By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Rochester, NY was under a high wind warning today from 8:00 am to Midnight, with gusts up to 60 mph.  Needless to say my watch was VERY windy, with temps in the 60’s (F).

When I left work, Beauty was in the nest box on the eggs and that’s where she was when I arrived on the Broad St Bridge at 2:45 pm. Thanks for confirming Ei and Donna!  I quickly found Dot.ca, who was on the south side of OCSR on the top IBeam, near the south corner.

While things were quiet, I got out of my car to check out the river.  The river was running high and fast!  Here is what I saw from both sides of the Broad St. Bridge.

The winds were pretty intense.  I could feel spray from the river below.  Not much was flying, except a lot of garbage and some brave pigeons.  Most of the pigeons in view were huddled together on nearby buildings.  This was my view of the area from the south side of the Broad St. Bridge showing where Beauty in the nest box and Dot.ca on OCSR were located.

At 3:15 pm, Dot.ca was gone from OCSR.  I waited to see if he would return.  When he didn’t, I drove over to the Andrews St Bridge to check out the other side of OCSR, the Frontier Communication Tower and Kodak.  I could not find him on any of these places.  I really wish I had stayed on the Broad St Bridge.

While I was looking back towards the south, I saw two falcons flying over the river near the Mercury statue.  One was chasing the other one, both heading down towards the river at a high rate of speed.  They both flew back up and over the Broad St Bridge.  I lost sight of them as they both headed east.  As quick as I could, I made my way back over to the Broad St Bridge and waited.  I had no way of knowing if Beauty was still in the nest box or not.

At 3:52 pm, I texted that a falcon flew by fast over me, heading directly to the nest box.  Her wings were tucked back.  This is the only picture I could capture of Beauty returning to the nest box.

Soon after Beauty entered the nest box, Dot.ca came in fast, heading towards the top of the Times Square Bldg.  I thought he was going to land, but he ended up returning to the top IBeam of OCSR, where he had been when I first arrived.  This was all in my 3:52 pm text.

When I got home, I checked out the Rfalconcam Archives and saw that Beauty left the nest box in a hurry at 3:36 pm and returned at 3:43 pm.  I believe that she went after an intruder, another female based on size, that came in too close to Times Square Bldg, and that she chased it off to the east.  Both Beauty and Dot.ca returned from that direction.

When I left, a little after 4:00 pm, all was quiet; Beauty in the nest box on the eggs and Dot.ca on guard on OCSR.  I, and I am sure other watchers, will be out this weekend keeping an eye on the situation.  It looks like both Beauty and Dot.ca are working together to keep this 3rd falcon out of their territory.  I just checked the Rfalconcam Cameras and they show Beauty in the nest box on her and Dot.ca’s 4 eggs.

Oh, and I was thrilled to hear from Kathy O that Rhea Mae laid her and Tiago’s 2nd egg this afternoon while I was downtown on my afternoon watch!

Just before I ended my watch, five helicopters flew by on the north side of OCSR heading southwest.  That was quite a sight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another dark, overcast morning with a temperature of 34(F) 1(C) and calm winds

After stopping on the Broad St. bridge for a look around I headed down to Aqueduct St. in the hole where I promptly found Beauty on the Wilder green strip just before 7am. She didn’t stay long, maybe a minute, before flying north to the west corner top I-beam of OCSR.

I left for State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to get a better angle on Beauty as I could only see her back from the hole. She did lots of preening, even pulled out a few white down feathers while she was at it.

I shared space with the Beautyful one for as long as I could before having to leave around 7:45am. I would like to have seen Dot.ca, but he was busy incubating eggs which I think he would rather do more than anything else in life.

As I approached Seneca Towers on St. Paul St. I saw a falcon fly out from the south side roof and head east. I drove down East Ridge to look for it but came up empty. A friend of mine told me they saw a falcon flying near Rochester General Hospital the other day so our local watchers might want to add that to their places to check list. When I came back through, I pulled into the Northridge Church parking lot where I spotted a falcon on the north side roof above the windows with food.

This falcon looked big to me so I believe it was Billie-whoever it was they spent about 10 minutes eating before turning to fly off with the food down into the river gorge and didn’t come back up.

