By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My falcon watch was very short today.  Just a little over an hour.

At the same time I arrived on the Broad St at 3:40 pm, both Beauty and Dot.ca flew up to the Times Square Bldg.  Beauty flew directly into the nest box and Dot.ca landed on the SE Wing Ledge at the top of the building.  Dark clouds had moved in and it was raining and hailing on and off.

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During the time I was there, they took off once, heading NW and then both returned to the TSB.  Beauty to the nest box and Dot.ca to the NE wing ledge this time.  Beauty was eating on the platform in front of the nest box.  It was reported this afternoon that Dot.ca brought her a food gift and that they did a little bit of bowing to each other at the nest box.  Both bonding behaviors.

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I wasn’t able to get out to the BS location, but my fellow Falcon Watcher Kathy O stopped there on her way home after work and found Pigott at 6:20 pm on the east side of the building on the tree ledge.  So all three Rochester Falcons were seen this evening safe and sound.

On my way home, while I was waiting at the light at the intersection of Broad St and Exchange, I took this picture, looking up at the top of the Times Square Bldg.

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Have a nice evening everyone!  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

My watch started out at 32 degrees (F) 0 (C) with a brisk  chilly wind and just a few clouds passing thru at 6:35am. I made my way to the east side just in time to watch Beauty take off from the southeast corner of HSBC.

And so I was off and running with what turned out to be another busy morning watch. Beauty had gone straight to the Times Square building (TSB) and to her nest box as Donna so nicely let me know on my way over. Thanks!  When I reached the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I could see Beauty in there and Dot.Ca (DC) under the northeast wing.

The sun was peeking over the horizon just enough to cast a rosie shadow on the TSB and DC. As is his pattern, DC kept an eye out for possible prey and on the territory occasionally looking down at the nest box area. He took off  at 7:15am when Beauty went to the southwest corner of the Wilder building. I was parked by Keybank at the time, which is connected to the Wilder building. Beauty flew off and went to Widows Walk and started to pick and pull on a leftover pigeon wing. I don’t know where DC had gone.

She finished up her tasty treat and turned her back to me, so I drove over to Broad St. and parked in front of the Ebenezer Watts building where DebbieH works for a better view of the Beautyful one.

Beauty flew off to the southeast wing of the TSB and after checking around for DC I decided to check the Brighton site since it had been over half hour since I last saw him. I found Pigott all by her lonesome on the northwest corner of the east extension.

DC may very well have been there before I arrived as it only takes him a couple minutes to fly the 2.7 miles from downtown. Miss Pigott was mostly looking west/northwest which is the direction downtown is from there. I stayed 30 minutes and left when DC didn’t show up in that time frame. He seems to be spending more time downtown the last couple days and I hope Pigott doesn’t get impatient and decide to pay a visit downtown. I got back downtown by 8:45am to find DC under the southeast wing at which point Donna and Ei confirmed Beauty to be in the nest box. Thank you ladies!

I parked down in the hole again to observe and 10 minutes later DC flew off after a starling on his way to the money bag of Mercury.

He barely touched down then flew off to the east directly into the sun blinding me so I lost him. While I drove up to the BSB for a better view of things Beauty flew to the money bag and DC to the base of Mercury.

As always you must click on my pics to see the full version

DC flew off a minute later followed by Beauty who went to the nest box. I didn’t see where he went as I followed Beautys’ flight. On a hunch I drove back down to the hole and found DC over on Widows Walk eating, I couldn’t have seen him there from the bridge.

DC finished off his snack, wiped off his beak a few times and flew to the southeast wing. As he passed by the nest box on his way, I heard the familiar sound of his chirp for the first time since he has returned from migration, and I wondered if it was heard on the cams. Some how I missed both of them leave the TSB then at about 9:15am I watched DC chase Beauty (tight on her tail feathers) to the nest box and fly up under the southeast wing of the TSB.

They were off again flying out of view toward Mercury and as I got  past the Thomson Reuters building to see, I caught the tail end of them mating on the money bag.  Beauty went to her nest box and DC up to the northeast wing. 10 minutes later Beauty flew back to the Mercury money bag while DC remained on TSB. After 20 minutes she flew to the southeast wing and DC flew off the northeast wing. I found him on Mercury a minute later as Beauty flew down to the nest box. DC flew off Mercury passing by the nest box on his way up to the northeast wing. Busy,busy,busy!!

