By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The starting temperature today was 42(F) 6(C) with calm winds and overcast skies-it went down as the day went on and the wind picked up considerably as a cold front is making its way through

Click on the pics to see the full version

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

As I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I spotted Dot.ca on the Mercury money bag with his back to me-I went down to the hole and he flew off as I arrived there. I made a couple trips around downtown and finally spotted Beauty on the Wilder green strip (WGS) from Aqueduct St. around 7:45am

10 minutes later she flew south and came back to land on the southeast wing ledge-half a minute later DC came flying in chirping and Beauty flew out to meet him above the Philipone building. Lots of vocalizing took place when they landed on the deck and DC gave the Beautyful one a food gift.

They crack me up because it’s almost like they’re racing each other to the deck as that last pic shows it was a photo finish! Once they landed I lost sight of them and Donna reported that she thought there was a food exchange. I saw DC flew out the nest box and come right over to the WGS, where unbeknownst to me, Beauty was right above me and they mated. I never saw her leave the nest box but there she was as I was parked on Basin St. underneath her. I wasn’t able to get my camera focused in fast enough to photograph the mating session and when they were done all I could see was Beauty’s tail. I had to move back over to Aqueduct St. to see that Beauty did indeed have a small offering of food from her mate. DC flew over to the southeast wing ledge on Times Square.

While Beauty ate, DC cleaned himself up as he had a full crop and obviously had eaten the lion’s share of the prey bird before handing over the rest to his mate.

Around 8:15am Beauty finished off DC’s leftovers and flew away while I was taping DC. A few minutes later I spotted Beauty on the southeast corner of Widows Walk and seconds later she was gone. DC flew down to the deck chirping and disappeared to the nest box.

DC came back out where I could see him and soon after flew off heading east.

I decided to go up on the bridge to have a look around and as I turned I spotted Beauty on the base of Mercury and DC was on his way over to her-I knew what was about to happen. I pulled over next to the Blue Cross Arena and got my camera focused in just in time to get the tail end of a mating session at 8:34am.

I had to get to another appointment this morning so I left Beauty in the afterglow, checking on my way out of downtown for DC but I didn’t find him.

I stopped by Seneca Towers but neither Billie nor 99 were there. Beauty and DC are in full swing with their courtship rituals and eggs aren’t too far off now. I believe she laid her first egg on April 8th last year so it’s getting close folks-stay tuned and keep smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/OTXsZ4DfhRk

http://youtu.be/N0R5K0hARPg

http://youtu.be/2n-yTPvyVA4

http://youtu.be/AqiPjrtZzvg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today’s starting temperature was 32(F) o(C) with partly to mostly cloudy skies and light winds

Click on pic to see the full version

After stopping on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) for a look/see I made the U-turn to check the east side and when I did I spotted Beauty on a southwest corner of Legacy Tower (LT). She had her back to me so I drove over to Elm St.

She wasn’t there for long as she flew off while I was tweeting. I went back to the BSB where I saw the Beautyful one at the nest box. I tweeted it out and then I got reports from Donna, who said both Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) had been to the nest box and Shaky saying Beauty was there. Thanks!

I no sooner tweeted that and looked back up to see that Beauty was now on cam 1 so I headed down to the hole to watch her.

I’m sure she was looking for DC as she was very alert looking around at everything that moved. The sun came out for a few minutes and made her look that much more pretty and at 7:43am Beauty turned, spread her wings and flew north.

I caught up with Beauty on Kodak Office (KO) as I made my way down State St. She was on the northeast corner of the launchpad facing north.

Beauty turned to the south, so I moved to the south side of KO. She flew south at 8:09am.

When I reached Times Square (TSB) I found Beauty on the column above the nest box-I parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena on Exchange Blvd. for the best view of her.

5 minutes later Beauty turned around so I went over to Basin St. in the hole to see why she turned-DC was on a north side ledge at the back of TSB with fresh prey.

Beauty watched DC as he prepared the food-feathers were flying and I guess she got impatient for she vocalized something to him then flew east. I had to leave to get ready for an appointment but when I got to Seneca Towers and saw Billie and 99 on the west side of the building I had to stop for a few moments to watch them. He was on the railing and she was on the roof below him.

