By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

2:45 – 6:45 pm

Today was a most gorgeous fall day here in Rochester, NY.  Bright blue sky and temps near 70 degrees (F).

I first checked out the Seneca Towers and the Hawkeye Plant, but had no luck finding the juvie we have been seeing there.  Next stop downtown, where I found both Beauty and Dot.ca on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) a few feet apart; east side under the platform.

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They stayed like that for awhile, vocalizing softly now and then.  Dot.ca turned around and took off, heading southeast.  He returned and landed on the City Place bldg just south of the FCT.  He walked back from the ledge.

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Beauty ee-chupped from the FCT and Dot.ca returned to the edge where I could again see him.  Dot.ca took off and flew over to City Hall, landing on the base of the roof-line on the west side, south end of the building.

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I could see that he had bathed on the City Place roof where we have seen Beauty bathe.  Dot.ca then flew up to a higher perch on city hall.

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Joyce had been watching Pigott out at the BS location and she joined me on the downtown watch.

Beauty took off from FCT and flew over City Hall, floating above it before flying down and landing on a window near the top on the south side.

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While Joyce and I watched Beauty and Dot.ca, a wedding party pulled up and had pictures taken on the front steps of City Hall, just below Beauty.  It was actually kind of amusing, at least to us, that they had no idea there were two Peregrine Falcons above them.  lol

Dot.ca spread his wings and took off heading south east towards downtown.

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Soon after Beauty took off in a blur heading in the same direction.

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They both returned to the Frontier Communication Tower and then both took off again, heading towards downtown.  Joyce went to BS to check on Pigott again and I went in search of Beauty & Dot.ca.  I found them both on the HSBC building.  Beauty on the south west corner and Dot.ca on the south east corner.

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Dot.ca took off and Joyce soon reported that he had joined Pigott and they both went into the cubby there, ee-chupping.  Beauty remained on HSBC.

It was time to end my Watch.  On the way home, I checked HE and Seneca Towers.  Again, I could not find a falcon at either location.

It had been a beautiful day for a Falcon Watch and all three adults were seen by the Watchers this afternoon.  Goodnight everyone!

Addition – Just realized I forgot to mention something that happened during this Watch.

While Joyce and I were watching both Beauty and Dot.ca on City Hall, DC took off and flew over the building.  He flew down to where Beauty was on the window ledge.  There was vocalization and Beauty lowered her head.  Dot.ca attempted to land but pulled back at the last second.  Joyce and I believe that he attempted to copulate with her, but the space she was in was too small.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We are getting spoiled here with the lovely weather we’ve had this past week-wall to wall blue skies and sunshine once more. It was 51 degrees (F) 11 (C) when  I left for my watch at 6:40am

I found Dot.Ca (DC) on the south side of Xerox 4 columns over from the southeast corner, a spot Beauty usually is on when she isn’t on the 5th column over. These two love trying to confuse us watchers!

DC flew west at 7:18am and I gave a quick check from the Broad St. bridge (BSB) finding no PEFAs on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT),south side of OCSR,Times Square,Mercury or the jail tower so I drove over to the Brighton site. Arriving there just after 7:30am, it was a good thing I went there when I did for Pigott was out in the front of the building on the northwest corner. I literally had time for 4 pics as she stood up, pooped, stretched her fantastic looking wings then flew off to the southeast.

Miss Pigott never came back while I was there and so I returned to downtown around 8:30am. I found DC on the north side of FCT under the platform with a full crop which was making him sleepy.

Initially I was parked on Church St. so I could see the front of DC but I moved to Fitzhugh St. for a different angle.

Since DC was napping I left to look for Beauty and as I approached the BSB Larry was just walking up the stairs from behind the Blue Cross Arena with Harold. I pulled over and got out to chat with him for a few minutes and then he was on his way.

After a good look around the city for Beauty I thought perhaps she had gone on a day trip or something so I went back to hang out with DC. As I sat in the City Hall parking lot where DC had  his back to me I suddenly noticed movement in the lower white section of FCT at the northeast corner. Beauty then stepped out into view for only a moment or two before flying off to the northwest. I was pleased to have seen all 3 Rochester Peregrine Falcons.

When she didn’t come right back I thought I would end my watch so I tweeted it out, packed up my equipment and pulled out of the parking lot. As I passed below the tower I heard echupping-well, I couldn’t leave after hearing that sweet sound so I doubled back and saw Beauty was on the same beam under the platform as DC only a couple feet away from him.

Now I was truly ready to leave with a smile on my face after this short but sweet bonding session between our downtown PEFA pair! 🙂

Only one link today to click on and view

http://youtu.be/zaAhy86DPac

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I stepped out the house today it was 44 degrees (F) 7 (C) with mostly cloudy conditions.

