At Least Two Successful Midair Food Transfers Take Place Today

Rain put a damper on the falcons activities in the early morning and then again in the evening, but the rest of the day was fairly action-packed. Over the past three days, the four youngsters have been showing decreasing interest in the nest-box, which is expected. They are now being fed in different locations around the downtown canyon, so they have no need for the old homestead. In the last few days they’ve adopted Hotel Utica as a favorite hangout, although the State Office Building and the Grace Church Steeple remain popular with them. There was plenty of sparring between the fledglings today, although no real hide speed antics have taken place as of yet. There was some chasing and displacing of parents from their perches. Although Ares usually is the one that gets picked on by juveniles, Spirit displaced Astrid from her perch at least once today. One of the boys went after a pigeon today, but it was a low intensity chase. Another boy went for a Chimney Swift – that time making a more serious attempt. In the early evening, Zander made an apparently rough landing on a window sill at the State Building. He kind of slid into the sill and struck his feet against the window. The bang sound from his impact was heard by Fledge Watchers on the ground. Fortunately, he showed no sign of being injured and only minutes later he was back to chasing his father off his perch on the east veranda (Remember that Peregrines strike their prey with their feet while traveling at high speed., so they can take some hard knocks) An evening thunder storm put a premature halt to most activity by the birds. For the most part the fledglings all stayed on their perches on the State Building. At the start of the storm, Astrid flew through with prey and went to the hotel to pluck it. One fledgling chased after her, but soon returned, and with no food. After having her share (during the rain showers), she brought it to two boys that were sitting out the storm on the State Building’s roof.