Back up to the BSB I went and 20 minutes would pass before Beauty flew out the nest box with DC right after her. They flew over the river by the Radisson Hotel and then Beauty landed on the Mercury money bag. DC came up behind her, they copulated, then he flew to the northeast wing of the TSB. They both flew off when I wasn’t looking and I called it a watch at 11:00am. Beauty and DC seem to be getting more settled with each other as time goes on. They’re keeping me on my toes and keeping a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below for more pics and videos from this very active watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWraQA

http://youtu.be/sDQyd6KqppM
http://youtu.be/3-Hk9HMd4o8
http://youtu.be/Dd1pHK-Ql5A
http://youtu.be/T8KTP3jIAyI
http://youtu.be/uCs2ewIKDgI
http://youtu.be/RC93JvDtiLY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Arrived downtown at my normal after work time at a little before 4:00 pm.  I searched all over and found absolutely no falcons anywhere.  Hmmmm.  Where did they go?  Since I couldn’t find any falcons downtown, I headed over to the BS location.  Pigott was in one of her favorite spots on the SW corner of the west extension near the nook, which we believe will be their chosen scrape this year.  She had her back to me and she was looking north, towards downtown Rochester. (4:30 pm)

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Her soft vocalizations filled the air.  I have really come to love hearing her “sounds”.  It’s amazing how many different vocalizations peregrine falcons make.  Some of the Watchers have learned to recognize their different alarm calls.  Did you know that their alarm call for another peregrine is different than the one they use for other threats, like hawks.  It’s quite amazing.

Five minutes after arriving, I found Dot.ca on the SE corner of the building.  Before I could take a picture, he flew to the front/north side of the building.  Pigott took off and flew in the same direction.  By the time I drove around to the north side, both were gone.  It was very quiet.  I waited a little while to see if they would come back.  They didn’t.  Time to head back downtown.  On my way I received this tweet from NCAFalcons, a member of the forum: “B at box 4:35.  Arrived very vocal. DC is under SE wing TSB per Patsy.”  Thanks NCAFalcons and Pat.  Your tweet and the tweets of all the other online watchers to the watchers in the field are very helpful.  Now I knew where Dot.ca headed and that Beauty had returned to the nest box.

When I arrived, Beauty flew into the nest box and Dot.ca was up on the SE wing ledge at the top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB).

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It was a beautiful afternoon, with temps in the mid-40’s and blue skies.  I parked down on Aqueduct St. aka the hole, where I had a view of the TSB and the surrounding area.

At 5:55 pm, Beauty came out of the nest box and went to the top IBeam at the south corner of the OCSR.  Five minutes later, Dot.ca joined her and they copulated.  It caught me by surprise, but I was able to get a short video snippet of them.  The quality’s not very good, not like Joyce’s awesome series of pictures from the other day.  If you haven’t had a chance to check them out, please do.  You won’t be disappointed.

Here is the link to the B&DC copulation video that I put on Youtube.

http://youtu.be/jwQuMTjQ9jk

Afterwards, Dot.ca went back up to the TSB’s SE wing ledge and Beauty flew off to the west.  I found her on the SE corner of the Widows Walk preparing prey she had either just caught or had cached there. (6:05 pm)

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At 6:20 pm, Dot.ca joined Beauty on the Widows Walk and just watched her eat.  He made no attempt to take her food, he just watched.  A few minutes later, Dot.ca took off and headed NW.  Beauty continued to eat.  The next time I saw Dot.ca, he was soaring high above, either hunting or patrolling the territory.

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Beauty finished her meal and flew over to the money bag hand on the Mercury statue.

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Beauty took off and flew up to the SE wing ledge on the TSB at 6:25 pm.

I spotted Dot.ca flying high and fast, heading south at 6:30 pm.  Fellow watcher Kathy O was out at the BS location, so I tweeted that he was probably coming her way.  At 6:35 pm, This tweet came in from Kathy O, “he is here.”  Well, they are the fastest creature on the earth.  lol

At 6:40 pm, Kathy O tweeted; “BS falcon report – one on south vent with fresh food .. Feathers flying .. Second on west extension  rooftop.”  So both Dot.ca and Pigott were at the BS location and they were prepping prey for a late afternoon meal.

