Sunday Morning Falcon Watch – 11/19/23
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
When I first arrived downtown I spotted a falcon on the Widows Walk. This is the old city hall building located behind the Times Square Bldg. It was Neander aka Mr. White Feather.
Neander took off flying towards the Wilder Bldg and landing on the chimney. That’s when I could hear very loud falcon vocalization. You guessed it, Nova was on the chimney and she had food. There wasn’t much left, so Neander helped himself to her leftovers. Neander took his pigeon wing to the SW corner of the Wilder Bldg while Nova remained on the chimney.
It was quiet for a long time, but the Sunday morning peacefulness was broken by both Nova and Neander’s alarm kakking. They both took off and flew low over the Wilder and Cross Rds Bldg. I could not see what they were after, but assumed it might be a person out on the roof. It was quiet as Nova landed on top of the Mercury Statue and Neander landed on the NW wing ring on top of the Times Square Bldg.
Again it was quiet for a long time. Then they both started alarm kakking again. This time they both took off and flew towards the Widows Walk and started diving on the building. I quickly drove over to the Times Square Bldg parking lot to see what had their attention.
Mystery solved! The intruder into their territory was a Red-tail Hawk. The poor hawk was hunkered down on a lower ledge and was under attack by two very irate Peregrine Falcons!
As I watched, Nova and Neander took turns stooping on the hawk. The hawk kept low, trying to stay away from falcon talons. Finally, Nova and Neander ended their attack. Nova returned to the top of Mercury and Neander to the Times Square Bldg. I watched the hawk for awhile, only catching a glimpse of the top of its head. For some reason, I thought this was a juvie Red-tail Hawk. I wished it well, hoping it would soon make its escape.
On the way home, I checked ST and could not find Billie or Beau.