I was on my way at just before 9am ending my watch after seeing all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons doing their thing and making me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/vZlN09EDhkQ

http://youtu.be/kOUUQslzUNo

http://youtu.be/8s7kljobmK4

http://youtu.be/RoTSnKJsTU8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

10:30 am to 1:30 pm – 35 degrees (F) & lightly snowing for the first 1 1/2 hours of my watch.

I first checked out Kodak Park West (KPW) and BS.  No falcons seen at either location.

When I arrived downtown, I found both Beauty and Dot.ca close together on the south side of OCSR, top Ibeam.

From the Broad St Bridge, I checked out the river on both sides of the bridge.  95% of the river was ice free.  Many of the ducks that had been there on Friday were now gone.  There were a few that were still there on the little bit of ice that remained. Because of the snow and ice melt from the last few days, the river was running hard.

The bridge was filling up quickly due to something going on at the Blue Cross Arena (BCA).  Lots of little girls dressed up as princesses were heading into the BCA.

I waited until 12:30 pm, watching Beauty and Dot.ca.  The only movement they made was when Dot.ca walked to the south corner and back. lol

I wanted to check on the High Falls, so I headed over to the pedestrian bridge.  There was a lot of water cascading over the falls and the island below the bridge was totally under water.  Here are some pictures I took during my visit there, including one of what remained of the two large piles of snow below the Smith St Bridge.

From there, I headed south, first stopping at the Hawkeye Plant.  No Falcons there.  Then on to Seneca Towers where I found two falcons on the southeast corner of the building, that I assumed were Billie and 99.

The last stop on my falcon watch tour was Russell Station, where I found no falcons.  So, no falcons at KPW, BS or RS.  Beauty and Dot.ca downtown and Billie and 99 at Seneca Towers.  All was quiet and peaceful.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A few snowflakes blowing around in the brisk wind and a temperature of 35(F) 2 (C) started today’s weather scene

I arrived downtown when it was still dark out just before 7am the only interesting thing I found at that time was the trees in the Legacy Tower atrium that were all lit up.

As I was driving onto the Broad St. Bridge after checking the east side I spotted a falcon on the Mercury money bag-it was gone when I pulled over to look again. I drove down to the hole parking lot to have a look around and from there I could see Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) on the top I-beam southeast side of OCSR at 7:28am.  I checked the falcon discussion thread on the forum before starting my report and found that Donna had seen them bowing in the nest box at 7:21am while I was driving around looking for them. So they were out and about in the dark this morning just look me.

Beauty and DC flew off OCSR and I next saw them circling the Times Square building. I followed DC who led me to the southeast corner of Widows Walk (WW) where the Beautyful one was waiting for him to mate with her. DC flew off to the east and 3 minutes later Beauty flew north as I was taping a video at the time. The photo below is a snippet from the video so it’s of poor quality but you get the picture.

5 minutes later I noticed Beauty up on the top I-beam of OCSR again-I went down to Graves St. by Aqueduct Park for a closer view.

Beauty took off so I went back to the hole where I saw both Beauty and DC circling Times Square again and then they both went to the nest box. DC went in then I caught Beauty land on the deck and go in after him. Maybe a minute later DC came rocketing out and flew north at 8:10am.

Larry and Harold came by at this time-we chatted briefly then they left to take a walk down to the park. It was good to see a fellow falcon watcher on my morning watch, can’t remember the last time that happened. Soon, my friend Dan will be joining me on the Broad St. bridge to watch the falcon activities-then we’ll know spring has arrived for sure.

So I left to find Beauty and DC-while stopped at the traffic light at Main and Plymouth I spotted a falcon on the southeast corner of the Kodak Office (KO) launchpad. When I got down to State St. below KO, DC was just about to land on the cupola above Beauty on the Launchpad-she had her back to me.

DC walked over a bit further then got settled in to keep an eye on his mate who was doing some serious preening.

