By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

What is the Polar Vortex?  Not to be confused with the Polar Express.  It’s a large pocket of very cold air, typically the coldest air in the Northern hemisphere, which sits over the polar region during the winter season.  The frigid air found its way into the US when the polar vortex was moved south.  That’s how the weather folks explain it.  All I know is it is darn cold out there!   When I woke up this morning it was -5 degrees (F) with a windchill close to 30 below zero.  As I type this at 7:36 pm, it is 4 degrees and feels like 18 below zero.  Thankfully, tomorrow the temperatures will start to rise, 20 degrees tomorrow and up into the 40’s by Saturday.

When I left work today, I headed straight downtown to look for Beauty and Dot.ca.  Larry O and Joyce had been out earlier and both had seen a falcon at the BS location.  Joyce was pretty sure that it was Pigott.

My route took me by Kodak Office first, so I checked out that area.  When I didn’t find any falcons there, I headed over to the OCSR to look up into the elevator shaft.  When I first arrived, there was blowing snow, making it hard to see anything that high up.  Finally the snow stopped.  I was losing light, but without the snow, my visibility was much better.  There was definitely one falcon on the north ledge of the OCSR elevator shaft and I am fairly certain that the other falcon was on the south side ledge.  Both had their backs to me.  Because of this, I could not tell which was Beauty and which was Dot.ca.  Here are some pictures of what I saw.  I’ve added arrows to point out where the falcons are.

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I stayed there for close to an hour before the sun set.  Both falcons remained in the elevator shaft, an excellent spot to get out of the cold, snow and wind.

Goodnight everyone!

Sunrise at 7:41 am.  Sunset at 4:52 pm.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

At 5:00 am it was 50 degrees.  As I type this report, it is 5 degrees (F) and feels like 19 below zero with blowing snow.  That’s a big BRRRRR!

Sunrise at 7:41 am.  Sunset at 4:49 pm.

I knew I didn’t have a whole lot of time, so I first checked Kodak Park.  No falcons there.

At the BS location I found Pigott on the east end of the building on a window below the tree ledge.

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She was there by herself and she was settled in an area where the wind was blocked.  So, I headed downtown and searched the downtown area twice.  It was snowing hard when I arrived and visibility was poor.  When I looked up into the OCSR elevator shaft, I could not tell if Beauty and Dot.ca were up there or not.  They could have been, I just couldn’t be sure.  This is what I saw.

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I went over to the Kodak Office Tower to see if they might be there, but had no luck finding any falcons there.

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By 5:00 pm, it was getting dark.  The winds were blowing the snow around and the temperatures were plunging.  I called it a watch.

Here are a few more wintry pictures I took while on my watch today.  Goodnight everyone!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Sorry, I don’t have time to leave a detailed report.  Thought you would all enjoy seeing pictures of our Rochester Falcons from over the weekend.  All 3 were seen doing well  by the Watchers this weekend.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Pigott at BS Location.

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Dot.ca at Kodak Office Tower.

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Beauty on Mercury.

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Other Pictures from my Falcon Watch.

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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Temps in the 30’s (F).  Mostly cloudy with a little bit of sun.  Sunrise at 7:41 am/Sunset at 4:49 pm.

Beauty was seen on the Mercury statue on the Rfalconcam cameras this morning.

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Pigott and Dot.ca were seen by Watchers Kathy O, Dana and I late morning/afternoon.

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A totally ice cover Genesee River between Main St and Andrew St Bridges.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Rochester was hit by a bad snow storm over the last couple days and today it didn’t make it out of the single digits.  When I was downtown between 4 and 5 pm, it was 4 degrees and the windchill was below zero.  Brrrr!

With the bad weather and the frigid temperatures, I was pretty sure I knew where the falcons might be, at least Beauty.  I made my way over to the Radisson and looked up into the OCSR elevator shaft.  The elevator was up there, but there’s still room on each side.  Both Beauty and Dot.ca were there.  Beauty was on the south side ledge and Dot.ca was on the north side ledge.  I was happy to see them.

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Larry O had reported earlier in the afternoon that he had seen a falcon at the BS location, but was unable to positively ID if it was Pigott.

Traveling was not the best today.  The roads were pretty much snow covered and slick, but yesterday had been a lot worst.  Tomorrow it’s expected to go up to 30 degrees.  Today the sun rose at 7:41 pm and set at 4:47 pm.  The days are getting longer!  🙂

I’ll leave you with some pics I took of snowy downtown Rochester during my watch.  Be sure to click on any you would like to see larger. Goodnight all and keep warm!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Here are some pictures from the Watcher gathering on New Year’s Day.

