Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 22, 2018 –
It was a rainy day in the canyon at least until mid-afternoon. Astrid spent the entire night in the nest box as usual. There was a total of 5 feedings between 12:25 AM and 3:55 AM. Each time, Ares brought food to the nest and Astrid did the serving. The meal that came in at 1:12 AM was the largest in size and may have been a whole blackbird. At 5:15, Ares brought an entire Eastern Kingbird to the box. Astrid took it and handled the feeding. Ten minutes later, Astrid took away and stored the leftovers. She returned to the box and stayed out on the long perch for a while. At 7:13, Ares arrived with more food. Astrid did the feeding. Initially only two of the chicks were participating, but then the third joined in. Twelve minutes later, Astrid was gone and Ares was out on the long perch. By 9:16, Ares was on a window ledge located east of the nest box. As for Astrid, she was on a ledge to the west of the nest box. Perching on the Adirondack Bank building seemed to be the thing to do today; both parents were repeatedly found on either side of the box – sometimes on top of pillars and sometimes on window ledges. Astrid and Ares occasionally did chick-checks at the box.
At 10:52, Astrid came to the box with part of a meal and fed the young for about ten minutes. The next feeding was at 12:39 and again was comprised of leftovers. Following that short meal, both parents were out of view for a while. As for the nestlings, they were not very active and were mostly remaining in a heap on the west edge of the box. For any viewers watching from the camera nicknamed “overkill”, no chicks were visible in the box. That’s why it’s good to have multiple cameras! At 1 PM, Astrid showed up again on a pillar located west of the nest box. Five minutes later, Ares screeched up to perch on a window ledge west of nest box. After a few minutes he walked over and went into the nest box proper. There he was faced with a pile of comatose chicks. He poked one of them with his bill to see if it was OK. The nestling stood up, stretched and then settled back down again. At 1:30, a lone House Sparrow was bouncing around on the ledges above the Peregrine nest. At one point the wacky bird landed on the cross-perch right next to Ares. Astrid had been tracking the bird with her eyes but neither falcon made a play for it. Nope, that’s not the way they hunt. At a little before 2 PM, Astrid got very upset and began hazing the bank building – or one of the offices anyhow. Someone must have stood too close to a window. Both falcons landed on the perch of the box nearly simultaneously. Following that incident they kept a pretty close watch on the box. At 4:05, Astrid was on the ledge at Hotel Utica plucking away at a Pigeon (probably). It was possible that Ares handed it off to her since he was seen shortly before that picking at his feet and wiping his bill. After eating a share of it she brought it to the box. What followed was a long feeding. At 4:22, she flew out with the leftovers. All three chicks were showing nice full crops. The pair continued to keep a close eye on the box – usually from the steeple or the State Building. Ares was often on the cross-perch or on one of the verandas.
At 6:53, Ares brought prey to the box. Astrid met him there – awkwardly scooted across the cross-perch and took the food. She then hopped into the box proper and fed the nestlings. Just before 8 PM, Astrid and Ares had left their perches on the State Building. One of them (probably Astrid) was seen flying around the west face of the building. Astrid then showed up at the box with a hunk of something. She proceeded to feed all three chicks. Indeed, despite the difference in size, the smallest nestling seems to hold its own in the food line. By the end of the meal, the chicks’ crops were beyond huge. After she severed out the meal, Astrid went back on to the cross-perch again, but then she suddenly dove back into the box. We think she heard thunder – not her favorite weather phenomenon. It had begun to rain. Ten minutes later the rain had petered out and she was back out on the cross-perch. Ares had returned to the State Building. Both adults seemed to be in place for the night. Well, the early part of the night anyway.