By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A mostly overcast morning with a humid temperature of  70 (F) 21 (C)

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

I haven’t seen a falcon at Seneca Towers in 2 or 3 days now. Last night during one of my visits out to the west side balcony to look for PEFA’s I snapped a pic of the sky as the sun was peeking through the clouds.

I started my watch a little after 5am on the Court St. bridge (CSB) with Dan. He was facing Times Square so I told him he might want to turn his chair and watch the east side because most of the action yesterday was around the Xerox area. He hadn’t seen any falcons as of yet. 10 minutes later I spotted Beauty on the southeast corner of the 5 Star Bank 9one of her favorite hunting spots).

10 minutes later Beauty was off and we had juvies talon tagging over Xerox and Legacy Tower. The pics are lousy because of the sun being behind them but if you check my snippet video you will see some awesome flying by Rachel and Ontario.

The skydancing went on for 15-20 minutes and came to a halt when an adult flew into the mix. I suspect food was involved causing the lull in the action. Jeanne joined Dan and I at 6am with Beauty on the base of Mercury. I checked the river on the south side of the CSB and found lots of ducks in the shallows.

<Click>

Larry and Zeke arrived right about the time Rachel and Ontario popped up from the east side. They flew over to the jail communications tower (JCT) did some flying before landing on the north side of it. In the meantime, the Beautyful one moved up onto the green part of the base of Mercury before taking off to the west.

Ontario flew off first and a little bit after that Rachel left the JCT. They flew together a little more then Lil O flew south and Rachel returned to the JCT. Beauty flew in during this time and landed on an upper arm while Rachel stuck to the lower part of the tower.

Beauty flew west and Rachel too, soon after mom left.

We had no falcons in sight so I checked the river between the Court St. and Broad St. bridges. I found the Black-crowned Night Heron hunting below the Rundell Library. There also was a Great Blue Heron down on the flats.

Carol started her watch at 7am and 10 minutes later the rest of us ended our watch. Another fine falcon fledge watch in the books and sending me on my way with a smile! 🙂

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

https://youtu.be/PLuRh8m0ZxQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

The morning started out much warmer than yesterday, which was in the 50’s.  Today started in the 70’s with blue sky and sunshine.

There wasn’t much activity during my watch, but I did see all four at one point and some very nice flying.

I first stopped at Seneca Towers (ST) for a quick look.  Sorry to report, I saw no falcons there.  Because of my stop at ST, I didn’t arrive downtown until close to 7:30 am.  MAK and Larry had ended their watch.  It was tag!  I’m it!  lol  🙂

From the Court St Bridge, I could see Dot.ca at the Powers Bldg nest box sitting on camera #5.

<— Dot.ca at the Powers Bldg Nest Box.

Five minutes into my watch, I saw three falcons flying in from the east.  It was Beauty, Rachel and Ontario, just lazily flying over the river towards the Times Square Bldg.  One juvie was carrying prey.  They were in no hurry, just gracefully weaving back and forth until I could no longer see them.

I drove over to Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”) to see if I could find them.  No luck.  Next stop the Andrews St Bridge (ASB).  From there, I could see Dot.ca at the Powers nest box and Beauty on the west corner of OCSR.  Now where had the juvies gone?

<— Beauty on OCSR.

While I was watching from the ASB, a juvie flew past the Powers Bldg towards the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  It looked like it would land there, but it turned back towards the Cross Rds building, past Beauty on OCSR and continued east towards the Xerox Tower. (7:50 am)

Just after this, both Beauty and Dot.ca went into the Powers nest box to do some bowing and bonding.

<— Dot.ca in the Powers nest box.

Here are a few pictures captured by the Rfalconcam cameras at the Powers Bldg during this time.

<— Beauty and Dot.ca at the Powers nest box.

I spent the next hour cruising downtown Rochester, attempting to find Rachel and Li’l O.  Pretty sure I saw a falcon face looking down from the northwest corner of Xerox.  I wondered if they were both up there.

At 9:30 am, I ended my morning watch.  I had seen all four downtown Rochester Falcons, so I was happy.  The temps are rising to the mid 80’s today.

