Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Sunday, April 9th, 2023
It was quite cold overnight with a low temperature of 25 degrees. Sunny and relatively cloudless conditions in the morning led to a milder day. The high temperature was 53 degrees. Astrid remained on the eggs all night. Ares came to the box at 6:20 AM and the two birds executed a quick switch. Ares wasted no time in covering the eggs while Astrid flew to a perch on the State Building. At 6:40 Ares was off the eggs and on the lip of the box. The Falcons mated seconds later. After which, Astrid came back to the nest and to the eggs. The eggs had been alone for about one minute. At 7:01 Ares was up from the State Building. A few minutes later he brought food to the box. Astrid took it and flew over to the hotel while he took over incubating. At 7:27 Astrid was done with her meal and she flew over to the steeple. At 7:50 she came to the nest and negotiated a turn on the eggs. A minute later Ares was out and Astrid was on the eggs. At 9:36 Ares was on the southwest corner of the hotel’s upper ledge. In the background the Utica marsh was visible. At 11:36 Ares had been out of view for a while. Astrid was still sitting, and presumably getting close to laying her 4th egg. At 11:52 Ares came to the box. He tried to get a turn on the eggs but Astrid sent him away. At 11:57 it was clear that Astrid was having contractions. She laid her 4th egg at 11:58 AM. When she stood up we could see the new egg was glossy and a more reddish brown than the others. She did not allow us much of a look and she quickly came back down on them. At 12:33 PM Ares came to the nest. He walked in a circle around Astrid. She stood up and revealed the full clutch of four eggs. She then sat back down again. After his inspection was complete Ares left the box and flew over to the State Building.
At 1:43 PM the falcons switched. That time Astrid seemed like she was ready to leave and Ares was very happy to take over on the clutch. At 2:25 Astrid came to the box and was asking for a turn on the eggs. She walked around behind him but was not very pushy. He left on his own volition and flew over to the State Building. At 3:26 we noticed that Ares was up on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. Was he hunting or watching for intruders? The next switch happened at 4 03. Ares came in and requested a turn and Astrid relinquished without complaint. At 5:08 Ares came off the eggs, went to the lip of the box, and launched into the canyon. The eggs were left alone. Ares flew up to the lookout post again, while Astrid stayed on the north face of the State Building. At one point Ares switched to the lookout post on the northeast corner of the building. By 5:15 it was clear that Ares was dealing with an intruder. The intruder was a Peregrine Falcon, and that was all we could tell. We saw it fly low over the State Building roof and then Ares chased it off to the north. Without missing a beat Astrid flew to the nest and got onto the eggs. They had been alone for about 5 minutes and the temperature was in the low 50s. In other words, it was not problematic. A minute later Ares returned to the fold and was back up on his lookout post. He was up and down a couple of times within the next hour. At 6:56 Astrid was giving some squeaking calls from the box and Ares took off from the lookout shortly after. She seemed to be in place for the night and Ares, if he didn’t do it already, was bound for his night perch. Goodnight all.