Veterans Day morning watch 11-11-14
By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
First off I would like to say thank you to all the men and women who have and are presently serving this country to protect our freedom. I salute you!
It was a warm 59 (F) 10 (C) degree morning with brilliant sunshine and bright blue skies on this Veterans Day 2014
Click on the pics to see the full version
I started my watch at Seneca Towers with Billie and 99 who were hanging out on the west side of the building. I believe it was 99 on the northwest corner and Billie on the railing.
They didn’t stick around for long as they flew south while I was taping them. Off to downtown after they didn’t return to search for Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC). It took me a while but I finally found DC in the OCSR elevator shaft on the south side around 7:30am from Bragdon Place on the east side of the river by the Radisson Hotel. It was a last ditch effort to find a falcon, and I was very surprised to find one up there on such a beautiful morning.
It was pretty dark up in there but he was there and as I taped him he flew out after a gull, chased it off then flew to the 2nd ibeam north corner of OCSR.
He wasn’t there long before he took off to the west going into a stoop and disappearing behind the Rochester Plaza Hotel.
Now a short moment later I thought it was him that flew up and landed on the top ibeam north corner of OCSR but it turned out to be Beauty.
The Beautyful one flew off around 8:15am and the next thing I knew DC was on the 3rd ibeam north corner of OCSR with a very full crop. So I believe when he stooped earlier he must have caught something and was eating while I watched Beauty.
I left DC to look for Beauty and I found her from the Broad St. Bridge-she was eating on the base of Mercury. I started taping her as she jumped up to the green part to finish eating around 8:30am.
My eyes kept being drawn to a tree in Aqueduct Park with something white in it-at first I thought it’s just a plastic bag caught on the branch but I decided to check it out to be sure. It turned out to be a Black-crowned Night Heron (BCNH) of which I would never expect to find her in November. And to my surprise above and past it was another BCNH in the same tree!
The BCNH that was up higher was not showing as well and when I noticed Beauty had left Mercury I went down to Aqueduct Park for a closer view of these 2 herons. I wasn’t able to find the one higher up in the tree because the leaves were blocking my view. To see the 1st heron I spotted I went to the furthest point south in the park.
He started moving around so I left him so as not to disturb his peace. I drove back to Bragdon St. to see if DC was still on OCSR and he was-but back up in the elevator shaft on the north side this time.
I left DC and on my way out of downtown I noticed Beauty up on her northeast cube on the Frontier Communications Tower while stopped at the traffic light at State and Church St. Naturally, I had to go shoot a couple pics of her before ending my watch.
I left for home finding no falcons at Hawkeye or on Seneca Towers when I got there at 9:45am. I’ll end this report the way I started it-honoring our veterans and grateful that I have the freedom to watch falcons and smile because of that fact! 🙂
Please click on the links below to view my videos from todays watch
http://youtu.be/Qhy1bgLs2BE
November 11th, 2014 at 1:11 PM
OMG, a couple of those pics of the BCNHs are absolutely knock-outs, MAK. So gorgeous!
November 11th, 2014 at 8:44 PM
Were you able to see them from your building Pat!? 🙂
November 11th, 2014 at 10:59 PM
Oh my gosh,it gets better and better.i have never seen a BCNH,what a thrill.They were a great gift on this Veteran’s Day!!! Thanks as usual for your great find today. Diane
November 12th, 2014 at 5:44 AM
Diane, it always amazes me what kind of wildlife can be found in the heart of the city. The Genesee River really draws a lot of different critters that we wouldn’t have otherwise. 🙂