Here are a few pics of Rachel and Ontario from yesterday, when they visited the Powers nest box.  These are pictures captured by the Rfalconcam cameras.  LOVE seeing them together.

Enjoy the day!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was quite balmy this morning with a temperature of 71 (F) 22 (C) No jacket required

Click on the pics to view the full version

As I turned the corner from South Ave. onto Court St. to my surprise Dan wasn’t sitting on the bridge in his chair. As I looked towards the jail tower with my binocs a falcon flew off of it. I followed it in the darkness over the river to the south and east until I lost it behind buildings. I checked the usual spots and found no other falcons so I headed east where I found the Beautyful one on the 5 Star Bank near the southeast corner. I could see tail feathers from prey right around the corner from her. She flew off to the west leaving the prey behind after I heard a juvie whining.

I went around the block to have a look and then I checked from the Museum of Science parking lot. Found some pretty hanging flower baskets and could see a falcon back on that corner so I returned to get a closer look near Martin Luther King Jr. park. I believe it was Rachel who was checking out the prey her mom left behind. She flew off with it in one of her talons and then I saw her flying with Ontario near Xerox.

<Click

The juvies did some nice flying around the Xerox area and then Dot.ca (DC) came into the mix. He had food and landed on the northeast corner of Xerox with it. Rachel took it from him and Ontario stood back. DC flew off and the kids flew from the northeast to northwest corners of Xerox with some super flying and talon tag in between.

I quick drove over to Spectrum to check out their hours as I needed to speak to them about my service and as I was leaving I spotted a mockingbird on a light. I taped him as he sang his repertoire of songs for me-jumping above to grab bugs out of the air. One of my favorite songbirds!

I returned to the east side to find more flying, eating and shenanigans on the north side roof of Xerox.

<Click>

<DC

Larry had reported being at the high falls just for the heck of it. He stopped by to tell me that the falcon sucking tree in the gorge over there had been removed. He also said that he didn’t tweet it out because he didn’t want to get all the hate mail over it! LOL Meanwhile, Rachel and Ontario stopped flying and landed on the north side roof of Xerox for some rest & relaxation. Lil O literally dropped to lay down flat out and closed his eyes while big sis watched over him. Such a cute site to behold!

Carol reported she was on her way downtown so I tagged her it and ended my watch at 7:20am. I stopped on Broad St. to take a pic of the flowers there as I was admiring them the other day when I was driving around looking for the kids.

<Click

What fun I had watching our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons this morning-they so make me smile! 🙂

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

https://youtu.be/cYfohYzH4Ps

https://youtu.be/uzEKEEL-j1c

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another pleasant bit of weather with a starting temperature of 55 (F) 13 (C)

Click on my pics to see the full version

I began my watch at 5am with Dan on the Court St. bridge (CSB). We could see one juvie on the southwest corner of Xerox in the darkness but it left when we were looking for the other members of this falcon family. Dot.ca (DC) flew in around 5:20am and landed on the southwest wing ring on Times Square (TSB). He was the only one we saw for about 10 minutes when he flew off to the Powers building, first landing on the railing then into the nest box. He was followed by Rachel and Ontario who kept flying past Powers to the north out of view.

A bit later a juvie showed up and landed on TSB under the northeast wing. Beauty showed up over at Powers and I assume she and DC did some bonding there. Dan noticed a small bird on the southwest wing ring and I was able to confirm that it was a robin. 5 minutes later I spotted both juvies on the northwest corner of the Xerox roof. The sun was behind them and so pics are not so great.

We missed them taking off but we saw them flying with an adult and Larry confirmed 3 flying near Legacy Tower (LT) and Xerox from his 16th floor apartment at Tower 280 (formerly Midtown). It had to be DC who had food over there because Beauty was still on the Powers cam and the next thing we saw was Rachel on the lower southwest corner of Legacy eating. Ontario buzzed past her a couple times then landed on the opposite south corner briefly then he was off again. Once more the lighting was horrible with the sun behind the east side buildings.

I happened to see a Great Blue Heron land in the river below the Broad St. bridge and a few minutes later a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron (BCNH) landed near him. The GBH chased the smaller heron out of there as he didn’t want to share his hunting spot!

