By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I wasn’t able to go directly downtown after work today and I almost decided not to go at all.  Thankfully that didn’t happen.  At 5:30 pm, I was ready to go, but where to first?  Downtown of course.  Since the light was already fading, I knew I didn’t have long before it was dark.  It had been overcast all day long, not one bit of sun, with temps in the 30’s (F).

Taking my normal route through downtown, I checked out the Kodak Tower first and then worked my way over to the Andrews St Bridge (ASB).  Scanning the area with my binoculars, I spotted Beauty on Mercury’s upraised moneybag hand.  I took a quick picture and then headed over to the Broad St Bridge (BSB). (5:40 pm)

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The Broad St Bridge was pretty much empty by 6:00 pm and the traffic was lessening.  I parked on the north side of the bridge facing Mercury and the Times Square Bldg (TSB).  I was just getting ready to take another picture of Beauty before heading over to the BS location to check on Pigott when I looked up at the TSB and saw a familiar shape sitting on the ledge above the nest box.  What!  My camera moved from the Mercury statue to the TSB and I took a picture of the falcon sitting up there.

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I quickly checked the Mercury statue to make sure that Beauty was still there and yes, she was!  Woohoo!  I quickly tweeted out with shaking hands “WE HAVE TWO!”.  It was time to get out of my car and observe these two.  There were so many questions running through my mind.  Was this DC?  Was it another tiercel?  Would they be aggressive?  Beauty obviously knew the tiercel was on her building sitting just above her nest box and she seemed ok with that.  She was just watching and so was I.

The tiercel took off and flew over the river, past the Hyatt, crossed in front of the Lincoln Bldg heading towards the B&L bldg.  That was where I thought he was going to land, but he didn’t.  He turned back, heading towards the Hyatt and landed on the south side on a lower roof.  Not the normal spot I would see Beauty on beneath the sign.  I turned back to see Beauty take off and go to the nest box.  She didn’t stay long.  Beauty left the nest box and flew out to the Hyatt landing a few feet to the right of the tiercel.    I quickly tweeted out again what was happening.

They stayed side by side for a short while and then the tiercel took off and did some spectacular display flying for Beauty.  I hadn’t seen this type of flying in a very long time.  Kaver flew like this for Mariah.  It is a joy to see.  I truly wished it had been lighter, since I would have loved to get a video of this aerial ballet to share with everyone.

Beauty stayed on the corner of the ledge while the tiercel flitted about, flipping and flapping his way around her.  Landing now and then and taking off again.  In this picture he landed just to her right.

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I can not say if this is DC or another tiercel that is trying to impress Beauty.  Just before I arrived downtown for my watch, the nest box cams caught this picture of the both of them at the nest box.

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Fellow Watcher Pat walked by me on her way home from work and said hello.  She didn’t know that there were two falcons, so I told her what I had seen.  After she left, I continued to watch Beauty and the tiercel, who seemed to both be settled on the lower south ledge of the Hyatt.  Kathy O soon joined me on the BSB, but by that time, it was dark and very hard to see anything.  Beauty was gone from the corner of the ledge, but I never saw her leave, so I wondered if she had just moved back where I couldn’t seen her any longer.

This picture shows where Beauty and the tiercel were located.

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By 6:50 pm it was dark, so Kathy and I decided it was time to leave.  I am very excited to see if we will find out who this tiercel is tomorrow.  I hope he’ll visit the nest box and that the cameras there will reveal if this is DC or another tiercel.  All I know is that Beauty seemed very comfortable with him and the tiercel with her.  So it begins!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

At 9:50 am, a tweet went out that there was vocalization heard on the cameras at the nest box and that it might have been an alarm call.  Thanks for the heads up Donna.  It’s that time of year when anything could be happening with the Rochester Falcons.  I decided to get an early start on my watch.

At 9:40 am I was at KP.  No Falcon activity there.

At 9:50 am I was at the LT location.  Lots of Pigeons, no Falcons.

By 10:00 am, I had circled the Kodak Tower, checking all sides for Falcons and not finding any.

I drove over to the Andrews St Bridge (ASB) and checked out the surrounding area.  It was snowing again (big surprise).

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The last report had Beauty on the top IBeam, SE side of the OCSR.  I wanted to check out the downtown area to make sure there wasn’t a 2nd Peregrine hanging out.  At 10:30 am, I made my way over to the Broad St Bridge (BSB) and found Beauty where she had last been reported.  I settled in to keep an eye on her.

