By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers: Kathy O, Dana, Larry O, Sue, Shaky & Carol P.

Weather: Cooler (temps in the 70’s), a bit of a breeze and very cloudy.

Here we are. The last day of June. Today’s watch had a lot of talon tagging by our young juvies. Both Beauty and Dot.ca were close, keeping an eye on Roc, Geraki and Hope.

They were fed on the Philippone building and then it was time to play again. I really do enjoy this time, when they are getting more confident with their flying skills. So much fun to watch!

Here are some pictures from today’s watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers – Kathy O, Dana, Larry O & Carol P.

Weather – Very warm and humid, Sunny & Blue Sky. Temps in the 80’s today.

When I first arrived in the hole (Aqueduct St), I found Geraki on Mercury’s head. She was quite comfy up there, watching everything that moved around her.

I walked out to Main St and to the west side of the river. From there I had a wonderful view of the area, with the sun behind me. Better for pictures. From there I was able to see Hope on the east side of Wilder, behind the Chimney. She had a scrap of food up there. Hope took off heading NW.

Geraki started wailing just before Beauty flew in and landed on the base of Mercury below her. Roc was close behind, landing on the SW corner of the old Riverside Hotel. They both took off also heading NW. Kathy O and Dana were at the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT). They reported that first Hope and then Beauty & Roc arrived at FCT. I stayed with Geraki.

She took off and landed on the east side of Wilder where the leftovers were. From there she took off and landed on the top of the fire escape on the south side of Wilder. There were a lot of small birds there that were not very happy with her. Geraki took off again and landed on the SW corner of Wilder below the green strip. Then off again to the railing on Widows Walk.

After that, all 3 juvies were flying and so was Beauty. At one point food came in and 2 juvies ate on a building near the Civil Parking Garage. Beauty sat on the corner of the building watching over them.

There was a lot of flying and talon tagging. So much fun to watch. All 3 landed on their favorite antenna near the Jail Communication Tower where Beauty was watching from.

Larry O had gone out to the pedestrian bridge to see if any of the falcons had headed out there. We would all LOVE to see that. 🙂

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

Just one more thing. Now that everyone is wearing masks, I’ve notice many discarded on the ground, everywhere. Please think about holding onto your old masks and throwing them out when you get home. There was even a momma duck sitting on her nest with a mask entwined in the nesting material. Thankfully, the ducklings hatched and left without getting tangled in the elastic. These cannot be good for wildlife. I’m going to bring a garbage bag downtown tomorrow with gloves to pick them up and throw them in the garbage properly. Thanks!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers – Dana, Linda, Larry O & Carol P. (and we had a visitor; Cam Watcher Jackie 🙂

Weather – Very Cloudy, with some moments of sun. Cool and humid until the sun came out, when it got quite toasty. Tough lighting for taking pictures.

When I first arrived in the hole, Dana was there. She had two juvies on the base of Mercury and Beauty on top of the statue. I saw one juvie take off heading west. The second followed and so did we.

From the corner of Fitzhugh and Broad St, we were thrilled to see all three juvies flying together and talon tagging. What a wonderful way to start our watch. Linda and then Larry O joined us.

Beauty eventually came in with food and all three juvies landed with her on Widows Walk (WW). Dot.ca was watching from the jail communication tower.

We ended up watching from the Times Square Bldg parking lot where we had a very nice view of all three juvies taking turns eating. Beauty was watching from the west side of WW. She took off and ended up successfully hunting on the old City Hall (Irving Place). She ate her share before sharing the leftovers with her young ones on Widows Walk.

We believe that Dot.ca may be molting. He has been around, but not as active as Beauty has been with the juvies.

It was an excellent Sunday Morning Watch!

I just wanted to mention that there are other watchers that have been coming downtown late afternoon/evening. At this time, they are not leaving watch reports, but I wanted to mention their hard work and time spent watching over the juvies. Thanks Carrie, Pat, Jeanne, Carla P, Brian H and any others that have been keeping watch!

Here are some pictures from my watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

There was a lot of rain this morning in Rochester, NY. Things started clearing up around 10:00 am, so I headed downtown to join Dana for a fledge watch.

Watchers: Dana and Carol P.

Weather: Warm and more humid that it has been. Temps in the 80’s today.

When I arrived, Dana was watching Beauty up on the railing below the Mercury statue. Both Hope and Geraki were on top of the old Thomson Reuters roof.

First Hope and then Geraki took their turn at the food that was up there. While Geraki was eating, Hope was taking a nice bath in a large puddle on the roof. Geraki bathed after she finished eating. We could not see them bathing from below, but the rfalconcam cameras were able to see them from above.