<Click

Larry and Zeke joined Dan and on the CSB around 6:15am. Ontario made another appearance near Rachel and then he landed on the slanted roof on LT. He promptly slid down to the end and had to fly off! It was pretty comical-you can see it on my snippet video. A robin landed on the street light near us and sang to us for a minute then flew off.

Beauty flew over to the jail communications tower (JCT) and Rachel finished eating. She then hopped up on the railing before taking off.

Beauty flew from the JCT and that was the last I saw of our downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons. I spotted an adult BCNH on a log down in the river behind the library. Dan left after checking it out. It was on the hunt and a duck family was hanging out behind it in the shallows. Suddenly a GBH came in and scared the BCNH off-he flew over to the tree by the northwest corner of the library and the Broad St. bridge and vanished behind the leaves. This is where he has roosted in past years.

Larry was ready to head out and I had to leave too as I had an early appointment and a busy day ahead of me. Carol started her watch as I was leaving. I would have liked to see more of Rachel and Ontario but at least they were safe and sound after last nights fireworks and that was enough to have me smiling as I ended my watch at 7am! 🙂

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

https://youtu.be/U4t-7QJoccg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

After watching the 4th of July Fireworks last night on our streaming video, I was very happy to hear that all four Rochester Falcons had been seen before I arrived for my morning watch a little after 7:00 am.  I arrived on the Court St Bridge (CSB) just in time to see both Larry and MAK packing up and ready to leave.  By the time I parked and got out of my car, MAK was pulling away.  But, Larry remained to give me an update, say hello and then goodbye.  Thanks Larry!  I really appreciated that.  I was on my own, and no falcons in view.  lol

Since I could see no falcons from the CSB, I decided to drive around.  It wasn’t long before I found a little juvie falcon head peaking up from the west side roof of the Legacy Tower.  This used to be called the B&L bldg.

<— Juvie Peregrine Falcon Peaking from the Legacy Tower Roof.

I continued checking out the area, but could find no other falcons.  It was time to return to the Court St. Bridge.

At 8:00 am, Kathy O arrived.  She let me know that there was a falcon about midway down on the Spectrum Communication Tower (SCT).  I wasn’t able to see this falcon because the Frederick Douglas/Susan B Anthony Bridge was in the way.  From the west end of the CSB, we were able to see it.

<— Rachel on the Spectrum Communication Tower.

A few minutes later, Joyce arrived.  She and Kathy decided to drive over to the Spectrum Tower to see if the falcon there was a juvie or adult.  I remained on the CSB to keep an eye on things.

Just after they left, Beauty arrived and landed on the top arm of the Jail Communication Tower (JCT).

<— Beauty on Jail Communication Tower.

At 8:15 am, I noticed that the falcon on the Spectrum Comm Tower was gone, but there was another falcon higher up.  Kathy tweeted that she and Joyce had ID’d the first falcon as Rachel.  She had taken off, flown far to the south and returned to the SCT.  Dot.ca had arrived, without food, and landed above Rachel.  She was not happy that he was empty taloned, vocalizing loudly.

<— Dot.ca on the Spectrum Communication Tower.

It wasn’t long before Dot.ca took off and joined Beauty on the Jail Communication Tower.

<— Beauty and Dot.ca on the JCT.

Kathy O and Joyce returned to the Court St Bridge and we enjoyed some flying by our falcons and the beauty of the river below.  The Black-Crowned Night Heron was perched in the tree near the library and a Great Blue Heron was snoozing on a log below.

<— Great Blue Heron Snoozing.

In the distance, I could see a small falcon on the top arm of the Frontier Communication Tower.  Most likely one of the Kestrels nesting over there.

<— Kestrel on the Frontier Comm Tower.

At 9:30 am, from the Andrews St Bridge (ASB), I could see an adult falcon on OCSR’s top Ibeam at the west corner (most likely Dot.ca) and a falcon eating on the Times Square Bldg below the northwest wing (I believe this was Ontario).  Joyce still had Rachel on the Spectrum Comm Twr.

<— Dot.ca on OCSR.

<— I believe this was Ontario eating under the TSB NW wing.

