Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 14, 2018 –

It was chilly and overcast in the early morning, but once the sun broke out of the clouds, the air warmed up fast and we hit 70 degrees by noon. The afternoon was even warmer, with temps surpassing 80 degrees.

Astrid was brooding all night long. There were no overnight feedings. Ares showed up on the State Office Building right before 5 AM. He came over to the nest shortly after that and relieved Astrid. She came back to the nest after stretching her wings and Ares flew off into the canyon. Ares brought breakfast at 5:31 and Astrid did the feeding as per usual. Fifteen minutes later Astrid flew out to store the leftovers and then came right back to the clutch. Ares was on the steeple at that point. By 7 o’clock he had moved to the State Building, but it was clear he was making hunting forays. At 8:00 he came to the nest with a Mourning Dove. Astrid took it and plucked a few feathers from it. She also tried to feed the chicks, but it was clear they weren’t hungry yet. She took the meal and flew off with it. No doubt she was storing it for later use. At 8:20, Ares was back on the steeple. He really seemed to like that perch today. He was next seen on the State Building around 20 minutes later. At 9:20, Astrid flew in and out of the box a couple of times. She ended up on the steeple. We weren’t sure where Ares was. Ten minutes later he showed up at the box with food. It looked to be the remains of the Mourning Dove (now plucked). Astrid arrived a few seconds after her mate; she took the food and began a long feeding session. A few minutes later, Ares was on the steeple again. At 9:42, Astrid left the nest with the remains of the meal. She came right back to the chicks and then the falcons were status quo for more than two hours. Finally at 12:05, Ares went over to the ledge at Hotel Utica and had a sun bath. He flattened himself out on the ledge and spread out his feathers. He looked like a falcon pancake. When he was done he flew back to the steeple and let out a long screech before he landed so Astrid would know it was him.

At 12:39, Ares came to the box and the two parents switched places. Astrid dashed over to the State Building and Ares stood in the box contemplating the chicks. His chirping calls caused them to start begging. That made the chick heap  too tall for Ares to slide on top of. He looked at the egg and loped over to it. He straddled it while looking at the nestlings with what seemed to be astonishment. He then retreated out onto the cross perch. He really didn’t seem to know what to do, not that he has to do anything at this point. It’s warm enough outside so the chicks don’t need brooding and the last egg is now beyond its hatch window, so just standing guard is all he really has to do. After a few minutes the chicks calmed down and fell back into a heap in the middle of the box. Ares came back towards them, but then diverted to the egg. He moved the egg under himself, but then walked away again. He began digging with his bill in the corner of the box. This is the same thing Astrid was doing only a half-hour before. If there’s pirate treasure down there one of them is bound to find it and then they’ll be rich. Soon he was back to the chicks. He stood over them and gathered them up with his bill. By 1:20, he was moving around again. Tending the chicks wasn’t capturing his whole attention today. Around 1:30, Ares was gone and Astrid came into the box with food. It must’ve been a small meal, since she was out of the box again in just a few minutes. At 2:30, Ares brought prey to the box. After a short tug-o-war, Astrid took it and conducted a feeding. She left with the remains of the meal and then came back at 2:45.

Ares escorted a Turkey Vulture out of the falcons’ airspace at 3:15. He was on duty at the box again a little while after that and it became clear that Astrid and Ares are shifting gears in their behavior towards the clutch. They no longer feel the need to have a presence in the box at all times. In the latter part of the afternoon they left the box and the chicks alone for progressively longer periods of time. At 4:50, Ares did some chirping and left the next box. After he flew, some falcon interactive calls could be heard. Astrid came to the box shortly after that and began brooding the nestlings, but then she gave a major alarm cackle call. Obviously there was an intruder in the canyon. She wasted no time in flying out of the box. Soon raptors (likely falcons) were flying high above the canyon and then off towards the northwest. By 5:04, both A&A were back in the canyon, but Ares didn’t stick around for long and fifteen minutes after he arrived he was gone again. Astrid was acting a bit unusual after Ares last departure. She was swooping at the Adirondack Bank building – passing by offices and even by the PTZ camera. She came in and out of the box a couple of times and seemed to be generally anxious. We got a report in that a dead raptor-type bird was seen on the near route 5 S in Utica. Since we hadn’t seen Ares for a little while and since the pair may have been battling another Peregrine, Deb went to check it out. Since Astrid was acting a little erratic, it didn’t seem out of the question that something could’ve happened to her mate.  Long story short – Deb checked it out and the raptor in question turned out to be a plastic bag. Ares returned to the canyon at 6:10. Both falcons converged at the nest box at 6:15, but then Astrid was out again and flying through the canyon. Ares did a very short feeding at the box, and then after a few minutes of shading the chicks, he was out.