Both Beauty and DC flew off around 8:50am-he returned to land on the southeast corner of the launchpad for a second then he was off again heading south.

I left for Seneca Towers at this time, getting sidetracked at the Kodak Hawkeye plant at St. Paul St. where it meets the Driving Park bridge. I always check there for falcons but today I spotted a Red-tail Hawk flying along the east side of it and land next to a camera on the southeast corner. Of course I pulled over to have a look until it flew east about 10 minutes later. It was having trouble with the wind as it kept turning around to see what worked best. It should have stayed and dealt with the wind because as soon as it took off a crow started hassling it.

I left for home and found no falcons at Seneca Towers. What a nice bonus, as Red-tails are my favorite hawk, to end my watch smiling at 9:15am! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/urX8R_Y0wX0

http://youtu.be/fAz3qotXZKA

http://youtu.be/-DsYDOFPbss

http://youtu.be/bJeDlBh8UcI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

3:00 to 7:00 pm

With temperatures near 50 degrees (F) and sunshine, I decided to go downtown for a falcon watch after work on Friday.  As I was walking to my car, a sure sign of Spring, floated overhead.  A Turkey Vulture!  My first of the year.

Before heading downtown, I checked out the west end of Kodak Park.  No falcons found there.

My first stop downtown was Kodak Office.  There were no falcons on the Kodak Tower.  From the front of the Frontier Field Stadium, I had a nice view of the downtown area.  It didn’t take long for me to find Beauty and Dot.ca.  They were both on the north side of OCSR on the top IBeam.

Dot.ca walked around the corner to the south side, so I headed over to the Broad St Bridge.  From there, I could see him at the west corner.  Then he was gone.

I got out of my car to check out the river below.  There was a lot of open water now and lots of ducks, gulls and other water birds out fishing, sleeping and walking around.  One Ring-bill Gull was intently watching the ducks dive, hoping one would come up with a fish he could steal.

Here are some of the other birds enjoying the river.

Beauty flew in and landed on top of the Mercury statue.  I looked up at the nest box and saw that Dot.ca was there.

Beauty took off, heading east, past Midtown Plaza.  When I looked up at the nest box, Dot.ca was gone.

She wasn’t gone long, returning to the base of the Mercury statue.  Just before I could take a picture, she walked around to the far side of the base.  I headed down to Aqueduct St (aka “the hole”).  From there I had a nice view of Beauty.

Kathy O joined me on the watch.  She had checked out the BS location and found no falcons there.  There was a basketball game at the Blue Cross Arena and it was getting very crowded.  Lots of folks were passing us, asking what we were looking at. All were thrilled to see Beauty.  We were entertained by bagpipers playing out in front of the arena.  They were awesome. Kathy took a quick look around the area and found Dot.ca on the Widow’s Walk.  She had seen him take off heading east and rejoined me to watch Beauty.

As we were listening to Amazing Grace, Beauty took off and headed north west.  Kathy and I split up to look for Beauty and Dot.ca, but neither of us could find them.

It was time to check out Seneca Towers (ST).  I was starting to lose light, so I headed over to Maplewood Park, where I had a view of the north and west sides of St.  I had just tweeted that I could not see any falcons there when one flew in from the south and landed on the tallest antenna on the south end of the building.

This falcon took off and flew over the building, landing on the west side railing near the north end.  A 2nd falcon arrived and landed on the northwest corner.

The 2nd falcon took off and landed next to the one on the west side railing.

Based on behavior, I believe that this was Billie and 99, but I was watching from quite a distance, across the river.  I was too far away to positively ID either falcon.

Just as the sun was starting to set, 99 took off on a hunt, heading east.  It wasn’t long before he returned, with prey landing on the northeast corner.  Billie remained on the west side railing.

This is where I left the ST falcons at the end of my Friday Falcon Watch.  I was happy to have seen all 4 Rochester Falcons.  All was peaceful and quiet in our falcon’s world!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There was a misty rain falling at the start with dark overcast skies and a temperature of 38(F) 3(C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

When I arrived downtown this morning it was still pretty dark as I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) to see Dot.ca (DC) on top of the Mercury money bag (MMB). Luckily he was facing me but unluckily he took off while I was tweeting his whereabouts.

