By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Saturday, 9/22/12

So who was the New Guy (NG) that visited with Beauty for most of Saturday.  We may never know.

Dana and Larry O spent most of Saturday morning keeping watch over the downtown area and the BS location.  Both were seeing two falcons, at the same time.  Well that was interesting, since there was normally only a total of 3 falcons seen at both of these locations.  Dana tweeted out that she was unsure if she had Dot.ca or another tiercel (male).  I had lots to do Saturday morning, so I could not get downtown until noon.

I joined Dana on Aqueduct St. (aka the hole) and she pointed out the male on the ledge that was on same level as the nest box, on the south side.  I quickly got my scope out and we both took turns checking out this falcon.  Was it Dot.ca?  If so, who was out at the BS location with Pigott?

This male did not act like Dot.ca.  He flew all over the place, and he did a lot of display flying for Beauty, who was at the nest box.  Behaviorally, we suspected that this was a different tiercel visiting with Beauty.

Every time he took off and landed in a different spot, I would move the scope to keep him in sight.  Finally, I got a good look at his bands.  I quickly called Dana over to verify what I was seeing.  She saw what I did, there was no doubt, this was not Dot.ca.  This new guy’s band was black over green, while Dot.ca’s band is black over black.

We watched him all afternoon, flying from spot to spot.  He was very actively checking out the area and checking out every perch.  Some we had never seen a falcon on before.  There were a bunch of Crows flying through the area and Beauty didn’t like that at all.  She took off and chased them, new guy right on her tail.  Together they vanquished the Crows from the area.  It was a sight to see.  Beauty was more active than I had seen her in a very long time.  But, she would not allow him to enter the nest box.  That was a no no.  At one point, he came a little too close.  He landed on the ledge above the nest box, and she chased him off.  I am always fascinated by their behavior.  We learn something new every day.

Later in the afternoon, other Watchers came down to take a look at this new guy; MAK, Joyce, Kathy O, Jeanne, & Barbara.

Today (9/23/12), Dot.ca was back with Beauty and the new guy was gone.  At least for now.  The question is, will he return?  We’ll be watching.

Sunday, 9/23/12

The Watchers were split between the three Rochester locations today.  Pigott was seen at the BS location, Beauty and Dot.ca were seen hanging out downtown, so I focused on the female at Kodak Park, aka KPF.

My first stop this morning was Kodak Park.  I parked in the lot we are allowed to watch from and immediately spotted a falcon sitting on the railing in front of the red door on the south side of the east smoke stack.  I got my scope out and tried to see if she was banded.  It was too far for me to get a good look at her legs.  I do know she has a silver band on one leg, but have no clue if there is a band or what color it might be on the other.

During the time I was there by myself, she didn’t move too much from this area.  Later in the afternoon, I was joined by Joyce and Dana.  They took lots of pics, so hopefully we might get a clue to KPF’s identify.  KPF took off a a few times, the last time, she flew over us heading southwest.   Too bad new guy can’t find KPF.  lol 🙂

During the afternoon, I did go downtown to check on Beauty and Dot.ca and found them sitting a few feet apart on the top Ibeam of the OCSR on the north side.

On my way downtown, I noticed that the High Falls stack is nearly covered in scaffolding.  Probably not too long before they start taking it down.  🙁

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and that you all kept your eyes to the sky!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

After a chilly 44 degree start this morning it turned out to be a beautiful sunny first full day of Fall! I got off the bus in darkness at about 6:15am and wondered if the new tiercel(NG) would still be around.

Since it was still dark out I thought I would walk straight over to the east side to look for Beauty on either Xerox or HSBC. Standing by Clinton Square I found her on the northeast corner of HSBC with a star in the eastern sky behind her and breakfast under talon.

As the sun came up it was interesting how her colors changed as the sun got higher and brighter. Beauty took some time to prepare and consume her meal as I stood below watching. I wasn’t ready for her abrupt departure when she flew off to the west slipping behind Midtown where I couldn’t see her. I knew she wouldn’t be back cuz this is her early morning spot for hunting and eating then she starts her day over near her nest box somewhere. Today was no exception as I found her at the nest box with another falcon under the northeast wing of the Times Square building(TSB). This I could see from the intersection of South Ave. and Broad St.

