By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another cold morning with clear skies and a temp of 20 (F) -7 (C)

Beauty threw me off a bit today as she was on the southwest side of OCSR as opposed to the southeast side. I stayed with her for a little more than a half hour then I went to Brighton (BS) to see if Dot.Ca (DC) was over there.

I arrived at BS about 7:40am to find a falcon on the southeast corner of the southeast extension perched in an open spot where Pigott had cleared the snow of yesterday. It flew off as I barely got my camera pointed at it.

Looked small and white chested so it clearly wasn’t Miss Pigott but I’m not so sure if it was DC or another male. Anyway, I drove round the building and found Pigott on an east facing top floor window ledge on the southwest extension and she was plucking feathers from a small piece of food.

Part of a wing fell off the edge and I walked over to the building below her to see if I could identify what kind of prey she was eating but it never made it to the ground. I snapped a pic of her above me showing only her tail feathers hanging over the edge.

After she finished eating Pigott took a stroll to the other end of the ledge and started watching the starlings in the immediate area. She looked up, down and all around.

She then flew over to the opposite side of the building landing on a west facing window ledge on the southeast extension. This is where I left her to return to downtown.

When I got to the Broad St. Bridge I couldn’t help but notice 2 white figures on OCSR.  I drove down to the hole  on Bank Place to observe them. The sun was shining bright on Beauty and DC who were on the top ibeam-she was still on the southwest side and he was on the south corner. They were so bright white that I thought I was seeing ghosts!

<Click it<DC

I then went down to Graves St. by Aqueduct Park to see if a different angle would cut down on the glare but it really didn’t.

<DC<Beauty <Click it

So I chalked up another 3 falcon watch and left the city smiling at 8:45am! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my videos

http://youtu.be/Hd0fS1NAqmg
http://youtu.be/nnfKtnKG1hc
http://youtu.be/YYpCKPmAN6o

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

A Very Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Rochester Falcon Fans!  It turned out to be a very nice day, and after eating lots of turkey and all the fixins, I headed out for a quick look this afternoon.

The BS location was my first stop.  I found Pigott on the southeast corner of the east extension.  Just as I was maneuvering my car for the best vantage point, Dot.ca flew in and landed next to Pigott.  Before I could take a picture, he was off again, this time landing on the southeast corner of the south east extension, just above the tree ledge.  I’ve noticed that he really doesn’t seem to like to land in snow, and thankfully this corner was cleared from him.

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There were clouds moving through and sometimes the sky was blue and sometimes the sky was gray as you can see in these two pictures.

After awhile, Dot.ca took off heading south east over the trees.  I waited to see if he would return, but he did not.  After about a 1/2 hour, I headed downtown to look for Beauty.

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It didn’t take me long to find Beauty.  As soon as I turned the corner from Exchange onto Broad St I spotted her on top of Mercury’s moneybag hand.

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I went down to Aqueduct St, aka the hole and spent a little bit of time with Beauty.

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I was happy to see that Beauty had a very full crop.  She was very fidgety, turning now and then to keep an eye on the gulls as they flew by over the river.  I also noticed that Mercury’s face was covered in snow and ice was hanging off of it.  The sun had melted most of the snow off of the statue, but not all of it.  The sun was starting to sink lower in the sky, so it was time for me to head down to the lake for a quick look.  On the way down State St, I saw that there was a falcon on the southeast corner of the launchpad on the Kodak Tower and it looked like Dot.ca.  He sure does get around!

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As I was tweeting that he was up there, he took off.  Well, it was time for me to move on anyway.  I took the lake route home.  Took a look at Hawkeye, Charlotte/Summerville and Russell Station.  No falcons seen at any of these locations.

It was time to end my Watch and head home.  I hope that everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!  Goodnight!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It was a cold 19 degrees (F) -7 (C) but a clear,bright and sunny day with blue skies. We got 2-3 inches of new light fluffysnow overnight courtesy of Lake Ontario

I found Dot.Ca (DC) eating on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR at 7am-I left to look for Beauty and when I returned she was up there with her mate.

<DC <Click it <Beauty

I stayed for a few minutes but I was antsy to get to the Brighton site and find Pigott since she hadn’t been seen since the nor’easter snow storm on Tuesday. Well let me just say I was very thankful on this Thanksgiving Day when I spotted her on the northeast extension. The sun looked like a fireball as it was rising in the eastern sky.

