By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was about 10 degrees cooler this morning than yesterday as I stepped out  with a temperature of 55 (F) 13 (C) and a bit of a breeze. The sunrise was peeking thru the clouds

Please click on my pics to see full version

Today I started my watch without having to search first as I pulled over on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I could see the white on Dot.Ca (DC) perched on the 2nd ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. I drove down to the hole for a closer look.

25 minutes later DC flew southwest. After checking the east side of the city I returned to find DC on the south corner top ibeam this time. He only stayed long enough for me to see him fly off again after I heard a juvie in the area.

I went back up to the BSB where I could see 2 falcons on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT)-1 on the top arm and 1 on the 2nd arm. I got all excited thinking one might be the juvie I had heard. I hadn’t seen a juvie in 4 long days!

I quick drove over to City Hall and was able to ID the falcon on the 2nd arm as Mr. Nor’Easter-a juvie finally!!!!! He was staring straight up at dad on the top arm and he had lots to say to him.

After a few minutes they both flew southeast-Nor’E returned landing on the top arm DC had just vacated only briefly before he was off to the southeast again.

5 minutes later it got real noisy as Nor’Easter came flying in with Tesh and DC. Dad went to the top arm again and our 2 blue footed kids chased each other. Tesh landed on the east side platform railing and Nor’E flew over to knock her off and then they flew west. They didn’t stay long but I was happy to have seen them just the same.

I hung out with DC hoping the juvies would return but they didn’t-he flew off  around 8:10am when I wasn’t looking.

I went over to the Andrews St. bridge (ASB) to have a look and 5 minutes later I spotted a falcon on the Kodak Office Cupola. I thought it must be DC as he likes perching on it. My cameras small LCD screen couldn’t help me ID either as it was showing its back and part of its side.

I then drove to State St. for a closer view and after seeing my pics on the computer screen I can confirm that it was a juvie on the cupola-most likely Nor’Easter.

He flew off to the north out of sight and that was the end of it. I went back to the ASB but all I saw were 2-4 workers on the church roof next to the FCT. A crane was bringing supplies up to them and I figured this would keep our falcons away from the tower. I drove around some more but never saw another falcon. I ended my watch at 9:30am with a big old smile on my face for having seen half of our Rochester Peregrine Falcons! 🙂

P.S. I saw Veteran fly past my window while writing this report-he was flapping fast as he flew from the south heading north over the Veterans Bridge from which he got his name

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/KlqU7-XGWpY

http://youtu.be/Hp5Qg1RSmNQ

http://youtu.be/OjKScAeEIZo

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

I got a late start on my watch today.  There were dark clouds heading towards downtown Rochester with some thunder and lightning too.  So I stayed home until it passed.  When I arrived downtown at 6:00 pm, the roads around Kodak Office were filled with Red Wing fans on their way to tonight’s game.  I made my rounds, but didn’t find a falcon until close to 6:30 pm.  Finally a falcon and it was Beauty preening on the Widows Walk which is next to the Times Square Bldg where the nest box is located.

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I kept hearing a juvie’s cry from overhead, and Beauty kept looking straight up, but I could not see the juvie.  Larry O arrived just before Beauty stooped off of the Widows Walk and over the Civic Center Parking Garage (6:50 pm)

After driving around a bit, I found Beauty on the 3rd arm down on the jail communication tower.  She was hunched over, checking out the birds flying below her, definitely in hunt mode.  Larry reported that there was a falcon on the southeast corner of the Kodak Tower.  I could see that bird and Beauty from where I was parked.  Beauty took off heading south over Cornhill, so I drove over to Kodak to get a closer look at the falcon there.  It was facing the building, but I am pretty sure that it was Dot.ca.

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While I was at Kodak, Larry tweeted at 7:05 pm that there was a falcon flying over the B&L building attempting to land on the spire, which is a very long point on top of the building.  Dot.ca took off at 7:10 pm and headed south towards downtown.  So did I.

