Hot Day in the Canyon & Yet Another Intruder! What the Hell!

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 2, 2018 –

The day had a warm start and then the temperature got close to 80 degrees by noon.  The skies were mostly clear and the wind was not insignificant. Temperatures rose well past 80 degrees by afternoon’s end. By late afternoon, clouds rolled in and there were a few light showers.

Astrid came to the box and relieved Ares at 8:20 last night.  She remained on the eggs all night long. Ares came with a food tribute at 4:04 Wednesday morning, but she wouldn’t leave. He departed the box screeching and then he came back with the same prey only a few minutes later. Of course he got the same response from his mate. They finally did switch at 5:19, but that time Ares didn’t have the food anymore. We didn’t see Astrid again until she showed up on the steeple at 5:54. She had a large crop and was compulsively wiping down her bill. It was safe to conclude she had just eaten. Perhaps she ate the prey that Ares tried to give her earlier. At 6:13, she did a quick check-in at the box. After she satisfied herself that everything was right she went over to the State Building. At 7:08, the Peregrines switched again and Astrid was back on the eggs. Interestingly, after leaving the box, Ares landed on a ledge adjacent to where Astrid had been perched only a minute before. Why he landed there instead of on a hundred other ledges on the building is something of curiosity.  At 8:21 he was up again ; he put down on the steeple. We thought he must be hunting and then sure enough, ten minutes later we saw him feeding on Hotel Utica. We couldn’t tell what the prey was giving the distance and the fact that he had already made a big dent in it. At some time after 9:30, Ares came to the box with food, but just like earlier this morning, Astrid wasn’t interested and sent him away. At 10:12, he screeched back to the box and without the food. This time they did switch out.  Post departure, Astrid was on the State Building for a little while and then she did some soaring around the canyon.

At 10:50, Ares began giving volleys of sharp chirping calls. This is often what he does when he sees an intruder flying overhead. After a few minutes he left the box and the eggs and presumably went to check out or intercept the stranger.  After about three minutes went by, Astrid came to the box and took over on the eggs. At 11:14, he was back and perching on the State Building; and then only a minute later he was gone again. He snuck back onto another window ledge when we weren’t looking. Very tricky! They switched again at 12:57, and Ares was on the eggs again. The sun was just beginning to flood into the box, so he was in line for manning the hot shift. Astrid took a perch on the State Building – on the cool north side.  She flew from that perch on 1:42, and then we weren’t sure where he was for a while.  At 2:11, Ares began calling from the nest again. He saw an intruder. He got off the eggs and shot out of the box. Here’s what Deb saw and heard from her office window:

“I heard Ares chirping as if there was an unwelcome visitor to the canyon. I checked out the window but saw nothing. Ares became more agitated and left the nest. I saw him fly directly toward the east side of the State Building. He was serious in his intent! Then I saw him fly up above the building and dive down at something toward the southeast corner. He did this a second time. I still had not verified a second bird. The sky was quiet for a moment then I heard the calls from two falcons. As I looked out my window I saw Ares and an immature Peregrine doing air combat. They were so close I could clearly see the brown back of the young one. They disappeared from my view but I could still hear the obvious calls of them doing battle for a couple more minutes. I continued to look out the window but could not see either of them. Astrid was not in sight throughout the whole confrontation. I do not believe that Ares and the youngster made actual contact but they may have when they were out of sight. Ares came back to the nest within a couple minutes of their calls ending.”

Four minutes after Ares left the eggs he came back to sit, but he was still very agitated. He took off again to joust with the young falcon, but then returned to the nest at 2:20. At that point he was done with his police action. After the excitement, it had gotten so warm in the box that Ares had to shade the eggs. Astrid returned to the fold at 2:38. She had been conspicuously absent during the incursion, but more than likely she had been monitoring from someplace close by. We found it interesting that she left it to Ares to watch the nest as well as drive off the intruder. Perhaps she was busy with another interloper. Hard to say – and she’s not talking.

After an afternoon shift characterized by high temperatures and an intruder, Astrid relieved Ares at a few minutes before 5 PM. As she settled on the eggs, he screeched over to the State Building. He was only there for a few seconds before he bolted to the north. He flew in a wide circle around Hotel Utica and then darted back into the heart of the canyon. He landed back on the State Building and then proceeded to make several hunting forays from there. We last saw him at 6:27 PM. Meanwhile Astrid was seen taking a few preening breaks in the box. Of course it was warm enough so that she didn’t have to stay tight on the eggs at all time. By about 7:45, light rain was falling in Utica and the falcons seemed to be in for the night.