Pigott was on a south facing window 3 floors down and looking lovely in the bright sunshine as she preened and stretched.

Miss Pigott would stay up on that window for the next 40 minutes when she spotted a Kestrel fly in from the east. At exactly 8am she took off  chasing it away and returning to land on a snowy southeast corner of the southeast extension after aborting a landing on the northeast extension.

<Click it

20 minutes later she was off and landed on a south facing window ledge on the northeast extension top floor. In the northern sky beyond the Colgate Divinity School I noticed a large flock of starlings flying around-always an amazing thing to see.

I left her around 8:30am and returned downtown where I found Beauty and DC on the top ibeam southeast side only 2 windows apart from each other.

<Click it

I was all ready to leave when Beauty flew off followed by DC a few seconds later. I didn’t see where the Beautyful one went but DC came to rest on the Mercury money bag. I left my spot by the Radisson Hotel at Main St. and drove to the hole for a closer look. DC took flight after a couple minutes flying north.

<Beauty DC>

It was at this time I ended my watch around 8:50am. I’m very thankful for being able to share space with our Rochester Peregrine Falcons on this day that we should give thanks for all our blessings and for seeing all 3 of them today I must smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi-u

http://youtu.be/rYRgCeOs_rI
http://youtu.be/LwMDz6kRRvk
http://youtu.be/qCl9rcQ5yiA
http://youtu.be/uVhlTfhB3kQ
http://youtu.be/WqhYxMYsO8o

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

2:30 – 4:30 pm

Rochester was covered in snow today.  Lots of folks lost power this morning after a snow storm hit Rochester overnight.  I got out of work a little early and took advantage of a bit more daylight than I am used to.  My first stop was downtown Rochester.  I looked around and could not find either Beauty or Dot.ca.  So, I parked on the Broad St Bridge and waited for them to come to me.  While I waited, I took a few pics of the still snow covered familiar Rochester Falcon landmarks.

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It didn’t take them to show up.   First Beauty flew in from the east and landed on the top Ibeam on the south side of OCSR..  Dot.ca was right behind her, landing just to her left.

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My next stop was the BS location, where I hoped to find Pigott.  I circled the building a couple times, but had no luck finding her.  I parked on the south side of the building to keep watch.  Kathy O joined me. We were entertained by a whole lot of hungry Crows that decided to finish the apples on a nearby apple tree.  The Crows in the tree would take bites of apple and knock them out of the tree to their friends below.

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At approximately 3:45 pm, a falcon flew in, clutching food in its talons.  We can’t be 100% sure, but Kathy and I believe that this falcon was Dot.ca.  He attempted to land on the snow covered south side vent 6 times. Obviously he did not want to land in the snow.  He tried to land at different spots on the vent and each time he would immediately take off again.  After the 6th try, he flew up to the southeast corner of the southwest extension.  But, he didn’t like that either and took off again, hovering over the building before flying to the north side where we lost sight of him.  Both Kathy and I circled the building attempting to find him.  Neither of us did.

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During the time Dot.ca was flying around, there was no response from Pigott, so we had to assume that she was not home.

It was time for me to head home, via the Lake Ontario Route.  I checked out Hawk-eye, the Charlotte/Summerville area and Russell Station.  No luck finding Billy or any other falcons along the way.

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Enjoy your day with family and friends and safe travels to you!

I’ll leave you with a few pics I took during my watch.  Please be sure to click on any pics you would like to see larger.  Goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Zowie-what a start to the day I had! Phone line down and draped across the top of my car and 6 inches of very wet snow to clear from the driveway.

Click on my pics to see full version

I got her done and was maybe an hour later than usual to start my morning watch. It was 33 degrees (F) 1 (C) very dark and overcast with very light snow falling as I pulled out of the driveway.

I was thankful that I didn’t have to search for Beauty and Dot.Ca as they were both near the south corner top ibeam of OCSR very close together when I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge at 7:45am. The roads were clear of snow but not the parking lanes so I went down to the hole. First I took pics of the snow covered Times Square building and Mercury.

I then drove down to Graves St. across Main St. from OCSR for an even closer look at the dynamic duo. They both had their backs to me but I didn’t care, they survived the storm and that’s all I cared about!

<Click it 

Now to check the Brighton Site for Pigott, but on the way I couldn’t help but take some pics and a video of the beautiful snow covered scenery of the Mt. Hope Cemetery and Highland Park.

