By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Holy deep freeze-the temperature when I checked the local TV station said 8 degrees (F) -13 (C) when I was getting ready to leave for my watch. We were having a burst of moderate to heavy snow that made the roads pretty darn slick-you really had to drive slow as it dropped a couple inches of snow in an hour or so

I drove around the city for about 45 minutes at the start of my watch with no falcon sightings but I did find some more pretty lights and stuff!

Click pics for full version

Finally as I was checking the Kodak Office (KO) tower from the Andrews St. Bridge I spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of the launchpad. I drove down to Mill St. for a closer look but due to poor lighting, distance and snow falling I didn’t know who it was at first. Now I can say that it was Dot.Ca (DC)-he flew off after a couple minutes and then I saw 2 falcons in the air circling the tower. They went to the other side where I couldn’t see them so I went up to State St. on the north side of KO to find they were both there.

I thought one of them had food but Beauty on the left was preening and DC on the corner was looking south and pretty much ignoring his mate. I left to check for Pigott at our Brighton site around 8am and found her perched on the southwest corner of the west extension. She was all foofed up to keep warm and was keeping an eye on her territory.

I stayed with Miss Pigott for 20 minutes and then I had to leave for a dental appointment around 8:40am. I saw all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons on my short watch and mustered up a smile for that! 🙂

One video link below-just click and watch

http://youtu.be/F7cWWpS48FY

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

OK, what are the chances.  I’m leaving work, walking to my car in the parking lot with my co-worker Patty at 3:30 pm.  I look up and see a bird flying overhead.  I say to Patty, there goes a falcon.  Definitely a Peregrine Falcon.  I really love when that happens.  🙂

The falcon had flown in from the east and was heading west towards the Kodak Park area where Unity used to hang out.  I watched the falcon until it flew out of sight, over the Kodak Park Plant aka Eastman Business Park.  I jumped in my car, after cleaning a couple inches of snow off of it and headed in the direction I had last seen  the falcon.

From the parking lot, I spotted an adult Peregrine Falcon on the east smokestack on the south side of the lower catwalk.  Of course I did not have my camera with me.  I tweeted out that the falcon was here and then headed home to grab my camera.  When I returned, my fellow watch Dana was there.  I did get a few pictures before the falcon took off and headed south at 4:30 pm.  We waited to see if the falcon would return, but it did not.  I had to be somewhere, so I ended my watch, just as the sun was going down.

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Dana, Joyce and Brian had been down at Russell Station and had spotted a juvie falcon hunting off the stacks there.  I sure do hope it was Billy.  Oh, and Brian says he saw a Gyrfalcon flying along the lake shore.  I would love to see one in the wild.  They reported that it had been snowing quite a bit when they were there.  Here is a picture taken from KP looking north showing the snow clouds over the lake.

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There was a full moon (or close to a full moon) rising as I ended my watch.  Between all the watchers out today, there were 5 different falcons seen in the Rochester area.  Pretty awesome!  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was overcast and cold with a little light snow at times this morning with a temperature of 16 (F) -9 (C)

I was on the east side taking a couple pics when I got a tweet from Donna that a falcon  whom she thought was Beauty was on the Mercury Money Bag (MMB). Thanks for the assist D!

Click pics to see full version

I went to the Broad St. bridge and saw the back of  Beauty on Mercury. I continued down to the hole to see the front of her. She flew off less than 10 minutes later heading north.

I headed over to Kodak Office and found her there on the south side arch where she’s been going for the past few days. She was there less than a minute then took off to the south.

I went to Brighton after not finding the Beautyful one and came upon both Pigott and Dot.Ca (DC). He was on the northeast corner of the east extension eating and she was watching him from  the southeast corner. Same as yesterday-no sharing !

<DC

About 10 minutes later Pigott walked across to where DC was and he flew off with his food to where she just came from.  A minute later he flew over and kicked Pigott off his original corner and she went back to her corner.

<DC   <Pigott>

Pigott said the heck with you and flew off to the east to find her own breakfast. DC then finished his meal and flew to the southeast corner of the southeast extension briefly  then back to the southeast corner of the east extension before flying north..

I returned to downtown to find Beauty on the southeast cube of the Frontier Communications Tower for a minute before she flew north.

Beauty had ended up on the south side arch of Kodak Office.

