Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Monday, March 20th, 2023
The first day of spring had a chilly start with temperatures around the freezing point. The high for the day was in the mid 40s. It was breezy but the sun was out for much of the day. Astrid arrived at the nest box at 3:07 AM. She left briefly but then came right back to the long perch. It seemed like she was waiting for Ares to bring her breakfast – something that he wasn’t doing in a hurry. At 6:09 Ares arrived’ he hopped into the box, but had no food gift. Astrid unceremoniously left and flew over to an east ledge. The pair mated there at 6:35. After that Astrid went back to the long perch at the box. Ares brought prey to a west ledge at 6 57. It appeared to be a Starling. Astrid did not come and take it from him until 7:11. She then had her breakfast over on the hotel. At 7:46 Ares was giving chirping-type alarm calls in the box. This is the alarm call they typically reserve for instances when there’s a falcon intruder in the Canyon. However, Astrid was perched on the State Building and Ares was still at the box. It certainly didn’t seem like either one of them was outraged enough to mount a pursuit. At 8:04 AM Astrid was on the east veranda perch and both falcons were having a spirited discussion. She then went back over to the State Building at 8:05 and, as far as we know, they remained in place until 10:15. That’s when the two took part in a ledge display. During the dance Ares stayed on his mega scrape and Astrid was crowded up to him. There was some enthusiastic beaking in this display but little footwork. At 10:24 Ares brought a food gift to the east veranda. He then hopped into the box with it. It was very small and she really didn’t have any interest in it. She just hopped out onto the crossperch, seemingly ignoring the guy with the gift. Ares tried once more to give it to her, but she flew off. It was then that we noticed there was what looked like an entire Woodcock stored on a west ledge.
At 10:46 PM Astrid was perched on the steeple and Ares was at the box. At 11:08 Ares started chirping in the box as if he had an intruder sighted. Minutes later both falcons were out of view – presumably giving chase. Were they dealing with an intruder? At 11:30 Ares was once again in the box and giving chirping calls. Astrid had returned to the State Building. Ares soon transitioned into giving long screeching calls, also known as terradactyl calls. At 11:35 there was an aborted mating attempt on the State Building. Ares circled back to the box afterwards. At 1:41 PM the falcons were together in the box having another ledge display. Ares was out after about 10 minutes. At 3:25 Ares was back in the nest box and Astrid was on the State Building. As it happened, they were up and down quite a few times in the next two hours. So much so they were difficult to keep track of. At 6:11 Ares brought a small food item to the box. He called out for Astrid to come over, but once again she didn’t seem to be in any hurry. It was a bat; the first one we’ve seen Ares catch this season. A few minutes later Astrid came, presumably to take her gift, but by then there was no gift. Ares had finished it. She doesn’t like bats anyway. For her they are on the same list as cuckoos and woodcocks. Instead of a food exchange, the pair preformed another ledge display. At 6:22 Ares was out of the box and Astrid remained. She had moved to the west veranda by 6:30. Fifteen minutes later she was on Deb’s Perch and Ares was in the box. She was asking to mate. They then had an aborted mating attempt at Deb’s Perch at 7:04.It seemed that both falcons had retired for the night by around 7:30 PM. Goodnight falcons.