By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I guess I’ll consider this my first fledge watch, since it’s getting close to that time our little guy Orion will take flight and we did have our Fledge Watch meeting this past weekend.

Big thunderboomers coming in, so I have to hurry.

I was downtown from 6:45 to 8:45 pm and I was joined during that time by Willie, Kathy O and Larry O.

We saw Beauty and Dot.ca attempt to hunt tonite.  Dot.ca just missed catching a starling right over us.

There was a lot of flying by the adults and we were able to see Orion at the front of the nest box platform many times.  We could also hear him crying very loudly from where we stood at Falcon Central on Broad St.

No fledge tonite, thank goodness!

I’ve put together an album of pictures and more of a report of what happened on Shutterfly.  Take a look if you get a chance.  No sign on needed.

Enjoy!

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Here’s one picture from the album.

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I always love to meet fellow falcon fans.  Today I got to meet Maureen from MA and her friend Laura.  They were on vacation and passing through Rochester on their way to Niagara Falls.  So, this morning I picked up MAK and we went to the Broad St Bridge to meet Maureen & Laura at 10 am.  Brian H joined us and we spent a wonderful 2 1/2 hours visiting.

We were more than happy to show them all the Rochester falcon landmarks.  All the things they heard about in our watch reports over the years.  Maureen had been watching them since 2005 and she felt she knew all of us.  I love that these falcons bring so many people from all over the world together in friendship.  It truly amazes me.

I set up the scope and Maureen & Laura were so happy to see Orion and Beauty, who were at the nest box, up close and personal.  They were only able to stay for a couple hours, so we decided to head down to the pedestrian bridge we spent so many hours watching Mariah and Kaver’s young from.  Maureen especially wanted to see the gorge and the High Falls area.

Joyce met us there and we all walked out onto the bridge.  So many things were the same, but many things had changed.  The most noticeable change, to me, was the building missing at the east end of the bridge.  This had been Skye’s building, but so many of the Rochester Falcons would sit and rest on that building.  It was kind of sad to see a gaping hole.  Only the foundation remained.  This had been an old brewery building that had been falling apart for so many years.  I believe there are plans to build a visitors center & beer garden in it’s place.  Maureen and I walked to the end of the bridge and I showed her all the special spots, including the bowed tree and the falcon sucking tree where so many of our young would rest.  I even checked out the gorge wall looking for a falcon.  🙂

Just as we rejoined the others, Brian yelled out “What’s this?” and pointed north of the bridge.  We all looked up in time to see a falcon coming towards us, flying low.  It passed over us and we noticed the missing tail feather and split in the wing.  It was Beauty!  Yes, Beauty now has a split wing tip due to her molt.  Beauty flew over us and headed back towards the brewery, flying higher and higher.  We all watched as she eventually headed back towards downtown and we all saw her land on the nest box at the Times Square Bldg.

What an absolutely perfect way to end our visit with Maureen and Laura!  Thanks Beauty!

We all said our goodbyes.  I was really sad to see them go.  Safe trip ladies!

Here’s a link to my Shutterfly album with some more pictures from today.

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Carol and I arrived downtown around 9:45am. We were to meet Maureen from Massachusetts who was stopping by enroute to Niagara Falls. Brian joined us just before Maureen and her friend Laura got there.

Orion came out to the front rail by the main cam where you could see him from the Broad Street Bridge where we were watching from. The girls were thrilled to see him but we all were a bit nervous about him being so close to the ledge where he could easily fall off if he lost his balance or the wind could lift him off!

Carol set up the scope so we could get a close look at Orion which Maureen and Laura quite enjoyed. Carol and I took pics of Maureens tattoos which included Spiderman! We took them over to the High Falls pedestrian bridge to check out where Mariah and Kaver used to soar through the gorge with their many babies. Maureen started watching them around year 2005. After we parked and started walking to the bridge I found a Cicada laying upside down on the sidewalk. He obviously was in distress baking in the hot sun so I picked him up and put him in the shade of a tree. He was still there when we came back through after our watch so hopefully he recovered and could carry on with his life.

Joyce met us there with her dogs Casey and Abby. While we were there we saw some Canadian Geese, the new paint job on the Genesee Brewery(notice to the right at the end of the bridge-Skyes building is now gone)and Beauty on the west corner of OCSR on the top ibeam.

