By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I made the rounds on Saturday and was very happy to find all the Rochester Falcons in their home territories.  🙂

Billie and Seth at Seneca Towers (ST).

Beauty and Dot.ca on the north side, top IBeam of OCSR.

Beauty and Dot.ca on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).

The unbanded female at the Brighton Site (BS).

Genesee on the Shumway Tower.

Genesee was in hunt mode.  He took off heading north.  I caught up with him, spotting him on top of the Port of Rochester Bldg.  At first he was by himself, but was soon joined by a bunch of pigeons that landed to his left.  It wasn’t long before he took off and the chase was on!  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a chilly 37 (F) 3 (C) degrees with wind, snow and graupel (sleet and snow mix) on and off  and dark, overcast conditions

I began my watch about 15 minutes before sunrise when it was still a bit dark out. Neither Billie or Seth were up yet at Seneca Towers (ST) so I made my way downtown. After checking from the Andrews St. bridge I went to the hole on Aqueduct St.and found both Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) on OCSR. He was on the south corner and she was a few feet to his right. They both had their backs to me and as I moved down to Graves St. at the corner of Main St. for a closer look at our downtown pair DC moved off the corner a little closer to the Beautyful one.

Make sure to click on the pics to see the full version

After a few minutes I drove over to the Radisson Hotel to get a different angle. They didn’t seem like they were in any hurry to hunt as DC was preening and Beauty had her feathers all foofed up to keep warm.

<DC<Beauty

I left them to make my way back to Seneca Towers and also checking Hawkeye on the way, but still there was nobody home. Next stop was the Medley Center Mall in Irondequoit where I spotted a Red-tail Hawk on a light pole in the north parking lot.

I left to get breakfast and when I returned the hawk was on a different light pole with its own breakfast. Not sure what it was eating but I watched it swallow down a leg. Good thing they don’t have gag reflex like we humans do!!

I left him to it and headed toward Charlotte to check for Genesee-checking ST again to no avail on the way to Charlotte. I got a tweet from Dana that she couldn’t find him and was ending her watch. I didn’t have any better luck but I took some pics during my travels.

Remember to click on the pics

Lighthouse in Summerville

Canada Geese at Shumway Marine

<Pelicans Nest carvings>

Finally, as I returned home I found Seth on the west side railing on ST with his back to me. He was looking all around and turned to face me before flying down toward the river gorge.

A couple minutes later a falcon flew to and landed on the northwest corner of the railing. I believe this was Billie as it looked bigger to me.

That’s all she wrote folks! I left her on the railing and ended my watch with a smile on my face at 10:45am on this late October morning! 🙂

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

https://youtu.be/ZpDCt1wr5ak

https://youtu.be/ODtdDZvpl1w

https://youtu.be/SIOhJCbvm9c

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

After two straight days of mostly rain, a cloudy and cool (40’s) morning was very welcome.  By the end of my watch, it had made it into the 50’s and the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds.

I arrived on the Charlotte side of the Genesee River at about 7:30 am.  Genesee was no where to be found, but I did meet up with fellow watcher Dana.  Genesee finally arrived at about 8:30 am on the Coast Guard Tower (CGT).

<— Genesee Arrives on the CGT.

We watched him preen for about a 1/2 hour before he took off and flew over the Port of Rochester buildings.  Dana found him on one of the red-peaked roofs.  I parked on the west side of the buildings, on the west side of the new marina.  From there, I could see Genesee on the roof.  There was a beautiful stained glass sail boat below him.

<— Genesee on the Port of Rochester Roof.

At 9:20 am, Genesee stooped off of the roof, flying over a lower roof.  I lost sight of him, but Dana quickly found him on a light pole in front of the building.  Dana had to leave, so I stayed where I was to keep an eye on Genesee.

<— Genesee on Light Pole.

Genesee was very interested in something nearby on the ground.  I checked it out with my binoculars.  It was a dead pigeon.  He must have dropped it there.

<— Genesee’s Pigeon.

He made three attempts at retrieving the pigeon off the ground.

Third time was a charm!  He swooped over the pigeon, grabbed it and carried it up to the roof of the building.

