Peregrine Breeding Log for March 9 – 10, 2019:
Saturday, March 9th had a cold beginning but like the day before, the temperatures rose quickly and by noon it was above 30 degrees. Full sun and the lack of significant wind made it seem even warmer. We glimpsed our first falcon at just before 6 AM when Ares landed on the State Building. I thought I heard a distant screeching call that matched his landing time. A few minutes later he was at the box. His lively vocalizations told us that his mate was nearby. In fact she flew by him on her way to the hotel. Right then he dashed up to the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. From there he could monitor her movements as well as the movements of everything for at least two miles in all directions. A few minutes later both falcons were up again. He excitedly returned to the box, apparently expecting her to do the same, but she bypassed the nest and landed on the extreme west end of the bank’s façade. Distant as she was, he had no trouble recognizing her signals. He flew right over and the pair mated. Deb noticed that when Ares came to mate, Astrid held herself parallel with the ledge, instead of the normal “tail out” posture she adopts. This gave Ares a much tighter and more difficult space to navigate in, but he managed it. Following the successful mating, Astrid came to the box and Ares went hunting for something to gift to her. At ten before 6, Ares returned with a food tribute for his mate, but when she tried to take it from him, he flew off. He did the same thing again only a few minutes later. Interestingly, each time he returned, the gift (which was never large to begin with) became smaller – and that was because he was eating it. Fortunately, and before it was completely gone, Ares did pass it off to Astrid. She accepted it as if it really was something and flew over to the hotel with it. There she polished it off in only a few minutes. At least he gave her something, folks!
It was obvious to us that despite her recent “meal” she was still hungry. She soon switched to hunting mode. At 9:20, we spotted her back on the hotel ledge with a Pigeon. She fed on it for an entire hour while Ares monitored from a perch on the State Building. It was noteworthy that he did not try to muscle in on her meal – as he did with pretty much every Pigeon she had all winter long. The breeding season has compelled him to switch gears and now he is more dedicated to his mate’s nutritional needs than he was before. However, as soon as she was done and had left the hotel, Ares dashed over to finish her scant leavings. At 10:30, Ares landed on one of the steeple perches. It was the first time we had seen him there in quite a while. He came to the nest box about twenty minutes later. By then Astrid had taken a perch on the State Building and she remained in that place for the next six hours! Meanwhile, Ares moved around a fair bit – mostly between the box and the lookout post.
During the course of the afternoon, he occasionally gave some long calls and appeared to be inviting Astrid over to the nest for a ledge display, but she was not inclined to move. However, at close to 4 PM, the pair did mate. An hour later, we noticed that she was on a different perch on the State Building, but we don’t know if she did any significant flying in the interim – probably not. That changed at 5:30, when Ares came to the box and brought forth an explosion of chirp notes. Astrid landed on a ledge west of the box. Talk about exciting! She didn’t come over though. Instead she darted around the canyon and buzzed right by him as he stood out on the box’s main perch. That probably could be considered a flight display. Later, Ares was up on the lookout again. Our last view of a falcon for the day took place at 5:45 PM, when one of the pair was making a wide circle around the west side of the State Building. Perhaps it was another flight display, but we couldn’t be sure.
Sunday, March 10th began with some early morning mixed precipitation. Temperatures were around the freezing mark but rose during the course of the day. The winds picked up in the afternoon and the skies became more overcast. The clocks were set forward last night, so we weren’t expecting an early start from the falcons. However, with the PTZ cam we were able to pick one out on the west face of the State Building as early as 5:30 AM. Right about then Ares screeched to the nestbox. A half hour later he flew to the west face of the State Building and then Astrid appeared at the nest. She stood on the main perch with her tail pointing out and seemed to be indicating her willingness to mate. Ares showed up and jumped into the box. He wanted to do a ledge display. This time they did it his way; she hopped into the box and the pair shared a five-minute dance that features some nice beak swiping. At the end of the display, Ares spent a minute or so standing on the scrape he’s been working for a few days. Our joke was that he was indicating to her where he wanted the eggs to be laid. Maybe it’s not such a joke. After he left, she stood in his prize divot and did her own little scrape. Those of you who have been following the Utica Peregrine saga for a while may remember last year, when similar behavior was observed. Back then Ares had his “mega scrape” and Astrid ignored it. She preferred making her own less-significant scrapes on the opposite side of the box. When it came time to lay eggs, she used one of her normal scrapes. This year perhaps she’s considering doing it his way. We shall see.
After leaving the box, Ares was clearly in hunting mode. He kited on the wind before diving at some unseen prey near the County Building. Sure enough, at 8 AM, he came back with a food tribute for his mate. She had been anticipating the gift and called out loudly whenever he flew close. She took her meal somewhere out of our camera view. For the next few hours he stayed around the nest box, apparently on guard duty. As for Astrid, she was perched on the west face of the State Building. At the box Ares alternated between dozing and issuing loud screech calls into the canyon. That is his way of declaring to the world that the territory is taken. Just after noon, he quickly darted out of the box – probably after prey. Less than an hour later he was back. At 1:20, both falcons converged at the nest and shared a ledge display; it was their second of the day. This time Ares began their interaction by standing in his super scrape. After the dance and his exit from the box, Astrid again stood in his divot and made another small scrape. At 2:00, some vocalizations near the box possibly indicated a mating attempt, but we weren’t able to confirm it. After that, Astrid was on the west veranda for an extended stay.
Just after 3 PM Ares brought her a food tribute, but when she tried to take it from him, he wouldn’t let go. They both tugged at it until she finally got it away from him, but in doing so she lost her balance and fell through the gap between the main perch and the lip of the nest box. Fortunately, she found her wings quickly and pulled out of her tumble, with meal intact. She was later seen feeding on the south face of the State Building (thanks to John Saltis for confirming that!) After the food drop, Ares took a turn manning the box for a while. He left at around 5 PM. Astrid then surprised us by being the first falcon to use a new perch that Bob Williams installed a few weeks ago. Astrid is not known for trying new things. Afterall, it took her two years to accept and use the verandas on either sides of the nestbox! The new perch is located several windows west of the nestbox.
And the day’s action wasn’t yet over. Ares brought Astrid yet another small tribute at 6 PM. I’m not sure if she stored it or dropped it, but she was back on the west veranda only a few minutes later. The falcons topped off the evening with another successful mating, after which Ares went to a perch on the State Building. She went off, presumably to her night perch at 6:20.