By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a breezy 52 degrees (F) 11(C) and overcast as I was leaving I could see the sun peeking thru the clouds

I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge at 6:10am not knowing who was on the eggs as I forgot to check the livestream before leaving home. Both Donna and Annette let me know that Dot.Ca (DC) had relieved Beauty earlier. I had been on the east side to check for the Beautyful one on HSBC and as I pulled over on Woodbury St. I saw her fly off HSBC heading north. I went north as well and as I was checking Kodak Office Donna reported that DC was squeaking so Beauty might be near. I found Beauty under the northwest wing of Times Square. Thanks Donna and Annette!

I parked in the hole at Aqueduct and Basin streets to watch. Beauty didn’t stay there for long as she flew out 5 minutes later at 7am and literally floated down to the deck and into the nest box.

I almost missed DC fly out of nest box area in a blur and go over to the Mercury Money Bag. He started preening and as he stood on one leg to scratch his head the wind nearly blew him off-he had to spread his wings to catch his balance.

DC obviously was not comfortable up there with the strong winds as he flew off right after heading north. When I couldn’t locate him I went to Brighton to see if perhaps he went there  but all I found was a couple pigeons that were going in and out of an open window on the east side below the south side vent. Certainly proof that there are no falcons going there.

I spent about half an hour searching downtown and as I was returning from the east side Annette reported Beauty out and DC in to cover their eggs. I looked around for Beauty but she was nowhere in the immediate area. I decided to end my watch at that point but as I was leaving downtown I spotted Beauty up on the top ibeam northwest side of OCSR-she had her back to me as she preened and looked over her shoulder on and off. Donna had reported that DC had brought food to lure Beauty out the nest box-it must have been very small cuz she was already done eating when I found her.

I exited downtown at 8:30am but my watch wasn’t over for when I got to Seneca Towers where I now live I saw the juvie female fly in from the south wailing quite loudly and land on the northwest corner railing of the building. She flew off heading south a couple minutes later and revealed that the adult was right behind her on the railing-she totally prevented me from seeing him. Size counts in the Peregrine world!

So I saw 4 falcons on watch this morning giving me good reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view 2 videos

http://youtu.be/KHH_Mh6Se3A

http://youtu.be/0KdhffUY-6s

http://youtu.be/gfddCrdnas8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I was able to get out for about an hour this evening (6:45 – 7:45 pm).  Since I didn’t have much time, tonight I chose to spend some time with Beauty and Dot.ca.

First I drove around looking for a falcon, but could not find any.  I assumed that one of them was in the nest box on the eggs, but since I had come directly from the hospital, I wasn’t sure which one.  It wasn’t long before I knew which falcon was in the nest box.

Just before 7:00 pm, Dot.ca flew in carrying Beauty’s dinner.  He landed on the nest box platform and a few seconds later, Beauty walked over to him and grabbed the offering.  She took off and landed on the base of Mercury, while he entered the nest box to take a turn on the eggs.

I drove down to Aqueduct St. (aka “the hole”) and found a spot to watch Beauty eat.

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Beauty finished her meal and took off with the leftovers heading southeast.  I drove up to the Broad St Bridge and found her on the southwest corner of the B&L building.  I assume that she cached the remainder of her meal there.

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From the Broad St Bridge, I could see that there is a lot of logs caught up against the Main St Bridge.  They’ll have to clean that all up again this year.

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Today was a beautiful day, but the next few days will be rainy here in Rochester (NY).

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At approximately 7:45 pm, I left Beauty on guard and preening on the B&L Bldg and Dot.ca in the nest box on the eggs.  All was peaceful and quiet, just how we like it.  On my way home, I passed this beautiful old home on the south side of the Times Square Bldg.  It’s one of my favorite old houses in Rochester (NY).  I love when it’s lit up at night.

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I did get out for awhile on Sunday.  I started out by parking at Maplewood Park and watching the falcons at ST from there.  Two falcons were on top of the building and I did see an attempt by the tiercel to copulate with the juvie female.

