Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
Last night was warmer than it has been in recent nights. Temperatures were in the low 40s and that’s where they remained for the entire day. The day was mostly overcast with rain starting around noon. Rain showers became more numerous in the afternoon and evening. Astrid came into the nest box at 11:48 Wednesday night and remained there. Ares joined her in the box at 3:50 AM. I thought they might perform a ledge display but the pair merely sat together in the box until Astrid flew out at 4:34. Astrid may do several of these long sittings before she finally settles down and lays her first egg. We could be days away or as much as a week away from that. At 6:09 Astrid came to an east ledge. She was mostly tucked in so all we could see was the end of her tail protruding from the ledge. At 6:27 the pair mated on that ledge. Fifteen minutes later Ares came to the box with a Mourning Dove. We were surprised that Astrid didn’t fly right over to take it – she usually likes doves. Instead, she landed on the west veranda and the two falcons just looked at each other. She seemed like she didn’t know what she wanted to do. She flew away, came back, flew away, and came back once more. The last time she landed on Deb’s office perch. At 7:00 Ares gave up waiting for her and flew off to the west. We thought he might try to deliver Astrid’s gift to her, but he flew right past her and went to the hotel instead. Perhaps he thought she would like it better if it were pre-plucked. A few minutes later he took it and stored it someplace. Astrid left her perch at 7:10. Five minutes later she was on the hotel feeding on something. We don’t know if Ares gave her a gift or if she selected something from his pantry. At 7:43 Falcons mated somewhere – we didn’t see it but we heard Ares’ mating chatter. At 8:20 both Falcons came to the nest box. Astrid immediately moved over to the east veranda perch and Ares began conversing with her from the box. At 8:32 they mated on the east veranda. They mated again at 9:41 and at 9:57. At 10:17 Astrid was on the steeple. The pair was at the box for a ledge display at 10:53. Ares left five minutes later. After he was out Astrid did some housework in the box and made her own scrape within Ares’ mega scrape.
At 11:52 AM Ares came to the nest with a bat. He delivered it to where Astrid was perched on the State Building but she didn’t want it. She never wants bats. Astrid escaped to an east ledge. Ares wasn’t taking “no” for an answer. He flew over to the east veranda, hopped over to her ledge, and once more tried to give it to her. They were both out of view, so we are not sure of this, but it’s possible he was trying to feed it to her. He has done that before with bats. At 12:05 PM Astrid was on the west veranda. At 3:00 Ares was in the nest, periodically emitting long calls. By then it was raining in the downtown area. At 3:24 he began excitingly calling like he saw Astrid, but we couldn’t pick her pout with our cams. It turned out she was in the box with him. They performed a ledge display which featured a lot of beaking. Ares’s left at 3:29. After he was gone Astrid did some digging and some other work around the box. At 3:33 she was out on the long perch. Both falcons were out of view at 4:45. After 5:00 Ares was in and out of the box several times. We saw Astrid land on the West face of the State Building at 5:16. At 6:20 PM Ares brought prey to the nestbox. After a couple of minutes he flew only to return a minute later without the food. He probably brought it directly to Astrid’s ledge. It’s quite the service he runs. At 6:33 Astrid showed up on the east veranda. The pair mated there a few minutes later. Ares was back to the box at 7:08. He left for his night perch at 7:28 and she followed less than a minute later. Goodnight falcons.