Falcon Watcher:  Carol P.

I decided to check on Lady Pefa (LP) at Kodak Park (KP) this evening.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and with the time change, it was staying lighter later.  I arrived at KP a little before 6 pm.  At first, I did not see any Falcons and then I did!  A Peregrine came off of one of the silver stills that stood between me and the blue building.  The Peregrine flew towards me, low over the field on the other side of the fence, and then landing on top of another still.

I quickly got the scope out and I’m pretty sure I saw a red/black band.  I believe this was Lady Pefa.  She took off again, this time heading north, away from me.  I watched as she flew low, eventually out of sight.  A few moments later a Peregrine zipped around the west side of the blue bldg and and landed on a square section with an orange railing, under the “chute”.  It’s hard for me to explain locations, since this is all new to the Falcon Watchers.

Through my binoculars, I watched the Falcon land on the corner, under the railing and a split second later, Pefa #2!  Two Peregrines landed in the same area together, but by the time I got the scope turned to the new spot, I could only see one.  I kept watching, hoping for a 2nd head to pop up, but it never happened.  The one Falcon I could see, walked being a pole and out of sight.  I quickly Tweeted that I had two Peregrines at KP and was soon joined by Dana and Kathy O.

We remained on Watch until it was too dark (and too cold!) to see.  During that time, we saw a Peregrine flying around and landing on different spots.  We never saw two at once, after the one time I saw them both land on the building. 

Just as it was getting too dark to see anything, we saw a Falcon fly from the blue bldg and head south.  This Falcon seemed smaller and had a very quick wing beat.  We all thought this may have been the male.

Needless to say, the Watchers will be keep watching this area in hopes of getting pictures and hopefully positive ID’s on these two Falcons.  Many are asking if this might be Mr T.  Well, it certainly could be, but we can’t be sure at this time.  It would be nice though!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hello to all you Rochester falcon fans! I’m very happy to report that Archer and Beauty have wasted no time in getting together to bring us a new family in 2011.  As I arrived downtown this morning I wondered if it was going to be worth coming as the time change has hacked into my watch time in the morning. As I drove across the Broad St. bridge I took a look at Mercury and OCSR without a sighting I kept going and drove to the east side to check out Xerox and HSBC. Finding nothing over there I drove back to the bridge and saw Beauty up on the base of Mercury. Feathers were flying and I could see that she was eating her breakfast.

It was still a bit dark out but I managed to spot Archer under the southeast wing of the Times Square building.

5 minutes later as I was taking pics of Beauty Archer suddenly came in the picture and landed on her for a quick copulation and here is the dark,grainy terrible picture of them.

Archer flew off returning to the Times Square building under the southeast wing and the Beautyful one went right back to eating! Soon after, Archer flew to the jail tower and Beauty flew off somewhere perhaps to cache her leftovers. As soon as she returned and landed on the outstretched money bag hand of Mercury Archer flew over from the jail tower and mounted her again. He flew down to the base briefly and then returned to his mate for another round. Archer then flew east out of sight. Beauty remained on the money bag hand for the rest of my watch and just before I left Archer flew in from behind me and mated with Beauty one more time and then flew back to the east once again.

I drove off very pleased to know that our Rochester Peregrine Falcon pair have begun the process of creating a family for all the world to see! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Just a few quick words as I’m very tired. This weekends watches were about the winds of change. The changing of Peregrine falcon personnel and winter moving out to make way for spring. Bon voyage Mr.T I hope you got out without a scratch!  Welcome home Archer!!! Love was definitely in the air. When Beauty and Archer were flying together you could see how happy this young couple was to be reunited.  Hear ye! Hear ye! The 2011 Rochester falcon season has begun! 🙂

Here’s the link for a few pics of Beauty and Archer on my watch today

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=862165191213%3A1770032338&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I must start this report by saying WOW what a rush Peregrine Falcons give this watcher! As I arrived on the Broad St. bridge at 6:20am this morning I spotted a falcon flying over the river headed west in my direction. I quickly pulled over and watched to see where it would go. It went to the perch on the deck in front of the nestbox. I couldn’t see that there was one in the nestbox also. Donna texted me of that fact. At some point while I was turning the truck around to face the Times Square building Beauty flew up to the ledge under the northeast wing of Times Square.

Soon after,she flew off heading right at me and suddenly stooped on pigeons over the river. I quickly grabbed my camera,binocs and scope jumped out of the truck and ran across the street just in time to see that Mr. T had joined her. There was lots of commotion with all the pigeons in the air and hard to keep track but finally I spotted who I am assuming was Beauty flying towards me on the bridge with Mr. T flying near her. Here is the link to a brief video of them as they flew above the Broad St. bridge heading north down river. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO6yVi6oeFQ