Gathered Watchers: Shaky, Carrie, Larry O, Jeanne, Pat, Dan S, Don, Suzanne, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Joyce, Steve, Dana, Lou, June, Carol P and MAK (from Arkansas).

#1 – Larry O, Jeanne, Dan & Shaky; #2 – Dan, Carrie, June & Pat; #3 – Shaky (Not sure what he’s doing. 🙂

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#1 – Shaky, Steve, Joyce and Lou; 2 – Shaky (not sure what he’s doing : ); 3 – Shaky, Shaky, Shaky!

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#1 – Lisa McK, Kathy O & Shaky; #2 – Everyone by me!; #3 – Shaky recording the event.

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#1 – Shaky with Time Sq Bldg Behind him; #2 – Dana and Joyce.

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#1 – Steve, Dan & Pat; #2 – Lou, Shaky & Don.

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Oh, in case you were wondering why we were gathered, here are three reasons why.  Beauty, Dot.ca and Pigott!

Beauty on the Kodak Office Tower

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Pigott and Dot.ca at the BS location

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Beauty eating on Kodak Office Tower

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Thanks Shaky for fixing the problem that wouldn’t let me download pictures yesterday.

Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today the Rochester Falcon Watchers met at noon  in front of the Blue Cross Arena on Broad St to toast the new year.  A toast to a falcon filled season!

But first, I wanted to find the falcons we were toasting.  So, I headed out an hour and a half early.  There were no falcons at Kodak Park or the BS location.  I headed downtown, again finding no falcons.  From Kodak Office I looked south and saw two falcon flying really high above the city.  They were circling each other, coming together, then apart.  The only way I can describe this flight between a bonded pair of Peregrine Falcons is to call it an aerial ballet.  They flew higher and higher, heading north east, where  I lost sight of them over the river.  Soon after that, one of them flew in and landed on the southeast corner of the launchpad.  Beauty had arrived.

It was noon, so I had to get going.  It was time to meet up with the other watchers to toast to a successful 2014 falcon season.  The following Rochester Falcon Watchers showed up today.

Shaky, Carrie, Dan S, Jeanne, Larry O, Pat, Suzanne, Don, Lisa McK, Kathy O, Joyce, Steve, Dana, Lou and me Carol P.  Oh, and MAK called and joined us for the toast all the way from Arkansas!

I had pictures I wanted to share, but for some reason, I can’t post them.  I’ll try again tomorrow.

After the toast, we headed over to the BS location and found both Pigott and Dot.ca on the east side of the building.  Pigott’s crop was huge, so she just ate.  Dot.ca was eating her leftovers.  By the time he was finished eating, his crop was huge too.  lol

At the end of my watch, I drove through downtown and found Beauty where Joyce reported seeing her.  Beauty was eating on the south side of the launch pad at Kodak Office.  So all three Rochester Falcons were accounted for, well fed and doing good.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was time for another speedy falcon watch this afternoon after work.  (3:40 – 5:00 pm)

My watch started with temps in the teens and a thin layer of snow on the ground.  Over the next few days, the temperatures will be plummeting here in Rochester, NY and 2013 will become 2014.

My watch started at KP.  I could not find any falcons there.

BS was my next stop.  I found Pigott on a south facing window on the east extension.

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Fellow watcher Joyce, joined me.  We were chatting when Pigott took off.  She returned to the building very quickly, and she wasn’t alone.  Dot.ca had arrived.  They both landed next to each other on the southeast corner of the southeast extension, just above the tree ledge.  There was no vocalization.  They both settled in, just a couple feet apart from each other.

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Joyce and I decided to head downtown to look for Beauty, before the sunset and it was too dark to see anything.  We searched everywhere, not finding her at first.  On a 2nd pass of the east side, Joyce spotted Beauty up on top of the Xerox Tower on the south side.  I drove over and found Beauty where Joyce reported seeing her.

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With all three Rochester Falcon found and all quiet and peaceful, it was time to end my watch and head home.  Keep warm everyone!  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Even during the busy holiday season, the Rochester Falcon Watchers are out and about.  All three Rochester Falcons have been seen over the past few days, reported by Larry O, Kathy O, Lisa McK, Joyce, Dana, Lou, Pat, and me Carol P.  Thanks to you all for taking time to go out and check on the falcons.

