By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was forecast to be clear and sunny but it was kinda cloudy with a starting temperature of 39 degrees (F) according to the local weather station but the bank clock downtown said 50 (F). I guess the ashphalt jungle truly does hold the heat.

As I was driving down Court St. I noticed a falcon fly off the south side of Xerox heading east. When I pulled over on Woodbury St. to check Xerox and HSBC I found Dot.Ca (DC) on the south side of Xerox 4 columns over from the southeast corner. Beauty was over on the northwest corner of HSBC.

<Beauty<DC

10 minutes later DC flew over to the northwest corner of HSBC for a minute then he flew west and Beauty followed right behind him.

<DC> <Beauty>

I drove to the Broad St. Bridge to have a look around and spotted Beauty and DC on the top arm east side of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT).

Click on my pics to view the full version

Onward to Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities parking garage first and then closer in front of City Hall around 7:30am.

<Click it   <Click it

A City Hall worker stopped to ask about the falcons and while I was talking to him DC left. I went down to the City Hall parking lot to look for him and found him on the platform of the small tower and he was eating on something and plucking feathers with his back to me. He ate for 5 minutes and then he flew out around the City Hall peak and sent back to FCT landing on the large dish.

I didn’t see Beauty and as I was looking for her DC snuck off the dish. I found that she had moved to the inside of the top arm and DC had dropped down to the support beam of the large dish.

I took a ride over to the Brighton Site (BS) just before 9am and only one falcon was there-the unbanded tiercel UT was on the northeast corner of the east extension and he was plucking feathers and eating.

UT spent half an hour eating and plucking and when he was done he flew across to the northeast extension and cached his leftovers on a window 2 levels down.

<Click it

UT then flew back over to the northeast corner of the east extension to clean himself up after his meal.

I left UT and returned downtown finding Beauty on a north side beam on the north side of FCT under the platform and DC was still on the support beam for the large dish.

I ended my watch at 10am . I took a bunch of fall foliage pictures today, some of which I will post to end this report plus a bonus Red-tail Hawk I ran across in my travels. The rest you can see in my Shutterfly album that I will post the link to below.

Fall colors make me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my pics and videos

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiz4

http://youtu.be/F6cb-g_7qmc
http://youtu.be/8_21PfeFbTA
http://youtu.be/UJcimwVYsS0
http://youtu.be/83SjzlGmT9w
http://youtu.be/0nzrBqkJRpw
http://youtu.be/m20gB2swfM4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I only had a couple hours to watch today, so since Beauty, Dot.ca, Pigott and UT had been seen during the day, I decided to go to the lake, hoping to find the juvie named Billy that we’ve been seeing there.  At 4:00 pm, I first checked out the Russell Station and then the Charlotte/Summerville area.  No falcons at either spot.  When I returned to Russell Station, I found fellow Watchers Joyce and MAK.  They told me that the juvie had just flown in and landed on one of the stack catwalks.  We drove over to the north west side of the plant and watched her fly around the stacks, vocalizing.  We found her on the south side of the building on a railing.

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Lisa McK joined us and soon after Billy took off and flew to the north side of the building.  Lisa and I went to the north side of the building and found the juvie on the east smokestack on the middle catwalk, and she was eating up there.  MAK and Joyce and then Dana joined us on the north side.

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She quickly finished the small bit of food she had and flew over to the east side of the catwalk.

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One more time she took off, this time she flew over us and then headed back to the stacks landing on the west stack catwalk platform this time.  When we moved back a bit, we could see that she had more food up there and feathers were flying.  I believe she had retrieved one of her caches.

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At 6:00 pm, we all decided to call it a watch.  It was a very nice afternoon to be out watching a young falcon with my Watcher friends.  Goodnight everyone!

I’ll leave you with one picture that I thought was interesting.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Earlier in the day, and just before I headed downtown, a juvie Peregrine was seen at Russell Station by Dana, Joyce, Brian & Kathy O.  I decided to head downtown.  I found Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) on the SW box.  She was facing northwest.  To get a better look at her, I headed over to the west side of the FCT

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Next, I went to find Dot.ca (DC).  I found a falcon with a white chest on the south side of the OCSR on the top top IBeam near the south corner.  Pretty sure it was Dot.ca.  He didn’t stay long.  DC took off and  headed southeast towards the Xerox Tower, fast.

