Author: Matt Perry

Short Update for June 18, 2018 –

So much happened today and unfortunately I don’t have the time to write it all up. That’s how it is during fledge watch. We devote all available time to being on site and helping insure the safety of the young as they fledge, so there is no time left to write blog posts or edit video.

Angel had some rough moments on Sunday, but today we saw great improvements in his landings. Milo fledged at about 1:30 PM. According to witnesses, he flew directly to the State Building where he proceeded to spend the rest of the day. Petra, fledged at around 11:30 AM – no one claims to have seen him when he left the box. All we know is that he was picked up in the road (alive) by some benevolent individuals. They brought him to the Utica Zoo. Judy Cusworth of Woodhaven Wildife brought him to her facility and examined him. He was given a clean bill of health and was released back in thought the back of the nest box at 7:30 PM. The release went well and the juvenile Peregrine was welcomed back into the fold.

Thank you to all fledge watch volunteers that were able to come out and help today. We needed each and every one of you!

At approximately 4:00 PM, Angel made his debut flight into the canyon. He tried to land on the side of the Grace Church steeple, but missed the perches and had to grapple onto the steep stone sides of the structure. From there he flew to a relatively low roof top to the east of the steeple. His next flight was only about fifteen minutes later and took him to the Courthouse roof and from there back to the Adirondack Bank building. On that least flight he was able to get some altitude, but he was short of the height necessary to reach a wider ledge on the fifteenth story. Instead, he landed on the bricks below a window. By flapping his wings and by hoistng himself with his feet he managed to scramble onto the 15th floor ledge.  He was in that spot for at least an hour and then he flew again. This time straight to the State Building, but again his landing wasn’t great. He missed the ledge and ended up hanging upside down by his talons again. Finally he righted himself and made it to a wide window ledge below the one he had tried to land on.

Fledge time is a hazardous time for the young Peregrines. Please consider coming downtown and helping us keep track of these magnificent raptors as they try to negotiate their urban environment for the first time.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 16, 2018 –

Astrid continues to spend the night close to the nest and her young. There were no overnight feedings last night, that is unless you count the 4:44 AM food drop. At that time Ares had come to the box and Astrid flew in to meet him. She took the prey from him and then a nestling grabbed it away from her. The three had been calling a lot before the parents came, but after they left, they became especially vocal and restless. One moved to the west veranda prior to 5 o’clock. Within the half hour the youngsters were executing hop jumps and doing wing exercises. At 6:30, one of the chicks moved to the end of the long perch. He then jumped from there to the cross-perch. As it turned out it was a day packed with hop jumps between perches and ledges.

Astrid was encouraging the young to fledge today – as she was doing yesterday. Many times she came to the box or the verandas and then made a show of jumping out. She was doing demonstration flying for the benefit of the nestlings. At 8:30, Astrid made a causal play for a local Pigeon that flew very close to the steeple. Astrid swooped down at it, but didn’t seem to be making a real play for it. Ares flew through and made a more serious attempt at another flyby Pigeon. Astrid flew over and landed on the window ledge just east of the east veranda. A nestling on the veranda became very excited and soon joined her there. About a minute later Astrid flew back over to the steeple; it was yet another demonstration, I think. At 9:30, Ares was on the hotel with prey. He plucked it and then he enjoyed  a good feed. Ten minutes later he flew into the canyon with it and landed on the east veranda. Astrid met him there but she was too late to grab it. After a short tug-o-war, one of the youngsters got the food away from Ares. While hopping from the perch to the box, one of the chicks stumbled a bit but was OK.

At 10:30, Ares came to the box. He picked up a scrap from the floor, tempted the nestlings and flew off with it. At 11:21, Astrid checked out a free floating Minnie Mouse balloon that drifted over the canyon. After determining that it was nothing but a visage of a fictional Disney character, she gained altitude and began circling. Less than five minutes later she came to the east veranda. One of the kids hopped over to her and screeched in her face. She flew over to the steeple. One of the chicks, probably Petra, was attempting to go west of the west veranda, but was unsure about negotiating around the pillar. Foreshadowing their daredevil lifestyle, young Peregrines tend to quickly meet challenges. They figure out how to proceed with a given problem and push themselves through. Once they get the knack of something, they improve quickly and soon can conquer a complicated obstacle course with a simple hop, skip and jump. As it happens, today the amount of hopping, skipping and jumping increased exponentially. One of the youngsters – probably Petra, did some inspiring rapid wing flapping while perching on the end of the long perch. He was able to jump from the long perch right to the west veranda. Well done!