I ended my watch at 8:30am when it didn’t return. This afternoon, just like yesterday, 99 has been a busy flyer passing my window many times no more than 30 feet away from the building. This is my last watch for a while as I am having major surgery tomorrow. Until I return I’ll have to find other things to make me smile like our beloved Rochester Peregrine Falcons do! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

https://youtu.be/41Gmt52xbpc

https://youtu.be/q-uZaPR-M-U

https://youtu.be/zHEJkNDXTbY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A dark and partially foggy start with a temperature of 34(F) 1(C) turned into a sunny day here in the flower/flour city

I had a frustrating watch this morning as my phone was very slow sending and receiving tweets and there were distractions keeping me from keeping track of Beauty and Dot.ca (DC). Thank you to those who helped me!

When I landed on the Broad St. Bridge I saw Beauty on the base of Mercury eating-I went down to the hole to watch.

She didn’t eat for long before taking a small piece to the green part of the base where I believe she cached it or ate it. Can’t be sure because she was blocked from my view where she went. She peeked at me and then she was gone.

This is where I lost track of the Beautyful one as I didn’t see what direction she flew. Next thing I knew there was a falcon on the west corner top I-beam of OCSR and then it flew to the Mercury money bag (MMB). I thought it was Beauty but it turned out to be DC. I kept thinking boy, she looks small up there today.

Suddenly, DC flew off toward OCSR and at that time I saw the exterior OCSR elevator reach the top of the shaft. DC flew at it and I thought he was going to go in on one of the ledges. Then the elevator started making its way down and DC dive-bombed it 4 times until I could no longer see it and he returned to the MMB. Next, I saw who I thought was DC on the west corner top I-beam of OCSR. Turns out it was Beauty as I was again distracted by my phone. Ugh!

I had to be somewhere at 9am so I ended my watch at that point. It made me smile to have seen both Beauty and DC even if I didn’t always know who I was looking at! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

https://youtu.be/opCPbqHKtNg

https://youtu.be/MenLcNT-qQk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

11:15 am to 3:00 pm

A Very Happy Easter to everyone!

It was 34 degrees (F) and snowing during my entire watch.  I started at Kodak Park West, to check on the falcon I have seen there.  I saw no falcons there today.

I headed downtown.  Before I left home, I checked the cameras.  Dot.ca was in the nest box on the eggs.  From the Broad St Bridge, I was unable to find any falcons.  Finally from the Andrews St Bridge, I found a falcon on the north side of  the OCSR, on the west end of the top IBeam.  With the snow, there was no way I could ID this falcon.  Thanks Donna & Pat, for letting me know that Beauty was now in the nest box.  So, this was Dot.ca on OCSR.  He was facing the Times Square Bldg, keeping an eye on his family.

All was quiet, so I made my way over to the area where Brian and I had found an injured Mariah.  That was 6 years ago!  Every Easter Sunday, I come downtown to watch the falcons and to remember that day and remember Mariah. <3

I noticed that they have done a lot of work on the old Midtown Plaza.  The tower section at the top is looking good.

It was time to return to the Broad St Bridge.  From there, I could see that Dot.ca moved over to the top arm on the Frontier Communication Tower.   I drove over to the City Hall parking lot for a closer look.

Dot.ca took off when I wasn’t looking, so I didn’t see what direction he took.  Back to the Broad St Bridge.  I received a text from Brian H.  He was up on top of the South Ave Ramp Garage.  He could see Beauty in the nest box, but had missed seeing Dot.ca. After awhile, Brian came down to join me.

All was quiet.  At 2:00 pm, I took Brian home and returned to the Broad St Bridge for another look.  No falcons seen from there. I moved closer to the Times Square Bldg and spotted a falcon on the Wilder Bldg green strip.  A text from NCA (thank you!), told me that this was Beauty.  Dot.ca was now in the nest box.

Beauty started to vocalize and look up.  She was very agitated.  I looked up just in time to see a falcon pass over, very high, heading west.  I hoped that Beauty would just let the falcon pass, but no, off she went.  I followed the best I could, but could not see either of them.  After circling the area a few times, I headed over to the Kodak Tower.  There she was!  Beauty was on the south side of the Kodak Tower on the arch ledge.  I was very happy to see her up there.

