By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

We got some snow overnight, just a few inches, and it was really cold and windy, but the sun was shinning.  It had been awhile since I’d seen that bright orb in the sky!  lol

First, here are my texts from today:

11:30 am – “BS. Falcon still on same window Mak reported looking around back to me. Lots of ice falling off bldg.”

11:40 am – “BS. Looks like BST to me. He keeps looking southeast.”

12:40 pm – “BS. P just flew in. Lots of glorious ee chupping.”

1:10 pm – “BS. P&BST seem to be settled in. Both preening. Both on east end. Pigott is on window 2 below tree. BST on top window on south side east end”

1:30 pm – “DT and I found Beauty on the top Ibeam of OCSR SE side. All 3 current Roch falcons seen!”

1:50 pm – “DT. Miss B has left the bldg!”

1:50 pm – “DT. B on mercury.”

2:10 pm – “DT. B took off and chased a gull down river. Back on top Ibeam OCSR.”

3:00 pm – “At BS. Left B on OCSR and all her gull friends DT. B&BST have not moved.”

3:30 pm – “BS. Lisa here now. P&BST preening and snoozing. Time to go!”

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It wasn’t until 11 am that I was able to get out for my Falcon Watch.  I decided to head to the BS location first, where BST had been spotted this morning.  When I arrived, BST was in the same spot on the east end of the building on a south facing top window.  It was nice to see him, since no one had seen him yesterday.  BST was sitting with the sun warming him on this cold day.  He was kind enough to show me his unbanded legs, so I knew for sure this was BST.  I remained there for awhile hoping that Pigott would show up and she finally did.

At 12:40 pm, BST announced the arrival of Pigott when she flew in from the SE.  Glorious ee-chupping filled the air.  Pigott landed on the roof just above BST.  They continued ee-chupping until she flew to a nearby window on the east side of the SE extension (under the tree ledge).  They were on the same exact level and could easily see each other.  Here are some pics of BST & Pigott from today’s watch.

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They were both preening and snoozing, so I went to check on Beauty.  I arrived downtown at 1:30 pm.  Beauty was on the top I-Beam of the OCSR on the SE side.

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At 1:50 pm, Beauty took off while I wasn’t looking, but ended up landing on Mercury’s money bag.  She had her back to me, but her head was in constant motion.  There were 100’s of  Ring-billed Gulls swirling over the river north and south of the Broad St Bridge where I was watching from.  Starlings were busy clinging to the the nearby buildings, looking for something to eat.  During the summer, we watch them do this, snatching up spiders and bugs.  Not sure what they were getting on this cold winter day.  The Pigeons were huddled on top of the Blue Cross Arena aka War Memorial.  Every now and then one of the Pigeons would take flight and join the gulls.

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At 2:10 Beauty took off heading north down the river.  She flew past the OCSR and then circled back.  As she passed over the river, one of the gulls drew her attention.  She went into a steep dive and drove the gull down towards the river.  She would gain altitude and then dive again on the same gull over and over again.  Finally the gull escaped, flying low over the water, heading north.  Beauty broke off the attack and headed back towards me.  She hovered directly over me.  I was able to take one picture before the battery in my camera died.  Beauty turned and flew back over to the OCSR, landing on the top IBeam she had been on when I arrived.  She settled in for a good preening.

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I remained for awhile watching Beauty preen and then returned to the BS location where at 3:00 pm, I found Pigott and BST in the same spots they were in when I left for downtown.  Lisa joined me and we chatted while we watched P&BST.  Both were preening and snoozing.  So at 3:30 pm, I said my goodbyes to Lisa and headed home.

Finding all three current Rochester Falcons made it a very good day.  Soon it will be the new year.  The days will get longer and can spring be far away?  lol  OK, lots more winter weather before I should be thinking of spring.  🙂

I’ll leave you with a few pictures I took today.  Remember to click on the pictures if you would like to see a larger version.  Thanks!

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 30th, 2012 at 10:23 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.