Peregrine Breeding Log for May 2 – 3, 2019:
Thursday, May 2nd was rainy and cool with early morning temps in the 50’s, which is a bit higher than they’ve been recently. The rain stopped by mid-morning, but the skies remained overcast. Of course, Astrid was on the eggs all night. She seemed particularly anxious to get out of the nest. At 5:15 AM she began calling and then just suddenly and quietly she slipped out of the nest. Ares arrived nine minutes later and took over on the eggs. He did some chirping as if he was watching her fly around. She was seen on the west face of the State Building at 5:44 but wasn’t there long. At 6:44, she was on the steeple. The pair switched again at 7:30. During the changeover, Deb inspected the eggs for pips – she saw nothing obvious. We need to keep reminding ourselves that the first egg to be laid (egg 1) has had a small white “pip-like” spot on it from the beginning. One of the Maintenance guys over on the State Building was up on the roof at around 7:30 and of course the falcons didn’t appreciate it.
She began vocalizing a lot at around 8:10. Ares screeched as he dashed through the canyon and by the box at 8:44. Astrid called out to him as he went by. He landed on the back ledge on the steeple – right where our cams can’t see him. He then went to the north face of the State building at 9 AM just as the State Building workers became active on the west face of the building. Ares was heard screeching again at 10:30. He landed back on the steeple about ten minutes later. He then flew right up to the nest and they switched. Again, Deb saw no visible pips when the eggs were exposed. The same was true at 11:56, when the next changing of the guard occurred. In all but one year the Utica Peregrines began hatching following 32 days of incubation. The exception was in 2018, when it took 34 days.
At 1:39, Ares came to the box, but Astrid sent him away. However, they did switch when he returned at 3:10. Once again, no pips or hatches were evident. At 3:19, Astrid was seen circling the State Building and then landing on the building’s north face. The folks working on the exterior of the building, were concentrating on lower floors, so they weren’t bothering the falcons as much today. At 4:23, Ares began giving clipped calls – of the type he gives in response to falcon intruders. He got off the eggs and left the box in an agitated state. I checked what we got on video later on and I’m still not sure how to interpret it. It looked like Astrid was perched on the State Building and Ares buzzed by her a few times like he was hazing her. I thought at first that maybe it was an intruder and not Astrid, but then that bird left its perch and headed for the nest. The box cam shows Astrid arriving at just that moment. So, we had no confirmation of an intruder. Ares was certainly flying like he was dealing with one. Regardless, Astrid had come back onto the eggs a little more than a minute after Ares had left them. While Astrid was sitting on the eggs, she became agitated a few times and did some vocalizing. Perhaps Ares was dealing with a real intruder at that point. At 5:25, he was back on the north face of the State Building.
Into the evening, Astrid remained pretty tight on the eggs and didn’t give us many chances to peruse them for pips. Ares was on a few different perches on the State Building and was last seen at around 8 PM. After that it was really too dark to see pips on eggs even if Astrid consented to show them to us. There is a high likelihood of a hatch or two taking place tomorrow.
Friday, May 3rd was another wet one. Temps started out in the 50’s and rose to near 70 degrees by noon. Rain fell heavily for part of the morning. Astrid was on the nest all night – no surprise there. Ares came to the box at 4:15 AM. He had a small hunk of food which she took and flew off with. He then settled on the eggs. It was too dark for us to tell if any of the eggs were pipped, but there obviously were no hatches. At 5:40, Astrid came and checked in at the box. She gave a donkey call and left. She flew over to the hotel and spent a little time hunting from a perch on the northeast corner of the upper ledge. By 7 AM she had moved to the south face of the State Building. They falcons switched at 7:09 and Astrid took over on the eggs. Ares screeched as he dashed through the canyon at 7:20. An hour later Astrid began calling. Ares had been on the west face of the State Building and she seemed to be calling him over. She left the nest at 8:22 and he came and resumed incubation less than a minute later.
The next switch took place at 8:53, only a half hour after the last one. Was it the rainy weather or the fact that a hatch was coming soon that made her anxious to be back on the nest? Regardless, Astrid was on the nest and Ares went back over to the west face of the State Building. They switched again at 10:52. Deb examined the eggs during each switch and no definitive pips were identified. Ares shuffled the eggs around a few times during his sitting and that allowed us to get some more views of them – no pips. At noon Ares began calling from the box. It was the loud clipped call he often gives when there’s an intruder in the canyon, but we didn’t see anything. I wondered if he was hearing chicks calling from inside the eggs and responding to those, but we couldn’t hear any sounds from the eggs. Astrid flew over to the box four minutes later. She wanted to take over, but he was determined to stay. They called back and forth for a while – her giving humming donkey calls and him giving squeaky chirps. She flew back out into the canyon and Ares got another shift. Astrid went back over to the State Building.
At 1:24, Astrid was back to the box and this time Ares was ready for the changeover. Once again, Deb got to look at the eggs during the switch and she saw no pips. At 2:35, Astrid gave some vocalizations. Deb saw Ares fly through the canyon and pursue prey. She wasn’t sure if it was a bird or a bat. He chased it out of three window ledges on the State Building before catching it. We don’t know if he stored the food or if he ate it. he didn’t bring it to Astrid. At 3:32 he stopped at the box and tried to switch but Astrid insisted on staying on the eggs. As far as we know he didn’t try to take over again for the rest of the afternoon or evening and Astrid wasn’t asking him to. So far the best sign we have that a hatch may be coming is Astrid’s insistence on staying at the nest through multiple shifts. Ares was visible on the State Building for part of the evening, and then he slipped out at 7:15 without us noticing at the time. Astrid shuffled the eggs around a few times in the early evening, but every look we had we couldn’t find a pip. Maybe an egg will hatch tonight? We’ll let everyone know if we confirm it. For now, goodnight.