At 3:00 pm, I ended my Easter Sunday falcon watch.  Except for the 3rd falcon passing over, all was peaceful and quiet.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A dark dreary morning with a temperature of 33(F( 1(C) was on tap for this morning with snow showers forecast

I was running a little late this morning but no matter because there’s not much going on these days now that hard incubation has begun. I was hoping for a quiet watch since there tends to be drama around Easter and I got that and more.

When I turned onto the Broad St. Bridge from South Ave. I spotted a falcon with its back to me on the base of Mercury. I drove down further and made a U-turn to see the front of it so I could identify who it was but it was gone by then. Thanks to Donna, who let me know Dot.ca (DC) was on incubation duties so I knew who to look for-the Beautyful one! After a look around the immediate area near Times Square, I headed to the Andrews St. bridge to check the scene from there. As I was scanning the landscape with my binoculars I saw Beauty fly up to the southeast wing of Times Square and land.

I left for the hole parking lot to share space with Beauty who had her back to me for the entire rest of my watch. Fellow falcon watcher Larry and his dog joined me just before 8am.

I scrapped most of my pics as they were not good with the poor lighting but I did manage to get a couple of Beauty when she turned.

Larry and I parted ways around 8:30am-I went home to check for Billie and 99 at Seneca Towers but they were nowhere to be found. Maybe sitting on eggs somewhere!? I waited about 20 minutes to see if anyone would show up but that didn’t happen so I ended my watch at 9am. Happy Easter and keep smiling! 🙂

Just a snippet video today-click on the link below to view it

https://youtu.be/XmuGKnJEHco

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

2:30 to 5:00 pm

I checked the cameras before leaving the house and saw that Beauty was in the nest box on the eggs.  She had been there for quite awhile.  When I arrived downtown and parked my car on the Broad St Bridge, she was still there.  Dot.ca (DC) was on the south side of the OCSR on the top I-Beam.

Soon after I arrived, at approximately 2:45 pm, DC took off and headed towards the Times Square Bldg (TSB).  He landed on the nest box platform and a few seconds later, Beauty flew out and he went in.  She flew low and I lost sight of her.  I went down to Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”) and found Beauty on the Wilder Bldg green strip.  She was relaxing and preening.

At 3:20 pm, Beauty left the Wilder Bldg and flew over to Irving Place, which is next to the Widows Walk.  MAK had reported that she ate cached food there this morning.  Well, she was back for more.  Beauty had a nice large piece of prey.

Beauty took off with her meal and flew over me, heading east.  I was unable to see where she went.  Joyce and Brian joined me in the Times Square Bldg parking lot and we chatted for a few moments.  Then it started to snow.  After they left, I went to look for Beauty.  From the Broad St Bridge, I found her on the top IBeam of the OCSR.  She was sitting in almost the same spot that DC had been when I first arrived.

As I ended my downtown falcon watch, Beauty took off and returned to the nest box.

On my way home, I stopped at Maplewood Park, which is across the river from Seneca Towers.  Joyce and Brian joined me and we did see both falcons there.  One was on the northeast corner of Seneca Towers.  After awhile both Billie and 99 were flying above the river.  It was great seeing them and a nice way to end my watch.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature was 36(F) 2(C) as I started out on my watch with partly cloudy skies and windy

I arrived downtown at 6:45am and spotted Beauty flying near the north side of OCSR. Camp let me know Dot.ca (DC) was on the eggs as I wasn’t sure. Thanks! I went north and found Beauty on the south side arch of Kodak Office (KO) around 7am.

She didn’t stay long as she seemed to spot something and flew off heading south toward Times Square (TSB). I followed and when I reached the hole I could see the Beautyful one flying around the area quite leisurely. She landed on the Wilder green strip (WGS) momentarily then off to Irving Place to eat some cached food on her favorite chimney over there. I drove across the street to the parking lot by TSB for a close view.