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I turned around and headed in the same direction.  When I arrived on the south side of the Xerox Tower, I found out why DC had been in such a hurry.  Both he and Beauty were on Xerox on the south side.  Dot.ca was 6 columns in from the SW corner and Beauty was 5 columns in from the SE corner.

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I was losing light, so it was time to head over to the BS location.  By the time I got there, it was getting dark.  There was one falcon on the SE corner of the SE extension and it was in hunt mode.  Stooping off of the building and returning.

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Love those low light action shots!  🙂  The falcon ended up at the west end of the south side vent.

I circled the building 3 times, but could not find a 2nd falcon and I was unable to ID the one I did find.

I called an end to my watch due to darkness.  Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Yuck-what a dark, dreary morning with a fine misty rain falling and a starting temperature of 55 (F) 13 (C)

I first found Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR-she had her back to the world staying out of the misty rain. I could see her tail hanging over the edge of the ibeam from Graves St. so I went to Main St. by the Radisson Hotel for a side view.

<Beauty

I left the Beautyful one to look for Dot.Ca (DC) at 8:16am but I didn’t find him so off to the Brighton Site (BS) I went. As I pulled around to the back (south side) of the building I spotted UT (unbanded tiercel) on the southeast corner of the southwest extension.

<UT

A couple minutes after I arrived Pigott came flying in coming to rest on the west end of the south side vent and she had a fascinator stuck above her cere. Fascinator-a term to describe a feather that is stuck on a falcon. She and UT could see each other well as they were kiddie corner.  About 10 minutes passed when I looked away from Pigott to see that UT was gone and when I looked back to Pigott she flew off heading south. She returned and landed on the same corner UT had been on just before 9am.

<Pigott

Miss Pigott stayed there for half hour looking around her territory and I drove around the building a couple times to see if UT had come back but I failed to locate the little guy. I got some pics of the fall colors in the area as I made the rounds.

Click on the pics to see the full version

Pigott was looking so cute with that feather stuck to her forehead-I was surprised it didn’t come off when she took flight cuz it looked like it was barely hanging on. Anyway, at about 9:20am Pigott flew out and around to the southwest corner of the west extension for half a minute then she took flight northbound and didn’t return.

I went back downtown hoping to find DC but I was only able to find Beauty. She was on the southeast cube and she had her back to me-I guess she wasn’t in the mood today. lol That’s okay, because I was able to get side shots of her from Church St. on the south side and the City Hall parking lot on the north side.

Isn’t it great how these birds can look so pretty despite the dark conditions!? I went over to the Andrews St. bridge to have a look around for DC but I didn’t find him at the north end of the city. I ended my watch at 10am leaving downtown smiling as I always do because of our beloved Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

Click on the links below to view 3 videos

http://youtu.be/_8xDUguDidY

http://youtu.be/E2oF-tDjqxA

http://youtu.be/x0nSMjcKuZg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I don’t think we could have asked for a more beautiful weekend, and I and many of my Falcon Watcher friends took full advantage of the gorgeous weather.  First some pics from Saturday.

Saturday – 10/12/13

Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower.

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Beauty and Dot.ca with their backs to me on Frontier Communication Tower

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UT at the BS location

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Pigott flew in and UT started to ee-chup.  He flew to the south side of the building and I found him on the roof just above Pigott who was at the slat window.  A Turkey Vulture flew over and a smaller falcon aka a Kestrel buzzed the building.  UT alarm kakked and took off chasing out of the area.  The first picture below is Pigott at the slat window and the 2nd is UT streaking across the back of the building.

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While I was at BS, I was joined by Jo, and two of her friends that were visiting from Pittsburgh.  They had all watched the nest site at the Cathedral of Learning where Beauty was born.  I was also visited by Larry O and Harold and mile 7 of their Saturday hike.

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After Larry left, I headed over to Russell Station where Joyce, Dana and Lou were watching a juvie Peregrine with a black over green band harassing the Turkey Vultures.

Dana had seen the juvie there earlier that morning and I had missed seeing it.  We were  joined by Sage and Roger from Buffalo who hoped to be able to see Billy.

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I caught up with everyone, just as Dana and Lou were leaving.  We thought the juvie was gone, but I spotted her on the catwalk of the west side smoke stack.  It was really hard to see her, since we were looking directly into the sun.  Kathy O joined us just in time to see the juvie take off and stoop towards the pond where a lot of ducks were hanging out.  A duck was flying in for a landing and the juvie was hot on its tail!  That was one lucky duck. It landed safely and the juvie pulled up and flew out over the lake.  It turned left and up over the trees at the edge of the lake and started chasing the Turkey Vultures that were flying very low over the area.  For over an hour, this very active juvie was busy chasing and stooping on the birds that flew through the area.  We saw her chase another duck and then towards the lake again and behind the trees.  She did not return.  That’s when Sage and Roger arrived.  We did go look for the juvie, but never did find her again.