Once I got to the middle of the bridge the action picked up when I saw another falcon fly in front of the the one under the wing. One of them landed under the southeast wing and the other flew by it and around the back of the TSB while Beauty remained by the nest box. As I was crossing the street the wing bird left so when I got down to Falcon Watcher Central(FWC) I only had Beauty at the nest box. She flew off to the north and a couple minutes later a falcon landed under the northeast wing. As far as I could tell it was NG.

I shared space with him for half hour watching  by He’s Chinese which is located below the Wilder building on Exchange St. He then took off heading south really fast.

Turns out that would be the last time I saw NG. I watched him until he became a dot and disappeared into the southern sky. When I took my binocs away from my face I saw the flash of a set of wings go to the nest box but I couldn’t see in it from my location. I walked back up to FWC as both Donna and Jeanne let me know Beauty and Dot.Ca(DC) were at the nest box bowing.  Thank you to all the cam watchers that help us in the field. Your help is greatly appreciated! 3 minutes later DC flew from the deck over by Crossroads and returned to the TSB landing under the northeast wing.

For the next hour and a half it remained Beauty at the nest box napping with DC above her under the northeast wing preening and looking around his territory and sneaking in some shut eye as well.

Dana and Lou joined me and a few minutes later DC flew off chasing after a Blue Jay above Broad and Exchange Blvd. They both flew over the Thomson Reuters parking lot and as the building got too close DC broke off the chase and the poor Blue Jay hit the building and dropped to the parking lot. DC came back thru and tried to scoop it up on the fly but cut that off as well when the Blue Jay got slid toward the little cement wall in the front of the parking lot. He left it and flew west out of view and that was the last we saw of him.

Dana,Lou and I walked up on the Broad St. bridge for a better view and Aaron came by for a photo op. He found the Green Heron in the river below the Thomson Reuters building. It blends in so well and is so small to find. As I was chatting  with Aaron Dana yelled that Beauty was flying. The Beautyful one flew out over the river and vanished behind the OCSR.. Dana and Lou left to take a look around and I left Aaron to catch my bus home.

It would seem that NG may have moved on and so this is how it will probably go all winter if DC doesn’t migrate. Hopefully ending just as quietly with the next possible suitors that come to town which should make for a smile by having no blood shed. 🙂

Click the links below for more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrJQg

http://youtu.be/Y69rcTcK__8
http://youtu.be/it0zWSHtqIY
http://youtu.be/4liQAKWJr38
http://youtu.be/effPXrfBebM
http://youtu.be/PaaFnNmKUxo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Joyce came to get me for a quick watch before going to the Genesee Brewery to celebrate a birthday for fellow watcher LarryO. Our quick watch turned into more than we bargained for as a new tiercel that was visiting Beauty today kept us on our toes. We are calling him NG for new guy and he has a flat top just like Beauty.

When we first arrived downtown there was a pefa on Crossroads and we thought it was NG cuz that’s where he seemed to be a lot of the time when CarolP and Dana were watching him earlier. I got out the car and walked down Exchange St. to Main St. trying to get a closer look at him but he left while I wasn’t watching and when I joined Joyce in the hole she said that NG flew off Crossroads and that Beauty followed him and they went back and forth and she didn’t know if one or both of them had landed on the Times Square building(TSB).  Next we had Beauty on Crossroads and no NG. Beauty then went to OCSR and landed on the top ibeam southeast side where she remained for the remainder of our watch. And it’s a good thing cuz we had enough trouble keeping up with NG!

NG then came out of nowhere and flew in front of Beauty and doubled back landing on the southeast corner of Crossroads.

Next we saw another tiercel most likely Dot.Ca fly in front of OCSR at which point NG flew off and chased him across the river  very fast and they both disappeared behind the Bausch&Lomb building. NG then returned a couple minutes later and landed under the southeast wing on the TSB.

