End Of An Era: Beauty is Gone

Beauty with two eggs, 2 April 2019, Rochester NY (photo from rfalconcam)

6 April 2022

For those of you who remember Dorothy, the matriarch peregrine at the Cathedral of Learning 2002-2015, you may also remember her daughter Beauty who nested in Rochester, New York. Sad to say Beauty passed away yesterday at her nest. She was 15 years old.

Beauty had a very colorful life:

  • She hatched at the Cathedral of Learning in May 2007, daughter of Dorothy (from Milwaukee, WI) and Erie (from Columbus, OH). She was nicknamed Beauty by my friend and fellow peregrine watcher Karen Lang(*).
  • By Spring 2009 she was in Rochester NY where she won nesting rights from the 13 year old matriarch Mariah. See Pitt Alumna wins nest site in Rochester, NY.
  • In Spring 2011 Beauty’s mate, Archer, neglected her for a while. Peregrine watchers figured out that Archer had another mate 4 miles away and that female, Unity, was Beauty’s niece! See Peyton Place for Dorothy’s Girls.
  • In February 2012 Unity injured Beauty in a fight and reigned in Rochester while Beauty went to rehab. See Beauty Injured in Rochester, 10 Feb 2012.
  • Seven weeks later Beauty was released from rehab and immediately flew back home, only to find an egg in her nest. Who put it there and where was she? The story is incredible! See Whose Egg is This?
  • The 2012 nesting season worked out after all — Family Portrait in Rochester — and so did the subsequent years.
  • At age 15 Beauty lived nearly as long as her mother Dorothy who died at 16.

It’s the end of an era for Rochester peregrine watchers. Their Queen is dead, but soon I’m sure they will have a new queen.

Read more about Beauty at the Rfalconcam Imprints blog.

See a video tribute to Beauty embedded in this tweet:

(*) Sadly Karen Lang passed away last month, three weeks before Beauty.

(photo of Beauty from Rfalconcam in 2019)

9 thoughts on “End Of An Era: Beauty is Gone

  1. I’m very sorry for Beauty’s passing. Dorothy’s lineage is amazing and there must be many of her progeny through Beauty out there carrying the torch. It seems remarkable both that a peregrine would die peacefully “at home” of old age and that we would know about it. Thanks for sharing Kate.

  2. Beauty was my Mother Falcon and I will miss her & Dot.ca so much. I’ve written several stories about the falcons over the years on my blog – thebraveheartfiles.blogspot.com

  3. Oh no, this is terribly sad news. Beauty like her mother, Dorothy, lived a long life, producing many offspring. It was a joy to watch them both raise their young. It truly is the end of an era.

  4. Perhaps avian flu? We found a dead woodcock in our driveway last week, rural Centre County, no visible trauma. Game Commission picked it up, waiting to hear what the results are.

    1. Stephanie, it was likely that Beauty died of old age or of being eggbound. Her mother was eggbound at age 15 but managed to pass the bound egg & lived another year.

  5. I am so very sorry, Kate. She was a fitting tribute to her name for sure. She was also a fitting successor to Mariah. I was worried about her being eggbound because “UT” could not decide on the nest site between the Powers and the Times building. I found it interesting that he had no problem going right to the Times next with the new un-banded female. …. I wish them a successful season, and hopefully many years into the future.

    1. Joyce, thanks so much for the news update. Beauty was indeed a great lady. Her successor has some big “shoes” to fill.

  6. Thank-you for the keeping and sharing of these histories and stories. We all appreciate this so much.

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