By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

At 9:50 am, a tweet went out that there was vocalization heard on the cameras at the nest box and that it might have been an alarm call.  Thanks for the heads up Donna.  It’s that time of year when anything could be happening with the Rochester Falcons.  I decided to get an early start on my watch.

At 9:40 am I was at KP.  No Falcon activity there.

At 9:50 am I was at the LT location.  Lots of Pigeons, no Falcons.

By 10:00 am, I had circled the Kodak Tower, checking all sides for Falcons and not finding any.

I drove over to the Andrews St Bridge (ASB) and checked out the surrounding area.  It was snowing again (big surprise).

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The last report had Beauty on the top IBeam, SE side of the OCSR.  I wanted to check out the downtown area to make sure there wasn’t a 2nd Peregrine hanging out.  At 10:30 am, I made my way over to the Broad St Bridge (BSB) and found Beauty where she had last been reported.  I settled in to keep an eye on her.

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The Pigeons were lined up on the Blue Cross Arena aka Rochester War Memorial, like they always were.

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Dana joined me for a short while before heading off to check the other locations.  After an hour and a half of watching Beauty preen and the Pigeons take flight and land, it was time to go see if I could find Pigott at the BS location at noon.  My timing could not have been more perfect.

I was still about 2 blocks from the BS location when I spotted a familiar shape flying over heading in the same direction I was headed, east.  I turned left and followed.  I got caught at a red light, so I couldn’t keep up with the Falcon I had seen.  When I arrived at the BS location, I found Pigott on the NE corner of the building with the Pigeon she had carried for quite a distance, I would guess about a mile, to her building.  That was incredible to see.  Like I said, perfect timing!

For two hours I watched Pigott eat most of the Pigeon she had successfully hunted.

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You can see how large her crop got in the pictures above.  Kind of a before and after.  🙂

After eating her fill, Pigott grabbed the remainder of her meal in one talon and took off, looking for the perfect spot to cache her leftovers.

First she landed on a lower ledge.  Pigott walked around trying to decide if this was the right spot.  Obviously it wasn’t.  She took off and flew to the front (north side) of the building.

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I found her on a windowsill on the north side of the bldg in the middle.  How about this window?  No this just won’t do!  She was off!

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Pigott flew to a windowsill on the front of the east extension.  She strutted back and forth, laid down the food.  Walked away and looked back.  She ran up to the the food and grabbed it, again taking off with it in one talon.

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Pigott landed on the center part of the building that juts out.  This was a nice deep ledge and apparently more to her liking.  She disappeared from view for a few moments and then came out to the edge where I could see her.

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I couldn’t help but be amused by her behavior, but it is a vital part of their survival to be able to store (cache) their leftover food for later consumption.  I’ve seen Pigott cache food on windowsills before and go back and finish it.  But if it’s too visible other birds could find it and take it. I’ve seen Hawks and Crows do this.

It was time for me to head home, but first I would check on Beauty one more time.  Downtown was very busy.  Both Dana and Ruth told me that there was a Lancer game this afternoon at the Blue Cross Arena and that Abby Wambach would be there.  The Broad St Bridge was totally filled up.  I slowed down and spotted fellow Watcher Dan on the bridge.  I think he got the last spot.  Due to the heavy traffic, I was not able to stop to say hello.  🙁

I continued on and found a spot down on Aqueduct St.  Beauty was up on the Times Square Bldg. (TSB) on the ledge just above the nest box level at the south end.

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She was facing the south with the sun almost directly behind her.  Yes, the sun came out for a short while this afternoon before it started snowing again.  Beauty took off flying fast heading south.  I waited a few minutes until she returned and landed on the base of the SE wing at the top of the TSB.

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I watched her run in towards the wing and drag something out.  This was a known spot that Beauty cached her leftovers and she had just selected something from the pantry.  🙂

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Feathers were flying and soon Beauty was enjoying her afternoon meal.  I watched her eat for awhile before leaving to check on the LT and KP locations.  I did find LTF at the LT location and no falcons at KP.

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It was time for me to head home after again finding all three current Rochester Peregrine Falcons.  It was another peaceful Watch, with all three females remaining in their own territories.

I’ll leave you with a picture of a monument I pass everyday when I drive through the Cornhill area.  I always admire it, but have never had a chance to slow down enough to get a picture.  Well, today I was able to do just that!

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON ANY PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN A LARGER FORMAT.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 24th, 2013 at 11:01 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.