Barbara joined us about this time and we were having trouble deciding if it was DC or the new tiercel. I got my scope out and started leaning toward NG when CarolP and KathyO showed up. CarolP got her scope out which is better than mine and we all had a look. It was unanimous that this was NG on the TSB. Joyce spotted a hawk over near Widows Walk which soared thru right by the TSB and it wasn’t til it got out over the river that NG took off after it. Of course we lost them both behind the Thomson Reuters building which always blocks the view of the river when you’re in the hole. A couple minutes later NG returned and landed under the southeast wing again. After a few idol minutes he flew over to the Wilder building chasing after a couple small birds before flying out over the river, past Beauty on OCSR and then to Crossroads one more time. He is a busy one!

Jeanne joined us around this time. NG then stooped over the river and we lost him then we saw him again back and forth over the river and then he was gone. We all had to leave for the Larrys’ birthday gig at the brewery and so we left Beauty on the top ibeam southeast side of OCSR and no other falcons around.

I’ve been told that since it’s off season the falcons don’t really fight each other so hopefully DC and NG did not engage or get injured. I will be out before sunrise in the morning and hopefully I will be smiling by the end of my watch with all good things to report for all the pefas in Rochester. 🙂

Click the links below for more pics and a fast video of NG

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrJJA

http://youtu.be/Gw8MyIQIm_k

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

What a difference a day makes! It was 20 degrees warmer than the last couple mornings. It seems that Beauty has a bit of a new routine hanging out on the north side of OCSR in the first part of the day.

After walking up on the Broad St. bridge, then to the east side and back, with no falcon sightings I hung out on the bridge for a bit. DebbieH came by to visit enroute to work and after she left I went to Tim Hortons for coffee and a raisin oatmeal cookie. I had been told that whenever I get one of the cookies something happens with the falcons so I thought I’d give it a shot. Well, nearly 2 hrs. into my watch I finally found our little sleeping Beauty on the north corner top ibeam of OCSR(so I guess the cookie might have worked)lol. I set up in the same spot as yesterday to watch the Beautyful one-on the riverside walkway behind the Rochester Plaza Hotel.

When Beauty awoke  from her initial nap she first put her back to me for a bit and then she moved to the west of the corner.

She started preening and the sky started spitting a little so I decided I’d head out for the next bus. Just before I left she fell asleep again and as I passed I just couldn’t resist stopping at the bottom of OCSR and taking a pic of her tail feathers  hanging off the edge .

This is the kind of stuff that makes me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to get your Beauty fix of her doing Beauty things

http://youtu.be/cvJ06bPj3sc
http://youtu.be/DeUEVaRl7kM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The outside temperature when I left the house this morning was 41 degrees fahrenheit. I wore a sweater under my lightweight winter coat with gloves and I was quite toasty-as a matter of fact as I found out later a little too toasty! As I arrived on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB)there were no pefas to be found in that area so I walked over to the east side. Nothing on Bausch&Lomb,HSBC or Xerox that I could see and I walked around the perimeter of each building. I was starting to sweat  so I stopped between B&L and the Central library for a few minutes before moving on toward the BSB.

Suddenly LarryO was tweeting in rapid fire mode about falcons over Xerox and falcons stooping in the river then back by Xerox then a stoop near Washington Square park which I was very close to. Slow down already I said to myself -everytime a tweet came thru I started walking to that location. I did see a falcon above Xerox just hovering and because I was amongst all the tall buildings I lost it and then it re-appeared flying above me and  hanging a right at Broad St. flying due east behind B&L where I lost it again. At the time it looked like a small pefa as I didn’t know how many falcons Larry was reporting about I thought Dot.Ca cuz it was definitely wearing adult plumage. I decided I had to join Larry on BSB to get out from my limited view around all the tall buildings and as I started down Broad St. Larry tweeted falcon at the nest box so I stopped by Tim Hortons to have a look with my binocs. I didn’t even have time to grab them when another tweet came in that the pefa was gone and that Larry thought it was Beauty.

