Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Thursday, March 30th, 2023
The overnight was very cold with temperatures in the mid-20s. About an inch of snow fell in the evening and was still there in the morning. Our PTZ 2 camera was coated with ice and we were unable to use it to see the nest box. Thankfully, all the other cameras were working fine. Astrid spent the night in the box. However, she did not lay an egg. Regardless of whether there was an egg on the scrape or not, the pair did a practice incubation switch at 4:09 AM. Ares came in and Astrid went out. At 5:36 Ares was inside the box and Astrid was on the State Building. The falcons did another practice switch only 5 minutes later. At 7:02 Astrid left the box. She either got food from Ares or she took something out of his pantry on her own. However Astrid got it, she took it over to the hotel and had it for breakfast. At 8:36 Astrid was on the State Building. Ares screeched to the nest box only to screech out again less than a minute later. They mated on the State Building and he returned to the box right afterwards. At 9:03 Astrid was at the box and she was vocalizing. Ten minutes later she was reclined over Ares’ mega scrape. It looked like she was on an egg but of course she wasn’t. At 10:06 Ares was in the box and Astrid was out of view. We couldn’t find where she went but no doubt Ares had her in sight. It is possible there was another mating on the State Building at around 10 48. Ares came to the box right afterwards.
At 11:05 AM both falcons seemed to be worked up about something. Perhaps there was an intruder in the canyon. Astrid was on the State Building and Aries was chirping inside the nest box. By 11:30 they had calmed down and were seen mating on the State Building once more. Just before noon Astrid came to the crossperch but she did not stay. At 12:20 PM we think there was another mating on the State Building but we couldn’t be sure of that. Ares came to the nest box directly after and was calling. Five minutes later he joined her on the State Building. At 3:02 PM Ares was in the box vocalizing again. Astrid was seen in flight flying over to the State Building. At 4:00 the Falcons were conducting another ledge display in the box. It featured a lot of beaking. Ares left after ten minutes. At 4:33 they were dancing again. At one point during the display, Ares walked in a complete circle around Astrid. This dance also featured a lot of beaking behavior. He left after five minutes. At 5:52 Ares brought food to the nestbox. Astrid seemed like she was interested for a moment but then opted not to take it. She flew out and then he left. Astrid went over to the hotel and sat in the sun for a little while. Ares went to the State Building where he could keep an eye on her. At 6:06 Ares returned to the nest. Ten minutes later Astrid moved to a steeple perch. She came to the nestbox at 6:28 and Ares went to the State Building. The falcons conducted yet another ledge display at 6:42. When it was over Ares returned to the State Building and Astrid remained at the nest box acting like she was considering laying an egg. She is still at the box at 8:30 as I do this writeup. Goodnight falcons.
Little Falls Falcon Update: Anna laid her 2nd egg at 8:19 AM – approximately 60 hours after laying egg # 1. Good job, Anna!!
