Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Wednesday, April 26th, 2023
The overnight was cold with temperatures in the mid 30’s. The day’s high was 50 degrees. Rain was intermittent and there were breaks of sun. Astrid was on the eggs all night long. Ares arrived on the east veranda with a Woodcock at 5:10 AM. Needless to say, Astrid wasn’t interested in taking it. He left with it a few minutes later and presumably put it into storage. At 5:30 he was back with a smaller offering. She wouldn’t cede the eggs for that either and so it went into the cupboard as well. At 5:55 he was back without any gifts, and that time she took him up on it. She left the box and he got settled on the eggs. The next changing of the guard occurred at around 7:10 give or take a few minutes. At 9:39 Ares buzzed by the box screeching a couple of times. We don’t know what that was all about. Afterwards he briefly stopped at the steeple and then flew to the State Building. They switched again at 10:31 AM and Ares got another turn on the nest.
At 11:32 AM Astrid came to the box and asked to take over. She beaked with him and seemed pretty polite at first but got a little pushier towards the end and muscled him off the nest. By 1:00 PM it was raining in the canyon. Ten minutes later Ares was at the nest, and they switched. Both falcons called loudly during the changeover. The next switch occurred at 3:02. It was a quick one and Astrid was back on nest duty. The next changeover happened at around 4:35 ish. Ares got comfortable on the eggs and Astrid went over to the State Building. At 5:45 PM Astrid came to the nest and asked to take over for the night, but Ares wouldn’t go. After a few minutes of soft persuasion, she gave up and let him have some more time. She did some hunting around the canyon instead. She was on a lower steeple perch for a little while, intently watching every Pigeon that flew by. At one point she darted after something. Astrid returned to the nest for the last switch of the day at about 7:40 PM. Ares flew over to the State Building but would likely be on his way to his night perch soon. Goodnight all.