Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 7, 2018 –
It was cool in the very early morning, but by a few hours after sunrise, the temperature was in the 60’s. Early cloud cover gave way to mostly clear skies. There was a cool breeze that persisted for much of the day.
Astrid came back to the nest and took over on the eggs at 7:10 Sunday night. She remained in place all night long and right until Ares relieved her at 4:36 AM on Monday. Ares had been on the State Building for at least one-half hour before coming to the box. After leaving Astrid went over to the State Building where she changed perches a few times. Ares chirped whenever she moved and even a couple of times when she didn’t. At one point, his eyes were closed and his head was tucked into his side feathers, he was apparently sleeping, but still he was chirping. Was he “dream chirping”? At 6:42, the falcons switched and Astrid came back onto the eggs. Ares went to the State Building; Over the next couple of hours, it was his base to make hunting forays from. He went over to Hotel Utica briefly and upset some of the resident Pigeons over there. At 9:30, he flew over to the steeple. Astrid noted his arrival with some chirp calls. Ten minutes later he was back over at the hotel and back to upsetting the Pigeons. One swooped at him.
The next switch occurred at 10:27. Ares took over on the eggs and Astrid went over to the State Building. During the switch, Deb got a chance to inspect the eggs and she saw no obvious pips. After a couple of changes of position on the State Building, Astird flew and was out of our view for a while. She appeared at the box at 12:27, but it was just a check-in. She darted off again and landed on the south facing steeple perch. She was gone about ten minutes after that. It was around that time that Ares gave a short cackle alarm call, possibly in response to an unseen migrant raptor. We don’t know for sure. At 1:18, Ares began loudly chirping, he got off the eggs and left the box. He flew with purpose towards the west and then turned north. He was probably chasing an intruder, but once again, we weren’t sure about that. Astrid arrived at the box only two minutes after Ares left and she resumed incubation. He returned to the canyon at 1:38 and took a perch on the steeple. At 3:40, Ares gave some chirping calls; Deb looked up and saw an intruder (a falcon) circling high above the canyon and then sailing north above the Adirondack Bank. Neither Astrid nor Ares made a move. Was it a Merlin and not a Peregrine? At 5:17, Astrid was relieved at the nest by Ares. Surprisingly, she had spent the hottest part of the afternoon in the box, but didn’t seem any worse for it. There was a cool breeze which probably helped her to tolerate it. She went over to the State Building while Ares adjusted the eggs. She remained there until just before 7 PM. Ten minutes later she was seen soaring around in the canyon. She landed high on the north face of the building, but only stayed there for a few minutes. Soon she was up and on a northward heading. She was up and down a few more times after that until they did their very last switch of the day at 7:49. Astrid took her place on the eggs and Ares sailed over to the State Building. Ten minutes later he was gone from view.
We expected to have our first pipped egg(s) by today, if not our first hatch. It’s too early to come to any firm conclusion about the viability of eggs # 1 and # 2. Of course we will continue monitoring the situation.