I ended my watch at 9:15am- anytime I see all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons is reason to smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos

http://youtu.be/qZacy-CzRV0
http://youtu.be/2tK3utcO05E

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When stepped out the house today I was greeted by about 6-8 inches of snow which added to the 4 or 5 from yesterday afternoon. I got the snowblower out and made my way out of the driveway to a street that wasn’t plowed, but I made it to the main roads and to downtown where not as much snow fell. The temperature was 20 (F) -7 (C) with overcast skies and virtually no wind. Halfway thru my watch it began to snow

I had no luck finding a falcon downtown in the first 45 minutes but I found a pretty wreath on St. Marys church and the tree at the South Ave. garage was looking pretty with snow on it and speaking of snow-I love it ,so naturally I like lit up snow flakes as well!

Click on my pics to see the full version

I left to try my luck at the Brighton Site (BS)-arriving at 8am I drove around the property and didn’t see a falcon but on my 2nd trip around I spotted Pigott fly in from the east and land on the southeast corner of the east extension.

After 20 minutes of watching Miss Pigott preen she suddenly went into a crouched position as if another falcon was near and sure enough Dot.Ca (DC) had flown in with prey and was plucking feathers from it on the southeast corner of the southeast extension by the roof top tree. This is one of his favorite eating spots.

DC pulled his package back from the edge and continued to eat while Pigott watched from across the way. After 15 minutes passed she flew south and returned to the same spot and then DC flew over and chased her off landing in her spot with a small piece of food as she left the area for a minute or two.

<DC    Pigott>

When Pigott returned she knocked DC off her corner and took it over while he flew to the opposite end of the east extension on the northeast corner with the little bit that was left of his piece of food. It had started to snow tiny little flakes at this time.

Miss Pigott flew over to him but he wasn’t going to vacate his spot or his tidbit so she flew over to the tree corner and had a small bite to eat from whatever he left there, then she went back to the southeast corner of the east extension. He finished up and went back to the tree corner had a few more bites. I left them staring at each other from their spots to go look for Beauty. It was snowing harder downtown than it had been at BS making it hard to find the Beautyful one but I did spot her salmon color on the south side Kodak Office arch.

That’s all she wrote- I ended my watch at 9:20am smiling after having seen that all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons had weathered the storm just fine! 🙂

Click on the links below to view videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/GtYldg2ugB0
http://youtu.be/PV6-FmCH9DU
http://youtu.be/IL7CiJznANE
http://youtu.be/4Yx5uDP8HPM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today was a bitter cold and snowy day here in Rochester, NY.  Tonight and tomorrow, we are under a winter storm warning.

Before heading downtown, I first looked for Snowy Owls along the lake (Lake Ontario).  No Snowys at Braddock Bay, but the ice fisherpeople were out on the bay.

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The waves were crashing against the icy shore on Lake Ontario, lots of ice near the shore.

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I ended up at Charlotte where I found a Snowy Owl hunting over the Summerville Pier.  It landed about half way out on the pier.  I made my way out onto the Charlotte Pier where the frigid winds were blowing and it was snowing.  There was just one other person out there with me.  I pointed out the Snowy to Veronica.  It was her first time seeing a Snowy Owl and she was thrilled.

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This Snowy was much darker than the others I have seen recently.  It was too cold to stay out on the pier for long, so I went back to my car to warm up and headed downtown.

As I approached Kodak Office, I could see a falcon up on the northwest corner of the playpen.  The falcon was facing the building, but based on size, I believe this was Beauty, but can’t be 100% sure. (1:00 pm)

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I left Beauty on the Kodak Tower to go look for Dot.ca.  I looked all over downtown, including up into the OCSR elevator shaft, but could not find him.

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Since I couldn’t find Dot.ca, I headed over to the BS location where I found Pigott on a south facing window on the west extension, across from the cubby. (1:30 pm)

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I stayed with Pigott for awhile, checking the rest of the building and not finding any other falcons.

At 2:30 pm I headed back downtown.  I found Dot.ca on the southwest corner of the HSBC building.

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I left Dot.ca to search for Beauty, but I couldn’t find her.  I ended my watch at about 3:30 pm

I’ll leave you with a few pics of downtown Rochester from my watch today.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Can you say Brrrr!? 8 degrees (F) -13 (C) makes for some crispy, crunchy sounding snow under foot and a wind chill factor below 0. There was a couple more inches of snow laid down by Mother Nature last night with a forecast of another possible foot by this time tomorrow

I took some decoration pics while I rode around looking for a falcon. I didn’t see one until around 7:30am when I spotted one flying near Bausch & Lomb. I checked the area but never found it and since I had to make this a short watch I decided to go to our Brighton Site (BS)  at that time.

