By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Don’t have much time to do a report tonight, but wanted to leave you with a summary and some pics from today’s Watch.

Again, I got a late start.  Sure do miss my early morning Falcon Watches.  Oh, well, we work with what we have.

After checking KP and still finding it falcon-free, I decided to check out the BS location first today (11:30ish am).  It was cloudy with snow mixed with rain the whole time I was there.  The winds really began to pick up and it got very cold.

I was happy to see both Pigott & BST on the east end of the building.  During the time I was there, they both went on multiple hunt-runs, but returned empty taloned each time.  Finally at approximately 2:00 pm, first BST and then Pigott took off heading SE.  I waited to see if they would return and they did not.  So, I went searching in the direction they headed.  I had no luck finding either of them, but I can tell you that there are lots and lots of pigeons out in that direction.  Good hunting grounds for sure.

On my way to visit the downtown area and to hopefully find Ms. Beauty, I checked the BS location one more time.  They had still not returned.

Onward to a very busy downtown area.  The monster trucks were at the Blue Cross Arena and there were lots of people coming to see them.  I saw a small boy carrying a very large toy monster truck in his hands and his mom was carrying a checkered flag!  lol

I could not find any parking on the now snow-less Broad St Bridge, but I slowed down enough to check out the area.  No Beauty in sight.  My next stop was the OCSR elevator shaft.  That’s where she was, sitting on the north ledge around 3:00 pm.  I stayed for awhile watching her before leaving for home.

Another good day!  All three current Rochester falcons found!  No fellow Rochester Falcon Watchers seen today.

I’ll leave y0u with a bunch of pics from today’s Watch.  If you would like to see a large version of a picture, just click on it!  Thanks!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

As I drove down Broad St. toward the bridge I could see lots of flashing lights up by Exchange Blvd. When I arrived at the intersection  they had the Broad St. bridge(BSB) blocked off and were finally removing the snow that was covering the parking lanes and sidewalks . Yay, Pat and DebbieH  will  be able to walk to work without fear of falling now.

As always you must click on the pics for a full version

I parked on the Court St. bridge and climbed the snowbank to check out the river which I haven’t done since all the snow we have gotten has been piled up on the roadside. I searched for Beauty for an hour with no luck so I drove over to Brighton(BS). I could see Pigott on the northeast corner before I even got to the driveway. I went around the building twice looking for BST but he was no where to be found so I drove to the parking lot at the east end of the property to observe Pigott.

She was preening and scratching her head as a gull came flying into her personal space. She flew off and chased it to the east and back toward the building before breaking it off and disappearing to the west behind the building. I shared space with her a whole 10 minutes! lol

I looked around the building and surrounding area to no avail. After waiting 15 minutes without Miss Pigotts’  return I left BS for downtown to find the Beautyful one. Every day when I cross the Ford St. bridge on my way to and from BS I see pigeons on the columns on either side of the bridge. This would be a great hunting spot for falcons with a high rise building near by.

Be sure to click it to see full version

After a trip around the city I spotted Beauty as I pulled up on the Andrews St. Bridge. She was on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.

Our girl had a full crop and was sound asleep when I arrived in my spot on Main St. to have a look/see. Just before I ended my watch she woke up moved forward a bit and went back to her slumbers. A true sleeping Beauty who makes me smile each time I see her! 🙂

Below are links for 5 videos from my watch

http://youtu.be/L_4Ng6z3L0I
http://youtu.be/7_J1tFNmiaM
http://youtu.be/4jk3Z2lssKo
http://youtu.be/g4QbJi3vRNU
http://youtu.be/i9C8Fdn3SR4

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Hooray for the weekend! It’s Saturday, my most favorite day.  A bit warmer today and only a tiny bit of sunshine.  Most of the day was cloudy, but it was so nice seeing the falcons and my fellow Falcon Watchers in the daylight.  lol

Tweets from Today, mine and other Watchers that do not post their own reports:

11:20 am (Larry O) – “Taking Harold to BS to look for Falcons.”

11:40 am (Carol P) – ” At KP with a beautiful adult RTH. No falcons.”

12:50 pm (Carol P) – “DT. I have checked everywhere including the elevator shaft. No sign of Ms Beauty. She has gone to her hiding spot.”

12:50 pm (Dana) – “BS falcon rpt- BST is in tree south of bldg”

3:10 pm (Carol P) – “BS. BST back on the bldg and Pigott just flew in. Lots of ee-chupping. Dana Kathy O Brian and Carol P here.”

3:11 pm (Carol P) – “BS.  P flew to a window on south side and is eating leftovers.”