Both converged at the box again at 6:30. Ares had prey. Astrid took in and a feeding ensued. What followed was A&A making short stops at the box and generally hitting most of their nearby perching places. Usually one was in view of the box and occasionally one or the other would stop by at the box for a few minutes. This was how it was until about 8:40 PM, when Astrid finally returned to the box, presumably for the night.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 13, 2018 –

It was cool overnight with some fog. The fog served to reflect light from the city and that made it easier than normal to see what was happening in the nest box at night. The temperature got into the low 70’s by early afternoon. Sunny skies prevailed.

There was no overnight feeding last night, nor was there a last egg-hatch. Ares brought an entire American Woodcock to the long perch at 4 AM. Astrid did her best tightrope walking routine as she scrambled along the cross perch to take it from him. Finally she had it, but getting over the gap between the cross perch bars is always the issue. Woodcocks are very bottom heavy and that makes them difficult to handle. Astrid switched the bird from her beak to her talons and then back to her beak again. Finally she leaped with it in her mouth and just made it past the lip of the box. She didn’t start tearing into it though, nor did she attempt to feed it out to the chicks. She bit at it a little bit and seemed to be trying to brood it with the chicks. She knew this wasn’t going to work, so she took the woodcock and flew off to store it. We later saw it up on Hotel Utica. At 5:25, Ares brought a hunk of prey up to the nest and Astrid quickly fed it to the chicks. Twenty minutes later Ares came back to the box, but this time he wanted a turn brooding. Astrid scuttled his plan, and Ares went over the steeple for a while instead.  At 7:52, Ares was back at the nest box with more food. This time it was another small and unrecognizable hunk. Astrid had left and so it was up to Ares to do the feeding. It was his first chance this season. He came in alongside the writhing chick pile and started trying to tear pieces of meat off the carcass. He was indeed feeding the nestlings, but his technique wasn’t quite up to standard.  He was offering food mostly just to one of the chicks. He wasn’t chirping loudly as he fed like Astrid does, and so the chicks weren’t all responding. After a few minutes, Ares was done. He left and he took the meal with him. Astrid returned to the box at 8:27 and she began brooding the chicks again. Seven minutes later, Ares came to the box with the same prey he had before. Despite the begging calls of the hungry chicks beneath her, Astrid encouraged Ares to leave with the food again.

The pair switched at 10:11, and then Ares was with the chicks (and the egg) once again. He was doing a good job at brooding this time, but was relieved only twenty minutes later at 10:37. Just before 11 AM, Ares brought a small food item too the box. Astrid took it and dolled it out to the nestlings. A little while later, Astrid was getting annoyed with flies buzzing around in the box. She was following them with eyes and moving her head around drastically. It looked fairly ridiculous. At 11:45, both falcons took to the air. Astrid launched from the box and Ares from the State Building. We had no idea what they were up to. A few minutes later Ares came to the nest. At 11:51, Astrid was back with the chicks and brooding again.

Astrid left the nest again at 1:07. She perched on the State Building briefly and then returned to the chicks. At 2:25, Ares brought prey to the box and Astrid conducted another feeding. Ten minutes later she flew out with the leftovers. Ares came over in the meantime. The pair switched at 3:05, and Astrid took over brooding – although by this time the job involved much more shading, as the afternoon sun was flooded into the box. She was spreading her tail feathers and partially holding out her wings to create a canopy over the chicks. At 4:40, Ares came to relieve Astrid, but she wouldn’t leave.  He stood alongside her for about five minutes before making his way back to the perch. And then at 5:23, Astrid just up and left the box and went over to the State Building. Ares came right over and began his own shading efforts. After 25 minutes, he moved out onto the perch and then left the box. Both parents were on the State Building for a few minutes and then Astrid returned to the nest. At 6:20, Astrid was getting cagey again. She hopped up onto the cross-perch and then went over to the west veranda and stood on that perch for a little while. We were very surprised at what happened next. Astrid was on her perch facing in towards the building and Ares came and tied to mate with her! Now who expected that? The pair hasn’t mated since the first week of April. Astrid didn’t allow the mating. She came back into the nest proper and returned to the chicks.