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We know that this tiercel is unbanded and that the juvie has a black over green band.  Could this be Billy, Diamante’s daughter and Mariah and Kaver’s granddaughter?  We hope to get a positive ID soon.

Kathy O and Dana joined me and we watched as both falcons flew around the building.  The tiercel took off and headed in our direction, flying directly over us.  We watched him as he headed west and out of view.

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We made plans to visit with MAK in her new apartment and to help her with her move.  From the parking lot, we could see the juvie female and she had a very full crop.

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Afterwards, we checked out the balconies on the east and west sides of the building.  The views are amazing!  From the west side balcony we could see the tiercel up on the southwest corner roof.

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From the ground, we could see both the male and female.  They were both settled on the roof of the building.  Will this pair remain and possibly nest somewhere nearby in the future?  We certainly hope so!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a chilly 31 degree (F)  -1 (C)  start when I left with a beautiful sunrise in progress for my first morning at Seneca Towers

Make sure to click on my pics to make them larger

I took some pics last night of the male that hangs out on my building-he was on the southwest corner and I was on the west side balcony right across from him.

Who would have ever thought I’d have falcons for neighbors!?

Any way, when I arrived downtown I found Beauty on the base of Mercury-she and Dot.Ca (DC) had just switched at the nest box before I arrived at 6:20am.

She did some preening, head scratching and stretching for close to an hour as I watched her from the hole. And a lengthy poop!

At 7:07am the Beautyful one flew off and over to cam 1.

About 10 minutes later Beauty flew out and made a u-turn back to the nest box to give DC the boot from laying on their eggs.

A minute or 2 later DC came out with wings stretched all the way out and up to the northeast wing ledge on the Times Square building.

I watched DC with his back to me as he preened until 8am when I ended my watch. It was a short  but sweet watch which made me smile as I shared space with both our beloved downtown Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another overcast morning with a temperature of 39 (F)  4 (C)

Beauty was incubating her eggs when I checked the livestream before heading downtown for my watch. When I arrived the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) was blocked off as there was a big marathon to take place this morning and the start/finish line was smack dab in the middle of the bridge.

I went to the hole to have a look around but I didn’t see Dot.Ca (DC) anywhere so I thought I’d take a ride and check Kodak Office. As I was stuck in traffic Annette reported a switch with DC taking over for Beauty on their eggs at 6:50am. Thank you! When I got back to the hole I could see Beauty on the base of Mercury eating.

Usually she eats on the other side of the base but she was keeping track of the commotion down on the BSB in between bites. They had a loud speaker that they somebody was giving the runners instructions so I imagine it was the noise more than anything that had her interested.

Beauty soon finished up eating and wiped her beak off trying to get the stuck feathers off of it-then she hopped up to the green part of the base and disappeared on the opposite side where I couldn’t see her.

At 7am I saw Beautys’ wings as she flew off to the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I stayed with her until the police started blocking me in-I opted for going to Brighton at that point to check for falcon activity but again there was none. The whitewash on the building where falcons had once pooped is fading fast. I probably will not check it every morning any more in an effort to conserve gas. I miss seeing Pigott-perhaps she will be back some day. I left for downtown and tried to get back to the hole but roads were blocked preventing me from doing so. Annette reported Beauty gave DC the boot and returned atop their eggs to continue the incubation process. Thanks again!  We should have hatches in about 3 weeks. I had planned on a short watch anyway because today is moving day for me, so I ended my watch just before 8am happy to have seen the Beautyful one and as always a reason to smile! 🙂

One link below to see a video of Beauty eating-just click and view

http://youtu.be/5edqCKzCLXM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Starting temperature this morning was 4o degrees (F) 4 (C) with overcast skies

On my way downtown cam watcher Annette (thanks) reported a switch at the nest box-Beauty out and Dot.Ca (DC) in. When I arrived in the hole about 6:30am I saw Beauty leave the nest box area start to land on base of Mercury then pull up and fly east. A minute later she showed up on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR and immediately started preening. She just got up from a long night on her eggs and had to wash her face and clean up for the day just like us don’t ya know!