At noon, while the kids were tearing around their 15^thnfloor playground, Ares took a break to have a sunbath on the ledge of the hotel. After jumping around from the perches to the verandas, and from the window ledges to the box, the three juvenile falcons collapsed into a pile on a veranda. Their rest didn’t last long though. At 2:11, alarm calls were issued from the three kids. They were reacting to a few Turkey Vultures flying in the west. An hour later, Astrid and Ares were seen circling high over the canyon. It seemed clear they were on a hunting trip. They both came back at 4:00; neither had prey with them and they went right back out on another foray. Ares zipped off to the east like a projectile. He came back only a few minutes later, but still with no prey. Astrid was gone for a much longer time. She was set on getting a Pigeon. Ares made a visit to the box at 4:30 and was immediately chased off by a crazed baby. He had better get used to that! He came back a minute later and landed on the east veranda. He had a cuckoo and Petra grabbed it immediately.  Milo hopped over to see if he could get some, But Petra didn’t want to share. At 6:20, Ares brought more food to the box. This time it was Angel that grabbed it from him. Astrid blew back into town at 6:40 PM. She took a perch on the steeple and Ares left at the same time – probably with fresh orders to go and catch some non-cuckoo prey. At 7:40, he did just that and in a short time he was plucking something on the hotel ledge. While he was plucking (and then eating a share amount), he was emitting long screech calls. They were of clearer quality than the normal Peregrine screech. He did eventually head for the nest box with his quarry. Astrid followed him there, but before she could take it, Angle grabbed it and then that was that.

By the end of the day we were convinced that all the youngsters got enough food today. At nightfall some fireworks began. Astrid had been on the steeple and by 9:30 she was on her ledge just east of the nest box. Good night all.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 15, 2018 –

There were some light rain showers in the canyon overnight. Astrid was on her ledge east of the nest box for part of the night, but then she was out of our camera view the rest of the time. Ares was visible on the State Building for a while, but not for the entire night. Hey, those cuckoos aren’t going to catch themselves. There were no overnight feedings. The nestlings were all in the box throughout the night. They began getting restless at just after 4 AM. One crossed over onto the west veranda at 5:00. At that time they were very hungry and were all screaming for their breakfast. Parents were both visible by 6:00, but neither seemed in a hurry to do a feeding. At 5:42, one of the chicks (not sure which) was at the base of the long perch and began flapping like mad, but from there he went right back into the box. A few minutes later, Astrid was over on the hotel, she didn’t have food, but appeared to be in hunting mode. At 6:30, we thought that perhaps one of the nestlings had fledged. We could only find two kids on the cams. As it turned out, the other one (probably Milo) had traveled out onto the window ledge west of the west veranda. A few minutes later he adeptly jumped back over and onto the west veranda.

At 7:30, Astrid came to the box with prey. Milo screeched, grabbed the food away from her and took it to the corner. When I arrived at 8 AM, all three nestlings were perched on the lip of the box looking out. Astrid was on the hotel and Ares was on the steeple. Astrid soon left the hotel and made a couple of visits to the box. She was encouraging them to fledge. She would enter the box and/or a veranda and then make a big show of launching off. Whenever she did this, all three youngsters would start screaming. At 8:38, after Astrid had gone, a Pigeon buzzed by the nest box, and then he (or she) did it again. There must be a Pigeon that is breeding nearby and it feels the need to haze the falcon box at irregular intervals. I took a walk around the block looking for Astrid. She was probably out hunting for something substantial – meaning no swifts or goldfinches – and definitely no cuckoos. During my walk, I didn’t find Astrid, and Ares had gone by the time I returned. At 9:15, both parents swooped back into view. Ares had prey and Astrid met him at the box and conducted a feeding. Ten minutes later she stored the leftovers in an undisclosed location. At 9:30, a Ring-billed Gull flew through the canyon and Astrid was right on it. She didn’t strike the intruder, but only let her presence be known. The gull gained altitude and sailed off to the east. Ten minutes later, major alarm calls were given by both parents and they scrambled into action. This time it was an adult Bald Eagle passing over the west portion of the canyon. Again, they let the intruder know that they were on duty and there was no altercation. The eagle continued on in the direction it was heading in.

