By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

11:00 am – 4:30 pm

What better way to spend a day off than to go out and look for Falcons!  The first hour of my watch was spent driving along the lake shore looking for Billy.  Sorry to say, I wasn’t able to find her.  So I headed downtown and found a falcon on the south side of OCSR on the top IBeam.  At first I thought it was Dot.ca (DC), but I am convinced now that it was Beauty in the blazing noon hour sunlight.  It was very cold, with temps never making it out of the 20’s (F), but with blue sky and brilliant sunshine it was a gorgeous day to be out and about. (Noon)

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I looked all over downtown, but could not find a 2nd falcon.  It was time to head over to BS.

On the south side of the building I found Pigott on a west facing window on the southeast extension and who I thought was Dot.ca on the southeast corner of the southeast extension.  From their positions, they could not see each other.  (12:30 pm)

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At first Pigott seemed to just be relaxing, then she started to move around and prepare for take-off.  That’s when I got a big surprise.  Pigott flew up to the tiercel I thought was DC at that time and WHAM!  He took off like a bullet with Pigott right behind.  I watched in amazement as Pigott chased this tiercel high and low, sometimes just skimming the ground then gaining altitude and making turns that seemed impossible.  Something you would expect from two of the fastest creatures on the planet.  The tiercel U-turned back towards the building and landed above the vent.  Pigott was not happy and she continually dove on him over and over again.  Each time the tiercel would duck and spread his wings in defense.  (12:50 pm)

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There was little vocalization during all of this surprisingly.  The tiercel took off and the chase was on!

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The tiercel again returned to the building and landed on top of the southeast extension.  Pigott did a flyby and then landed on the south side vent to keep an eye on him and take a breather.

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The middle picture above shows a silver or white band on the left leg of this tiercel.  Both Pigott and Dot.ca have black bands on their left legs.  After a little while, they both took off and all was quiet at the BS location.  I waited to see if either of them would return.  After a 1/2 hr of waiting, I headed back downtown to find a falcon with its back to me on the Times Square Bldg on the southeast wing ledge.  I could not positively ID this falcon, but I do think it was Beauty.  Again, I looked all over downtown for a second falcon and could not find one.  (1:50 pm)

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OK, time to head back to the BS location.  (2:25 pm)  When I arrived, there were two falcons on the south side of the building.  Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent and a tiercel was up on the southeast corner of the southwest extension.  They both looked like they had food.  Pigott was prepping a pigeon and the tiercel had a small tidbit that he finished quickly.  The tiercel flew past Pigott, who did not react much at all, and landed on the southeast corner of the southeast extension.

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When he lifted his talon, I could clearly see a black band on this tiercel’s left leg.  It was Dot.ca!   He finished preening and looked over at Pigott, watching her prep lunch.  He spread his wings and flew over to land on the vent next to Pigott. (3:15 pm)

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Dot.ca watched Pigott  pluck feathers, the breeze blowing them his way.  It wasn’t long before he walked up to her and broke off a bit of her meal.  She didn’t seem to mind.  lol  He took his small portion of prey back to the southwest corner of the southeast extension to eat it.  What a difference in behavior from this morning!

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Dot.ca finished his snack and took off, heading west.  Pigott continued to eat.

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Dana joined me on the watch.  I caught her up on what was happening.  We were thinking that Dot.ca probably headed back downtown, but boy were we surprised when he returned and landed on the south side roof of the west extension and he wasn’t alone.  He had gone on a hunt and what a hunt for a tiercel who would normally catch smaller prey than the females.  No starling for him.  He caught himself a very light colored (almost white) pigeon.  This pigeon was almost as big as he was!

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I have actually seen Dot.ca catch a pigeon before, but it’s always a surprise to see him with something so large.  After a quick rest on the roof, Dot.ca took off with his catch and landed on a east facing window on the southwest extension.  From there, he could see Pigott and she could see him.  If Pigott was impressed by Dot.ca’s successful hunt, she didn’t show it.  She continued to eat her own meal.

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Dot.ca again took off and carried his meal to the southeast corner of the east extension.  This is where he settled in to prep his meal, feathers flying.  Pigott finished her meal and joined Dot.ca on the east end of the building, landing on an east facing window below the tree ledge, her crop bulging.

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The crows were gathering and their vocalization filled the air.  A couple brave ones attempted to scare Dot.ca off so they could take his meal, but he wasn’t intimidated at all.  After a 2nd attempt, he yelled out a few KAK KAK KAK’s and the crows dispersed.  They knew it wasn’t smart to fool with a hungry tiercel!

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Dana and I left Pigott and Dot.ca at a little after 4:00 pm.  It was time to end my watch and head home.  Goodnight everyone!

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 30th, 2013 at 12:57 AM 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.