Cool!  Thanks, Donna.  I like the fact that people are calling the aqueduct "the gallery."  It really is.   

Wonderful!  Thanks to all of the watchers who have so patiently waited and watched Billy for a long time now, hoping to get a shot of those bands.  I am thinking she is the same pefa we've seen at Hawkeye and Seneca Towers.  Perhaps Beauty and Dot.ca are pushing her further north, away from their territory.  Hopefully she'll stay around for a while. 

I'm thrilled that Billy came to my neighborhood, and you can bet I'll be watching for her!

And more togetherness this afternoon.    Too bad he'll be leaving soon. 

The Irondequoit Bay Bridge is almost identical in construction to the I-35 bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis a few years ago.  Since that time there have been several repairs to it, and they still don't seem to have gotten it right.  Kind of scary.

Glad you like them! 

The Erie Canal Aqueduct under the Broad Street Bridge was open to the public today for the 2013 River Romance weekend, so I decided to venture in there and take a few photos of the ever changing and wondrous graffiti/wall art that is beneath the feet of our dedicated falcon watchers.  Enjoy!  http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1IYsWLRsxaumA

Frank needs to go find Rosetta! 

My thoughts exactly, MAK!  They could make beautiful babies together.   

Okay, I'm sufficiently creeped out now.   

Here's something I wouldn't have thought of regarding the federal government shutdown, from today's Democrat & Chronicle:

Volunteer keeps frozen dead eagle due to shutdown
David Riley, ROC 4:55 p.m. EDT October 1, 2013

Thanks to the partial U.S. government shutdown, a wildlife rehabilitator in Orleans County is storing a dead bald eagle in her freezer.

The shutdown, in its first day, began Tuesday and is caused by congressional gridlock over a fiscal 2014 spending bill.

However, Wendi Pencille, of Medina, Orleans County, a licensed volunteer wildlife rehabilitator who takes care of orphaned and injured birds of prey including seven eagles over the past three years, has been monitoring recent looming government gridlock.

More: How has the shutdown affected New York?

At the advice of the staff at the National Eagle Repository outside Denver, Colo., she has a dead eagle in the deep freeze.

Normally, when one of her birds dies, Pencille sends the remains to the National Eagle Repository, and staffers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife program then ships eagle carcasses, feathers or other parts to Native Americans in federally recognized tribes for use in traditional ceremonies.

But with the threat of a federal government shutdown looming, Pencille said repository staff recently told her not to ship the eagle because no one would be available to receive and move it to their freezer.

The repository is the only place to legally obtain eagle remains.

"I said maybe I should send it to a congressman instead," she said.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife offices are now closed because of the federal shutdown.

Pencille, who volunteers with the Bless the Beasts Foundation, said she only sends one or two birds a year to the repository. For now, the eagle remains in a freezer she keeps for wildlife remains.

"I'd love to get it out of here now," she said.

Oh no!     Thanks, Kris.  I hope they can get some samples and figure out what is wrong.

Glad to do it, Kris.  I'm surprised there was something on the website, as they haven't been very forthcoming with information lately. 

That was my thought as well, Ei, although I didn't know DDT is still being used in some countries.  I guess the words to "Big Yellow Taxi" are still appropriate.

From the Falconcam Project website:

27th August saw the arrival of the first new egg

2nd Sept saw the completion of this season’s laying with a total of 3 eggs, and roughly the commencement of dedicated incubation by both Beau and Swift.

6th Sept unfortunately saw the destruction of the 3rd egg, which was cleaned up by Swift shortly afterwards

28 Sept saw another egg crushed and it appears the cuplrit has again been Beau in a clumsy attempt at helping out; we’re hanging on to this last egg now (figuratively!) in the hope that it hatches. Approximate incubation period for these peregrines averages between 29 and 33 days, so any time from now on we’re hoping for some good news up the tower.

Oh no!