By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It’s been a little hard getting downtown for my falcon watches while Spiderman 2 has been filming in downtown Rochester, but I haven’t let that stop me.  Thankfully this is a slow time for the falcon watchers since either Beauty or Dot.ca are on the eggs while we are there.  Over the last few days, I’ve only seen Dot.ca outside the nest box.  I knew that Beauty was in the nest box today thanks to my friends from the Rfalconcam forum that report what I can’t see from below.  Annette, Ei and Joyce were very helpful today.

While they are here filming, I’ve had to find a parking spot, usually on Broad St.  From there I  am able walk around the area.  Most days, I have not been able to get to the areas I usually watch from.  But, that’s ok.  This is only temporary and it certainly does not seem to be bothering the falcons.  So, I usually wander around, watch a little of the filming activity and look for the falcons.  I’ve actually met some very nice people and told them about the falcons of course!

Here are a few Dot.ca pictures from the past few days.

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My visits to the BS location have been hit or miss also.  Tonight I was very happy to see Pigott up on the NW corner of the NW extension.  She was busy preening and stretching.  It was very quiet there.

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The weather in Rochester has been almost summer like and will continue to be.  Today it went up to 80 degrees with lots and lot s of sunshine!  It was a wonderful day that ended with all three Rochester Falcons accounted for.

I’ll leave you with a couple pictures I took while on my watch.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The opening temperature when I started my watch was 48 (F) 9 (C)-another clear day with wall to wall sunshine!

I was a little later this morning arriving at 5:45am or so and too late for the switch on the eggs. Annette reported that Beauty left the nest box a few minutes before I got downtown and Dot.Ca (DC) took over incubation. I spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury and she was plucking feathers. I couldn’t get down to the hole because they had it blocked off for the Spiderman movie to resume filming today so I observed Beauty from Broad St. next to the Blue Cross Arena.

Remember to click on the pics to see the full version

Beauty stopped eating and appeared to want to cache the rest. She jumped up to the green part of the base and decided that wasn’t the place so she took flight with her leftovers and flew west with it.

I made my way around as best I could to find the Beautyful one but was limited in where I could go so I went to the Brighton site. As I approached I spotted Pigott on the northwest corner of the west extension but she took off around to the back of the building headed east. I drove around to find her on an east facing window on the northeast extension 2nd level down at around 6:55am.

She was listening and looking at all the songbirds in the trees below her and a few minutes later she took a little stroll and flew across to a top north facing window on the east extension.

She spent most of the time with her back to me but she did turn around to show me that she had a feather in her cap.

Larry came by with his dog Harold around 7:30am and we had a nice little chat and then they left. Around 8:15am both Donna and Annette (thanks) reported that a switch had taken place with Beauty back on the eggs. I gave it a few minutes to see if DC would come visit Miss Pigott and when he didn’t I headed out for downtown. I went to the Court St. bridge and couldn’t see DC on the south side of any of the buildings so I made my way over to the Andrews St. Bridge to check the north side. I spotted DC at the northwest wing of the Times Square building.

I had seen all 3 of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons and all was well with them so I ended my watch just before 9am leaving with a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below for a look at 3 videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/TWypaeIZjwQ
http://youtu.be/O43E2ZHHOno
http://youtu.be/CkGzYlnkMgI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I’m lovin’ the weather here lately-today it was 56 (F) 13 (C) when I left for my watch at 5:30am.

I would wait in the hole (Aqueduct St.) for nearly an hour before seeing a falcon. At 6:25am Dot.Ca (DC) flew into the nest box and Beauty flew to the base of Mercury squawking. She would soon start eating-now I didn’t see anything in her talons as she passed over from the nest box at the Times Square building (TSB) but I was told by Donna that DC had brought food.

At 6:50am Beauty slipped off the base of Mercury flew around Mercury and back to the base. She quickly flew off again and went to the TSB landing at the northeast wing.

The Beautyful one showed her big yellow feet quite a bit while she was up there and at 7am she flew down to the nest box. DC came shooting out and flew to the Mercury money bag (MMB).

DC preened a bit and then flew off after something down in the river and re-surfaced to fly to the northeast wing.

DC also showed a lot of big yellow feet-his had breakfast on them. Half hour later DC flew back to the MMB. I left to check the Brighton site (BS) arriving there a little after 8am. I drove around the building 3 times and didn’t see or hear a falcon. I had to be somewhere so I ended my watch at that time. Beauty and DC really made me smile today. 🙂

Click on the links below for more BYF pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrf3A

http://youtu.be/nuwBrL7KwDI

http://youtu.be/ISZVHGXqU2o
http://youtu.be/CBdE0p7KUZU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 51 (F) 11 (C) a little breezy and clear once again. We certainly are having a nice stretch of fantastic weather here in Western New York!

