Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 13, 2018 –
Two feedings took place in the overnight hours. The first one happened at around 11:40 and the other occurred after 4 AM. The three nestlings were in the box all night, but by 5:15, both Angel and Milo were on the rim of the box and looking ripe for adventure. Ares brought food at 5:20, and Astrid did the feeding. Ten minutes later, Angel climbed out on the support that secures the cross-perch and there he contemplated going onto the east veranda, but he didn’t follow through. After that he went on a mini rampage in the box. He attacked the Whitewash camera and then grabbed Milo’s tail. After that he was back on the lip of the box. Milo and Angel were coming on and off the lip of the box quite frequently over the succeeding hours. At 8:30, Angel and then Milo both made it over to the west veranda with little difficulty. This was the first time this season that any of the young have done that trick. Astrid came over and checked on the situation and then she went into the nest box. While there she fed out some scraps to Petra. Following that half-meal, Petra climbed up on the rim of the box and started eyeing the east veranda. He decided not to go over. At 11:24, after spending time exploring, flapping, and snoozing on the west veranda, Angel adeptly returned to the box proper. While there he picked at some scraps on the floor.
Less than ten minutes later, Angel was heading back over to the nest box’s west veranda. Meanwhile, Petra was enjoying the extra room and celebrated with a one bird flapping festival. Soon though, Petra decided he might want to check out the west veranda. He went over to the corner of the box, but couldn’t progress any further because Angel had stopped half-way between platforms. Milo was at the near corner of the west veranda and so was creating an impediment on that side. Still all three stayed as cool as could be. They were preening and occasionally stretched. We thought this might be a problematic if one of the falcons made a sudden brash move, or if a parent suddenly barged in with food, but none off that happened. Angel simply pushed past Milo and came back onto the west veranda. At noon, Astrid flew over with food. She came directly to the west veranda and fed Angel and Milo. That may have been a first. We’ve seen food drops take place on the verandas in previous years, but as far as we know, Astrid has never actually conducted a feeding on one before. We have noted how much more she’s been using the verandas this year. The feeding may be a case of her showing her complete acceptance of them. It took long enough. After all, we installed them back in 2015 (thanks Bob Williams!). During the veranda feeding, Both Milo and Angel tried to grab the food away from Astrid, but the mother prevailed and finished serving out the meal in a more or less civilized way. Following the meal, Angel and Milo slept on the veranda and Petra had a nap in the nest box.
At 2:36, the adventurous nestlings were awake again and flapping their wings – Milo and Angel on the west veranda and Petra in the box. Rain began to fall and the two youngsters on the veranda got their first-ever shower. They seemed to appreciate it and did much preening afterwards. By early evening, Petra had come onto the west veranda and was reunited with his two siblings. All three brothers flapped, preened and stepped on each other in celebration. At around 7 PM, Astrid and Ares flew off to the north. We saw them circling until they disappeared from view. About fifteen minutes later, Astrid returned to the State Building. We then located Ares on the ledge of Hotel Utica. He had prey and was processing it. Ten minutes later he flew through the canyon with it and went to the box. Of course no chicks were in the box to meet him – all of them were still on the west veranda. Astrid flew over and took the food. She then fed all three nestlings on the west veranda. Following the meal the rain started coming down fast and furiously. Milo and Angel piled back into the nest box, but Petra stayed out and exposed on the veranda. Astrid flew over and took her position on the cross-perch between Petra and the nest. She too was exposed to the full brunt of the rain. After the rain, Astrid went back to the State Building and took a perch right near Ares. Petra soon made it back into the box, seemingly with little difficulty. At that point it was about 8:15 and all the falcons seemed like they were set for the night.
Based on the activity levels of the nestlings, the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project is beginning its official fledgewatch on this Friday, June 15th. Currently we have very few volunteers lined up to help us safeguard these birds. Those who are interested and have time should consider coming down and giving us a hand. It’s a great experience to see these birds in person and it’s a useful thing to help insure their safety as they make their first flights into the canyon. Hope to see you there!