I stayed until 6:50 pm, watching Beauty up on the TSB.  She was looking south, like Pigott had been looking north when I first found her at the BS location in the beginning of my watch.

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I am happy to report that I saw absolutely no aggression between Beauty and Dot.ca this afternoon.  They copulated the one time during my watch and he did not try to steal her food, like he had done the other day.

Larry O arrived downtown after I left and reported that at 7:35 pm, Beauty was still on the TSB on the SE wing ledge.

Goodnight everyone!!!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

6:38am and 36 degrees (F) 2 (C)-that’s what the bank clock on Main St. said when I started my watch. Still a bit dark out as I made my way to the east side where I saw the familiar shape of  Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC. I parked in my spot and right away she got busy stooping down the south face of the building. Gone in a blur and returning in a blur!

3 times she took off after a pigeon coming back empty taloned twice and the 3rd time not coming back at all. Instead, she flew over to the Times Square building (TSB) and parked herself at the nest box as told to me by Donna, one of our many fantastic camera watchers. Thank you one and all for your constant help!

It was about 6:55am and much lighter out than when I started as I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB). 10 minutes later Dot.Ca (DC) made his appearance as Beauty flew over to Mercury,and not wasting any time they mated on the money bag. DC went to the northeast wing and Beauty went to the nest box.

Now parked in the hole (Aqueduct St.) by Keybank, I watched DC fly off past Widows Walk to the west until I couldn’t see him anymore-he was flapping the whole time. Beauty then came out and flew over to the southwest corner of the Wilder building. I had to move for a better view so I parked out on Exchange St. between the Times Square and Philipone buildings.

As I was watching the Beautyful one I got the feeling someone was watching me, and sure enough on the sidewalk stood DebbieH. I put down the window and told her to jump in but she didn’t get to stay for long as Beauty took off.

Debbie got out to look as I drove around to the hole again and stationed myself near the stairs that lead up to the BSB where Debbie was standing. I could see that Beauty had gone to Mercury and signalled to Debbie. She waved and went to work as I shared space with Beauty.

At around 10 minutes after 8 (with my camera hanging out the window) a man from the Thomson Reuters security team came up to me and asked what I was doing and if I was a terrorist! I chuckled and said no, I’m watching the falcons and pointed to Mercury-then he chuckled and said, oh I didn’t recognize you in the car. I remember seeing you on foot dragging a cart around. I said yeah, I put the cart in storage when I was given this car.  And that was that! lol 10 minutes later Beauty flew off touching down under the southeast wing for a sec then over to the northeast wing. I left for the Brighton site (BS) thinking that’s where DC had gone but when I arrived Pigott was by herself on the southwest corner.

She whined  a little on and off looking north toward downtown for you know who-DC.  Miss Pigott flew off going from one corner to another before settling back on the southwest corner.

I waited and watched with her for half hour or so then I left to go back downtown. Just as I got up to Broad and Exchange Blvd. I spotted Beauty flying over to the southwest corner of the Wilder building.  I drove down to the hole after the light changed and saw DC fly over and they mated.

When finished DC flew over to the deck of the nest box next to the main camera. I thought finally they will go in the nest box and bow to each other when Beauty flew over but DC took off before she could get there and went up to the northeast wing and she went in the nest box.

A few minutes later at 9:30am Beauty flew to the Mercury money bag and DC stayed put under the wing. We all stayed in our chosen spots for 15 minutes and then Beauty flew to the south-I turned to look at DC and he was gone. Next I watched Beauty fly to the nest box as DC came screeching in to swoop her as  she landed-then DC took off out of view and Beauty went to Mercury.

Again I drove to BS thinking DC went there and again I found only Pigott perched on the same southwest corner of the west extension. I stayed half hour and went back downtown when DC didn’t show up.

Arriving at 10:55am I found Beauty to be on the money bag of Mercury and DC under the southeast wing. I parked in the hole and observed them until 11:30am when Beauty flew to the southwest corner of Wilder and DC flew off. Beauty took off to the north,DC followed, then they came back thru and DC landed briefly under the southeast wing. They had me moving back and forth and I think they may have mated on Mercury when I couldn’t see them, for when I cleared the Thomson Reuters building I saw Beauty on Mercury and DC was flying back up to the southeast wing on the TSB.

