Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Tuesday, March 28th, 2023
It was cold again overnight. The temperature was around 32°. We had partly cloudy skies throughout the day with a persistent wind. The high temperature in the afternoon was in the high 40s. Astrid did not spend the night in the box. She arrived at the nest at 4:14 AM. She sat on the crossperch until Ares came at 5:10. At that point, she flew over to the State Building. At 6:30 we could just make out with the PTZ camera that Ares was on the west face of the State Building. A few minutes later, we saw him dart out after a bird. Sure enough, two minutes later he came to the box with a freshly caught Grackle. He took it to the hotel for processing. At 6:54 when he was done, he took his prey to the box. When Astrid failed to come right over, he flew up to the State Building and to the ledge right next to where Astrid was perched. She came over and took it from him and then flew to the hotel. At 7:44 Astrid was on the Steeple and Ares was on the State Building. They mated at 8:15. At 9:39 the falcons were together in the box partaking of a ledge display. It featured lots of talking and very little beaking. Ares was out after five minutes. Astrid stayed in the nest for a while after the dance. At 9:45 she was making a new scrape in the middle of the floor. Meanwhile, Ares was on the same steeple perch where Astrid had been earlier. At 10:04 Astrid joined him on the adjacent steeple perch. For the next 2 1/2 hours the falcons bounced back and forth between the steeple and the box. At 12:37 PM they conducted another ledge display at the box. Ares was out five minutes later, and Astrid stayed on to do housework. Mostly, she was digging in the corners.
At 2:50 PM Astrid was on the hotel feeding. We think Ares dropped food off to her probably on the State Building or near the box. At 3 o’clock Ares was calling. We weren’t sure if it was related to an intruder in the canyon. At 3:25 I heard the vocalizations of Ring-billed Gulls, flying through the canyon. We don’t think the falcons were bothered by that at all and likely the gulls didn’t get very close to the nest. At 3:34 Ares was vocalizing in the box. We think it had to do with him seeing Astrid fly up to her steeple perch. At 3:44 they mated on the steeple. Both falcons were out of view at 4:10. Ten minutes later Ares returned to the box and Astrid to the State Building. At 5:42 the falcons performed yet another ledge display at the nest. Ares left after about five minutes. They did a practice incubation switch at 6:08 PM. At 6:28 Astrid came to the crossperch. She was asking Ares to mate but he didn’t take her hint fast enough and she left. After that Astrid was on Deb’s Perch for a while and Ares stayed in the box. I looked like he was trying his luck at laying an egg. That trick never works. At 7:34 Astrid was back to the box and Ares took the cue to leave. She stayed out on the crossperch for a while before coming into the box for a sitting. Maybe this will be the night she lays her first egg? We shall see.
Little Falls Falcon update: In Little Falls, Anna and Erie have been busy with the full spectrum of breeding behavior. Anna laid her first egg Monday evening at 8:22. Congratulations to the pair! Once again, they are the early birds.
