and a juvie on the northeast platform corner of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT.

I drove over to the Hochstein School of Music parking lot so I could ID the juvie on FCT-it was Cadence, as I got a look at her leg bands when she flew off to the south about 10 minutes later.

I drove to the hole parking lot when I spotted a falcon on the base of Mercury from the ASB-Beauty was gone from the Powers nest box. The back lighting was not good from there so I went up on the Broad St. bridge (BSB).

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While I was watching Miss Cadence I checked out the river below and found a Great Blue Heron and a Black-crowned Night Heron fishing. There were ducks and Canada Geese down there as well.

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Cadence flew northwest from Mercury at 7am. I headed that direction as well but didn’t find her until I ended up on the east side of the river. The little trickster doubled back in the opposite direction from where she led me!

I noticed her from Woodbury Blvd. on the southeast corner of the HSBC railing-quite frankly, she was hard to miss! I drove over to Broad St. behind HSBC to observe our little Beauty look alike.

Cadence didn’t stay for long as she flew northeast at 7:31am. Around the same time that I first found her on HSBC, Larry had tweeted that he saw a falcon flying east over the Little Theater, which is very close to where Cadence was so it could have been her before she settled on HSBC.

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I spent some time looking around the area northeast of downtown but didn’t find Cadence or any other falcon. On my way to the High Falls for a look/see before heading home to Seneca Towers I came across a mural of falcons on Andrews St. I found a Great Blue Heron on the north and south sides of the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge and the usual ducks and geese in the High Falls gorge but no falcons. In the grass near where I parked my car in the Genesee brewery parking lot I saw a young rabbit eating grass-cute!

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I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled over on Seth Green Dr. to find both ST juvies on the west side railing. Sellie was on the left facing me and Bith a few feet to the right with his back to me.

Sellie started stretching, which peaked Bith’s curiosity. He walked over to his brother and they had a few words followed by Sellie moving a couple steps away after Bith attempted to touch beaks with him. Apparently, Sellie didn’t like Bith in his personal space-he was quite close! You can see it all go down on my snippet video-the first link at the end of my report. It was really quite cute and touching to see.

Ah, brotherly love!

A few minutes later Bith suddenly spread his wings and flew off startling Sellie who lost his footing and almost fell off the back of the railing. He righted himself then flew off after his brother to the south.

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That’s all she wrote-I ended my watch smiling at just about 10am after seeing 3 out of 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcon juvies! 🙂

As always, click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/1mm3pYwchbY

http://youtu.be/5jhbqL5-AjI

http://youtu.be/c1h_dSwe_Fo

http://youtu.be/S9Wniylvr2U

http://youtu.be/pVBFHfJOtdU

http://youtu.be/c7wopbynvGg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 72 (F) 22 (C) overcast and windy as I stepped out today

As soon as I set foot out on the west side balcony of my Seneca Towers 16th floor I could hear a juvie whining. The next second I had falcons flying all over the place in front of my eyes! Both adults and both juvies treated me to a fast and furious flight show that was only speeded up by the fast moving wind. After the first minute or so the adults flew out of sight and I was left with 2 screaming juvies that were talon tagging and chasing each other back and forth in front of and above me.

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I had all I could do to hang on to my camera, it was that windy up there. I only got a couple pics because Bith and Sellie were too fast and too close as they flitted past me and above the building going in and out of view. Needless to say it was more than enough to wake me up-better than a cup of coffee! As quick as it began it stopped and everything went quiet. I got on the elevator to descend down to the ground and check the perimeter of the building. First check was the north end where I found Seth on his top window ledge.

I left him right away to look for the rest but never found them-they just vanished! I arrived downtown on the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) at 6:25am finding Beauty on the top I beam northeast side of OCSR. I went over to Bragdon Place by the north end of the Radisson Hotel for a closer look. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the Beautyful one over there.

I left to search downtown for the rest of the family but had no luck and returned to watch Beauty. I was looking around and to my surprise I noticed Dot.ca (DC) up on the south ledge of the elevtor shaft.

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They weren’t doing much-occasionally Beauty would preen or stretch but DC just stay perched in his man cave and it appeared he had a full crop. I had to run an errand and when I returned over an hour later, Beauty was gone but DC was still in the elevator shaft.

I checked downtown one more time and left for home after having no success finding another falcon. When I got to Seth Green Dr. at 9:20am I was happy to see Sellie on the west side railing.

A couple minutes later Bith joined us as I spotted him up on the north end railing. I had to leave them soon after and end my watch at 9:45am as I had an appointment to get to.

What fun I had watching the Seneca Towers juvies right out of the gate this morning. That was good for a smile the rest of the day! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/WqfhAG3Cb9Y

http://youtu.be/AGp2pm1zviw

http://youtu.be/It7kmpfmxGo

http://youtu.be/sneIpL_zHTY

http://youtu.be/n3847izvIVE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There was a beautiful sunrise this morning as I stepped out on the east side balcony before leaving Seneca Towers for my watch. The temperature was 61 (F) 16 (C)

<Click them for full view

I checked from the west side balcony first before the sun was even showing and saw Seth on the south side ledge of the bridge. I could hear a juvie whining but couldn’t see it so I went down to my car. I checked the perimeter of the building but never found the juvie.