<— This was one of his attempts to grab the pigeon.

Genesee settled down with his pigeon on the roof and enjoyed his breakfast.  I was very happy that he did not eat on the ground.  Genesee was very determined to get it higher, where he could safely eat it.

<— Genesee eating his pigeon on top of a roof on the Port of Rochester.

<— My view of the Port of Rochester across from the Marina.

After finishing his meal, Genesee returned to the light pole he had been on earlier.  He left the remainder of his meal on the roof.

A Crow flew in and landed next to Genesee’s leftovers.  Big mistake!  Genesee took off and the chase was on!  Genesee chased the Crow, low over the marina, swooping on it over and over again, until it landed on one of the piers.  Genesee then flew up over the Port of Rochester buildings, back and forth and finally off to the west.  That’s when I lost sight of him behind the trees.  After Genesee left, the Crow took off and beat wings, fast!  lol

<— Pics of Genesee going after the Crow, then leaving the area.

I decided to check on the other Rochester Falcons.  No falcons were home at Seneca Towers (ST) or the Brighton Site (BS), but I did find Beauty and Dot.ca at home.  When I first arrived on Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”), Dot.ca was on the top Ibeam of OCSR, south side.  He took off and flew around the east end of the building.  The road work on Aqueduct St seems to now be complete.

From the Radisson, I could see that Dot.ca was now up inside the elevator shaft.  Beauty was nearby on the north side top IBeam.

<— Beauty and Dot.ca on OCSR.

From the Andrew St Bridge, I saw Beauty take off.  She flew past the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) and continued on towards the Kodak Tower.  She landed on the south side arch ledge, above where the old M&K nest box used to be located.  By the time I arrived at the KTower, she had moved up to the southeast corner of the launchpad.

<— Beauty on the Kodak Tower.

The Beebee Station is almost totally gone now, leaving an unobstructed view of the gorge.

<— Bye Bye Beebee Station.

On my way home, I stopped at Charlotte one last time (for today!  lol).  Genesee was on the Shumway antenna, and he was very wet.  I watched him preen for about a 1/2 hour before ending my watch at about 1:30 pm.

<— A very wet Genesee on the Shumway antenna.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Here I am catching up again and sharing some pictures I’ve taken over the past week while out looking for falcons.  🙂

Things have been pretty quiet in the Rochester Falcon world.  Just how we watchers like it!

Some watchers have been out and about and keeping an eye on things.  So far all has been peaceful and quiet.

Be sure to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  There are some showing Genesee’s world.  Enjoy!

<— Genesee and the Jet . – 10/14/16

<— Juvie Coopers Hawk hanging out with Genesee in Charlotte. – 10/14/16

<— Genesee hunting over the trees near the beach. – 10/14/16

<— Beauty and Dot.ca on Frontier Comm Tower. 10/15/16

<— Genesee on Shumway antenna. – 10/15/16

<— Sunset on Buck Pond. Love the sunsets here! – 10/15/16

<— Moon Over Charlotte Lighthouse. 10/18/16

<— Stephen B. Roman with O’Rourke Bridge raised in the background. – 10/18/16

<— Red Sky in the Morning Over Summerville. – 10/20/16

<— Rainbow over the Charlotte Lighthouse. – 10/20/16

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A beautiful fall evening with a temperature of  70 (F) 21 (C)

I came home this evening to Seneca Towers and was greeted by Billie. She was on the south end of the building top window ledge. She was watching her territory quite intently, perhaps looking for her mate, Seth.

Billie had a depleted crop so she could have been looking for dinner even though I could see blood on the bottom of her right foot.

Whatever the case, Miss Buffalo Billie was keeping an eye out for something and I was oh, so happy to share a short bit of quality time with her.

I left her to it with a smile on my face! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Overcast, cold, breezy morning.  Temps in the mid-50’s (F).

I started my watch early this morning, joining Dana on the Summerville side of the Genesee River.  Genesee had arrived and already had a successful hunt.  When I got there, he was eating breakfast on top of the Coast Guard Tower (CGT).