Today I arrived downtown about 5:40am and that wasn’t early enough  for I got a message from Ei that Dot.Ca (DC) had been on the eggs since 5:20am.  He surely didn’t hit the snooze button today! So I went looking for Beauty in road closed Rochester. Even at 6am the city was busy with Spiderman movie business and traffic. As I was stopped at the traffic light at Church St. to turn left onto Plymouth Ave. I put my binocs up to check the jail tower and saw the familiar shape of Beauty with her salmon colored chest. I took a quick pic as the light changed and then I drove down to Troup St. for the best view.

When I got there Beauty was gone so I drove down to Exchange Blvd. As I pulled over just south of Court St. I saw a falcon fly past the front of the Times Square building (TSB). I pulled over in front of the Blue Cross Arena when I spotted her up under the northeast wing.

I wanted to go across the street to the hole (Aqueduct St.) but there were 3 cops blocking the way to Bank Place  off Exchange  Blvd. which was closed for the Spiderman movie shoots. I decided to park next to the TSB  and ask them if I could walk down. At first they weren’t going to let me cuz I don’t need access for my job but when I asked if they knew about the Rochester Falcons and they said yes I knew I had them. I told them that I kinda was going to work as I come down every day to watch out for the birds. I gave them an rfalconcam business card and told them a few falcon facts and they said ok. YAY!

Around 6:45am Beauty hopped off  and went down to the nest box and DC flew out to the Mercury money bag (MMB).

<Beauty  DC>

DC was showing his big yellow feet a lot while he was up there, making me think Jeanne might have taught him sign language. lol After half hour or so he stooped off to the river side and out of sight.

On the way to my car I stopped to show the police officers a few pics on my LCD screen-they thought they were really cool. I then checked around a bit for DC and left for the Brighton site when I didn’t find him. Upon my arrival, I found the divine Miss Pigott on the northwest corner of the west extension.

I didn’t like this angle so I drove around and observed from the north side which was much better. Pigott also showed her big yellow feet a lot while I shared space with her for the next hour and a half. Maybe DC taught her some sign language. And she also did a lot of stretching.

Around 8:30am a woman pulled up next to me and said I’m going to be completely nosy here, but I’ve been dying to know what you are looking at every day. I told her, pointed out Pigott and gave her the scoop on our falcons. Her name was Amy and she said her son watched a red-tailed hawk webcam. I gave her a business card and told her we had 5 cams and live-streaming video. She was very excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell her son.  She then left to catch the shuttle bus and I went back to watching Pigott who never left her corner the whole time I was there. She was perfectly content to preen, stretch and sign to me. Pigott also pooped for me-we watchers love to get the poop shots. lol And she kept opening her mouth and jerking her head around like she was adjusting what little was in her crop.

I left Pigott at 9:15am to make a last check downtown. While at BS with Miss Pigott Annette had tweeted that DC was on the eggs. Thank you very much! As I approached from the Cornhill area I pulled over to take a look of the TSB area and spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury.

When I got to Broad St. the Beautyful one was gone and after looking around real quick for her I ended my watch at 9:30am. I have to say that all 3 of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons have been very entertaining lately making me smile a lot! 🙂

Click the links below to view more pics and videos if you would like

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrfug

http://youtu.be/BueDfNq4l2s
http://youtu.be/5zyFEyRQfYY
http://youtu.be/AVKBXxnrklA
http://youtu.be/3XmVHbF0ALM
http://youtu.be/TmCNzh9xnHY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I certainly am enjoying the warm temperatures as it was 57 degrees (F) 14 (C) when I walked out the door this morning! Sunny,blue skies and mild breezes make for great falcon watching!

I arrived at the Times Square building (TSB) at 5:45am but it wasn’t early enough to see Dot.Ca (DC) fly in and relieve Beauty from incubation duties just moments before as reported by Annette. Thanks! I didn’t see Beauty on her usual spot lately-the base of Mercury so after checking around the entire Broad St. Bridge (BSB) area I checked over by the Frontier Communications Tower. Having no luck finding where the Beautyful one went I decided to go check the Brighton Site (BS). What a brilliant sunrise as I came to Exchange St. at the end of Plymouth Ave.