I will provide a link to see more like these

So I made it to Brighton but Miss Pigott was not around as she sometimes isn’t when I go in the morning. I hung out for half hour or so but she was a no show. I returned to downtown finding Beauty on the 2nd ibeam southeast side of OCSR eating and DC on the 3rd ibeam down at the south corner looking for prey to fly thru. I started out parking in the hole and ended up at my spot by the Radisson Hotel and Main St.

While I was watching Beauty clean up after her meal DC snuck off his spot and when I looked his way he was now on the 2nd ibeam (same as the Beautyful one) with what I believe was cached food. I couldn’t help but notice the reflection of Mercury on the OCSR windows-I love seeing that. And I wondered if they had spent the night in the elevator shaft out of the snow storm with the elevator up at the top of the shaft.

Beauty settled in with a full crop and DC finished his little chunk of meat so I ended my watch at 9:30am with a smile knowing they both had eaten! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a snowy photo album and some videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqi-M

http://youtu.be/BIX15SrGJwQ
http://youtu.be/ijIT–uD-D0
http://youtu.be/NfAfcxpeesM
http://youtu.be/Y1xIrTBZmP0

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The downtown bank clock said 34 (F) 1 (C) with overcast dark conditions with the Nor’easter on its way to Western New York. The snow started falling around noon and is forecast to pile up to perhaps a foot when all is said and done. Get out the snow shovels Rachacha!!

I found both of our downtown falcons around 7:15am as I made my way back from the east side to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB). Beauty was on the base of Mercury and Dot.Ca (DC) was under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB).

<DC  <Beauty>

About 10 minutes later they both flew northwest and I wouldn’t find them until 20 minutes later with Beauty under the northeast wing preening and I found DC 5 minutes later on the lower back part of TSB on a north side ledge just below the roof.

They both did some preening, scratching and stretching in the time I shared space with them as I was parked in the hole by He’s Chinese.

<Beauty> <DC>

DC was very entertaining showing his big yellow feet, looking up over his shoulder at Beauty and just plain being cute.

DC had one last stretch for himself, spread his wings and flew off to the northwest going into a stoop. Beauty stayed under the northeast wing.

<DC   Beauty>

I left for Brighton to check on Pigott arriving there about 9:15am but she wasn’t around so I returned to downtown. I came across window washers on the south side of Xerox and the poop stained benches in Washington Square Park from the crows that roost there at night in the trees.

<Click it if you dare

As I looked around from the BSB I noticed the OCSR elevator was all the way up to the top. I hope Beauty and DC can still get up under the elevator shaft to get out from the storm with it there. I never located the Beautyful one but I did find DC on the northeast corner of the Kodak Office launchpad.

I called it a watch on Mill St. at 9:35am. Fast forward to 2pm as I had to walk Bentley and Isabella (fellow falcon watcher Jeannes’ Sharpei dogs), I decided to go to the Brighton site so I could look for Pigott since I didn’t see her on my morning watch. When we first arrived there was no sign of her but when we got back to the car from our walk Miss Pigott was on the west end of the south side vent with food.

So there you have it folks, all 3 resident Rochester Peregrine Falcons seen today making me smile as I drove away! 🙂

Click on the links below to view the days videos

http://youtu.be/qdGZ5WSI_6I

http://youtu.be/-a9gDlGk2Eg

http://youtu.be/3NJ6ANZQ6fA

http://youtu.be/IGWlBYwVJU4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another cold start today with a temperature of 20 (F) 7 (C) with mostly cloudy skies

As I was parked on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) at around 7am I saw Dot.Ca (DC) fly to the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. I went down to the hole for a closer look.

I took a ride to look for Beauty and when I returned DC was on the 2nd ibeam southeast side of OCSR plucking feathers. I don’t know if he caught breakfast or went to the food pantry for cached food but he spent about 25 minutes eating then flew to the Times Square building (TSB) landing under the northeast wing.

5 minutes later Beauty flew in and joined DC landing right next to him as he had his back to me. They eechupped once or twice and from what I could see of their tails I think they bowed. After that it looked like Beauty was eating and a couple minutes later she was feaking (wiping off her beak) on the edge of the ledge. Beauty then flew across to the southeast wing ledge for a few seconds then back next to DC again.

<Click it

Around 8:05am DC flew out as Beauty watched him and returned to land where Beauty had been eating-most likely looking for scraps and unbeknownst to me he slipped off the back of the ledge to the grating on the TSB.

