By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Thankfully today is the last day for shortened morning watches for me.  An hour isn’t always long enough to find and observe our Rochester falcons, especially these days. They are not real easy to find at times. Just when I think Beauty has a regular pattern she switches it up on me. Like the last 2 days I first saw her under the northeast wing of the Times Square building. Here’s 2 pics from yesterdays watch.

I think a routine is born and bam this morning she blows that out of the water by being on the jail tower.  I haven’t seen her there in a long time. Go figure!

There was a little birdie dive-bombing her on the tower too just like on the Times Square building the last few days. The Beautyful one must have rubbed someone the wrong way! lol  Yesterday morning I got to spend about 15 minutes with her and today was less than 10 minutes before she was off flying to the north.

I drove from Troup St. onto Exchange St. and as I approached  Broad St. I saw a falcon fly in to the nestbox from the north side. Donna confirmed that it was Beauty and that she was in and out quickly. I turned down Aqueduct St. and took a pic of  the view from there. The crane that was used to repair Mercurys’  foot wings 2 or 3 weeks ago was in the Thomson Reuters parking lot.

I never saw Beauty again but I was happy to hear that Archer had met her around 5:00am at the nestbox after a 2 day absence there. Another broken pattern. Meanwhile over at KP Unity continues to hang out in the scrape as if there are eggs in there, but none of the watchers can see any eggs. Our Rochester falcons are certainly keeping us guessing this summer! I’ll end my report with a pic of the resident Great Blue Heron fishing in the Genesee River this morning. Have a great day falcon peeps! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Well folks what can I say?  I didn’t see Beauty until my short watch was more than half over. She showed up under the northeast wing of  the Times Square building.

I left the Broad St. bridge to go down to Aqueduct St. to be closer to Beauty. Yesterday one robin was going after her. Today there were several smaller birds dive-bombing the Beautyful one! She remained there ducking and preening for the remainder of my watch.

And that’s all she wrote! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Arriving downtown about 5;15am there were no falcons around but there was plenty of trash on the Broad St. bridge from the fireworks last night. I was in attendance and they were spectacular! The street cleaner kept chasing me around the Times Square area. lol So I drove over to the east side and checked out Xerox and HSBC with no sightings. As I arrived back on the Broad St. bridge I could see Beauty on the perch in the nestbox.

She was only there long enough for a pic and off she went to land on the base of Mercury grab a bit of cached food and fly over to  OCSR 2nd ibeam on the southeast side(riverside).

She quickly ate what she had and flew over to the Times Square building and landed under the northeast wing.

The Beautyful one was not letting any moss grow under her talons this morning for 5 minutes later she flew down to the ledge that is located directly above the nestbox. I had to smile when a robin came swooping down on Beauty as she was preening. She stopped momentarily, probably to figure out what happened and then went right back to preening. Meanwhile the robin had flown up to under the southeast wing of the Times Square building and was giving her the business, squawking up a storm!

Each place Beauty went to she stayed less than 5 minutes. She has a white feather on her right wing which is ready to come out anytime for it was blowing in the breeze yesterday. It’s giving me a bit of a problem identifying her because Archer has one on the right wing too. Hers is located lower than his but it still throws me off sometimes and so I try to get a look at her from the front to be sure.

This is the view from Aqueduct St. parked by the Wilder building

After reading the forum I see that Donna had both Beauty and Archer in the nestbox at 5:36am. That would be when I was on the east side searching and I didn’t see Archer at all this morning little sneak that he is! lol I had a short watch this morning and will for the remainder of the week due to transportation reasons but next week I will be back to my usual 3 hour watches. I ended this watch with Beauty on the ledge above the nestbox. Have a great day everyone and keep your eyes to the sky! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Happy Independence Day my fellow Americans! Hello to all falcon watchers around the world. It took nearly 2 hours this morning before I had a sighting and when I did I got a bonus. Both Beauty and Archer flew, one right after the other into the nestbox. Archer left and flew over to the fire escape ladder on the Wilder building.