I arrived on the Broad St Bridge, just in time to see two juvies flying over the river towards the Andrews St apartments.  I called to Larry who was at the east end of the bridge with his dog Harold and pointed to the two falcons.  We watched the two juvies, a male and female (definite size difference) talon tag and chase each other, mostly above the Xerox Tower and B&L.  They were tearing up the sky or as my friend Brian H says, they were sky dancing.  🙂

I had time to download one of my videos to YouTube from this evening, showing the two juvies flying high.  Just click on the following link.  Enjoy!

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http://youtu.be/7qqAAUtLLRQ

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Be sure to click on the pictures to see the full version.

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While the juvies were flying above Xerox, Dot.ca came in carrying food from the east.  He flew over us and landed on the top IBeam of the OCSR.  (7:28 pm) The juvies never stopped flying while Dot.ca prepped the pray.

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The young falcons are like most young children, tireless.  Every now and then one would land, but was soon back to flying.  The female kept up with her brother, who was more agile.  It was a joy to see this again before they left for good.

At 7:34 pm, Dot.ca took off with the prey and headed towards Xerox, where one of the juvies flew up to him and went talons up to grab the offered meal.  It was a successful food exchange.  We believe that the male got the food and that he landed on top of Xerox with it.  The female flew with Dot.ca for awhile before they both went behind the OCSR heading west.  I went looking for them, but did not find them.

Larry had to leave, so I drove around one last time and found a falcon eating on the west side of B&L.  It was too dark for me to be able to tell if it was an adult or juvie.  After finishing the meal, this falcon took off and flew around and over the Xerox Tower before stooping down towards the river heading west towards Cornhill.

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I ended my watch at 8:20 pm.  It was so good to see these juvies.  It has been awhile since we saw one of the females.  Wish we could have ID’d them.  I truly hope they are here tomorrow, so other watchers will be able to see them.  I’ll leave you with some pictures from my evening watch.  Lots of dark clouds, wind and a bit of rain.  Goodnight everyone!

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By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

A nice morning, weather wise, with a starting temperature of 66 (F) 19 (C) and sunshine

Make sure to click on my pics to see the full version

Well, it happened-I got skunked on my over 3 hour watch this morning. Not one falcon could I find but I saw other nature including a Great Blue Heron to start off the north side of the Broad St. bridge.

Next up-my favorite of the watch, a mama duck and 6 ducklings swimming below the Court St. Bridge.

We’re fortunate here in Rochester to have many bridges with many different views of wildlife and water. Who doesn’t like to look at a waterfall no matter what size!?

When there’s no falcons to watch you look for anything to entertain you and pigeons with their bobbing heads and chasing ways fit the bill.

On my 2nd or third (definitely my last) visit to the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls I spotted a Red-tail Hawk with its back to me on a spire while exiting the parking lot at the Genesee Brewery.

Suddenly a crow came along and started swooping on the hawk who was minding his own business-kinda like when falcons go after crows just because they can.

The hawk didn’t seem too bothered and the crow lost interest and moved on flying out over the river out of view. The red-tail started preening while holding on with just one foot on a very small perch. Amazing!  Oh, and it also pooped for me! lol

That’s all she wrote folks! I ended my nature watch around 9:30am smiling, for even though I saw no falcons there was still Mother Nature providing me with her beauty. 🙂

Click on the links below to see todays assortment of videos

http://youtu.be/nIJu7fpdo8E

http://youtu.be/bu1b8bbFoIk

http://youtu.be/p58v3nyRGtE

http://youtu.be/hMDwQcijzVg

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Rain was in the air today, but I had a little bit of time before the next wave hit.  I took advantage of it.  When I arrived downtown at 3:50 pm, I spotted a falcon on the Frontier Communication Tower on the northeast box.  It was Beauty.

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I left Beauty to check on the rest of the downtown area.  When I couldn’t find any falcons, I decided to go out onto the pedestrian bridge.  From there I could see that Dot.ca had joined Beauty on the Frontier Communication Tower.  He was on the 2nd arm and there was a Robin that kept flying at him and landing nearby. (4:30 pm)

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There were only a few people on the pedestrian bridge.  Dark clouds were moving in from the west.  It was going to rain again.  At 4:55 pm, both Beauty and Dot.ca were gone from their spots.  Now there was one falcon eating the the FCT platform and one on the southeast corner of the platform railing.  Based on size, I believe that it was Dot.ca on the railing and Beauty eating on the platform while he watched.

