Author: Matt Perry

Peregrine log February 20, 2019

Tuesday had a very cold start, but at least it wasn’t snowing. In fact it was quite sunny and Astrid and Ares spent part of the morning basking on the east ledge of the hotel. In the late afternoon, Ares was at the nest box, giving screech calls and trying to encourage Astrid to come for a ledge display. Instead, she caught a Pigeon and polished it off all by herself on the hotel. Today had a warmer start. Astrid and Ares arrived at the box area early. Initially, they perched on the two verandas – her on the west and him on the east. At 6:45 AM, he tried to mate with her, but she was facing out into the canyon at the time and so the attempt was unsuccessful. However, later in the day, two subsequent attempts were successful. Of course, that’s a clear indication that the breeding season has begun. We expected him to secure a food tribute for her, but it didn’t happen. At one point he did catch a Starling, but ended up eating it himself.

Today there was a moment of excitement which possibly involved an intruder. At 7:50, Ares uttered a cackle alarm call and blasted out of the box like a bullet. He sped south as if on a serious mission. Meanwhile, Astrid kept to her perch on the west veranda. Did he see a male Peregrine in the territory and did he escort it out? We don’t know, but ten minutes later he was back at the box. We expect to see more courtship behavior in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned.

Peregrine log February 17, 2019

Astrid caught her Pigeon early on Saturday morning and, luckily for Ares, her mood was more amenable to sharing. This time he actually got a few nice pieces, and they weren’t tossed over the side of the building like they were the day before. Later on, Ares tried to convince his mate to come to the box for a ledge display, but she wouldn’t comply. Ares caught a Starling in the afternoon. We thought he might give it to Astrid as a food tribute, but he had other plans. He ended up eating himself on the hotel ledge. In the early evening, he came back to the box and made another attempt at getting Astrid to come over. He produced some impressive long screeching calls, but it was no go. She went to her night perch instead.

This morning was sunny (for a change) and the pair spent some time basking on the east ledge of the hotel. Prior to that, Ares was at the box, again trying to entice Astrid over with angst-filled calls. She came over but stayed on a window ledge east of the box and declined his invitation to dance. In mid-morning, both falcons took turns feeding on some Pigeon leftovers that (presumably) Ares pulled out of storage. In late morning, he tried again to get her to come to the box but no luck. Finally, in early afternoon, the stars were aligned, and the pair performed a relatively long ledge display at the nest. It was the first one in several days. In mid-afternoon Ares caught a Starling and brought it to the hotel. Like the day before, we thought he might gift it to Astrid, but he ate that one himself as well; although, he may have tantalized her with the leftovers by doing some close flybys.

Peregrine log February 15, 2019

Today (Friday) was warmer with temps hovering around the freezing mark. There was a little bit of rain and freezing rain in the afternoon. For February in Central New York, that’s considered a good day. Ares responded to the mild conditions by spending a lot of time at the box. He gave occasional long calls, which were (of course) directed at his mate. He was trying hard to get her to come over. Astrid mostly stayed across the canyon, perched on a ledge on the State Building. At one point she finally did come over to the box, but didn’t remain for a ledge display. Ares seemed disappointed about that.

Both yesterday and today, Astrid caught Pigeons and ate them on the hotel. Also, on both days, Ares tried to get some. However, she was not interested in sharing. Yesterday he needed to dive down after the small pieces she dropped off the ledge. We couldn’t tell if she did that on purpose or not – making him dive for his supper. Today he successfully nabbed a small chunk right out from under her. He waited about an hour to make his move and, in the end, she did seem to let him take it. Any day now we expect this dynamic to change and for him to begin giving her food tributes. We shall see.

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.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for February 10, 2019

Astrid and Ares were very active this morning, but mostly stayed in view of our cameras. At 8:20 AM, the pair shared a short ledge display at the nest box. Following the dance, Astrid left the box first, which is atypical. It’s possible she was trying to coax her mate into providing a food tribute. As far as we can determine, that behavior has yet to start, but we expect it to begin soon. Twenty minutes after their brief dance, Astrid caught a pigeon and took it over to the hotel ledge. There she plucked it and began feeding. Ares soon showed up and tried to get a share. This is how many of the winter meals go down in falcon town. Astrid secures the food and Ares tries to steal a chunk of it. She usually mantles the food and makes a big show of stopping him from getting any, but he almost always gets some in the end. If she really didn’t want him to have any, there’s no doubt that he’d be out of luck, but she allows him to abscond with something just about every time.  It’s possible and maybe even likely that Ares helped catch the pigeon. We’ve certainly seen them engage in cooperative hunting before. If past is prologue, soon Ares will be providing most of the meals.