My watch started about 6:45am on the east side of the river where both Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) were perched high up on the south side of Xerox. She was on her favorite 5th column from the southeast corner and he on the 2nd column from the southwest corner.

<Beauty  DC>

At 7:30am DC flew southwest followed by the Beautyful one and so I went that way myself to look for them.

<Beauty

I found Beauty on the 2nd arm of the Frontier Communications Tower but DC was not there at first. I parked at the end of Montgomery Alley so I could see her from the front. 15 minutes later she vocalized, spread her wings and flew out and down to the east side by the large satellite dish.

I drove to Fitzhugh St. in front of the Sister Cities parking garage where I saw why Beauty flew down there-DC had landed there with food. Beauty quickly moved to the north side across from him to watch.

DC ate for maybe 10 minutes and while I was talking to a gentleman who stopped to ask about our falcons he feither left FCT or was hiding on it where I couldn’t see him.

<Click it<DC

I left for the Brighton site to check for Pigott arriving there around 8:15am. After quite a few days without seeing the elusive one I was pleasantly surprised to see her on the west end of the south side vent looking pretty as ever.

She did some stretching which showed that her tail and wing feathers have all grown back and are looking good from her incident back in the summer. She was checking out her talons for maybe some food morsels tho her crop was quite full.

I stayed with Miss Pigott til about 8:45am ending my watch early today to go to the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge with Joyce. We hope to see Baron as he had been spotted there recently. I saw all 3 of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons on my watch and that my friends  makes me smile every time! 🙂

Click on the links below to view a couple videos

http://youtu.be/EuE-SWK-234
http://youtu.be/t3HIrlSIMmo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The day started with a temperature of 42 degrees (F) 6 (C) with more sweet sunshine and a few clouds rolling thru

I looked around for 2o minutes and on my 2nd pass on the east side I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) landing on the south side of Xerox 4th column from the southwest corner at 7am.

I stayed with Mr. White stuff a few minutes and then left him to continue my search. I didn’t find Beauty anywhere so I eased on down the road to Hawkeye-nothing and then Seneca Towers-another unsuccessful site. Back downtown I went to find that DC had left Xerox and Beauty was still hiding from me. Off to the Brighton Site I went only to come up with nothing again. Sheesh! Upon returning to downtown I found DC on the south corner top ibeam of OCSR at 8:45am. He was looking especially white today!

DC was in definite hunt mode while he was up there and after 15 minutes passed he flew off to the west.

I checked the north side of OCSR and the Frontier Communications Tower but didn’t see anything so I drove to High Falls to try my luck. It was amazingly quiet there with only 1 gull flying near the falls and no other wildlife in sight-shocking! So I turned my binocs from the gorge to the city skyline starting on the east side. As I made my way to the FCT I spotted 2 falcons on the lower white section and it looked like one of them had food.

As I arrived at 9:40am I caught a glimpse of a falcon fly off FCT to the west as I parked on Church St. in front of the Hochstein School of Music. I could see that DC was up on the beam that goes to the large satellite dish on the east side.

I’m pretty sure it was Beauty that flew off but she must have snuck back while I was watching DC for he started looking below him at one point. I couldn’t see anything until I got a different view from Fitzhugh St. and sure enough there was Beauty and she was eating. She always gets his attention when she has food!

<DC  Beauty> Make sure to click on my pics to see the full version

10 minutes later DC flew off to the west and returned with his own breakfast and replaced Beauty on the same spot she had been eating after she gulped down her last bite and moved to the north side at the same level as DC.

<Beauty<DC

Beauty had quite the full crop and was not the least bit interested in what DC was eating as she moved over into the shade and started napping.

<Click it >  <DC <Beauty

I shared space with our downtown Peregrine pair until 10am thus ending my watch with a smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqir-

http://youtu.be/cVY0qOBMAE
http://youtu.be/Rq8wKpSKgu8
http://youtu.be/NDYOJFlEsG4
http://youtu.be/i_OqTO-TDts
http://youtu.be/0J9c_kvVihM
http://youtu.be/R6dJ8097jRw

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I saw 3 falcons tonight and wasn’t able to positively ID any of them.  Two had their back to me and it was too dark to get a good look at the 3rd.  Here’s my best guess.

Beauty was on the SW corner of HSBC.

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At first I thought this was Pigott at BS on the south side of the west end of the building across from the cubby.  After checking my pics, I now think this was Dot.ca.  His back was to me the whole time and he took off while I was checking out the 3rd falcon of the night.

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The 3rd falcon I saw tonight was at BS on the west end of the south side vent.  By this time it was too dark to get a good look and my camera is horrible in low light.  This bird looked darker to me and now I believe it was Pigott eating up there with feathers flying.  Here is a picture that shows a dark blur of a bird.

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After eating, she took off and flew to the front of the building.  I found her on the NW corner of the NW extension.

