By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another nice day, but not as warm and bright as yesterday.  Temps in the 50’s (F).  The temps will be rising into the 60’s over the next few days.  So unusual for us this time of year.

Larry O had reported seeing the falcon at BS this morning, so that’s where I started my watch.  I found the unbanded female on top of the building on the northeast corner.  She was actively watching everything that passed through, including a bunch of very noisy Crows.

She started to bob her head rapidly up and down.  I knew it wouldn’t be long before she took off.  She spread her wings and she was off heading south fast.  When she neared the wooded area at the back of the property, she stooped and I lost sight of her.  A few moments later she returned, flying up to the south side of the building.  I found her on the west side of the southeast extension.

After awhile, she made a short flight over to the windows below the south side vent.  This is where I left her to go downtown to look for Beauty and Dot.ca.

Downtown, I found Beauty and Dot.ca on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  Beauty was on the northeast box and Dot.ca was below her within the frame work.

They were both preening and very content.  All was peaceful and quiet downtown.

I continued on, stopping at Hawkeye and Seneca Towers, where I had no luck finding any falcons.

At Medley Center, I saw a small falcon on top of the glass peak.  I got my scope out to get a closer look and saw that it was not a Peregrine Falcon.  It was its smaller cousin, the Merlin.

I checked Seneca Towers one more time and again could find no falcons.  There were also no falcons at Russell Station.

On my way home, I saw this beautiful creche.  Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

What a gorgeous day!  We tied the record high temperature at 61 degrees today.  The sun was bright and the winds were gusting.

My first stop was the west end of Kodak Park.  No falcons found there, so I headed to the Brighton site (BS).

On the north side of the east end of the building, I found a falcon on a window ledge.  This was where we usually found Pigott roosting at night.  Based on size, I would say this was a female and she was unbanded.  Possibly the same one we had been seeing a few weeks ago.

A big flock of Canada Geese flew over the building, honking loudly.  This got the falcons attention.  She took off, flying overhead and then returning to the northeast corner of the building in the full sun.  Larry O joined me for a short while then had to leave.

Just as Larry was leaving, the falcon took off and flew to the front (north side) of the building.  That’s where I left her to go downtown to search for Beauty and Dot.ca.

From the Broad St Bridge (BSB), I spotted Dot.ca on top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB) under the northeast wing.

After driving around downtown Rochester and having no luck finding Beauty, I returned to the Broad St Bridge.  There she was! While I was gone, Beauty had joined Dot.ca on the Times Square Bldg.  They were sitting very close to each other.

I left them to go to Seneca Towers (ST) to check on Billie and Seth.  They were both together on top of the window ledge at the north end of the building.

My last check was Medley Center.  I found no falcons there or at nearby St. Ann’s.

It was time for me to end my watch.  I was happy to have found five falcons during my watch and that all was peaceful and quiet.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another unbelievably warm December morning in Rochester, NY  with a temperature of 53 (F) 12 (C) and a busy breeze

From the back of my parking lot at Seneca Towers I spotted Billie flying past the north end of the building before she landed on the north window ledge to join her mate, Seth.

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Billie promptly did a swan dive off the edge and flew back again, landing at the opposite end of the ledge from Seth who watched her the whole time.

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I left them and headed for downtown-as I was driving down Water St. I found a nice patio with lights.

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I didn’t see any falcons from the Andrew’s St. bridge so I headed to the Times Square area to check Widows Walk and I found Beauty plucking feathers from a fresh catch on Irving Place. I pulled into the hole and parked on Basin St.

The Beautyful one was looking around a bit more than usual as she prepared her breakfast. There were a lot of feathers filling the air and after she started eating for a couple minutes she stopped and stood perched.

I soon found out why as I spotted the back of Dot.ca (DC) on cam 1. He had snuck in under my radar and was watching his mate intently. A minute later DC turned around so I could see that he had a full crop so I;m sure he wasn’t interested in any leftovers.

Every once in a while DC would look over his shoulder to check on Beauty and she would glance his way as well.