They both left when I wasn’t looking and I ended my watch at just before noon. The thing that made me smile most today was that guy thinking I could be a terrorist! 🙂

I have provided links for more pics and videos below-just click and view

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWraJg

http://youtu.be/cLf3bNtF-HY
http://youtu.be/9GK7GcR0umU
http://youtu.be/0GWvp27s05U
http://youtu.be/1FCrMdzr6EE
http://youtu.be/SjT2MHhXonM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I got a really late start to my afternoon watch today, arriving downtown at about 6:00 pm.  I was only going to do a quick sweep of the two peregrine falcon locations, but ended up staying out for close to 2 hours.

At 6:00 pm, from the Broad St Bridge I could see that Beauty was in the nest box on the Times Square Bldg.  She was facing out, looking over her territory.  I checked around the city and could not find Dot.ca anywhere.  Everything was quiet and peaceful.  Even the Broad St Bridge was empty, unlike how busy it was all weekend.  Clouds were moving in and covering the setting sun.

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Since everything was quiet downtown, I drove over to the BS location to check things out over there.  Both Pigott and Dot.ca were home.  Pigott was softly vocalizing from the south side vent and Dot.ca was flying around, landing in different spots.  He ended up next to Pigott on the vent.  Both had food and they were eating side-by-side.

Dot.ca on the left and Pigott on the right.

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After finishing their meal, they both did some flying, both chasing off the Crows that came too close to the building.  Hopefully the Crows will learn that they should stay away from the building now.  No more steeling cached food with these two on alert.

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Lisa McK joined me on the watch for awhile before she had to leave.  Just after Lisa left (of course!), both Pigott and DC flew to the cubbyhole on the west side of the building, where it looks like they may nest this year.  Much better selection than last year’s choice!  This is a large flat ledge that is covered on three sides.

I could hear their loud ee-chupping and vocalizations fill the air.  When I drove around for a better view, they were both deep inside the nook.  I could hear them, but I couldn’t see them.  Finally Dot.ca flew out and headed north.  Pigott then came into view.  She was looking north and she was quiet.  She flew out and landed on the NW ledge of the west extension, looking north.  North it was!

By the time I arrived downtown, Beauty was up on top of the Wilder Bldg on the SW corner.  She was softly vocalizing.  I looked around for Dot.ca, but could not find him.  I had to wonder if he and Beauty had copulated before I got there.

It was getting dark at 7:50 pm and it was time for me to end my watch.  As I pulled out of the parking lot next to the Wilder Bldg, I could clearly see Beauty up on the corner, keeping watch over her territory.

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Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

At one degree above freezing it felt like a heatwave this morning! Not much wind and no sun as my day started.

My first run across the Broad St. Bridge(BSB)  found no falcons so as per usual I went to the east side of downtown which had no results either. As I came back down Broad St. I could see a falcon on the Mercury money bag. I stopped on the bridge to ID it and then I drove down to the hole to observe Beauty.

I was parked on Bank Place, a one way street that goes to Aqueduct St. from Exchange Blvd.-it runs along the south side of the Philipone building and straight ahead is Thomson Reuters. I was facing east toward Mercury so the Times Square Building(TSB)was behind me and I couldn’t see the nest box so I turned left onto Aqueduct St. Dana was parked there and yelled to me-she had to go to jury duty around the corner so she stopped to check things out. While chatting Beauty flew to the nest box which signals that Dot.Ca(DC) is incoming. Sure enough as I rounded the corner into the parking lot on the north side of the Philipone building I could see that DC had arrived under the northwest wing of the TSB.

I drove over to park in front of the Blue Cross Arena to observe. Donna reported to me that DC had swooped Beauty once after she went to the nest box which I missed. 20 minutes later DC flew out and swooped her just one time again. He then proceeded to fly over to Mercury landing on the money bag briefly and was off again circled the TSB and went behind it out of view. Meanwhile Beauty had left the nest box so that’s why DC was off flying. I spent 30 minutes looking for them with no luck so I left for the Brighton Site(BS) to see if DC had gone there to Pigott.

When I got there I could here echupping coming from the broken window on the west extension where we think they had a failed scrape last year. Soon after stopping Pigott appeared in the window. She flew out and back again briefly echupping the whole time.

Click pics for full version

I wondered where DC was and then Pigott went around to the south side of the west extension and landed on the southwest corner. Then I saw DC land on her and start mating-I could only see his wings flapping from where I was parked so I quick drove over there and just as I stopped they finished. DC flew to the northwest corner as Pigott remained on the southwest corner whining a bit.

