Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 28, 2018 –
The early morning was seasonably cool, but the temperature rose quickly under the bright sun. By mid-morning we approached 60 degrees. Rain and wind commenced in the early afternoon. Rain was intermittent in the evening.
Astrid had come back to the nest box at 5:01 PM, yesterday and she remained in the eggs all night. Ares wasn’t seen after 5:30 PM in the evening, that is until he relieved her at 4:54 AM. At that time Astrid took no coaxing to leave. She flew into the pre-dawn canyon and we’re not sure where she went. She showed up on the north face of the State Building at 6:30. Their next switch occurred at 7:27; Astrid came back onto the eggs and Ares went over to the State Building. At just before 10 AM, we spotted him on the Hotel Utica. It’s possible that he had eaten and taken a bath. He had a crop, he looked damp and was doing a lot of preening . Forty five minutes later, Astrid was vocalizing. We think she wanted Ares to take over at the nest. We scanned around for him, but couldn’t find him with our cameras. At 11:00, we saw him on the steeple. A few minutes later he flew; we thought he was heading for the box – it’s possible Astrid believed that as well, but he flew right past. He was back to the steeple at 11:18. Twenty minutes later he was gone again. He finally screeched up to the box at 12:13, and Astrid got to come off the eggs. She initially went to the State Building, but then she was out of view for a while. She returned to the north face of the State Building at 12:38. Rain began falling in the canyon shortly after that.
Here’s a note from Deb:
We were invited to be part of the Utica Zoo’s Earth Day celebration today! I was joined by two of our Committee members/volunteers Pam Lawrence and Kristen Lazarek. We set up two computers one with a live feed of the nest box and one with a slide show of various pictures from the last 4 years.
We talked with people about peregrine falcons – explained why they are endangered and how they are making a comeback, but still need our help. We explained the importance of keeping the peregrine fledglings safe as they leave the nest, what we do at “fledge watch” and our need to have more volunteers to help!
At 1:20, Astrid was out of view. She showed up on the steeple at 3:00. They switched about five minutes later and she took her place on the eggs. Ares was on the State Building for a little while and then was out of view until 4:47. He was up and down a couple of times during the subsequent hour. During that time Astrid signaled that she wanted to be relieved (at least that’s what we thought), but he didn’t come to the box. At 5:56, he was on the State Building again. He was on a high ledge above the top row of windows, but then flew north at 6:40. Three minutes later another Peregrine Falcon flew in from the north and landed near the place where Ares had just been. At the time, we thought it was Ares. It looked like a male of about his size, but we only had distant views of it on the PTZ camera. One minute later, the real Ares came tearing in from the north. The stranger saw him coming and baled from his perch. He flew over to the west face of the building and out of our view. Ares dove at the intruder and displaced him from his perch. He then chased his doppelganger off to the east. Ares reappeared on the State Building at 6:52. It looked like Astrid was not going to be relieved tonight, but Ares had a good excuse this time; he was on watch. He stayed in place until 7:30, and then did at least one pass around the State Building before retiring (presumably) to his night perch. Astrid was in for a marathon sitting this night, but at least her realm is secure.