By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Tweets from Today:

4:10 pm – “DT. Raining. Found Ms Beauty up inside the OCSR elevator shaft tucked in on the south ledge. Lots of sirens.”

4:30 pm – “BS. One falcon on SW corner of west extension.” – This was Pigott.

4:40 pm – “BS. Oh wow! there is a beautiful rainbow over the building. Still raining but clearing to the south.”

4:50 pm – “BS. I believe this Pigott and she just returned to NW corner after going after something west of here. Lots of kakking.”

5:10 pm – “BS. Flew west and back again. Quietly this time. Not sure if this is P or BST. Kathy O here now.”

5:30 pm – “BS. Both here now. P on south side of east ext and BST on SS of west ext. All 3 seen. Time to go.”

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Here are some pics from my watch.

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I was very happy to see all three current Rochester Falcons this evening.

I’ll leave you with a few pics from my watch.  Be sure to click on any picture you would like to see in a larger format.  Thanks!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well it was bound to happen-a lackluster falcon watch this morning. Yesterday was nice and sunny with many photo ops and today is dark and rainy with only the bare minimum-only 2 pics to be exact. Over an hour into my watch while parked on the Andrews St. Bridge facing east I noticed the pigeons that hang out on top of the Radisson Hotel go into a panic flight. They were flitting and darting like they were being chased by a predator or something. That’s because they were and her name is Beauty! She came out of nowhere catching up to them as they all flew northward bound and then disappearing behind the buildings on St. Paul St. I waited a few minutes but none of them came back and as I was about to pull away I looked at Mercury and saw Beauty on the base where she appeared to have prey. I left to get closer but when I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge she was gone.

I decided to go over to Brighton and try my luck there. I pulled in and drove around the building as it started to rain at a good clip. As I made my way to the east side I spotted a small looking Peregrine Falcon flying in from the east and quickly leaving my field of vision to the west. It was most likely BST tho I can’t say for sure obviously. I drove around the building and surrounding area several times but never found any falcons. I went back downtown determined to find the Beautyful one and as I stopped on Main St. by the Radisson Hotel I saw her on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.

I watched for a bit as Beauty with her back to me looked north, occasionally closing her eyes for  a little snooze. When she wouldn’t turn my way I drove over to Bragdon St. for a better view of the front of her.

Not exactly a front shot but I could see well enough to say that her crop seemed like it had a bit of a bulge in it. I always like to see full crops so that I know they have eaten. Content in finding Beauty I went back to the Brighton Site but there was still nobody home there. I needed to be ending my watch so on my way home I checked to find Beauty still on OCSR and napping. Not a whole lot to report today but certainly enough to make me smile! 🙂

1 video link below

http://youtu.be/Z8aMpEXhJkU

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My Tweets from Tonight:

4:10 pm – “DT. Found Ms Beauty on the north side of the FCT platform.”

4:20 pm – “DT. B took of heading towards TSB. Now on mercury.”

4:30 pm – “DT. B went after the pigeons over the river then headed east behind Xerox.”

5:00 pm – “BS. BST was on the NW corner then flew to a window on the north side of the west ext.”

5:30 pm – “BS. Pigott is home. She is 6 windows down at the nighttime roost east ext north side.BST still where he was. All 3 seen.” – Forgot to mention that Larry O stopped by for a few moments before he headed home.

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As usual, my falcon watch started downtown, a little before 4:00 pm.  My first stop was the Andrews St Bridge.  From there, I spotted Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT).  She was on the north side of the platform.  I drove over to the City Hall parking lot and watched Beauty from there.

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I was happy to find her, since I hadn’t seen Beauty for the last two evenings.  At 4:20 pm, Beauty took off, heading south towards the Times Square Bldg.  That’s where I headed and parked on the Broad St. Bridge.  I could not find Beauty, but I knew she wasn’t on the Mercury statue, but many of her friends were!

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All of a sudden, the Blue Cross Arena pigeons took flight.  They were in fright flight, dipping and diving and right on their tails was a rocket named Beauty.  I got this one picture of the pigeons flying with Beauty in the background, coming in fast!

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She flew past the pigeons and headed for the Mercury statue, landing on the moneybag hand.  Starlings scattered every which way.