We ended our morning watch a little before 10 am.  Ontario, on the TSB, had finished eating, Dot.ca was still on OCSR and Rachel remained on the SCT.  The only falcon we could not find was Beauty, but we had seen her earlier.  It was siesta time for our falcons and it was time to leave.

We were all very happy to have seen all four Rochester Falcons this morning after the fireworks from last night.

Enjoy the day everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

What an incredibly beautiful morning for America’s Birthday!  It was a wonderful morning for a falcon watch.  🙂

I arrived on the Court St Bridge (CSB) just before 7:00 am.  Dan and Larry (with Zeke) were there.  MAK had gone looking for the two juvies.  Dan told me that soon after she left, both juvies showed up on the jail communication tower (JCT).  Isn’t that always the way?  lol

So, just after I patted Zeke on the head a couple times and settled down in my chair, one of the juvies was already gone from the JCT.  It was Rachel!  She flew out towards the river, turned left, passed over the Court St Bridge, then the Broad St Bridge.  Turned left again, passed by Beauty (who was sitting on the Powers Bldg), banked left and ended up landing on the Widows Walk (WW).  Very nice flight Rachel!!!

<— Rachel Fly Over.

<— Ontario remained on the Jail Communication Tower.

<— Dan, Larry and Zeke on the Court St Bridge.

At 7:13 am, Dan left us.  At 7:16 am, Rachel (after being harassed by a Robin on WW) returned to the JCT.

<— Rachel and L’il O on JCT.

At 7:20 am DC flew in to JCT and he and both juvies took off.  When we looked back at the Powers Bldg, Beauty was also gone.

Dot.ca took Beauty’s spot on the Powers Bldg at 7:20 am.

<— Dot.ca on Powers Bldg camera.

Rachel came back, landing on the jail communication tower.

<— Rachel on the JCT.

MAK ended her watch and Joyce joined Larry, Zeke and I on the Court St Bridge.

All was quiet for awhile, so Larry and Zeke left to go on a hike.  Joyce spotted two falcons on the Widows Walk.  It was Ontario and Beauty.  So now we had four again.  Dot.ca (DC) on Powers, Rachel and on the JCT and Ontario & Beauty on WW.  All was good in the Rochester Falcon World. (8:40 am)

<— Rachel on JCT.

<— Dot.ca on Powers Bldg.

<— Ontario and Beauty on WW.

Ten minutes later, Beauty flew over to the west corner of OCSR.  Fifteen minutes after that, Rachel joined her brother on the WW.

<— Ontario on WW after Beauty left.

<— Rachel joined Ontario on WW.

<— Beauty and Dot.ca on OCSR.

Both Rachel and Ontario took off.  It was time to hit the road and find the two juvies.  (9:11 am)

It didn’t take long for Joyce to find them both on the west side of the Cross Rds. Bldg.  By the time I arrived in the hole (aka Aqueduct St), Rachel had returned to the east railing on Widow’s Walk.  I moved over to the parking lot on the north side of the Times Square Bldg.

<— Rachel was having a nice conversation with the local Robin. 🙂

Ontario arrived and flew all over the area, chasing pigeons.  He’s doing really well with his hunting training.

<— Ontario in hunt mode!

Ontario joined Rachel on WW at 9:30 am.

<— Both Rachel and Ontario on WW.

Rachel took off heading north, leaving Ontario to deal with the irate Robin.

<— Ontario and the WW Robin.

At 9:48 am, Ontario had enough and took off heading north.

<— Ontario Take Off!

I followed the best I could, but could not find him.  But I did find Dot.ca on the east side of the Powers Bldg from the Andrews St Bridge.  Beauty was on OCSR.

<— Dot.ca on Powers Bldg.

Now, where were those kids!  At 10:00 am, I drove back to the Court St Bridge and found Ontario on the front of the Rochester Public Library.  It was a holiday, so he wasn’t able to take out any books.  lol

<— Ontario on the Rochester Public Library.

Soon after I took this picture and tweeted out where he was, Ontario took off, heading back towards the Times Square Bldg.

