Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, June 2nd, 2023
It was quite warm overnight although the temperature got down to 56 degrees at one point. That didn’t last long. We were back in the furnace by mid-morning. The temperature was in the high 80s. Astrid was around the nest area all night long. Ares brought a small prey item to the box at 1:42 PM. Astrid did the feeding. Ares brought another small bird at 2:49. Again she did the feeding. Ares was back at 3:15 with still more prey, again, something small. Astrid did the feeding. At 3:26 he arrived with something more substantial. Again, Astrid fed the chicks. That meal lasted longer than the previous ones. At 4:44 AM Ares screeched to the west veranda with prey. Astrid took it, flew away, came back, and did the feeding. At 4:52 we heard Ares give some long calls from the State Building. He darted off after something but then came right back. Obviously he was hunting. At 5:01, after the last meal was finished, Niles did some wing exercising. At 6:29 Ares came to the box to do a chick check. The nestlings became very excited and danced all around him while vocalizing. We weren’t sure where Astrid was at that point. At 6:50 the parents had been out of view for a while. At 6:59 one of the parents came to the east veranda briefly but then took off. Once again, the nestlings went wild. At 7:04 Astrid was on the hotel. She appeared to be in hunting mode. We were surprised that she wasn’t staking out the box and sitting on the roof of the nest getting ready to be irritated by people in windows. Did she think it was the weekend? At 7:08 Ares brought prey to the nest area. Astrid took it and did the feeding. At 8:35 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid took it and started a feeding. Niles grabbed it away from her at the beginning of the meal, but she pulled it right back. There was another feeding at 9:09. Ares had brought some food to the east veranda at that time. Astrid left the roof to get it from him. At 10:29 Astrid was back up on the roof of the nestbox. We don’t know if she had been up there for a long time or if she had just gotten back. At 11:13 we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere close by. As it happened, he was on his favorite pillar perch. He left at 12:21 PM.
Ares came to the crossperch for a chick check at 12:30 PM. He then hopped in to be with the nestlings. Niles complained loudly and directly into Ares’ face. Astrid was on the lower steeple at that time. She came to the crossperch at 12:42 and from there moved to the east veranda. She then hopped back to the crossperch only to fly away again. She seemed to be a super busy bird today. By that time the temperature had already gotten up to 87 degrees. At 12:48 Astrid was on the steeple and Ares was on the State Building. At 1:49 Astrid made a quick visit to the nest. One of the kids became excited but she was out again in a flash. A minute later she was back. This time she was in shading mode. She stood in the middle of the box providing shade to mothering in particular while the two nestlings sought relief in the back corner of the box. Astrid was in and out of the nest (mostly in for the next couple of hours). At 4:16 Ares took over and had a turn being the Peregrine umbrella. Although he was off to an auspicious start by concentrating on shading the egg, he ultimately moved to the corner and shaded the nestlings. At 4:27 Ares was out, and Astrid was in. She went back to shading but only for about thirty minutes. After that she was out of the nest. It was 90 degrees by that time. Clouds were coming in and the distant rumbles of thunder were being heard. The nestlings, for the most part, stayed in the back of the box or in the corners. At 5:54 Ares brought prey to the crossperch. Astrid came out of nowhere to take it. She hopped into the nest and started a feeding. At first both nestlings were feeding and then Amelia quit and moved to the back of the box. She joined in again later and just before mealtime was over. At 6:07 Astrid flew over to the State Building. It was lightly raining by that time. She moved to the west veranda by 6:20 PM. At 7:28 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid took it and fed the nestlings. When the meal was over Astrid moved out onto the crossperch and Amelia and Niles got some exercise. Both did some wing flapping. By 9:00 they had settled down. Goodnight all.