Join us December 31st at 9 PM ET on streaming video Channels 1 and 2 to watch the fireworks over downtown Rochester from a bird’s eye view!

We’ll be meeting again later at the Forum Chat & Streaming Video Chat to ring in the New Year together!

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Thanks once again to the generosity of our dedicated falcon supporters, we raised over $1,800 yesterday, including a $500 bonus for the outstanding teamwork demonstrated by those who stayed up late to make their pledges at just the right time. Well done, folks!

ROC the Day officials will send us a financial statement and donor list sometime in the next few weeks, at which point we will know who to thank individually. Until then, thank you to everyone who donated. Your contributions will be used to fund Rfalconcam operations and improvements throughout 2019 such as the new Main Camera, a new Camera 1 (weather permitting) and long-awaited HD streaming video.

Join us today to ROC Rfalconcam. We’ve already won the $500 bonus for having the most donors between 12 and 2 AM. Additional $500 bonuses are available throughout the day to lucky donors chosen at random to have donations made to their favorite non-profits, so please donate! #ROCtheDay

The link to donate is https://www.roctheday.org/rfalconcam

ROC the Day is November 27!

Are you as ready to ROC as we are? Join us on Tuesday, November 27 starting at midnight to ROC the Day for Rfalconcam.

Get the latest news on ROC the Day activities at our Forum.

Let’s ROC the Day together!

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.

Once again we must say goodbye to a valued member of our Rfalconcam community. It’s never easy, and that goes doubly so for Donna.

Donna had been following the Rochester falcons for many years and was an active participant in social media going all the way back to the Birdcam days when Mariah and Kaver nested on the Kodak Tower. She was a prolific poster to the Rfalconcam Forum with over 25,000 posts and starting more then 4,000 discussion topics ranging from informative nature stories to custom created birthday cards. In addition, each year during the holiday season she encouraged members to share online greeting cards and collected them in a gallery.

Although she resided in New Jersey, she made numerous trips to Rochester to see our falcons and take part in the annual fledge watch much to the delight of the locals.

Donna also worked behind the scenes at Rfalconcam. She was one of the administrators of Rfalconcam’s Facebook page, posting photos several times a day and replying to comments from thousands of followers. She also tweeted on occasion as Rfalconcam on Twitter. And her “behind the scenes” contribution did not stop there. For many years, Donna took part in Banding Day as a moderator who posted banding information and answered questions in real time on the Forum and Facebook. Sadly, this year she was not able to participate due to passing of her beloved husband Ed just a few days earlier.

And if that weren’t enough uncredited work, Donna also doubled as a part-time camera operator of Camera 1 to help us keep an eye on the falcons throughout the year. For her outstanding service to the Rfalconcam community, Donna was given the honor of naming an eyas Charlotte in 2017.

After Ed’s death, Donna became more focused on family and planned to move to Spokane to be closer to her young granddaughter. Despite the rigors of moving, she still remained active on Rfalconcam.

If I had to summarize Donna’s presence in Rfalconcam, I’d put it this way:

If our falcon watchers are the heart of Rfalconcam,
and if that weirdo in the bathrobe with his crayons is the brains of Rfalconcam,
then Donna was the voice of Rfalconcam (or at least a huge part of it).

Now that voice is greatly diminished.

And the silence is deafening.

Miss you, Donna. Fly free.

This was written by Rfalconcam member Shaky. This heartfelt farewell is shared by all of us who knew her.

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.