By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

1:00 – 2:40 pm

The winds of change hit Rochester (NY) this afternoon.  Earlier temps went into the mid 50’s (F), and then the high winds arrived, with 50-60 mph wind gusts.  Over the next few days, the temps will plummet as the polar vortex dips down from the north.

I started my falcon watch at the Kodak Tower, where I found Beauty on a south side arch ledge, directly above where the old Mariah and Kaver nest site was located.

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About 15 minutes after I arrived, Beauty took off and headed south.  I followed the best I could, but by the  time I made it to State St, she was gone.  I found one of the last parking spots on the Broad St Bridge near the library.  Flocks of pigeons filled the air, swirling overhead.  Then I saw a falcon head in from the east.  Imagine the fastest creature on the planet with a 50 to 60 mph tail wind.   Peregrine Falcons love to fly in high winds.  They are masters of flight.  I on the other hand was having a hard time, leaning against my car to steady myself.

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I couldn’t tell if it was Beauty or Dot.ca.  The falcon zipped behind the OCSR and did not reappear.  From the Radisson, I checked up into the elevator shaft.  No falcons there.  Now where did that falcon go?  After checking the surrounding buildings I finally found a falcon, in fact two falcons.  Both Beauty and Dot.ca were on the Ellwanger and Barry Bldg on State St.  Dot.ca was on the ledge eating and Beauty was on the northeast corner.  I had to laugh when Joyce texted the following to me; “Boy, we sure do have fat and happy falcons.  Always eating.  LOL”  There is definitely a large food supply for our Peregrines here in Rochester.

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From in front of the Rochester Plaza, I was able to get a closer look.

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Beauty left, but I didn’t see which direction she took.  Dot.ca finished his meal and took off, heading south.  I found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the south side top Ibeam of OCSR.  They were just a few feet apart.

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This is where I left them at the end of my downtown falcon watch.  On my way home, I checked Hawkeye, Seneca Towers and Russell Station.  No falcons seen at any of these locations.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2015 at 6:29 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.