She left from there and suddenly she was gracing the sky above us! Flying over the gorge and the Genesee brewery and making her way back to the Times Square area. How nice of the Beautyful one to come out and greet her fans from Massachusetts. It was a surprise and treat for us local watchers as well! Unfortunately my camera battery was dead and I couldn’t get any pics of her as she flew over but  it gave me the perfect opportunity to just stand back and watch her magnificence! It was getting extremely hot in the sun and it was time for Maureen and Laura to move on to Niagara Falls so we said our goodbyes and parted ways. I had a nice time with our new friends from Massachusetts and I know we all left downtown smiling! 🙂

For a few more pics click on the link below

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

It was a beautiful morning to hold the official 2012 Rochester Fledge Watch meeting.  Fifteen of us met at Aqueduct Park at 9:00 am.  The sprinklers were looping around and getting everything wet, including the picnic tables.  So, the fledge watchers gathered 2 and 3 at a time, settling at the south end of the park.  The only dry part at that time.  The folks attending included Kathy O, MAK, Lynda, Tim, Larry O, Carrie, Shaky, Debbie H, June, Lisa McK, Pat, Jeanne, Dan, Joyce and me, Carol P.

There were three boxes of Tim Horton’s donut holes for those that were hungry.  Carrie and Kathy O passed out the fledge watch buttons and brochure for this year.  The brochure contained instructions and contact information in case our little guy Orion gets himself into trouble.  Hopefully that will not happen!

As soon as everyone was settled, June spoke to us about how the fledge watch works and what to expect.  We had two new fledge watchers this year; Debbie H and Pat.  Thanks ladies!  We were also missing some watchers; Brian H, Susan C, Dawn, Dana and Lou.

Shaky explained that we would all have to sign up for passwords for the Falcon Watch Blog, which MAK and I have been using.  This is where the calendars for the Fledge Watch are now set-up.

As we were winding down, the sprinklers behind us turned on and there was a mass exodus.  The falcon watchers all migrated to the now dry center of the park.  But, there was one casualty to this unexplained, sudden explosion of water.  Two of the three boxes of Timbits hit the pavement and scattered.  Dan made a valiant attempt to herd the wayward spheres of yummyness back into their box, but it was a lost cause.  They became gull food.  The gulls were very happy.  🙂

After the meeting a few of us, Kathy O, MAK, Joyce, Brian H, Lisa McK, Karl and I moved to Aqueduct St to continue our Falcon Watch.  Beauty was at the nest box and top IBeam of the OCSR and Dot.ca was on the 2nd IBeam down.  We all relaxed and chatted and enjoyed the Puerto Rican parade as it passed by the end of the street down Main St.  Lots of good music and beautiful floats and costumes.

After the roads around us reopened, I decided to go home for some lunch.  On the way home, I stopped at KP, but had no luck finding KPT.  Kathy O and MAK also left and they did find Pigott at the Brighton location.

At 7:00 pm, I decided to head downtown to check on things.  Beauty was on top of Camera #4, guarding a sleeping Orion inside the nest box.  Thanks Ei for letting me know that.  I was not able to find Dot.ca, so after awhile, I headed over to the Brighton location.  I found both Dot.ca and Pigott on the vent on the south side of the building.  Pigott was doing her normal whining the whole time I was there.

Joyce and Brian joined me and we stayed until it started to get dark.  Just as I was leaving, both DC and P took off and flew around to the front (north) side of the building.  By the time I drove around, I found them both on windows near the scrape area.  Pigott was still whining and it was time for me to go.

Of course I had to check KP one last time before I headed home.  This time I was lucky.  Just after I arrived at 9:05 pm, KPT flew in from the east and landed on his nightly roosting spot just above the catwalk on the east stack.  Well, that was very nice!

I am happy to report that all 5 Rochester Falcons were seen today.  Always love to report that at the end of the day.  Always remember to keep your eyes to to the sky!

Here is a link to an album with some pics from today’s meeting and falcon watch.

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today was the first fledge watch meeting since Jemison and the late,great Calidora graced our skies. Looking forward to a successful fledge season without incident. The people that attended include-KathyO,LarryO,Lynda,Tim,Carol,Carrie,Shaky,Dan,Jeanne,June,Patsy,DebbieH,Joyce,Lisa and yours truly MAK.