Just as he came in without me seeing him, DC left the same way and then Beauty resumed eating. I left her to it and went over to the Medley Centre-no luck there again. I ended my watch there at 9:15am with a smile after a successful watch in which I saw our 2 pair of Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to check out today’s videos

https://youtu.be/p2_AphGHLb4

https://youtu.be/haCwmSwlM3Y

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The sun came out briefly with a temperature of 43 (F) 6 (C)

I got fooled this morning as Billie and Seth mixed it up on me. She was in Seth’s normal spot on the north window ledge and he was on the west side railing showing some leg. His right leg, as a matter of fact, and showing the yellow tape that is still on that leg band.

I left them as they were to head downtown and maybe find Dot.ca (DC) since I hadn’t seen him in 2 days. As luck would have it, he was on the top I-beam southeast side of OCSR near the elevator shaft. He had obviously just finished eating as he was feaking and had a full crop.

DC took off out over the river at 7:49am, made a U-turn and went up inside the elevator shaft on the north side ledge. Luckily, I was parked at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. so I had a front row seat to see it.

DC quickly walked to the back of the ledge and got settled in his man cave for what I’m sure was a long rest to digest. Larry reported no falcon seen this morning at the Brighton site after seeing one there the last 2 days. I find it interesting that I didn’t see DC the last 2 days but did this morning. Me thinks he may be hunting and eating over there as he has been known to do in the past.

I left him to do his thing and went searching for the Beautyful one. I found her while pulled over on Woodbury Blvd. She was on the her favorite column on the south side of Xerox-the fifth one from the southeast corner. She pooped just as I arrived.

I drove over to Chestnut St. to get a little closer, although her back side was facing me from there the back lighting was much better as the sun came out for about a minute.

Beauty spread her wings and took off at 8:13am heading south over the river. I never found her again as I looked via South Ave. I did find a shop all decked out with ornaments and lights.

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The only sighting I had at the Medley Centre was that of what I believe was a juvenile Great Black-backed gull that managed to keep a slice of pizza for himself in the north side parking lot.

I had to be somewhere so I ended my watch with a smile at 9am after having seen 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the link below  to see today’s snippet video

https://youtu.be/9VozlzUI1Uc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Sunny with a temperature of 40 (F) 4 (C)  Not bad for December in Rochester

Seth was on the north window ledge of Seneca Towers turned toward the river as I started my watch today. He flew off right after I got situated so I got one pic of him.

He didn’t return so I left for downtown where I found Beauty on the northeast corner of Crossroads. She had her back to me as I was on the Andrews St. bridge.

I drove to Bragdon Place for a better angle on her as she checked out her surroundings and preened. Just before 8am Larry reported seeing a falcon over at the Brighton site.

She pooped, spread those big, gorgeous wings and flew west at 8:05am-that would be the last I saw of the Beautyful one.

I made a couple trips around the city but never saw another falcon there or at Medley Centre or Seneca Towers. I took a couple pics of decorations in my travels. A tree in front of the South Ave. garage and the scene in the Legacy Tower atrium was nice but the reflection from the window and the closeness made for not so great pics.

And that’s all she wrote folks-I ended my watch at about 9:30am. I saw only Beauty and Seth for the second day in a row but that’s enough to make me smile! 🙂

Click on the link below to check out today’s snippet video

https://youtu.be/FZI4CoibhDA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was partly sunny to start today with a temperature of 37 (F) 3 (C)

As I looked up from the north end of the Seneca Towers parking lot I saw the back of a falcon on the northwest corner below the railing. There was no way of identifying it so I left for downtown.

From Woodbury Blvd. I spotted Beauty on a northwest corner of Legacy Tower. She had an empty crop and appeared to be in hunt mode.

Lots of pigeons were flying around the area but she spotted something to the southeast that she was more interested in as she flew off at 8:19am. Just before I lost sight of her, the Beautyful one went into a stoop. I never saw her or Dot.ca after that.

I stopped to take a pic of a wreath on the Legacy Tower building.

