Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 4, 2018 –
It was overcast and rainy overnight. Fog developed before morning. Early morning temperatures were in the low 60’s and rose into the 70’s by midday. Overcast skies persisted through the first half of the afternoon and then the sun came out for a while. Temperatures rose into the 80’s. A tornado watch was issued for our county – effective from early evening through 10PM. Although we did have some high winds and rain, there were no thunderstorms or anything so severe. Temperatures fell back into the 60’s after the front came through and the sunset was visible through the breaking clouds.
Astrid had taken over at the nest box at 3:40 Thursday afternoon and she remained there all evening and right through the night. Ares came to relieve her at 3:55 AM on Friday. We didn’t catch a view of her again until 5:30 when we located her on a pillar west of the nest box. By 6:50, she had moved to the State Building. At 6:58, the falcons switched again, and Astrid took over on the eggs. Ares was on the State Building for a short time and then we spotted him on Hotel Utica eating breakfast. The prey was too disassembled to tell what it was for sure. Fifteen minutes later he had gone and we couldn’t locate him with our cameras. We didn’t see him again until the next changing of the guard took place at 8:35. Astrid eventually showed up on the north face of the State Building. After spending quite a while on that perch, at 10:10 she returned to the box. She sat on the cross-perch for a little while before hopping inside and standing next to Ares. After about eight minutes, Ares got the hint and left the box. He perched on the State Building for a little while before darting off somewhere. At 11:28, Deb discovered him perched on the west face of the State Building. At a little after 12 PM, Astrid stood up and gave us a chance to scrutinize the eggs for pips. None were seen. At 1:03, Astrid stood up from incubating, went over to the cross-perch and launched into the canyon. She swooped around in front of the State Building for a minute and then landed on the north face. At that point, Ares darted in from the north and carried out some incredibly fast maneuvers. He was at the nest and on the eggs by 1:06 – only three minutes after Astrid had left. Ares was just in time to experience the hottest part of the day in the box – something Astrid gladly cedes to him. It had been mostly cloudy, that was until the latter part of Ares’ shift. The sun drenched the box and all he could do was endure it and protect the eggs.
She was mostly on the State Building for the next three hours. She made a few short forays into the canyon, but returned to the north face of the building each time. At 5:34, Astrid came to the box. Surprisingly, Ares didn’t hop right up. After a minute or so he slowly got up and left incubation to the Mrs. For the next hour, it was Ares turn to come and go from the north face of the State Building. By 6:30, a line of strong storms was coming into the region. Strong winds blew in by 6:40 and then came the rain. Ares remained on the north face of the State Building throughout. Our view of him was often obscured by water on the camera. Thankfully the storms were not nearly as bad as predicted and the canyon was merely sprayed down a little. Ares left his perch at 7:15. At close to 8:00, he was seen having super at the hotel. We think he was just picking at leftovers, but it was hard to tell. He was gone only minutes later. As for Astrid, she had settled down on her eggs. Will we have our first pipped egg of the season tomorrow? It’s a possibility. We’ll be sure to let everyone know, but feel free to watch the streaming video yourselves and let us know if you see anything.
