Nice Day in the Canyon – It Has Been a While!

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, March 24^th, 2023

The overnight was cool with a low temperature of 33 degrees. Morning began cool but conditions improved by afternoon. The high temperature was in the high 40s. Astrid did not spend the night at the nest box last night. However, there was a falcon (we thought Astrid) on the State Building at 2 20 AM. Ares arrived at the box at 4:05 AM and stayed for 1/2 hour. At 5:23 Ares came back to the box and was calling across the canyon to Astrid. The pair mated on the State Building just before 6:00. Forty minutes later, Ares was up on the lookout post. We think he was hunting. Moments later he came to the nest box with a freshly caught Common Grackle. He took it up to ledge near where Astrid was perched on the State Building. He then flew over to the hotel to process it. At 6:54 Ares brought his gift to the nest box. Astrid accepted it and flew to the hotel. By 7:08 Astrid had finished her meal and she was back on the State Building. The pair mated there at 7:17. Thirty minutes later both falcons were at the nest box partaking of a ledge display. This time Astrid left the box first and Ares followed after only a minute or two. At 8:48 we think that Ares tried to give Astrid food on the State Building. He landed on the same ledge as her, offered it, but she refused it. He left and appeared to store it on a different ledge. He was then in and out of the nest box several times for the next couple of hours.

At 10:55 AM Astrid came to the nest but was not there for more than 10 minutes. Ares returned to the nest at 11:07 and he was making chirping calls which made us think that there was an intruder in the Canyon. He darted out on a southward heading. At 11:26 Ares was back and made a flamboyant dash back through the Canyon, swooping up to the box like a boomerang. Her was flowed closely by Astrid. However, Astrid did not go to the box. She circled around the back of the bank building probably in an attempt to scare up Pigeons. She then flew up to a high perch on the State Building. At 12:22 PM there was an aborted mating attempt on the State Building. Thirty minutes after that the falcons were together for another ledge display at the box. Ares left the box at 12:59. At 2:36 Ares was making chirping calls at the box. Once again, we thought he may have been reacting to an intruder in the Canyon. We then thought it was more likely he was just reacting to Astrid landing on the steeple. Both falcons were out of view at 3:24 and we didn’t see them again for about thirty minutes. At 4:00 Ares returned to the nest box. Astrid was again visible on the State Building 1/2 an hour after that. The falcons had yet another dance at the box at 6:14 PM. Ares left three minutes later. At 6:28 Astrid seemed to decide that she did not like the new internet camera in the nestbox and she pecked at it. At 6:33 we saw Ares going to one of his pantry ledges on the west face of the State Building. We didn’t know if he was storing something or withdrawing something. Ten minutes later he brought a chunk of food to the nest box Astrid took it and brought it over to the hotel. Ares left the box at 7:12, presumably to go to his night perch. Astrid left the hotel sometime earlier. It remains to be seen if she will returns later on in the night. Goodnight all.