Astrid left the box again at 6:45. This time she went over to Hotel Utica for a little bit. Ares came over to stay with the chicks while Astrid took to the air again. She flew around the State Building checking Ares’ pantry on the upper ledges. She didn’t seem to find anything so she broke off from her circling pattern and flew towards the north. In less than a minute she was at the box with an unrecognizable hunk of leftovers. At that point she conducted a long feeding session. Happily all three chicks were vying well and even the smallest one was getting a good share of the food. Astrid was getting a meal too since she was eating all the reject pieces and there seemed to be a lot of those. At last check Astrid was on the nest and Ares was out of view. He had been on the State Building, but by 8:30, he was up.

Will the last egg hatch? Probably not at this point, but we try not to make too many categorical statements when it involves this nest and this pair!

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 12, 2018 –

Overnight was very chilly. Temperatures were in the mid-forties and they hardly budged all day. Skies were overcast and there were periods of light rain. By evening on Saturday, the clouds broke and the sun brightened the falcons’ downtown canyon.

Astrid’s last break from the box had been at 3:30 on Friday afternoon – and that was only for a couple of minutes. At this stage of the nesting, when there are still unhatched eggs, she often loathes to leave. There were two overnight feedings last night – the first was at 1:40 and the second at 4:00. Ares brought the prey to the box each time and Astrid did the feeding. The next feeding took place at 5:56, and that’s when we saw the 3^rd hatchling for the first time. This one likely hatched some time after 4 AM, but not we think not as late as 5:00. This chick seemed strong and was able to lift its head up and vie for food during the meal. At 7:00, Ares landed on the perch for a minute, but it was just a check in. An hour later he came back to the box. This time Astrid left, but didn’t leave the clutch with him for long. Two minutes later she was back with food and was conducting a feeding. At 7:57 Ares screeched up to the box. He and Astrid conversed for about four minutes and the she flew out. As far as we knew, this was his first view of the three chicks. He stood alongside the heap of chicks and just looked at them. Astrid came back to the box with food at 8:03. Astrid fed the nestlings and at the same time had a healthy share herself. Ares watched about a minute of the feeding from the cross perch and then left.

Ares brought more food to the box at 9:09. He came into the box to hand it off to her – a habit he’s adopted just recently. Astrid took the meal and doled it out to the nestlings. The falcons switched at 10:35. Seven minutes later, Astrid was back brooding the clutch. At 11:24, we noticed that Ares was on the Adirondack Bank building just east of the box’s east veranda. Astrid was moving the clutch around the box quite a bit. She was jostling the egg in a manner that made us think it may still be viable; or at least she thought it was. At 12:27, Ares called and then landed on the east veranda. Astrid began vocalizing to send him off, but he remained in place. After a while he stepped into the box, came right up to his mate and requested a changeover. She didn’t want to leave. He beaked with her and then crowded in on her in an attempt to influence her decision. Finally, after a few minutes, she did leave. Ares then got to be alone with a writhing heap of babies. “What do I do now”, was what his expression and stance seemed to convey. The three chicks had become stirred up when Astrid left and now they were asking to be fed. Of course Ares didn’t have anything. He just stood alongside them and waited for them to calm down. They ultimately did and he kind-of gathered them up and began brooding. Astrid returned with a large hunk of food at 12:51. Ares left and she proceeded to feed the chicks. Ten minutes later she flew off with the leftovers, stored it on the State Building and came back to the nest.