They could see each other-both flew off 30 minutes later with Pigott going to the window scrape and DC going to the cubby on the east extension. She joined him and they echupped for 5 minutes out of my view,then DC shot out of there in a blur going to the southwest corner. Pigott came out to the front edge of the cubby making soft sounds and whines as DC ignored her to preen with his back to her.

Miss Pigott then went back in the cubby after 10 minutes continuing to make the sweet little sounds. 15 minutes later DC flew to the north roof and landed in on it where again I could only see his wings flapping as he and Pigott(who snuck over there without me seeing) were mating again. DC flew north when they were done and Pigott went to the northwest corner. DC did not return after a few minutes so I left Pigott looking north to return to downtown. As I approached downtown traveling down Exchange St. I could see DC under the southeast wing of TSB.

DC stayed up there for the next 30 minutes preening and looking down at the nest box then he flew off circling above the Philipone and Wilder buildings. Unbeknownst to me, Beauty had flown out of the nest box and was on the southwest corner of the Wilder building waiting for him. I fumbled with my camera as they caught me off guard when DC mounted her and they mated. They both flew off out of sight afterward.

Click it to see DC exit left

They came back into view flying in front of the nest box then he went to the money bag of Mercury. She flew past him and he jumped off to follow her to the north out of view. They would come in and out of view flying all over the downtown area with DC diving at her from time to time. After 20 minutes of this on the wing show DC went to the southeast wing ring and Beauty disappeared.

After 15 minutes of preening DC bolted off the ring to the  southwest meeting up with Beauty and chasing her to the nest box. Just as she was to land he swooped on her,she went in the box then he swooped one more time before going to Mercury.

He stayed 10 minutes then flew off to the east. Beauty had also left the nest box. I drove back to BS after searching in vain for them arriving at 12:15pm. Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent whining and a few minutes later DC flew over her.

She followed him quite noisily as they went to the back of the cubby for another long winded echup fest followed by the sound of mating. Next  DC came shooting out flying over to the southwest corner of the west extension. Pigott remained in the cubby out of my view as I decided to end my watch. Just some thoughts before I end my report-I think the fact that DC never went to the window scrape, instead leading Pigott to the cubby where they bonded may mean that he wants that to be the scrape now. This would be a much safer spot for babies stretching their wings than in an open broken window and it’s well protected from the elements and that my friends makes me smile! 🙂

Click the links below for more of my pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWraBA

http://youtu.be/_XC2dxBZmvw
http://youtu.be/IW6AjdSgrh0
http://youtu.be/Iif7QMDpFtk
http://youtu.be/pFOmj2foYBs
http://youtu.be/eQui9b8OkBE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce (wnyfalconfan)

Enjoy the final episode of Beauty and Dot.ca’s action-filled day…

Picasa Slideshow – Beauty & Dot.ca Copulation

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My part of the Rochester Falcon Watch was all about aggression.  But by the end of the day….well, let’s just say there was a change in behavior that surprised all of us.  Now for my part of the watch.

It started at about 10:30 am.  I arrived on the Andrews St Bridge in time to see Dot.ca chasing Beauty all over the downtown area.  This was just the beginning of what I would witness during my 6 1/2 hour watch.  Due to a show at the convention center, there was no where to park on the Broad St Bridge during the time I was there.  I ended up on Aqueduct St aka the hole.  From there, I could see both Dot.ca on the Mercury statue’s moneybag hand and Beauty was on the 2nd IBeam down near the south corner on the OCSR.

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Both had their eyes on the other.  After all the flying and chasing they did before I arrived, they were both taking a breather.

11:35 am – They were both off!  The chase continued.  Beauty flew up into the nest box and Dot.ca did a few passes in front of her before ending up on the SE wing ledge at the top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB).

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11:45 am – Dot.ca left the TSB and flew down to the Mercury statue, landing on the moneybag hand.

11;50 am – Beauty came out of the nest box.  This time it was her turn.  She flew straight at Dot.ca and knocked him off of the Mercury statue.  Beauty chased Dot.ca across the river heading NE.  I lost them pretty quickly after they flew behind the Hyatt.  When they didn’t return, I drove around looking for them.

From the Andrews St Bridge, I could see that Dot.ca had returned to the Mercury statue.

