Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Monday, May 8th, 2023
It was chilly overnight with temperatures in the 40s. It warmed up quickly during the day although it was windy. The high temperature was in the mid 60s. Astrid was on the eggs through the night. There was no hatch overnight. We saw Astrid shuffling and jostling the eggs several times during the night. We heard the chick inside the egg calling at 1:00 AM and again at 5:00. Ares landed on the State Building at 5:25 AM. Astrid started calling after he arrived. He soon flew off – probably on a hunting run. At 5:33 we saw that he was up on the lookout perch. Five minutes later he came to the nest and the pair switched. We could clearly see that all four eggs remained intact and there was no hatch. At 5:43 both Ares and the chick inside the egg were giving squeak calls. At 6:39 Astrid returned to the box and the pair switched again. It was a quick changeover and we were not able to get a good look at the eggs, although we could see that there were still four of them. At 8:30 Astrid was doing more egg jostling in an attempt to induce them to hatch. Two hours later we started hearing the chick inside the egg again. Still, there was no hatch forthcoming. At 11:30, the same thing once more, Astrid shuffling and jostling the eggs and the chick inside the egg calling, but no hatch.
At noon it was clear the pip was getting larger. Astrid did some more egg jostling and then the pair switched at 12:07 PM. We were hearing the chick calling more frequently at this point. At 12:09 we momentarily thought a second egg had a pip, but it was only a blemish. At 1:13 Astrid was jostling the eggs once more. At 2:35 Ares screeched to the box and the pair did another quick changeover. There were still four eggs but the pip in the first egg looked a little larger, Ten minutes later we noticed that a second egg really did have a pip in it. Astrid came to the box at about 3:10 and it took her at least five minutes to convince Ares to leave the nest. She got a little pushy at the end. After taking over she immediately started jostling the eggs. At 3:50 PM we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere in the Canyon. Less than a minute later he brought food to the crossperch. Astrid went out and took it from him and then brought it into the nest. We thought for a moment that she was going to start trying to feed the eggs! She didn’t. However, she was vocalizing like she does when she feeds young but in that case, she was feeding only herself. It was a small meal and when she was done, she got back to the serious work of egg jostling. Once again, we could hear a chick calling from inside an egg. At 5:09 Ares came to the box. He quickly got behind Astrid and pushed her off the nest. He then took over on the eggs. Astrid went to the State Building; taking the same relatively low perch that she has favored lately. At 5:30 Astrid was back to the box and negotiating with Ares about taking over on the eggs. It was obvious that she really wanted him to leave but she was using gentle persuasion. She beaked with him for a minute and then, just when it looked like she was going to get behind him and push him out, she abruptly left instead. She went back to her low perch on the state building. At 5:41 Ares was doing some egg jostling, which is something we don’t often see him do. A chick inside the egg was calling while he moved the eggs around. It was clear that one of the pips was getting larger. At 5:52 PM Astrid was back to the nest asking for a turn on the eggs. They did some beaking and then he got up and left. The pip clearly looked bigger on the first egg. Still, there was no hatch, not yet. However, we should have some news by tomorrow. Goodnight falcons.
Little Falls Falcon Update:
The Little Falls Peregrine Falcons (Anna & Erie) now have three hatchlings on their nest scrape. There is also a possible pip on the last egg.