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The Pigeons were lined up on the Blue Cross Arena aka Rochester War Memorial, like they always were.

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Dana joined me for a short while before heading off to check the other locations.  After an hour and a half of watching Beauty preen and the Pigeons take flight and land, it was time to go see if I could find Pigott at the BS location at noon.  My timing could not have been more perfect.

I was still about 2 blocks from the BS location when I spotted a familiar shape flying over heading in the same direction I was headed, east.  I turned left and followed.  I got caught at a red light, so I couldn’t keep up with the Falcon I had seen.  When I arrived at the BS location, I found Pigott on the NE corner of the building with the Pigeon she had carried for quite a distance, I would guess about a mile, to her building.  That was incredible to see.  Like I said, perfect timing!

For two hours I watched Pigott eat most of the Pigeon she had successfully hunted.

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You can see how large her crop got in the pictures above.  Kind of a before and after.  🙂

After eating her fill, Pigott grabbed the remainder of her meal in one talon and took off, looking for the perfect spot to cache her leftovers.

First she landed on a lower ledge.  Pigott walked around trying to decide if this was the right spot.  Obviously it wasn’t.  She took off and flew to the front (north side) of the building.

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I found her on a windowsill on the north side of the bldg in the middle.  How about this window?  No this just won’t do!  She was off!

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Pigott flew to a windowsill on the front of the east extension.  She strutted back and forth, laid down the food.  Walked away and looked back.  She ran up to the the food and grabbed it, again taking off with it in one talon.

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Pigott landed on the center part of the building that juts out.  This was a nice deep ledge and apparently more to her liking.  She disappeared from view for a few moments and then came out to the edge where I could see her.

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I couldn’t help but be amused by her behavior, but it is a vital part of their survival to be able to store (cache) their leftover food for later consumption.  I’ve seen Pigott cache food on windowsills before and go back and finish it.  But if it’s too visible other birds could find it and take it. I’ve seen Hawks and Crows do this.

It was time for me to head home, but first I would check on Beauty one more time.  Downtown was very busy.  Both Dana and Ruth told me that there was a Lancer game this afternoon at the Blue Cross Arena and that Abby Wambach would be there.  The Broad St Bridge was totally filled up.  I slowed down and spotted fellow Watcher Dan on the bridge.  I think he got the last spot.  Due to the heavy traffic, I was not able to stop to say hello.  🙁

I continued on and found a spot down on Aqueduct St.  Beauty was up on the Times Square Bldg. (TSB) on the ledge just above the nest box level at the south end.

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She was facing the south with the sun almost directly behind her.  Yes, the sun came out for a short while this afternoon before it started snowing again.  Beauty took off flying fast heading south.  I waited a few minutes until she returned and landed on the base of the SE wing at the top of the TSB.

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I watched her run in towards the wing and drag something out.  This was a known spot that Beauty cached her leftovers and she had just selected something from the pantry.  🙂

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Feathers were flying and soon Beauty was enjoying her afternoon meal.  I watched her eat for awhile before leaving to check on the LT and KP locations.  I did find LTF at the LT location and no falcons at KP.

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It was time for me to head home after again finding all three current Rochester Peregrine Falcons.  It was another peaceful Watch, with all three females remaining in their own territories.

I’ll leave you with a picture of a monument I pass everyday when I drive through the Cornhill area.  I always admire it, but have never had a chance to slow down enough to get a picture.  Well, today I was able to do just that!

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON ANY PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN A LARGER FORMAT.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well I got up today and didn’t see any snow on the ground or in the air so I thought I might actually get in a watch without it. Wrong-after I got downtown it started out light and by the end it was snowing pretty darn good. The temperature was 31 (F) -1 (C).

I spent the first 20 minutes of my watch looking for Beauty and checking the Lake Tower site. As I sat on the Broad St. Bridge facing east looking toward Xerox I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked to my left and spotted Beauty flying from the northeast over the Granite building passing in front of  the Chase tower and then like she was shot out of a cannon turned toward me and the pigeons that were on the Blue Cross Arena. She streaked over the bridge and before I could turn around to look she disappeared to the south. I have to tell you that nothing else in my life has gotten my blood pumping faster than seeing a Peregrine Falcon turn on the speed in flight. WOW!

When I was on the east side I stepped out of my car to stand below Xerox, our tallest downtown building to give you a feel for what I saw. It’s really cool to look up from the bottom of these tall buildings.

