By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was more like winter today than spring.  I would say it was a return to winter, but our winter has never ended.  The calendar says it’s spring, but winter has other ideas.  When I arrived downtown just before 4:00 pm, it was snowing so hard, I could barely see the buildings surrounding me.  I was parked on the Broad St Bridge, facing west towards the Times Square Bldg.  Through the heavy snow, I could just barely make out the familiar shape of a peregrine falcon on the OCSR, top SE IBeam, near the south corner.  This was one of Beauty’s favorite spots, but I could not positively ID this falcon.

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I could not see if there was a falcon in the nest box.  Ei and Joyce very nicely let me know that there was no falcon there.  Thanks so much!  At about 4:10 pm, a patch of blue sky appeared above and let the sun appear for just a few moments.  By 4:15 pm, it was snowing heavily again.  You just have to love this weather!

At 4:25 pm, I could not see the peregrine on OCSR.  Through the snow, which was coming down in very large, wet flakes, I could see Beauty at the nest box on the Times Square Bldg. and Dot.ca at the top of the building on the NE wing ledge.  He was tucked into the base of the wing and he was eating.  Every now and then the clouds would part and it would stop snowing, but it always quickly started up again.  It was 30 degrees and the winds were picking up.

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The snow again stopped for a short while and I was able to get a better view of Dot.ca up on the NE wing ledge on the Times Square Bldg.  He had food up there, but it was very small, whatever it was.  He took off with his small package of food and headed south towards the BS location.  With all the snow, I did not see him hunt, like I did the last time he did this.  It is very likely this was some small bird he had caught and brought in to the Times Square Bldg.

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While I was watching Dot.ca, Beauty returned to the top SE IBeam on the OCSR and she was preening,  Since she was settled, I decided to take a trip over to the BS location.  When I arrived there at 5:00 pm, I found Pigott eating on the south side of the west extension roof, directly across from the cubby/possible scrape.  There was some vocalization when I first arrived, but it was quiet while Pigott was eating.  I watched her while she ate.  Dot.ca was not in view and I wondered if he had returned to Beauty.

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After she finished her meal, Pigott took off and flew around the back of the building (south side) and looped around to the east end.  I drove around the loop that circled the building and found Pigott on a top window on the south side of the east extension.  She was very quiet, so I thought possibly Dot.ca was gone.  Wrong!  I looked over to south side of the building and found Dot.ca on a top window on the east side of the SE extension.  All was quiet at BS, except for the high winds whistling around the building and of course the ever present spring-time snow.  At 5:40 pm, I left Dot.ca and Pigott at the BS location to check on Beauty one more time before heading home.

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It was 5:55 pm, when I parked on the Broad St Bridge, which was mostly empty today, unlike yesterday when the BSB was filled with concert goers.

Beauty was in the same spot I left her.  On the OCSR SE side top I-Beam near the south corner.  She had her back to me, but I could see her head moving back and forth watching everything around her.

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Over two hours after starting my after work falcon watch, I had seen all three Rochester Falcons.  All were safe and I observed no aggression between any of them, making it a very nice watch!  It was time for me to end my watch at 6:00 pm.

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Goodnight Everyone!  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Thanks!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013 at 10:56 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.