By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

When I first arrived downtown I spotted a falcon on the Widows Walk. This is the old city hall building located behind the Times Square Bldg. It was Neander aka Mr. White Feather.

Neander took off flying towards the Wilder Bldg and landing on the chimney. That’s when I could hear very loud falcon vocalization. You guessed it, Nova was on the chimney and she had food. There wasn’t much left, so Neander helped himself to her leftovers. Neander took his pigeon wing to the SW corner of the Wilder Bldg while Nova remained on the chimney.

It was quiet for a long time, but the Sunday morning peacefulness was broken by both Nova and Neander’s alarm kakking. They both took off and flew low over the Wilder and Cross Rds Bldg. I could not see what they were after, but assumed it might be a person out on the roof. It was quiet as Nova landed on top of the Mercury Statue and Neander landed on the NW wing ring on top of the Times Square Bldg.

Again it was quiet for a long time. Then they both started alarm kakking again. This time they both took off and flew towards the Widows Walk and started diving on the building. I quickly drove over to the Times Square Bldg parking lot to see what had their attention.

Mystery solved! The intruder into their territory was a Red-tail Hawk. The poor hawk was hunkered down on a lower ledge and was under attack by two very irate Peregrine Falcons!

As I watched, Nova and Neander took turns stooping on the hawk. The hawk kept low, trying to stay away from falcon talons. Finally, Nova and Neander ended their attack. Nova returned to the top of Mercury and Neander to the Times Square Bldg. I watched the hawk for awhile, only catching a glimpse of the top of its head. For some reason, I thought this was a juvie Red-tail Hawk. I wished it well, hoping it would soon make its escape.

On the way home, I checked ST and could not find Billie or Beau.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sunday morning falcon watch. It was very cold. Most of my watch was spent watching Neander on the Wilder Chimney.  He did take off once kakking and chasing a juvie Red-tail Hawk out of the area. He soon returned to the chimney.

I put down some seed for the neighborhood pigeons. I do this every Sunday morning that I go downtown for a watch. The city workers were busy putting up Christmas decorations on Main St. A rat ran by as I was watching them!

The hole aka Aqueduct St, is still closed. Has been for about a month now. Looks like new curbs have been placed and a few trees have been planted. Not sure if we’ll be able to park down there when it’s finished.

There was a very large crane next to OCSR towering high above the building.

Larry O, Cozi and Gimli joined me. There was no falcon activity while they were there, unless you count Neander preening.

After Larry left, I drove around the downtown area looking for Nova. From the back of Midtown, I spotted 3 falcons flying together high above the 5 Star Bank Bldg. They were headed west, and there was absolutely no aggression.

Back on the Court St Bridge, I could see that Neander was still on the Wilder Chimney.

It was time to end my watch and head home. I decided to drive by City Hall to check the Frontier Communication Tower. I was happily surprised to see a falcon on the platform. After a closer look, I saw that it was Nova, and she was dancing! Flapping her wings and strutting around, circling. She then took off heading west. That was fun! So happy to see both Nova and Neander. 

One other thing. City Hall is now playing a recording of very loud distressed bird vocalizations. They use these to scare off crows and pigeons. I didn’t see any Crows, but there were a lot of Pigeons nearby that were not impressed. Nova may have been there to investigate.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Yesterday morning I headed downtown for a Sunday morning falcon watch.  I found Neander on the SW corner of the Wilder Bldg. I followed his line of sight. He was intently watching Nova who was eating her breakfast on the SE corner of the Telesca Bldg.  Feathers were flying!

It wasn’t long before Neander joined Nova to grab a share of her meal. Loud vocalizations filled the quiet Sunday morning air. Neander grabbed a small portion of what appeared to be a pigeon while Nova grabbed the rest of it and flew off heading south behind the Wilder Bldg. She cached it and flew back, landing on top of the Wilder Chimney.

Neander quickly ate his small meal and took off heading towards OCSR. I spent the rest of my time watching Nova on the chimney.

On my way home I stopped at ST and found one falcon there. I was not able to see if banded, so not sure if it was Billie or Beau.