It was time to move again.  This time I parked on the Andrews St Bridge.  Dot.ca was still on the railing, but he had moved over, closer to where Beauty was eating.  Dot.ca took off at 5:20 pm, heading north towards Kodak Office.  He turned towards the east, flying fast over the river and brewery.  I kept watching him, hoping to see what had his attention, but the buildings got in the way.  I waited, hoping he would return.  He wasn’t gone long.

Ten minutes later he flew back in from the east, and he wasn’t alone!  I heard the wonderful vocalization of a juvie falcon as they both flew up to the OCSR.  There was a little bit of talon tagging and the juvie and Dot.ca flew around the building.  The juvie came back around and flew towards the Frontier Communication Tower, landing on the north side below the platform.  Dot.ca did not follow, but I did!  The juvie was moving around inside the metal framework of the tower, ending up on the southeast box.  I found a spot to park and took a few pics.  The lighting wasn’t great for taking pictures, but I do believe it was Mercury, who had been here all weekend with his brother Nor’easter.

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Mercury was hyper alert and watching everything that moved around him, including the many small birds flying by.  He took off, heading south, over City Place and back around the other side.   Mercury ended up landing on the lower roof line on the north side of City Place, probably on the lookout for any cached food.  I was able to get a few pictures before he again took off, this time heading east.  I headed in that direction and drove all over downtown, but was unable to find him again.

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He didn’t stay long, but I was very happy to see that he was still in the area.  You can bet the Watchers will continue to be on the lookout for glimpses of our four young falcons.

Kathy O tweeted that she had also drove around looking for Mercury, but was unable to find him.  We were only able to find one falcon and that was an adult on the Kodak Tower facing in.

Both Brian H and Jeanne texted a warning that thunderstorms were heading into Rochester soon, so Kathy and I decided to call it a watch at 7:55 pm.  As I was driving out of the city, the rain arrived.  Tomorrow will hopefully be a nicer day.

Goodnight everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a gloomy watch with rain at the start and at the end with starting temperature of 67 (F) 19 (C)

Well folks, this was the 2nd day in a row with no juvie sightings-they weren’t seen by the night crew last night either.  It’s time to face the possibility that they may have gone to start the next part of their life experience. They have been a fun bunch to watch and with any luck there will be a little more, but at this point I’m not counting on it.

Todays watch was all Beauty as I found her on the Mercury money bag. She allowed me to share space with her for approximately 5 minutes before flying off chasing pigeons across the river and over the Rochester Convention Center out of sight to the northeast.

20 minutes later at 6:55am as I made my way back to the Broad St. Bridge I spotted a falcon hovering above Xerox. At first I got excited thinking it was a juvie but by the style of flight  it was showing and the ragged looking wing feathers I believe it was the Beautyful one. She was gone within less than a minute.

I wouldn’t see her or any other falcon again until around 9:30am as I pulled over on the Andrews St. Bridge for the 3rd or 4th time. She was on the top ibeam northwest side of OCSR catching some shut eye as it began to rain.

I had to leave her for an appointment but I didn’t go without a smile because any time spent with Beauty makes me happy! 🙂

Click on the pics below to view just 2 short videos from todays watch

http://youtu.be/nVdjSfK2yLI

http://youtu.be/qHUj4XjIXJ8

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The starting temperature this morning was 60 (F) 16 (C) with hazy sunshine

Please click on my pics to see the full version

I found Beauty on the northeast corner of HSBC to start my watch-she didn’t stay long (2 minutes to be exact) before flying northeast out of view.

20 minutes later while parked on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) I spotted a falcon on the top arm of the jail tower with its back to me. I took a pic and left for Troup St. where I could get a front view-it was Beauty. Again, she didn’t stay long and flew off just before the 7 o’clock hour to the southwest over Cornhill.

