Pretty much right after I finished yesterday’s post, our 4th hatch occurred. The time was 7:38 PM. Astrid had been very tight on the clutch at the time. She lifted up slightly and revealed a broken eggshell and a pink new chick. This was an historic event since in the four years that Astrid and Ares have bred in Utica, they’ve never had more than three chicks hatch. The new chick got its first feeding (along with its siblings) Friday morning at about 2:40. As usual, Ares delivered prey up to the box and Astrid conducted the feeding. Only an hour later, they repeated the process. The latter feeding session was long and ended at around 4:00 AM. Ares brought more food to the box at 5:00, but that time no one including Astrid even lifted up their heads. Apparently everyone was too full. He repeated this at 5:36 and received a similar reaction. A half-hour later Ares came yet again, but without food. We think he just wanted to brood the chicks, but Astrid screeched and send him packing. Feedings took place again at 7:07, and at 9:14. Both were carried out by Astrid. During the feedings all four chicks, including the most recent hatchling, appeared to be vying nicely. At about 9:45, Astrid gave an alarm call which scrambled Ares into action. A Bald Eagle soaring high over downtown and heading northwest was probably the cause of Astrid’s anxiety. The stranger continued on its course and there was no incident. At 1:00 PM, Ares was seen on the ledge of the hotel. He was laid out on his belly with his wings spread completely out. Yes, he was sunbathing and possibly trying to burn off some of his mites. Ares got his first turn brooding the four chicks in the early afternoon. It was quite amusing to see him perceive what looked like a heap of cotton wadding in the center of the box. Of course those were the chicks. Fortunately for him the nestlings were well satiated and didn’t beg to him to be fed. For the most part Ares enjoyed only short stays in the box. Another feeding took place at 2:00 – that one lasted 12 minutes. At 2:15 Astrid was giving alarm calls again. This time it was Turkey Vultures that had her riled up. It would seem that the vulture flybys are getting to be a daily occurrence. We expect that Astrid will mellow out about them soon. By 5:00, Astrid was leaving the nest duties to Ares more and getting in some flying and probably some hunting. During this time she mostly stayed in the canyon and within the view of our PTZ camera. At 5:30, she fed the chicks again, but soon after she was out flying around the canyon again. For the most part she was going from the hotel to the State Building and to the Steeple. She finally came back to the box at 7:30 PM and seemed to be in for the night.
I am hanging on to every word, these are so interesting and so well written, thank you.
Early Mother’s Day for Astrid!
And very busy!
The photos are excellent!
Thank you for your daily updates Matt, we really appreciate them!
Ann
Very informative story. Glad Astrid, Ares and the chick’s are doing well so far. I hope they continue to do so. Do you know of any other Petegrine Falcon families in Rome or Herkimer, or other area Cities?
The nearest known nests are in Binghamton and Syracuse. The other close cities lack the tall building that Peregrines usually adopt for their nest sites. Individual falcons are occasionally reported from these other cities, but so far no one has located a nesting or territorial pair. Our group did located a nest box at Oswego Harbor this year. There was an adult pair frequenting that area. So far they have not adopted the box. We hope they will eventually.