<Beauty <DC lands <Beauty

I found DC there in the grating when I went up to the BSB to see if he was at the back of the northeast wing ledge. Let’s call him sneaky Pete! lol

<Click it

I left them to check on Pigott at the Brighton Site arriving there at 8:40am. I found Miss Pigott on an east side window ledge 3 floors down at the corner where it meets the northeast extension. This is where she remained for the half hour I spent with her just looking around at her surroundings and being her pretty self. She tried unsuccessfully to extract a pellet at one point.

I left her around 9:10am to return downtown and see what the other 2 Rochester PEFAs were up to. I was stopped for a red light at Exchange and Court St. on my way back from BS when I spotted a falcon fly up to the northeast wing ledge of TSB. Upon closer inspection from the hole by He’s Chinese I could see that it was the Beautyful one blowing in the breeze.

Beauty shook herself a couple times other wise known as rousing and that’s when I decided to end my watch at 9:30am. I left downtown with a smile as I saw all 3 resident Rochester Falcons this morning! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my videos of the watch

http://youtu.be/P9eVSBv1KwA
http://youtu.be/SFT6h1bbekw
http://youtu.be/1OIfMpRWQEo
http://youtu.be/in_j-v6VOW4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

11:00 am – 3:00 pm

It was a REALLY cold and blustery day here in Rochester, NY.  Never made it out of the 20’s (F).  It’s 22 degrees as I type this.  Thankfully it will warm up a bit tomorrow with temps in the mid 30’s.

I decided to start my watch with a drive down to the lake (Ontario) to check out Russell Station and the Charlotte/Summerville area.  It has been awhile since anyone has reported seeing Billy or any other falcons down there. I found no falcons at Russell Station.  At Charlotte I had tweeted out that I had seen no falcons there, but fellow watchers Dana and Lou reported at the same time that they saw a juvie Peregrine falcon hunting along the river and that it was now on the river side of the Port of Rochester.  Dana called to tell me that they were over on the riverside and I joined them.  We are fairly certain that it was Billy.  Dana and Lou had seen her hunting ducks over the river.

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Billy took off and Lou thought he saw her fly over the Port of Rochester Bldg, but we were not able to find her again.  I said goodbye to Dana and Lou and headed downtown where I found both Beauty and Dot.ca.  Beauty was up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the north side ledge and Dot.ca was on the Times Square Bldg on the southeast wing ledge.

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I left Beauty and Dot.ca downtown and headed over to the BS location, where I found Pigott eating on the tree ledge on the east end of the building.

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After eating her fill, there was a little bit left.  She carried, it first to a south facing window on the north extension and then to a east facing window on the southwest extension.  After awhile, she continued to eat.

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At 2:15 pm, Dot.ca arrived and landed on the southeast corner of the southwest extension, just above Pigott.  There was both ee-chupping and wailing vocalizations between them.

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Pigott continued to eat and Dot.ca remained on guard above.  After awhile, Dot.ca took off and flew past Pigott then landed on the east end of the south side vent.

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From there he watched Pigott eat until there was just a little bit left.  That’s when he decided to fly over to Pigott to see if she would share that last bit, and she did.  He landed on the ledge and Pigott stepped back.  Dot.ca took the tiny morsel and flew up to the three ledge on the east side.

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It didn’t take him long to eat the remainder of Pigott’s meal.  He flew up to the southeast corner of the southeast extension.

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Just before 3:00 pm, I left both Pigott and Dot.ca and checked the downtown area for Beauty one last time before ending my watch.  After finding Beauty on the south side of the OCSR on the top IBeam, I ended my watch and headed home.  Another weekend of falcon watching complete.

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I’ll leave you with a few pictures I took of two different (or maybe it was the same one) Red-bellied Woodpeckers I saw by Russell Station.  Such beautiful birds!  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Goodnight!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Is it November or January!?  The temperature at 19 (F) -7 (C) sure doesn’t feel like a week before Thanksgiving, never the less we are in the deep freeze today with light lake effect snow showers

I first found Dot.Ca (DC) on the top ibeam south corner of OCSR, soon after he flew over to the Times Square building (TSB) and landed under the southeast wing. About a minute later Beauty came flying in from the east and DC flew down to the deck, landing next to the main cam.

A minute later DC left the area flying east out of view from my spot in the hole. 5 minutes later Beauty appeared under the southeast wing and she was eating. I parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena on Exchange St. for the best angle on her. The Beautyful one finished up in 15-20 minutes and then flew east towards OCSR. I drove to the Radisson Hotel near Main St. and found her up in the elevator shaft of OCSR on the north side ledge.