Don’t forget to click on all my pics to see the full version

I didn’t see or hear any falcons at BS arriving there the earliest I ever have at 6:30am.  I cruised back downtown to find Beauty under the northeast wing as I drove in from Exchange Blvd. and stopped to park in front of the Blue Cross Arena (BCA).

Now normally I would go down in the hole (Aqueduct St.) to observe that side of the TSB but they had Exchange Blvd. at Broad St. and the hole blocked off for the Spiderman movie tapings.

I went over to Plymouth Ave. to look at the back of the TSB but that wasn’t a good spot with oh so much heavy traffic! I got a silhouette pic of Beauty under the wing with Widows Walk in the forefront.

At this point I just wanted to get away from the traffic and since there was nowhere near the TSB to park I went up to the 8th floor roof of the South Ave. Garage where I had a great view of everything I needed to see.

When I first got up there at 7:45am Beauty was looking over the edge down at the nest box then she turned toward the north and settled in to watch the movie activities down at Main and State St. lol

After 10 minutes Beauty flew down to the deck and DC flew out as she took over egg sitting with DC flying south and then to the Mercury Money Bag (MMB).

Around 8:15am DC stooped after a pigeon in front of the BCA (river side) and chased it up over the Thomson Reuters building before returning to the MMB for round 2. He then chased a pigeon over the hole and then flew up under the northwest wing showing only his tail feathers. While I was watching him Beauty snuck out of the nest box and went to the base of Mercury then returned to her eggs. DC left the northwest wing and vanished behind the TSB.

<Beauty> DC>

Donna and Annette let me know she was off the eggs. I must say our camera watchers do a great job of  helping us watchers in the field figure out what’s going on quite a bit. My hats off to ya! I decided to come down from the garage and go check BS again around 8:40am-while on my way down from the garage roof they both reported a switch was made with DC now on the eggs.  When I got to BS this time, Miss Pigott was present and perched at the west end of the south side vent preening.

I left her at 9:40am with a bulging big crop as she napped-no doubt in a food coma! lol

As I arrived downtown Annette reported that DC was off the eggs and Beauty had taken over incubating them. I ended my watch just before the 10 o’clock hour having seen all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons making me smile! 🙂

There’s links below for more pics and videos for you to view-just click them if you so desire

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrfmA

http://youtu.be/8btt-9iLXfo
http://youtu.be/4OZDq8LBO-8
http://youtu.be/LvOmZHOrqNM
http://youtu.be/V7KH3r3pEJo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today I arrived downtown a little before 6:30 pm.  I love springtime in Rochester.  Warm, gentle breezes with temps in the 70’s (F).  Everything is in bloom!  Just lovely.

Again it was hard to find a place to park downtown, but this time it was because of an Amerks  (Rochester Americans/Hockey) game.  They’re in the Calder Cup Playoffs and downtown was humming with all kinds of activity.  Thankfully the Spiderman filming had been moved further east down Main St.

I finally found one spot open on Aqueduct St aka “the hole” and grabbed it.  From there I could see Dot.ca up on top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB) on the NE wing ledge.  This ledge is directly above the nest box, where I knew Beauty was brooding their 4 eggs.

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It was getting more crowded, and since it was quiet (at least in the falcon world), I decided to head over to the BS location to check on Pigott.

I arrived at the BS location at approximately 7:30 pm.  I found Pigott on the south side vent.

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About 5 minutes after I arrived, Pigott flew over the SW corner of the SW extension.  I watched her preen for awhile. It was good to see her.

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At 7:45 pm, it was time for me to leave.  All was quiet both downtown and at the BS location, all three Rochester Falcons accounted for during my watch.  That made it a very good watch!

Goodnight everyone and be sure to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.

I’ll leave you with a picture I took during my watch.  Wonder who would win this race?  lol

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

What a beautiful morning with a starting temperature of 60 (F) 16 (C)-more like summer than spring.

As I made my way down Broad St. to begin my watch at 5:42am I came across a sign where Main St. meets Broad St. reminding me of the encounters I would have trying to watch our beloved falcons.

When I got to Exchange St. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Exchange Blvd. was not blocked off like yesterday so I could go down in the hole if I wanted to as they were shooting scenes down near East Ave. and Main St. today. I opted for parking on Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena so I could see Dot.Ca (DC) arrive to relieve Beauty of her egg sitting duties.  As Beauty and I waited for him I watched our city cops hang out at every corner,2 camera trucks went speeding thru followed by various cars on flatbeds being hauled to Main St. including several NYPD cars and the sunrise shine on half of the Times Square building.

