Morning watch 12-16-14
By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
It was mostly cloudy with a few bits of blue sky early then it became totally overcast with a temperature of 35 (F) 2 (C)
Click on the few pics I have today to see the full version
My watch started out on a high note as I found 99 right off the bat on the northwest corner railing at Seneca Towers from my spot on Seth Green Dr. 99 started out with his back to us, but while I was taping, he turned around for us to see the front of him.
99 stayed up there looking around for a nice meal to appear for 10 minutes and then he slipped off the back (north) end of the building out of sight and didn’t return.
I left for downtown around 7:45am and things went down hill. I searched high and low for Beauty and Dot.ca (DC)-even checking new places until around 9am. In my travels I stopped on Fitzhugh St. by City Hall to snap a couple pics of the banners that the city has put up around downtown.
I decided out of lack of knowing where else to look I would take a drive over to the Brighton Site where Pigott and DC used hang out. Maybe DC and Beauty went there-when Beauty first came to Rochester she was seen at this site so it was worth a shot. No such luck, however I found a lot of whitewash (poop) on the east side on both sides of a corner where Pigott liked to roost at night on window ledges. Perhaps it’s from something other than a falcon but I’m guessing a falcon. I also found feathers from a prey bird scattered all over the snow last week after the storm which means somebody is eating on that east side as well. Stay tuned!
So I left to try my luck downtown again,my last resort (about my 3rd check of the morning) was the OCSR elevator shaft. I couldn’t park in my usual spot just before the driveway starts at the Radisson Hotel by Main St. because a cab driver was there so I had to park under their carport. Even though I know one of the security guys there, I try not to get in the way of their shuttle vans and customer parking. Anyway, I looked up at the north ledge first-nothing, but when I looked at the south side I spotted a falcon tucked way in deep on the ledge.
I was able to ID it as DC when he turned his head to show the heart shape of his auricular patch-plus, what I could see of the front of this PEFA was too white to be the Beautyful one. So at nearly 10am I found my first and only downtown bird! I left DC to hang out in his man cave and left for home after a quick check for Beauty. When I arrived at Seneca Towers there were no falcons around. It was a bit frustrating this morning but the fact that the boys showed their faces made me smile all the same! 🙂
Click on the links below to see todays videos
http://youtu.be/UeIUiL8FFAU
December 18th, 2014 at 12:00 AM
The girls were out Christmas shopping! 😉