After finishing his meal, he took off chasing a small flock of Starlings to the east.  We searched for him and ended up on the Charlotte side of the river.  Genesee returned to the CGT, then flew to the Shumway antenna.  From there, he took off flying low over the river heading south.  We lost sight of him when he flew under the O’Rourke Bridge, but a whole bunch of Pigeons took flight further down the river.  I’m sure that Genesee had something to do with that.  lol

*Be sure to click on any pics you would like to see in a larger version.*

<— Genesee eating breakfast on the CGT.

I left Dana to continue my morning watch.  I wanted to do a Rochester Falcon head count.

Seneca Towers (ST).  Billie and Seth were together on the north end window ledge.

<— Billie and Seth together on the north end window ledge of ST.

Downtown.  Beauty was up inside the OCSR elevator shaft and Dot.ca was on the top arm of the Frontier Comm Tower (FCT).  When I first reported it, I had them the other way around.  🙂

<— Beauty up inside the OCSR elevator shaft.

<— Dot.ca on the top arm of the Frontier Communication Tower.

My last stop was the Brighton Site (BS), where I found the unbanded female on the south side of the east end of the building.  She was doing a lot of preening and pulling lots of small fluff feathers.  She’s definitely going through a molt.

<— Unbanded female falcon at BS.

I was very happy to have seen 6 of the Rochester Falcons before ending my morning watch.  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a gorgeous fall morning with clear skies, bright sunshine and a temperature of 51 (F) 11 (C)

Joyce was getting bored at home after a recent hip replacement so I picked her up for a falcon watch this morning. We started at Summerville as Dana had reported seeing Genesee (G) on the Coast Guard Tower (CGT). We arrived a bit too late to see him so we went down river on the Charlotte side of the river and found him on the Shumway Marina tower, which is on the Summerville side of the river. This was my first time seeing Genesee since last year when he was a juvie in downtown Rochester. The sun was behind him so the back lighting was not so great.

I took a pic of the historic Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse which was right behind us after Genesee flew off hunting near the O’Rourke Drawbridge. He soon came back without breakfast landing on the Shumway tower again. This time he was showing a bit more than his back.

Genesee didn’t stay for long before he was off scaring up pigeons and anything else in the area over by Abbott’s Ice Cream joint at Beach and Lake Avenue. While I was taping him a couple young raccoons walked by in front of me and then ducked under a deck out of sight. I wasn’t fast enough with my camera to photograph them but I can tell you they were very cute! Genesee then appeared up river on the Coast Guard Tower quite a distance from us.

We split up at this time with Dana going down to the Charlotte pier area and Joyce and I went across the river to Summerville, but Genesee was gone when we arrived. We stayed for a bit waiting to see if he came back and enjoying the scenery. I took a pic of the Port of Rochester across the calm waters of the river which made the water look like glass.

We left there and proceeded to check Seneca Towers, Medley Center Mall and Hawkeye with no sightings. We then went downtown and were just about to leave when Joyce noticed Dot.ca (DC) on Xerox. He was on the north side, 4 columns over from the northwest corner looking quite small, quite handsome and quite white!

We left him to check the Brighton site but to no avail. Before taking Joyce home we checked downtown one more time for Beauty but no luck at that either. We were happy to have seen father and son today and ended our watch around 10:45am with smiles on our face! 🙂

Click on the links below to watch a couple videos

https://youtu.be/kp6OEyzenbI

https://youtu.be/dTalGvJavbw

By Rochester Falcon Watch Carol P.

Another beautiful, sunny fall day here in Rochester, NY with temps going up into the mid 70’s (F).

I started my day very early this morning, taking a friend to the hospital.  After dropping him off, I drove through downtown Rochester.  All was quiet and all was dark.  lol  I checked what I could, but could see no falcons.  Later in the morning, Donna reported seeing Dot.ca bowing at the Powers nest box and fellow watchers Brian H and Kathy O, had Beauty on the Frontier Communication tower.