When I arrived back in the hole (Aqueduct St), I could only see the tip of juvie tail feathers hanging out on the TSB NW wing ledge.

<— I believe these were Ontario’s tail feathers.

It was siesta time for our juvies.  They had been quite active this morning.  When I arrived home, I checked the cameras on our live streaming video page.  They showed Rachel sleeping in the Powers Nest Box.

I hope that everyone has a very happy 4th of July!!!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a very pleasant morning with sunshine and a temperature of 58 (F) 14 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

Happy Birthday America!

When I joined Dan on the Court St. bridge (CSB) at 5am Rachel was under the northeast wing and Ontario under the southeast wing of Times Square (TSB). It was still quite dark out but thanks to the new lights on those ledges you can see the falcons.

<Click

Rachel went up on the light then down quickly and started doing some sort of happy dance for a minute or so and then she flew out and over to the southwest wing ledge. She wasn’t there for long as she flew off and came back in to knock Ontario off the northeast ledge taking his place. He flew over to the Powers building near the cam.

<Click

Around 5:30am Rachel flew over to the Spectrum Communications Tower (SCT) then off to the west leaving our field of vision over Cornhill. Next we had both juvies flying over and landing on the SCT. Beauty was on the Powers cam.

Ontario flew off about 15 minutes later and went after a duck near Cornhill out of view. He came back and landed on top of the Freddy-Sue bridge arch. I’ve never seen a falcon on that bridge. These juvies are certainly giving us some different tendencies from past broods. He didn’t stay there for long and joined his sister on the SCT once more. Beauty flew in landing on the upper part of the tower where she could keep an eye on her kids.

The juvies flew off together and did some talon tagging all around the tower and Cornhill area. Rachel returned to the tower while Ontario stooped on something over Cornhill.

<Click>

I watched Ontario return to the tower but we couldn’t see him from where we were on the CSB so I walked down by the Blue Cross Arena and found him.

<Click

Right after I located him everybody flew off heading towards me and then I saw Dot.ca (DC) with food. I lost them all behind the Arena and when I walked back up to rejoin Dan, Larry and Zeke were there as well. DC had gone to OCSR top I-beam south corner and Beauty to the Powers cam. We had no visual of the kids but they were last seen near TSB. DC stooped straight down OCSR out of view a couple minutes later.

I always get antsy when I don’t know where the kids are so I left Dan and Larry around 6:45am to go in search of. Carol joined them soon after I left. Larry tweeted out that the juvies were on the Jail Communications Tower (JCT) so I drove over to Troup St. to watch them.

They were so cute next to each other and you could see the big size difference with Rachel being the larger one on the left. Rachel flew off and Carol reported that she went to Widows Walk so I went first to the parking lot next to TSB but she had her back to me so I went over to Fitzhugh St. where I found a robin across from her.

<Click

I no sooner got settled when Rachel took off. Joyce reported that she had Rachel with her brother on opposite arms of the JCT. I joined Joyce, who was on Troup St.

<Click

A minute later they both flew north out of view. Joyce went over to the CSB and I went looking for the kids. I found the Beautyful one on Widows Walk and Ontario was on Irving Place singing up a storm. He had food in his crop so I don’t know why he was whining so much. I saw feathers floating so I wondered if maybe Rachel was behind him on the roof where I couldn’t see her from the parking lot next to TSB.

Lil O walked further down the roof before flying off to the north quickly leaving my field of vision.

Beauty then flew off and ended up on the northeast corner of Irving Place. Just like her son before her she kept looking down at the birds that were flitting around below.

I ended a very active fledge watch at 7:45am smiling as Beauty was looking at me when I pulled away! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

https://youtu.be/07C53Sj8r3A

https://youtu.be/aoxR5hJPI_c

By Rochester Falcon Watchers Carol P.

I haven’t been able to get out as early as I’d like, due to life in general.  So if I’m lucky enough to arrive in time to see the other morning watchers, it’s usually only for a short time.  When I arrived this morning, around 7:20 am, I was too late to talk to anyone.  Dan and Larry had left, and I saw MAK for a moment in the hole, but she left before I could say hello.  Oh, well.