15 minutes later after a ride around to the usual spots I found the Beautyful one on the main cam.

Beauty remained there for the next 50 minutes and flew off when I wasn’t looking. When I couldn’t locate her I went and checked the Lake Tower and Brighton sites to no avail. As I was leaving Brighton I got a text from Donna (one of our cam watchers) that there was a falcon alarm calling near the nest box so I went straight away to the Times Square building. As I approached I could see Beauty under the southeast wing. I went to the parking lot near He’s Chinese food and took a look around the surrounding area but didn’t see any other falcons.

Beauty looked perfectly calm as she did a little preening so she may have been yelling at a hawk or crow. The hormones are telling her to guard that nest box now as the new season is about to start. Now we just need some males for our 3 females. At 9:00am Beauty dropped off the back of the ledge and flew west out of view. 20 minutes later I found Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. The snow started to pick up at this point after starting out very light.

I spent the next hour watching Beauty thru the snow as she preened and slept with one eye open. I ended my watch around 10:30am with a smiling face! 🙂

I have links for some videos of Beauty below and all you need do is click and view

http://youtu.be/tzXrQwTWoO8

http://youtu.be/E1RuvDfeSRk

http://youtu.be/LU6BaznsBK4

http://youtu.be/NDelhLxao0Q
http://youtu.be/WUmx_TxvFWY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

By the time I was able to get out for my falcon watch it was 11 am.  It was overcast, but the icy sleet had stopped by that time and the temperatures had risen into the mid-30’s (F).  On my way through Greece (NY), I spotted a falcon on a church near the corner of Long Pond.  I quickly pulled into the parking lot and discovered it was a Merlin and she was hunting from the cross over to a nearby wooded area.

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My next stop was KP, where all I found was one of the resident Red-tailed Hawks on a tree.  HAWKEROO!  🙂

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I left KP and headed towards the LT location, checking all the buildings I could between KP and there.  I was passing John Marshall High School and spotted a raptor there.  I quickly turned around and went back to the school.  I have always loved the architecture of this school and thought it would be a perfect setting for a falcon or hawk.  Today it was a Red-tailed Hawk.  HAWKEROO!

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Onward to the LT location where I found no Peregrines.  It was time to head downtown to look for Ms. Beauty.  After checking all sides of the Kodak Tower, I looked towards the downtown area and found Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  She was on the NE box below the platform.

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She took off heading south towards the Times Square Bldg (TSB), in no hurry at all.  I followed and looked all over the downtown area for her.  No luck finding her, so I headed back to the Andrews St Bridge.  From there I could see that Beauty had returned to the FCT and was on the same spot she left.  Tricky falcon.  🙂

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I left Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower to see if I could find Pigott at the BS location.  She had been seen by other watchers earlier this morning.  I wasn’t as lucky.  I circled the building a couple times, finding no falcons.  But I did find two Canada Geese checking out the place.

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After circling twice, I saw a familiar car in front of me.  I joined Kathy O in the parking lot on the east end of the building.  She, with Dana, had seen Pigott on the small stacks south of the building and MAK had seen her earlier in the Pefa Tree.  We chatted for awhile before  heading out.  I went back through downtown, but could not find Beauty anywhere.  Donna did tweet that Beauty showed up on the Mercury statue for a short visit, as seen by the nest box cameras at the Times Square Bldg.

I checked out the LT location again and again could find no falcons.  Back to KP for one last look before heading home.  I was greeted by the KP Mockingbird.

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I continued my search and finally, I found KPF the KP Falcon on the north side of the west smokestack catwalk.  She was looking north.

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KPF took off, stooping over the buildings north of the stack.  I lost sight of her for a moment before she swooped back up and circled, gaining altitude and heading towards the SW, in the general direction of the LT location, where Kathy O had just tweeted from.  I tweeted out that KPF had just left KP at 3:52 pm, heading towards LT and that Kathy should keep a look out for her.  We are still trying to prove that KPF and LTF are the same Peregrine Falcon.

At 4:49, Kathy O reported that a falcon came in and circled LT bldg several times, landing on top ledge, east side, closest to north.  So KPF left KP at 3:52 pm and LTF arrived at LT at 4:49 pm.  That’s a long time for such a short distance as the falcon flies.  So, still no prove that KPF is really LTF. We’ll keep trying.

I’ll leave you with a picture sent to me from Kathy O.  She took this picture of LTF on the LT bldg just after she arrived.