Well, I crossed South Ave. and stopped when the Frontier Communications Tower(FCT) comes into view and spotted a falcon on the platform railing northeast corner. I took a pic to see if I could ID it and saw that it was dark in front so I figured it was Beauty.

Larry walked down to meet me and discuss the events that had taken place. I asked if he had 2 falcons and he said no just one so then I was sure it was the Beautyful one. He had to get to work and I decided since she was so active that I would wait and see if she would leave the FCT before walking all the way over there for nothing. I started that way and got a text from Donna that Beauty had left so I returned to the BSB to have a look around. I did see a large falcon hovering above Xerox before it disappeared.

5 minutes later I found Beauty on her west corner top ibeam spot on OCSR. DebbieH stopped by on the way to work and after she left I looked over at OCSR and couldn’t see Beauty anymore. I didn’t know if she left or just went around the corner where I couldn’t see her. I made the decision to go up on the South Ave. garage to have a look see before heading over to check the north side of OCSR. Having found nothing from atop the garage I left there and walked down South Ave to Main St. to the Radisson Hotel where I saw a bump on the northeast side of the west corner of OCSR. I crossed the pedestrian bridge and set up behind the Rochester Plaza Hotel which is kiddie corner to OCSR and where Jemison was found and captured by animal control when he injured himself in 2010. It was my first close encounter with a falcon of which I will never forget.

I stayed on the riverside walkway for a little over an hour watching Beauty preen and sleep. It didn’t seem like she was going to leave any time soon so I called it a watch and left her to rest with her head tucked back in to her wing.

I missed most of the action this morning but I was content just to share space with our Beautyful downtown matriarch. This my friends ALWAYS puts a smile on this watchers face! 🙂

Click on the links below for some videos of Beauty just hanging out on OCSR this morning

http://youtu.be/Hjg-LwHN9kk
http://youtu.be/VMl5Zbu4ipI
http://youtu.be/yH3LGzqZJrQ

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Brrr what a chilly morning out there today but no worries I had a sweatshirt and my warm Wolf  hooded pullover to keep me warm! And yes Donna, I wore my gloves! lol A cool 46 degrees isn’t going to keep me from watching our beloved falcons! After checking everything in view from the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) I continued on to the east side where Beauty roosts at night on Xerox and hunts first thing in the morning off the HSBC building. Sure enough when I arrived at the intersection of  Broad and Clinton where HSBC comes into view I spotted a falcon on the northwest corner. I was certain it was Beauty but I walked to the intersection of Broad and Chestnut for a closer look and pic to ID her as the one for sure and she had breakfast up there with her.

Notice the very salmony color of her with the sun in front of me but not quite breaking thru the horizon yet. Now look at her color when I walked down further to the east to get the sun behind me near the newly constructed traffic circle.

It just amazes me what the lighting does to the front shots of these falcons! She spent quite some time plucking and eating before she suddenly flew off with absolutely no warning right up Broad St. heading toward the river. I packed up and headed that way after her. As soon as the Times Square building came into view I grabbed my binocs to take a look and could see Beauty toward the back of the ledge under the southeast wing.

She was sleeping a lot of the time and half sleeping too keeping one eye open and the other closed. What a goof ball! lol I first was watching her from the Blue Cross Arena landing which is on the BSB side. I decided she wasn’t going anywhere for a while so I went to Tim Hortons on Main St.  for a nice hot cup of coffee. When I returned I sat down on the planter box by He’s Chinese restaurant to be up close and personal with my favorite feathered friend.

I swear she was looking at me in that last pic. After a while she pooped and I thought she might be getting ready to leave.

My camera battery was flashing that it was about to go dead so I replaced it and as is my luck Beauty left the building without saying a word to me. So I had no idea where to look for her as I didn’t see what direction she flew off to. I went up on the BSB and looked around, stopping for a few minutes to take a couple pics and a video of the river residents below. When I didn’t find Beauty anywhere I figured she was on the north side of OCSR so I walked down South Ave. to Main St. and to the Radisson Hotel. From there I spotted her on the top ibeam northeast side. I felt that she would probably just sit there idol for a few hours so I started to walk to my bus stop on Main St. in front of OCSR. As I walked across the Main St. bridge I looked up at OCSR just for the heck of it and there on the top ibeam tucked in the corner by the elevator shaft was Dot.Ca with his back facing out.