Kathy and I arrived downtown first at around 8:15am and found Dot.Ca(DC) on the base of Mercury. He was picking at something up there with his back mostly to us..

When Larry arrived DC flew to the south corner of OCSR on the top ibeam.

I took lots of pics of Mr. DC cuz I know his peeps miss seeing him and he was posing for us after all. lol So he stayed on OCSR while we had our little meeting and Beauty was up in the nest box with Orion. The highlight of this watcher get together was when the sprinklers went off where we were sitting in Aqueduct Park. People went flying,donut holes went flying and then the gulls came in flying to get at the tasty morsels from Tim Hortons! It was chaos I tell you and pretty darn funny! lol

This is where most of us were sitting. This is who is left after sprinklers started.

After the meeting broke up Kathy,Carol,Joyce and I went up to the hole to falcon watch with Brian joining us shortly thereafter.  This weekend is the Puerto Rican Festival and they were having a parade down Main St. to start off the days festivities. Beauty made an appearance showing up on the 2nd ibeam on the west corner of OCSR.

A nice young man by the name of Karl joined us for awhile. He wants to learn about our falcons and we’re only too happy to oblige him. Kathy and I left around noon and made a short visit to the Brighton site to find Pigott. Kathy spotted her on our 2nd trip around the building on a window ledge where she had seen her before on the south side(back of building). After a few minutes she flew around to the front of the building and again after going around a couple times I spotted her on a north side window ledge. We left smiling and as they say-” that’s all she wrote “. 🙂

Click on the links below for more pics and a video

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http://youtu.be/rtY1cslNVwA

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Yes!  I can now officially include Orion in my Falcon Watch Report.  We had a nice view of him on the nest box perch, from the Broad St Bridge (BSB).

It was a cooler day, so I decided to head right over to the BS location after work to check on Pigott.  No such luck. I drove around the building a few times slowly, but never did find her.  Kathy O tried after I left and she also could not find her.  Not to worry though.  She had been seen multiple times over this past week.  It was time to head for Downtown to check on Beauty, Dot.ca and Orion.

When I arrived downtown around 4:00 pm, I found Beauty on the west corner of the top IBeam on the OCSR.  Dot.ca was on top of the Times Square Bldg (TSB) at the very top of the SE wing ring.

I was joined for a short visit by Debbie H who was on her way to her car.  We chatted for awhile and she told me she had seen Dan S early that morning on the bridge.

Just after Debbie left, Dot.ca took off from the top of the TSB and flew quickly to the south.  He slowed down just past the Dinosaur BBQ and started stooping on something out of my view.  Up and down, up and down.  I have a feeling a Red-tail Hawk might have been his target.  After a couple minutes, Dot.ca headed back, flew over me and landed on the base of the Mercury Statue, where he enjoyed a bit of leftovers.  I was joined first by Kathy O and then Dan S.

While Dot.ca was on Mercury, Beauty remained on the top IBeam of OCSR and Orion made an appearance on the nest box perch.  He was very visible from the BSB, even without binoculars.

While watching the falcons, we enjoyed watching the end of the American Legion parade.  I spoke to a woman who said her father was a member and that they were having the NYS American Legion convention in Rochester.  It was very nice to see.

Larry O joined us on the bridge.  Just after he arrived, D.C. and Beauty left while we weren’t looking.  It wasn’t long before Dot.ca returned and landed on top of the TSB, this time on the NE wing ring.  🙂  Beauty did not return before Kathy and I left.  We left Dan and Larry on the Broad St Bridge, while we checked on KPT at KP.  We had not luck finding him either.

Tomorrow morning at 9:00 am, we have our Fledge Watch Meeting at Aqueduct Park.  Hope it’s a good turnout!  We could sure use the help.

Oh, and one last thing.  Both Debbie H and Dan S told me what they saw early this morning.  Dan had arrived on the Broad St Bridge very early.  He loves to watch them hunt in the morning.  Around 7:15 am, Beauty went on a hunt on the south side of the TSB.  He saw a pigeon fly by and the chase was on.  Beauty stooped behind a building and Dan lost sight of them.

He didn’t have to wait long before Beauty flew back into sight carrying the pigeon.  Her hunt was successful.  She attempted to carry the pigeon up to the TSB, but it was too heavy.  Missing the landing there, she flew towards Dan and the river.  She was losing altitude, so she attempted to land on the roof of the Rochester Convention Ctr.  But the roof was steeply sloped, so off she slid still gripping her prey.  She finally landed on the RG&E bldg just north of the BSB on the edge of the river.  This isn’t a very high roof, but she was safe there.