After both had bathed and were preening, Beauty flew down to the roof, followed by Roc. Roc ate his fill, and then Beauty. Nothing goes to waste.

Hope flew over to the Widows Walk railing, then Geraki followed. Roc landed on the Philippone Bldg and watched all the pigeons around him, before heading over to Widows Walk.

The three juvies flew south and back to Widows Walk, where two settled before we ended our watch.

Larry O arrived just as we were leaving.

On my way out of downtown, I searched for Dot.ca and found him on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) below the platform, from the Andrews St Bridge. I drove over to City Hall and with some difficulty I was able to find him through the grating.

All five Rochester Falcons were accounted for today.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from today’s watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers (6:30 – 10:30 am) – Kathy O, Dana, Larry O and Carol P.

Weather: Started out at 60 degrees (F) and was up into the 70’s when we ended our watch. Bright sunshine and very low humidity. Blue Sky and very little breeze.

When Kathy O arrived, she saw two juvies on Widows Walk. I arrived soon after and only saw Hope there. Larry O and Dana arrived soon after I did.

It was very quiet for the first 3 hrs of our morning watch. Hope had taken off and was replaced by (who we think was) Roc. Without seeing them together to see size difference and no look at their legs (blue vs yellow), it is almost impossible to tell them apart, especially for me.

Just as Larry O was pulling out of the parking lot, Hope flew over us heading towards Widows Walk. She landed right next to Roc, knocking him down to the lower ledge. Beauty was on the corner of the Powers Bldg and Dana spotted Dot.ca on the north side of OCSR.

We started to hear a juvie crying behind us. After walking around and searching, I found Beauty and Roc (I think, based on size) with food on the corner of the now closed Riverside Hotel.

There was a lot of flying by all five while we were on the Main St Bridge, over the river. Including talon tagging by Hope and Geraki.

The morning watch started out slow, but ended up with a lot of activity by our Rochester Falcons.

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

Here is my Thursday morning movie, of video clips and pictures of our Peregrine Falcon juvies- by Auntiewood. Hope you enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers This Morning (6:15 – 9:45 am) – Dana, Kathy O, Larry O, Sue, Shaky & Carol P.

Weather: Cool with low humidity. 60’s this morning, going up to high 70’s this afternoon. Lots of sunshine and blue sky.

Finally! Welcome Rochester Falcons Class of 2020!

Finally, our three juvies landed close to each other on Widows Walk this morning. It’s so hard to get a picture of the three of them together. I just wish there could have been four juvies in this picture. I know their lost sibling is flying free with all our falcons that have passed before her or him.

This morning they were very active, playing with each other. They love being together!

The girls, Hope and Geraki enjoyed a nice talon tag session over us. It is so amazing seeing them fly so well. Roc is really close to hunting on his own. I would not be surprised if one of the watchers is lucky enough to see him successfully hunt one of these days.

Beauty was hanging out on the Powers Bldg and Dot.ca on OCSR. Geraki even joined Dot.ca, on the top Ibeam of OCSR, making an awesome landing. She was the one that was having a bit of trouble with her landings so it was great seeing her do so well. Hope is a bit smaller than Geraki. She intensely watches everything that moves around her.

Our class of 2020 is doing great!

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers (6:00 – 10:30 am) – Dana, Larry O, Kathy O & Carol P.

Weather: Much cooler, low humidity and very windy, but sunny. Temps in the 70’s later today.

When I parked in the hole (Aqueduct St), Dana had already arrived. I had just missed a food transfer from Beauty, which brought all 3 juvies up to the sky. All three landed on the Thomson Reuters bldg. Kathy and Larry arrived and we all settled down to watch from the parking lot in the hole. Beauty was in and out, landing on various buildings. As each juvie took their turn eating breakfast, the others would pop up from time to time.

Dot.ca was close by, sitting on the top Ibeam of OCSR. He may have provided this meal for his young.

There was a lot of flying by Roc. He flew here and there, enjoying the strong winds.

Oh, and there is a surprise picture at the end. Be sure not to miss it. 🙂

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers during my morning watch (6:30 – 10:30 am), Larry O and Kathy O.

Weather: Very warm and humid with temps going up to the high 80’s. Maybe some rain this afternoon. We really need it.

When I first arrived in the hole, I heard loud cries above me. There were two juvie falcons talon tagging over the parking lot. One landed on the NE corner of Wilder. It was Geraki. She took off and landed on the base of Mercury.

Larry O had reported a juvie over on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT), so we had all 3 juvies pretty quickly. That’s always good.

The quiet was broken big time when Beauty flew over carrying food. Three fast and furious juvies took to the sky and the chase was on!

