Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 22, 2018 –
After a cool start, Sunday surely lived up to its name. The whole day was sunny and even became seasonably warm by mid-morning. Like yesterday, the wind was cool and that was a factor in the afternoon, but away from the wind, temperatures in the low fifties felt almost tropical. It was a good day for migrants. Canada Geese, Turkey Vultures and a few raptor species were all on the move.
Astrid took over at the nest box at 6:45, Saturday evening. After an unexplained incident (at 9:40), which drew Astrid briefly off then nest, she spent the rest of the night tightly covering the eggs. At 4:47, Sunday morning, Ares brought a meal to the box and Astrid did her best raucous nestling impersonation while accepting it. As he took over on the nest, she flew over to the Hotel and had breakfast. After finishing, she toured the exterior of State Building (which has become a daily routine for her) before taking a perch on the building’s north face. Astrid took another turn on the nest at 6:35. Right after being relieved, Ares was out of view for a while, but returned to the State Building at 8:20. Fifteen minutes later, the pair switched again and then is was Astrid’s turn to be out of view of the cameras. Do I sense a trend here? At 9:44, Ares was chirping in the box, which usually means that he sees his mate somewhere in the canyon, but where, Ares? It was no good, he wasn’t talking. She ultimately showed up on the north face of the State Building. At around 11 o’clock, she was on the ledge of the old Hotel Utica and she was sunning herself. She was reclined and her feathers were spread. By noon, she was back on the State Building.
Ares had a marathon session on the eggs this morning and he did it largely without complaint. Astrid didn’t relieve him until 12:30! After leaving the box, he was on the State Building for quite a while. The falcons switched again at 2:49 and then we weren’t sure where Astrid ended up. We couldn’t locate her on the cams and Deb didn’t see her either. She finally showed up again on the State Building at 4:22. Astrid came to the box a few minutes before 5 PM, and took over on the eggs. The box was flooded by sunlight in the late afternoon. Historically, these are not Astrid’s favorite conditions. At close to six o’clock, Ares had showed up on the State Building and Astrid was giving her trademark donkey calls; she was signaling her desire to be relieved, but Ares was busy preening on the State Building and apparently was in no hurry to comply. Astrid half-shaded the eggs for a moment, but then quickly resumed incubating. At 6:19, Ares was out of camera view. We thought he may have successfully avoided pulling another shift on the eggs, but at 7:15, Astrid left the nest. Ares arrived two minutes later and climbed onto the eggs. His shift lasted until his mate returned at 8:20. By then dusk had fallen upon the city.