Morning watch 3-22-13
By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK
We got a couple inches of snow overnite and the temperature was 27 (F) -3 (C) as I saw on the bank clock on Main St. when I arrived downtown. I found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC and she was dining on something.
10 minutes later she took off to the west so I took off too! As I approached the Times Square building (TSB) from the east I could see a falcon under the NE wing and as I got to the middle of the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) it flew off. I was thinking Beauty but when it started swooping at the nest box I knew it was Dot.Ca (DC) aka the Swooper! Sheesh-I don’t even know if Beauty got to finish her meal as she must have seen him come up from the south and then she booked over to her nest box. By the time I got parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) he was just about done swooping and then he went up under the northeast wing.
DC took off and started swooping again,then back under wing, then off again,then a few more swoops then he went under the southeast wing.
Again DC was in swooping mode a couple more times and then he flew out over the river and came screaming in to swoop a few more times and then back up under the northeast wing. More swooping and back to wing a couple times and then DC flew to the east out of view only to return, circle the TSB a couple times,fly above the nest box a couple times then he flew off out of my field of vision to the southeast. Beauty then flew out of the nest box and went east. I was only one hour into my watch at this point! Phew already! I waited and when nobody returned I took a ride around the city. I didn’t find DC but I did manage to locate the Beautyful one on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. It was snowing at this point and it would continue for the rest of my watch in varying degrees of intensity.
After sharing space with Beauty for a few minutes from Aqueduct St. I left for the Brighton site to see if Mr. Swooper was at home with Pigott. Indeed they were both home she was on a top row window ledge on the east side below the tree ledge. DC was under the tree at the southeast corner. Both had their back to me and the snow that was coming down.
The snow really picked up and I could hear Miss Pigott whining to DC. She flew off to the southwest while DC remained on his corner. She returned a few minutes later and landed one window over from where she was before.
Click the pics for full version
At 9:10am Pigott flew off followed by DC-they had a cruise around the building then returned to the east side. DC went back to his southeast corner under the roof top tree and Pigott came to rest on the top east side corner window ledge where it meets the east extension where she started whining on and off again.They would remain like this for the next 45 minutes while the lake effect snow squall was coming down quite heavily. Just before the 10 o’clock hour DC flew off followed by Pigott circling around the building and returning to the east side. He landed once again under the roof top tree and Pigott below him on the 2nd window down.
Click the pics for full version
We would all hang out like this for half hour with more whining out of Pigott and then they took of almost simultaneously flying northwest out of view. I waited a few minutes and when they didn’t return I booked back to downtown just in case they both went to pick on Beauty. I found her half napping with one eye shut on the Wilder building green strip. A place I haven’t seen her on since last year.
10 minutes later just about 11:00am Beauty flew off to the east where I lost sight of her as I was in the hole where the buildings block your view a lot. I moved to find her on the base of Mercury and she had a prey item that she was eating. I thought she had caught something but there was no feather plucking, so obviously she had grabbed cached food.
Beauty cleaned up after her snack and exited on the river side flying north.
I found her on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I stayed a few minutes and ended my watch at 11:15am. It really made me smile to see Beauty on the Wilder building again as it means nesting season is upon us-even if DC isn’t ready to cooperate! 🙂
Click the links below to view my photo album and videos from todays watch
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrZng
http://youtu.be/IdcPbdncNOI
http://youtu.be/83ZqFIxjuMI
http://youtu.be/YSdimA3eouw
http://youtu.be/-0cAq8BEz4w
http://youtu.be/56sUXbi4H8U
http://youtu.be/hSy7Vp7ODS0
March 22nd, 2013 at 7:44 PM
Thanks MAK! So is UT still gone at this point?
March 22nd, 2013 at 9:10 PM
And I’m exhausted at this point! What a morning. I keep checking in, and watching the social stream chat – I can’t participate from work – but it’s fun to hear from/read the front row watchers! Years ago I worked in the Crossroads Bldg and it faced Main and State, and I know I would have had a front row seat to all this action! Wish I was there now!
Today was rough, following all the “window eyes” people. Whew! Long day. I’m glad it’s dark and night and everyone went home to bed!
Thank you Mak, for your reports from the street. Awesome as ususal. And thank you all the window eyes to the skies . It is amazing to watch these creatures up close and personal. A privilege and a heart-stopping drama at times. Look what we are learning!
March 22nd, 2013 at 9:39 PM
I stopped by BS a bit this afternoon. Just one falcon, so I’m assuming it was P – she was on the southeast corner of the mid-level – not sure how you describe it. She was mostly looking north, not vocalizing but seemed restless. I hung out for about ten minutes (3:10-3:20)and then had to leave.
March 22nd, 2013 at 11:31 PM
Maureen as far as we know UT is gone. He hasn’t been seen since St. Patricks Day and we believe that’s the same day Dot.Ca returned from migration.
Margaret it has been a rough week watching all of this go down. The swooping is very unsettling to watch but today seemed to slow down from yesterday so I’m hoping DC is starting to give up on getting that nest box(if that’s what he’s doing)for Pigott and himself. We are indeed learning a lot and so is the rest of the world who watches our site.
Thank you for checking Diana! 🙂
March 23rd, 2013 at 8:03 PM
Thanks, MAK! I hope DC lets up on Beauty soon!
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:03 PM
You got it Maureen! Last year DC kept it up for nearly 2 weeks but I’m hoping he’ll give up sooner since he had an offspring with Beauty since then. 🙂