I had no luck finding a falcon at Medley Centre but I did come across Seth in his spot on the north end window ledge of Seneca Towers. He had a very full crop and I’m sure he would be there for some time to come digesting his meal.

I ended my watch around 9:30am with a smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s snippet video

https://youtu.be/XNYAPydqu7M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The weather this morning was overcast and hazy with a temperature of 32 (F) 0 (C)

I found Billie on the west side railing of Seneca Towers as I parked on Seth Green Dr. and it wasn’t long before Seth flew in from the south and joined her.

He turned around to face me and started preening as Billie appeared to be watching the gorge. Seth stuck his BYF out like he wanted to hitch a ride.

At 7:54am Seth flew off to the south end of the building and Billie took off to the south over Seth Green Park and he followed her. They didn’t return.

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I left for downtown and spotted Beauty up on the northeast corner of Crossroads from the Andrew’s St. bridge.

I then went to the end of Graves St. to see the front of Beauty. She had nothing in her crop as she kept watch over her surroundings.

I made the short trip over to Bragdon Place to check the OCSR elevator shaft for Dot.ca (DC) and I found him on the south side ledge. DC looked like he had food in his crop, saying to me that he would probably stay put for a while to digest his meal. I could see the Beautyful one from there as well.

I left to check the Medley Centre for Big Frank who has been hanging out at that site again lately but she wasn’t there. Nobody was home at ST either as I ended my watch at 9am. So I saw our 2 pair of Rochester Peregrine Falcons which undoubtedly made me smile! 🙂

Click on the link below to check out snippets from today’s watch

https://youtu.be/wpk0bSulEmI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

After watchers Kathy O, Dana and Larry O reported witnessing a battle between (we believe) Big Frank, Seth and Billie at Medley Ctr yesterday, I knew I had to get out for a watch today.

After the fog lifted, around 9:30 am, I headed over to Medley Ctr.  Someone had dropped off a whole lot of bread in the middle of the parking lot and the gulls and pigeons were eating their fill.  All of a sudden, they all took panicked flight and left the area.  This was usually a sign that a bird of prey was nearby.  I was hoping to see a Peregrine Falcon, but it wasn’t a falcon that had scared them off.  A big, beautiful Coopers Hawk was on the ground near the mall.  It walked up to a grouping of small bushes.  I had to wonder if it had chased a bird into those bushes and was now looking for it.

After a couple minutes, the Coop flew up into a nearby small tree.  Here are a few pictures I took of the Coopers Hawk.

Dana joined me and we kept watch, looking to see if a Peregrine would show up.

I received a text from fellow watcher Brian H saying that he had seen Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower, so I decided to head downtown to look for Beauty and Dot.ca, while Dana remained in Irondequoit.

I found Beauty on the northeast box, below the platform on the Frontier Communication Tower.  Beauty didn’t stay long.  She spread her wings and flew to the south.

I was very sad to hear that Beauty’s mom Dorothy is no longer at her nest site.  I hope that she, like Mariah, left without being injured.  Farewell Dorothy.  You will be missed.  🙁

From the Broad St Bridge, in front of the Blue Cross Arena aka Rochester War Memorial, I found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the Mercury statue.  Beauty was on the base of the statue, plucking feathers from prey while Dot.ca watched over her from the top of the statue.

After finishing her meal, Beauty preened a bit and then took off heading north.  I believe that she went up into the OCSR elevator shaft.

Soon after Beauty left, Dot.ca flew down to the base of the statue and finished Beauty’s leftovers.  It was very small, so it didn’t take him long.

After finishing his small snack, Dot.ca left, but I didn’t see where he went.  I would have checked out the OCSR elevator shaft, but there was a whole lot of traffic over at the Radisson and on Main St.  Not sure what was going on.

Dana texted that she now had a falcon on one of the light poles at Medley Ctr (MC).  I decided to check out Seneca Towers (ST) on the way to MC.

At Seneca Towers, there was one falcon on the window ledge on the north end of the building.  While I was watching, the falcon took off headed north, very fast.  A few minutes later, a falcon returned to the north window ledge.