At one point in the next 45 minutes she started looking my way because there were pigeons right behind me! She also tried to extract a pellet on 2 separate occasions.

At 7:14am the Beautyful one flew off flying very fast following the river heading southwest toward the Cornhill area. I lost her behind the Blue Cross Arena.

I tracked her down from Woodbury St. on the east side near the Geva theater-she was on the northwest corner of the HSBC railing.

I managed to get one pic before she was off flying west-I looked around for Beauty but couldn’t find her so I left to check the Brighton site. I didn’t see any falcons there. Fellow falcon watcher Larry tweeted that he saw a falcon on cam 1 and that it left-a minute later Annette tweeted that Beauty came in and relieved DC from incubating their eggs. Thank you! I returned to downtown but couldn’t find DC. I did however, see a Turkey Vulture floating above the Powers building and then behind Times Square. The fact that DC didn’t chase it out of the territory makes me think he left the area to hunt. I caught up with Larry before we both had to get going. I was sorry I didn’t see DC but I still had reason to smile as I spent close to an hour with Beauty! 🙂

One link below of Beauty click on it to view

http://youtu.be/8E5TPO2Z7O0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 43 (F) 6 (C) and overcast when I stepped out for my watch this morning butas I made my way down 490 I could see the sun coming up over the horizon

<Click it

Dot.Ca (DC) had relieved Beauty of incubation duties around 5am so when I arrived downtown I looked for Beauty and found her on the base of Mercury around 6:20am. I parked in the hole and 15 minutes later the Beautyful one took off for the nest box.

I missed DC exit as Donna let me know he left the nest box-thanks! I spotted him atop the Mercury Money Bag (MMB) -he was just looking around his territory and preened a bit. I parked up on the Broad St. bridge to watch him

At 7:03am DC spread his wings and flew off  going past Times Square on the south side and out of view.

I stayed put and a few minutes later I saw DC fly to the top arm northwest side of the jail tower.  After 10 minutes DC stooped to the west and that was the last I saw of him.

I took a ride around checking the usual spots didn’t find DC so I went and checked the Brighton site. No falcons just Canada Geese on different parts of the roof. I returned to downtown but couldn’t find DC so I ended my watch at 8:15am as I was to start moving into Seneca Towers today. I was happy to have seen both Beauty and DC which sent me on my way smiling! 🙂

Click on the link below to view my one and only video today

http://youtu.be/_0IGR9GflHs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A chilly day starting at 31 (F) -1 (C) with bright sunshine and blue skies

Beauty was incubating when I left the house-when I got downtown I didn’t find Dot.ca (DC) in the nest area so I took a ride north toward Kodak Office where he likes to hunt. On my way back cam watcher Campgee tweeted that DC had brought Beauty food and she left with it. Thank you Camp!  So when I got to the hole I found the Beautyful one on the base of Mercury eating a small snack.

Beauty finished off the little morsel DC gave her in less than 5 minutes then flew over to the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR at 6:23am.

I started in the hole and then made my way over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to share space with Beauty for the next hour as she preened, stretched and looked around for a more substantial meal.

I checked the spot from yesterday where DC had his feather fest and found that quite a lot was still stuck to the ibeam. At 7:34am Beauty spotted something to the southwest and took off fast on a mission.

I caught up with Beauty as she caught herself a small bird and was on the back of Widows Walk plucking feathers when I arrived. i parked on Exchange Blvd. by the Philipone building to watch.

I stayed with Beauty for the better part of an hour while she ate her breakfast then I left her to it and drove to the Brighton site to check for Pigott. Sadly, she wasn’t there. 🙁

While I was gone I got a tweet from Annette that Beauty relieved DC at the nest box around 8:25am-thanks! I was back downtown around 8:45am and from the hole I spotted DC on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR.

