A third egg arrived a little earlier than we expected Thursday afternoon at 3:31 pm. Beauty usually averages between 58-59 hours between eggs. It was only 56 hours between her 2nd and 3rd egg. Nothing is ever certain in the world of the Peregrine Falcon! 🙂

Right on schedule, Beauty laid her 2nd egg at 7:40 am!

You can also watch this Video of the 2nd Egg.

At 8:34 pm, Beauty laid her first egg of 2019 in the nest box on top of the Times Square Bldg in Rochester, NY!

Our new main camera did a wonderful job. There were many thrilled falcon fans watching the live streaming video.

Congrats to parents Beauty and Dot.ca and to all their many fans!

2018 was a very successful year for our Rochester Falcons!

Beauty laid four eggs in April, but only three hatched in May. The fourth egg started to leak and was taken from the nest by Dot.ca. While falcon fans around the world watched, three eyases thrived under the care of their parents. Mike, Letchworth and Sundara grew up into beautiful fledglings right before our eyes.

They were banded by the DEC and given their names by falcon fans on May 29th. By mid-June, they had taken flight under the watchful eyes of Beauty, Dot.ca and the Rochester Falcon Watchers.

We here at the Rochester Falconcam want to thank our many falcon fans and volunteers. We would like to dedicate this past year to our lost friend Donna Cook. As Winter grips Rochester, NY, we impatiently wait for the reappearance of Beauty and Dot.ca inside the nest box on top of the Times Square Bldg. With our new main camera, we hope to share every moment of Beauty, Dot.ca and their young in 2019!

Here are some highlight pictures from 2018. Enjoy!

The Rochester Falcon Watchers gathered in front of the Times Square Bldg for the annual toast to the Rochester Falcons. Nine watchers gathered on the side of the Blue Cross Arena (aka Rochester War Memorial); Dan, Kathy O, Pat, Dana, Carol (lukka) from Buffalo, Joyce, Lisa McK, Dana and Carol P. The winds were gusting and it was very cold.

Just as we arrived, Beauty and Dot.ca flew in to witness the toast. They usually do! 🙂

This year’s toast was done by long time falcon watcher, Dan. We gave thanks to a successful 2018 and hoped for a happy and successful 2019. We also said a fond farewell to our good friend Donna.

Over the last few days, watchers have seen all of the Rochester Falcons. Beauty and Dot.ca downtown, Billie and her new beau at ST, two visitors at the BS location and Fission (from Canada) continues to hangout nearby. We’ve also seen other falcons migrating through the area.

We are very thankful for all of our falcon fans and family. May 2019 be a happy and healthy year for all of us!

As we previously reported, we received word that Seth had passed away, but we had no details from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Today June Summers, President of the Genesee Valley Audubon, received the following information from Jenny Landry at the DEC.

“Seth broke his wing several days before he was found. It was a compound fracture. He passed away several nights after surgery, reason not yet determined.”

Thank you Jenny.

On a happier note, Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P reported seeing two falcons at Seneca Towers this morning. We hope this means that Billie has found a new mate.

At this very sad time, after losing our good friend Donna, we have to report that Seth passed away. At this time, we cannot report any details.

Rochester Falcon Watcher Pat reported seeing a 2nd falcon at Seneca Towers today. Hopefully Billie will find a new mate soon.

All went well with the banding of our three Rochester Falcon eyases. Two girls and one boy!

Our friends from the NYSDEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) arrived at the Times Square Bldg and quickly set up to band our three young eyases.

Soon, they were ready to climb the stairs to the door leading out to the nestbox. They quickly and safely retrieved the eyases and placed them into brightly colored pails.

In the banding room, each eyas was placed on the table and given two bands; the USFW band and the NYS band.

First was a female. Her name is Sundara! Chosen by long time Rochester Falcon Watcher Carrie Shone. Meaning: Sundara, meaning beautiful in Nepali, based on her mother’s name, Beauty. She was given the NYS band Black 90 over Green BA and blue tape was placed over her USFW band. This is something the DEC does for the local falcon watchers, making it easier to ID young fledglings.

The second eyas banded, was also a female. Her name is Letchworth! Chosen by Jill Langdon’s Kindergarten Class at Helendale Road School in Irondequoit, NY. Letchworth, after Letchworth State Park (a wonderful nesting place for peregrine falcons and an absolutely spectacular State Park located only about an hour from Rochester, NY). It’s known as “The Grand Canyon of the East. She was given the NYS band Black 30 over Green BW and red tape was placed over her USFW band.

The third eyas was a male and his name is Mike! Mike was the male name chosen by the falcon fans on the Rochester Falcon Forum. Mike, for the late NYS DEC wildlife technician Mike Allen, who was so involved in birds of prey. Mike was submitted by Sue Spicer Allen of Rochester, NY. His NYS band number is Black 28 over Green BA. There was no tape placed over his silver USFW band.

It wasn’t long before the three eyases were returned to the nestbox under the watchful gaze of their parents, Beauty and Dot.ca.

A few Rochester Falcon Watchers had watched the whole event from across the street from the beautiful Times Square Building. They mentioned that Beauty remained close to the nestbox the whole time, mostly from the main camera.

It was another successful banding day for our Rochester Falcons! Many thanks to our good friends at the DEC!

Our friends from the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) will be coming to Rochester this morning to band Beauty and Dot.ca’s three eyases. Banding should happen at approximately 10 am. When they are banded, they will be given their chosen names!

It’s time to vote for your favorite names for one of Beauty and Dot.ca’s Eyases!

The polls are open! From the many excellent suggestions that were received, Rfalconcam’s Naming Committee selected 10 names in each of the three categories: male, female, and gender-neutral. Thank you to everyone who submitted names.

Three polls have been created for members of the Rfalconcam Forum to vote for their favorite in each category. One of the three eyases will be given the winning name from either the appropriate gender-specific poll or the gender-neutral poll, depending on which winning name receives the most votes.

You must be a member of the forum to be able to vote for a name. Join the forum now if you’d like to participate! Use this link to register:

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?action=register

A questionnaire will be sent to the email address you supply during registration. You must reply to this email in order to have your membership approved.

If you are already a Forum member but don’t remember your password, use this link to reset it:

http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?action=reminder

Once you have logged in  to the Forum, use these links to vote:

Male Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=16907.0

Female Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=16906.0

Gender-Neutral Names: http://rfalconcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=16908.0

The polls close at 11:59 pm EDT on Wednesday, May 23, 2018.