We are fairly certain that this juvie was Billy, the same juvie we had positively ID’d.

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Sunday – 10/13/13

This morning I joined Dana at Russell Station for a couple hours.  We also checked out Charlotte and Summerville.  No falcons seen.  I didn’t get out again until later in the day.

Just before 6:00 pm, I joined Lisa McK, Joyce and Jo at the BS location.  Pigott was 8 windows down from the roof on the north side of the building and UT was first on the NW corner of the NW extension and then on a window on the north side of the west end.

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It looked like Pigott had eaten well.  She had a very full crop.  As the light was fading, Pigott flew over to the north side of the east end of the building and landed on a window where it met with the NE extension.  This was a spot we had seen her roost many times.  UT landed on a window on the north end of the NE extension.  It looked like they were going to settle down, so it was time to check the downtown area and end my watch.

Joyce found a falcon with its back to us on Xerox on the north side about 4 columns in from the NE corner.  I found a falcon with its back to us on the Kodak Tower on the NE corner of the launch pad.  I believe it was Beauty on Xerox and Dot.ca on Kodak, but I can’t be sure since it was getting dark.  It was time to end my weekend of falcon watching.

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I’ll leave you with a few pics I took during my travels this weekend.  Remember to click on any you would like to see larger.  Goodnight everyone!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was 50 degrees (F) 10 (C) to start my morning watch with a bit of a breeze and sunny

From the east side I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the northeast corner of Xerox-as I was looking for a good place to watch from I happened to find Beauty on the 2nd column east of the northwest corner. I tried many different spots but decided the Broad St. bridge gave me the best view of both falcons.

DC flew east at 7:40am and Beauty remained on Xerox. I took a ride around the tallest building in downtown Rochester to see if he landed somewhere else on it but he was not. I did however come across a beauty of a tree.

Beauty left the building around 10 minutes later which I missed but I quickly caught up with her as she was under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB). I parked in a couple different places before settling on Exchange Blvd. across from the TSB and directly below the Beautyful one.

There was a bee that kept buzzing Beauty as she surveyed her territory and finally she had enough and flew north at about 8:15am.

<click it

I checked the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) and Kodak Office since that’s the direction Beauty flew but I didn’t find her so I headed over to the Brighton Site. Larry had tweeted out that he had a falcon on the northwest corner of the northeast extension. When I arrived just before 9am, I saw the falcon. As I made my way around the building (it’s one way) stopping in the back (south side) of the building where Larry and his dog Harold were having a look on that side. We talked for a few minutes and then they left-so I stationed myself in the east side parking lot to observe the falcon whom I determined was UT (unbanded tiercel).

He did some preening and watching starlings that are usually hanging around for about 20 minutes. UT rousted-shaking loose a white feather and then he spotted something that got his attention. He cranked his neck up and then stooped to the west for the first of 3 stoops he made in the next few minutes.

<Click it

UT returned without the goods landing on the northwest corner of the northwest extension and stooped off there moments later coming back once more empty taloned landing back on the northwest corner of the northeast extension. He stayed there only a minute before stooping for a 3rd time around 9:30am to the east and never returned. It was just me and a starling  in a dead pine tree so I left for downtown.

<Stoop 2 <Click it for stoop 3  <Click it

From the City Hall parking lot I could see Beauty with her back to me to the inside of the northeast cube. I went to Church St. by the Hochstein School of Music to see the front of her and was pleasantly surprised  to find DC below her on the northeast side as well. She was sleeping and he had a full crop.

<Beauty <DC 

DC turned around prompting me to go around to the back of the Open Door Mission at the end of Montgomery Alley to see him. He was half asleep as well so I ended my watch at 10am leaving our downtown pair to rest.