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She only stayed a moment before heading east and flying behind Xerox.  I did not see her come out either end, so I followed.  I looked for her, but couldn’t find her.  So, before I lost daylight, I decided to head to the BS location.

At 5:00 pm, I found BST on the NW corner of the building.  I circled the building looking for Pigott, but couldn’t find her, so I parked where I could watch BST.  It wasn’t long before he dropped off of the building, wings tight to his body and feet hanging down.  Then his wings flipped up and out and he did a perfect U-turn, landing on a north facing window on the west extention.  He scooted over to the right side of the window and I’m pretty sure he was going to settle there for the evening.  Now where was Pigott?

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I again circled the building.  Once, twice  and there she was!  Pigott had snuck in as it got dark.  She was on the north facing 6th window down on the east extension.  This was where I was used to seeing them roost at night.  Larry O stopped for a few moments on his way home.  Well, I was very happy to see her, since this made 3 current Rochester Falcons seen this evening, making it a very good day!

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I circled one more time to check to make sure that BST was still where I left him and he was.  It was time for me to head home.

As I came around the back of the building I noticed three shapes scampering on the lawn close to the building.  I parked my car to watch the joyful play of three deer.  It looked like a momma deer with two young ones.  Not fawns, they had no spots and they were slightly smaller than the adult and boy did they want to play.  Maybe yearlings, last years’ young?  While mom was contentedly chewing on grass, which is now showing thanks to the thaw we are going through, while the two rambunctious youngsters were running at high speeds and leaping into the air!  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at their antics.  Mom was being very patient with them as they charged her and ran away again.  Hahaha!  I wish it hadn’t been so dark, I would have loved to have shared a video of their play.  I just sat there laughing until it finally got too dark to see them.  What a wonderful way to end my falcon watch!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

There’s no better way to start my day than to see Beauty on the outstretched money bag hand of Mercury. For the first time in a long time she started our morning together on that very spot! 🙂

I parked down in the hole to view her when my good friend and fellow falcon watcher DebbieH came along on her way to work. She was very excited to see the Beautyful one  thru my binoculars as it was her first sighting of the new year. Beauty was in hunt mode looking over her territory and paying special attention to the Aqueduct under the Broad St. Bridge where  pigeons come out from their night time roost.

Click it for full view

They took their sweet time surfacing today forcing Beauty to go somewhere else to look for breakfast. After spending 35 minutes with her she flew off to the north leaving my field of vision quickly.

Make sure to click on the pics for full version

I searched for an hour without finding her so over to the Brighton Site I went. On the east extension top row of windows that face south I found a cute little tiercel called BST.

Asleep when I first got there at 9:10am he woke up,yawned and then stretched-3 things he does a lot in the morning! I waited for Miss Pigott to pay a visit but she never did. BST slept on and off and in between he did more stretching and preening plus looking around the area for prey or Pigott or both. At a little past 10:30am this personable tiercel took off flying south not really in any kind of a hurry.

I waited a bit for his return and left for downtown when he didn’t come back. At 11:00am I found Beauty for last call on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR. She was sleepy too but was still looking for a prey item as her crop didn’t look full to me.

Kinda dark at first, this mornings watch turned out to be bright and sunny with a couple falcons in between to make me smile! 🙂

To view more pics and 4 videos from todays watch click on the links below

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrS4g

http://youtu.be/WFuwigWYHdE
http://youtu.be/nzxX8zcjeVM
http://youtu.be/DFwqUB_xH5Q
http://youtu.be/b5ApJExI_0w

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today’s Late Afternoon/Evening Tweets:

3:20 pm – Joyce – “BS…while Steve was running Abby & Casey, BST was under tree on SE corner. He flew to E extension S facing windows top floor.”

3:30 pm – Joyce – “BS…coming around circle to E side of bldg, P was on E facing window opposite BST on the same level.”

3:50 pm – Joyce – “DT…no sign of B, but on the way we checked for eastern screech owl and found it home sleeping.”

4:20 pm – Carol P – “DT. Like Joyce I checked all over DT and can’t find Ms Beauty. It is getting really windy out here!”

4:40 pm – Carol P – “BS. Both Pigott & BST here on the east end of the bldg. Pefa tree is covered in crows.”

