Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 19, 2018 –
It was cold and snowy today (where have I heard that before?). A few squalls were quite intense, but at least snow wasn’t sticking to the ground. Temperatures were in the thirties for most of the day kand topped out at around 40 degrees. After Astrid enjoyed her evening excursion last night, she returned and relieved Ares at 8:03 PM on Wednesday. As is typical, she remained on the eggs all night long. Ares landed on a ledge on the north face of the State Building at around 5:08 AM, but didn’t come to the box until 6:18. Astrid had been calling to him quite a bit, but he wasn’t persuaded to come over. To be fair, she may have wanted him to get breakfast for her, and he appeared to be trying to do just that. He flew off a couple times and ended up on different perches, although he wasn’t seen with prey. When they did switch, it was quick and afterwards Astrid spent a lot of time apparently checking out Ares’ pantry. She first flew back and forth in front of the west face and then she did the same thing on the north face She finally ended up going around the entire building just short of ten times. If she wasn’t looking for stored food, what was she doing? At 7:30, Deb saw Astrid perched on the south face of the State Building. It looked like she had a crop, so she must have eaten. At 8:57. The falcons switched out again and Astrid assumed her incubation duty. Upon leaving, Ares may have gone directly into hunting mode. He was on the County building and then a few minutes later he was on the State Building.
Deb Spent some time this morning visiting Ms. Cherie Grant’s 5th grade class at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. Here’s what Deb had to say about her experience:
Ms. Grant’s students have been following the activities of Astrid, Ares and their offspring for the past 3 years. This year they have been keeping a daily log of the activity that they see each day and making notes about various interesting facts concerning the peregrines. I spoke to them about peregrines in general and shared some pictures and videos from previous nesting years. Additionally we did an exercise to show how pesticides bio-magnify up the food chain. The students asked very good and thoughtful questions – I could tell they have spent a lot of time studying peregrines. It was the best day of my week!! I truly enjoy seeing young people interested in nature!
By 11:20, the weather changed and downtown appeared to be in the grips of a blizzard. Snow was falling densely and the wind had picked up. The PTZ 1 cam was obscured and we couldn’t tell if Ares was still on the State Building or not. Thankfully, the squall didn’t last long and visibility returned to the canyon. Ares had held to his perch on the State Building. The falcons executed another rapid switch at noon and it was Ares turn at the box again. Occasionally he would squeak like he was seeing her, but we weren’t sure where she was for a while. She ultimately showed up on the State Building. The next switch took place at 1:32, which was only an hour and one half after the previous change. Ares appeared on the State Building soon after the switch. At 3:36, Deb saw him apparently playing on the wind. And yes, the wind had picked up. He made a brief stop at the box at 4:22, but flew out again. They switched out for real at 4:51 PM. After that Astrid spent some time on the State Building. By 5:09, she was seen flying around the same building, which seemed to be a favorite pastime for her today. When Deb left the office at 5:33, Astrid was on the East face of the building, preening. She moved to the west side by 6:05, and by 6:30, she was seen flying around the State Building. After that her motions (or non-motions) were invisible to us, that is until she returned to the nest at 7:48. She moved Ares off the nest with impatient monkey-like calls upon her arrival. Good night falcons!