Remember to click on any pics you would like to see in a larger format.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a balmy 33 degrees (F) 1 (C) when I began my watch this morning with the tiniest of snowflakes falling when I arrived downtown. While I was out there was a mix of rain,sleet and snow in varying intensity and dark overcast conditions.

I haven’t spent much time on the Broad St. Bridge lately as Beauty has been hanging out in the north and east parts of her territory. Today was no different as I found her eating on the northeast corner of Bausch&Lomb at 6:45am. I parked on Broad St. right between Xerox and Midtown.

I shared space with Beauty for the next 45 minutes as she finished her meal and took off flying northwest. She had a nicely filled crop when she departed.

Beautys pattern has been to go to the northwest side of OCSR to digest her meals and that’s exactly where I found her on the top ibeam.

I knew she wasn’t going anywhere so I took a ride a mile up the road to the Lake Tower (LT) apartment only to find it lined with pigeons and no mystery falcon. I drove to the Brighton location next and found 7 Wild Turkeys crossing the road in front of me. A couple of them flew in from the woods and a male turkey was strutting his stuff for one female in particular.

Remember you must click the pics to see a full version

As I was watching them I noticed a falcon in the PEFA tree at the back of the property. It was Miss Pigott and she was in hunt mode turning her head to and fro up and down making my neck hurt just watching her cranking hers.

It started to sleet as Pigott searched the area for a meal. I could hear a Blue Jay alarm calling and then 3 crows flew in and surrounded Pigott. One in particular was really harassing her flying at her and landing real close on a neighboring branch. Then the 2nd crow came over with the 3rd crow just watching from afar.

They gave up after 15 minutes as Miss Pigott stood her ground. 10 minutes later she flew north out of sight quickly. It sure was a fast hour and a half I spent with Pigott!

Right after Pigott left 2 Blue Jays,a Mockingbird and a Downy Woodpecker flew out from the trees. This was their lucky day as the crows distracted Pigott and spoiled her breakfast plans. Pigott didn’t return so I made my way back downtown to find that Beauty had held her ground too as she was still on the top ibeam northwest side of OCSR. The rain,snow and sleet mix had pretty much stopped by this time. I left the Beautyful one to check LT but there was no falcon there, so I drove to Kodak Park and found KathyO there but no falcon. Dana drove up a couple minutes later and we all chatted before parting ways. I ended my watch at 10:44am with a big old smile on my face for having had such a fun time! 🙂

Click on the links below for more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrWog

http://youtu.be/vtzv2yRlx6s
http://youtu.be/MYbxdvnzsAk
http://youtu.be/Agacfj7FLbI
http://youtu.be/gX0LK64zByU
http://youtu.be/6iiyqj_QF08
http://youtu.be/vVh7CjtRzbY
http://youtu.be/eLvyIlk_WLQ
http://youtu.be/6lwpvm9oduM
http://youtu.be/nAx_i4qQ_Rk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another Peregrine Trifecta.  The big surprise of my watch was, “it was snowing!”  Now that’s something I haven’t seen in awhile.  lol  Of course I’m being sarcastic.  It’s seems to be snowing all the time when I’m out looking for the Rochester  Falcons.  I, for one, cannot wait for spring.

Some snowy scenes from downtown Rochester during my watch today.

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After checking KP and not finding any falcons there, I headed straight for downtown Rochester.  It was snowing and sleeting, making it very difficult to  see the surrounding buildings and the driving a little dicey in some places.  I couldn’t find Beauty anywhere, so I headed over to the BS location.  I found Pigott on a window on the north side of the west extension.

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I didn’t stay too long with Pigott because I wanted to get back downtown to continue my search for Beauty.  I checked everywhere and again could not find her.  I ended up on the Andrews St Bridge where I had a good view of the area.  The light was starting to fade, but at least the snow wasn’t coming down as hard as it was when I first arrived.  It wasn’t long before a falcon appeared on the top Ibeam of the OCSR on the NW side.  The falcon was facing the building, so it was impossible for me to positively ID the bird.

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I am pretty sure this was Beauty, but couldn’t be 100 % sure.  Beauty flew over to the west end of the Cross Rds Bldg, just across the street from the Powers Bldg.

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I drove around the downtown area just to make sure there wasn’t a 2nd falcon.  I could not find any other falcons.  When I left, Beauty was still on the west end of the Cross Rds Bldg where she had a great view of her nest box on the Times Square Bldg. and the rest of her territory.

