Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 30, 2018 –
It was seasonably cool again today with temperatures rising from the mid-thirties to the low forties by noon. A wintery mix of rain and snow fell through part of the morning. In the afternoon, the precipitation ceased and the temperature surged into the 50’s.
Astrid came to the nest at 8:10 last night, which was significantly later than her arrival times on the two previous nights. Once in place she stayed on the nest without interruption until Ares relieved her at 5:22 Monday morning. He had appeared on the State Building about twenty minutes before coming over. At 5:40, Astrid went from the State Building over to Hotel Utica. She had prey in her talons, but it wasn’t fresh. It was likely the same bird Ares had given her on Sunday – the item that she herself had stored. After feeding she returned to the State Building. They switched again at 7:30, and then Astrid was back on the eggs. Ares went over to the State Building, but perched their only briefly. At 7:55, we located him on a ledge at Hotel Utica. He wasn’t there for very long, but when we checked the same place at 9:11, he had returned and this time he was feeding. He already had a large crop and so he must have been feeding for some time. The prey wasn’t recognizable. Five minutes later he flew over to the State Building. At 11:00, the pair switched out again. Ares took over on the eggs and Astrid went to the north face of the State Building.
The next switch took place at 1:12 PM. Astrid settled down on the eggs and Ares took a perch on the State Building. He remained fairly sedentary until the next switch took place at 3:38. After leaving the box she assumed a perch on the State Building. At some point she caught a Pigeon and was next seen over on the hotel feeding on it. It was 4:15, by the time we noticed her over there and by then she had already eaten quite a bit of it. Like yesterday, she singlehandedly finished nearly the entire thing, and at 4:37 she flew right to the box. She made a quick check on Ares and then glided to the Grace Church steeple. Her crop was comically huge. She looked like she had swallowed a balloon. She stayed there preening and loafing until 6:15, at which time she went back to the hotel to have a drink of water from a ledge puddle. After that she returned to the box and switched with Ares. That time it wasn’t a quick switch – the pair did some vocalizing and beaking before trading places. She had only been on the eggs for fifteen minutes when she spied something flying high over the canyon. Deb saw it too. It was another Peregrine. She got off the eggs and flew. Ares was on the State Building at the time, and he took the cue. He flew to the box and took over on the eggs. If Astird did pursue the other falcon, she didn’t do it for long. She was back on the State Building in no more than a few minutes. Maybe it was just an excuse for her to stay out late again tonight. Ares didn’t seem to be complaining.
At 7:47, Astrid flew from her perch on the State Building. We thought she would go right to the box, but she didn’t. Instead she disappeared from view for a while. At 7:52, she did come to the box for what we sincerely believe to be the final switch of the night. Ares went over to the State Building, but within a few minutes he was off. Perhaps to his night perch or maybe even off to hunt.
