Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, April 1st, 2023
There were thunderstorms overnight and the temperature was 43 degrees. The rain stopped after dawn. The temperature rose to 70 degrees in the afternoon. The wind speed increased through the day and rain returned in the late afternoon. Astrid was in the nest for most of the night. At 3:31 AM Ares came into the box and they did a practice incubation switch. Astrid moved over to the west veranda. It was raining heavily at that point with some lightning. Astrid tucked in on the veranda for a while but then came back out onto the veranda perch at 4:49. Five minutes later she tucked in on ledge adjacent to Deb’s Perch. At 5:15 it was still pouring rain but, despite that, Astrid was asking to mate. We think there was an aborted attempt shortly afterward. Ares returned to the nest and Astrid tucked in again on her ledge. At 6:31 Astrid was on a west ledge asking to mate again. Ares hopped into the box. He was calling and lobbying for a dance. The birds mated two minutes later, and then the rain finally stopped, not that the two things were related. At 6:44 Astrid was on the crossperch asking to mate again but she flew off before Ares had a chance to react. Both falcons were out of view a few minutes later. At 6:51 A&A came to the box. Ares had prey in his talons which he gave to his mate. She flew off with it. At 7:27 Astrid was back on deb’s perch. They mated there 10 minutes later. At 7:46 Ares was inside the nest box working on his scrape. It was then that we realized his mega scrape had migrated from its original position and was now closer to the center of the box. At 8:24 AM another mating occurred after which Ares returned to the box. We think there was another mating attempt at 904 and at 9:30, but we couldn’t confirm them. The falcons were together in a box for a legde display at 9:34. At 10:20 Ares brought more food to the nest. He arrived on the east veranda and then hopped into the box. Astrid took it and flew off. The prey was a House Sparrow. Astrid plucked it on the hotel and proceeded to eat the entire bird. At 10:33 Astrid was on the steeple and Ares was on the State Building. At 11:10 both falcons were out of view.
Ares returned to the nest at 11:39 which meant that Astrid must have been back too since he never lets her out of his sight. Sure enough, Astrid had put down on the State Building. At 12:37 PM we noticed that the wind was really buffeting our PTZ cameras but at least they were working satisfactorily. At 12:49 Ares was back at the nest and Astrid was on the State Building. She came to the box at 1:02 and did some vocalizing. At 2:12 Ares came into the box for a practice incubation switch. Astrid lunged out into the wind tunnel that was Downtown and flew over to the State Building. At 3:38 the falcons were together at the nest for another ledge display. Ares left a few minutes later and went to the State Building. At 4:13 the falcons performed another ledge display at the box. Ares left after only a couple of minutes. At 4:19, yet another dance. We were wondering if Ares was initiating all these dances just for the opportunity to check to see if she had laid an egg yet. At 5:11 there was yet another egg-check dance. There was lots of beaking associated with that one. Ares left after about three minutes. At 6:00 they performed yet another ledge display at the nest. That time Astrid left at its conclusion. Ares followed her but came right back. We saw Astrid soaring around the State Building several times. She gained altitude and then darted off to the north. At 6:10 she landed on Deb’s Perch. Five minutes later Ares floated over on the wind and the pair mated. At 6:20 Ares came to the ledge just west of Deb’s Perch with prey in his talons. Astrid did not seem to want it and he departed with it. At 6:22 he came to the box without the food. Astrid took off a minute later. At 6:25 Astrid was once again flying around the State Building. We thought perhaps she was checking Ares’ pantry ledges for something palatable. After browsing the store ledges she once again gained altitude and drifted out of camera view. After being out of view for a while both falcons came to the box at 6:50 and held another ledge display. Ares left after a couple of minutes. He was on the State Building until about 7:27 and then he was off to his night perch. Astrid remained in the box – possibly gearing up to lay her first egg of the season? Goodnight falcons.