Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 26, 2018 –
Thursday was cool with light rain which persisted throughout the day. A steadier wind developed as the day progressed and the temperatures remained in the forties. The sun made a surprise appearance in the hour before sunset.
Astrid had returned to the box at 6:52, Wednesday evening. She remained in place for the whole night. At 5:38 AM on Thursday, she didn’t wait for Ares to arrive before she left the box. Without any warning, she came off the eggs and sailed off into the darkness. Ares came into the box only a minute later and got right on the eggs. Astrid initially went to a perch on the State Building, but soon was up again, flying back and forth in front of the various faces of the building. She was also circumnavigating it. We think she was checking Ares’ pantry again. She landed high on the west face, but didn’t stay long. In a minute she was up again and flying around the whole building. She flew back and forth in front of the east face a few times and put down on that side. The pair switched at 7:25. Astrid took over on the eggs and Ares went over to the State Building. At 10:00, an alarm went off at the State Office Building. Apparently, they were conducting a fire drill. Possibly as a reaction to the alarm, Ares changed to a higher ledge, but the falcons weren’t overly concerned. The pair switched again at 10:46, and then it was Ares’ turn on the eggs. At 11:40, Astrid began flying in circles and half-circles around the State Building again. She put down on the west face for a short time and then she was up again. She was seen on the east face of the State Building at 12:03 PM. A half-hour later, some squeaking calls from Ares signaled to us that she was moving again. Ares is so good about letting us know when she’s moving!
The next switch happened at 1:12 PM. She took over on the eggs and he eventually went to the State Building. This time Astrid called when she saw Ares flying, thus letting us know where he was. The next changeover was at 4:05. Ares came back onto the eggs and it was Astrid’s turn to be on the State Building. Are they getting too predictable? After not seeing Astrid for a while she showed up on the steeple at 6 PM. After a six minute preening session she came to the box and switched with Ares. Was this the last switch of the evening? That’s hard to say. It had become sunnier and warmer out by this time in the evening and so it was conceivable that Astrid would want to go out again. As it turned out she didn’t. Goodnight falcons!
Today marks 23 days of full incubation. That means we can be as little as ten days out from our first hatch of 2018. Loyal followers of this season’s log entries will recall the significant lapses in incubation that occurred in the first couple of days. The first half of the clutch was most vulnerable to the interruptions and if they don’t hatch, we won’t be too surprised. Still, we hope for a full clutch hatch like we had last year. Time will tell.