Continuing on from MAK’s morning report……

From the hole (aka Aqueduct St), I could see both Rachel and Ontario on the Times Square Bldg (TSB).  Rachel was watching Li’l O (Ontario) eat his breakfast.  Beauty was keeping guard over her young from the Mercury statue.

<— Rachel & Li’l O on TSB

<— Beauty on Mercury

After Ontario finished his meal, he came forward on the column to sit by his sister’s side.  Then they both took off, heading west.

Rachel landed on the south railing on Widow’s Walk (WW) and Ontario buzzed her and continued on his way.

I drove around to Broad St to get a better view of Rachel, who had the attention of a very irate Robin.  They have to be nesting over in that area.

<— Rachel and Robin on Widow’s Walk

After awhile, Rachel had enough and took off, heading north.

I drove around, ending up on the Andrews St Bridge.  From there I could see Beauty up on the Powers Bldg railing and she wasn’t alone.  lol  A pesky, but very brave Robin had joined her on the railing.  I was too far away to be able to ID it as the same Robin that had been bugging Rachel.  🙂

<— Beauty and Robin on Powers Bldg

Beauty took a swipe at the Robin, but missed.  She landed on the camera and was almost immediately under attack from a Kestrel.

After tiring of dive bombing Beauty, the Kestrel headed back over to the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT), landing on the SE box.  During my morning watch the other day, I saw three Kestrels talon tagging between FCT and the church.  They definitely have young over there.

<— Beauty on Powers Camera

At 9:10 am, Beauty took off from Powers and soared between OCSR and the Times Square Bldg.  She ended up landing on the NW wing ledge.

I drove around hoping to find Rachel and Li’l O, but I couldn’t find them.  It was time to end my morning watch.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July!  Enjoy the day everyone!

***Be sure to click on any images you would like to see larger.***

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a pleasant morning weather wise with sunshine and a temperature of 62 (F) 17 (C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

Last night KathyO came for a visit hoping that the Seneca Towers juvies would show up. We weren’t disappointed! We were in my apartment when I caught a glimpse of a falcon flying past outside my living room window. I said let’s go because they don’t stay around for long! We got out to the west side balcony on my 16th floor just as the brothers flew in front of us. They did some flying and talon tagging and then the whiny one landed on the west side railing and the other disappeared to the southeast.

He flew off after a couple minutes and gave us a show going high then low over the trees of Seth Green Park and then we lost him. I believe he landed in a tree for the night. Just as the sun was setting Kathy spotted a Great Blue Heron in a dead tree on the west side of the gorge where I’ve seen Osprey in the past. It was a short stay but thrilling just the same to see falcons at eye level and up close and personal.

I started my watch this morning on the Court St. bridge (CSB) with Dan at 5:05am. We could see one falcon on Times Square (TSB) under the northeast wing.

Ontario flew in and swooped on his sister a couple times before landing next to her-like father like son I guess! lol  A couple minutes later they were both off and flying across the river over by the Hyatt Hotel then back to TSB -each of them landing under the southeast wing.

Rachel took off and flew out over the river flying in circles half a dozen times then went over to land on the jail tower. A few minutes later she came screaming over us and went after a Great Blue Heron that was attempting to land in the river. She is going to be a force to reckon with some day soon! She flew off to the east out of view and then Ontario came flying in to try his luck on one of the zippy little swifts that catch bugs over the river. He didn’t have a chance and he too disappeared to the east.

Around 6am I spotted a juvie on the southeast corner of the 5 Star Bank (formerly HSBC) railing. I alerted Dan and he saw the other kid land on the roof where we couldn’t see it. The railing juvie hopped down to the roof as well and appeared to be eating at times.

Dot.ca (DC) flew in with a small package landing on TSB under the northeast wing. Beauty followed him and grabbed it. They both flew over to the Powers building-he went to the nest box and she landed on the top railing southeast corner. During a lull in the action I checked out the river and found some ducks taking a bath and the Great Blue Heron that took a hit from Rachel earlier hunting.

Beauty flew over to the east side where Rachel flew out to meet her and take the tiny morsel of food. Dan left so I drove over to Elm St. and found Rachel eating on the north side of Legacy Tower (formerly B&L).

