Astrid Lays the 1st Egg of the 2023 Season!

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Sunday, April 2^nd, 2023

It got cold overnight. The temperature dropped down into the mid-20s which was culture shock after the 70 degree afternoon. Rain in the evening did not turn into snow as was predicted. Astrid spent the night in the box. At 12:29 AM she laid the first egg of the 2023 breeding season. April 2nd is the second latest date for a first egg since 2014, which was the falcon’s inaugural breeding year. Obviously, it was dark inside the box so it was difficult to determine exactly what was going on but we are confident on the time. Her posture was correct, and she appeared to tuck something underneath her at that time. At 4:47 Ares came to the box, and they switched. Astrid flew out and Ares got to see the egg for the first time. As usual he was more interested in what Astrid was doing than anything else. He left the box only 5 minutes after arriving. At that point it was 29 degrees. Astrid came in right after Ares left and got back on the egg. Of course, they are not involved in full incubation yet. That won’t come until after the second egg is laid. That means that they will be leaving the egg alone and/or uncovered for extended periods of time. At 6:27 Aries was back at the nest. Astrid did not want to leave and so he flew out again. At 7:06 Ares came to the box with prey. Astrid accepted it and flew off while he stayed with the egg. After all these years it seems that Ares still doesn’t quite know what to do with a new egg. He gave it a little roll and then he went out onto the crossperch. He left less than a minute later. The nest was then unmanned until 7:37 when Ares returned. Once again, he only stayed for several minutes. At 7:58 Astrid came back to the nest and was on guard duty for a while. The next switch occurred at 8:57 and then Ares was back in the box. This time his stay was much longer although most of the time he wasn’t close to the egg. By 10:22 the egg had been left alone for a while. Astrid came to the nest a minute later. The next switch happened at 11:36. Ares was on the egg for about 6 minutes before departing. At 11:45 Ares came back to the nest and did another shift of guard duty.

At 12:22 PM Astrid left her perch on the State Building and came into the nest. She left again sometime before 12:45. At 1:11 Ares screeched to the box. Astrid was back on the State Building by that time. Ares left the box at 1:51. The egg was then unguarded for an extended time. At 2:35 Ares came back to check on the egg. He stood over it for a little while before leaving again. Throughout the rest of the afternoon Ares periodically checked on the egg while Astrid stayed on the State Building. She did leave a couple of times but she did not come to the nest and returned to her perch on the State Building. At 5:10 Astrid was on the nest and Ares was on the State Building. They did a classic switch at 5:22 and then she was back to the State Building. He didn’t stay long post switch. At 6:31 Ares was soaring around the State Building. Astrid came to the box at 6:32. Ares was up on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. Most likely he was there for hunting purposes and not because of an intruder. He darted by the box at 6:42. Astrid reacted to his flyby by making squeaking vocalizations. At 6:54 the Falcons switched. Ares came into the box and Astrid flew out. It seemed like Astrid was having a late night. However, Ares was still at the box so she must have been close by. Ares left the box at 7:30 only to come back five minutes later. Astrid came to the box at 7:38 and settled down onto the egg. That was probably it for the night. We will look for Astrid’s second egg to be laid in the early afternoon on Tuesday. Goodnight all.