Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Tuesday, April 11th, 2023
It was cold overnight – only in the high 30’s, but the temperature surged after daybreak and was up to 64 degrees by midday. Astrid was on the eggs all night. Ares came to a west ledge with prey at 5:09 AM. He plucked it for a while and then, twenty minutes later, he moved to the west veranda. He left the food on the ledge apparently. At 5:34 he moved to the long perch and seemed to be asking for a turn on the eggs. She wasn’t ready to go and so he left. He was back at 6:01. This time Astrid was ready to go and they did a quick switch. After being on the State Building for while Astrid moved to the steeple at 6:35. At 6:49 Astrid was back to the box. She wanted a turn on the eggs, but Ares didn’t want to leave. She got in behind him and stepped on his tail. He finally shifted, but when he left, Astrid followed him out! That was unusual. Perhaps there was an intruder? Regardless, she came right back and resumed incubating. At 7:14 Ares came to the box, but was distracted by something outside. He stayed on the lip of the box, pointing out and giving chirping calls. He flew and then came right back and repeated his earlier performance. Astrid remained on the eggs, but was on high alert. It had all the earmarks of an intruder incident, but we didn’t see it. At 7:28 Ares came to the box with [prey. Astrid took it on the crossperch and flew over to the hotel ledge. However, she didn’t stay there and moved over to the State Building. We think she brought the food with her, but couldn’t be sure. At 8:37 The falcons did another switch – Astrid took over on the nest. At 8:52 Ares was feeding on something on the hotel. He then moved to a light pole on the roof of the bank building. At 9:06 he was back on the State Building. At 9:20 he brought more food to the box. Astrid took it from him and brought it over to the hotel. This time she stayed there to eat it. Meanwhile Ares took over on the eggs. At 9:26 Astrid was done with her meal and flew to the steeple. Ares called out when she landed. At 9:59 Astrid came to the crossperch and was asking to mate. When he didn’t comply with that, she jumped into the box and requested a turn on the eggs. They did some beaking and after a minute he consented to leave. He flew over to the State Building. At 11:15 Ares was circling over the city to the west and south of the State Building. We thought that perhaps he was chasing someone off, but we only saw him. At 11:37 Ares was back to the north face of the State Building.
At 11:51 AM Ares came to the box and the falcons did a quick switch. The next changing of the guard occurred at 12:20 PM and that time Astrid took over from Ares. At 1:45 the next switch occurred, and Ares was on duty. At 2:20 he gave a cackle alarm call from the nest but didn’t leave. There was probably a passing raptor or Turkey Vulture. At 2:45 Ares was giving squeaking vocalizations as he watched Astrid flying in high circles. The wind gusts were strong and she was using them to her expertly. By this time, it was 70 degrees in Downtown. At 2:48 Astrid made a brief appearance at the nest box. She put down on the crossperch, turned around and sailed out again. She was on the State Building after that. At 3:17 she returned to the nest and that time they did a quick switch – she took over on the eggs and Ares went sailing. The falcons executed their next switch at 4:46 and it was another fast one. Ares was in and Astrid was out. By 6:20 PM a light rain was falling and it was still very windy. Astrid returned to the box at 6:32. The pair did another rapid changing of the guard – Astrid got onto her clutch and Ares flew over to perch on the State Building. He had moved up to his lookout post at one point. He flew off at 7:25 PM. Probably he went off to his night perch. Goodnight all.