Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 8, 2018 –
It was another very cold morning. Temperatures were only in the low twenties, and then struggled to reach the low thirties by mid-day. The day was mostly overcast with some light snow flurries and breaks of sun. More intense snow squalls hit the downtown area in the afternoon. For days now, it has remained quite windy. We’re starting to wonder if the winds will ever subside – not that they are any hindrance to the falcons. Astrid had returned to the nest and to incubating at 6:37 Saturday evening. Before she arrived, the eggs had been alone for 33 minutes, which was highly problematic. I went into the possible repercussions of interrupted incubation in the last post so I won’t reiterate here. Astrid stayed tight on the eggs until 3:40 AM, when she popped out for about 4 minutes. After that she returned to incubating. Ares arrived at 4:46, and relieved her on the eggs. She came back a few minutes later, but Ares had no interest in leaving and she didn’t press him to go. Instead, she left, and she was then absent for quite some time. At 6:34, Ares began screeching and asking to be relieved. When she failed to return, he went over to the State Building and began to hold vigil for her. Thankfully, after only a couple of minutes he came back to the nest and got back on the eggs. Astrid finally came back at 8:09 and after a significant beaking session with Ares, he left the box and she took over incubating. We continue to speculate on the nature of her disappearances. The most likely explanation is that she is policing her territory and possibly dealing with an entrenched pair of interlopers that are active somewhere outside of the canyon. We still require more evidence to support that explanation, but there are few other things that would keep an experienced female Peregrine away from her nest site and off of her eggs at crucial junctures.
At 9:22. Ares came to the box with a small prey item. Astrid took it and flew away with it and then Ares was once again on egg duty. As for the meal, she either stored it or ate it on the State Building. Five minutes later she was flying again. At 10:40, Astrid was back at the box and they switched out again. Ares spent some time on the State Building and then flew south at around 11:05, and then was out of camera view for a while. At 12:45, Ares came back to the box and the pair switched. Initially Astrid was nowhere to be seen and we thought that maybe she was on her way to beat up the neighbors, but then she showed up on the State Building. In the early afternoon, snow squalls blasted through the Downtown area and made for limited visibility, but we could still pick out Astrid on her perch. At 1:17, during a lull in the snowfall, she flew. Ares reacted to her move by calling and then by coming out of the box. Soon the falcons’ vocalizations were echoing through the canyon, but we couldn’t tell what was happening. Ares appeared on the State Building for only a moment and then he was gone. As it turned out, the eggs were only uncovered for 3 minutes. Both falcons returned to the box and Ares climbed back onto the eggs. Astrid stayed on the cross-perch while Ares was settling on the eggs; it was like she was lingering there just to see that he did it properly. A few minutes later, Astrid was on the steeple – a place we hadn’t seen her perch for a while. At 12:25, another intense snow squall came through the canyon and Astrid moved to the State Building. We thought that maybe she had gone on one of her adventures again, but at 12:47, she appeared on the State Building. At 1:17, she was flying again; Ares left the eggs and took to the air as well. He called and then landed on the State Building for a few seconds and then he was up again. A few minutes later, both were at the box. Ares rushed inside and got on top of the eggs. The pair had a brief conversation and then Astrid left. At 1:24 she was on the steeple, but only for a minute. From there she went to the State Building and to a relatively low perch. The snow was falling heavier at that point and she stayed put for little while. The birds switched at 3:20, and Astrid took over incubating. Ares was out of view for a while. At that point the snow was falling hard again and the wind picked up.
At 3:46, Astrid was getting excited at the box, but she remained on the eggs. She was reacting to Ares, who was darting past the bank building and heading north. He had prey in his talons, but where was he going with it? A minute later he flew back through the canyon; this time heading east, but he didn’t go to the box. We didn’t see him again until they switched at 4:28. At 4:47, we noticed that Astrid was on a low perch on the State Building. Just before 5 o’clock, Astrid took off and flew low with a westward heading. She was gone for about an hour and then suddenly showed up on the State Building. At 6:00 PM, box falcons were at the box. Astrid was gently persuading Ares to leave the eggs. She is being especially solicitous toward him this season. After a few minutes he got up and left the box and Astrid settled on the eggs. Ares landed on the State Building at 7:17 and stayed for about 15 minutes. His next stop was probably his night perch. As for Astrid, we are expecting her to lay the fourth and probably final egg of the clutch sometime in the early morning hours. The pair was very vigilant with incubation today and there were no significant lapses. The eggs were never left uncovered for more than a handful of minutes. We hope the birds maintain that excellent standard for the balance of the breeding season.