Beauty stayed in the nestbox where I couldn’t see her from Aqueduct St. so I  watched Archer preen himself for about a half hour. He took off after pooping

and Beauty went over to the west corner of the OCSR building 2nd ibeam down.

Beauty stayed there for 20 minutes or so before flying off and joining Archer over at the nestbox again.

They were only in there for a couple of minutes when Archer flew back over to the Wilder building landing on top of the fire escape ladder again.

He preened for 15 minutes then flew off to the north without returning. I had to end my watch at this point. The Main St. bridge was closed off for the fireworks display to be set up for tonight. Enjoy your day everyone! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Joyce picked Brian and I up this morning and we headed out for a fledge watch in Buffalo. We went to UB first and found BB on McKay tower and nobody else in sight. Next up was Central Terminal where we found watchers Sage,Roger,Michelle and Enrique. Stash and all the juvies were on the terminal but Stella was hiding somewhere that we couldn’t see her.

We saw some nice flying from the CT falcons today. The weather was warm,sunny and breezy. They flew on the wind currents very well. Since the Buffalo watchers had all left and things were quiet at CT we decided to go check out the Statler site. We went up to the 26th floor of the Rand building where Brian spotted a juvie on the Liberty building and we all saw an adult on the perch at the nest site.

From the Statler building in downtown Buffalo we went to the grain elevator on the shore of Lake Erie. We sat there for a while enjoying the beach front. We didn’t see any falcons at this site so we went back to Central Terminal to enjoy some more fine falcon flying! We do believe we saw the whole family of 6 at one time or another.

After a while they seemed to hunker down so we said goodbye and thanked them for their time. Our last stop would be the University of Buffalo. We were treated to some fine feathered flying here as well. Joyce spotted the first 2 juvies and they went flying off out of sight eventually. Then we saw a couple juvies on Hayes Hall. With more flying by 2 other juvies and landing on the medical building on campus. Before we left for the evening we got to see a flying show with 3 juvies  and an adult ( if I remember correctly ) above and around McKay tower. It was a fabulous falcon fledge watch for sure! 🙂

Here’s the link for todays photo album:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=869873662213%3A873110138&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Top

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

When I arrived downtown this morning Archer was on top of the fire escape ladder of the Wilder building.

He flew off less than a minute later vocalizing and I watched him go over to Widows Walk and land on the railing northwest end. I spotted Beauty on the base at the northeast end.

Make sure to click on the pics for a full larger image.  Archer flew off to the north and I thought perhaps he was leaving for Kodak Park.

He fooled me by rejoining Beauty on the Widows Walk about 30 minutes later. He probably went over to the FCT. Meanwhile Beauty was picking at a leftover wing. They had a few things to say to each other and he was off again fast into a stoop behind buildings and returning with a fresh meal for the Beautyful one.

Beauty plucked feathers out of it to prepare for consumption and proceeded to eat her breakfast. She would not let Archer near it as she does not usually like to share. Archer would fly up and circle her on a few occasions landing on different spots until he left for good. Beauty flew over to the Times Square building landing next to the main camera and then going into the nestbox.

I ended my watch at this point because  the Jehovahs witnesses were starting to filter in quite heavily and so I thought I would get while the gettin’ was good. Archer had left the area and Beauty was hunkered down in the nestbox. It was a fast 2 hour watch with plenty to see.  I will be going to Buffalo shortly with Joyce and Brian for a fledge watch. Have great day everyone! 🙂

For more pics of my watch got to this link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=656768562213%3A1039776023&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharer-_-Top

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hi gang! Yesterday I had nothing to report other than I did catch a glimpse of a falcon going into the nestbox. The little sneaks! This morning it was half hour into my watch before I found Beauty on the southeast corner of the HSBC building. The sun was shining quite nicely on her and I could tell she was in hunting mode because she was looking all around and down.

Notice the color difference, the first pic with the sun to my right and the second with the sun behind me. Isn’t that amazing?!  Anyway, I got to spend all of maybe 10 minutes with her before she was off and stooping!