Debbie arrived for a short visit and she and Dan watched as Beauty prepped the meal, feathers flying.  But, she wasn’t alone.  Three Crows arrived and landed on the roof with her.  They wanted their share!  Beauty was not in a sharing mood and the Crows soon gave up.  But they weren’t happy and they let the world know, CAWING their displeasure.

I always love hearing Dan’s stories about what he see’s on his early morning Watches.  I used to join him when I worked downtown and loved it.

Here are a few pics from today’s Watch and an album with a few more.

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

On a much more pleasant day temperature wise I ventured out to the bus stop to go downtown for a morning watch. As I made my way up Broad St. I stopped by Falcon watcher central by the stairs as I spotted Beauty on the west corner top ibeam of OCSR. I then spotted Dot.Ca(DC) on the same ibeam at the opposite end near the south corner.

Click on pics for full version

After an hour of enjoying the nice breeze and cooler temp Beauty left without me seeing and DC moved down to the south corner of the top ibeam of OCSR. In that hour I watched a couple pigeons on nearby buildings and a male house sparrow catching bugs on a fire escape ladder. Nature always provides us with something to watch. About 10 minutes later DC flew off and when he reached the Times Square area Beauty came out of nowhere and met up with him in the air. They circled above Times Square and the surrounding area above me on Aqueduct St. (the hole as I call it) a few times before the Beautyful one landed under the northeast wing on Times Square. DC continued to show me his flying skills briefly and then he landed under the southeast wing. So we had a pair of bookends to watch over Orion down in the nest box.

Patsy who works in the Thomson Reuters building came by and said hi. And shortly after that as I was looking up at the Times Square building from my spot at the base of the Falcon watcher central stairs I spotted MarkB open his window from the Times Square buildings top floor just 1 level below the nest box. He stuck his arm out and waved to me and I waved back.  10 minutes later Beauty flew down to the nest box deck landing near the main cam on the southeast corner before going further in where I couldn’t see her. DC remained under the southeast wing as Beauty flew up to the top of cam 4.

DC left when I wasn’t looking and then DebbieH joined me on her lunch break. That’s about it for my morning watch,Deb left and I took the next bus home. I departed with a big ole smile on my face for having seen falcons and falcon friends! 🙂

Click on the links below for more pics and a couple short videos

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Just a quick and short watch tonight. KathyO and CarolP were down in the hole (Aqueduct St.) when Joyce and I arrived downtown. We joined them as Beauty was on the 2nd ibeam S corner of OCSR with DC directly above her on the top ibeam.

DCBClick on pics for full version

There was a pigeon perched on a lower roof  between us and our “in hunt mode” pair. We kept hoping it would fly off and one of them would catch it so Orion could be fed. It wasn’t meant to be even though DC flew fast to the south he slowed up at the end and left our field of vision. Beauty remained on OCSR for 20 minutes after DC left and just after KathyO left so did Beauty. We didn’t see where she went off to but again we hoped that there would be dinner for the baby. CarolP headed out to check KP before going home. Beauty returned 30 minutes after she disappeared with a bunch of swifts chasing her and Joyce and I thought perhaps she had food but no luck again as she flew low above us and then went over to Widows Walk to perch from the east side of the railing.

10 minutes passed and with it almost dark out the Beautyful one stooped to the west and then proceeded to fly back through low above Joyce and I and out of sight to the south (empty taloned). We waited 10 minutes to see if she came back and with darkness upon us we left downtown with Orion on Joyces phone and a few minutes later could see Beauty on cam 4. The extreme heat had kept me from going downtown for a few days so it made me smile to get out and see our Rochester Peregrine Falcons tonight! 🙂

By Rochester falcon Watcher MAK

Well my friend Linn was too tired to drive me home last night so she said take my car and go watch falcons in the morning if you want to. Just say the word girlfriend…morning falcon watch. Oh sorry that’s 3 words! lol Ok so upon arriving on the Broad St. Bridge(BSB) it was my good fortune to see LarryO standing on the sidewalk. He stayed long enough for  both of us to see Beauty on the front ledge of the nest box with her back to us and little Orion flap his little wings in front of mommy.