When he didn’t come back I made a U-turn to check the east side and I spotted Beauty on a northwest corner of Legacy Tower (LT) eating. I decided the best place to observe her was from the top (8th floor roof) of the South Ave. garage.

When the Beautyful one was finished she did a lot of feaking and cleaning up before she perched facing me for a while.

At 8:10am Beauty started vocalizing and flew off over the river toward the west corner OCSR and vanished to the north behind it. After a scan with my binoculars I spotted DC under the northeast wing of Times Square.

DC snuck off again while I was tweeting and so it was time to get back down on the ground to look for them. Just before 8:30am I found Beauty on the northwest side of OCSR near the west corner right where I lost sight of her from up on the garage. She had her back to me but she did turn so I could get a fairly decent pic of her before she started kakking and flying off after DC, who had just flown past her heading south.

I made my way through the traffic that was getting busy for the St. Patrick’s Day parade and a 5K run that was going on to check the Times Square area . I saw a falcon come bolting out of the nest box area and head north and I followed but never found it. I decided to get out of downtown before roads started getting blocked off and headed for home. I stopped on the Driving Park Bridge by the Kodak Hawkeye plant to check out the lower falls which I haven’t done in a very long time because it was so cold. They have thawed out nicely from the frozen state they were in last time I was there. A flock of Canada Geese flew out from behind Hawkeye while I was there.

I arrived at the Northridge Church parking lot at 8:45am where I spotted who I am pretty sure was 99 on the northwest corner with his back to me. I never saw his leg bands because I mainly only saw his back side today, but judging from his behavior and the malar stripe area on his head I’m pretty confident it was him. Billie was up on the east side roof above the east side balconies of Seneca Towers where she was working on a big breakfast.

Buffalo Billie was looking quite large today as she kept moving her prey from one spot to the other-I guess she likes to eat on the go. teehee!

99 just would not stand up or turn anything other than his head. Billie stopped eating and flew off with her prey as I just started to record a video, I tried to follow her but lost her quickly and seconds after that 99 stooped down in the river gorge like a bolt of lightning. I got it all on tape so if you would like to see a stoop, check it out at the end of my report where I post the links for my videos.

I was getting ready to go run an errand when Billie came flying back from the north without her leftovers-this is the 2nd time this has happened so there is a place north of Seneca Towers that they like to cache their food. So she flew above Seneca Towers and came down to the northwest corner to land and soon after 99 came in and landed a few feet away from her on the railing.

I left them to run my errand and when I returned they were still up there only 99 had come down off the railing to join Billie on the roof and once again he had his back to me.

I left them to it and ended my watch at 11am. I must say our falcons have been keeping me busy this past week now that the weather has finally warmed up. I’m happy to say that I saw all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons this morning thus sending me home smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/7RIBCFka-l8

http://youtu.be/dixuIMDgJlo

http://youtu.be/ocYVrtaq_CY

http://youtu.be/ZNDTtRG79Pg

http://youtu.be/EeY_F-w7NEY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Conditions this morning as I began my watch were mostly cloudy with calm winds and a temperature of 26(F) -3(C)

Click on the pics to see the full version

I started my watch with Dot.ca (DC) who I found on a southwest corner of Legacy Tower (LT) plucking feathers from prey. He started eating as Beauty came flying in squawking from the west and landed behind him. She rushed him and he flew off to the west with the goods followed by the Beautyful one.

I headed west as well and from the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) spotted DC flying from under the northeast wing of Times Square (TSB) then as I pulled over on Basin St. in the hole Beauty came flying out of the nest box area. She ended up over on the northwest corner of Widows Walk at 7:38am and I saw her pick up and drop a chunk of food. I drove over to Broad St. by the Ebenezer Watts building to observe her and 5 minutes later she flew off heading west.

I took a ride around the block and spotted DC now in the spot Beauty had just vacated on Widows Walk. He had a full crop and didn’t stay long either. He stooped back behind Widows Walk out of view.