Finally at 6:47am I caught a glimpse of DC fly to the north side of the deck seeing only parts of his wings and then Beauty flew out and over to the base of Mercury.

I tweeted it out and then Ei reported the switch as well. Thanks! I then turned right onto Broad St. where I could see Mercury better. I watched the Beautyful one stretch and scratch for 15 minutes when she suddenly stooped off the back of Mercury down to the river and that would be the last I saw of her on this watch.

I went for a drive to see if I could find her but I had no luck and had quite a frustrating time of getting around all the road blocks and traffic. As I approached the corner of Broad and Exchange Blvd. I spotted DebbieH and so I pulled down Bank Place next to the Philipone building and got out to chat with her. We walked down to Main and State St. to check out Spiderman movie stuff but they were all up on the east side of the river. It was just before 8am and Deb had to get to work so I left for the Brighton site. 3 trips around the building and I didn’t see or hear any falcons. Back to downtown and still no sign of Beauty so I ended my watch at about 8:40am as I had to be somewhere. Not one of my better watches but I still left downtown with a smile on my face! 🙂

Just one link for a video today-click it to view

http://youtu.be/PJEcyFopmhs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Last day of April and first day of filming the Spiderman 2 movie in Rochester, NY.  I got a late start, arriving downtown at about 6:30 pm.  Main St and all of the smaller roads intersecting Main St were closed.  Police with barricades at every street.  Before I left home, Dot.ca had arrived in the nest box and Beauty left.  I drove down the Broad St Bridge slowly, trying to find Beauty.  There was no way to stop to look anywhere on Broad St, due to all the buses and people waiting for them.  But, on the way back, I did find Beauty.  She was on the base of the Mercury statue on the north side.

I drove around trying to find a parking spot, finally finding one on Broad St between the Times Square Bldg and the Democrat and Chronicle Bldg.  It was after 6:30 pm, so I didn’t have to feed the meter thankfully.  I parked my car and walked across Broad St. to the front of the Times Square Bldg (TSB) on Exchange.

This was my view from the front entrance of the TSB looking north down Exchange towards Main St.

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From there I had a nice view of the Mercury statue and I spotted a falcon up on the money bag hand.  At first I didn’t know if it was Dot.ca or Beauty.  Rfalconcam Forum member Ei let me know that Beauty was back up in the nest box, so this was Dot.ca on Mercury.  Thanks Ei!

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Dot.ca took off and headed west fast!  By the time I got over to the north side of the TSB to see where he went, Dot.ca had returned and was up on top of the TSB on the NE wing ledge. This was directly above the nest box.

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I walked down to the corner of Main St and Exchange to see if there was going to be anymore filming for the Spiderman movie, but it was quiet.  While I was there, Dot.ca took off and headed west again.  This time I did not see him return.  He possibly headed to the BS location to visit with Pigott, but I couldn’t be sure.

Kathy O joined me in front of the Tim Hortons on the corner of Main and Exchange.  From there we walked around a bit to see what was going on.  There were lots of folks just walking around and enjoying the beautiful evening.  Most had their camera phones out and were clicking away.  The streets were lined with NYC vehicles of all kinds, including NYPD police cars, all kind of different vans, cabs, buses and a very cool armored truck.  Filming was done for Day 1 of 10.

Beauty and Dot.ca did not seem to be bothered at all by all the activity just down the block from their nest box.  They were used to the sounds of Rochester traffic, including lots of loud sirens.  So this was probably just another day for them.

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took this evening.  Goodnight everyone!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning the weather was good for the Spiderman movie people-at 57 (F) 14 (C)  overcast and a mild breeze.

As I approached  the Broad St. Bridge I saw wall to wall RTS buses lined up on both sides. The sidewalks were filled with bus riders waiting for their bus. Exchange Blvd. at Broad St. right in front of the Times Square building (TSB) was blocked off so there was no way in to the hole (Aqueduct St.) which was blocked off as well from Main St. I parked on Broad St. by the Blue Cross Arena (BCA) and the Court St. bridge.

While parked in front of the BCA on Exchange Blvd. A New York City bus for the movie went by. Dot.Ca (DC) was late coming this morning to relieve Beauty on their eggs and finally around 6:35am he showed up chirping with a little snack for her. She took it to her dining room table -the base of Mercury.