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At that point Brian H had joined the Watch.  He was up on the South Ave ramp garage and texted that Beauty was on the top Ibeam of the OCSR at the south corner.  Back I went, to Aqueduct St.

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At 12:40 pm, Dot.ca again took off and flew towards the OCSR where he dove on her a few times before gaining altitude and flying high above the TSB.  I lost sight of him, but Brian H reported that he flew south past the Cornhill area.  We both thought he might have headed back to the BS location.  Lisa McK had joined me and we both decided to join Dana over at the BS location, after warning her that Dot.ca might be on his way.  We were all right.  That is exactly where he headed.

When we arrived, we met Dana on the west side of the building.  She pointed out Pigott who was on what we assume will be their scrape ledge and she was vocalizing loudly.  Dot.ca had arrived and he flew around the south side of the building.  I followed and found him on the SE corner.  It wasn’t long before he took off heading east.  We all thought there was a good chance he would end up downtown again.  Before I headed back downtown, I found Pigott on the SW corner of the west extension.  She continue to vocalize and look off towards the north.  I said goodbye to Dana and Lisa and headed back downtown.

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From in front of the Blue Cross Arena, I could see that Beauty was inside the nest box on the TSB.

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When I turned the corner, I found a spot to park and found Dot.ca where?  Yep, you guessed it.  He was back on the Mercury statue.

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2:15 pm, Another stand-off with Beauty at the nest box and Dot.ca on Mercury.  I saw a familiar car drive by.  It was Joyce and Brian heading out.

At about 2:30 pm, both took off again, heading south west.  Again I lost sight of them quickly.  I checked all over the city and had no luck find them.  It was time to go back out to the BS location.

2:50 pm.  No falcons at the BS location.  It was very quiet out there.  I stayed for a little while, but when no falcons appeared, it was time to go back downtown.

I drove all over looking and could find no falcons.  Finally!   At 3:35 pm, I saw a falcon fly in and land on top of the Xerox Bldg on the SW corner, but not for long.  I quickly found a parking spot and got out of my car.  The falcon on Xerox launched itself from the building and clashed with another falcon.  I could hear their cries from the street below.  To me they were very close in size and I had to wonder if this was Beauty and Pigott.  You be the judge.  Here are a couple pics I got of the combatants.

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Most of the time I was looking up into the sun, so it wasn’t long before I lost them.  Time to head back to the Times Square Bldg.

At 4:00 pm, I found Beauty again at the nest box on the TSB and Dot.ca back on the Mercury statue.  I assumed this was Dot.ca.  At 4:10 pm, he flew up to the TSB and dove a few times on the nest box and then settled on the SE wing ledge at the top.   At 4:20 pm, Dot.ca took off and flew towards the NW.  I hoped he was headed back to BS.

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At 4:35 pm – Back to the BS location where I found Pigott on the SW side of the west extension.  She was very quiet, so I assumed Dot.ca wasn’t there.

At 4:45 pm – Back downtown.  One falcon on the SW wing ledge on the TSB.  Dana and Donna verified that Beauty was not in the nest box.  Thanks ladies!  I was very sure that this was Beauty at the SW wing.  She was preening and looking very relaxed to me.  No sign of Dot.ca at either location.  At 5:00 pm, it was time for me to call it a watch. Now for the rest of the story!

At 6:20 pm, Joyce and Brian returned downtown and found Beauty on the corner of the Wilder Bldg, making soft noises.  Dot.ca was on, you guessed it, the Mercury statue.

At 6:40 pm, the first witnessed copulation between Beauty and Dot.ca happened on the Wilder Bldg.  Afterwards, Dot.ca returned to the Mercury statue.

At 7:25 pm, a 2nd copulation!  and a 3rd after that! Here is a picture of Beauty on the corner of the Wilder Bldg where they copulated, taken by Camera #1 from the nest box.

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After watching the aggression between them all day, I couldn’t believe it.  But, I was very happy that it happened.  The next few days should be very interesting indeed.

Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see in a larger size.

Goodnight everyone!

I’ll leave you with this picture I took of a log on the river below the BSB.  The ice formation coating the one end reminded me of a crystal chandelier.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The start of my day was chilly at 30 degrees (F) -1 (C)  but not much wind to speak of and when the sun came up there were no clouds for it to fight through to shine down.

I arrived downtown at 6:45am and found Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC.