I looked but never found the Beautyful one. After checking around downtown I stopped on the Court St. bridge around 7:30am to check out the river. I’m glad I did for I spotted not one but two Black-crowned Night Herons hunting under the BSB. One of them caught what looked like a crayfish/crawfish and was trying to soften it up to swallow it down when the other heron rushed it. Obviously, it wanted to steal the prize but failed as the other guy flew off with it. I shot a video of it all taking place.

Both herons flew down river out of view so I drove over to the BSB where I found one of them hunting near the RG&E sub-station.

Now it was time to look for falcons from the Andrews St. Bridge-bingo, I spotted one on the 3rd ibeam northwest side. I went down to State St. across from the Rochester Plaza Hotel to observe Dot.Ca (DC) with fresh prey.

He flew off with it after a couple minutes and took it to the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT). I literally chased after him in my car, and it was a good thing because where he landed with it I might not have found him so easily as if I hadn’t watched him land from Church and Fitzhugh St. DC was on the beam that supports the northeast and southeast cubes behind the large disk.

DC had a little nibble of his catch but I really think he took it there thinking a juvie would show up to eat for he left with it after 5 minutes or so. He flew southeast out of sight and I wasn’t able to locate him again. I ended up on the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge where all I found was a Great Blue Heron down in the river on the north side preening.

I left there to take one more trip around the city-I found Beauty tucked in a northeast corner of FCT. She was trying to nap while a robin was yapping at her.

I never found any juvies and ended my watch at about 10am. I sure would like to see the girls as they haven’t been seen in quite a few days. Perhaps they’ll show themselves tomorrow. As I approached Seneca Towers (home) I spotted Veteran on the west corner of the railing on top of the roof.

Seeing 3 adult Peregrine Falcons is enough to make me smile! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos
http://youtu.be/VrdfhaXE6YQ
http://youtu.be/q8o0EzzHBpQ
http://youtu.be/8hruP9ySzQA
http://youtu.be/fF2Ay3XysfY
http://youtu.be/o-Kl9sGSwMU
http://youtu.be/g-H7_6a0oX4
http://youtu.be/8zcuFoRF-4M

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Sorry, but due to a major server problem on the forum this morning my report from yesterday was lost. This is a summary of the watch with links for my photo album and videos that thankfully I could retrieve from youtube and Shutterfly. If you watch the videos they will pretty much tell the story.

The weather was perfect. I started the day with the super moon on the west side of my place and a super sunrise on the east. In the hole to begin with, I watched 2 gulls having a dispute and Dot.Ca (DC) on OCSR then he went to the jail tower where he was knocked off by a juvie. The rest of the watch was spent at the Frontier Communications Tower where first Carol, then Dana joined me. The boys-Mercury and Nor’Easter were present doing a lot of whining with full crops as they had both eaten but still begged the Beautyful one for more. They were back and forth from City Place to the tower until they both flew north and didn’t return. Beauty was left to nap in peace. I left at 10am after a fun 4 hour watch! 🙂

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqj2e

http://youtu.be/xL3V2_o3w6s
http://youtu.be/6tnGgh4ggGM
http://youtu.be/wyeP3TICsrM
http://youtu.be/-5QjditzKig
http://youtu.be/93eIEzsO53w
http://youtu.be/2g4mOOaLM-Q
http://youtu.be/fyRnKQ-Fs5I
http://youtu.be/asnDjaDuQ6M
http://youtu.be/HprrGkurcwU
http://youtu.be/gCxzu3B3Ayc

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a beautiful morning for a watch with a starting temperature of 55 (F) 13 (C) and a hazy sunrise

Click on my pics to see full view

Dan was on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) when I arrived this morning-we didn’t see a falcon until 6:45am. We actually saw 2 fly thru behind the Times Square Building (TSB) and go south to the jail tower. They both landed and took off quickly in between talon tagging.

They disappeared and ended up at the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) where Carol tweeted seeing them. Dan and I went over there to join her in the parking lot across from Frontier by the Hochstein school of music. A juvie was on the City place building, Mercury was by the southeast cube of FCT and Beauty was on the top arm of FCT.

