Peregrine Breeding Log for April 12 – April 13, 2019:
Friday, April 12th began a bit chilly, but temps reached the low sixties by midday. As expected, Astrid was on the eggs all night. Ares came to the box at 4:10 AM. He had a small prey item, which Astrid flew off with. I checked a few of her usual feeding spots but couldn’t find where she went to feed. She came back at 5:00 and the birds did a quick switch at the box. Astrid remained on the eggs until Ares returned at 6:20, and they changed again. Five minutes later, Ares became anxious. He got off the eggs and dove out of the box. On the PTZ we could see one falcon soaring high over the canyon, but we didn’t know what was happening or if there was an intruder incident. Ares came back and got back on to the eggs. Only three minutes had elapsed. At 6:35, Astrid flew in from the west and landed on the north face of the State Building. At 7 AM she came to the box and then spend about seven minutes trying to convince Ares to leave the eggs. Other than crowding him a bit, she was very nice about getting him to go. Finally, Ares gave in and flew over to the State Building.
Ares came back to the box at 6:55 and he wanted to switch again. This time it was Astrid that didn’t want to leave and he didn’t push the issue. He dove back into the canyon. It seemed that everybody wants to incubate this morning! He came back at 9:14, and that time she was ready to go. She managed to remain out of view until about 10:38, when she was seen on a window pillar west of the nestbox. The pair switched 15 minutes later and then Astrid took a turn on the eggs. Ares zipped by the nest site at 11:10 and then was seen on the west side of the State Building after that. There didn’t seem to be anyone working on the scaffolding this morning so the birds weren’t getting annoyed like they were the day before. At 12:38 PM, Ares came to the box and tried to persuade Astrid to switch. Unfortunately for him, she was comfortable and wasn’t budging. He left instead. He was content on the State Building for a while, but then at 1:30 he gave some alarm calls. Was there an intruder? Perhaps, but we couldn’t confirm it. Ares came back to the nest at 2:07 and this time Astrid didn’t take any convincing and readily left. She took a perch on the State Building. Shortly after that Deb noticed she was eating something up there. It could have been something Ares had stored.
At around 3:10, Ares gave excited chirping calls to announce Astrid’s dramatic return to the canyon. She swooped in very quickly from the west with wings folded back. She then extended her wings to soar back again. She then she made a long graceful swoop up to a perch on the State Building. Ares abruptly left the eggs and the nest at 3:26 and then Astrid came in to resume incubation a minute after he left. He went to the north face of the State Building after that and kept that position for the next three hours. Rain began falling at around 6:30, and that may have contributed to the falcons’ lack of movement during that period. While on the eggs Astrid stretched out with her bill to do some housekeeping around the box, but mostly she stayed in place on the eggs. Ares finally left the State Building at 6:50 PM and likely went to his night perch.
Saturday, April 13th was off to a mild start with temps in the 50’s. By late morning we got into the 60’s, although the wind in downtown made it seem colder. Rain had fallen overnight, but by the amount collected in puddles, not much came down. This morning the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project had our first of two scheduled canyon walks in downtown. Our visitors got to see both falcons in action. Astrid did some fancy flying and Ares chased after a passing Cooper’s Hawk. We also talked about falcon behavior and the history of falcons in Utica. If you missed it, we’re holding another walk/watch on this coming Wednesday (April 17th) evening at 6:30.
As usual, Astrid spent the whole night on the eggs. We first saw Ares on the west face of the State Building at 6 AM. Astrid decided not to wait for Ares to come over before leaving the box. At 6:10, she flew over to the State Building. It wasn’t clear if she had upped him from his perch, but as soon as she was close, he flew to the box and got on the eggs. He gave a hearty screech as he landed on the nestbox’s crossperch. Astrid did some flying around during the subsequent half hour and Ares reacted to her travels with squeak calls. At 7:35, Deb noticed that Astrid was feeding on a high ledge on the State Building. We didn’t know if it was something freshly caught or not. They did a quick changing of the guard at 7:53, and Astrid was back on the eggs. The next switch took place at about 9:35. It was another quick one. It seemed that both falcons were eager fly today, which was understandable since conditions were excellent. At around 9:45, an adult Cooper’s Hawk flew into the canyon from the west. Ares flew up from some unknown perch and escorted the stranger out of the canyon. He only flew behind the hawk briefly; apparently there was no harsher action required. While our visitors watched, Ares did some soaring and kiting near the County Building. After that he returned to the State Building.
The next switch took place at around10:40, and then Astrid got her chance to fly. At one point, she flew off to the west and disappeared behind buildings. Later she snuck back onto the north face of the State Building, without any of us seeing which direction she came from. Apparently reveling in the favorable flying conditions. Astrid continued her tour of Downtown. She landed on the hotel ledge and vexed the nesting Pigeons for a little while. She returned to the nest at 1 PM – taking over incubation from Ares; then it was his turn to fly. He proceeded to put on a good one-man aerial show, and she commented from the box with “chur-up” calls. He soared around the State Building a few times and also did a nice close pass by one of our PTZ cams. After that he was out of view for a while. At 1:30, we located him on the hotel, plucking and then feeding on prey. He decided not to share the meal, which didn’t seem very large. After finishing he spread his tail feathers out and took in the sun for a few minutes.
Ares came to the box just before 2 PM, but Astrid wouldn’t come of the eggs. He gave up and dove into the canyon. Although not unprecedented, Astrid doesn’t normally appreciate overly warm, sun-drenched afternoons in the box, but on this day, it was what she wanted. At 3:44, Ares was eating another small meal on the hotel. After he finished he screeched his way over to the steeple where he spent some time preening. At 4:15, Ares tried to relive Astrid again, but she sent him away once more. At a little after 6:00, Astrid got off the eggs and left the box. Ares immediately came over from his perch on the State Building and took a late turn on the eggs. Astrid was out of view until 7:30. Ares had been watching for her return and began lightly calling when she showed up on the State Building. Fifteen minutes later, she came to the nest and the pair did their last switch of the day. Astrid was on the eggs and Ares was off to his night perch.