I walked down the stairs to the hole (Aqueduct St.) and continued on to Aqueduct Park which is on Main St. across from the OCSR where I could keep track of Beauty and the movie making business. There were lots of people gathered in the street in front of OCSR including Rochester city cops and fire dept. Cars were parked on both sides of the Main St. bridge (MSB) and a couple guys were sticking fake license plates on all of them.

About 7:15am I watched Beauty fly to the nest box and DC fly over to the Mercury Money Bag (MMB).

I was told by 3 different city cops to leave Main St. As I walked up the stairs to Broad St. at Falcon Watcher Central another cop told me I couldn’t be down there as he waited til I walked thru and then he taped off the stairs. I’d had enough for a while so I took off for Brighton to find Pigott  at 7:30am. She was perched on the northwest corner of the west extension and alone when I got there.

At approximately 8:30am Pigott vocalized and flew to the cubby as DC came flying in from behind me over the west extension going north without stopping. I got conflicting reports from Annette saying DC was on eggs and Donna who said that Beauty was on the eggs.  Then  a minute or 2 later DC showed up at the nest box-I thought how weird that he would just come over to BS to check on Pigott and not stop. I checked around the building several times but found nothing-when I left BS around 9am Pigott was probably still in the cubby or she flew out of the area while I was driving around the building.

I decided to go up on the roof of the South Ave. garage where I would have a great view of Mercury and the TSB which is about the only places the Beautyful one and DC go lately. Beauty was on the base of Mercury when I got there.

From the garage the only movie scene I had was the intersection at Main and South Ave.-the rest of Main St. was blocked by buildings. It was weird seeing so many people on the BSB as they waited for their bus.

Up in the falcon world things were quiet as opposed to on the ground it was busier than usual in the city. I ended my watch just before 10am with Beauty on the base of Mercury and DC on their eggs. All 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons were seen and didn’t seem at all bothered by the movie production going on below them. It was business as usual for them and for me as I left the garage smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below for more pics and videos if you so desire

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrfVA

http://youtu.be/Ov67cal1g74
http://youtu.be/UcM_Wm4r5gI
http://youtu.be/BnHKli-rVT0
http://youtu.be/gacXbvR41jo
http://youtu.be/_-vHWlnU72w

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

When I left home, I knew that Beauty was in the nest box on the eggs.  I arrived on the Broad St Bridge at around 6:30 pm, hoping to find Dot.ca.  Joyce and Lisa McK were over at the BS location and they only had Pigott.

I decided to go down to Aqueduct St aka the “hole” for a closer look.  No falcons seen from down there either, but I didn’t have to wait for the very vocal arrival of Dot.ca.  At 6:38 pm, Beauty saw him before I did and she announced his arrival for all to hear.  Beauty flew up to the NW wing ledge on top of the Times Square Bldg and Dot.ca joined her.  They copulated and Dot.ca took off and Beauty was right behind him.  I followed Beauty’s flight to the base of the Mercury statue and missed where Dot.ca went.  Many thanks to Rfalconcam Forum member Ei for tweeting out that Dot.ca had gone into the nest box to take his turn at brooding the eggs.

I moved back to get a better view of Beauty.  She was now eating on the base of Mercury.  Not sure if Dot.ca brought food in or whether she was eating cached prey.

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As Beauty was finishing her meal, Kathy O joined me.

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Kathy and I stayed on watch until about 7:45 pm.  By this time, Beauty had returned to the nest box and Dot.ca was keeping watch from the money bag hand of the Mercury statue.

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All was peaceful and quiet.  All three Rochester Falcons seen, making it a very good day!

Additional Rochester News

They were quite active at the lot containing the vehicles that will be used for the filming of the chase scenes for the newest Spiderman movie over the next week or so starting tomorrow.  Many special affects vans and all kinds of gadgets that I have no idea what they will be used for.

There was no parking allowed at all on Broad St while I was downtown today on either side, from Exchange to past the Rochester Library.  All bus traffic will be diverted from Main St to Broad St.  Main St will be closed during filming.  I also noted that  they had yellow tape surrounding all the picnic tables in Aqueduct Park where we held our Falcon Watch Weekend last year.  Possibly for use  by the film crews and extras?  They also had yellow tape blocking off all the parking on the west side of State St between Church St and Main St.

I’m not sure how accessible it will be for the falcon watchers.  Time will tell.  We’ll let you know!  Should be very interesting.

I’ll leave you with a picture of just a small portion of the NYPD police cars they had in the lot when Kathy O and I checked it out during our watch today.