Mercury moved over and the City Place juvie flew south-then the Beautyful one and Mercury flew north. One of them landed on Kodak Office (KO) then Beauty came flying back with prey and landed on the FCT platform.

At first Beauty rested after carrying her package-she plucked feathers and had a bite then stood over the food. Dan left and Carol took a cruise while I stayed with Beauty who moved over to the east side before flying south.

I watched Beauty meet a juvie near Widows Walk (WW)-I believe a 2nd juvie joined in, then 1 juvie took off from WW and another landed on the north railing of WW. It had prey dangling from its talons so I suspect there was a food exchange. Beauty flew northwest, then the WW juvie flew off while I was tweeting.

As Carol and I met up at FCT again there were 2 juvies vocalizing on up there but I only found Nor’Easter at first then Mercurys head appeared-he soon started moving west on the beam away from Nor’Easter.

Beauty was above them watching as Mercury jumped up from the white section to the red leaving Nor’E behind.

That’s where I left them as I had to be somewhere-what a fun watch today having seen the boys for sure and Beauty, which put a smile on this old face! 🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/JpwRVOn4q5A

http://youtu.be/ZJ9IVdgpQTQ

http://youtu.be/mbnWWbNOQRU

http://youtu.be/WHVcel3HP0o

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

4:00 to 8:30 pm

Another gorgeous afternoon with temps in the 70’s (F), blue sky and a little bit of a breeze.  When I was walking out to my car after work today, I said to my friend Patty, it’s a perfect day for falcons to fly.

I’ve fallen into my normal routine of checking out the Kodak Tower first.  After only seeing Beauty and Dot.ca yesterday, I was hoping for a juvie sighting today.  I parked on the side of the Frontier Field Stadium and checked out the west and south sides of the Kodak Tower.  Nothing.  The next thing I do is pull in front of the stadium to check out the Frontier Communication Tower.  Still no falcons.  But what was that sound above!  So familiar, yet I hadn’t heard it for awhile.  I looked up just in time to see three falcons flying overhead.  One adult and two juvies were flying towards the Kodak Tower!  I quickly drove around to the east side and from there I could see Beauty on the 19th floor looking down at two juvies on the southeast corner of the 17th floor.

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There must have been a food exchange that I missed.  One juvie was mantling food, while the other, smaller one, stood nearby.  There was still a lot of loud vocalizing from the juvies.  After awhile Beauty took off, heading southeast over the gorge towards downtown.  One juvie immediately took off and followed.  The 2nd juvie stayed for a little while and then also took off.  Well, that was fun!  🙂

Now of course I had no falcons in sight again.  I took off and drove all over, first checking the gorge from the pedestrian bridge and then driving around the downtown area.  I did spot two falcons flying high over the Midtown area, but soon lost them behind buildings.  I ended up on the Broad St Bridge, where I met Brian H.  Joyce soon arrived and she and Brian went up to the top of the South Ave Ramp Garage for a look around the area from a higher vantage point.  I headed out again and drove around looking for the falcons.  That’s when Kathy O sent out a tweet that there was a falcon on the top arm of the Frontier Communication Tower.

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While we were watching this juvie, we were approached by one of the folks that works inside City Hall.  His name is Alan, and he was very interested in the Rochester Falcons.  Kathy and I answered all his questions and gave him a card.  He promised to come back and join us one day, this time with his binoculars.  🙂

This juvie took off and we didn’t realize that he had landed lower on the 2nd arm down.  Kathy O was the first to spot a juvie eating dinner on the very top of the OCSR.  Based on size, we believe this was a female.  She took a very long time eating her meal and ended up going out of view on the roof with a very large crop.

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Joyce and Brian joined us and let us know that the falcon that had been on the top arm of FCT had flown down to the 2nd arm.  Joyce was able to positively ID this falcon as Mercury!