3:20 pm (Carol P) – “BS. P carried her meal to the SE corner and is eating there.”

3:50 pm (Carol P) – “BS. Everyone leaving BS to look for Ms Beauty. P is on the SE corner preening and BST is on the west end south facing windows preening. lol”

4:00 pm (Carol P) – “DT. Ms Beauty is on Mercurys moneybag preening.”

5:20 pm (Carol P) – “DT. B left Mercury and flew up into the OCSR elevator shaft. Night Beauty!”

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My first stop this morning was KP to see if I could find a falcon (11:30 am).  Well I didn’t find any Peregrines, but I did find two gorgeous Red-tailed Hawks hunting the field in front of where we park.  I’ve started calling the large adult female, Big Momma.  She has a USFW silver band on her right leg.  The other hawk is a bit smaller and I think it was the juvie I’ve seen hanging out with the adult.  Possibly her young from last year?  I spent some time watching Big Momma and her companion for awhile before heading downtown to find Beauty.

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I checked all over downtown and could not find Beauty anywhere.  I even checked the OCSR elevator shaft.  She was not there.  While I was downtown, I received a tweet from fellow Falcon Watcher Dana.  She was at the BS location and she reported that BST was in a tree on the south side of the building.  This is the same tree we saw Pigott a while back.  Definitely a falcon tree.  lol  That was at 12:50 pm.  Next stop the BS location.

I joined Dana on the south side of the building a little after 1:00 pm.  BST was in the same tree that Pigott had been in a few weeks ago when the Crows surrounded her.  Seems they like this tree.  He remained there for almost two hours and only one Crow landed near him and CAWED.  BST gave him a look and the Crow left.  🙂  Kathy O and Brian H joined us and we all enjoyed our time with the very handsome BST.  Most of the time he was preening, but he was a very interested in everything happening around him.  When flocks of small birds flew over his head would turn totally upside down.  How do they do that!  Here are some pics of BST in the Pefa tree.

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At 3:00 pm, BST took off and flew towards the BS bldg, landing on a window at the west end, facing south (near the cubby).  Of course we all followed.  Just as we arrived, ee-chupping filled the air and Pigott arrived landing on the SW extension.  She didn’t stay long. She flew around the corner of the extension and landed on a window where she had cached prey.  She settled in to enjoy her meal.  After about 15 minutes, she flew with the remainder of her meal to the SE corner, where she finished it.

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At 3:50 pm, we all decided it was time to head downtown to look for Ms. Beauty.  I stayed a bit longer at BS to send the tweet and check on them one more time.  I left P&BST in their spots and went downtown.  I missed the other Watchers, but I did find Beauty on Mercury’s moneybag hand.

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I remained parked on the Broad St Bridge until it was dark and Beauty finally took off from the Mercury statue and flew directly up into the OCSR elevator shaft.  Goodnight Beauty!

It was a wonderful day of Falcon Watching.  I’ll leave you with a few pics from my travels today.

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON ANY PICS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN A LARGER VERSION.  THANKS!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

We have some warmer temperatures ahead of us the next few days with highs in the 30’s and 40’s which will melt a lot of the snow and ice we have accumulated in the last 2 weeks. Some sun would be nice too! Normally I’m a pretty patient person but this morning after waiting 30 minutes I decided to go look for the Beautyful one instead of waiting for her to show up. I’m glad I did cuz I found her on one of her favorite hunting places atop the HSBC building on the east side of downtown. She was on the southeast corner munching on something as I pulled over on Chestnut St. in front of Manhattan Square Park to observe.

I drove over to Court St. and parked right below HSBC for a closer view and after 10 minutes Beauty flew off to the west.

She quickly left my view as I was facing east so off I went to try and find her.  As I drove to Main St. by the Radisson Hotel I found her on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.  Her newest routine for after dining is to go hang out there. I wonder when she will be going to Mercury again as part of her morning routine-she likes to switch it up every few days.

I shared space with her for 20 minutes before taking flight for Brighton(BS). When I arrived there I could Pigott on the southeast corner of the east extension as I drove in the driveway. As I made my way around the building to the east side I also spotted BST on the east extension perched on a south facing window ledge.

Click pic for full version 

With an empty parking lot on the weekend I took advantage and parked in it right where I had the best view of this dynamic duo. For the next 15 minutes BST napped and Miss Pigott looked around at her territory. She then flew off to the south, came back and circled the building before coming to rest on the northeast corner of the building.I find it interesting that Pigott and BST hang out almost exclusively on that east side of the building but she and Dot.Ca mainly stayed on the west side. Just an observation.

