Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, March 17th, 2023
The overnight was cool with no precipitation. The temperature was around 35°. In mid-morning we started to get a mixture of light rain and snow. By late morning it became a steady rain and it continued through the afternoon. The high temperature was in the low 40s. Astrid was on the crossperch at 3:00 AM. We weren’t sure when she arrived. At 3:15 she hopped into the box for only a few seconds and then bailed out. Ares was on the west veranda right after that, but then he took off at 3:25. Five minutes later he returned to the box with a freshly caught killdeer, which appeared to be still alive. He soon dispatched it with a bite on the neck. He waited for Astrid to show up, but only a few minutes. He came back about eight minutes later and still had his prey. Once again, he left when Astrid didn’t promptly show up to take it. At 4:05 he came back, this time with a Woodcock, and started plucking it on the long perch. Predictably, she didn’t rush over to take it. He left at 4:14. He probably flew by her in an attempt to entice her to come to the box. He returned to the nest, but she still didn’t follow. He left again and came back at 4:16 – that time, without anything. It is likely that he stored both prey items. He left the box at 4:30 and then returned a minute later with a Woodcock which, oddly enough, didn’t seem to be the same bird. He couldn’t possibly have had enough time to get another one – could he have? He flew off two minutes later, only to boomerang right back – this time with empty talons. Astrid showed up on a west ledge at 6:54. It’s possible she was there earlier but we just didn’t notice her there. At 7:09 the pair mated on the east veranda. At 8:09 we think there was an aborted mating attempt on the steeple. Ten minutes later we heard chirping-type calls which sounded like the standard alert for a falcon intruder. In a flash Ares was up on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. Both Falcons came to the box at 8:25. Ares went inside to work on his scrape. Meanwhile Astrid was on the edge of the east veranda and asking to mate. They mated at 8:33. At 8:51 Ares came to the box with a chunk of a Woodcock. No surprise, Astrid was not interested in taking it. He took it away and probably put it back ionto one of his pantry ledges on the State Building. At 9:09 Astrid was asking to mate again. And the pair did just that at 9:40.
At 10:00 AM Astrid was still on the corner of the east veranda and Ares was back inside the box. She wanted to mate and he wanted to dance. By then it had started to rain. The pair shared a ledge display at 10:44. There wasn’t much footwork during the dance and Astrid took a break at one point to pick up some stones and maybe eat a few. After Ares left the box, Astrid did some housework around his mega scrape. While she was busy with that, Ares went up to his favorite pillar perch. at 12:16 PM the pair mated on the east veranda. Despite the rain, at 1:45 Astrid was asking to mate again. They mated one minute later and afterwards Ares returned to his pillar perch. At 2:12 Ares brought food to the nest. Astrid took it and started eating it on the east veranda which was unusual. A few minutes later she was up. She reappeared on the steeple at 2:41. They both stayed in place for a few hours – him inside the nest box and her on the steeple perch. At 5:15 PM Ares gave food to Astrid at the box. She took it over to the hotel. It may have been the killdeer that Ares had caught early in the morning. At 5:24 both Falcons were out of view for a while. Ten minutes later Astrid showed up on the west veranda and Ares, at 6:26. At 6:28 both Falcons took off. There was an intruder flying to the east of the State Building. It was too far away for us to identify. It appeared that both Falcons were hazing it as it flew. Given that it was raining again, we thought the falcons would retire for the night – that is, following their return from their hazing mission, but both came back to the nest area at 6:43. He was in the box and she was on the west veranda asking to mate. Both of them were very wet. She finally left for her night perch at around 7:30, and Ares retired a half hour later. Goodnight all.