Beauty didn’t eat for very long, maybe 5 minutes then she took her small bit of leftovers and cached them at the back of the roof, did some feaking and flew off over to OCSR top I-beam south corner.

I went back over to the hole and the next thing I see is Beauty gone and DC flying out from the nest box replacing Beauty on OCSR. He didn’t stay long as he flew off to the southwest only to return a couple minutes later to the top I-beam south corner of OCSR again. Off he went again almost as soon as he arrived and flew west out of view behind the Telesca building.

It was 8am and I decided to leave and check for Billie and 99 at Seneca Towers as I would like to see if I can figure out where they might have a scrape. I spotted Billie on the south side roof from St. Paul St. The wind almost blew her off so she walked over to the wall to get some cover.

At 8:20am Buffalo Billie flew out and down to the top window ledge south side until 99 came flying in at 8:26am chirping just like DC does with food. I got a little nervous at first wondering if DC was two-timing Beauty again but it wasn’t him as I saw the yellow tape on 99’s right leg band. Billie flew off to fly a little with 99 and was vocalizing as well, in anticipation of a meal.

They headed to the southwest side of the building where I could see Billie but not 99 so I backed down the street until I had them both in view. 99 was on the railing with his food gift dangling from his talons and Billie was on the roof looking at him. She then flew up to the railing and the food exchange took place with Billie taking it to the roof above the windows and a minute later 99 joined her going to the opposite end from where Billie landed while she started to eat.

<Click it

*I made note of the fact that when they were flying neither one of them had a missing right wing feather as Carol had seen battling with Beauty this past week. So we definitely have a 3rd female in the area as Carol saw it flying near Kodak west as well.

99 went down to the top window ledge below Billie until she finished eating then he started to chirp and flew north as she moved to the corner of the roof he had been on.

99 came back around to mate with Billie

99 went back to the window ledge below while Billie watched from her corner of the roof.

It stayed this way until about 9:10am when Billie flew off and landed on the east side somewhere (I couldn’t see that side very well from where I was located). Then a minute later 99 took off and circled the building a couple times looking for his mate and then he too, landed over on the east side. I drove down to the Northridge Church parking lot to have a look but could only find Billie on the east side roof.

Billie left while I was tweeting so I had no idea where she went or what direction she flew. They could have been up on the roof or they flew away for I didn’t find them again. I ended my watch at 9:50am with a great big smile after seeing all 4 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/JB75wmobNMo

https://youtu.be/6R7wlhsXgOo

https://youtu.be/vcMmZx6_ba8

https://youtu.be/5ru1NLEnHhA

https://youtu.be/Z4COFI3JsAk

https://youtu.be/6s9QZhXFuz0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

2:45 – 4:45 pm

50 plus degrees and cloudy.  I’ll take it!  After I got out of work, I checked out Kodak Park West (KPW).  After seeing a falcon flying nearby yesterday, with a missing flight feather on the right wing, I wanted to see if there was one still hanging out there. Today I did not see any falcons at KPW.

I headed downtown next.  Before I left work, I checked the cameras.  Dot.ca had been on the eggs in the nest box for much of the afternoon.  He was still there when I arrived downtown.  Thanks Joyce for your help.  Now where was Beauty?

After driving around and looking for her, I ended up parking on the Broad St. Bridge.  From there I could see where Beauty was hanging out.  She was on the top north facing arm of the jail communication tower, which is just south of the Times Square Bldg.

At 4:25 pm, Beauty spread her wings and took off.  She slowly gained altitude, just soaring gracefully, higher and higher.

She passed over me heading north, following the river.

I kept an eye on her through my binoculars until she disappeared into the clouds above the Genesee Brewery.  The whole time she was up there flying, she was alone.

A little less than 10 minutes later, Beauty returned to the Times Square Bldg (TSB) and circled around the large metal wings at the top of the building.  Dot.ca flew out of the nest box and joined Beauty.  I love to watch a bonded pair fly together like that. Beauty headed for the nest box and entered it, while Dot.ca landed on top of the northwest wing ring.  He didn’t stay long.

At 4:40 pm I tweeted that all was quiet and that I was ending my watch.  Just after I tweeted that out, Dot.ca returned with food and landed on the base of the Mercury statue.