<DC <Beauty<Click it

I’m still wondering why DC hasn’t been over to BS to drive UT out of that territory but I’m not complaining as UT makes me smile as much as the rest of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiye

http://youtu.be/0hSfwyXFWC0

http://youtu.be/qFi1aruGSeE

http://youtu.be/l2ciAGZpHUI

http://youtu.be/3d87BemgYuc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

47 degrees (F) 8 (C) was the starting temp this morning as I left for my watch-the sun came up with no clouds to interfere with it

The sun peeking thru an opening in the trees

I found Beauty on the southwest corner of HSBC again only I parked on Court St. to watch her today. A few minutes after I arrived she started plucking feathers and eating a small package she had up there.

Beauty spent a good 35 minutes eating and when she was done she wiped her beak off on the edge of the building, which is called feaking and then flew off heading west.

And as is her pattern, she went to the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) where I saw her from the Broad St. Bridge which is my patter- I check from there after Beauty leaves HSBC. I parked in front of City Hall on Fitzhugh St. to watch the Beautyful one at 7:53am. She was showing her big yellow feet (BYF) a lot today as she scratched and pulled out little white feathers.

I left her after 20 minutes or so to go over to the Brighton Site. I arrived there around 8:30am spotting Pigott on the west end of the middle part of the front of the building-a spot I’ve never seen her on before this morning. I searched the building 2 more times for UT but didn’t find him.

I didn’t stay with Miss Pigott for long as I got a message from cam watcher Donna that Beauty was at the nest box and there was another falcon that flew by. Thanks a bunch for your help Donna! So I flew back downtown and as I approached from Exchange Blvd. I could see a falcon under the southeast wing of the Times Square building. It was gone when I got to Broad St. and pulling into the hole I could see no PEFAs in the area so I then drove over to the FCT. It was just about 9am when I arrived finding Beauty on the northeast cube from the City Hall parking lot with her back to me. I decided to go down Fitzhugh St. where I could see the front of her but she moved in further where I had a hard time finding her, at first I thought she had flown off while I was enroute. I saw some movement which led me to not only Beauty but also a napping DC right below the platform.

Again I went back to the parking lot where I could see both of them clearly on the north side of the tower and both with their backs to me.

<DC <Beauty

This is how I left them as I ended my watch around 9:30am. Keep smiling! 🙂

Check out the links below to view a photo album and videos from my watch

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqixw

http://youtu.be/JIfoYh74LSc

http://youtu.be/lW9zCKAvPjs

http://youtu.be/jYzE7z7Dnpc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It wasn’t quite as sunny this morning as it has been but the rest of the day was filled with sunshine. The temperature as I stepped out the house was 44 degrees (F)  7 (C)

As I stopped on Woodbury St. to check Xerox and HSBC I spotted a falcon on the southwest corner of HSBC with its back to me so I drove to my spot on Chestnut St. for a front view-it was Beauty peeking out from the corner.

10 minutes later Beauty flew to the northwest corner giving me a few shots in succession of her flight toward me.

After she landed on the corner she took a few steps to the south nibbled on some cached food and returned to the corner with a chunk of it.

The Beautyful one had a few looks around, scarfed down the last bit of food and took flight at 7:33am heading northwest.

I drove straight away to the Broad St. Bridge stopping to check around-I spotted a falcon on the top arm east side of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). I drove over to Fitzhugh St. and parked in front of City Hall finding that it was Beauty. She was all foofed up to keep warm in the chilly morning air and she preened off and on while keeping an eye on her territory.

I left Beauty to look for Dot.Ca (DC) but didn’t find him so I went over to the Brighton Site (BS). There was no sign of Pigott or UT (unbanded tiercel) and I started to wonder if maybe DC was running UT out of town. Fellow falcon watcher and friend DebbieH called me saying she would like to meet me at BS so I could give her a tour of the site. She arrived around 9:30am and after I showed her around we took a trip to downtown finding Beauty and DC on the FCT. She was on the northeast cube and he was above her on a beam below the platform.

So I breathed a sigh of relief that DC wasn’t off doing battle with UT. We stayed with the downtown dynamic duo for a few minutes and then left  at about 10:15am to check out Hawkeye and Seneca Towers where we found no PEFAs. Making our way back to BS to get my car there still was no sign of Pigott or UT so we called it a watch at 11:00am. I liked the color of this tree so I thought I should share.

It was nice to pal around with Debbie on my watch today and share some smiles! 🙂

Check out the links below to view some videos

http://youtu.be/lnXIsgdCTNs

http://youtu.be/KKQq60cJxA4

http://youtu.be/Ys1RMA-pYJs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another chilly start to the day with a cool 40 degree start and partly cloudy skies

I found Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) on the north side of HSBC -he was on the northeast corner and she was near the northwest corner. When I got to my spot on Chestnut St. DC was running along the ledge toward Beauty and midway he flew off  to the west but Beauty stayed.

