Happy first day of May! We are very happy to announce the arrival of Beauty and Dot.ca’s first eyas at 6:11 pm.

To see the larger version of the pictures, please click on them.

It wasn’t long before Dot.ca arrived to check out the new arrival.

As you can see in the picture above, there is a pip (small hole) in the darker egg. It won’t be long before the first eyas is joined by his/her siblings.

Be sure to check out our streaming video! Enjoy!

This morning, at approximately 10:52 am, Beauty laid her 4th egg.

She has never laid more than four eggs in a season. If she does lay a fifth egg, it should happen on April 1st at approximately 8:00 pm (give or take).

In the meantime, they will probably start hard incubation now. It won’t be long before small, white fluffy eyases make an appearance!

Please stay safe everyone!

Very early this morning, at 3:12 am, Egg #3 arrived. We may have missed it, but our cameras are tireless. They caught the whole happy event. We even have a video snippet for your viewing pleasure!

Video of just after 3rd egg was laid (Click link below.)
http://youtu.be/7406NvrNsgQ?t=11377

A few hours later, Dot.ca came in to check on all three of his eggs!

If there is a 4th egg, it should arrive around noon-1 pm on Monday. Beauty and Dot.ca average 4 eggs each year.

We here at Rfalconcam hope that everyone is doing well and staying healthy.

Woohoo! Egg #2! 🙂

It took approximately 57 hours for Beauty to lay her 2nd egg at 4:42 pm. It didn’t take long for Dot.ca to check it out. The 3rd egg will probably arrive early Saturday morning. Stay tuned!

I believe we all needed a bit of good news! On this cold, rainy morning here in Rochester, NY, Beauty laid her first egg of 2020. We here at Rfalconcam were eggstatic to see the arrival of this beautiful egg!

Let’s take time to remember our 2019 Rochester Falcon Season as we patiently, or not so patiently, wait for our 2020 season to begin.

It was a year full of happiness and sadness.

Four beautiful eyases arrived and were banded on May 31st.

All four grew strong under the watchful eyes of their parents Beauty and Dot.ca. Their faithful watchers witnessed all four successfully fledge.

Soon after fledging, on June 23rd, we lost our only female, Donna. She was found, deceased, on the road near Cornhill Landing. She was very close to home.

The three boys continued to thrive after the loss of their sister. For the next two months, the Rochester Falcon Watchers continued to keep an eye on them.

On August 4th, Jupiter was found injured on the ground near Kodak Office. He was taken to a local rehabber and vet. The X-rays showed that he had a broken coracoid bone in his shoulder and possible soft tissue damage on the other side. His prognosis was good. After a successful rehab, he was released on November 6th. Jupiter was seen once in Rochester after his release. He has not been seen since.

On August 24, we were notified that a third Rochester juvenile was found injured. Phoenix was found on the ground in Brockport. He was transported to the Cornell Wildlife Veterinary Clinic by the DEC and a rehabber. They did everything they could to save his life, but he did not survive his injuries. It was determined that he had hit a window on a building at a high rate of speed. He was probably hunting. It is so important that windows be marked so that the birds are able to see them.

Lakota was seen a few times downtown with Beauty, looking for food. There have been no sightings since then. We all hope that he and Jupiter are doing well.

Now we wait. Both Beauty and Dot.ca have been seen frequently in the new nest box on the Times Square Bldg. They are both very busy working on digging scrapes that will hold their eggs.

As I’m typing this report, I have received word that a Rochester Falcon Watcher has just witnessed Beauty and Dot.ca copulating on the base of the Mercury statue! Let the 2020 season begin!!!

Jupiter’s time in rehab has ended successfully! He was released about 15 miles west of Rochester yesterday afternoon. His release was witnessed by a few of the Rochester Falcon Watchers. It was a cold day, but the sun was shining and the sky was a bright blue. A perfect day!

The door to the carrier was opened, and it took about 2 minutes for Jupiter to realize he was free. He launched himself from the carrier, heading towards the tree line. Strong, steady wing beats took him higher and higher. When he reached the trees, we thought he might land on one of them, but not our Jupiter. He did a U-turn and headed back towards us. Jupiter flew directly overhead, giving us a good look at how well he was flying. At one point, he lowered both his talons, before tucking them in and continuing on.

He was heading northwest when we lost sight of him. So in the general direction of Rochester/Braddock Bay. But of course there is no way to know for sure where he ended up.

We all wished him safe travels as he begins the next step of his life!

We are very thankful to the rehabber and vets that took such good care of him. For now, we won’t say who, until we receive permission to do so.

Here are some pictures taken by some of the watchers that were there to witness Jupiter’s freedom flight.

Photo credits to: Pat Carey, Joyce Miller, Dana Mulhern, Kathy Olney and Carol Phillips

It is with much sadness that we have to report the loss of another young Rochester falcon, Phoenix.

On August 24th, Phoenix was found injured in the Town of Brockport, 20 miles west of Rochester. He was taken to a rehabilitator not too far way. The severity of Phoenix’s injuries were determined. He had a severe spinal injury. The rehabilitator, with help from a Department of Environmental Conservation Officer, was able to transport Phoenix to the Cornell Wildlife Veterinary Clinic. Unfortunately, despite the effort to help Phoenix, we just learned that Phoenix did not survive his injuries.

June Summers
President
Genesee Valley Audubon Society

Jupiter was found walking the streets of downtown Rochester, Sunday evening, August 4th. Fortunately, someone who knew that he was a Peregrine Falcon called our falcon watchers, who picked him up and took him to a local rehab center.

He was x-rayed by a veterinarian who found that Jupiter had a broken coracoid bone in his shoulder. The other shoulder might have a soft tissue injury that also needs rest.

Jupiter will be at the rehab center for three to four weeks while he rests and recovers.

June Summers
President
Genesee Valley Audubon Society

These pictures of Jupiter were taken before he was injured.

Since Sunday, June 23, 2019, the falcon watchers have put a lot of time and effort into locating Donna, the eyas from the Time Square Building scrape that was banded this year as 31/BW. Unfortunately, we found out this afternoon from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that Donna’s body was found in the road near Corn Hill Landing Sunday afternoon. The person who found her eventually called the DEC on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 25th. Her body is being sent to Albany for a necropsy.

Many thanks to the falcon watchers for their efforts to find Donna. Now is the time to remember that there are three other young falcons to keep our eyes on. That is what they will be doing.

June Summers
President
Genesee Valley Audubon Society