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Brian and Kathy O left and Joyce and I enjoyed some time watching Mercury moving about the framework of the Frontier Communication Tower.  At one point, he was joined by a very irate Robin that continuously vocalized its displeasure at Mercury’s presence.  The Robin got way too close to Mercury who showed a lot of interest in the brightly colored bird.  Not to worry, the brave Robin finally flew away safely.

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Jeanne joined us and I decided it was time for me to leave.  But, of course, I have a way of not being able to tear myself away from a good falcon watch.  lol  I said goodbye to Jeanne and Joyce and headed back towards the Broad St Bridge where I spotted a familiar figure sitting in his chair.  I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to Dan!  As I approached him, he was intently watching the jail communication tower.  There was an adult on the top arm and Dan told me a juvie was at the very top, but very hard to see.  He said if he hadn’t seen the juvie land there, he probably would not have known it was up there.

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Dan explained to me that this juvie had been following the adult around while it hunted, displaying the behavior of a young falcon wanting to be fed by the parent.  The juvie was flying with its wings drooped down and vocalizing.  Due to Dan’s report, I had to assume that this was a 3rd juvie.  Joyce still had Mercury on FCT and the juvie we had seen eating on top of the OCSR had a very full crop after finishing a meal.  So this 3rd juvie was hungry and looking for food.

The adult took off and headed north.  From the Broad St Bridge, I could see a falcon on the cupola of the Kodak Tower.

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Joyce reported that Mercury had taken off from the Frontier Communication Tower heading south towards the Times Square Bldg.  We did not see where he went.  The juvie at the top of the jail communication tower stood up and we were able to get a better look.  By this time it was getting dark and there was no way to ID this bird.

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Just before 8::30 pm, the jail bird took off and flew over the Cornhill area where we quickly lost sight of it.  It was time for the watchers to end their watch and head home.  I am so glad the weekend is here and that it promises to be a couple of beautiful summer days.  Woohoo!

Goodnight everyone and have a wonderful weekend!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This morning the starting temperature was 55 (F) 13 (C) with hazy sunshine

Beauty and Dot.Ca (DC) have raised this years brood different than previous ones as I see it. In the past we watched fledglings on the Frontier Communications Tower a lot-like every day, and I don’t recall it being so hard to find them. Perhaps it’s because there’s 4 of them-they seem much more advanced at this time of their development than previous broods. Maybe it’s because Beauty and DC  are maturing themselves as a pair and just have a different approach-whatever the reason, we’re not seeing them much anymore and they will soon disappear altogether on their life journey.

Click on my pics to see the full version

My first sighting of a raptor this morning was around 8am as I was leaving the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge at High Falls. Some crows were squawking up a storm and chasing a Red-tail Hawk. One of them landed on a light pole and so did the hawk.

As you can see the sun was behind them making for silhouetted images. I actually changed locations 2 more times to fix that problem.

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A bee came by to hassle the hawk as well, who was just trying to look for breakfast down below.

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The bee left and Mr. Red-tail got back to the business of hunting. He pooped, scratched himself and after a lot of head bobbing almost took  off a couple times.

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I moved around behind him to check his red tail and I was amazed that he wasn’t taking off as they usually do as soon as you get ready to take a picture. You can really see the color and quality difference of the pics when you have the right back lighting.

Next up, a robin came flying in landed on the next light pole down and kept warning the hawk with a verbal assault. The hawk put up with this for about 10 minutes then flew off into a tree in the gorge and the robin, quite pleased with itself flew off as well in the opposite direction.

As I was visiting the High Falls again 2 hours later, I was just about to call it quits and admit defeat when I got a tweet from Dana saying she had Beauty under the Frontier Communications Tower platform. As I was walking to my car to go over there Dana yelled out to me. We had a chat and then I left to check out the Beautyful one before ending my watch.

No juvie sighting this morning-fingers crossed that I see one or more tomorrow. I left Beauty at 10:35am content and smiling, even though she was napping, it was still good to see her and get a falcon fix today.  🙂

Click on the links below to view todays videos

http://youtu.be/f3gWeVrmi8A

http://youtu.be/snbxrsAxOxI

http://youtu.be/iacTG3h20Yg