Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, June 9th, 2023
It was cool overnight with temperatures just below 50 degrees. There were rain showers off and on through the morning and afternoon. The high temperature was only 61 degrees. Astrid spent most of the night in the vicinity of the nest. She was primarily on a window ledge east of the nestbox. There were no overnight feedings. Astrid was giving some of her trademark donkey calls at 4:49 AM. That was because Ares had just landed on the State Building. At 5:19 he brought food to the box. It was stolen by Niles and absconded with to the corner. Astrid had come to the crossperch to take it but she was too late. She made attempts to get it but whenever she hopped into the box Amelia rushed her and she had to retreat to the crossperch. At 5:30 the nestlings were doing a lot of wing flapping. Nile also moved his ill-gotten goods to the opposite back corner of the box. At 5:36 Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was on the steeple. In the box Amelia had found the abandoned food and was picking at it. At 6:03 Ares screeched to the nest with more prey. Astrid took it on the crossperch and then hopped into the box to do a feeding. Predictably, she started off by feeding Niles who is very insistent. About five minutes into the meal Niles walked away and Astrid began feeding Amelia. Several minutes later Astrid left with the leftovers. She was back on the steeple soon after that. At 7:48 Ares came to the nest with more prey. Astrid took it on the crossperch and hopped into the nest. Niles immediately tried to steal it. It was a tugging match, but Astrid prevailed, and she started feeding both nestlings. At 8:48 Astrid was up on the roof of the nest box. She started cackling shortly after that. At 9:10 another feeding was underway. We weren’t sure where it came from, but Astrid was in charge. And 9:44 Astrid was cackling. A couple of minutes later she was on the west veranda and then from there up to the roof of the nest box. Ares remained unperturbed on his State Building perch. At 11:28 Ares landed on the steeple. He was soaked. He must have taken a bath somewhere. A short time after that Astrid landed on another steeple perch. She looked wet too but not quite like she had just swam the Channel like Ares. They both sat preening for a while.
At 12:13 PM Astrid came to the crossperch. Two minutes later Ares arrived at the long perch. He and Astrid gave some cackle calls. We don’t think it was because of activity in the offices this time. Instead, we think it was a hawk or some Turkey Vultures flying over. At 12:21 Ares had moved to the east veranda. Astrid was back up on the roof of the nestbox. Meanwhile Niles and Amelia were reclined in the middle of the box. Niles, once again, was resting with his bill on the lip of the box so he could look out into the canyon. At 12:30 PM Ares was up and Astrid had started cackling. She did not cackle for long though. By 12:57 it was raining downtown once again. Astrid was on the long perch. She flew off five minutes later. At 3:18 Astrid was in the box with prey – we think a Pigeon. She began by feeding Niles for about several minutes straight. Amelia started off seemingly uninterested and against the backwall, to being increasingly interested and walking up along side Niles. By 3:41 both nestling had walked away from the meal. Astrid went on for a couple of minutes longer – getting every last bite. After the meal the nestlings were highly active in the box – flapping their wings, strutting around, interacting, and notably, beating up our whitewash camera. Amelia kicked in a few times and bit at it. At 4:04 Astrid landed on the east veranda but did not stay there very long. She did return to it forty minutes later. At 5:25 Ares brought prey to the lip of the box. Niles grabbed it from him and took it to the back corner of the nest. Astrid arrived but was too late to prevent the theft. Her third attempt to recover it was successful and she was able to start a feeding. This time Amelia was first in line to be fed. The meal was over after five minutes. There were no more feeding for the rest of the evening. Ares was hunting from the lookout and made a few forays out after prey, but never brought anything else back to the nest. Astrid also tried for a few targets, but seemed to be unsuccessful. She perched on the hotel for a while looking out for Pigeons. After that she was on the State Building for a while. The nestlings were, for the most part, settled down by 8:15 PM. Goodnight all.