They couldn’t see each other now and BST remained on his window ledge catching a few nods. Another 15 minutes passed when Pigott walked in on the roof where I couldn’t see her either for a few minutes. She came back out to the edge of the roof a few feet from the northeast corner and proceeded to quickly fly over to the corner. She had a poop for herself and again after a 15 minute stay she flew off to the east and returned to land on a window ledge kitty corner to where BST was perched waking him up.

Click the pics for a full version

BST continued to nap on and off as Miss Pigott preened with her back to her sleeping companion for the next 25 minutes. She then flew over to the southeast corner of the east extension and parked there for the rest of the time I stayed watching.

Before heading home I stopped to see if Beauty was still on OCSR where I left her earlier to digest breakfast and she was there in the same spot looking my way.

What a nice little watch I had this morning with my falcon buddies. Good for a smiling face as I left downtown! 🙂

I have provided links below for a photo album and 5 videos for your viewing pleasure

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrShA

http://youtu.be/LS3Lo_Zh9S4
http://youtu.be/2dej2BbOsvo
http://youtu.be/94e6OgPl_cY
http://youtu.be/1vLMN9cbgrs
http://youtu.be/EV41VCuGJ0M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Only had time for a very short Falcon Watch tonight.  My goal?  Find all 3 current Rochester Falcons.

Here are my tweets from this evening:

7:00 am – “GM from falcon free KP! Current 29 degrees. High wind warning til 6pm. Hold on to your hats & watch the falcons fly! Woohoo! Good day all!”

5:00 pm – “DT. Beauty in OCSR elevator shaft. North ledge. Very windy!”

5:20 pm – “BS. P&BST at their nighttime roost. All accounted for. Time to head home.”

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Like I said a very short and sweet watch and I met my goal.

I didn’t arrive downtown until 5:00 pm.  There was just a bit of daylight left and I went searching for Beauty.  I found her up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the north ledge.

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While I was watching Beauty, the light was fading and I noticed that the Mercury statue was reflected on the OCSR bldg.  Just thought it was a cool affect. lol

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After spending a few moments with Ms. Beauty who seemed to be tucked in for the evening I headed over to the BS location.  By the time I got there at 5:20 pm, it was full dark.  Sunset in Rochester, NY today was 4:49 pm.

I circled the building.  No obvious bumps on any of the corners.  I parked on the north east end of the building and checked out the nighttime roosting area for Pigott & BST and there they were, both of them.  I took a few pics and then called it a night.

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I was happy to find all three current Rochester Falcons tucked into their nighttime roosts.  It was a very good day!

On my way home I passed the Mt Hope Cemetery and saw this beautiful little Christmas tree on a hill inside the cemetery grounds.  There was just something so peaceful about that little tree.

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I drove through the downtown passing through the High Falls area on my way home.

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The good news is, the weekend is here and I’ll be able to see the falcons in the daylight, hopefully!  WooHoo!

I’ll leave you with this classic picture of Mariah and Cabot-Sirocco’s 4 eyases from 2001.  Bonnie, Mr Carney, Regie & Ranger.  Ranger is still being seen in Toronto with her mate Hunter.  In all the years she has been there, none of her eggs have ever hatched.  Kind of sad.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was not near as cold out this morning as yesterday when I left for downtown. I parked on the Broad St. Bridge north side facing the Times Square building as I do every morning and waited for some action. 30 minutes went by when the aqueduct roosting pigeons came flying up from under the bridge going at a good clip and right behind them-Beauty. They all made there way upriver southbound and disappeared behind the Blue Cross Arena(BCA). 10 minutes later the pigeons made their way back and landed on the roof of the BCA. I hoped that this meant Beauty had caught one and was eating somewhere. I went for a drive to look for the Beautyful one and I found her as I stopped on the Andrews St. Bridge. She was on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR so I left for closer viewing by the Radisson Hotel.

Judging from the bulging crop I’d say Beauty had herself a nice big breakfast. I stayed with her about 30 minutes and headed off to the Brighton site (BS) as I knew she wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. Nobody was home at BS so I got settled in to wait for them. It was very windy with gusty bursts that would create white out conditions at times. The road was drifted over in spots as well. Over an hour passed and I decided to go back downtown to make sure Beauty didn’t blow away. lol She was in the same spot as when I left her- digesting that big meal.

I stayed with her for an hour or so and then I left  to run an errand and get some lunch. I returned to BS a little after noon. FYI-when you turn into the driveway at BS you come to a one way road that goes to the right and circles around the building. The front of the building faces north and the right side is west with the east side being to your left. The back of the building faces south. Now as I came around from the back to the east side I spotted Pigott flying over the building headed north and then I saw BST on the east extension perched on a south facing window ledge.

