By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Watchers out while I was out on watch today: Lisa McK, Barbara & Pat.  Kathy O was out later with Lisa McK at the BS location.

Winter has arrived, again.  This afternoon, the winds geared up and were gusting.  Just north of downtown Rochester, there were ominous, dark clouds.  Some of the largest snow flakes I ever remember seeing were falling from the sky.  I checked the LT location on the way, but saw no falcons.  Oh, and before I forget, I’m pretty sure I saw a peregrine eating on one of the KP buildings this morning.  Of course it took off before I could take a picture.

As I approached Rochester, the dark clouds remained to the north.  The sun was shining by the time I reached the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  I saw a falcon up at the nest box and with the help of Ei and Lisa McK, I knew it was Beauty.  So where was UST.  I searched, but could not find him.

Finally, UT made an appearance, which brought Beauty off of the nest box perch.  She and UT, flew gracefully together over the river between the OCSR and the Radisson.  Beauty landed on the top IBeam, SE side of the OCSR.  UT landed on a window on the west (river) side of the Radisson.  He didn’t stay there long.  Off he went, flying past Beauty’s position and on.  I lost him for a short while before he turned landing at the top of the OCSR elevator shaft.  Their bonding behavior continues.

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It was time to visit the BS location, where I hoped to find Pigott at home.  I knew no falcons were there when a Turkey Vulture (TV), floated over the building and then headed NE unchallenged.  I circled the building three times, checking every nook and cranny with my window open, just in case there was any vocalization.  There was none.  After about 45 mins, It was time to head back downtown.

I again parked on the north side of the BSB facing west, towards the Times Square Bldg.  This gave me a great view of the area.  Beauty remained on the SE top IBeam of the OCSR.  UT buzzed through and went after all the birds flying over the river.  He finally landed between two top windows on the Thompson Reuters Bldg (TR).  I got out of my car to take some pictures, but soon had frozen fingers that made it almost impossible to take pics.  Barbara joined me first and then Lisa McK.  We all ended up watching from inside our cars.  It was really windy and bitter cold.

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UT’s head was in constant motion, watching all the starlings and pigeons flying up and down the river and landing on the building.  Pat walked by while he was on the TR Bldg, before heading home.  He finally took off and ended up back on the top of the OCSR elevator shaft, while Beauty remained on the top IBeam of the OCSR.

It was time for me to head home at 6:30 pm.  Lisa McK was going to head out to the BS location, where she was joined by Kathy O.  Kathy reported that they had Pigott out there on an east side window ledge.  They stayed until 7:30 pm.  Kris G & Bill stopped by the BS location while they were there.

More cold temperatures and a chance of snow tomorrow.  Bundle up and keep warm everyone!  Goodnight!

I’ll leave you with a couple of pics I took while on watch tonight.  Both were taken from the Broad St Bridge.

Click on any pictures you would like to see larger.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 13th, 2013 at 11:17 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.