At 2:30, the falcons switched and Ares took over on the nest, but it was only for one minute! Astrid was right back and Ares was out again. At 4:00 Ares came back to the box. He crowded right up behind and finally compelled her to leave. Once she left it was just Ares and the nestlings again – always awkward. They all turned toward him and were in full begging mode. Yikes – poor Ares! Astrid returned at 4:18, and she had a hunk of leftovers with her. Ares left the box and she proceeded with a feeding. Ares went over to the steeple at Grace Church and after the meal Astrid went back to brooding. At 5:47, Ares did a quick check-in at the box and left. He came back at 6 o’clock and this time he was aiming to have a turn with the nestlings. Astrid’s calls warned him off and so he hopped over to the east veranda and then back to the window ledge just east of there. Soon he was up again. Ares was out of view for an hour but then was seen racing back to the State Building. Ten minutes later he was at the box and Astrid didn’t need a lot of convincing to do the switch this time. As usual, Ares just stood beside the chick mountain and was not sure exactly what to do. Incubating eggs is much more straight forward. Meanwhile, Astrid was hunting. She tore after something to the north of the canyon and then came back to the State Building. After a minute she was up again. This time she ended up on Hotel Utica. Ares managed to half-brood the wiggling chick pile and the egg. For the first time he was being allowed a prolonged stay with them. Astrid’s adventures continued until 7:45, when she brought a scrap of leftovers back to the box. Ares gladly gave up his watch and she proceeded to feed the hungry chicks. All three chicks (including the youngest one) vied well during the feeding, and all had their fill before toppling over. After the meal, Astrid settled down to brooding. Ares was on the State Building until 8:15 or so. Will that last egg hatch tonight – or at all? We don’t know. We haven’t been able to confirm a pip on it, so we will have to see.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 11, 2018 –

The temperature got down into the high thirties overnight. This morning was cool and clear, with high temperatures in the 60’s. It was also fairly windy. Afternoon was also sunny and cool.

Astrid had come to the nest at 2:15 on Thursday afternoon and refused to leave even when Ares offered to switch. It seemed like she thought a hatch was imminent. We thought that too, but we were wrong. The “crack” we thought we saw in one of the two remained eggs, was never seen again. We believe that what we actually saw was some blood that splashed a streak across one of the eggs as Astrid tore at a carcass. We are still not sure about this explanation, but it’s plausible. So Astrid remained on the brood for the long haul. Occasionally she would jostle the eggs (and chicks) in an attempt to induce hatching. There was a rare late evening feeding at 10:42. Ares brought the food to the nest and Astrid conducted the feeding. It was very dark in the box, but it seemed there were still two whole eggs. The next feeding took place at 2:45 AM on Friday. Again, Ares brought the prey and Astrid fed it out. There were still no signs of a third chick. At 5:38, the falcons switched and Astrid finally took a break. Before Ares took over we could plainly see two chicks and two apparently pristine eggs. We couldn’t even see a pip! Astrid returned five minutes later and took over the clutch.

Just before 6 AM, Astrid got all worked up. She began calling and came off of the nest. She dove out of the box. There must have been an intruder in the canyon. A minute later, both adults were on the State Building. Ares was on his rooftop lookout spot. She was back to the box before two minutes were up. Ares was next seen having breakfast on Hotel Utica. When he had enough he must’ve stored it since he didn’t bring it back to the box. He ended up back on the State Building. At a little after 10, Astrid took another break and Ares was on duty at the box. True to form, Astrid was back and taking charge of the nest before five minutes was up.

At 11:46, Ares brought more food to the box and Astrid handled the feeding. At 1:00, Ares flew up to the box, but before he could land, Astrid warned him off. Again, she seemed intent on staying with the clutch. She continued to periodically jostle the eggs (and chicks). Just after 2:00, Ares brought food up to the nest; Astrid took it and started to feed the chicks. After feeding the two, she ate the scant leftovers herself and went back to brooding the clutch. At 3:26, Ares relieved Astrid at the box, but unsurprisingly she wouldn’t stay away for long. Two minutes later she was back on the nest and Ares was out.