On my way home, I checked on the LT location and found LTF tucked in on the west side of the building.  Not a great picture due to the fading light, but you get the idea.  🙂

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So all three seen on my watch.  It’s Friday and I am so looking forward to the weekend.  Hope everyone enjoys theirs!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I started my watch with a temperature of 22 degrees (F) -6 (C) and overcast skies but pretty mellow otherwise. No snow or wind to deal with and that’s a good thing for our fine feathered friends!

It took me a while (40 minutes) to find Beauty but I managed to spot her on the tallest building in downtown Rochester. She was on the 5th column south side of Xerox.

Beauty remained up there for the next 45 minutes just looking around for a potential meal. She flew off at 7:40am heading west and then north going behind Xerox where I lost sight of her.

She looks so miniscule way up there! I drove off to find her and I didn’t have to go far as Beauty was on the money bag hand of Mercury as I made my way down Broad St. to the bridge. I barely had time to get out of my car and take a couple pics before she was off again flying north.

Be sure to click the pics for a full version

So off I went again chasing the Beautyful one until I found her on the top ibeam northwest side of OCSR.

I parked across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel on State St. and spent nearly an hour watching Beauty as she preened and looked over the area below her. She left at 8:50am flying east over the river so I did a quick check at the Lake Tower (LT) site but there was no falcon to be found.

On my way back thru I found Beauty on the south corner top ibeam of OCSR. She was scrunched down facing south as I parked down in the hole (Aqueduct St.) to observe her for a few minutes.

I left Beauty to go check on the Brighton site (BS) where I spotted Pigott on the northwest corner as I approached the site just before 9:30am.

I watched her survey the territory for 15 minutes and the she took off flying south.

I gave her 15 minutes and when she didn’t return I left for Highland Park where several of our local watchers has seen an Eastern Screech Owl. It was first found by Lisa McKeown and after our New Years toast some people went to check it out with her. Pretty much everyday since, I have gone there after checking BS to see this elusive owl. Well finally today it was there when I checked, sleeping soundly and I was elated for I’ve never seen one in the wild.

I returned to downtown around 10:30am and noticed on my way thru that Beauty was still on the south corner of OCSR. Subsequently I checked both the LT and Kodak Park sites without finding a PEFA at either place so I ended my watch at 11:00am. I certainly had reason to smile today after seeing Beauty,Pigott and my first Eastern Screech Owl!  🙂

Click the links below to view more pics and videos from my watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrWgA

http://youtu.be/8Gg8JvXGfBM
http://youtu.be/X1i8DCFa5uQ
http://youtu.be/q8vPtC0VPHQ
http://youtu.be/s1YTSEyptSk
http://youtu.be/L6T1HefOdZ4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was cold and snowy  during my late afternoon watch as it usually is lately.

It was a Peregrine Falcon Trifecta.

First, I found the LT Falcon (LTF).  I do believe, based on size, that this is a female.  The Peregrine Falcon females are called falcons and the males are called tiercels.

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Next stop downtown Rochester.  I had no luck finding Beauty, so I headed out to the BS location where I found Pigott on the east end of the building below the tree ledge.

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I didn’t stay long at BS because I wanted to continue to look for Beauty downtown.  Finally I found her on top of the Xerox Bldg on the south side, 5 columns in from the SE corner.

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There wasn’t much activity by the three falcons I saw tonight, just a little flying by LTF.    The light was fading and all three seemed to be settled in for the evening.  I was just glad to see them all and that all remained peaceful.

I’ll leave you with a couple more pictures from the winter storm that hit Rochester back at the beginning of February.  Be sure to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a cold morning when I left for my watch-the temperature was 16(F) -9(C) and about an inch of snow had fallen over nite.  It was overcast for the most part of my watch with light snow showers and a few flurries. The sun shone for maybe 20 minutes while I was at the Brighton location (BS) and then in and out while at the Lake Tower(LT) site.

I found Beauty after checking on the east side 15 minutes into my watch on the Bausch&Lomb building. She was on the northeast corner dining on breakfast.

Beauty finished up her meal and flew north rather hurriedly at about 7:15am.

I thought perhaps she saw the LT falcon so I headed north as well. Shooting straight down State St. to the Kodak Office tower (KO) I found Beauty on the south side arch above the old Mariah&Kaver nest site. It was snowing moderately and she had her back to me at first so I wasn’t sure it was Beauty until she turned around. That Beautyful salmon colored chest showed thru the snow very well.