I then went over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to hang out with Whitey aka DC. The sun beating on him makes him that much brighter white.

DC did a lot of preening and stretching as he lit up like the north star in the bright sunshine. I stayed with him as long as I could then ended my watch at 9:20am.

It’s nice to know that no matter what’s going on in life the Rochester Peregrine Falcons always manage to put a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/O9woOGCXl4A

http://youtu.be/SA8sV7warQY

http://youtu.be/SGZyoA26Iiw

http://youtu.be/7DbdfAtvO2w

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a dark,rainy, overcast watch this morning with a starting temperature of 39 (F) 4 (C)

Just before I left home  Dot.Ca (DC) relieved Beauty of incubating duties so when I got downtown I was looking for Beauty. It took me half hour to find her on the east side on one of her favorite hunting spots-HSBC on the southeast corner. I hadn’t seen her there for quite  a long time. She flew off a couple minutes after I pulled over on Chestnut St. to observe her heading northeast at 6:42am.

I drove around the city searching for her but came up empty and finally left to check on the Brighton site. I had no better luck there so I returned to downtown. I arrived just before 8am and pulled over on Aqueduct St. by Basin St. in the hole. Suddenly I saw a falcon appear out of nowhere and land on the deck and quickly go to the nest box out of view.

<DC

I assumed it was Beauty and waited to see DC come shooting out after a little stand off but then Beauty came barreling in landing on the deck and quickly DC came flying out and went to the Wilder green strip at . Donna let me know that DC had left for a couple minutes and returned and then Beauty came in to take over incubating. Thanks D!

20 minutes later at 8:30am DC showed up on the 2nd ibeam southeast side of OCSR-I went to Graves St. by Aqueduct Park to watch. He had fresh prey and what  a feather frenzy as he blended in well with them as they surrounded him in the air and they were stuck on the ibeam from all the rain.

I decided the view would be better over by the Radisson Hotel and Main St. I have to say this was the most feathery preparation of a meal I have ever seen! Someone tweeted that Beauty had a nice full crop when she relieved DC so he could have the whole thing himself. TY whoever that was!  DC  finally started eating about 8:40am and while I was looking away he left around 8:55am-so he spent as much time preparing as he did eating.

I searched for 20 minutes but was unable to locate the dear boy so I called it a watch at 9:15am. It always makes me smile to know our beloved Rochester Peregrine Falcons have eaten! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/AYk9Nl89KcE

http://youtu.be/8PJBXE9LbGY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was downright balmy out when I left for my watch at a comfortable 60 degrees (F) 16 (C) with overcast skies and a steady light rain throughout

When I checked the livestream, Beauty was incubating as I left at 6am for downtown. I spent the better half of an hour looking for Dot.Ca (DC) and thanks to Donna and Annette who reported Beauty had left the nest box and returned around 6:47am. So I dashed back to the Times Square (TSB) area and parked on Basin St. where it meets Aqueduct St. to find DC on the north side of the back lower roof .

DC had his back to me so I drove across to Irving Place which is the one-way street behind the TSB to observe. DC had food and was eating. I had time for one pic and one video before I got kicked out of there for being in the way of some men bringing out about 10 garbage bins. I was on the street and they were putting them on the sidewalk next to where I was parked so I don’t see where I was in the way but I left none the less.

Banished to the hole by Aqueduct and Basin St. I watched DC from a longer distance-no problem! It”s all good as long as I could see him! I didn’t see any feathers fly so he prepared his small package elsewhere and brought it there to consume and he almost ate it all!

DC finally stopped himself and delivered the goods to the deck at 7:06am. He announced himself quite loudly and Beauty whipped out of the nest box and performed her usual very fast “grab and go” taking the fresh hunk of meat to the base of Mercury.