Rachel finished up with her snack and flew off with Ontario as he came into the picture. They both ended up together on the east side roof of the 5 Star Bank after circling it a couple times.

Beauty came in and I assume a food exchange took place out of my view because both juvies flew out to greet her and the next time I saw them all, Ontario was eating on the column above the nest box with Rachel right there supervising. The Beautyful one was on Mercury’s heel.

Rachel must have been satisfied with her meager breakfast as she didn’t bother Lil O but rather did some preening.

I figured they would be taking it easy after eating so I ended my watch around 7:30am leaving downtown with a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/ureYVhJmkoQ

https://youtu.be/iwlUgUqVDk8

https://youtu.be/qOk1ijJMiyM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The day started out with clear skies but soon became partly cloudy with a temperature of  62 (F) 17 (C)

Click on pics to see the full version

As I made my way down St. Paul Street towards downtown I had to stop and take a pic of Tower 280 (formerly Midtown) which was decked out with red, white and blue lights for Independence Day.

I arrived downtown a little after 5am and joined Dan on the Court St. bridge (CSB). The only falcon we could see in the darkness was a juvie on the light under the northeast wing of Times Square (TSB).

Around 5:30am I spotted Beauty coming from the north chasing 2 ducks heading right at us over the river. She broke it off and the ducks kept flying south at a speed I’d never seen ducks fly! lol The Beautyful one must have gotten her kids all riled up as the next thing we saw were the juvies playing talon tag over the jail. They made their way over to TSB with Rachel landing under the northeast wing and Ontario the southeast wing. He started munching on leftovers and she settled on the light.

<Click

I spotted a duck all by its lonesome down in the river napping with its head tucked back under its wing and a Great Blue Heron hunting over by the Broad St. bridge.

When Lil O finished eating he flew over to join his sis under the northeast wing and started eating again on what Dan called “an old sun dried morsel that was probably stuck to the concrete”! He definitely has his own falcon language.

After the duck chase Beauty had flown off and ended up on the Powers cam. Rachel must have decided it was time for mom to get her some breakfast as she flew over there and knocked Beauty off and took her spot atop the cam.

<Beauty <Rachel

Rachel left a few minutes later and followed Dot.ca (DC) to the Jail Communications tower (JCT). He landed at the very top and after a failed attempt to land next to dear old dad she landed down lower on the tower.

DC flew off to the southwest and once again his daughter followed him until they both left our field of vision. A bit later Beauty flew in with DC and Rachel over the jail. DC stooped on something out of view and Rachel went with him. Beauty landed on the jail tower-boy, what a bunch of jail birds! Ontario was still hanging out on TSB digesting his snacks.

Right around 6:30am Larry and Zeke joined us. I was giving Zeke some treats out of my car trunk when Larry yelled FOOD TRANSFER by the library. I turned and looked right after and watched as DC and Beauty flew off. Dan and Larry were not sure which one handed the pigeon over to Rachel, but she started flying over the river heading towards the Blue Cross Arena. She was steadily losing altitude and had to drop her breakfast in the river before crashing into the lower part of the Broad St. bridge. Thankfully she was wise enough to do so! She ended up over on the JCT after flying to TSB first. The only pic I was able to get of the whole ordeal was the one below-notice the wing of the pigeon sticking straight out behind her on the right side. It may have still been alive causing Rachel to struggle that much more with it.

The kids started flying together over by the Spectrum Communications Tower (SCT), formerly the Time Warner tower. They eventually landed next to each other on the tower. I checked Widows Walk and found an adult there with a robin bravely staring from across the way.

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Dan was leaving just as Carol joined the watch. The juvies left SCT and Beauty landed on the JCT.

Larry spotted a juvie back on the SCT and that was the only PEFA we could see. I was about ready to end my watch so I left Carol and Larry on the CSB and drove around to see what I could see. I ended up over in the Spectrum parking lot off of Mt Hope Blvd. where I was able to locate both Rachel and Ontario on the tower.

As I was leaving just before 8am both juvies flew northwest over the river out of sight leaving me with a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/Jj5STIcTbnE

https://youtu.be/0azEWzQ_sU4