On my way back to the hole Donna reported that both Beauty and DC had visited the nest box and left. Thanks DJ! As I pulled onto Bank Place I saw Beauty up on the base of Mercury-it looked like she was nibbling on something at first. At 7:57am DC came flying and mated with Beauty then he flew off and returned to land atop the Mercury money bag above his mate.

Neither one of them were facing me so I drove up to the BSB and parked next to the Blue Cross Arena to see them better.

I still didn’t have a good view of Beauty so I drove farther up on the bridge and while I did that they both left around 8:30am. I decided to check the river to see how the thaw is going since we’ve had above freezing temperatures all week. It’s more than half way thawed out and the water birds were having a blast down there in the open waters.

I wasn’t able to find Beauty and DC again so I left for home-when I got to Seneca Towers I found who I thought was Billie on the northwest corner but I’m not positive because after looking at my pics and video I don’t think it was Billie or 99. I was looking for the yellow tape on the right leg band that would show that it was 99 from the take off shots that I got. I didn’t see yellow tape or even leg bands although the pics weren’t clear enough to say for sure.

If anyone can see leg bands please leave a comment.

After she stooped down in the river gorge she didn’t come right back so I headed home-when I got to Seth Green Drive I saw her up on the northwest corner once more then she flew off again and I ended my watch at 9:15am. After coming home from running errands this afternoon there was a falcon on the northwest corner but I had no equipment with me in order to ID it. The male here at Seneca Towers before 99 was Veteran and he was unbanded so this could have been him back from migration. Stay tuned and keep smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

http://youtu.be/1DOUntIeQJQ

http://youtu.be/K3e88Izhux0

http://youtu.be/FyB2R_79jPs

http://youtu.be/0bX11tNkSv8

http://youtu.be/UOPqDcMtEwA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was exactly at the freezing point this morning when I left for my watch,  32(F) 0(C) with bright sunshine and blue skies

As I arrived downtown I found Beauty on cam 1 also called pan cam with her back to me. She flew to the southeast wing ledge a minute later, landing where I couldn’t see her so I went over to Exchange Blvd. in front of the Blue Cross Arena to observe.

The sun was shining on the main body of the Times Square building making the Beautyful one glow as she waited patiently for her mate, Dot.ca (DC) to show up with her breakfast food gift. It didn’t take too long as DC came flying in chirping at 7:57am. Beauty flew out to meet him over the Philipone building then they went to the deck where a food exchange took place. Beauty took it to the base of Mercury to eat and DC flew over to the top I-beam south corner of OCSR.

I couldn’t get my camera in place fast enough to get the exchange as it happened very quick-just the shadow of one of them approaching the deck. The sun was washing DC out as his whiteness is so bright to begin with but I did manage to salvage a couple pics of him as he watched Beauty eat on Mercury. I was watching from the hole where Bank Place meets Aqueduct St. where I had a good view of them both.

Beauty finished eating at 8:15am and flew off-DC flew off right after and I lost sight of him as he disappeared behind Crossroads. Beauty doubled back and went back up to the southeast wing ledge.

Beauty flew north not too long after that so I drove north down State St. thinking maybe she and DC had hooked up at Kodak Office but they weren’t there.

I had an appointment to get to so I had to leave at 8:30am. When I got home, neither Billie nor 99 were anywhere on Seneca Towers. Beauty and DC continue to go through their courting rituals which makes me continue to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see today’s videos

https://youtu.be/qRRfPZT6jU4

http://youtu.be/S313dVlMGn4

http://youtu.be/7cDRt7SM7Cc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The temperature was 42(F) 6(C) when I left Seneca Towers this morning with overcast skies and a bit of a breeze

Click on the pics to see the full version

I had a heck of a time finding Beauty and Dot.ca (DC) this morning because while I was looking on buildings for them they were in the nest box bowing and bonding. As I was on the Andrews St. bridge I got reports from Donna and CarolP that they had been there and that Beauty was still there. Thanks ladies! They’re switching up their morning routine at a faster pace than I am prepared for-I have to get in courtship mode too after a LONG lazy winter! The chase is on!!! I left to check things out-first I saw Beauty at the nest box from the Broad St. Bridge (BSB).