When Pigott didn’t return I took a couple spins around the property but never found her.  I stayed about 20  minutes as I observed BST looking around a lot-most likely watching for his winter mate the divine Miss Pigott. The wind was out of the west and southwest so he was getting blown pretty good up there.

He walked down the ledge a bit then flew over to an east facing ledge below where the roof top tree grows. Now when waiting for a takeoff  shot I always get the subject in view toward the top of the pic because almost always falcons go down first when they leave a perch. Well BST went up this time so all I got was his bandless legs! lol

Anyway he would be better protected from the wind over there.

So after close to a 6 hour watch I was successful in seeing all 3 current Rochester Peregrine Falcons-something to smile about for sure! 🙂

2 links for videos below-just click and watch

http://youtu.be/LLAToFQXJVg
http://youtu.be/tbX1d1ixHNE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today started out in the low teens and by the time I got out of work and made my way downtown before 4:00 pm, it was 30 degrees (F).  Lake affect snow had been falling on and off throughout the day, but thankfully there was little accumulation.    Not like yesterday when I came out to find my car covered with a few inches of fluffy stuff.

Here are my tweets from today:

4:20 pm – “DT. Beauty is already tucked into the OCSR elevator shaft on the north ledge. Hard to see her. Nite Ms B.”

4:40 pm – “BS. When I 1st arrived one falcon on NE corner. By the time I went around bldg saw pefa flew to nite roost east end north side. P or BST?” – It was Pigott.

4:50 pm – “BS. P&BST here at nite roost. P on top window and BST 2 below. All 3 seen.”

5:00 pm – “DT. B off Mercury. Back iu the elevator shaft. This time south ledge. All 3 settled in for a long winters nap!”

Shaky left the following message on RfalconcamNow at 4:30 pm while I was at the BS location:

“Beauty is on Mercury.”

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After arriving downtown a little before 4:00 pm, I made my rounds to see if I could find Ms Beauty.  She wasn’t in any of her normal spots, so I headed over to the OCSR area to take a look up into the elevator shaft and there she was.  Beauty was on the north side ledge this time.

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She was tucked in tight to the back of the ledge and it was really hard to see her.  I figured she was there for the evening since it was already starting to get dark.  So, I said goodnight to Beauty and  off to the BS location I went.  Daylight was at a premium!

As I pulled up to the front of the BS location, I immediately spotted a falcon up on the NE corner of the building.  At first I wasn’t sure if it was Pigott or BST, but I am pretty sure it was Pigott.  I drove around the building hoping to find BST.

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As I drove back around towards the front of the building on the east end, I saw a smaller falcon swoop in from the east and disappear from my view on the north side of the building.  When I got to the front (north side) of the building, I spotted a falcon sitting on the top window of the area that we know is their nighttime roost.

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Driving just a bit further west and I was able to see that BST had indeed arrived and was on the window two down from Pigott’s location.

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So I was able to find all three current Rochester Falcons this evening, all tucked in for the evening.  Or were they?

While I was watching Pigott & BST, I received a tweet from Shaky, using the RfalconcamNow alert to the Watchers.  Beauty was on the Mercury statue.  Hmmmm, seems she wasn’t ready for her long winter nap just yet.  lol 🙂  It was almost 5:00 pm and already dark, so I headed home, via downtown Rochester.

Beauty was gone from the Mercury statue, so I check the elevator shaft one more time.  For the 2nd time this evening, I found her up inside the elevator shaft, but this time she was on the south ledge.  The snow was starting to fall again, lightly, so it was really hard to see her, but she was there.  This time I hoped she had her kerchief on and was settled in for the evening.  It was time for me to head home!

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I’m going to leave you with a classic picture of Mariah & Kaver feeding 5 young eyases.  Some times they had to double team to get them fed.  Well, Kaver thought he had to help and Mariah let him even though she had it all under control. 🙂  Kaver was well known for bringing in birds of the blue persuasion.  This was not this Blue Jay’s lucky day.

Remember to double click on any pictures you would like to see in a larger format.  Thanks!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a cool 12 degrees when I left the house this morning and the pigeons were late in coming out from under the Broad St. Bridge(BSB). I do wonder how wildlife can survive with such temperatures but I’m glad that they do. I find that in the dead of winter nothing cheers me more than seeing a falcon or cardinal doing their thing. And speaking of a falcon- Beauty was on the OCSR building top ibeam southeast side when the pigeons were making their daily flight from their Aqueduct roost.