Boy she was fast streaking through to behind the Columbus building and out of sight. Only to resurface for some height so she could stoop again. The Beautyful one did this 3 more times diving down in a stoop and coming back up for some altitude. I tell ya these birds are just so exciting to watch. I don’t think I could ever tire of seeing them! Sooo now the hunt is on to find a falcon.  I spotted Mr. Great Blue Heron and filled a few minutes of my watch checking out the river.

It would be close to 2 hours later that I caught one more brief glimpse of the elusive one Beauty. I was getting ready to call it a watch when I spotted her on the west corner of the OCSR building 2nd ibeam down. I tweeted it out and drove down to Aqueduct St. but she had left while I was in transit. There was lots of foot and car traffic near the Blue Cross Arena and Times Square area this morning because the Jehovahs Witnesses are in town again. They’ll be here through the weekend. Keep your eyes to the sky! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

There were no falcons in the nestbox when I left for my watch this morning. After I arrived downtown it took me about 30 minutes to find Beauty on the Frontier Communications tower.

The Beautyful one and I spent 15 minutes together before she was off and flying.

What a blurry take off shot but you get the picture!lol

5 minutes later I found her on the base of Mercury.

I didn’t notice at first that she was picking at something. Once the feathers started flying I knew she had prey up there.

Beauty plucked feathers for a few minutes, picked at this small morsel for a few and then preened and cleaned herself up. I thought to myself maybe she is making herself presentable for when Archer comes a callin’! So I stayed on the Broad St. bridge watching Beauty until she flew off.  It was perfect timing for I had to be flying off as well. Keep your eyes to the sky everyone! 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Beauty was in the nestbox when I left home for my watch and when I arrived downtown she was still there at 5:17am.

It’s kinda dark at this time of the morning lol

I parked on the Broad St. bridge  and watched for a little over an hour when the Beautyful one  flew out of the nestbox.

I had to get the truck home at this time. As I left I got a message from Donna saying both Beauty and Archer were in the nestbox. So the little sneak Archer pulled a fast one on old MAK again! I swear he must whip in there while I’m blinking sometimes. lol So about 40 minutes later I was checking Kodak Park.  No pefa in sight there so I returned to downtown Rochester and found Beauty on the top arm of the Frontier Communications tower.

She flew off  when I wasn’t looking.  I went over to the Times Square area arriving just in time to see a falcon fly into the nestbox. Donna informed me that both Beauty and Archer were in the nestbox at this time. As I drove down to Aqueduct St. sneaky Archer went over to the top of the fire escape ladder on the Wilder building.

He stayed there for 10 minutes preening and just being his cute self when suddenly he started working on getting a pellet up and out. I saw it come out of his mouth and then he took off. I guess he had to lighten his load a bit!

Next I found Beauty on Widows Walk on the north side railing same place I saw her yesterday.

She stayed there for 20 minutes and flew off while I was speaking to a gentleman on his way to work in the Thomson Reuters building. After checking the Kodak Office tower I found Archer not Beauty on the top arm of the FCT.  I had reported on my tweet that it was Beauty but after a closer look on my computer screen it looks like Archer.

It was nice to hang out with Archer today. I ended my watch here when he flew off to parts unknown. 🙂

By Rochester falcon watcher MAK

Hi all! Today my watch started a bit later than usual due to Sue starting her new job at 7:00am. For the next 2 weeks I will go out before she goes to work to check on the Beautyful one. If I don’t find her I will go back out after I take Sue to work. Now then, today I found Beauty on the Widows Walk.

I parked down on Aqueduct St. as we hung out for about an hour before she took off flying northeast. She did lots of preening in this time. I was not able to locate her again but I did stop by the Broad St. bridge and take some pics of the river and it’s water birds.

As I made my rounds looking for Beauty I stopped by Kodak Office and spotted this Kestrel up on the netting that was placed around the playpen area where the M&K nestbox was located. Now that I have gotten a close look I’m hoping it’s talons weren’t caught in the netting. I will go back and check to see if it’s still there in a bit. Until next time I hope everyone stays safe and happy! 🙂

For more pics from my watch go to this link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=164326262213%3A2040481896&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharer-_-Top