5:40 pm – Carol P – “BS. Came back thru DT. Dark now. Cannot tell if she is in elevator or not. Heading home.”

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As I headed downtown, I received tweets from fellow Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce.  She was at the BS location with Steve and she had located both Pigott and BST on the east end of the building.  They then checked the downtown area and had no luck finding Beauty.

When I arrived downtown a little before 4:00 pm, I could not find Beauty either.  It wasn’t as cold as it had been in the past week, but it was getting windy and colder by the time I got downtown.  I was sorry I had missed Joyce, but was really glad to hear that she was feeling better and that she was out and about with Steve’s help, looking for falcons.

After circling the downtown area a 2nd time, it was time to check out the BS location.  I found Pigott on the SE corner and BST was on his favorite window on the east end, south side.

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There was a lot of noise coming from the wooded area to the south.  There were Crows in almost every tree including the Pefa Tree.

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As day started to fade into night, I decided to go back downtown to see if I could find Ms. Beauty.  I again looked all over and again had no luck finding her.  I parked where I could see up  into the OCSR elevator shaft.  But, it was so dark up there, I couldn’t tell for sure if she was there or not.  Here’s a picture that shows how dark it was.  I did lighten it quite a bit, but was unable to see her.

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I waited til 5:40 pm before calling it a night.  It was time to head home after seeing two of the three current Rochester Falcons.  Not a bad day at all!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

When you start the day with a beautiful sunrise sky you just know it’s gonna be a good day!

As I was driving onto the Main St . bridge from the east I spotted Beauty flying north to west in front of OCSR south side. I stopped, put on the hazard lights and watched to see where she would go. To my delight she flew up to the south corner top ibeam of OCSR.

I then drove down to Aqueduct Park and observed the Beautyful one as she was in hunt mode and seriously watching her surroundings for a potential meal. Some 20 minutes later she would take flight, quickly leaving my field of vision after a pigeon. I drove to the Broad St.Bridge where I spotted her under the northeast wing of the Times Square building. She had been successful catching breakfast for she was eating most intently up there!

I parked down in the hole(Aqueduct St.) and watched as she ate very fast only spending 20 minutes or so on it. She turned around showing me her backside so I drove down Exchange Blvd. and parked in front of the Blue Cross Arena to get a better vantage point.

I watched her briefly before she walked to the back of the ledge and cached the leftovers back by the wing. Beauty then came forward to preen a little, cleaned off her beak and flew off to the north. I didn’t expect her to leave so soon but leave she did, flying over to the northeast side of OCSR where I found her on the top ibeam.

I hung out about half hour with this most Beautyful falcon and then I left to check the Brighton Site. As I came around to the east side of the building I could clearly see 2 falcons on the ledge under the tree that grows on the east side roof. BST was under the tree on the corner and Pigott was maybe 15 feet to his right.

Remember- you must click on the pics to see a full version of them

Pigott  BST

Miss Pigott flew off within a minute of me landing and flew to a southwest corner.

They do take off fast! lol

15 minutes later Pigott flew off to the west and never came back for the rest of my watch.

B-bye!

No problem-at least I saw her for the first time in a couple of days and BST was still under the roof top tree to entertain me. I drove down farther on the road for a different angle on our cute male winter visitor.

I shared space with BST for the better part of an hour and then he took off headed west in the same direction as Pigott. I waited 15 minutes and when he didn’t return I left.  I decided to check for Beauty again before ending my watch. She made it easy on me as she was in the same spot  I left her some 2 hours earlier with her back to the world. I gave her a nod and headed on down the road thus ending my watch. I had seen all 3 current resident Peregrine Falcons and so I went down that road smiling! 🙂

I have provided links below for a photo album and 5 videos – click them if you dare!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrSwA

http://youtu.be/RwXYhznQ3HQ
http://youtu.be/ii84nm48cCI
http://youtu.be/R_VOKNhwhyg
http://youtu.be/4_3L48m2SVU
http://youtu.be/Y_rYLJevW7w

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today’s Tweets:

4:20 pm – “DT. Been all over. No sign of Ms Beauty.”

4:30 pm – “BS. Falcon on SW corner with a very full crop”

4:50 pm – “BS. BST was just in the pefa tree. Took off heading NW. Pigott still on west end of bldg.”

