Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Monday, June 12th, 2023
It was warm overnight with temperatures around 60 degrees. The sky was overcast through the morning with a high of 73 degrees. Later in the afternoon it was close to 80 degrees. Rain came before evening and the temperature dropped into the 60’s. Astrid was in the vicinity of the nest for most of the night. Ares was visible on the State Office Building until at least late evening. There were no overnight feedings. When Astrid left the east veranda at 4:45 AM the nestlings became very active. At 5:18 Ares screeched in with prey. He brought it to the lip of the box and Niles grabbed it at super sonic speed and took it to the corner. When Astrid arrived on the perch, she was quickly resigned to not doing a feeding. The nestlings were screeching and very excited. Amelia had gotten the food away from Niles but was only footing it and not eating it. At 5:31 Astrid was back. She made another try to recover the food and was successful. She then proceeded to do a feeding. She concentrated on feeding Amelia while Niles picked at some scraps in the corner. A couple of minutes later, Astrid was feeding Niles. At 5:56 Astrid was on the office perch (Deb’s perch) located on a window ledge west of the nest area. We think she landed there to show the nestlings a possible future destination. At 5:58 Ares came to the nest with food. Astrid took it and started a feeding. She began by feeding Amelia. At 6:35 Astrid went up to the roof of the nestbox. She was anticipating people being in offices. At 7:39 Astrid made another short visit to the crossperch and got the nestlings squealing. She came back five minutes later. At 8:17 AM Niles was doing a lot of squealing. He could see Ares on the east veranda. At 9:34 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid took it, flew away, came back, and immediately lost it to Niles who, once again, grabbed it away at light speed. Niles nibbled away at it in the corner. Ares was then heard giving long calls from somewhere. At 10:00 we heard Ares giving long calls once again. The nestlings were screeching in response. At 10:19 Astrid arrived at the nest. Something made her mad and she cackled before flying out again. At 10:29 Ares was on his pillar perch and Astrid was back on the roof of the nestbox. An hour later Astrid visited the east veranda. Predictably, the nestlings went wild and started squealing. At 11:40 Amelia was doing a lot of wing flapping. She has lost a considerable amount of her white down and is looking more like a fledgling every day. Niles also lost a lot of down but is still – developmentally a few days behind Amelia.
At 12:48 PM Ares brought food to the nest. Astrid took it intending to do a feeding but Niles grabbed it and brought it to the corner. Astrid didn’t try to recover it. Niles picked away at it in the corner and then Amelia had a go at it. At 1:20 Astrid came to the nest, picked up scraps and started feeding it out to the nestlings. Ares spent quite a while on his pillar in the afternoon. He was still there at 2:15 PM. At 3:23 he was on the east veranda. At 3:50 Astrid came to the box for a chick check. After that she perched on a light pole on the roof of the bank building. It was the second time in recent days she has perched up there. She appeared to be in hunting mode. At 4:17 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid got it before it was stolen this time and began a feeding. Amelia was first up to be fed. After the meal Amelia got some good wing exercising in. At 5:04 Ares was on Deb’s Perch to the west of the nest area. It was the first time we have seen him perch there in quite a while. We think the parents may be showing the nestlings different perching places they can use post fledging. At 6:23 Astrid came to the crossperch and that got the nestlings melting down. They both engaged in a flapping-fest after she left. At 7:50 Ares brought prey to the box. Astrid met him there, took it, hopped into the box, and lost it to Niles. He absconded with it to the corner and Astrid left. By 9:00 PM Astrid was on the east veranda, the nestlings had settled down and Ares was on the State Building. Goodnight falcons.