After Larry left I took a drive around the city looking for Dot.Ca(DC) and then made my way over to the Brighton site(BS) when I didn’t find him. It was my mission today to find our wandering tiercel for he hadn’t been seen since Friday night around 6:00pm by Ezsha(EZ). I drove around the building slowly stopping at the usual spotting spots. Did I just say spotting spots?! lol TRANSLATION:The places we watchers pull over to have a look with our binocs. Phew! So I drove around the building once and saw nothing. My next trip I went even slower and bingo I caught a tail hanging off a ledge tucked into  a corner on the west side. I stopped the car grabbed my camera and then he showed me the rest of him-it was DC! And before I could snap off a pic Miss Pigott came into view on the same ledge to the right of him.

Pigott flew out around to the back of the building, cut back and stooped on a starling. She missed and flew to the west corner of the vent on the north side of the building. Soon after DC flew out of the hiding spot and flew to the front northeast corner of the building.

He spent some time preening and she spent her time looking for the next meal. 30 minutes passed before Pigott flew off landing on the southeast corner above where the rooftop tree grows. She was whining and soon after DC left flying south out of view. She then flew to the west side landing on the roof above the scrape toward the west end. I heard her echup a couple times and then suddenlyDC appeared from the east. She took off and flew with him to the back of the building out of view. I found Miss Pigott back on the west corner of the vent back there.

I had to get going but before I left a male American Goldfinch flew in and landed on the corner of the lower brick building. On the wayI stopped by the BSB to see if maybe DC came to see his family. I didn’t find him but I saw the Beautyful one facing me with that gorgeous salmon colored chest perched on the front ledge of the nest box!

A great way to end a watch and keep me smiling for a long time! 🙂

Click on the link below for more pics from todays watch

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I got a text from CarolP at 6:00am stating that the banding of our little eyas would be today between 10:30am and noon. I sprang out of bed and thought, alrighty then I  better check the bus schedule and plan accordingly! Took the 9:34 and arrived downtown just before 10:00am. Got Carols’ tweet that Beauty and Dot.Ca(DC) were on the OCSR building so I remained on Main St. instead of heading to the Broad St. bridge(BSB) like I usually do.

Soon after Beauty flew over to the nest box area and so I made my way up Exchange St. and landed in front of the Philipone building directly across from the entrance to the Times Square building. I figured when I saw the banding crew go into the building I’d move to the BSB where I could see the nest box area better for the activities. Joyce joined me a few minutes after I got there and then Jeanne showed up also. Somehow Carol snuck into Times Square without being seen for she was to be present for the banding. At 11:00am June Summers and a young man entered the building and so we walked over next to the Blue Cross Arena for a better angle to view the nest box and got ready for the main event. Brian had joined the entourage at this point.  We couldn’t see the side where they would take the eyas from the nest box but we knew when it was happening because Beauty flew out the nest box loudly and DC shot off the OCSR building. We had good seats for viewing Beauty and DC flying and vocalizing as their baby was removed from it’s home. DebbieH arrived around this time to watch the aerial display.

Beauty was pretty much non-stop circling the Times Square area kakking most of the time as well. DC joined her at the start but backed off a couple times landing on the money bag hand of Mercury and the OCSR building a couple times. This is normal for the males usually stay back to defend and watch over the territory while the female protects the nest box more so. There was some swooping by both adults at the brooms that were near the nest box in the well but nothing too terribly close. Of course that’s easy for me to say since I wasn’t at the end of one of those brooms! lol Jeanne had an appointment so she had to leave. Beauty also landed on the west corner top ibeam of OCSR to take a breather toward the end with DC at the other end of the ibeam.

Bill Nopper came by followed by Patsy to check things out. It was pretty quick lasting less than half an hour. You could tell the little guy had been put back because the vocalizing toned down. Then a tweet came stating it’s a BOY! Carol came over for a few minutes before she had to leave and return to work. I waited until Beauty went to the nest box to check on her little tiercel before I headed to the bus stop to come home. It seemed to go smoothly and hopefully he will fledge in a few short weeks without incident as well. We can all smile now knowing that our little one has an identity and will soon have a name as well! 🙂

Below are the links for a few more pics and a couple videos Enjoy!

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http://youtu.be/53HRersFT9k

http://youtu.be/VTtKjQBkvqk