5:10 pm – “BS. Larry O stopped by. P still on SW corner. Have not seen BST return. Heading home via DT.”

5:30 pm – “DT. Way too dark for me to see if B is inside the elevator shaft. Time to head home.”

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I arrived downtown at my usual time, just before 4 pm.  I looked in all the usual and not so usual spots and could not find Beauty.  No one was home inside the OCSR elevator shaft. and Starlings had taken over the Mercury statue.  Just more proof that she wasn’t close by.

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Next stop, the BS location, where at 4:30 pm, I found Pigott on the SW corner with a very full crop.  She obviously had enjoyed a very large meal recently.

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When I circled the building, I checked out the tree line on the south side of the building.  The Pefa tree was occupied and on closer inspection, it was BST, who now seems to favor this spot.  Dana and I had first seen Pigott there the day the Crows ousted her.  It’s been BST in this spot ever since.  Here are a few pics I took from a distance.  The 4th one was zoomed to the max in low light.  I had to lighten it to even see it and I really like how it came out.  Not clear by any means, very fuzzy, but interesting.  Low light is not good to my camera as you’ve probably noticed from my evening shots.  lol  🙂

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I only had about 5 minutes to get a few pictures before BST took off, heading NW.  I looked back at the building and Pigott was still on the SW corner.

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I waited for awhile to see if he would return, but as far as I know he hadn’t.  After circling the building one last time, I left Pigott on her corner and headed home via downtown.

At 5:30 pm, I checked out the downtown area and the OCSR elevator shaft one last time.  The elevator shaft was dark, so I can’t be 100% sure she wasn’t up there.  I strained to see her, but couldn’t.  At the best of times, it sometimes hard to see a falcon up there.  I was happy that MAK had seen her this morning.

It was time for me to head home.  Hopefully tomorrow, I will see all three!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

So today is the first of a weeks worth of warm temperatures in store for us here in Western New York. A major January thaw will occur with temps in the 40’s and 50’s and the snow that is on the ground now will most likely all disappear. I’m happy to see blue skies and sweet sunshine have come to visit and brighten our dreary days. Nearly 45 minutes into my watch I spotted a falcon flying near the Bausch&Lomb building and disappearing behind Xerox. I’m sure it was Beauty but as I drove over there to check I wasn’t able to find her. After a couple drives around our fair city I stopped on the Andrews St. Bridge and was able to find the Beautyful one on her top ibeam northeast side spot of the OCSR building.

I drove over by the Radisson Hotel where I could be closer to her. She had her back to me and what a Beautyful back it is! I stayed the better part of an hour before leaving to check on the Brighton site(BS). There I found BST on the southeast corner below where the roof top tree grows. I positioned myself so that the gloriously blue sky would be a backdrop for this photogenic little tiercel.

This dashing unbanded male we call BST has so many poses in his repertoire that I just can’t stop taking pics of him.

Make sure to click pics for full version

I stayed with him for well over an hour as he preened,stretched,scratched,cranked his head around in unbelievable positions and generally just looked cute for me. He went on alert a couple times as some crows flew in his space but never left his spot. I checked the perimeter of the building periodically to look for Miss Pigott but she would not come by to see me for the 2nd day in a row. She was seen last nite so it’s not that she is missing or anything she’s just galavanting somewhere else in the morning. BST moved off the corner a bit and the next thing I knew he was gone-either in on the roof where I couldn’t see him or he flew off when I wasn’t looking. I left for downtown around 10:30am to find Beauty one more time before ending my watch but I had no luck in doing so. I ended my watch at 11:04am and rode home in bright sunshine which made for a little smiling session on my face! 🙂

Links for a photo album and 3 videos are below-click them and enjoy

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrSpg

http://youtu.be/8wbbD5-UDnA
http://youtu.be/_XlzwBa72jA
http://youtu.be/zoj_luOG_3M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

My Tweets from Today:

4:10 pm – “DT. Ms Beauty is tucked up inside the OCSR elevator shaft. South ledge.”

4:30 pm – “BS. Both Pigott and BST here at east end. P is on the SE corner and BST is on the tree ledge. All 3 current Roch falcons accounted for.”

4:50 pm – “BS. P joined BST on the tree ledge about 6 windows to his right. He then took off & flew around the front of the bldg. P now preening.”

