The day started out cool, but warmed up fairly quickly with temperatures ultimately reaching into the 50’s. It was windy and the skies were mostly clear, which is just how falcons like it. The falcons made their morning debut well before sunrise when they simultaneously piled into the nest box at 4:55 AM. They vocalized a bit and then Astrid soared over to a ledge on the State Building. Meanwhile, Ares kept his vigil at the box, periodically giving long screech calls and looking anxious. He left the box at 5:50 and flew by Astrid once or twice. We are not sure if there was a mating attempt or not. His mating chatter was not heard, so there probably wasn’t one. However, about 20 minutes later, he tried again and they mated successfully. At 6:30, both birds again converged at the nest box. They gave loud interactive vocalizations, but didn’t engage in a ledge display.
At 7:30, Ares came to the box with a food offering. Astrid came over to take it, but instead of relinquishing it, he flew off and stored it somewhere. He was back within a few minutes and the pair mated again. Following that, Astrid took a perch on the Grace Church Steeple. Ares retrieved the meal from storage and started plucking it on the State Building. After he took a share of it, he gifted what remained to Astrid. She flew with it over to the ledge of the hotel where she quickly polished it off. While she was so engaged, Ares was sprucing up his feathers on the nest box’s long perch. At 8:40, the pair mated again; this time on the steeple. They really seemed to be making up for Monday, when they were observed mating only one time. Two hours later they mated on the steeple yet again!
At 11:15, Ares was at the box and suddenly gave out an alarm chatter call, but he didn’t leave the box. We thought there must have been an intruder, but since neither bird left their perches and since Ares seemed to be looking straight up, we figured the culprit was merely a migrant raptor passing overhead and nothing to be concerned about. Only five minutes later, Ares dashed out and immediately returned with a huge chunk of food – probably the remains of a Mourning Dove. He must have pulled it out of one of his many “cupboards” on the State Building. He chirped at Astrid to come and take it and when she failed to stir, he buzzed by her with it. She still wasn’t interested, so he flew by her again, still grasping the prey in one foot. We assumed that he put it back into storage after that, since neither bird was seen with it. Just after 1 PM, the pair mated on the State Building. They did seem to be going for a record today; the record for the most matings by a Utica pair of Peregrine Falcons in the month of February.
Ares spent most of the afternoon, popping in and out of the box like a jack-in-the-box. He was chirping a lot and sometimes biting at stones. He wanted Astrid to come over in the worst way. At 3:30, Astrid seemed to be asking Ares to come over to mate again. He chirped back at her, but then his chirps turned into alarm calls – the type they give when an intruder is in the canyon. First Astrid took to the air and then (after a few minutes) Ares was up, but Deb noticed that their manner of flight more resembled leisurely soaring than aggressive pursuit. Anyhow, no intruder was seen by Deb or recorded on the cameras. At 4:30 the pair converged at the box and shared a ledge display. After the dance, Astrid made at two scrapes into the stones on the floor of the box and then assumed a place on the perch for a while. At close to 5 PM, Ares was up on the Northwest corner of the State Building. The sun was starting to set behind him and it bathed him in light. He looked so tiny up there. It was hard to fathom; all that drive and personality was somehow packed into a two pound package. He was literally and figuratively on top of the world. His mate was in the box, which was right where he wanted her to be. Just then a group of four or five Ring-billed Gulls winged their way right through the canyon. Right after they passed by, Ares took off in their direction. We don’t know if he hazed them or not. Ares returned at close to 5:30 PM, but then we lost track of him. Astrid was visible on the corner of the County Building for a little while after that and then she left too. off to the night perches we thought.
