By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a gorgeous morning with clear skies, sun, a gentle breeze and a starting  temperature of 59 (F) 15 (C)

One of the eyases fell out of the nest box yesterday and despite big efforts to get back and help from mom it was forced to spend the night out in the playpen. Beauty stayed next to it all night after she corralled the other 2 to a corner in the nest box. It was still there when I left for my watch. As I arrived in the hole (Aqueduct St.) at 5:21am I caught Dot.Ca (DC) flying from the nest box over my head to the Mercury Money Bag (MMB) and Beauty for a fleeting moment on the deck.

Remember to always click on my pics to see full version

A few minutes later, cam watcher Campgee reported that just before DC brought food the little eyas made his way back into the nest box and Beauty was feeding all. Thanks and phew! So we can now expect more escapees and the beginning of the most nerve wrecking part of their lives for us to watch. Especially once they find their way out of the play pen and deck to the edge of no return. Anxiety will rule us then!

So 20 minutes later at 5:50am DC flew down to the base of Mercury and started picking at something. I went up to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) at this time and joined Dan who was sitting in his chair.

DC worked on plucking feathers and having a bite to eat as well for the next 15 minutes and then took off to make a delivery to the nest box at 6am. Beauty flew in, grabbed the prey and flew off with it, I assume to clean it up some more and have a few bites for herself.

<DC> <Beauty

Beauty grabs food and flies off with it

Meanwhile, DC flew up under the northeast wing of the Times Square Building (TSB) to preen and look for his next prey bird and Beauty returned to the nest box to feed the family.

Around 6:35am Beauty flew out with leftovers and cached them on Mercury and flew to the main cam to watch over the eyases with dad up above at the northeast wing. Dan left just before 7am so I drove down in front of the Blue Cross Arena for a closer view.

<DC> <Beauty>

With everyone settled after eating breakfast I set out for the Brighton site to check on Pigott. I arrived around 7:20am finding Miss Pigott on the east extension northeast corner.

She was doing a lot of wing stretching as well as preening and watching the bird activity below in the trees. I spent only 10-15 minutes with Pigott before she flew off to the east.

I watched her with my trusty binoculars as a bird flew into her path and she nearly grabbed it only to continue on her flight and go into a stoop as I lost sight of her. She didn’t return so I went back downtown after 20 minutes. I found our downtown dynamic duo where I left them-Beauty on the main cam and DC under the northeast wing as I parked in the hole behind the Philipone building.

I was satisfied to have seen all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons doing what they do safe and sound so I ended my watch at 8:10am. They so make me smile! 🙂

I have provided links below to view some videos from my watch just click and view

http://youtu.be/8g1WxR9vDww
http://youtu.be/GssmrVSNzYQ
http://youtu.be/LXR2XZek8B4
http://youtu.be/LEvNsmBQ2jw

This entry was posted on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 3:08 PM and is filed under Falcon Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.