Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 13, 2018 –

Two feedings took place in the overnight hours. The first one happened at around 11:40 and the other occurred after 4 AM. The three nestlings were in the box all night, but by 5:15, both Angel and Milo were on the rim of the box and looking ripe for adventure. Ares brought food at 5:20, and Astrid did the feeding. Ten minutes later, Angel climbed out on the support that secures the cross-perch and there he contemplated going onto the east veranda, but he didn’t follow through. After that he went on a mini rampage in the box. He attacked the Whitewash camera and then grabbed Milo’s tail. After that he was back on the lip of the box. Milo and Angel were coming on and off the lip of the box quite frequently over the succeeding hours. At 8:30, Angel and then Milo both made it over to the west veranda with little difficulty. This was the first time this season that any of the young have done that trick. Astrid came over and checked on the situation and then she went into the nest box. While there she fed out some scraps to Petra. Following that half-meal, Petra climbed up on the rim of the box and started eyeing the east veranda. He decided not to go over. At 11:24, after spending time exploring, flapping, and snoozing on the west veranda, Angel adeptly returned to the box proper. While there he picked at some scraps on the floor.

Less than ten minutes later, Angel was heading back over to the nest box’s west veranda. Meanwhile, Petra was enjoying the extra room and celebrated with a one bird flapping festival. Soon though, Petra decided he might want to check out the west veranda. He went over to the corner of the box, but couldn’t progress any further because Angel had stopped half-way between platforms. Milo was at the near corner of the west veranda and so was creating an impediment on that side. Still all three stayed as cool as could be. They were preening and occasionally stretched. We thought this might be a problematic  if one of the falcons made a sudden brash move, or if a parent suddenly barged in with food, but none off that happened. Angel simply pushed past Milo and came back onto the west veranda. At noon, Astrid flew over with food. She came directly to the west veranda and fed Angel and Milo. That may have been a first. We’ve seen food drops take place on the verandas in previous years, but as far as we know, Astrid has never actually conducted a feeding on one before. We have noted how much more she’s been using the verandas this year. The feeding may be a case of her showing her complete acceptance of them. It took long enough. After all, we installed them back in 2015 (thanks Bob Williams!).   During the veranda feeding, Both Milo and Angel tried to grab the food away from Astrid, but the mother prevailed and finished serving out the meal in a more or less civilized way. Following the meal, Angel and Milo slept on the veranda and Petra had a nap in the nest box.

At 2:36, the adventurous nestlings were awake again and flapping their wings – Milo and Angel on the west veranda and Petra in the box. Rain began to fall and the two youngsters on the veranda got their first-ever shower. They seemed to appreciate it and did much preening afterwards. By early evening, Petra had come onto the west veranda and was reunited with his two siblings. All three brothers flapped, preened and stepped on each other in celebration. At around 7 PM, Astrid and Ares flew off to the north. We saw them circling until they disappeared from view. About fifteen minutes later, Astrid returned to the State Building. We then located Ares on the ledge of Hotel Utica. He had prey and was processing it. Ten minutes later he flew through the canyon with it and went to the box. Of course no chicks were in the box to meet him – all of them were still on the west veranda. Astrid flew over and took the food. She then fed all three nestlings on the west veranda. Following the meal the rain started coming down fast and furiously. Milo and Angel piled back into the nest box, but Petra stayed out and exposed on the veranda. Astrid flew over and took her position on the cross-perch between Petra and the nest. She too was exposed to the full brunt of the rain.  After the rain, Astrid went back to the State Building and took a perch right near Ares. Petra soon made it back into the box, seemingly with little difficulty. At that point it was about 8:15 and all the falcons seemed like they were set for the night.

Based on the activity levels of the nestlings, the Utica Peregrine Falcon Project is beginning its official fledgewatch on this Friday, June 15th. Currently we have very few volunteers lined up to help us safeguard these birds. Those who are interested and have time should consider coming down and giving us a hand. It’s a great experience to see these birds in person and it’s a useful thing to help insure their safety as they make their first flights into the canyon. Hope to see you there!