I tried to keep track of them, but lost them as they turned north. Beauty had landed on the chimney on the old City Hall (Irving Place). One of the juvies had grabbed the food and all three continued on heading north. I headed out on foot. It’s easier than trying to drive around.

Beauty was gone. I followed the path of the juvies and found Beauty and Geraki on top of the roof of City Place. Feathers were floating down over Geraki, so I knew where the food had gone. But I wasn’t sure how many juvies were up there.

After awhile Geraki went out of view and was replaced by Hope. Beauty took off and returned and then left again. She ended up on the Widows Walk railing. While Hope was taking her turn at the food, Roc flew in and landed next to Geraki. Well, now we had all three!

Kathy O joined me on Fitzhugh. When the three juvies were finished eating, they took off one at a time. Roc took off heading south. Hope took off landing on 13 Fitzhugh, the site of the oldest school building in Rochester. Geraki took off last, tried to land next to Hope, but slid down the roof. She continued south.

While we were watching Hope, we were visited by Ellen, who works in a nearby building. Ellen had been a watcher during the Mariah and Kaver days.

Hope took off and headed southwest. That’s when Roc flew in and landed on the ledge below Beauty, who was still on the Widows Walk railing. Roc stood in front of the hole pigeons used, probably to raise little pigeons. He stood there hoping for a pigeon to appear. lol

At one point, a pigeon landed a few feet to his right on the ledge and they just kind of looked at each other. At one point Roc looked up and cried for Beauty to do something. 🙂

Roc took off while I wasn’t looking. When I ended my watch at 10:30 am, the only falcon I had in view was Beauty. Sadly no pictures of Dot.ca. Larry O and Kathy O said he was over on OCSR.

Here are some pictures from my watch. Enjoy!

The building that Hope was on was the site of the first schoolhouse in Rochester. The current building was built in 1873.

Larry OHeron: 05:45 – 07:45 pm)

Highlight: Beauty brought eats to Mercury where there were two juvies. A third came in and two juvies were eating, when one of them flew off with the meal while the other held on, leading to a tug-of-war over the TR parking lot.

05:45. Andrew Street Falcon watch. Out now to beat the predicted rain later. one Falcon on OCSR, second I beam down, West corner. One Falcon on crossroads North corner, juvie.

05:57. I’ve got two falcons on Mercury. One of them’s a juvie.

05:59. Falcon Central watch. Adult on Mercury’s arm which I believe is beauty. Juvie is on Mercury’s foot.

06:01. Beauty flew across the river and disappeared over by the Metropolitan building.

06:05. Broad Street Falcon watch. After repositioning to the bridge, I can now see a second juvie on the base of Mercury.

06:12. Momentarily had a falcon underneath the northeast wing of Times Square.

06:22. Have a falcon again underneath the Northeast wing. Plus two juvies on mercury.

06:31. Bcame back from the east side of the river and delivered something to eat, not very big, to the juvie on Mercury’s foot. Beauty then flew off and over somewhere behind TR.

06:32. At the moment I can account for four falcons. Beauty just went behind Wilder Bldg. There’s a falcon under the Northeast wing. There’s two juvies on Mercury.

06:37. The falcon under the northeast wing was a juvie. It just flew to Mercury to get a little bit of what was brought in by Beauty. There are now three juvies on Mercury.

06:39. Broad Street Falcon watch. Carrie and I agree that between the kinda-whitish breast and big wingspan when it took off from TS, that most likely it was Hope underneath the northeast wing. So that put r and g, being on Mercury.

06:41. It’s kind of hard to gauge whether the two on the base that are picking at something are roughly the same size or not. It only matters in order to try an ID whether it is r on the foot or g on the foot of Mercury.

06:43. One of the two on the base snatched the meal, and took to the air. The other one on the base followed immediately for a chase over the TR parking lot, and then the one on the foot took off to chase the other two.

06:44. In the mix one adult came in for a little bit and then took off over TR. So all three juvies are on wilder building.

06:55. Broad Street Falcon watch. Adult flew onto Wilder ladder. One juvie came out of hiding and is on the air conditioning unit of Wilder.

06:59. Right now Carrie and I have two juvies who are hiding on Wilder, and one juvie, possibly Hope, on the air conditioning unit of Wilder. And most likely it’s Beauty on the ladder.

07:19. Pat has joined Carrie and I. Two juvies on the AC unit. One juvie on southwest corner of Wilder, dragging whatever it was the beauty brought in to Mercury, that the two juvies then tugged that as they flew over to Wilder. Beautie on wilder ladder.

07:29. Beauty flew west.