Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 16, 2018 –
Astrid continues to spend the night close to the nest and her young. There were no overnight feedings last night, that is unless you count the 4:44 AM food drop. At that time Ares had come to the box and Astrid flew in to meet him. She took the prey from him and then a nestling grabbed it away from her. The three had been calling a lot before the parents came, but after they left, they became especially vocal and restless. One moved to the west veranda prior to 5 o’clock. Within the half hour the youngsters were executing hop jumps and doing wing exercises. At 6:30, one of the chicks moved to the end of the long perch. He then jumped from there to the cross-perch. As it turned out it was a day packed with hop jumps between perches and ledges.
Astrid was encouraging the young to fledge today – as she was doing yesterday. Many times she came to the box or the verandas and then made a show of jumping out. She was doing demonstration flying for the benefit of the nestlings. At 8:30, Astrid made a causal play for a local Pigeon that flew very close to the steeple. Astrid swooped down at it, but didn’t seem to be making a real play for it. Ares flew through and made a more serious attempt at another flyby Pigeon. Astrid flew over and landed on the window ledge just east of the east veranda. A nestling on the veranda became very excited and soon joined her there. About a minute later Astrid flew back over to the steeple; it was yet another demonstration, I think. At 9:30, Ares was on the hotel with prey. He plucked it and then he enjoyed a good feed. Ten minutes later he flew into the canyon with it and landed on the east veranda. Astrid met him there but she was too late to grab it. After a short tug-o-war, one of the youngsters got the food away from Ares. While hopping from the perch to the box, one of the chicks stumbled a bit but was OK.
At 10:30, Ares came to the box. He picked up a scrap from the floor, tempted the nestlings and flew off with it. At 11:21, Astrid checked out a free floating Minnie Mouse balloon that drifted over the canyon. After determining that it was nothing but a visage of a fictional Disney character, she gained altitude and began circling. Less than five minutes later she came to the east veranda. One of the kids hopped over to her and screeched in her face. She flew over to the steeple. One of the chicks, probably Petra, was attempting to go west of the west veranda, but was unsure about negotiating around the pillar. Foreshadowing their daredevil lifestyle, young Peregrines tend to quickly meet challenges. They figure out how to proceed with a given problem and push themselves through. Once they get the knack of something, they improve quickly and soon can conquer a complicated obstacle course with a simple hop, skip and jump. As it happens, today the amount of hopping, skipping and jumping increased exponentially. One of the youngsters – probably Petra, did some inspiring rapid wing flapping while perching on the end of the long perch. He was able to jump from the long perch right to the west veranda. Well done!
At noon, while the kids were tearing around their 15thnfloor playground, Ares took a break to have a sunbath on the ledge of the hotel. After jumping around from the perches to the verandas, and from the window ledges to the box, the three juvenile falcons collapsed into a pile on a veranda. Their rest didn’t last long though. At 2:11, alarm calls were issued from the three kids. They were reacting to a few Turkey Vultures flying in the west. An hour later, Astrid and Ares were seen circling high over the canyon. It seemed clear they were on a hunting trip. They both came back at 4:00; neither had prey with them and they went right back out on another foray. Ares zipped off to the east like a projectile. He came back only a few minutes later, but still with no prey. Astrid was gone for a much longer time. She was set on getting a Pigeon. Ares made a visit to the box at 4:30 and was immediately chased off by a crazed baby. He had better get used to that! He came back a minute later and landed on the east veranda. He had a cuckoo and Petra grabbed it immediately. Milo hopped over to see if he could get some, But Petra didn’t want to share. At 6:20, Ares brought more food to the box. This time it was Angel that grabbed it from him. Astrid blew back into town at 6:40 PM. She took a perch on the steeple and Ares left at the same time – probably with fresh orders to go and catch some non-cuckoo prey. At 7:40, he did just that and in a short time he was plucking something on the hotel ledge. While he was plucking (and then eating a share amount), he was emitting long screech calls. They were of clearer quality than the normal Peregrine screech. He did eventually head for the nest box with his quarry. Astrid followed him there, but before she could take it, Angle grabbed it and then that was that.
By the end of the day we were convinced that all the youngsters got enough food today. At nightfall some fireworks began. Astrid had been on the steeple and by 9:30 she was on her ledge just east of the nest box. Good night all.