It was time to join Dana at Medley Ctr.  I found her watching the falcon on the north side of the parking lot.  When I first arrived, the Coopers Hawk was still in the tree.  Oh, and based on size, I would guess this was a big female.

The falcon on the light pole was watching all the bird activity in the area.  When she took off, it looked like she had a black over black band on her left leg,  I couldn’t see the right leg.  We were pretty sure that it was Big Frank.

Big Frank took off and flew around the west end of the mall, heading south.  The Coop was gone too, but we hadn’t seen it leave.

Dana and I searched for Big Frank, but could not find her.  It was time for me to end my watch.

It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny afternoon here in Rochester, NY. I am really enjoying this weather!  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a very foggy start at Seneca Towers (ST) and icy as the 29 (F) -2 (C) temperature froze all the moisture on everything. Sun and blue skies downtown and fog at the Medley Centre

As I was waiting for the elevator on my floor I looked out to the west and east balconies and saw nothing but white-fog that is, so I stepped out on the west (river) side balcony to take a couple shots. The first one is the Veteran’s Memorial bridge to the north and the parking lot at the south end of the building is pic number two.

Then I checked the north end of the building and was able to see that there were no falcons there. Continuing out to Seth Green Drive I could barely see ST through the fog.

I left for downtown and half way there the fog disappeared and the sun was shining. I found Beauty on the Mercury money bag (MMB) as I pulled over on Broad St. by the Blue Cross Arena. A jet flew behind her in the sky as she stand perched.

Beauty did some preening and kept watching something below her as another jet went by behind her. There were pigeons flying all around her but she seemed disinterested even though her crop was empty. I guess she was waiting for her mate to show himself.

After a couple of rouses out of the Beautyful one I moved up onto the bridge for a side look before taking a ride around downtown to look for Dot.ca (DC). I was unsuccessful in finding him.

After I returned from the east side Larry pulled up and chatted with me for a few minutes then we both left. On my way over to the Medley Centre (MC) I passed ST where the sun had caught up with to burn the fog off but MC was inundated with fog. I could see the peaks and lights but there were no falcons around.

The sun was trying to break through as I left for home. Billie and Seth weren’t there when I arrived at Seneca Towers around 9:30am.  Keep smiling folks! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

https://youtu.be/Kqz3xv7MLDQ

https://youtu.be/HsaFgFPpNn0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It sounds like a broken record, but it was overcast and gloomy again this morning with a temperature of 39 (F) 4 (C)

I could barely make out someone’s back on the northwest corner of Seneca Towers as I looked up from the north end of my parking lot so I drove over to East Ridge Rd. It looked small to so I surmised that it was Seth.

I watched him for about 15 minutes as he looked to be in hunt mode. It took me  2 trips around downtown before I found a falcon and his name is Dot.ca (DC). As I was checking the OCSR elevator shaft from Bragdon Place I spotted him on the Ellwanger & Barry green strip over on State St.

By the time I got over there he was gone so I went in search of and as I was parked on the Andrews St. bridge I spotted Beauty on the northeast corner of the Crossroads building and DC across the way from her on the top I-beam north corner of OCSR-they both had their backs to me. Everybody was giving me the cold shoulder this morning. lol

I first went to State St. to watch but didn’t like the view so I left and went to the end of Graves St. to see the front of Beauty.

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I couldn’t see DC at all from there so I returned to Bragdon Place for yet another view of the two of them. It was at this time that I noticed DC had a full crop and the Beautyful one had an empty one.

I watched from there for a bit then returned to Graves St. for one more look at Beauty before taking a ride down Main St. to check out the decorated store windows.

Click on the pics until the full regular size pic shows

I left downtown and checked the Medley Centre but all I found there was pigeons, gulls and a crow eating a pile of bread that someone had put in the northwest end of the parking lot.

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So I went home to Seneca Towers where I found no falcons. I ended my watch at 9:45am happy and smiling that I saw DC this morning! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/kGHz8CVz6rA

https://youtu.be/uSy_PQPBJrs