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There was no vocalizing between DC and Pigott while I was there.  Both were very quiet.  The only sound in the area was the honking of the Canada Geese as they took off in formation heading south.

The only thing I was certain about during my watch was that I saw three falcons and that this was not Beauty on the NE Box on the Frontier Communication Tower.

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Goodnight everyone!  Have a very nice evening!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Another sunny morning with bright blue skies and a starting temp of 41 degrees (F) 5 (C)

I spotted Beauty on the southeast corner of HSBC as I was stopped at the traffic light at Clinton and Court St. I drove to Chestnut St. in front of Manhattan Square Park looked up and she was gone but I found Dot.Ca (DC) on the south side of  Xerox. He was on the 9th column over from the southeast corner.

I left DC after 10 minutes and found Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR. Initially I spotted her from the Broad St. Bridge but I drove down to Graves St. to be closer.

I watched her for about 10 minutes as well and left to check Hawkeye (HE) and Seneca Towers (ST) around 7:30am. No juvie around at either place that I could see. Upon my return to downtown the Beautyful one was still on OCSR and DC on Xerox so off I went to the Brighton location where again Pigott wasn’t home. Back to our fair city after getting reports from Donna, Shaky and FlaDonna that Beauty and DC were on OCSR. Of course when I got there at 8:30am they were both gone, however I could see Beauty on the Frontier Communications Tower northeast cube so I went over there. On my way I checked OCSR on the north side anf found DC on the north corner top ibeam.

<DC> <Beauty>

Beauty was preening and scratching while pulling feathers out of herself as she is still in a molt. She’s just about done as she’s looking great.

So I spent half hour with Beauty and just before I left she pooped, stretched her wings and moved in onto an east side beam under the platform. I checked for DC as I made my way out of downtown but he was gone from OCSR.

Our downtown Peregrine pair are doing their own kind of bonding by hanging out together at different spots-OCSR, FCT and Xerox. I’m not sure if Beauty and DC will eventually make it to the nest box (theirs is a strange relationship) to bow and echup like he does with Pigott over in the cubby at BS but if and when they do we all will be smiling! 🙂

Click on the links below to see some videos

http://youtu.be/B972PXtcYzY
http://youtu.be/isn9LiLtDbQ
http://youtu.be/ELszwfAoU-U
http://youtu.be/CzoI0fl9yug

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Brrr, a chilly start at 39 Degrees (F) 4 (C) with wall to wall blue skies once the sun came up.

I found Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) at 6:55am on the south side of Xerox again this morning-she was on the 4th column over from the southeast corner and he was on the 4th column over from the southwest corner.

<Beauty   DC>

I hung out with our downtown pair for about 15 minutes and then I rolled on over to the Hawkeye (HE) site for a look/see. Nothing there so I moved on to the Seneca Towers (ST) high rise apartment building to the north at St. Paul St. and route 104. CarolP had seen a juvie there last night so I tried my luck but saw nothing. I returned to the east side of downtown to find DC still on Xerox but Beauty was gone. 20 minutes later he flew off to the southwest.

I left when he didn’t come back and as I was stopped on the Broad St. Bridge to scan everything visible from there with my binocs I spotted a falcon on the northeast corner of the FCT platform railing. I drove over to the City Hall parking to ID it and as I arrived cam watcher Donna texted that there was a falcon on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). Thanks D! It was Beauty and she was looking just lovely in the bright sunshine.

She did some preening, stretching and posing while keeping track of the pigeons and starlings that were close by.

I observed the Beautyful one until 8:30am then left to check the Brighton site (BS). Again, Pigott was nowhere to be found-she has been seen at night so no worries! When I returned to downtown a little after 9am Beauty was still on FCT doing her thing.

We shared space for 15 minutes and then I left Beauty to check the Seneca Towers and Hawkeye locations one more time before ending my watch around 10am. I saw a crow on the roof of ST and a  Red-tail Hawk circling above the Hawkeye area. Red-tails are my favorite hawk so it definitely sent me home with a smile on my face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view my videos

http://youtu.be/VT04LaWr0h4

http://youtu.be/vRnwjKkcRks

http://youtu.be/OqGwasmfoHQ—

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Another Monday late start, but it all worked out for the best.  I’ve changed my route going downtown since the Hawkeye juvie is in the mix now.  I usually head for St Paul St first and drive south towards Hawkeye.  Today I didn’t get very far before spotting the juvie eating on the apartments that tower over the river where St Paul meets 104.  I have always looked up at these apartments wondering why I’ve never seen a falcon there.  Well, today that all changed.