Soon after the Beautyful one spotted DC coming in with a food gift and she was out and up to the northeast wing ledge where DC had landed with fresh prey and was calling to her. He didn’t hand it over easily as there was a little tug of war but she ended up with it and then while I watched DC fly off Beauty disappeared.

I went down to the hole on Basin St. after DC returned and landed on cam 1 around 8am. He kept looking up toward the northeast ledge so I thought maybe Beauty was up there on the back of the ledge where I couldn’t see her eating. I started to tape him but he flew off as I was zooming up to him. DC flew to the northeast wing ledge before going over to the metal between the north and southeast wings briefly then he flew north.

I headed north myself and found both Beauty and DC on Kodak Office-she was on the cupola and he was below her on the southeast corner of the launchpad.

While I was tweeting their whereabouts they left. I went back to the hole after finding Beauty under the northeast wing of Times Square with her back to me. I shared space with Beauty until 9am at which time I left for Seneca Towers (ST) to see if I could catch Billie and 99 at home.

I didn’t see DC as I made my way out of downtown so he may have been somewhere eating, and I didn’t find the ST pair either. I ended a fast and furious morning watch that kept me on the move and smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/-OUeYAxzWJ4

http://youtu.be/Us1zUPdOVoU

http://youtu.be/LJPPMZUtBQY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When I left home this morning it was 29(F) -2(C) and overcast. The sun has been trying to break thru the clouds all day-as I write this it is 42(F)degrees out

Click on my pics to see the full version

So I think the eating on Legacy Tower routine may be over with since neither Beauty nor Dot.Ca (DC) were there again today first thing when I arrived downtown. I started in the hole on Basin St. observing the back of the Beautyful one under the northeast wing of Times Square (TSB). Not too long after Beauty spotted DC, turned around and flew down to the deck. DC came flying in chirping and landed next to her, then they went forward toward the nest box out of my view.

At 6:56am DC came shooting out of the nest box like he was shot out of  a cannon, made a U-turn over the Philipone building and went over to cam 1 where he spent a lot of time preening his gorgeous white chest. I figured he got dirty from digging in the pea gravel of the nest box trying to dig out a scrape for his and Beauty’s eggs.

Beauty remained by the nest box and DC on cam 1 for the next hour when DC decided to stretch his wings. He first flew out over the river then went over to the west side railing of Widows Walk momentarily then off again. I took off looking for him and ended up on Troup St. to watch him on the top arm of the jail tower. He wasn’t there but a couple minutes then he was off again heading west. Go west young man go west! ha!

I drove around down to Exchange Blvd. and spotted Beauty out in front of the nest box so I pulled over in front of the Blue Cross Arena just before she took off from there. She ended up flying to the northeast wing ledge where she wasn’t visible from there. So back down to the hole on Basin St. I went where once again Beauty had her back to me,  just as I had first found her earlier when I arrived downtown for my watch.

DC never surfaced again as I left Beauty just before 9am to go home to Seneca Towers to check for Buffalo Billie and 99. I pulled in the Northridge Church parking lot and noticed both of them instantly. Billie was on the northwest corner and 99 on the top window ledge north end of building. 99 had a full crop but Billie didn’t look to have anything in hers.

<Click it

Billie kept busy preening and stretching and looking down into the river gorge-she stooped at 9:36am down into the gorge. 99 flew over to take her spot on the northwest corner and probably to see where she was as they keep pretty close tabs on each other. 5 minutes later Billie returned to the corner and 99 moved over to give his big girl mate room to land.

<Billie  99>

Billie appeared to be bowing to 99 but he didn’t bow in return-maybe he was too full to bend over! heehee.

I left them on the corner to do their thing and ended my watch at 10am. I was smiling after a second day in a row of seeing all 4 Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to view today’s videos

http://youtu.be/H2y5Y9k3LIE

http://youtu.be/87EgM_55WLE

http://youtu.be/mDTiRrfl5sE