I didn’t see a whole lot of action today but I did spend some quality time with Beauty and a bonus of seeing DC just before I left on the bus which surely made me leave the city smiling! 🙂

Click the links below for my pics and videos of the day

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrI-A

http://youtu.be/syNZ7M2tdNI
http://youtu.be/rXTK8kcBqSw
http://youtu.be/2w04-22Wq4c
http://youtu.be/6hKO_dIYAGY
http://youtu.be/p35_dfFFWqM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I stayed home this morning due to rainy conditions and when Joyce asked if I was interested in an afternoon watch of course I said yes! We went to the Frontier Communications Tower first and found Beauty on the inside of the southeast cube looking well…Beautyful!

Yes even with bad lighting she looks great! We opted for going to the Brighton site(BS) after taking a quick look from the Broad St. bridge. CarolP was parked on the bridge when we arrived in the rain, prompting us to wave as we drove past her instead of stopping.  Arriving at BS Joyce spotted both Pigott and Dot.Ca(DC) on consecutive south side window ledges tucked in a corner.

Click the pics for full version

They were napping and preening as Joyces’ dogs were getting impatient to go for a run, so we left Miss Pigott and DC with full crops planning to return.

Larry had come to BS as well and when the dogs were done with their run we joined him at the back of the building. While Joyce and I were gone Pigott had gone to the east end of the south side vent and DC remained on the window.

2 pigeons flew thru very non-chalantly and both Pigott and DC flew off after them. DC returned and landed on a southwest roof corner while Pigott did some flying in front of her handsome mate.

Larry was hungry so he left to go home leaving Joyce and I with these two love birds. It’s so obvious that DC likes Miss Pigott more than Beauty-they click better so to speak. I would love to see Beauty get another mate and leave Pigott and DC to themselves. What does the future hold for our Peregrine trio and let’s not forget to put KPT into the mix. I hope we don’t have another winter like last year as far as the drama goes. We’ll have to fasten our seat belts and hope for the best as we wait to see if one or both our tiercels migrate and leave the females on their own. Sound familiar!?!

Anyway, Joyce and I decided to call it a watch when it started raining harder and as always when out on a watch with Joyce I did lots of smiling! 🙂

No more pics today as it was a pretty short watch but I do have links for a couple videos below

http://youtu.be/cZ_XgWij9Yw
http://youtu.be/Sfvr0jjMBdM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I joined Larry O and Lisa McK on the Broad St Bridge at approximately 6:30 pm.  On my way, as I passed the Widows Walk, I spotted a Kestrel sitting on the railing.  The small falcon took off heading south.  When I arrived on the BSB, Larry pointed out Dot.ca on the very top of the jail communication tower (JCT) and Beauty on the same tower, but on the 3rd arm down on the left.

At 7:10 pm, Dot.ca took off and flew very rapidly heading south.  We were able to view him for quite awhile before he faded into the darkening sky to the south.  We all wondered if he was going to visit with Pigott.  Beauty remained on the JCT.

For the next 20 minutes, we were entertained by a juvenile gull flying around with a fish way too large for him to get down his throat.  At first he landed in the middle of Broad St, near the library.  He dropped the fish in the road and attempted to eat.  A car approached him and he grabbed his fish and took off over the river.  He landed on the rocks below and he was soon joined by quite a few of his friends, who wanted to share his meal.  No way!  The gull again took off with his fish, which was held side ways in his mouth, not head forward like the Osprey.  Around and around he went, chased by his “friends”.  This went on for quite awhile before the gull wisely decided to take his fish over Court St and away from the river.  We wished him luck, knowing he’d figure out how to eat his catch of the day.  🙂  When the Watchers aren’t watching the falcons, there is so much to see.  The river below us is teaming with life.