I left for downtown-from the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) I spotted a falcon in the Powers nest box with its back to me. At first I thought it was a juvie but it turned out to be Beauty.

She would stay in the nest for the next hour-during this time I left for a check around downtown for the rest of the family but didn’t find anyone else. Beauty came out at 7:10am to do some preening and pulling down feathers out as she is in a molt. I drove to Aqueduct St. by Main St. to observe at a closer range.

You can see that she’s looking a little rough around the edges as she molts-it can be a very uncomfortable time for them. I had another run around at this time with no luck finding any other falcons

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After an hour there Beauty stood up and flew back to the nest box. I went back to the ASB to make sure that’s where she was and at least this time she was facing out.

It concerned me that Beauty spent so much time at this nest site today. I hope that she and Dot.ca are not going to choose this site for next years brood as there are no working cameras here and it’s a bit difficult to watch them from the ground. I hope whomever is responsible for removing this nest box does it before they start bonding in the box. The Beautyful one should be hanging out at her own scrape on Times Square (TSB) where y’all at home can see her.

Anyway, I got a tweet from Larry that he could see an adult at the Powers nest and one under the northeast wing of TSB from the pedestrian bridge. I left for the hole to see who was on TSB-it was Mr. Clean, his whiteness, DC facing the sun and looking brilliant! He did some stretching and a little preening as he watched over his territory.

At 8:30am DC turned to the north and flew away out of view. I left and as I was driving down State St. I could see him on the top arm of the Frontier Communications tower.

Arriving at Seneca Towers, I found Billie on the north side railing with her back to me from my spot on East Ridge Rd. near St. Paul St.

She didn’t stay long as she flew off to the north. I ended my watch after that at 9am.

So I saw all 4 adults on watch today but no juvies at either site. At any rate, I’ll keep smiling just the same! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/HiVem8DvwLs

http://youtu.be/dfjqOE3x4L0

http://youtu.be/PWlgzETZ01k

http://youtu.be/O3bM6uCJP8E

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A nice morning for  watch with sunshine and blue skies after mostly cloudy conditions to start-temperature was 62(F) 17 (C)

For the first time in a few days I saw a juvie at night here at Seneca Towers. Sellie was on the bridge eating when I checked from the west side balcony. It was around 8:30pm and starting to get dark so I walked down to the north end of my 16th floor to observe from the window at the end of the hall which got me much closer. He finished a small bit of food quickly then turned around so I could see his light colored front, enabling me to identify him as Sellie.

I stayed with him til dark then I went home to my apartment. I checked for him first thing this morning from the west side balcony but he wasn’t there so I can’t say if Sellie roosted on the bridge all night. I found Seth on his north end top window ledge when I checked from my car.

I decided to go downtown right away rather than stay with Seth as I wanted to see if I would have better luck than yesterday in finding falcons by getting there earlier. As is my routine, I checked everywhere before heading across the river to the east side. As I was driving around the traffic circle behind HSBC I spotted Beauty on the northeast corner. She was in hunt mode and watching pigeons that were flying around the area.

She pooped and readied herself and then off she went into a flock of pigeons and zeroing in on one near Midtown. Missing that one, she regrouped and set her sights on another one but failed to catch that one either.

Beauty then flew over to the RGS antenna as I found her there when I drove to Euclid St. behind the Hotel Cadillac. The sun was behind her making for dark images so I moved to get a better angle at which time the Beautyful one flew off.

I never did find Beauty again. 15 minutes later while stopped on the Broad St. bridge (BSB), I spotted Dot.ca (DC) on the southeast corner of the Frontier Communications tower (FCT) around 6:40am. I drove over to the parking lot next to the Hochstein School of Music to watch.

Not satisfied with looking at his back I drove down to the City Hall parking lot where I could see DC better and as a result could see that he had a small prey bird in his talons.

DC stood there with his small package for 15 minutes looking around for what I assume was a juvie to give it to, but one never showed. He flew off to the southeast and that would be the last I saw him or any other falcon this morning.

I searched high and low then ended my watch at the High Falls with a mama duck and her 2 ducklings swimming on the north side of the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge.

Arriving home I found no falcons to be at Seneca Towers-I called it quits just before the 9 o’clock hour. No juvies seen this morning but a nice watch just the same as I saw 3 of 4 adults and a couple cute ducklings to make me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view last night and today’s videos

http://youtu.be/XW6-c7DXqBg

http://youtu.be/IZxi20cGRZ0

http://youtu.be/10F0Gry37oo

http://youtu.be/KCie8svuxS8

http://youtu.be/8lUBvPp7e08

http://youtu.be/v8HOmdb6NYo