Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for February 13, 2019
Yesterday we had a little bit of excitement in the downtown canyon. There were three adult Falcons present at just after 10 AM. Ares remained at the box during the brief moment when the intruder was flying. He chirped a lot but did not leave his post. Meanwhile, Astrid did take flight but we weren’t sure if she pursued the stranger. If she did it wasn’t for long since she was back on the State Building only a short time later. It was an odd day to have an intruder since the weather was so harsh. Snow fell through much of the morning followed by freezing rain. Wind gusts were impressive. Today (Wednesday) the weather was a little better. It was warmer and there were breaks of between the snow squalls. Despite that, Astrid enjoyed two meals on the hotel. The first one may have been leftovers from the day before – we couldn’t be sure. She fed on it for a while and then ceded it to Ares. He promptly flew off with it (check out the video below). In mid-afternoon she had what looked like a new pigeon on the hotel. By then the wind picked up and really buffeted the PTZ camera. Between that and the intensifying snow squalls, we had a difficult time discerning what she was doing on the ledge. Ares perched near her for part of the meal but didn’t get anything. One thing was clear, Astrid ate very well today. Ares fed at some earlier point in the morning. When he first came to the box this morning, he already had what looked to be a big crop. We noticed no ledge displays today or yesterday. Although Ares zoomed by the nest box and possibly by Astrid at one point and that may have been a flight display.