NY / Rochester - 2022 / UT & UF (both yet to be named)

[The Peregrine Chick]

Times Square Building
Rochester, New York

   
(photos: building from Wikipedia; nest location by Rick McNeary/Flickr; nestbox by Kathy Braman on WQED Blog)

The Times Square Building is a skyscraper designed by Ralph Thomas Walker of the firm Voorhees, Gmelin, and Walker located in Rochester, New York. At 260 feet (79 m), it is the eighth tallest building in Rochester, with 14 floors. The former Genesee Valley Trust Building is a streamlined twelve-story building supporting four aluminum wings 42 feet (13 m) high, known as the "Wings of Progress", each weighing 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg). These structures are among the most distinctive features of the Rochester skyline.  The cornerstone of this bank was laid on October 29, 1929, "Black Tuesday" of the 1929 stock market crash.

webcam link: http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/cameras.php

website link:  http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/


Resident Pairs & Offspring:

• 2014 - Dot.ca & Beauty
• more coming soon

[The Peregrine Chick]

Remembering a 'Beauty': One of Rochester's peregrine falcons dies

Rochester, N.Y. — You may not have seen her, but she's been watching over downtown Rochester for more than a decade.  Beauty, one of the city's beloved peregrine falcons, has died. She was 15.  Her death was announced by Rochester Falconcam, an initiative of the Genesee Valley Audubon Society.  The birds - considered endangered in New York state - have been a fixture downtown for nearly 25 years, when the Rochester Peregrine Falcon Project installed a nesting box at the top of the Kodak Tower.  Two nesting boxes were eventually placed atop the Powers and Times Square buildings.

In 2009, Beauty, who was hatched at the Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning in Pennsylvania, came to town. She spent a lot of time in the Times Square box. Courted by a couple of suitors over the years, Beauty raised 33 babies here.  She and longtime partner Dot.ca were spotted in Rochester over the winter, and the folks at Rochester Falconcam were hopeful Beauty would add to her brood again this year.  They are not sure what caused Beauty's death, but note 15 is considered a long life for a peregrine falcon in the wild.

source: https://13wham.com/news/local/remembering-a-beauty-one-of-rochesters-peregrine-falcons-dies

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Rochester peregrine falcon ‘Beauty’ has died, Rfalconcam reports
Matt Driffill / Rochester First / 5 April 2022

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A peregrine falcon in Rochester named Beauty has died, according to Rfalconcam.com.

Moderators of the website, which offers five cameras for an up-close view of a nest box high above the streets of Rochester, made the announcement of Beauty’s passing Tuesday morning.

“It is with a heavy, heavy heart that we must report that Beautify has passed away overnight,” the Rfalconcam account posted on Twitter. “Last night she laid down on the platform in front of the Powers nest box and by early morning, she died.”

Rochester’s falcon cam has been around for decades, with the nest box placed on top of Kodak Tower in 1995. In 2008 the nest box was relocated to the Powers Building for a three-year repair program at Kodak Tower, and a second next box was placed at the Times Square Building. According to Rfalconcam, Beauty has been in and around Rochester since 2007. To date, there have been 76 total offspring from the downtown Rochester nest boxes. Rfalconcam is sponsored by the Genesee Valley Audobon Society (GVAS), the local chapter of the National Audobon Society. The group works to promote environmental conservation with a focus on birds, wildlife, and habitat.

“It is with a very heavy heart that we must report that Beauty has passed away overnight. Last night she laid down on the platform in front of the Powers nest box, by early morning, she died.  Beauty was 15 years old, which is a very long life for a Peregrine Falcon in the wild. She raised many young over her years in Rochester, NY. Her long-time mate Dot.ca did not return this year. No battles were witnessed, so we may never know what happened to him.  UT, an unbanded tiercel, arrived and both he and Beauty bonded and were seen together over the past couple of months.
We were very hopeful that Beauty would raise a family this year.  The DEC will be notified. If we learn anything, we will let you know.”

source: https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/rochester-peregrine-falcon-beauty-has-died-rfalconcam-reports/

[The Peregrine Chick]

April 6th - from Imprints: The Journal of Rfalconcam

While we continue to mourn the loss of Beauty, life goes on for the Rochester Falcons.

Yesterday, a new unbanded female (UF) arrived with a loud fanfare. At first, UT, unbanded tiercel, was confused. He had just lost his mate and he didn’t quite know what to do.

At first he swooped on her, then followed her to the Times Square nest box. There, he joined her inside the box. Very loud ee-chupping, a common falcon vocalization, rang out for all to hear!

Since then, UT has joined UF at the Times Square nest box multiple times. In fact, UF has remained there most of the time since her arrival.

So, it looks like we have a new pair in Rochester, NY. It’s a good indication that the Peregrine Falcon population is doing very well.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on this new couple. There may still be hope that we will have young fledglings flying over Rochester this summer. Stay tuned and keep your eyes to the sky!