I wanted to get home in time to watch Beauty lay her 4th egg.  I and many other Rochester Falcon fans were viewing the live streaming video and at 6:16 pm, we were all thrilled to witness the arrival of Beauty and Dot.ca’s 4th egg!  Will there be a 5th egg?  I don’t think there will be, but we’ll just have to wait and see!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This mornings weather was calm and overcast with a temperature of 48(F) 9(C)

It was an all Beauty morning watch for me today as I watched her preen, scratch, stretch and keep an eye on her territory from cam 1 for over an hour and a half while Dot.ca (DC) sat on the eggs.

I figured DC was incubating since I didn’t see him around anywhere when I first arrived downtown and thanks to my friend Donna for confirming that fact. After some very busy recent watches chasing after DC, it was nice to just stay in one spot to share space with Beauty.

Did I mention that the Beautyful one was doing some serious preening!?  Every picture tells a story don’t it!? 🙂

When I saw that Beauty was getting sleepy from all that activity I decided to leave for Seneca Towers and have a look/see.

No falcons were present when I got there but later on after running an errand I caught 99 on his favorite spot on the top window ledge at the north end of the building.

The fact that Billie wasn’t around (which has been the case quite often lately) leads me to believe that she may be incubating eggs somewhere. A drone would come in handy right about now. Anyway, my watch came to an end at 9am with a smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see a couple of all Beauty videos

https://youtu.be/BFxkAKurn5M

https://youtu.be/W2jw4iidSzc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature as I stepped out today was 29(F) -2(C) with windy conditions and sunshine

Click on the links to see the full version

As I pulled over on the Broad St. bridge I could see Beauty up on cam 1. I didn’t see Dot.ca (DC) around so I assumed he was in the nest box incubating the eggs. I continued on down to the hole and parked on Basin St. next to the Wilder building to watch the action.

Beauty was closing her eye lids on and off and did a little preening and stretching until 7:34am when she raised her tail a few times and vocalized then flew off to the east crossing the river and leaving my field of vision. I thought at the time she must have seen DC and flew out to meet him.

I left to look for the Beautyful one when she didn’t come right back just to be on the safe side since there was a female intruder in town last night that she battled with and sent packing. As I was leaving I got a text from Donna that DC was in the nest box, that was a big help-thanks! On my way back as I was stopped at the traffic light at Clinton and Broad St. I could see that Beauty was back on the cam 1. Phew! I tweeted it but I must have been in a dead zone because it didn’t send until 10 minutes later. I got situated on Basin St. again to resume my watch and then I got reports from CarolP that DC was on the eggs and another one saying Beauty was on cam 1. So I guess I don’t receive messages either when I’m in a dead zone. Beauty was back to preening and posing.

Beauty seemed to be alert but relaxed as she preened some more in the nice sunshine.

At 8:30am I decided to leave and check Seneca Towers. I hadn’t seen Billie and 99 together in quite a few days so I was a little concerned that there had been a battle there. I saw a 3rd falcon last week from my apartment half hour before a 3rd one was seen downtown-we watchers are on high alert to that sort of thing. To my delight both Billie and 99 were present when I got there.

<Click it

Also to my delight, I arrived just in time to witness 99 fly off the top window ledge on the north end of the building and fly over to Billie , who was on the northwest corner and mate with her! I had just begun taping them when it happened-talk about good luck and good timing.

99 returned to the north end top window ledge a few minutes later and Billie did her little walk toward him like she does and turned her back to me. At 8:52am Billie dropped of the edge going into a stoop down into the river gorge as 99 stayed and watched.

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That’s about it-Billie didn’t return and 99 flew off a few minutes later while I was tweeting. I waited and when nobody returned I ended my watch at 9:15am. I was standing near my 16th floor apartment window before I started writing this report and saw 99 fly through heading south looking like he was in no hurry. So finally these two can be officially called a bonded pair after being seen mating-a great reason to smile as I left for home! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/5naF0dHo0Ng

https://youtu.be/UeI0jqi9Ty8

https://youtu.be/blJoA7mrymc