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Before I begin my evening Watch Report, I forgot to mention yesterday in my report that I met Tom F. at the BS location.  He told me he reads all of the Rochester Falcon Watch reports and since he lived near the BS location he decided to come over to check it out.  He saw me in my car with camera and binocs and assumed he had found the right spot.  🙂  He had seen BST on the tree ledge and I pointed out where Pigott was on the SE corner.  It was very nice meeting you Tom.  Hope to see you again!

Now for my evening report.  I arrived downtown a little before 4:00 pm and after looking around a bit, I found Ms Beauty tucked up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the south ledge.  I stayed to watch her for a little while.  She seemed settled, so I decided to check out the BS location before the sun went down.

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At 4:30 pm, I found both Pigott & BST at the east end of the building.  She was on the SE corner and he was on the tree ledge.  Pigott flew over to the tree ledge about 6 windows to the right of BST.  They stayed like that for awhile and then BST took off and flew around the front (northside) of the building.  I couldn’t see where he went.

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A little after 5 pm, Pigott flew to her nighttime roost on the NE end of the building, five windows down.  I circled the building a couple times, but could not find where BST had gone.  I had to get going, so I missed seeing if he joined Pigott or not.

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It is always a good day when I see all three current Rochester Falcons!

I’ll leave you with a couple more pics from by travels today.  Be sure to click on any picture you would like to see in a larger format.  Thanks!

This first picture is the sunset tonight at the BS location.  Lovely.

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The 2nd picture is of the Warner Bldg on St Paul St.  It is the building that I took a picture of the beautiful architecture a few days ago.  Did you know it was one of the first buildings in Rochester to have electricity?  Love this building.  They are building loft apartments in there right now and if you were on the west side of the building and high, you’d have a great view of the downtown falcons.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I left for my watch this morning I wondered how the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) would look after the snow removal efforts yesterday. Arriving on the BSB at 7:15am I was very impressed with the result-dry sidewalks and barely a trace of snow. As I sat there in the now cleared from snow parking lane, a city worker came by in his mini motorized salt dispenser/plow and left a path of it on the sidewalk. Right after he made his way past the Thomson Reuters building I was distracted by the flash of the Aqueduct pigeons. They were coming up out of their night time roost from under the bridge-fast and just high enough to clear the bridge and back down between the BSB and Court St. bridge – then up –  either going south with Beauty chasing them or over to the Blue Cross Arena to roost which means she isn’t in the vicinity. This is how they start each day whether Beauty is on their tail depends on which route they take! On this day the Rock Doves went south and that was all I saw of Beauty today- a flash to the southern morning sky right behind her prey dipping and darting .  I took my usual trip around the city to look for the Beautyful one and when I came back up on the BSB I spotted a falcon watcher named Pat walking down the sidewalk. I yelled out to her and we chatted briefly before she continued on to work in the Thomson Reuters building. I did another Beauty check and left for the Brighton Site (BS).  I found BST to be home perched on a south facing window ledge on the east extension.

No napping for this boy today-he was all about preening his beautiful feathers. I was just about to pull away to look for Pigott when a car pulled up behind me and a man got out and signaled to me. He came up to my window and asked if there were any falcons around. I said yes as a matter of fact and showed him where BST was located. I introduced myself and asked who he was-he said Ted from Harrisburg,PA and then his friend Lynn was introduced to me. Turns out they were at BS yesterday as well with a local forum member nanguz. They took a couple pics and left so I took my ride around the complex with no luck finding Pigott. I stayed a couple hours with BST as he mostly preened and looked over his shoulder.

I never heard him make a peep so I’m calling that last pic a yawn.  lol  I did check all the trees in the area as well as the building a few times while I was there but no Miss Pigott. I look forward to seeing one of them in a tree one of these days as I’ve never seen a falcon on anything other than a building, pole or structure of some kind.  BST flew east without returning within 15 minutes and so I returned to downtown. I searched everywhere for Beauty more than once unsuccessfully. So after 4 hours I ended my watch at 11:30am and drove away smiling for having seen a fellow watcher, a Peregrine Falcon  and met some new falcon watching friends from Pennsylvania!  🙂

Just one link today for a video

http://youtu.be/Couqt-NJ4dY