The wind picked up and it started to snow, I thought it was a good time to go check the Brighton site. When I arrived just after 8am, Pigott was on the east end of the south side vent all foofed up to keep warm.

After a couple minutes I thought I should check around the east end of the building and there I found DC on the southeast corner by the roof top tree eating.

DC spent 30 minutes eating and then he flew to a south side window with leftovers as Pigott flew off somewhere as well.

A minute later Miss Pigott flew in from the east and landed on a south side window and DC flew to the southwest extension and came to rest on an east facing window. He finished off his meal then flew to a west facing window ledge on the southwest extension announcing his arrival with some eechups. Pigott was kiddie corner to him where she was perched.

<Pigott

<DC

I left them around 9:10am, checking the OCSR elevator shaft for Beauty when I got back to the city. She was still up there so I called it a watch at 9:20am. Keep smiling everybody! 🙂

Click on the links below to see some videos
http://youtu.be/2eBuCYhgWhI
http://youtu.be/8YLEFmU6tO0
http://youtu.be/POnPjUa8RIE
http://youtu.be/XHENU5DIAuI

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

10:00 am – 1:30 pm

I started my Watch at the Brighton Site, arriving at 10:00 am.  Pigott was on a west facing window on the southeast extension.

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Dana joined me and after we watched Pigott for awhile, we decided to head downtown to look for Beauty and Dot.ca.  The winds were picking up and clouds were moving in.  Snow was due around noon and it was really cold out.

At first we didn’t find Beauty or Dot.ca.  I went over to the Radisson to look up into the OCSR elevator shaft.  No falcons there.  As I was pulling away from the Radisson, a falcon flew over me heading southwest towards the Times Square Bldg.  From the Broad St Bridge, I could see a falcon up on the southeast wing ledge.

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I drove down to Aqueduct St (aka the hole) for a better angle, but by the time I got down there, the falcon on the Times Square Bldg was gone and Beauty was on the south side of  OCSR on the top IBeam.

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Dana was watching Beauty from the Broad St Bridge, so I decided to go look for Dot.ca.  While I was checking out the Frontier Communication Tower and Kodak Office, Dana reported that Beauty had taken off and headed south over the river scaring up all the pigeons in the area.  She was definitely in hunt mode and Dot.ca joined in.  Just as I joined Dana on the Broad St Bridge, Dot.ca was flying south.  My first thought was that he was heading over to the BS location.  So that’s where I headed.  Dana stayed downtown and reported that Beauty had returned to the top IBeam on OCSR.

At the BS location, I found both Dot.ca and Pigott on the east end of the building, DC on the tree ledge and Pigott on a east facing window on the southeast extension.

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Lisa (for a short time) & Dana joined me and we settled in to watch Dot.ca and Pigott.  After awhile, Dot.ca took off and flew around to the north side of the building.  Pigott remained where she was.  I went to search for him and by the time I circled the building, Dot.ca had returned to the roof of the east side of the building.  He had either caught a small bird (looked like a Starling) or had found one of Pigott’s caches.  Whatever he had, it wasn’t very big.

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Dot.ca finished his meal and took off again, this time landing on a east facing window on the southwest extension.  Pigott then took off and flew over us.  She was floating on the cold wind and turned back towards the building, landing on the tree ledge that Dot.ca had been on earlier.

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Dot.ca flew back to the east end and landed on a east facing window on the south east extension.  This is the same spot that Pigott had vacated.  So now they had switched spots.  lol  But, that didn’t last long.  Pigott flew past Dot.ca and landed on a south facing window on the east extension.  They were at the same level on each side of a corner.

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That’s where they stayed during the rest of my falcon watch.  It started to snow hard, making it almost impossible to see them.

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Dana left and reported that Beauty was still on the top IBeam on OCSR.  It was cold and snowing and a perfect time to end my watch, leaving Pigott and Dot.ca on the east end of the building.

There will be more snow and cold tomorrow (Sunday – 11/24/13).  As I type this, the winds are blowing, it’s lightly snowing and is currently 24 degrees (F).  The weather folks are saying it won’t make it out of the 20’s tomorrow.  A big Brrrrrr!

I’ll leave you with a couple more pics from my watch today.  Remember to click on any pictures you would like to see larger.  Keep warm and safe everyone!  Goodnight!