Tuesday Afternoon Falcon Watch – 2/2/16
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Another nice, sunny day!
When I arrived at the Brighton Site (BS) location, I found a falcon on the east end of the building. I quickly parked my car and grabbed for my camera. While I was waiting for it to turn on, the falcon took off. I quickly checked around the building, but could not find the falcon. Larry O had seen it earlier and thought it might have been a female based on size.
My next stop was downtown Rochester. After circling downtown twice (yes, Rochester is pretty small – lol) I could not find any falcons. I decided to check the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) from all sides. That’s where I found a falcon on the southwest corner of the platform. Again, I grabbed for my old, slow camera and attempted to get a picture. Again, the falcon took off, but this time I captured a partial picture. Pretty sure it was Dot.ca.
Beauty was no where to be found. Starlings had taken her place on the Mercury statue.
I found no falcons at Medley Center. At Seneca Towers I found one falcon home on the north end window ledge.
My route home after falcon watching usually takes me along the lake (Lake Ontario) where I check out Charlotte and Russell Station. I was very happy to find a falcon at Russell Station on the east side stack lowest catwalk. I was too far away and looking into the sun to tell if it was an adult or juvie. After a few moments, the falcon stooped low over the buildings then back up to fly between the two smoke stacks. I lost sight of it behind the west stack.
On my drive along the lake shore, I found a huge raft of Long-tailed Ducks. There were 1,000’s of them out there! What a great way to end my watch.