<DC delivery

<Beauty

The Beautyful one finished eating the small portion DC left her in a little over 5 minutes then she rested for 20 minutes while preening and stretching a little.

Beauty slipped off the back of the base and flew east over the river out of view from the hole at 7:34am. I decided to check the Brighton site at this time but again no falcons were over there. At some point I will stop checking to conserve gas but I’m not ready quite yet. So I returned to downtown and spotted DC on the 2nd ibeam of OCSR near the south corner from the Broad St. Bridge, then I went to the hole for a closer look.

I didn’t get any tweets that there had been a switch so I gave a shout out to anyone who might have been watching the cams. Donna,Larry,Lisa and Carol confirmed that there had been a switch at the scrape at 8:17am and Beauty was incubating her eggs. Thanks one and all! DC started to nap so I decided to call it a watch just before the 9 o’clock hour.

I left downtown smiling after a quiet watch! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/aJbk8Yf19zA

http://youtu.be/dDjq2ykq1d4

http://youtu.be/6VafgYgEqBk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Twas a nice warm morning with a starting temperature at 6am of 53 (F) 12 (C) and heading to the 70s this afternoon with overcast skies

When I left for my watch Dot.Ca (DC) was incubating his eggs on livestream. Initially I didn’t find Beauty but as I checked from the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) I spotted her on the base of Mercury. I drove to the Broad St. bridge straight away and she left soon after I got there at 6:30am.

Beauty slipped off the back of the base where I couldn’t see her and that would be the last I saw of her for the next 2 hours. I noticed a duck on the east (river) side roof edge of the Thomson Reuters building-I can’t remember ever seeing a duck on a roof. Maybe there are eggs up there-oh boy, not a good place mama if there is a nest. A male, probably her mate showed up a long while later but I don’t know if he flew in or was up there because I wasn’t present t the time. I was driving around looking for Beauty.

I checked the Brighton site in between around 7:30am and found there to be no falcons. It’s a real concern having 2 females-1 adult and 1 juvenile hanging around north of the city only a couple miles away from downtown on Seneca Towers and Kodak Park on Lake Ave. They could challenge for Beauty and DCs nest and territory since it doesn’t appear that either one has a mate. So when I returned to downtown I started getting a little antsy over not seeing Beauty still-then a tweet came while I was checking Kodak Office (KO) from Larry saying he had a falcon flying above Xerox. I drove to Woodbury St. on the east side to check it out but saw no falcon. Larry then tweeted a falcon flying west so then I drove to the BSB and met up with him. We talked a bit then Larry left to walk Harold and I drove north to look for Beauty. As I was on my way both Donna and Larry reported a falcon on cam 1 so I went to the hole to see the Beautyful one on cam 1 at around 8:30am.

A teller from Keybank stopped to ask about the falcons-Beauty left cam 1 when I wasn’t looking and after the woman left for work I saw who looked like Beauty on the Mercury money bag.

The back lighting from the sun made it hard for a good view and I got a tweet from Larry that DC left and Beauty was now incubating, hmmm. I went up to the BSB for a better angle but Beauty left Mercury before I got there. Donna finally cleared it up for me-Beauty flew to Mercury from cam 1 then went to nest box and that was all done in less than a minute. Peregrines are very fast movers! I also received tweets from cam watchers Ei and Carly that Beauty was on the eggs as well around 9am. Thanks to all that helped me this morning!  So now I needed to find DC before I could end my watch and after checking the usual places surrounding the Times Square area I went north to find DC on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad. I stopped first on State St. south of KO, and DC gave me the signal to go forward. lol

So I parked north of KO to see the front of him-he flew off a minute later heading west before going into a stoop.

He returned less than a minute later, circled above KO a couple times then flew back to the launchpad. i think he was trying to flush prey out from the building.

I said my good byes and ended my watch at 9:15am. It was an unusual watch but successful without incident and surely worth smiling about! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/Q1XuRaUsCCw

http://youtu.be/T-kOg5HMX9Y