Until 7:30 pm, Beauty remained on the JCT.  I had been watching her when all of a sudden she was gone!  Larry, Lisa and I kept an eye on the surrounding area, but we never saw her come out from behind the Blue Cross Arena.  We were all in agreement, that it looked like she stooped down the face of the JCT.  We were losing daylight quick, so we split up looking for Beauty.  Lisa remained on the bridge carefully checking out TSB and the surrounding area.  I drove over to the JCT and check out that area.  Larry checked out the Xerox building and area.  None of us had any luck finding her, so we called it a night.

On my way home, I made my usual check of the KP area.  It was very dark and I was not able to spot any falcons.  I will continue to monitor this area.  It would be great to get an ID on the one or maybe two falcons that have been seen there.

Tomorrow there is supposed to be a lot of rain, but not til around noon (I believe).  So if the Watchers are out and about tomorrow afternoon and they have their eyes to the sky, they may get a face full of water.  Hahaha!  🙂

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Arriving downtown at 6:34am I went to the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) to take a look around and found no falcons anywhere in that area or did I see any bumps on the Frontier Communications tower or jail tower. I continued on down Broad St. to the east side and found nothing over there either. Hmm, where could Beauty be hiding this morning? I made my way back to BSB just in time to say hi and bye to LarryO who wasn’t any more successful than I was in finding a falcon. A man over by the back of the Blue Cross Arena was throwing bread to the gulls in a feeding frenzy of sorts. I taped that for you to see. I stood on the bridge looking around until nearly 8:00am when I got a text message from DebbieH stating that she thought there was a pefa on the north side of OCSR. I thanked her and mosied over to Main St. and took the stairs down to the riverside walkway by the OCSR building. I spoke of this recently explaining that it runs on both sides of the Genesee River from Andrews St. to Main St. and there is a pedestrian bridge that crosses the river from the Radisson Hotel to the OCSR building. I took  video to show the area. I did find Beauty on the top ibeam north corner.

When I first got there it looked like she was eating something but I soon was able to see that she was just preening. That was the theme this morning-preening and napping,napping and preening and occasionally looking at the many,many pigeons that hang out in this part of the city. They were all over the walkway and lined up on the Radisson Hotel lower roof. I thought for sure Beauty would stoop on one at some point but not a chance- she was hunkered down for the duration of my watch. Even after pooping she didn’t budge! lol

Remember to click on pics for full version

A nice man named Gustov who rides a bike and wears spandex very well that I met early in the summer stopped by to ask if I was seeing any falcons. I pointed out Beauty to him and handed him my binocs as a couple people stopped to ask what I was taking pictures of. Well I didn’t even have to answer for Gustov told them that I was a falcon expert and that I have been watching them a long time, then he showed them Beauty. The day I met Gustov he was so thrilled to hear the soap opera story of this past year that he stayed with me about an hour that first day. It was good to see him again. I went up on the pedestrian bridge to get the sun from distorting my pics of the Beautyful one as she looked so white with the suns rays on her you would never have believed it was her.

I had quite the mix of homeless people and tourists coming thru on this bridge as I set up right in the middle part of it. A friend of mines sister came by and chatted for a bit as well as a Japanese tourist with a nice Nikon camera. He didn’t understand english  so I showed him Beauty on my cameras LCD screen so he would know where to look. He nodded thank you and took a few pics before leaving. Next I witnessed another gull feeding frenzy as some people were throwing bread into the river. A homeless lady that had tried scamming me once before over by the Radisson Hotel came by asking what I was looking at and proceeded to tell me how they had bed bugs in the hotel and that they spread to the park by the library and infested the furniture in the library. Note that this is hear say and I have no proof of there being bed bugs in the Radisson Hotel. She continued to say that instead of treating the  mattresses they just threw them outside in the freezing cold to kill the bed bugs. Boy you sure do meet all kinds in the city! lol