Since it was too dark to see anything, I headed north to the lake (Ontario).  By the time I made my way to the Summerville side of the river, the sun was just starting to rise.  I waited, but Genesee was a no show.  Fellow watcher Dana reported from the Charlotte side of the river.  Genesee was on top of the Shumway Marina antenna.  I headed over to that location and watched Genesee looking over his territory.  He took off and flew low over the river, heading south.  He soon returned, and Dana and I enjoyed watching Genesee eat his early morning breakfast.  It looked like he retrieved a cache of food, half of a pigeon.  Hey!  Nothing goes to waste!

Here are some pics of Genesee from this morning.  Enjoy!

*Be sure to click on any pics to see the larger version.*

Here’s another view of Genesee’s world, looking across the Genesee River.

I also took some video snippets of Genesee from my morning watch. Just click on these two links!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKn4KnNrQSc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onJ0C6ExP98

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Hi all!  I’ve been out and about this past week and have seen all 6 Rochester Falcons during that time. Plus a trip to Buffalo on Saturday with fellow watchers Kathy O, Lisa McK and Dana where we saw Gleig and Diamante at Central Terminal, Yankee and Dixie at UB and  one falcon downtown Buffalo near the Statler.

Here are some pics from my week of adventures.  🙂

*Be sure to click on the pictures to see the full version!*

<— Beauty in the OCSR Elevator Shaft 9/28/16

<— Dot.ca on OCSR Top Ibeam North Side. 9/28/16

<— Unbanded Falcon at BS Location.

<— Genesee on Coast Guard Tower. 9/30/16

<— Bye Bye Russell Station.  No more falcon sightings here.  🙁  9/30/16

<— Gleig and Diamante at Central Terminal. 10/1/16

<— Gleig and Diamante at Central Terminal. 10/1/16

<— Gleig at Central Terminal, Buffalo, NY. 10/1/16

<— Diamante at Central Terminal, Buffalo, NY. 10-1-16

<— Genesee on Shumway Marina Antenna. 10/2/16

<— Ghost!  🙂 10/2/16

<— Genesee on Coast Guard Tower after Breakfast. 10/4/16

<— Genesee on Coast Guard Tower after Breakfast. 10/4/16

<— Genesee on Shumway Marina antenna. 10/4/16

<— Genesee on Shumway Marina antenna. 10/4/16

<— Genesee on Shumway Marina antenna. 10/4/16

<— Genesee roust on Shumway Marina antenna. 10/4/16

<— Genesee on Shumway Marina antenna. 10/4/16

<— Genesee on Shumway Marina antenna. 10/4/16

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a mix of sun and clouds with a temperature of 66 (F) 19 (C)

Let’s start with my sighting this morning-as I was on my way to a doctor appointment, I spotted a falcon on the ring next to the nest box at the Hawkeye site. It had its back to me and it looked small to me so it could have been Seth.

Fast forward to around 5pm this evening when I heard a falcon kakking outside my window. I grabbed my camera and went out to the west side balcony here at Seneca Towers on the 16th floor. I found Seth on the south side of the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge. At first he was picking at his talons and I thought perhaps he had food, but that proved to be wrong.

A few minutes later he started kakking again as Billie flew in from the east and joined her mate landing a few feet from him.

Make sure to click on pics to see the full version

They kept looking down toward the river and I wondered if they were watching some gulls that were picking at a large dead fish that was floating along in the river.  They managed to detach the head from the fish. A duck also checked out the situation.

Back to Billie and Seth who had stopped facing each other and were now showing me their back. You can see the size difference in the next picture as Billie (on the right) has much broader shoulders. Female Peregrine Falcons are 1/3 larger than males.

This continued for the next 45 minutes and during that time I took pics of the fall foliage. I figure the west side of the river gorge has changed about 20-30 percent. These pics were taken of the Genesee River’s west side, to the south toward downtown Rochester and to the north toward Lake Ontario from the west side of Seneca Towers.

<Seth Green Park in the foreground heading south

<west side of gorge

<West side directly across from my apartment

<Maplewood Park

<Looking north toward the lake

I watched them until about 6pm when it was time to go make supper. I went back out afterwards but they were gone. So that was a nice little gift to see them that made me smile! 🙂

Click on the link below to see Billie, Seth and part of their surroundings here at Seneca Towers

https://youtu.be/F4vTSSi-Qis