By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Happy First Day of Spring!  It sure didn’t feel like spring, with a temperature of 18 degrees (F) when I left the house this morning.  Brrrr!

But, the sun was shining brightly, adding a welcoming warmth while I sat inside my car.

When I arrived downtown, I found Beauty on the north side railing of Widows Walk (WW).

Larry reported that Dot.ca was on the NW corner of the Powers Bldg.  So, that’s where I headed next.  From City Hall, I could see both Beauty and Dot.ca.

I could also hear the very distinctive vocalization of a very irate Kestrel.  It was buzzing between the Powers Bldg and City Hall, landing for a moment on a pointed spire.  Then back towards the Powers Bldg.  Dot.ca was off like a flash and he chased the Kestrel over City Hall and past the Frontier Communication Tower.  A moment later, Dot.ca returned, flying over me heading south.  This reminded me so much of the “kestrel runs” we all got used to when watching Mariah and Kaver over at the Kodak Tower. Kestrels were nesting in the old RG&E plant and they would constantly make runs on the Kodak falcons and vice versus. When I looked back at WW, Beauty was gone.  I reported this and headed back to the Times Square Bldg.

I met both Larry and Harold in “the hole” (Aqueduct St).  While we were chatting, Dana tweeted that both Beauty and Dot.ca were inside the Powers nest box. Beauty came out and landed on the west corner, top Ibeam of OCSR.  A few moments later, Dot.ca flew towards her and they copulated.

After Larry and Harold left me, Beauty took off and flew up to the Times Square Bldg. nest box.

Dot.ca took over Beauty’s spot on the west end of the top Ibeam on OCSR.  Beauty came out of the nest box and flew directly over me, landing on top of the Mercury statue.

It was very quiet while our downtown pair soaked in the sun and preened.  Then Dot.ca took off and flew fast heading south. Beauty took off and flew to the nest box. There was no vocalization by either of them.  I parked on the Broad St Bridge, but could not see where Dot.ca went.  I could see Beauty at the nest box.

It was time for me to end my downtown watch.  I headed to Seneca Towers and found both Billie and Seth soaking up the sun.

The gorge was alive with all types of birds, including three Turkey Vultures floating overhead.

I found no falcons at Medley Ctr.

A couple days ago Kathy O spotted something new on the Times Square Bldg. Looks like lights were installed at the top of the building under the wings.  Joyce reported today that she believes they are LED lights.  They are pointing straight up to light up the wings, so they should not bother the falcons.  In fact, most of the nest sites in Rochester are located near floodlights, including the Kodak Tower and the Powers Bldg.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 20th, 2016 at 4:40 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.