Beauty flew around with her prey over the river until she managed to take it up to the southwest corner of the Radisson Hotel. Mr. T was circling above her and then flew back behind the OCSR building and out of view. This is where things got tricky. I looked back to see that Beauty was gone. I didn’t know if she went further in on the roof out of view or if she cached her prey and left or if she took off again with the prey. I decided to go on my own hunt  at that point. As I was stopped at Main and State streets for a traffic light I spotted a falcon fly over the Rochester Plaza Hotel and land on the northeast corner of the Ellwanger and Barry building(a brick building across the street from the Rochester Plaza Hotel). Traffic would not allow me to pull over to ID so I drove up to Andrews St. As I pulled up to park on the bridge I noticed a falcon flying low over the river to the south. I jumped out of the truck once again and suddenly there was another falcon and a mob of crows were harassing one of them. Not sure which one it was but a falcon landed on the cement rail along the west side of the river walkway I’m guessing about 100 ft. away from me. The crows swooped down at it and it flew further up river to land in a tree. Meanwhile the other falcon flew towards the OCSR building and I lost track of it. At this time I saw LarryO parking his car and I signalled frantically for him to look but it was too late both falcons were gone. I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk in one of the trees along the same side of the river above where the falcon had landed and pointed it out to Larry while I excitedly explained the events of the last 20 minutes. Larry took his dog Cleo over to the park along the river for a run and I walked down the sidewalk along the river to get a pic of the RTH but it flew off before I could do so.

Before returning to the truck I searched the tops of all the buildings in the area with no luck. I got in the truck and drove over to  Bragdon St. by the Radisson Hotel and walked out on the pedestrian bridge to have a look around that area because I had seen some people pointing and taking pictures of something. I thought perhaps they were watching Beauty or Mr. T eating breakfast but I was wrong. I then drove to the Broad St. bridge for one more look around. With no more sightings and time running short to get the truck home to Sue I ended my watch. And what an exciting watch it was! Have a great day everyone and don’t forget Wild Wings is sponsoring a Spaghetti dinner tonight so please go out and support this rehab organization!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hello Peregrine Falcon lovers everywhere! I guess 6:15am isn’t early enough to start my watch anymore because when I arrived on the Broad St. bridge today Beauty was already eating her breakfast. I spotted her up on the northwest corner of the Bausch and Lomb building and it was still dark out. So dark in fact that at first I didn’t notice Mr. T was to the right of her about 2 feet away watching her dine. There was a dark part of the building in the background which made him blend in well.

After 10 minutes or so Beauty flew to the northeast corner with the prey and Mr. T followed right behind her. I drove around trying to find a better angle but was unsuccessful. In the next pic you can see part of Beauty but not any of Mr. T who is further in on the building out of view.

Beauty finished eating and flew back to the northwest corner while Mr. T remained on the northeast side eating the leftovers. She had a very full crop!

After cleaning herself up a bit after her breakfast she flew off to the northwest over the river and disappeared behind the Old Changing Scenes Restaurant. Since I didn’t see her come back into view I figured she probably landed on the other side of that building. I left Mr. T and drove to the Andrews St bridge for a view of the north side of OCSR. Sure enough she was on the top ibeam of the northwest side smack dab in the middle.

I stayed there until I had to leave without seeing Mr. T again. I thought he might join Beauty there. Sorry my pics are of bad quality today as it was a very dark morning. Have a great day everyone! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

What a Beautyful sunny morning in Rochester,NY. My watch started at 6:15am and 10 minutes into it I witnessed Beauty flying in from the south. She landed on the money bag hand of Mercury.

I checked the sky to the south since that’s the general direction Beauty flew in from and sure enough I spotted Mr. T on the jail tower in the same spot as last Friday.

After about 10 minutes Beauty flew off Mercury stooping on pigeons over the river and Mr. T flew in from the jail tower to join her in the hunt. Neither one of them was successful and they flew to Mercury. Beauty landed on the outstretched money bag hand and Mr. T on the head.

Click on picture to see large version

They stayed there for a few minutes and at the same time both stooped once again over the Broad St. Bridge and river near the Blue Cross Arena. Pigeons were scattering everywhere as they navigated back and forth flying up a bit only to gain speed to go down on their prey. At the flick of a wing they can pour on the speed.  I truly am a lucky girl to witness these amazing creatures! As quickly as this took place it was over and they split up with one going to the jail tower and the other flying southeast and out of sight. I drove over to Troup St. closer to the jail tower to confirm that it was Mr. T.

He left as I looked away and so the search was on. LarryO and his dog Cleo stopped by on the Broad St. bridge for a minute to get the scoop on my watch and informed me that he hasn’t seen the Brighton pair in a week. After a couple trips around downtown I spotted Beauty on the Times Square building under the northeast wing.

It was time to get the truck home to Sue ending my watch.  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Good day to everyone! It was an hour into my watch this morning before I finally spotted a falcon. I was lucky enough to notice who I am assuming was Beauty, streaking overhead on the Broad St. bridge and then the Rundell Library to my left. It happened very fast and poof she was gone! I waited a few minutes to see if she would come back. I then decided to take a look on the east side near HSBC. As I was driving westbound on Court St. I looked up and saw a bump on the southeast corner of Bausch and Lomb. I drove over to Washington Square Park for a better view and there she was…the Beautyful one! And she was eating something.

I barely had time to click off a couple pics when she flew across to the southwest corner. Again, she gave me just enough time to take a pic or two and off she went towards the river!