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 12, 2018 –

As expected, Astrid kept close to the nest for the overnight hours. Ares brought a small prey item at 1:30 AM. Astrid took it from him, but then flew away with it. She was seen perched on the steeple not long afterwards, so we think she must have stored it. At 3:55, Ares was back at the box with another small unrecognizable offering. One of the chicks grabbed the food away from him and took it to the corner. Five minutes later, Ares was feeding out some scraps while perched on the lip of the box. He fed one nestling for a few minutes and then left. At 5:36, both Angel and Milo were already up on the lip of the box. They proceeded to come up and down from the rim at least a dozen times as the morning progressed. They were getting much more sure-footed about it. The nestlings were also getting feisty with each other. Angel grabbed at Petra’s foot and then tried to dance around with it. Milo is just as bad – he did something similar to both  Angel and Petra. Charging around the box and ploughing into one’s siblings is another activity they all revel in. I saw Angel (him again!) step on Petra, beak with him, and then peck at him! It’s all good practice I guess?

At 6:30, Ares had been on one of the steeple perches. We looked away and then when we checked back, Astrid was on the same perch. She must have displaced him and compelled him to go out to get some grub. The nestlings were getting a little anxious at that point. Ares stoked them in a big way by doing a chick-check. He then went to the east veranda before flying off. Showing the nestlings the verandas is something the parents do at this stage. If past is prolog, the chicks should be using those platforms as exercise areas before too long. At 9:07, it was Astrid’s turn to do a chick-check. The youngsters all began Squealing when they saw their mother flying through the canyon and they went bonkers when she landed on  the cross-perch. They were getting increasingly hungry and they were letting her know in no uncertain terms. At 9:41, Ares brought prey, Astrid scrambled to take it and the two had a little tug-o-war. She got it and began the feeding, but then immediately got in a tug-o-war with Angel. Milo took it after that, but then Astrid wrested it away and was finally able to conduct a feeding. At 10:36, the chicks were all asleep in the box.

At 1:15, Deb noticed that there were more bird tails protruding from Ares pantry on the west face of the State Building; she counted nine (including the old ones). I’m not sure how many of those were cuckoos, but probably most of them. Just before 2 PM, Angel was looking like he wanted to try to get to the west veranda. He came back into the box instead. No sooner did Angel settle down then Milo was activated. At 3:11, Astrid stopped at the box to do a chick-check. That had the effect of rousing the nestlings again. Ares checked in at the box at 4:05, and he received a similar reception. At 4:25, Angel was on the lip of the box when Ares came to the nest with food. Astrid arrived a minute later, but he had already lost the meal to Milo, who took it to the back corner to work on by himself. Angel was not happy about that arrangement and he made his protest known to Astrid who was camped out on the west veranda. A few minutes later, Astrid was soaring all over the place and that was getting the kids all worked up. Although to be fair, these days it doesn’t take much to activate them. Astrid came in to do another check at 4:38. She tried to grab a scrap of food from the floor of the box, but Milo had a hold of it in his talons and he wasn’t letting go. Astrid gave up and left the box.

At 5:20 PM, Astrid flew into the canyon from the north. She had a Pigeon in her talons. She flew right to the State Building with it. It was eighteen minutes later when she brought it to the box. Petra and Angel were in line to be fed right away. Milo hung back but eventually took his place and allowed Astrid to hand him piece after piece.  At 5:49, Astrid flew off with the leftovers and stored them in her favorite spot on the north-face of the State Building. She had hardly been gone a minute before Angel was experimenting on the rim of the box. A short time later, it was Astrid on the steeple perch. She must have displaced  Ares again! At 7:51, Angel was doing some gentle beaking with Petra. He then picked up a scrap of food that had fallen to the ground and took it to the back corner to polish it off.  Twenty minutes later, Milo was twisting his head all around while looking at his siblings. It seemed like he was really trying to figure them out. Good luck with that! Angel had been up on the lip of the box again and flapping like mad while Petra was lying on the floor. By 8:30, Astrid had flown to her favorite ledge to the east of the nest box and Ares took a perch on the State Building. The nestlings did some preening  and at least one of them remained awake and actively looking around until well after 10 PM. Good night all.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 11, 2018 –

