Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, March 25th, 2023
The overnight was chilly with temperatures just above the freezing point. Conditions didn’t improve much during the day. Overcast skies and intermittent rain showers ruled. Ares came to the nest box at 11:04 PM Friday night. It looked like he had prey in his talons but we couldn’t tell for sure. He only stayed for a couple of minutes. His next appearance at the box was at 5:30 AM. At 6:06 he was calling quite a bit and before abruptly flying out. He came right back and Astrid was with him. It wasn’t much of a ledge display. They both sat on either side of the box. It seemed more like Ares was trying to demonstrate to Astrid how to lay an egg. He left the nest at 6:14. At 6:23 Astrid was out on the crossperch. It seemed like she was waiting for her breakfast to get delivered. At 6:47 Ares arrived on the east veranda with a Robin. He brought it to the crossperch a few minutes later. Astrid was bowing which indicated she was more interested in mating than having breakfast. She did not take it from him and instead flew off. She flew in a circle around the canyon and then returned to an east ledge. Once again she was gesturing that she wanted to mate. Meanwhile Ares had begun plucking his prey in the nest box. This is something that is usually done offsite – at least until there are young in the nest. A few minutes later he stored it on one of his pantry ledges. No doubt, he would be passing it off to Astrid sometime later. There was an aborted mating attempt directly after that.
At 7:03 PM the falcons had a successful mating attempt. That was followed by a ledge display 5 minutes later. After Ares left the box Astrid did some housework which include making some scrapes and digging in the corners. The falcons mated again at 7:33. At 8:10 Astrid was back on on an east ledge and Ares was in the box. At 8:23 the falcons had another aborted mating attempt. At 9:11 Ares brought prey to the box and Astrid took it – although not until she was able to tug it away from her mate. We don’t know where she took it. At 9:42 Ares was snoozing while perched on the lip of the box. Astrid moved to the east veranda at 10:00. The falcons came together at the box for another dance at 11:26. Ares did some picking at the stones in the box for a while before he left at 11:39. At 11:47 Astrid was on the crossperch asking to mate. At 12:10 PM it was raining in the canyon. Ares was working in the nest box and Astrid was having a nap on the West veranda. A minute later she was awake and asking to mate. At 11:34 Ares was on his pillar perch. The falcons mated on the east veranda at 2:08 PM. At around 3:50 the falcons were conducting another ledge display at the nest box. By 4:07 Astrid was tucked in on the west veranda and Ares was back on his pillar perch. At 4:44 Ares was on the east veranda and Astrid was on the west veranda. They were in the classic nest guarding pose. She soon moved to an east ledge. At 5:09 Astrid was on the east veranda and Ares was out of view. Fifteen minutes later Ares was calling inside the nest box. The pair mated on the east veranda at 639. At 7:28 Ares had flown but Astrid was still on the veranda. She finally left for her night perch at 7:33 PM. Goodnight falcons.