By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers: Dana and Carol P.

After a long day of record breaking rain fall here in Rochester, NY, I was very happy to get out to check on our falcons.

Dana had already started watching when I arrived. We met on the Court St Bridge. The Genesee River was rocking and rolling. Lots and lots of rain had caused the water to be extremely high and it was moving fast. The river wasn’t the only thing that was active. Golden was out and about and chasing his favorite mom all over the place. Dot.ca was there too, but Golden was Beauty’s little shadow this morning.

Beauty brought in food and landed on the northwest corner of the Cross Rds Bldg. Dot.ca was hanging out on the OCSR. It wasn’t long before Golden came in screaming. He landed next to Beauty and a tug-o-war began. Golden grabbed the food and began to eat his breakfast. Beauty decided she was hungry too and took a bit for herself.

After finishing their small meal, both took off. Beauty in the lead with Golden right behind her. They zipped over the Blue Cross Arena. Golden returned, flying over us, and landed on a OCSR IBeam, below Dot.ca. This is the first time we had seen him land on an IBeam.

Since Golden was settling in for a nap, Dana and I decided to check out the ST location. We saw both adults and all three juvies together. Another first for me.

Ok, here are some of my favorite pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Morning Falcon Watchers: Larry O, Dana and Carol P.

It had been a few days since I had seen Golden. He had been seen and heard on the Rfalconcam cameras multiple times yesterday afternoon, so I was hoping he’d be around this morning. I was not disappointed.

For the first hour or so, I only found Beauty and Dot.ca. I searched all over the downtown area with no luck finding Golden. So, I settled on the Court St Bridge to continue my morning watch.

After a few minutes, a falcon zipped through over the Court St Bridge, heading south. Pigeons took to the air in panicked flight, trying to escape the speedy huntress. One was not so lucky. Beauty snatched one up and headed back to the Blue Cross Arena. She landed on the roof and I heard the glorious call of a juvie falcon. Golden followed his mom and also landed on the roof. Both took off, I lost track of where Beauty headed with her meal.

Golden flew over to the Civic Ctr roof across the street from the Blue Cross Arena. I wasn’t sure where Beauty ended up. By the time I drove closer for a better view, Golden took off heading north. The only falcon in view, when I ended my morning watch, was Dot.ca on the south side of the OCSR.

After I left, Dana spotted both Beauty and Golden near Midtown, both with full crops. Obviously, Golden found Beauty and shared her meal.

Here are some pictures from my morning watch. Enjoy!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Needless to say, my heart was broken when I got the call to pick up Freyja. We’ve had our share of sadness over the years, but this one really hit me hard. Fly Free Beautiful Freyja. I will miss you, always.

For the last week, many of the Rochester Falcon Watchers have been visiting downtown Rochester and the ST location to keep an eye on our young falcons. Golden is getting a lot of attention from both Beauty and Dot.ca. His training is going extremely well. I’ve seen him chase pigeons, kestrels and Great Blue Herons. Nothing is safe from him. As for the ST juvies, there are three of them, two girls and a boy, they too are doing really well.

There is such a difference in what we see at both locations. Downtown, Golden is more of a loner, having no siblings to play with, he hangs out with Beauty and Dot.ca. While the ST juvies are usually playing with and chasing each other, with Billie & Beau watching form nearby.

I really wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from the past week of so. Hope you enjoy!