A Halloween Watch – 10/31/09
Well, as you saw from my tweet, we saw Mariah at St Ann’s today. First I checked downtown. I scoured the area and had no luck finding a falcon. Although we’ve had recent sightings of a falcon assumed to be Beauty over the past few days. Jim P had a falcon on the communication tower on Thursday. Brian H had one on the communication tower Friday afternoon, he thought Beauty. Joyce had Beauty on old Changing Scene’s this afternoon. I have to start wondering if MAYBE Archer has left the area.
OK, time to head for St Ann’s and Medley Mall. I was sitting on the north side of the square St. Ann’s when the pigeons took off. I watched them swerve here and there and then, MARIAH! WooHoo! The Queen was in full chase mode. She chased a few of them over the woods where I lost sight of them, heading towards the Medley Center.
I waited for awhile, but she didn’t return. So, I decided to head over to the mall. She wasn’t there, but I did spot fellow Watcher Dan S. He was just leaving, so I followed him back to St Ann’s. We found Mariah on an antenna at the top of the circular St Ann’s (which by the way is not coming down for a couple of years). She stooped to the south and flew back and forth over Rochester General Hospital. We lost sight of her, so we weren’t sure if her hunt was successful.
Did I mention it was raining the whole time? and very, very windy. Lots of leaves blowing everywhere.
Kathy O joined us and we went back over to the mall. After about a 1/2 hour, Dan said his goodbyes and Kathy and I returned to St. Ann’s, back on the north side.
Mariah was back. She was imitating a kite so well, just floating above the square St. Ann’s bldg. How does she do that!!! It’s as if she isn’t moving a muscle, just hanging on the wind. The pigeons weren’t happy and all took flight. Mariah didn’t seem interested, so we can only assume that she had been successfull on her earlier hunt. 
She gracefully floated off towards the north. Kathy and I waited for her to return, but she didn’t.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:26 PM
So great to have Mariah is prime form! When will the falcons be leaving the area for the winter?
November 1st, 2009 at 10:00 PM
So Mariah did the tricks and the watchers got a treat. 🙂
Thanks for the report.
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:42 AM
THANKS again for the report that as always seems so visual to me as I’m reading it. You are all such blessings to us!
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:46 AM
Yes, thank you very much for keeping us up-to-date. It is GREATLY appreciated!! 😀
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:12 PM
You’re all very welcome. and yes Alison, the Watchers got a wonderful treat from the Queen. 🙂
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:48 PM
Many thanks, Carol, for sharing your moment of zen with Mariah. . . And for the reassurance. With Quest in New York State at her last transmission (friday) I had a very non zen moment of angst.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:55 PM
thanks for the update, I now think that was M I saw soaring around up there, not long ago. I live near the Mall, and saw a falcon soaring up, up so high, and wondered. yes I think it was her. HOORAY. Glad she is doing so well.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:20 AM
@Ruth – Just saw your question above. Every Falcon is different, so we don’t know if Beauty will migrate or not. Archer may have already. The Watchers have noted that Mariah may be going through a molt, so she may stay close to Rochester. These are all guesses of course. We’ll have to wait and see.
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:58 PM
Just want to add to the chorus of how great it is getting an update on Mariah.
🙂
November 4th, 2009 at 4:30 PM
Hasn’t Mariah always wintered over in Rochester? Or did we just lose track of her over the winter? I think Kaver left, but she was usually around. Is Medley Center/St. Annes a good place for her to winter?
November 5th, 2009 at 8:28 AM
@Margaret – We know that Kaver left for a few months during the Winter months, but we’re not 100% sure about Mariah. We believe we saw her during some of the Winter, but we’ve had quite a few Winter visitors (other Peregrines) taking up residence in the city during that time.
The area we’ve been seeing Mariah lately has a good food supply (lots of pigeons) and tall buildings for her to sit on. Also, from this area, she can see downtown Rochester, if she is high enough. 🙂
November 5th, 2009 at 12:55 PM
The early reports about the scrape on Kodak Tower assumed that Mariah also left the area in winter, and perhaps she did, following instinct. But peregrines leave to have better hunting oportunities (cold is not so much an issue with them) and over time she must have discovered that there was not much point in exerting herself (birds never waste energy) to go elsewhere when there was ample prey available 365 days of the year in Rochester. So she started to stay (or be seen staying) more often. This has been observed at many webcams, no more peregrinating peregrins. Australian peregrines are known not to migrate much at all.
November 6th, 2009 at 3:32 PM
How wonderful reading your reports of sightings of Mariah. Her recovery has been almost miraculous (with a lot of help from her friends). I think of you as MY friends, keeping me up on the doings of OUR friends. Just please know you are truly appreciated.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Thanks for the updates! I saw two falcons yesterday on light posts on 390 North near the 490 split. I bet it was Archer and Beauty. Of course I couldn’t pull over to get a better look being I was on an on ramp. It’s just nice to see them and know they are ok. I tried to find Mariah, but didn’t see her. Boo Hoo!
November 10th, 2009 at 2:27 PM
Woo-hoo! Saw Mariah early this morning, sitting on a street light on the 104W exit ramp to Portland Avenue. In all her glory….just watching the cars go by…or maybe looking for her next meal! So good to see her!
November 11th, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Hey all – I know I’ve said this before, but I don’t believe that it is Mariah sitting on street lights/telephone poles. There are many Red-tail Hawks and Coopers Hawks in the area and they would be more apt to sit on light poles than falcons. Red-tails use them to hunt from. Squirrels, mice, etc. being their prey of choice. While Peregrines are aerial hunters, flying high and stooping on prey. Although they will hunt from buildings. This is just my opinion. In the years I’ve been watching M&K, I have never seen them on a light pole. Of course, I could be proven wrong, if someone were to get a picture of her. 😉
November 11th, 2009 at 9:51 PM
While I agree with Carol P. I must add that juvenile falcons have been seen on light posts. There was a long afternoon watch on Indianapolis’ circle (a season ago?) while one young male perched precariously on a light post and the watchers were fearful he might drop down into traffic (he did not).
November 11th, 2009 at 11:20 PM
You’re right Alison. Dana and I were on the pedestrian bridge when Pride, one of M&K’s young, landed on one of the light poles on the pedestrian bridge. Grissom landed on two different light poles in the middle of the Kodak parking lot after he dropped an offered meal from Mariah, twice! I’m sure there were other instances of juvies landing on light poles/telephone poles. I just don’t remember ever seeing Mariah or Kaver land on one.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Thanks, ladies. I bet what I saw was a hawk or something else. Looked amazingly like pics I’ve seen of Mariah, though. And earlier this week, there was hubbub at 45 East Avenue (across the street from Midtown) that a “baby peregrine” was seen on the 8th floor ledge of that building. Again, I’m sure it was something else, but it was there a while and lots of photo-taking was going on. I imagine there are a lot of false sightings.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:53 PM
Ruth – Do you know someone that took pictures that we can see? I’d be curious to know what it was. 🙂
November 13th, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Today I saw a red-tail hawk on a telephone mast in Carmel Indiana’s Central Park. Without seeing it in flight and without binoculars, a falcon lover could get carried away…
November 14th, 2009 at 12:16 AM
Carol — I think the photos were taken on cell phones, so I’m not sure of the quality, but let me see if I can get someone to forward any to me.
December 7th, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Carol P — how can I email you a photo of the small bird that was seen on the 45 East Avenue building back in mid-November? I just got a copy.
February 2nd, 2010 at 6:59 PM
Where is Mariah, I read the latest posting on Jan 20, Where is she, sob, sob, sob, sob,?