By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(Please be sure to click on pics to see them in full size.)

It’s always a wonderful falcon watch when you see all 5 Rochester Falcons doing well!

When I first arrived, I spotted one falcon on the NE box on Frontier Comm Twr (FCT).  By the time I got there, the falcon on the box was gone and Dot.ca was on the top arm.

<— Dot.ca (DC) on the FCT arm.

Larry and his dog Zeke joined me in front of City Hall.  Larry spotted a falcon fly in and land near the disk.  It was Jupiter!

<— Jupiter on FCT.

After awhile, Jupiter took off.  Another juvie flew in and off towards the south.  We spotted a falcon sitting on the railing of Widows Walk (WW).  Larry had to leave, so I headed over to WW to ID the falcon there.  It was Lakota!

<— Lakota on WW railing.

So, I had 2 out of the 3 juvies.  Where could Phoenix be?

Another falcon flew in and landed on the railing near Lakota.  He was carrying a scrap of feathers.  After picking at the feathers, this juvie took off and flew past Lakota.  I was able to see the blue tape on the silver USFW band.  It was Phoenix!

<— Phoenix and Lakota on WW.

First Phoenix, then soon after, Lakota took off heading north.  I drove around and couldn’t find them.  So I headed back to the west side of Widows Walk.  From my car, I could hear very loud wailing.  After a few moments, I spotted two juvies up on the Times Square Bldg.

<— 2 juvies wailing on the Times Square Bldg (TSB).

A 3rd juvie, that I hadn’t seen, took off and then another.  Beauty came by with food and the chase was on!  I could only see bits and pieces of the chase due to the buildings surrounding me.  Both ended up flying towards the Powers Bldg.  Beauty returned without the food and landed on the WW railing.

<— Beauty on WW.

1 juvie remained on the TSB, wailing.  Both Beauty and the Juvie took off.  All of a sudden, there were no falcons in view.

Over on the Andrews St Bridge (ASB), I spotted two falcon on the Frontier Comm Tower.  I parked in front of City Hall, just in time to see a food exchange south of FCT.  Dot.ca brought in a pigeon, which he transferred to Phoenix.  Phoenix flew low over the street I was parked on and disappeared from view.

<— Phoenix with a pigeon.

That’s when I saw Dana.  She thought that Phoenix might have landed on the roof of the building.  We looked, but couldn’t find him.

We could still hear a juvie wailing up on FCT, and spotted both Dot.ca and Lakota up there.

<— Dot.ca on FCT.

<— Lakota on FCT.

After awhile, we spotted a juvie really low on FCT.  We thought this might have been Phoenix.  He took off and so did Lakota.  They both ended up on the north end of City Place on the ledge that we call Beauty’s Bathing Spot.

<— Juvie on City Place.

<— Juvie flying by FCT.

One juvie headed back to FCT.  It was Phoenix.  Dot.ca took off.  We could no longer see the juvie on City Place.

When I ended my watch at 11 am, I had seen all 5 Rochester falcons; Beauty, Dot.ca, Jupiter, Lakota and Phoenix.  It had been a very good morning falcon watch!

Here are a few pics from my Wednesday morning watch.  That day, I was only able to find Beauty, Dot.ca and Lakota.

<— Beauty on WW.

<— Beauty on FCT.

<— Lakota on WW.

<— Dot.ca on FCT.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(Be sure to click on the pics to see the full size.)

I and other watchers have been out most days, keeping an eye on our 3 young tiercels, Jupiter, Lakota and Phoenix.  Over this past week they’ve been tearing up the sky above downtown Rochester.

Today was no exception.  When I arrived downtown, I found Beauty on the north end of the Cross Rds Bldg and Phoenix on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).

<— Beauty on Cross Rds Bldg.

<— Phoenix on FCT.

I made my way over to City Hall where I found a parking spot with a great view of Phoenix.  He was in total hunt mode, watching everything that moved.  His head was in constant motion.

He took off, chasing a Robin over the City Hall Roof and back towards FCT. Mid-flight, he broke it off and ended up chasing a pigeon towards City Place.  He was right on their tails, so close to a successful hunt.  The pigeon landed and Phoenix returned to the Frontier Comm Twr.

It wasn’t long before he took off again, chasing pigeons and landing on the church just north of FCT.

<— Phoenix on church roof.

Phoenix took off again, heading west.  I could hear loud kakking, but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.  Finally, I spotted Phoenix flying and swooping over a building (we’ll call it the owl bldg.) to the west.  He was going after the two fake owls on the roof.  Back and forth, kak kak kak!  It make me laugh, watching this young falcon defend his territory.

After beating those dastardly plastic owls, Phoenix returned to FCT.

<— Phoenix on FCT.

Dana joined me and we settled in to watch Phoenix’s attempts at hunting.  If he hasn’t already had a successful hunt, he’s very close.

<— Phoenix on FCT.

After awhile, Phoenix took off, heading east.  We waited for awhile, but he did not return.

<— Phoenix heading east.

Joyce joined us, and we all met on the Court St. Bridge.  Dana had spotted Beauty on top of the Jail Communication Tower.  Beauty took off and flew over us, heading towards Xerox.

We chatted for awhile, but saw no further falcon activity.  So, we split up to search the area.

I found Beauty on the north side of Xerox.

<— Beauty on Xerox.

Dana tweeted that she had three juvies playing on City Place.  I got there just in time to see them all go in different directions.  Jupiter settled on FCT.

<— Jupiter on FCT.

While Dana and I were watching Jupiter, we saw an adult, probably Beauty do a food transfer to Lakota and Phoenix.  They ended up over by Widows Walk (WW).

<— Food Transfer Adult to two Juvies.

Jupiter took off and headed in that direction, and so did we.  I found Lakota on the north side of WW, lower ledge with food.  Dana found both Jupiter and Phoenix up on the west end, back of the Times Square Bldg.

<— Lakota with food on WW.

It didn’t take Lakota long to finish his meal.

<— Lakota on WW.

Joyce joined us.  It started to rain and Lakota took off.  He joined his brothers on the back of the Times Square Bldg.  It was great seeing all three brothers together.

<— l-r Lakota, Jupiter and Phoenix

It was time to end my morning watch.  🙂