Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, May 26th, 2023
It was cold overnight with temperatures getting down in the mid-30’s. It was mostly sunny during the day with an afternoon high temperature of 70 degrees. Astrid spent part of the night inside the box with the nestlings. She switched between being in the box and being on the crossperch and long perch. There were no overnight feedings. Ares arrived on the State Office Building at 4:45 AM. We heard him giving long calls at 5:08. He screeched to the nest with prey five minutes later. Astrid flew over at about a hundred miles an hour, took the food and did the first feeding of the day. After the feeding was over at 5:28 it looked like Niles was trying to get Amelia to brood him. Moments later Astrid was back and she did the brooding. Astrid left the nest at 6:13 and then came back fifteen minutes later with straggly Pigeon leftovers. She then proceeded to conduct a surprisingly long feeding session. At 7:18 Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox – obviously anticipating people arriving in offices. At 8:04 Ares came into the nest to brood the corner trolls, but he didn’t stay very long. At 8:15 Astrid gave a loud volley of cackle calls and did some brief hazing. She landed on the crossperch and then was back up on the roof of the box. She saw someone in an office. Ares also gave some long calls but wasn’t at all worked up. At 10:17 Astrid was feeding the nestlings. We think the meal came in from Ares but didn’t actually see it happen. At 10:34 Astrid did some more cackling but didn’t seem to stay upset for too long. Ares brought more food at 11:53. Astrid took it on the east veranda and carried out a feeding. Once again, Amelia and Niles were fed in their favorite corner. At 12:22 PM Astrid was back on the box roof but then was up again at 12:46. At 1:24 Ares came to the nest for a check. He hopped in and was approached by Niles. Ares then hopped back onto the crossperch and Niles retreated back into the corner with Amelia. A few minutes later Ares came back into the nest and then sat on the box lip for a little while. Astrid was over on the State Building.
At 2:25 Astrid brought a Pigeon to the nest. Most probably it was something she caught. She proceeded to do a feeding. She fed them until they stopped taking it then she flew out with the leftovers. Niles and Amelia were still in the back corner when she left. Ares came into the box only five minutes later. He picked up a Pigeon leg from the floor and tried to feed it out to the nestlings. It took some convincing (they were already full) but they did take a few bits from him. Anyway, Ares seemed satisfied and he soon left the nest. Ares returned to the box at 3:00. He picked up a little scrap of feed on the floor and tried to pass it to one of the chicks. They still had huge crops from their recent meal. Ares left and the nestlings moved to the opposite corner of the box. At one point Amelia had a scrap of food in her talons and picked at it. That was a first! At 4:12 Ares screeched to the crossperch. He hopped into the box and got squeaked at by the nestlings. He hopped right back out onto the crossperch. At 4:25 Astrid came to the box. It had gotten windier and her feathers were getting ruffled. She soon flew back across the canyon and to the State Building. In the nest the chicks were finally getting more animated and walking around. At 5:22 PM Ares arrived on the east veranda with prey. Astrid took the offering and did a feeding. It was over after only three minutes and Astrid was out and to the steeple. For the next couple of hours, the parents were up and down from the State Office Building – presumably hunting. Meanwhile, the nestlings were mostly huddled in their back corner. Ares came for another chick check at 6:04. At 7:37 Astrid was back with food. She spent the next eighteen minutes or so stuffing the nestlings. She spent another ten minutes eating the leftovers there in the box. The while time they were all in the back corner of the box and in an awkward place to get pictures of. She flew out of the nest at 8:02. Ares left the east veranda at the same time. She was back on the east veranda five minutes later and Ares was on the State Building. Goodnight all.