Beauty seemed to be settled in for a while so I ended my watch around 10:30am and headed back to Main St. to catch a bus home. I must say this mornings watch was quite a change from the usual and the peeps I conversed with surely kept me smiling! 🙂

A special thank you to Patsy for the bus pass she gave me this morning. She said it was for my devotion to the birds-Hey I do it for my love for the birds and for the peeps at home who watch vicariously through my reports,pics and videos. Speaking of which-click on the links below for my pics and videos of the day

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWrI2g

http://youtu.be/9uG5FXs-new
http://youtu.be/qTJ5UBDcvrE
http://youtu.be/jvKARpJfw2w
http://youtu.be/TenK–l8zKQ
http://youtu.be/FlMqVFt9Kdc
http://youtu.be/_z7hf7FDzPA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Today I got to see three of the Rochester Falcons, Beauty, Dot.ca and the KP Falcon.  Joyce reported seeing Pigott this evening, so that made four seen today.  No Orion sightings.

Other Watchers were downtown, so I decided to keep watch at Kodak Park (KP) for awhile this morning.  I knew that a tweet would be sent if anything happened downtown, so I decided to cover KP in case the falcon I saw there yesterday showed up.  In the two hours I was there , I saw two Kestrel’s hunting, an adult Bald Eagle soaring high above, and heard a young RTH whining for his/her parents attention.  It is really so peaceful there and the amount of different birds and wildlife is incredible.  For two hours, I did not see a Peregrine Falcon.  Dana stopped by for a short visit before heading home.

After two hours of seeing no sign of the KP Peregrine, I headed downtown for a look.  All of the Watchers had left by this time.  Beauty was still on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) underneath the platform.  I then drove around the downtown area to try to find another falcon.  No luck.  Back to FCT.  Beauty was not where I left her.  After circling the tower, I finally found her on the south side on the SE box under the platform.  I tweeted out her position and told Shaky he could probably get a good view of her from PanCam (Camera #1).

At 2:00 pm, Beauty ee-chupped softly and then took off heading south.  I got back into my car and followed.  Shaky tweeted that Beauty was back in the nest box before I arrived on the Broad St Bridge (BSB).  Yep, there she was and above her at the base of the SE wing was Dot.ca.  About this time, I was joined by Watcher Diana R.  We enjoyed chatting while watching B&DC and all the birds on the river below the bridge.  So much activity down there today!  There were two Great Blue Herons, a Green Heron and two Cormorants (an adult and a juvie I believe) among oodles of other birds. Diana left and a family approached asking about the falcons.  They were very excited that they could see Beauty and Dot.ca.  🙂

It was very quiet after they left and both B&DC seemed to be settled down, so I decided to head home for dinner and to catch the end of the Bills game.  Go Bill!  (Sorry about that.) lol

Of course I couldn’t go home without checking KP one last time.  I arrived there around 3:00 pm and was very happy to see Peregrine sitting on the railing in front of the red door on the east stack.  This bird seemed larger than KPT.  A very bright white breast, with feathers fluffed out, kind of like Mariah’s dust mop look.  🙂  I really had a feeling this was a female and not the small KPT I was used to seeing there.  The Watchers have always had a feeling that there were two falcons here.  I’ve seen what I believe to be two different Peregrines, but never at the same time.  I believe it was MAK that saw two at once earlier this year.

I quickly parked my car and let everyone know there was a falcon here.  The Peregrine then jumped down from the railing to the landing in front of the red door.  She ran to the end of the landing and stopped and then ran again out onto the catwalk that crossed over to the building that held the old Scrape that Unity and Archer used.  This running reminded me so much of Orion.  He loves to run too!  Dana and Lou joined me and we spotted the falcon further out on the catwalk in front of a ladder laying on the floor of the catwalk.

The Peregrine remained there looking in our direction (south).  At 3:30 pm, I said my goodbyes to Dana and Lou and headed out.

I am so excited that there are Peregrines (maybe two) being seen at KP. I will definitely be keeping my eyes to the sky from now on!

Here is a link to my Shutterbug album with pics from today:  No sign on needed.  Enjoy!

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