Saturday Afternoon Falcon Watch – 3/29/14 – A Juvie at the BS Location
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Sunrise at 6:57 am. Sunset at 7:32 pm.
I only had a couple hours to falcon watch this afternoon. (2:00 to 4:00 pm). Another very cold, windy and overcast day, with temps in the 30’s. It is snowing as I type this, with what looks like a couple inches on the ground already.
Lisa, Kathy O and Dana were at the BS location and they tweeted that there was a juvenile Peregrine Falcon there. I decided to join them there for my two hour watch. When I arrived, the juvie was up on the south west corner of the west extension.
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The juvie took off and flew to the south side of the building, landing on the south vent.
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In this one take off shot, you can see that the juvie has bands, but my camera wasn’t good enough to even catch the color of the bands. Dana on the other hand was able to see that this juvie has a green over black band on one leg and the USFW band on the other leg had yellow tape over it. Neither of us were able to get a picture clear enough to show the numbers on the black over green band.
The juvie remained on the south side vent for quite awhile preening. S/he (we can’t tell for sure if this is a male or a female) took off heading towards the south west.
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We could see the juvie chasing Turkey Vultures. After awhile, s/he returned to the south side vent and got back to preening.
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A Coopers Hawk flew low over the building and the chase was on. The juvie chased it off to the northwest, then returned to soar over the building. We lost sight of the juvie and could not find where s/he went.
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Looking back at what Kathy and I saw last night, we are pretty sure that it was this juvie that was eating on the building and not Pigott. There is no way to know what happened to her and we all hope that she just moved on and is ok. I truly hope that we will see her again soon. Be safe Pigott. <3
March 29th, 2014 at 10:09 PM
So sad that there’s been no sightings of Pigott in several days…hope she’s OK. Could this juvie possibly be Voyager? Hopefully Dana got some numbers. Thanks to all who looked for Pigott today.
March 29th, 2014 at 10:28 PM
I would think it has to be Voyager with the yellow tape like Baron. She started out with red over yellow and lost the red tape. Maybe Baron but would it be possible for him to drive Pigott out if that’s what happened to her? Wow, drama always seems to rear its ugly head around here in the spring and Easter is coming! OY!
March 29th, 2014 at 10:31 PM
Good shot of the bands, Carol. Well, a juvie. The plot thickens. I was at BS this morning when Dot.ca was there, but no other falcons. I choose to believe that Pigott is okay, wherever she is.
March 29th, 2014 at 10:35 PM
Thank you Carol for the report, and to ALL the watchers who looked for Pigott and covered downtown today. I hope we get to hear good news about her soon.
March 29th, 2014 at 10:41 PM
I just checked out the 2013 Buffalo bands, and Billy’s sister Virginia has yellow tape as well.
March 30th, 2014 at 6:56 AM
Sure hope Pigott is OK!
March 30th, 2014 at 10:20 PM
Thanks everyone! I hope Pigott is ok too!