Hop Flights, Perch Creeps, and Other Major Strides & Three non-falcon Intruders in the Canyon

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 15, 2018 –

There were some light rain showers in the canyon overnight. Astrid was on her ledge east of the nest box for part of the night, but then she was out of our camera view the rest of the time. Ares was visible on the State Building for a while, but not for the entire night. Hey, those cuckoos aren’t going to catch themselves. There were no overnight feedings. The nestlings were all in the box throughout the night. They began getting restless at just after 4 AM. One crossed over onto the west veranda at 5:00. At that time they were very hungry and were all screaming for their breakfast. Parents were both visible by 6:00, but neither seemed in a hurry to do a feeding. At 5:42, one of the chicks (not sure which) was at the base of the long perch and began flapping like mad, but from there he went right back into the box. A few minutes later, Astrid was over on the hotel, she didn’t have food, but appeared to be in hunting mode. At 6:30, we thought that perhaps one of the nestlings had fledged. We could only find two kids on the cams. As it turned out, the other one (probably Milo) had traveled out onto the window ledge west of the west veranda. A few minutes later he adeptly jumped back over and onto the west veranda.

At 7:30, Astrid came to the box with prey. Milo screeched, grabbed the food away from her and took it to the corner. When I arrived at 8 AM, all three nestlings were perched on the lip of the box looking out. Astrid was on the hotel and Ares was on the steeple. Astrid soon left the hotel and made a couple of visits to the box. She was encouraging them to fledge. She would enter the box and/or a veranda and then make a big show of launching off. Whenever she did this, all three youngsters would start screaming. At 8:38, after Astrid had gone, a Pigeon buzzed by the nest box, and then he (or she) did it again. There must be a Pigeon that is breeding nearby and it feels the need to haze the falcon box at irregular intervals. I took a walk around the block looking for Astrid. She was probably out hunting for something substantial – meaning no swifts or goldfinches – and definitely no cuckoos. During my walk, I didn’t find Astrid, and Ares had gone by the time I returned. At 9:15, both parents swooped back into view. Ares had prey and Astrid met him at the box and conducted a feeding. Ten minutes later she stored the leftovers in an undisclosed location. At 9:30, a Ring-billed Gull flew through the canyon and Astrid was right on it. She didn’t strike the intruder, but only let her presence be known. The gull gained altitude and sailed off to the east. Ten minutes later, major alarm calls were given by both parents and they scrambled into action. This time it was an adult Bald Eagle passing over the west portion of the canyon. Again, they let the intruder know that they were on duty and there was no altercation. The eagle continued on in the direction it was heading in.

The youngsters did plenty of moving between the box and the verandas today. They were even using the perches on the verandas. Astrid repeatedly visited the box and verandas. She would make a big entrance and then do demonstration fly offs. At 10:45, Ares brought prey to the box, Astrid came and took it and then proceeded to feed Petra on the east veranda. Angel soon joined in. At 11:10, Milo became more adventurous and traveled out east of the east veranda. To do that, he needed to make a tricky negotiation around a pillar – that he did, twice. At 1:30, Petra (I think) was out at the base of the cross-perch, and from there he went right back into the box. At 3:00, Astrid gave an alarm call. There was another intruder in the canyon. This time it was a Red-tailed Hawk. Both Astrid and Ares went to deal with it and to presumably, escort it out of the territory. Through the latter part of the afternoon, the nestlings continued doing little hop flights between the perches and the box and platforms. There was also much wind flapping and preening. It seemed like Astrid had convinced Petra to give flying a try. He was out on the perch looking ready; holding his wings out and using his tail for balance, but then he turned around and jumped back into the box. That was good since they surely need more practice first.

At 4:40, Ares flew in with food. He passed by the box carrying the prey in his beak, but in mid-air he switched to carrying it in his talons. Was that anther demonstration? He flew back to the box and Astrid came to meet him, but during the food transfer they dropped it. Ares dashed straight down to intercept the meal. It was time to hold our collective breath. Ares managed to catch the food at about the half way mark down the side of the building. Good catch Ares, now never do that again! The youngsters continued with their practice regime and continued to make some great strides. At 8:30, one of the nestlings flew/jumped from the long perch and right into the box. In the waning hours of daylight, the young falcons finally became more sedate and they all settled back down inside the nest box. Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was on the Steeple.

Fledge Watch is now a daily event. Please consider coming down whether you’re scheduled to or not. It’s interesting, amusing, enlightening, and helpful to a New York State Endangered Species. See you down there!