Ares came to the box with more food at 5:24. Instead of having Astrid meet him out on the cross-perch, he now jumps into the box and lets her take his offering the easy way. He’s been doing this a lot lately and it may be new behavior. It certainly makes food handoffs far easier for Astrid. She proceeded to feed the nestlings pretty equally. After the feeding we believe we could hear a chick inside one of the eggs calling. One of the eggs may or may not be pipped. After settling down on the brood, Astrid jostled the clutch a few times – possibly to induce hatching. At 6:25, Ares stopped by the box and offered to take a shift. This time he stayed in the box for a minute or two and conversed with Astrid. She was in place over her brood and she still had no intention of leaving. In fact it was already obvious she was in place for the night. Ares was in and out of view for a while, but ended up very much in view on the State Building as late as 10 PM. Will we have another hatch on Saturday? Will the remaining two eggs ever hatch at all? We’re honestly not sure at this point.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for May 10, 2018 –

This morning was overcast, very windy and rain was threatening. Temperatures stayed in the 60’s for much of the day. Rain did fall in the afternoon for a while, but it didn’t last long. Storms seemed to be missing Utica. Astrid had come back to her new chicks at 7:28 last night. Ares brought food to the box at 1:08 AM, and Astrid conducted the feeding. It was a little hard to tell what was going on in the box due to the lack of light. It looked like both chicks got fed. Astrid seemed to want to continue feeding after both nestlings were satiated and toppled over. She was chirping and trying to coax the chicks to take more, but they wouldn’t or couldn’t. Astrid finally flew out with the food and Ares sat with them until she returned a few minutes later. Ares relieved Astrid at the nest at just past 5 AM, but she wasn’t gone for more than a couple of minutes. Ares came again at 5:27 – this time with prey, but Astrid sent him away. He tried again less than 15 minutes later and she sent him off again.

The next feeding took place at 7:15. Ares brought the prey and this time Astrid said yes. I understand that both chicks were adequately fed, but in the part of it I saw, Astrid would rip a strip off the carcass, almost give it to a chick and then decide that it was too big or something else wasn’t right with it. She ate all the reject pieces herself. As a result of her quality control regim, was that she was getting a meal too. At 8:25, Ares was back to the box with more food, but Astrid sent him out again. The falcons switched at 9:04, and Ares took over the clutch. He seemed a bit more comfortable with them today than he did yesterday. He brooded the chicks together with the two eggs just like Astrid does. At 9:17, Ares’ short turn was up and Astrid was on duty at the box again. At 11:09, another feeding was underway. Both chicks seemed to get a fair amount this time. Astrid flew out with the leftovers and Ares came in to sit while she was gone. She was back to the nest a few minutes later and Ares was off to the State Building.

At 11:26, without warning calls or anything, Astrid left the box and flew south with purpose. Ares was nowhere in sight at the time. Was there an intruder? Ares came to the nest about 8 minutes later and brooded the clutch until Astrid returned at 11:38. Seeing her dart out like a guided missile made me recall a time nine years ago when I watched Maya (Utica’s first fulltime resident female Peregrine) fly like a missile after a Merlin that had the audacity to enter the canyon. Perhaps Astrid had launched after a Merlin or a Cooper’s Hawk. We tried hard but we couldn’t confirm that any of the other two eggs were pipped. One does have some white staining that resembles a pip. The same spots have fooled us again and again.  At 2:00, something stirred up the falcons – we don’t know what, but Astrid left and Ares came in to be with the clutch. Astrid was back in fifteen minutes and took over on the nest. The wind was picking up at this point and storms were threatening, but they didn’t come. At 4 PM, Ares screeched through the canyon and landed back on the State Building. He had prey and he was plucking it. Two minutes later he took it to the box and Astrid accepted it. As she was feeding the two chicks, the two unhatched eggs were right in front. Both appeared to be pipped! During the course of the feeding, one of them began to crack. A fissure large enough to see a chick inside was visible through the end of the meal and then Astrid tucked it back under her. We thought for sure that a hatch was imminent, but three hours later, there were still two intact eggs in the clutch. Astrid was keeping them either completely covered or partially covered for that whole time. Ares brought food at 6:15, but she sent him away. At 6:50, he came to do a shift, but she wasn’t having that either. She sent him away again. She wasn’t going to leave the nest with a chick about to hatch. It’s most likely that a third egg is going to hatch either this evening or early tomorrow morning. As it gets dark in the canyon, we begin to lose our ability to see exactly what’s going on in the nest box. In other words, we may not know we have a new chick until sometime early Friday morning.