The youngsters did plenty of moving between the box and the verandas today. They were even using the perches on the verandas. Astrid repeatedly visited the box and verandas. She would make a big entrance and then do demonstration fly offs. At 10:45, Ares brought prey to the box, Astrid came and took it and then proceeded to feed Petra on the east veranda. Angel soon joined in. At 11:10, Milo became more adventurous and traveled out east of the east veranda. To do that, he needed to make a tricky negotiation around a pillar – that he did, twice. At 1:30, Petra (I think) was out at the base of the cross-perch, and from there he went right back into the box. At 3:00, Astrid gave an alarm call. There was another intruder in the canyon. This time it was a Red-tailed Hawk. Both Astrid and Ares went to deal with it and to presumably, escort it out of the territory. Through the latter part of the afternoon, the nestlings continued doing little hop flights between the perches and the box and platforms. There was also much wind flapping and preening. It seemed like Astrid had convinced Petra to give flying a try. He was out on the perch looking ready; holding his wings out and using his tail for balance, but then he turned around and jumped back into the box. That was good since they surely need more practice first.

At 4:40, Ares flew in with food. He passed by the box carrying the prey in his beak, but in mid-air he switched to carrying it in his talons. Was that anther demonstration? He flew back to the box and Astrid came to meet him, but during the food transfer they dropped it. Ares dashed straight down to intercept the meal. It was time to hold our collective breath. Ares managed to catch the food at about the half way mark down the side of the building. Good catch Ares, now never do that again! The youngsters continued with their practice regime and continued to make some great strides. At 8:30, one of the nestlings flew/jumped from the long perch and right into the box. In the waning hours of daylight, the young falcons finally became more sedate and they all settled back down inside the nest box. Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was on the Steeple.

Fledge Watch is now a daily event. Please consider coming down whether you’re scheduled to or not. It’s interesting, amusing, enlightening, and helpful to a New York State Endangered Species. See you down there!

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 14, 2018 –

As usual the parents kept a pretty close watch on the nest during the overnight hours. However, there were no nighttime feedings. The nestlings became restless in the box at about 5:15. Two of them climbed up on the rim of the box. All of them were waiting for breakfast. Astrid made a quick stop at the box at 6 AM. Following that, she went out and caught a Pigeon. She was seen plucking in over on the hotel. She ate a portion before bringing the bulk of it over to the box at close to 6:30. The youngsters were all fed inside the box – just like old times.  After the meal, Petra went over onto the east veranda. He stayed there for quite some time, as did the other two in the nest box. While Ares went out hunting, Astird spent some time on her favorite window ledge east of the nest.

By 8:30, the wind had really picked up. It was overcast and cool. Pigeons were fighting the wind gusts as they made their ways through the canyon. At one point one landed on a window ledge just below Astrid’s perch. She noticed that and took some interest, but not enough to leave her post. Ares was still out of sight. Astrid the proceeded to give some amazing flight lessons. She landed on the east veranda and then darted out of the box and soared through the canyon – sometimes tacking on the wind and sometimes hovering, or using gusts to power incredibly fast swoops around the home building. This is something that she repeated off and on throughout the day. It was classic demonstration and/or “come with me” type flying. At 8:45, a Pigeon almost landed on a ledge directly beneath the nest box and where Astrid was perched near the east veranda. Astird had been tucked in and presumably napping, but that was something that made her sit up and take notice. She didn’t give chase. Interestingly, Astrid shared a siesta with Petra on the east veranda. That’s something we haven’t seen very often with Astrid and her offspring. Speaking of Petra, he was very active today – moving on and off the east veranda and even taking on the west veranda. He was the most active of the three nestlings. At one point he made a hop flight from the cross-perch to the back of the nest box. That was a first for the season – both the hop flight and standing on the cross-perch; and the feats were accomplished by the youngest kid!

The nestlings all became fairly active at noon and remained lively for quite some time. Angel had been working on a Pigeon leg from the scrap pile, when he suddenly started acting out. He laid into the white wash cam with beak and talons. We’re really not sure what he has against that thing. He then went after Petra. Petra gave a few harsh call notes in response and then went into the back corner and to relative safety. It’s all play of course. At 2:40, Ares arrived with prey. Astrid took it at the box and seemed poised to do a feeding, but then she let Angel have the whole thing. Petra came over and tried to relieve Angel of his catch, but he didn’t succeed. Another falcon airshow was underway at 5:00 PM. Astrid continued trying to coax the youngsters to fly along with her, but they weren’t biting. At 6:15, Astrid was redoubling her efforts to show the nestlings where they can go once they fledge. Later on the pair showed them how they land on the top corner of the State Building. At one point one of the parents landed on a window sill at the State Building. The roof and the wide window ledges are typically the first places that young Peregrines successfully land. That fact is apparently not lost on Astrid and Ares. Although Astrid tried for Pigeons a couple of times after 7 PM, she didn’t secure one and the young wouldn’t be fed again before falcon bed-time. We shall see if they feed them at all during the night.

Offical Fledge Watch gets under way on Friday, June 15^th

We hope to see some of you down there. Please sign up or just show up!