Astrid was on watch for most if not all of the overnight session. Ares came to the box with a small prey item at 12:45 AM. He stood at the very end of the long perch with it. Astrid had been on the west veranda and she scrambled over to take it, but Ares flew away with it right before she reached him. To our knowledge, he didn’t come back with it. He did come to the box at 5:21, but only for a chick-check. Four minutes later he came back with a cuckoo. One of the chicks (probably Milo) immediately grabbed it and took it to the back corner of the box. Astrid arrived too late to intercept it and so she turned and flew out again. Milo tore at the cuckoo for a little while as did Petra, but like Astrid, they are just not enthusiastic about cuckoo flesh. Following that, Angel went up near the front of the box. Suddenly he had stepped up onto the lip of the box. It was probably the first time one of these chicks has stood completely on the lip while facing out. He did some flapping and he made all of us nervous. Finally he came back down and went to the corner to rip into some floor scraps.

At 7:30, we discovered Astrid on the hotel working on a freshly caught Pigeon. After she took her portion, she flew over to the box and gave the nestlings a good feed. There were lots of antics during the long feeding. At one point Angel came close to jumping on Astrid’s back! There was lots of grabbing too, but Astrid was more or less able to hold it together. She did have to stop one of the chicks from biting her tail. She used her wings to push the baby aside. After the meal, Astrid took the leftovers out and stored them on the State Building. Mounting the lip of the box seemed to be the thing to do today. Even Petra was seen doing it briefly. At 8:20, Ares brought a bird wing to the nest and was feeding it out from the lip of the box. After that, Ares was out of view for quite some time. While he was out, Astrid was on guard duty on the east veranda and the nestlings enjoyed a mid-morning siesta. Petra backed onto the lip of the box again at 10:56. He flapped like mad and then hopped right back into the box.

Ares showed up on the State Building again at just before noon.  One of the nestlings noticed him fly in and responded with a long screech call. Ares came over to do a chick-check about 18 minutes later after which, he went to the east veranda. Astrid came in and landed on the west veranda, but didn’t stay long. At 12:24, cackle alarm calls were heard and the Peregrine parents tore off towards the north. The nestlings became very quiet in response to their parents behavior. Only a couple of minutes after they left in such a hurry, both were back and perched on the State Building. At 1:10, Milo looked like he was contemplating flying into the canyon. Fortunately he didn’t go for it since it’s far too early and he’s not prepared yet. Another week of wing exercise and then maybe. At 1:53, Angel was the one getting too adventurous. He went from the lip of the box to the bar that holds the cross-perch! He was a little uncoordinated about his return to the box, but he made it OK. The nestlings were just starting to settle down when Ares popped in for a chick-check and got them all excited again.  He went over to the west veranda and then walked all the way out on the long perch before leaving. Was he giving them a lesson on some of what they will need to master before fledging?

At 2:24 PM, Astrid gave a cackle alarm call and headed north. Again, she was only gone for a couple of minutes, so it probably wasn’t an intruder issue. Both Milo and Angel kept taking turns going out onto the lip of the box, but it seemed to be Angel that was really into it. When Ares flew back into the canyon at 3:45, Milo got activated. He flapped his wings and seemed to squealed out some demands. At 5:27, Astrid came to the nest with a Pigeon leg. One chick took it and that was that. Ten minutes later, Ares brought a full meal over. Astrid took it from him and did an old fashioned feeding. Everyone behaved – mostly.

At 6:15, Angel was having fun going up and down from the lip of the box. He was teetering some and doing some intense flapping. It was all very exciting for those of us monitoring him. At 7 PM, Ares screeched back into the canyon. He had prey and was plucking it on the State Building. Ten minutes later he brought the meal to the box and Astrid came to serve it to the youngsters. Angel had been up on the lip of the box again right before Ares came, but he got down in time and was enthusiastic about getting his supper – as was Petra. Milo sat out the start of the meal. He was looking out into the canyon instead. By 8:20, the nestlings still weren’t done testing themselves. Angel was again climbing up onto the lip of the box. Five minutes later, Astrid came to the nest to do a chick-check. We thought that may have put the cap on the evening, but Angel had to mount the rim one more time before bed. Up until that point Ares had been hanging out on the ledge of the hotel. He came through the canyon and vocalized with Astrid (who was on the steeple), before taking a night perch on the State Building. The kids slowly began to settle down after that and by 9:30, Astird was on her window ledge perch located east of the nest box. Good night all!

