By Watcher Pat C.

Watchers Larry, Jeanne and Pat met downtown for a late afternoon Independence Day Falcon Watch. After searching most their favorite spots, they began to make themselves known to us. Larry spotted Hope on Thomson Reuters. She then flew off and headed in the direction of FCT. Off we went. At FCT we found one adult, Beauty, and two juvies, Geraki and Hope. Shortly after, Dot.ca flew by with prey, and Roc followed. One of the juvies from FCT also followed Dad. I lost sight of all three, but was glad to have seen all five of our falcon family.

Happy Independence Day!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Larry O & Carol P.

Weather: Beautiful morning! Warm with low humidity. Love it!

My watch started when I found Geraki on a building behind the Civic Ctr. She was sitting on the corner. I saw another juvie fly over heading east.

A little later I saw both Hope and Roc on the Widows Walk railing. Beauty and Dot.ca were also seen this morning, so that makes all 5 Rochester Falcon Flying on this July 4th!

We’ve noticed that Hope is very possessive of her food. If she has it, it’s hers. lol She will protect it and carry it around. She will sometimes share it too. She’s a healthy eater. Beauty and Dot.ca make sure that all their young ones are fed well.

During the morning watch, all five falcons were seen. All are doing well.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Larry O & Carol P.

Weather: A beautiful start to what promises to be a very warm, hot and humid day, with temps in the 80’s forecast for later today.

It was a beautiful morning for a falcon watch. Hardly any traffic at all downtown due to the Fourth of July holiday.

I started my watch in the hole, but all the action was happening on the other side of Widows Walk on Fitzhugh. Three juvies were flying and having fun over there, so that’s where I headed.

Hope was eating up on the Civic Ctr and Roc joined her there. Geraki was on top of the old Church. Dot.ca and Beauty were nearby, Beauty on the Jail Communication Tower & Dot.ca on top of the Times Square Bldg’s wing ring.

Dana joined me when Hope finished her breakfast, all three took to the sky again. We had a blast watching these young falcons fly together. I really wish others could see this in person. We would have had our Falcon Watch Weekend soon, but due to the Corona Virus, it was cancelled this year. This is the weekend that falcon fans would visit Rochester and watch the young falcons fly.

All three juvies landed, side-by-side on the Widows Walk railing. Another family portrait, minus mom & dad.

Beauty flew through with more food, and all three joined her near the Thomson Reuters Bldg. Hope was on the base of Mercury, Beauty on the railing, Dot.ca at the top of the TSB and Geraki & Roc on top of TR. Geraki was the lucky recipient of this meal.

Roc took off and Larry O, who was out on the Court St Bridge with Zeke, witnessed some incredible flying by Roc, low over the Genesee River. By the time Dana and I walked up to the Broad St Bridge, Roc was out of sight.

Dana and I returned to the hole where Geraki had finished her meal. Hope took off from the base of Mercury and ended up on the east end of the Wilder Bldg. She had food up there. We spotted Geraki on top of the fire escape on the Wilder Bldg. She was so intently watching all the little birds flitting around her. They were not happy at all.

For the next hour we watched her up there. Hope took off heading northwest. Beauty came off the railing on Mercury and headed northwest. Geraki followed. We thought maybe they had headed over to the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).

When we arrived at FCT, we could see both Hope and Dot.ca in the red section under the platform. Hope had a very small bird that she shared with Dot.ca.

It was starting to get really warm, so Dana and I ended our watch at 10:00 am.

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Kathy O, Larry O, Alyssa (thanks for the help finding Beauty today!) & Carol P.

Weather: Hot, hot hot & humid. Hardly a breeze or a cloud in the sky. Temps going up to 90 degrees today.

When I first arrived, there was one juvie on Widows Walk. S/he took off and all of a sudden there were three flying around the Times Square Bldg (TSB). Two landed under the northeast wing. I believe two juvies, and there was food up there.

Other watchers joined me in the hole during the morning watch; Alyssa, Dana, Larry O & Kathy O.

Twice, Geraki hunted over the parking lot in front of us. It was wonderful to see her chasing the pigeons around the Times Square Bldg. She doesn’t quite have the speed to catch one yet, but she’s getting very close.

Alyssa returned from riding around on her bike and said she thought she found Beauty over on the old School on Fitzhugh St. I followed her over there (on foot) and yep! There was Beauty. Where we were standing, we had Geraki and Hope behind us on Widows Walk. We started to hear a juvie crying and it wasn’t from the girls. Roc popped up his head on the Monroe Bldg (corner of Main & Fitzhugh).

Roc had just finished eating breakfast and Beauty flew down to have a bit for herself. Roc took off and landed on top of the old Church (corner of Fitzhugh & Broad). He took off and there was some flying by the juvies overhead. Beauty finished her meal and headed north with the leftovers.

During all of this, Dot.ca was on the SE corner of the Powers Bldg. We had all five Rochester Falcons in view this morning.

So far, their training is going well. We’ll keep watching. 🙂

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Happily I was able to get a picture of Roc’s Wings, so now I have all three! Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Watchers: Dana, Larry O & Carol P.

Weather: Cool and beautiful! Clouds and Sun with temps going up to mid 80’s later today. 70’s during the watch.

Happy July 1st! June has ended. It was a very dry month here in Rochester, NY.

My watch started on the Court St Bridge and ended near City Hall. All 3 juvies were in attendance, along with both Beauty and Dot.ca. I didn’t see much of Hope yesterday, but she was up front and center today.

Lots of flying and talon tagging by our three young ones. Hope is very close to hunting on her own. She stooped on a Robin twice today. The Robin was very lucky that she is a hunter in training.

At one point Beauty brought in breakfast and all three had a good meal from it. Dot.ca sat above them keeping watch on the Frontier Communication Tower.

Their flights took them far to the north and east. When all three juvies headed towards High Falls, Larry O and Dana headed over there just in case they were flying through the gorge. Our favorite place to watch!

All three ended up back at the Frontier Communication Tower. Dana and Larry did not see them in the gorge.

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

I just love when the juvies spread their wings…so beautiful!