At 6:40 pm I was passing the apartments, looking up like I always do.  Today I saw a very familiar shape up on the SE corner.  I quickly turned around and headed back, trying to find a spot to watch from.  Not an easy thing to do in that area.  Plus the sun was lowering and the lighting was not good.  But, I finally found a spot where I had a decent view and took a closer look.  Yep, definitely a Peregrine Falcon and definitely a juvie.  Based on size, female and she was eating what appeared to be a pigeon.  This young hunter was doing very well indeed.

These apartments, which are just north of Hawkeye, are very tall, so it was impossible to get a look at the falcons legs to see if it was banded.  I watched her until it was dark and she finally stopped eating.  Just before 7:30 pm, she took off heading NE, leaving the remainder of her meal.

I followed the best I could, but there was no way for me to see where she ended up going.  I had hoped to find her nighttime roost.  No such luck.

Here are some pictures I took of the juvie this evening.  Remember to click on any you would like to see larger.  Sorry that they’re not very good, but distance and lighting were working against my old Kodak Camera.  lol Plus this is not an area I could take out my scope.

Goodnight everyone!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was partly cloudy at the start today with a temperature in the upper 40’s but it turned out to be a sunny, crisp fall day-quite lovely actually!

I checked everywhere downtown without finding a falcon, then I drove to Hawkeye and got more of the same. Hmm, what’s up with that!? I returned to downtown at 7:30am and as I stopped on Woodbury St. on the east side and scanned Xerox with my trusty binoculars I found not only 1 but 2 Peregrines! Beauty was on her favorite spot, the 5th column over from the southeast corner and Dot.Ca (DC) was on the 3rd column over from the southwest corner.

Click on my pics to see full version

Beauty did a lot of preening and pulling white downy feathers out of her telling me she is still in a molt and she napped a bit too. The sun faded in and out during this time. DC spent most his time looking around for breakfast. After 40 minutes passed he left while I was watching his mate-the Beautyful one.

I left Beauty around 8:20am to check the Brighton Site where I hung out for an hour waiting for Pigott to show up but no such luck so I headed back downtown. I was delighted to find that Beauty was still on the 5th column of Xerox and DC was now on the 2nd column over from the southwest corner.

<Beauty

<DC

At 9:45am DC took off like he was shot out of a rocket going into a blurry stoop toward the river and quickly leaving my field of vision. I stayed with Beauty a little longer and then left to check Hawkeye again. There was nothing going on there so I ended my watch around 10:30am.

I believe that’s the first time I’ve spent watching our downtown pair of Peregrine Falcons on Xerox for the entirety of my watch except while I was checking Brighton and Hawkeye. Being the tallest building in downtown Rochester, Xerox makes for a long distance watch but it still made me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to see my videos

http://youtu.be/bXc__j2Mgkg
http://youtu.be/K04g-nm9VPk

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

As fall finally arrived today, the rain from yesterday cleared up and the cold front moved through Rochester, bringing temps in the 50’s and overcast sky.  Bye Summer!  I’ll miss you!

Saturday – September 21,2013

It rained all day on Saturday, but I still got out for a few hours to look for the falcons.  I found Pigott at BS and Beauty on Xerox downtown.  Dot.ca was a no show.  But, I was also happy to find a falcon at the Hawkeye plant. In the rain and the mist, it was impossible to ID the falcon eating on one of the upper roofs.  I only saw it for a moment.  About 15 minutes later, the falcon took off and flew north.  I did go looking for it, but was unable to find it.  So, I had Beauty, Pigott and a falcon at Hawkeye.

Sunday – September 22, 2013

Finally, the rain of yesterday came to an end.  But, the cold front had moved through and it was much colder than it had been, with temps in the mid 50’s (F).

The Rochester Marathon took place this morning and many of the downtown streets were closed because of it.  I checked Hawkeye first.  No falcons seen there today.

I tried to go through downtown, but I couldn’t get through, so I headed out to the BS location to look for Pigott.  I found her on the east side of the NE extension on a window 4 down from the roof.  For the next hour or so, I watched her preen, sleep and keep watch over her territory.  Her crop was very full, so I knew she had eaten recently.

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I left Pigott at BS and was finally able to make it downtown.  The streets were open again.  I found Beauty on the south side of the Xerox Tower, 5th column in from the SE corner.  Dana joined me on the Watch.

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We drove over to the Broad St Bridge and found Dot.ca on the south side of OCSR on the top IBeam.

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I ended my Watch after seeing all three adult Rochester Falcons.  Making it a very good weekend Watch.

I’ll leave you with some pictures I took this weekend.  Enjoy!

Lots of sail boats out on Lake Ontario today.  and what I think were two young groundhogs out at BS.

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This Cormorant was spreading his wings and puffing out his chest.  Trying to impress his lady who was nearby?

and a Killdeer that visited with me when I was looking for a falcon at Lake Ave KP.

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I did a double take when I saw the sparrows under this picnic table escaping the heavy rain.  Very smart birds!

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Yummy apple!