<DC <Beauty

She had her back to me as we hung out for the next 15 minutes and then she was gone flying west as well.

I followed suit and went westbound down Broad St. to the bridge where I spotted DC under the northeast wing of the Times Square building. I drove down to the hole and parked next to He’s Chinese for the best view of our handsome DC. He was in definite hunt mode, watching every little thing that moved in the area and just before 8am he flew off in a hurry to the northeast.

I next went to the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) where I found the Beautyful one on her northeast cube.  She too was looking for a tasty treat.

Remember to click on my pics to see the full version

I didn’t stay with her for long as I left to check Brighton as I keep thinking DC is going to catch up with UT over there and battle with him. When I arrived at 8:30am UT was on the southeast corner of the east extension with his back to me as I parked in the busy east side parking lot to watch him. Pigott was not anywhere on the building that I could see.

After 10 minutes he flew to the southeast corner of the southeast extension for less than a minute stretched out his wings and then flew southeast. He obviously saw something and a few minutes later I would find out what it was that he saw.

<Click it

I sat there waiting to see if he would come back and just as I was ready to leave I spotted a falcon to the north of the building flying over the main road and then there was another that came up from behind it-both flew very low, probably 15-20 ft. above the ground and then they disappeared in the trees. Soon after I lost sight of them one came back into view flying to the northwest end of the building followed by another a few seconds later. I got a call from good friend and fellow falcon watcher KathyO to hurry and get over to the west side because she had Pigott and UT real close to each other-the closest she’s ever seen them.

<Click it>

Kathy had to get to work but it was great to see her tho briefly. After she left a third flyer came into the picture.

Miss Pigott seemed like she had food as she was hunched forward and every time she moved a bit UT would look at her feet. He was being very silly cranking his head every which way making my neck hurt just watching him and yelling at some geese.

Pigott moved in on the roof where I couldn’t see her while UT continued to entertain me.

I drove to the back service road to get some distance in order to see Pigott. She had moved to the west side of the northwest extension still very close to UT.

As it turned out Pigott didn’t have food. I left them to it, returning downtown only to find no falcons anywhere. I really like Mr. UT-he makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqixS

http://youtu.be/5a8vNNd9VAk

http://youtu.be/3n5eN8c0eyU

http://youtu.be/3nfewmcPhyU
http://youtu.be/OLu018P6qMc
http://youtu.be/MvaIRwALeGg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

4:00 – 7:00 pm

Watchers out during this time: Dana, Kathy O, Jo, Tim and Carol P.

Temps in the low 60’s (F); Cooler Down by the Lake (Ontario).

After work I headed over to Seneca Towers to start my watch looking for the juvenile falcon.  After checking out the building and finding no falcons there, I was just getting ready to head over to Hawkeye when I received a tweet from fellow watcher Dana.  She was down at the lake on the Summerville side and she was watching a banded juvenile Peregrine Falcon on the Coast Guard Station antenna.  I decided to join her instead of going downtown.  I was very happy to find the juvie still on the antenna when I arrive.  Dana was nearby and I joined her.  During the couple hours we spent with the juvie, she flew off on hunts and returned to the antenna three times.

There were lots of folks out, passing us and asking what we were looking at.  We were happy to explain.

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Pat joined us for a short while and she was able to see her first stoop as the juvie took off and stooped on the ducks in the river (Genesee) that emptied into Lake Ontario between the Summerville and Charlotte Piers.  Pat was thrilled!

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When the juvie flew to the Charlotte side, diving on gulls and ducks, we followed because she did not return.  So over to the Charlotte side we drove.  When we arrived there, we looked across and she was back on the Coast Guard Station antenna.  lol  We went back over to the Summerville side.

Here are some pics of the juvie during our watch.

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We know for a fact that she is banded, a silver USFW band/no colored tape and a green/black band.  Our suspicion is that this may be the same juvie that we’ve been seeing at the Seneca Towers and Hawkeye, but of course we cannot be sure.  None of my pics are clear enough to show the numbers/letters on the bands, but my hope is that Dana’s pictures will show them.

Note:  During the time we were watching the juvie, Kathy O, Jo and Tim were at the BS location with Pigott and UT.

I’ll leave you with some other pics I took down at the lake during my Watch.

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