On Friday, 12/27/13, I found two adult Peregrine Falcons hanging out on the smokestacks at Kodak Park.  I saw one here last week.  So, are they a pair just passing through?  We’ll definitely keep an eye on this location, which is where we first saw Unity.

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On Saturday, 12/28/13, I checked out KP, but could not find any Peregrines.  But there was a smaller falcon there, an American Kestrel.

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BS was my next stop, but Pigott was not home.  Later in the day, Joyce found her there.

Downtown, Dana and I found Beauty and Dot.ca on the Kodak Office Tower.

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They both took off, heading south towards downtown.  We found Beauty on the Widows Walk.

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Beauty took off and we found both Beauty and Dot.ca back on the Kodak Office Tower in the same spots they had left.  They both seemed settled, so we headed down to the lake (Ontario) to see if any Snowy Owls were there. Kathy O met us there and she saw her first Snowy way out on the ice on the other side of the Summerville pier.  We were watching the Mergansers diving between the Mallards.  Every now and then a Merganser would come up right under a Mallard.  Pretty funny to watch.  Fellow Watcher Jeanne joined us and she also was able to see her first Snowy of the year.  Here are a couple of pics of a Merganser that caught a fish, and after a few tries, was able to swallow it.  GULP!

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The ice between the beach and the lake water looked like an alien landscape.

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Sunday, 12/29/13

The Watchers were out again and falcons were seen at the BS location (probably Pigott, according to Dana) and Beauty downtown.  We again ended up at the lake to look for Billy at Russell Station (no luck) and Snowy Owls at Charlotte/Summerville.

When I arrived, Kathy was already out on the Charlotte Pier and Dana & Lou were on the Summerville Pier.  There was a Snowy far out on the Summerville Pier.  A jogger ran down to the end of the pier and the Snowy took off, landing near the end of the Charlotte Pier, landing on a railing.

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The Snowy was scared off again by a passerby, this time flying off to the west.

Later in the day, Dana found a Snowy Owl at Irondequoit Bay.  Kathy O, Joyce and I joined her.  The Snowy was on a dock eating a gull.  We were able to remain in our cars at a far distance.  Thank goodness for zoom lenses and binoculars!  This Snowy Owl found a nice, quiet spot to enjoy its’ meal.  We were joined, for a short while, by a birder named Richard and his friend.  They were thrilled to see the Snowy.

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A Kingfisher flew in, vocalizing loudly and landed on a nearby plastic owl.

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What a wonderful holiday weekend of birding!

I’ll leave you with this video of the Snowy Owl enjoying its’ meal.  It’s truly amazing that we are being visited by so many of these beautiful birds.  Goodnight everyone!

Just click on this link to my youtube video.  Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/_Ty6PGT4G_c

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(3:50 – 5:00 pm)

Just a quick watch late this afternoon.  No Pigott seen at the BS location.  But, a falcon was seen there earlier by Larry O.

I checked out the downtown area.  No falcons seen until I approached the Kodak Office Tower.  One falcon was flying around the top of the tower, landing on the south side of the cupola.  I was not able to get an ID on this falcon.

By 5:00 pm, it was too dark to see much, so I ended my watch with just one falcon.  Can’t wait for the days to get longer!

Here are a couple pics of the falcon on the Kodak Tower.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

(8:30 am – Noon)

I decided to head out early this morning (8:30 am) for a Christmas Day Falcon Watch.  It was 15 degrees and the sun was out for a short while.   Been a long time since I’ve seen that bright orb in the sky.  Loved it!  It clouded up pretty quickly though.

I was back and forth between the BS location and downtown.  Not many others were out and about at that time.  At times, I was the only one on the road.  I could get used to that!  lol

During my watch, I did find all three Rochester Falcons.  Pigott was at BS and Beauty & Dot.ca were on the Kodak Office Tower downtown.  Pigott had a nice full crop.   Beauty was prepping food on the southeast corner of the launch pad and Dot.ca was keeping guard on the antenna that juts out from the south side of the playpen.

Pigott at BS

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Beauty and Dot.ca at the Kodak Office Tower – Downtown

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I looked for Billy down at the lake (Ontario), but could not find her.

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took during my watch.  Merry Christmas!  Goodnight everyone!

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Merry Christmas!