Falcon Watch (Evening) – B&DC on the Kodak Tower & Orion and DC do a Food Exchange! Big Storm Approaches!- 9/7/12
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
Not much time to work on my report tonight, but I did want to give you the highlights of what turned out to be a very nice evening Watch.
Watchers this evening: Joyce, Dan S, Brian, Kathy O and Carol P.
When I first got downtown, both Beauty and Dot.ca were on the Kodak Tower. Beauty was on the SE corner of the launchpad and Dot.ca was on the east side ledge. Both were preening and there was no vocalizing from either. Joyce arrived and stayed on the south side of the tower, while I was sitting on the east side. We figured that would give one of us a better chance to see where they went if they took off. and they did! First Beauty and then Dot.ca took off, both heading south.
Joyce and I got caught in rush hour traffic, which is never really that bad here in Rochester, but it really slowed us down. Joyce drove over to the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) where Beauty was on the top arm. I continued to the Broad St Bridge where I found Dot.ca on the very top of the Jail Communication Tower. It wasn’t very long before he took off and flew to the south, way out. Was he visiting with Pigott?
I decided to check out the downtown area, hoping to find Orion. No luck. I parked again on the BSB and found a falcon on the jail communication tower, 2nd arm down. I’m pretty sure it was DC again. Beauty remained on the FCT where Joyce kept Watch. So where was Orion?
Dan and then Brian arrived. Just after they arrived, both B&DC took off to parts unknown. Joyce and then Kathy O joined the BSB Watch. There were lots and lots of people walking through. One lady told me it was for a Barry Manilow concert. Half the BSB (north side) has no parking signs over the meters. Something to do with an event happening at the convention center this weekend.
While we were on the bridge watching a Great Blue Heron stalk a juvenile Black-capped Night Heron, a storm was moving in from the south. Really black, ominous clouds with thunder and lightning. It was pretty intense. I was trying to get pictures of the lightning but that wasn’t happening. lol
Just as I was video taping a short snippet of the storm, Brian yelled “Look up! Look up!” and we did, just in time to see two falcons over Xerox. One was much larger than the other one. Beauty stooped behind the old Midtown Plaza while Orion stayed close to the Xerox Bldg. Then out of nowhere, here comes Dot.ca. He flies towards Orion with a small package of food held in one talon. DC and O fly together, then apart, then together. Orion is screaming for his dinner, he is so loud, we can hear him, and DC is not making it too easy on his kid. He plays a little keep away with him until finally, Orion flies up to him, flips and grabs the offered food. DC then veers off back towards downtown and Orion carries his dinner over the river, heading west towards the OCSR. He then veers off and decides to go to the Times Square Bldg (TSB). Orion landed on the base of the SE wing where he tucked in and enjoyed his evening meal. We’re pretty sure it was a starling, based on size and color.
Well that was nice! Seeing Beauty, DC and Orion just before it started to rain was great! As it started to rain harder, we all said our goodbyes and jumped into our cars. We left Orion to his well deserved dinner.
It was another beautiful evening of Watching our Falcons and watching a perfect food exchange between Dot.ca and Orion was just another reason to keep our eyes to the sky and to keep coming back!
Tomorrow is supposed to be a crummy day, with rain on and off and cooler temps. But, I plan on getting down there early if it’s not too bad. Enjoy your weekend everyone!