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 10, 2018 –

As usual, Astrid was in close proximity to the nest box just about all night long. At some time during the 2:00 AM hour, Ares came to the box with something small. Astrid took it but then one of the nestlings snatched it before she got a chance to feed anyone. At around 4:40, Ares brought a cuckoo to the box. While he was perched on the lip of the box he began feeding it to one chick. Astrid arrived at the box and put up with Ares’ feeding for a couple of minutes and then she tried to commander it. He responded by taking his cuckoo and flying out into the canyon. Ares returned to the nest at 5:00. He had a small prey item in his talons, but when Astrid came to take it he flew off with it.

At 8:24, the pair had a conversation on the east veranda. He went to the steeple afterwards and she assumed her new favorite perch on a window ledge east of the nest box. Meanwhile in the nest, Milo resorted to feeding on scraps. There was part of a Pigeon wing in the box and he tried to tear pieces off of it. Astrid came into the box at 10:50, and all three nestlings went crazy. She didn’t have food but she proceeded to serve out the scrap of wing that Milo had been working on. She fed Milo and Petra while Angel was involved picking at some other scrap in the corner. Both adults were on the east veranda after that. A few minutes later they were both out of view. Ares was back in the canyon in a short time, but Astrid was gone for an extended period. We assumed she was hunting Pigeons.

At 12:16, Ares visited the box and was greeted by much squealing. The nestlings were famished. They hadn’t gone this long without a proper meal since they hatched. One has to wonder if Astrid and Ares were trying to get these guys to fledge earlier than normal. Holding off on feeding and flying off with food are two techniques parent birds employ to induce fledging. So far they were really only doing the former thing and not the latter. Of course, we have to trust that the parents know what they are doing.  At 12:30, Ares took a brief sunbath on the hotel ledge. About fifteen minutes later he was on the steeple. The chicks were getting more and more intense inside the box. They were flapping, dashing around, grappling with scraps, biting each other and watching for parents returning with food. At one point, Milo had a crazed battle with the whitewash camera. I’m not sure who won. At 1:11, Astrid finally showed up on the steeple. She didn’t have food with her, nor did she have a full crop. The chicks announced her arrival with wild screeching calls. She flew to the box for a second and then came immediately back to the steeple. The volume of screeching went off the scale! Deb noticed that there were new tails protruding out from Ares’ pantry on the State Building. That meant there was some food available, but the falcons were choosing not to feed the young that particular food. Were they all cuckoos?

At 1:25, Astrid was seen on Hotel Utica. It appeared that she was hunting again. Ares came to the box at 2:50 and it really stirred up the nestlings in a big way. He retreated right to the steeple. We were surprised that Ares wasn’t sneaking in a cuckoo feeding during Astrid’s absence. We knew he had several squirreled away on the State Building. After another apparent failed hunting foray, Astrid returned to the State Building.  At 4:22, Ares came to the nest with a cuckoo. He left it with the chicks and then flew out again. Two minutes later Ares was back to the nest with another cuckoo. Astrid met him at the east veranda. She took the cuckoo and started feeding the nestlings. Apparently her prohibition on cuckoos had been lifted – at least temporarily. The important thing was, they were back to feeding their young again after an especially long fasting period (the duration was possibly unprecedented). The feeding wasn’t polite. Angel grabbed the food from Astrid and then Astrid had to grab it back. For a while all three allowed Astrid to feed them, but then Milo stole the food and took it into the corner. When Astrid tried to take it back, he screeched at her. After Astrid left, Milo walked away from his prize and then Petra tried to get some bites out of it. Angel just looked at the scene with his head cocked.

After such a long fast, suddenly the flood gates were open. Ares brought more food to the box at 5:45. It appeared to be a hunk of either a Pigeon or Morning Dove – in other words, it wasn’t a cuckoo! Astrid took the prey and began a feeding, but then immediately got into a tug-o-war with Milo. He was pulling at it with his bill and then when that wasn’t working he employed a foot. By 6:45, both parents were out of view. Five minutes later she was at the box with more food. Petra and Angel were the first in line to be fed. Milo took a chunk and then turned away to work on it. Angel did the same thing, but then Astrid got it back and started to feed him again. When she ran out of food at 7 PM, she got screeched at and then she left for the steeple. At that point, Ares seemed settled on the Sate Building. By 9 o’clock she was back to the box and then over on the west veranda. Good night, falcons!