City Hall with red and green lighting Click pics to see full version

Clinton Square tree and wreath

I arrived at BS about 8am to find Dot.Ca (DC) eating on the northwest corner of  the northwest extension. He finished soon after I got there then flew west as Pigott perched on the front edge of the cubby.

2 down and 1 PEFA to go-I left straight away for downtown and eventually found Beauty on the Kodak Office Tower south side arch. This past week she had been perching on the west (left) side but this morning the Beautyful one was on the east (right) side of the arch. It was snowing pretty good so the pic is not good but you can see the salmon color of her chest.

I ended my watch at 8:30am happy and smiling for being lucky enough to see all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons!

There is 1 video link below-just click on it to see Beauty in the snow

http://youtu.be/NkcHE7NTitw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We got a couple more inches of snow overnite-when I started out it was 22 degrees (F) -6 (C) and dark. The skies were overcast and it was snowing by the end of my watch

Once again this morning Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) gave me a hard time trying to find them. In my early travels I took some festive pics to share.

Click on my pics to see the full version

My first sighting was a small looking falcon flew over the hole and ended up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building around 7:38am. I was on my way back from checking Kodak Office (KO) when I saw it. After getting down to the hole I got one half way decent pic before it took off when I was examining the pic to decide who it was-I think it was DC.

I didn’t know which direction to go so I went to the east side first-20 minutes later as I came up on KO again I spotted Beauty on the south side arch below the launchpad.

10 minutes later as I was wiping the salt spray from a bus that whizzed by off my lens the Beautyful one left KO. I headed toward downtown and as I was stopped at the traffic light under the inner loop overpass on State St. I notices the wall mural.

At 8:10am I found Beauty and DC on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR-he was eating. I started in the hole then moved to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to observe.

DC stopped eating which prompted me to look over and see that Beauty had left so he was probably watching her (doing my job) fly off. After a minute or so he went back to eating and a few minutes later Beauty returned with some food of her own. I believe she had a leftover wing to eat while DC appeared to have a fresh meal.

<DC  Beauty>

I left them to it and went over to Brighton to check for Pigott, arriving there about 9am. I didn’t know if she would be around since LarryO had been there a little while earlier and reported not seeing her. Thankfully she was home as I spotted her on a south facing top level floor on the northeast extension. Miss Pigott had her back to me the whole time I stayed turning her head to have a look see as she normally does.

I departed after 45 minutes or so as Pigott seemed quite settled. It had started snowing and as I got closer to downtown it picked up in intensity. I had to go over by the Radisson Hotel in order to see if there was a falcon on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR-there was and her name is Beauty!

I didn’t see DC around so I chose to end my watch at 10am. Having seen all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons sent me on my way with a smile! 🙂

I have several videos today of which I have provided links for-just click and view

http://youtu.be/S-LcHDNg2xk

http://youtu.be/v8IrbsWBrwI

http://youtu.be/2V1ouUOIGBk

http://youtu.be/GgRzhIwdyBU

http://youtu.be/byfI0fY_v-Q

http://youtu.be/DJNt6csuOUM

http://youtu.be/6f7p_Oj2RrY—

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I was able to find all three Rochester Falcons before the sun set.  Rochester (NY) is cold and snowy right now.  Brrrrr!

Beauty was downtown on Mercury’s money bag hand.

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After looking for Dot.ca and not finding him downtown, I headed over to the BS location.  Both Dot.ca and Pigott were on the east end of the building.  Dot.ca was up on the tree ledge finishing a meal and Pigott was on a south facing window on the east extension.

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Dot.ca finished his meal.  Pigott took off and flew around to the north side of the building and Dot.ca followed.  I found them both on the north side of the east extension.  This is the spot we frequently find Pigott roosting at night.  Dot.ca was two windows below her.

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<— You need to click on this one to see both Pigott and Dot.ca.

I left them to go back through downtown.  Beauty was gone from the Mercury statue.  I did look up into the OCSR elevator shaft, but it was too dark and snowing too hard to see if she was up there.  The sun had set and it was time for me to end my watch at 4:45 pm.