I drove to Broad St. and Exchange St. where I spotted her on the west side (facing the nestbox side) of the Old Changing Scenes Restaurant. Beauty was on the top ibeam just right of center. I then drove down to Aqueduct St. for a closer view.

After calling Donna to see if Beauty was on cam and to sing her Happy Birthday I ended my watch with a smile on my face! No sighting of Mr. T or Archer.  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Good day everyone! It was a brief watch this morning so my report will be brief as well. When I arrived on the Broad St. bridge this morning at 6:30am there were no falcons around so I took a quick tour of downtown. Upon returning I found both Mr. T and Beauty on the base of Mercury. Beauty was on the northeast ledge just below him.

Both falcons took off fast to the south stooping on pigeons. Criss crossing each other and flying over my head a couple of times up and down the area of the Blue Cross Arena over the mighty Genesee river. It’s short but I managed to get a video and the quality is poor cuz it was dark and raining. Here’s the link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRB10viaAyU

Beauty flew back to the base of Mercury and as I found out from a report from Donna Mr. T went up to the nestbox for about 3 minutes. He was out of my line of vision at the time. Soon after, Beauty stooped behind the Thomson Reuters building and I didn’t see her after that. I ended my watch after unsuccessfully locating either falcon in the next 45 minutes.

I will be leaving soon to go to Buffalo with Joyce and Brian on a watch. We will be meeting CarolP,KathyO,Dana and Lisa McK at Central Terminal. Have a great day everyone!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hello everyone!  My early morning watch began on the Broad St. bridge as most of them do. I first saw a falcon chasing pigeons up river and soon another joined it. One of them stooped over the Cornhill area and disappeared. The other, our very own Beauty returned and landed on her favorite perch, the infamous moneybag hand of Mercury. She stayed a few moments and then flew above the Times Square building,the Hall of Justice and jail and made her way to the jail tower where I saw Mr. T too!

Mr. T top right and directly below him Beauty on the bottom right(make sure to click pic to enlarge)

I drove over to get a closer look  and naturally Beauty decided to go back to Mercurys moneybag hand! I took a pic of Mr. T and headed back over to Broad St. thinking he would follow Beauty. WRONG! I no sooner got there and she was off to the jail tower again!!!

Beauty

Mr. T

I drove back to Troup St. and watched them on the jail tower for about 20 minutes at which time Beauty flew fast to the west stooping on something and then I lost sight of her. I looked for Mr. T but he had left while I was watching her.  Sometimes that’s how it goes for a falcon watcher. After searching for about 45 minutes without locating either falcon I left downtown.

After running errands I took a look at Kodak Park as I was in the vicinity but Lady Pefa wasn’t home! I decided to take a ride down to Charlotte and have a look but CB wasn’t around either! I left to pickup Sue from school and on the way home we spotted a Peregrine on a light post on route 390N near East Henrietta Rd. at about 12:30pm. I figured it was probably one of the Brighton falcons and Joyce tweeted that very thought!

After eating lunch I headed back downtown and when I arrived at about 2:15pm I found Beauty on the base of Mercury. I parked by the Blue Cross Arena facing towards Xerox with a good view of our Beautyful one and I spent the next hour and a half taking pics and watching.

She was turning her head alot and I felt like she was surveying her downtown territory or looking for Mr. T! Suddenly Beauty was off heading east over the river and the South Ave. parking garage. Then she started gliding and hovering above Midtown and the Bausch and Lomb building.  At this time I noticed Mr. T flying from the southeast into the picture and they were both flying and soaring around the roof of the Xerox building for a solid 5 minutes! One of them landed on the north side of the roof while the other one flew around it and back and forth. The one on the roof was off and they were flying together a little bit when one landed near the northwest corner of the roof and again the other one showing off by circling and flying back and forth above. I lost sight of the one in the air so I decided to ride over but when I got there they both had left. Darn! I searched but never found them again after that. I had a very nice day of falcon watching courtesy of Mr. T and our very own Beauty!  🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

I was later than usual to arrive downtown on my morning watch as I had to take Sue to school first. I had heard from Donna that I missed some sort of commotion near the nestbox area but all seemed to be fine when I arrived about 8:20am.  I found both falcons on Mercury. Beauty was on the outstretched moneybag hand and Mr. T on the head.

They stayed for about half an hour then flew off towards the Times Square building over top of the Thomson Reuters building and there was plenty of vocalization in the air. Beauty landed on a small ledge at the southeast corner of the Times Square building just below where Jemison had made his first flight directly across from the nestbox.

Mr. T circling and soaring above her and both vocalizing. He flew off while I took the pic of Beauty. She left shortly after that and I drove around searching for them. It wasn’t until I returned to the Broad St. bridge 30 minutes later that I found them on Mercury in the same spots as earlier. While I was on the east side checking out the area  I found what I have determined to be cached food on an east side ledge halfway down the HSBC building. At first I thought it was a Peregrine based on the colors but after watching for a few minutes it didn’t move. It was quite a large stash without a head and part of it was dangling off the edge.

Anyway, at around 10:45 both falcons flew off Mercury. I never found them again after that so I concluded my watch and set out to run some errands and write my report. Have a great day everyone!  🙂