She was facing me as I parked on Broad St. in the back of the building (east side) but she was watching the southern skyline. Waiting and watching for Dot.Ca(DC) to make an appearance. 15 minutes later Beauty flew off to the west toward the Times Square building(TSB).

I thought for sure I would find DC when I got there but he wasn’t present. Instead, Beauty was under the southeast wing and as I crossed the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) I saw Dan in his lawn chair on the south side of the bridge. I made a u-turn and joined Dan to watch Beauty. It was just a little too chilly to sit in lawn chairs on the BSB so after half hour or so I got in my car to warm up. Dan said he was leaving soon so I went down to Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena to wait with Beauty for DC.

Larry had seen Dan just before he left and came by to chat with me for a minute before leaving himself. In the meantime, Beauty was doing a lot of stretching up under that wing-probably to get ready for another day of flying around the city at blazing speeds with DC on her tail.

DC was quite late to show up this morning compared to the rest of the week. At 8:37am Dana tweeted  from the Brighton location that she saw a falcon fly from there to the north, which is in the direction of downtown. It took him all of 2 minutes to fly the distance of just under 3 miles. Beauty flew down to the nest box screaming as he approached. He flew in front of the Times Square building to show her that he had arrived. DC then flew up under the northeast wing of the TSB.

DC watched from above as Beauty called out to him from in the nest box. He would take his time preening and picking at his blood stained feet before flying off for the first swooping session of the day some 40 minutes after arriving.

It was a very short 2 swoop affair and then up under the northeast wing again. Donna texted me that she was on the livestream chat and  MarkB, an attorney that works on the 10th floor of the TSB had said any watchers that were out could  go up to his office to watch. Of course I said yes and tweeted Dana to ask her(she declined) as she was the only other watcher out and about at the time. I found that the view to the east was terrific but to the north and south quite limited because of the columns on the building that were on either side of the window.I actually set up in the empty office next to Marks.

<Front of Times Square looking up Always click on my pics for the full version

I didn’t see any action for about 35 minutes and then Beauty flew out over the Philipone building across the street and DC flew after her chasing her back to the nest box. Soon after she was off again flying north past  OCSR. A few minutes later I caught a glimpse of a falcon flying high above the Court St. bridge and out of sight to the south. I watched Beauty and DC tear up the sky with their after burners kicked in making it nearly impossible to get them in focus and that’s if I could even get them on cam. I surely enjoyed the show as a couple times they flew right at me and up above to where I couldn’t see them. Most of the time it was DC pursuing Beauty diving on her here and there but Beauty did chase him at times.

Just before I had to leave, as Mark had to get going, Beauty flew to the south corner of OCSR 2nd ibeam down-DC buzzed her as he flew by and then he went over to Mercury and landed on the money bag hand. I thanked him for the opportunity and went to the parking lot by He’s Chinese to watch Beauty and DC for a couple minutes before ending my watch at 11:15am. What a fantastic time I had watching from a birds eye view putting a big old smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my photo album and some videos from todays watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrZ-A

http://youtu.be/WfpPhH55qH8
http://youtu.be/UMh6s38Tl_0
http://youtu.be/oYHEdRlPdw4
http://youtu.be/Kn4mliIC_Vg
http://youtu.be/VWh68qp67BQ
http://youtu.be/_kh5BYMiwSU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Too tired to leave a full report of a very long day, but I wanted to leave you with some pictures I took during my watch today.  I think I used at least a 1/2 tank of gas going back and forth between the Times Square Bldg, the BS location and Kodak Office where Beauty spent some time.

Watchers today included, in the order they arrived downtown, MAK, Dan, Larry O, Dana, Kathy O, Lou & Brian H.  Oh, yeah, and me!  Lots of watchers out today.

Lots of flying by all three Rochester Falcons, Beauty, Pigott and Dot.ca.  OK, here are some pictures from my watch.

Beauty on the Kodak Tower, on the south side of the launchpad.

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Pigott and Dot.ca at the BS location.

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At the end of our watch Kathy O and I searched everywhere for Beauty.  We didn’t want to leave without finding her.  Finally, at 6:00 pm, Beauty flew up to the Times Square Bldg and landed on the SE wing ledge at the top.  She seemed relaxed and was preening.  No Dot.ca in sight.  It was time for us to call it a day, after find Beauty safe and sound.

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Goodnight everyone!