I left her to see if the mystery falcon was at LT which it was not so I returned and spent half hour or so with the Beautyful one as she caught some winks and just hung out. I made my way over to BS and found Pigott at home-it was the first time I’d seen her in a few days although she had been seen in the evenings. Miss Pigott was on one of BSTs favorite window ledges-south facing,3rd set down on the east extension in the corner.

Make sure to click the pics for a full version

Pigott was very alert-watching the trees below for a potential meal and preening for 30 minutes. She then flew off to the southwest as the sun was shining bright only to return 10 minutes later in a snow flurry. She came to rest on an east facing window top row below the roof top tree ledge.

I left for another check of downtown finding Beauty still on KO sound asleep when I first arrived. Considering the size of her crop I totally could see why she was asleep. It’s called a food coma!

I had to be going soon and decided to check the LT apartment before ending my watch. To my surprise I saw the head,shoulders and bright white  bulging crop of our mystery PEFA on the front (east) side of the building on the top row of windows.

I started in the Aldis parking lot and ended up in the Brown Square Health Center parking lot as I tried to get a look at more of her body. I stayed  as long as I could with her hoping she’d give me a leg shot so I could see if she was banded. Unfortunately she stayed hunkered down to the back of the ledge. I took a few pics of the Lake Tower apartment building and one where you can see how close the Kodak Office tower is to this location.  I like to give you a feel for what I’m seeing on my watches so you get a better perspective.

It was a good watch having seen 3 Peregrine Falcons and tho I couldn’t see if the mystery falcon was banded I still had plenty to smile about as I left downtown today!  🙂

Links below need only be clicked for your viewing pleasure

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrWTA

http://youtu.be/W0y9Po73OKU
http://youtu.be/ImwP4h_qQp0
http://youtu.be/JuHl5AQoXLg
http://youtu.be/xpLG56cq1qs
http://youtu.be/ZFV-ObkwP6E
http://youtu.be/og-S6Z9yk6w
http://youtu.be/K2ccJUEOHS4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P

A quick check at KP after getting out of work (3:30 pm).  No falcons found.  Actually no birds at all, including Pigeons.  It was starting to snow and it was bitter cold.

My next stop was downtown Rochester where I found Beauty on the OCSR, SE side of the top I-Beam.  She was facing the building.  Crows were streaming through, mostly between the Times Square Bldg and the OCSR.  Many of them veered off and swooped down to where Beauty was located.  They were checking her out, but not engaging her at all.  Just checking her out and moving on to their nighttime roost.  I have always found it fascinating to watch the behavior of the Crows.  They would aggressively attack Red-tailed Hawks, but mostly leave Peregrines alone.  They knew better than to provoke the fastest creature on the planet.  🙂

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As always at this time of day, the Pigeons lined the roof of the Blue Cross Arena aka War Memorial.  The hundreds of Crows passing overhead, vocalizing, seemed to make them a bit uneasy.  They took flight quite frequently while I was watching from the Broad St Bridge.  Always coming back to land on the Blue Cross Arena roof.  Beauty was watching everything.

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At 4:30 pm, Beauty took off and flew first over the river heading NE.  She “U-turned” and headed back towards the OCSR and past it towards the Times Square Bldg (TSB).  I lost her behind the buildings between me and the TSB.  Beauty eventually came back into view, flying towards the OCSR and landing just to the right of where she took off from.  Time for me to check on the BS location, where I hoped to find Pigott.

and find her I did.  She was sitting on a window on the south side of the east extension and it looked like she had a pretty full crop.

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This was one of BST’s favorite spots.  I have been wondering if the Tiercel I saw fly through and greet Pigott on Saturday was BST on the start of his migration.  It made sense that he would head north.  It’s too bad he wasn’t banded.  We might have been able to ID him and let the folks at his home territory know where he was wintering.  Of course we will never know for sure.

It was time for me to head home.  On the way I stopped one more time downtown and found that Beauty was still on the OCSR top I-beam, but she had moved to the east end near the elevator shaft.  This was the 2nd day I had seen her in this corner spot.  Was this her new nighttime roosting spot?

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On the way home I checked the LT and KP locations and found no Peregrines at either spot.

Tonight we are expecting some snow and wind.  Not much snow, probably just an inch or two.  Not like the foot of snow we had in the beginning of February!

I’ll leave you with a couple of pics I took in the gorge right after that storm.  Be sure to click on any pics you would like to see in a larger format.  I’ll put the rest in an album to share with everyone soon.  Goodnight all!