Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, April 15th, 2023
It was cool overnight with temperatures in the low fifties. Once again it warmed up quickly after daybreak and we hit the low eighties by midday. Astrid spent the entire night on the eggs as expected. Ares showed up at the nest at 5:46 AM and the pair did a quick changing of the guard. They switched again at 6:43 and Astrid resumed incubation. At 7:51 Ares came to the long perch with prey. Astrid seemed excited about it but didn’t get off the nest and Ares left with the food after waiting only a few moments. He probably stored it somewhere. He came to his pillar perch from the State Building at 8:28. He did a lot of preening while he was there – and much of it with his eyes closed. At 9:10 he came to the box to ask for a turn on the eggs. Astrid left with no argument and he took over on the nest. At 9:54 he abruptly left the eggs and the box. Was there an intruder? If so, we saw no sign of it. Astrid came to the nest two minutes later and got onto the eggs. At 10:30 Ares returned to his pillar perch. He was gone again five minutes later.
At noon Ares was at the nest and requesting a turn incubating. This time Astrid wouldn’t leave and Ares didn’t try any extraordinary measures to oust her. At 1:10 he tried again, upon entering the nest he immediately went around behind her. He crowded her, stepped on her wingtips and then pried her off the clutch. She flew to the State Building as he got comfortable on the eggs. At 1:16 Ares started calling again. We don’t know what he saw or heard that elicited that response. He was soon off the eggs and flying into the canyon. Less than a minute later Astrid flew to the nest and resumed incubating the eggs. Ares came back and relieved her at 2:35. He then had a long session on the eggs – once again, through the hottest part of the day. Astrid came to the crossperch at 5:07 PM. She signaled that she wanted to mate and Ares complied. It is now well outside the egg laying window, so it is interesting that they are continuing to mate. Astrid got onto the clutch and, as was the case with Ares, did more brooding than shading. Even though it was still hot out, the sky had become overcast, and the sun was not flooding into the box. We saw Ares up on the State Building at 6:42 and he was up again about ten minutes later. It was likely the show was over for the night. Goodnight all.