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for June 9, 2018 –

Astrid spent most of overnight close to the nest box. Ares was on the State Building for at least the first part of the night. He brought a small prey item to the nest at around 4 AM. Astrid took it, but then one of the nestlings stole it from her and took it into the corner. After daybreak it was obvious that Astrid was gunning for large prey. She made a few attempts at Pigeons and then secured one at about 5:45. After processing it on the ledge of Hotel Utica, she ferried it over to the nest. She then began what would became a nearly 30 minute-long feeding session. For the most part the nestlings ate one at a time and were pretty polite with each other and with Astrid. When the chicks had their fill, Astird took the awkward leftovers and put them into storage somewhere. At that point Ares was on the steeple and there he remained for quite some time.

At 7:43, there was another feeding, but I think this time it was only Astrid picking up pieces of prey from the floor and then feeding them out. I was downtown for a couple of hours in the mid-morning, but while I was there the falcons were pretty sedentary. Astrid was camped out on a window ledge located east of the nest box and Ares was on the steeple. At one point he flew over to the Adirondack Bank building and perched on a window ledge west of the nest box. That was pretty much the extent of what he did while I was down there. Astrid moved onto the east veranda and even flew to a window ledge closer to Ares at one point, but ultimately ended up right back on her original ledge. While I was down there I checked out Ares’ pantry on the State Building. There were a total of seven birds visible – most on the west face. Two other birds had fallen down onto pavement. Both of the fallen prey items were cuckoos and at least two of the birds that remained on the building were also cuckoos.

Even though I couldn’t see or even hear much of what was going on inside the box, I could tell that lots of wing flapping was happening. Whenever the chicks flapped, a cloud of feathers would float out of the nest and ascend into the sky. The feather cloud consisted of the chicks own cast off down feathers and the innumerable feathers from the Peregrines’ prey. At 11:27, Astrid was back in the box. She had retrieved the leftovers from the previous Pigeon meal and was serving it out. After that small meal, she was back on the ledge east of the nest-box and Ares was over on the State Building. At 12:52, we noticed that both parents were out of camera view and were probably out of the canyon. It was likely they went hunting.  Ares was back ten minutes later to do a chick-check at the box. His visit looked a bit like a game. Ares came onto the perch and was immediately besieged by squealing chicks. He side stepped down the lip of the box to avoid them and then darted in towards the back of the box. One chick was on him and chased him right out again and onto the cross perch where he was safe. At 1:09, Milo had been flapping his wings like mad and did his first known hop flight (from entirely inside the box) from one side of the box to the other. Speaking of Milo, his back continues to get darker and darker as his white down feathers are replaced by dark brown contour feathers. Soon these guys will all be in full juvenile plumage! Milo was on a bit of a rampage in the box – he grabbed Petra’s foot and made him squeal and then run to the opposite corner of the box. Milo then grabbed onto a scrap of food and hopped around with it like crazed parrot.

Ares came to the box at around 2:20. He had a Chimney Swift in his talons. He jumped into the nest and all the kids gathered around him. Astird flew in and landed on the cross perch, but was laying back and seemed to be allowing Ares the chance to feed. He only got to dole out a couple of beakfuls to the chicks before Astrid changed her mind and took over the feeding. A swift is a very small bird and so the meal was a short one. Just before 4:30, Ares brought a more substantial meal to the box and Astrid fed it to the nestlings. We need to go back to see if we can identify the prey, but it looked unusual. That meal stretched a bit further and all the chicks seemed satiated at its conclusion. Astrid was on steeple at 6:47, and we could hear her giving a cackle type alarm call. We weren’t sure why, but few minute later we noticed that Ares was on the hotel ledge plucking prey. He actually ate a fair share of it before bringing it to the nest at 7:03 PM. Astrid met him there and relieved him of his catch. She then had to have a tug-o-war with two different chicks before they settled down and allowed her to feed them the old fashioned way.

In the early evening, both Milo and Angel did some wing exercising and some playing with scraps in the box. Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was in and out of our view a few times. As I’m finishing this write-up at 9:30 PM, Astrid is now on the east veranda, Ares is on the State Building, and the three youngsters are sleeping in the nest.