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took after my watch tonight.  Please remember to click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!  Keep warm and safe!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Oh it was cold this morning-so cold that my camera had trouble focusing in a bone chilling temperature of 11 degrees (F) -12 (C) with a wind chill at -2!   However, there was bright sunshine to help a little bit

I  think our beloved falcons stayed in bed under the covers extra long today because it was so cold out. In my travels I drove by the Martin Luther King Park (formerly known as Manhattan Square Park) ice skating rink  with it’s festive decorations.

Make sure to click on my pics to see the full version

I couldn’t locate Beauty or Dot.Ca (DC) downtown so after almost an hour of searching I opted to go over to Brighton and check for Pigott. It turned out well for me as I found Miss Pigott on an east side window where it meets the northeast extension on the top level. This pretty Peregrine was preening and stretching her wings in the cold air.

She spent less than 10 minutes with me when she flew off to the east with an intense look on her face-she meant business and I felt sorry for whatever she caught up with as she took flight. The last I saw of her was a shadow on the building.

<click>

Pigott never came back so I left to see if I could find a PEFA downtown. After a couple trips around the usual places they hang out I found Beauty on Kodak Office (KO) as I was on Mill St.  I was looking on the launchpad as this is a favorite spot and just happened to catch her profile on the south side arch which is above the old Mariah & Kaver scrape area. I haven’t seen her there since last winter since this is one of her favorite winter spots.

I decided to go to State St. so I could observe the front of the Beautyful one. Below the D of the KODAK letters on the building there were some pigeons hiding out. Lucky for them Beauty wasn’t paying attention!

I left Beauty as she was resting to look for DC but I didn’t find him until I returned to State St.  He had joined Beauty while I was out and about searching for him. I spotted him on the southeast corner of the KO launchpad above where Beauty was still perched on the arch. His back was facing me so I went over to Verona St. which is on the west side of KO near the Rochester Red Wings baseball park.

Beauty was napping and DC had a full crop so I figured it was safe to assume they were settled in for a rest period as they soaked up the sun on this cold day. I ended my watch at 10am with a smile on my face as I saw all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons today after a slow start-but hey, better late than never! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my videos

http://youtu.be/kPY92d_ZD2E
http://youtu.be/d71D2Pz5eHw
http://youtu.be/G1smXg51kjM
http://youtu.be/sQ8-luvsdiw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

On my side of the city we got 5 inches of snow last night-when I got downtown there was maybe a couple and in Brighton I could see the grass with them getting even less. That’s how lake effect goes-it creates snow bands of varying degrees. The starting temperature was 20 (F) -7 (C) and with the wind chill factor it felt like it was 11 degrees (F) -12 (C)

Bausch & Lomb in the dark       Click on all my pics for full version

I didn’t find Beauty until almost 7:30am as I returned from the east side. She had visited Mercury, as reported to me by Donna while I was on the east side looking for her. When I reached the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I saw Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I took a ride over to the Radisson Hotel by Main St. to see the front of her, from there I could see her nibbling on a wing.

The Beautyful one finished less than a minute later and got cleaned up-one of her talons got special attention.

She seemed to get settled so I took a drive around to look for Dot.Ca (DC) -after an unsuccessful search for him I went to our Brighton Site (BS) where I found Pigott at home. Around 8:30am I found Miss Pigott on the northeast corner of the northeast extension. Initially I watched her from the front of the property and when she turned toward the east I went to the east side to observe her. She did a lot of looking around while I was there which is normal for her. Around 9am she gave me the look, flew east and never looked back.

With that I made my return trip to downtown and found DC on the Mercury Money Bag (MMB). I was parked at the end of Basin St. in the hole and I could see OCSR from there as well as Beauty was in the same place I left her on the top ibeam southeast side. DC was very busy watching a prey bird below him so busy that he slipped and almost fell off. Beauty and I just watching the show.

DC stooped on whatever he was fixated with but missed and went back to the money bag perch to continue watching it all over again. He finally gave up and flew over to OCSR, grabbed the wing leftover that Beauty had been eating on earlier and flew off to the east. Again, Beauty and I watching his antics.

After that I couldn’t help but end my watch smiling for not only DC the entertainer but also for having seen our 3 beloved resident Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Below you can click on the links to view my videos

http://youtu.be/93wCqEe4ppg
http://youtu.be/e6zPwyWXVgk
http://youtu.be/QIsdwvQ7Q6E