She was definitely watching the activity as was I from my perch on the BSB.  About 20 minutes later she stooped on a few flying behind Thomson Reuters out of view. Beauty then reappeared empty taloned and flew up under the northeast wing of the Times Square building.

Now parked down in the hole I spent around 30 minutes with the Beautyful one before she took off very fast flying over the river to the east and out of my field of vision. So the search was on and I found her 15 minutes later as I parked on the Andrews St. bridge. Beauty was on the top ibeam northeast side of OCSR.

I drove over to Bragdon St. and spent an hour watching Beauty checking her surroundings for a meal to grab as the lake effect snow came down. There were gulls flying over the river between she and I and as one of them flew too close to her personal space she had something to say about it.

I left for the Brighton site arriving there at 9:35am and as I drove down the entrance road I spotted the back of a pefa on the northeast corner of the east extension. Driving around to the east side as the road is one way around the building I came up to see the front of this falcon and discovered it was Pigott.

Miss Pigott had a nice full crop so I knew she wasn’t looking for prey-she was looking for BST to come flying in. She is one gorgeous gal and even in the dark overcast conditions she was looking great. I stayed with her for a half hour  before ending my watch. As I drove thru downtown on my way home I didn’t see Beauty in my travels. So our resident female falcons were the reason for my smiling face today. 🙂

Click on the 4 links below to view videos of  Beauty and Pigott

http://youtu.be/l_2aF0yrcJU
http://youtu.be/NKuOuWDqRJU
http://youtu.be/jAvp9NFTLeU
http://youtu.be/K_p6kUiOLWg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Joyce (wnyfalconfan)

What a great way to ring in 2013…with members of my “3F Club” – Family, Friends, & Falcons. And, I was lucky to have a special bird-of-prey sighting on the first day of the New Year.

Click on each thumbnail for full view, or see photos in my Picasa album.

I was so glad that I could make it downtown for the Watcher’s Annual New Year Toast. Nothing (except a blizzard) was going to keep me away, even with a broken ankle. It took me 2 hours to get ready, and when I arrived I was happy to see so many participants joining in the tradition (as mentioned in Carol and MAK’s reports). I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh cold air, even though others were freezing by the time Steve and I arrived.

Beauty was on OCSR during our gathering. Thanks B for being on the I-beam facing us!

Many headed out to check the Brighton Site (BS). Found Pigott on the south side. No sign of the BS Tiercel (BST).

Pigott was eating.

She had a full crop and took off chasing a bird to the south.

She flew back right overhead and landed on the SW extension corner.

As Pigott settled back in on a SE extension windowsill, Lisa offered to show us where she found an Eastern Screech-Owl. This was the first time I have seen one in the wild. It is a gray morph and was sleeping in a tree cavity. Such a cutie!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Well half hour after I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) for my watch I got a text from Donna that Beauty had been on and off  Mercury briefly at around 7:19am . I was there and completely missed her. Fun falcon games I say! The bridge pigeons hadn’t stirred yet from their roost under the bridge so I thought everyone was sleeping in. Not so because shortly afterward they came flying up and over the bridge real low and fast like they do every morning so as not to be caught by Beauty. I knew she wasn’t around cuz they came back up on the south side and landed on the Blue Cross Arena to perch. That was my cue to go look for the Beautyful one. I found her on the northeast side of the OCSR building top ibeam as I parked on the Andrews St. Bridge. I drove to Bragdon St. for closer viewing and pics.

Beauty stooped off the ibeam after something and immediately returned to the same spot to hang out. I was kinda boxed in where I was and had a small field of vision for any direction except to the north.

I watched her for the better part of an hour then left to check on the Brighton Site(BS). I was pleasantly surprised to find both Pigott and BST on the east extension. She was on the top row of windows and he was one floor below her on a window ledge both windows facing the south with their backs to me.

Pigott  BST

I spent about 45 minutes with them as they looked over there shoulders on and off and preened.

BST  Pigott

Satisfied that they were just going to stay put for a while I left for home but as I drove thru downtown I spotted Beauty on the top ibeam of OCSR on the southeast side this time. Naturally I had to stop and check her out so I drove over to the Main St. Bridge to snap a couple pics and a video of her and then I ended my watch.

I left our fair city smiling for having seen our 3 current Rochester Peregrine Falcons this morning! 🙂

Links for 3 videos are below-click them to view

http://youtu.be/j3P4te4QzE0
http://youtu.be/kMkJ8Uir9JY
http://youtu.be/BoFHNMo8k54