Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 19, 2018 –

It was cold and snowy today (where have I heard that before?). A few squalls were quite intense, but at least snow wasn’t sticking to the ground. Temperatures were in the thirties for most of the day kand topped out at around 40 degrees. After Astrid enjoyed her evening excursion last night, she returned and relieved Ares at 8:03 PM on Wednesday. As is typical, she remained on the eggs all night long. Ares landed on a ledge on the north face of the State Building at around 5:08 AM, but didn’t come to the box until 6:18. Astrid had been calling to him quite a bit, but he wasn’t persuaded to come over. To be fair, she may have wanted him to get breakfast for her, and he appeared to be trying to do just that. He flew off a couple times and ended up on different perches, although he wasn’t seen with prey. When they did switch, it was quick and afterwards Astrid spent a lot of time apparently checking out Ares’ pantry. She first flew back and forth in front of the west face and then she did the same thing on the north face She finally ended up going around the entire building just short of ten times. If she wasn’t looking for stored food, what was she doing? At 7:30, Deb saw Astrid perched on the south face of the State Building. It looked like she had a crop, so she must have eaten. At 8:57. The falcons switched out again and Astrid assumed her incubation duty. Upon leaving, Ares may have gone directly into hunting mode. He was on the County building and then a few minutes later he was on the State Building.

Deb Spent some time this morning visiting Ms. Cherie Grant’s 5^th grade class at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. Here’s what Deb had to say about her experience:

Ms. Grant’s students have been following the activities of Astrid, Ares and their offspring for the past 3 years. This year they have been keeping a daily log of the activity that they see each day and making notes about various interesting facts concerning the peregrines. I spoke to them about peregrines in general and shared some pictures and videos from previous nesting years. Additionally we did an exercise to show how pesticides bio-magnify up the food chain. The students asked very good and thoughtful questions – I could tell they have spent a lot of time studying peregrines. It was the best day of my week!! I truly enjoy seeing young people interested in nature!

By 11:20, the weather changed and downtown appeared to be in the grips of a blizzard. Snow was falling densely and the wind had picked up. The PTZ 1 cam was obscured and we couldn’t tell if Ares was still on the State Building or not. Thankfully, the squall didn’t last long and visibility returned to the canyon. Ares had held to his perch on the State Building. The falcons executed another rapid switch at noon and it was Ares turn at the box again. Occasionally he would squeak like he was seeing her, but we weren’t sure where she was for a while. She ultimately showed up on the State Building. The next switch took place at 1:32, which was only an hour and one half after the previous change. Ares appeared on the State Building soon after the switch. At 3:36, Deb saw him apparently playing on the wind. And yes, the wind had picked up. He made a brief stop at the box at 4:22, but flew out again. They switched out for real at 4:51 PM. After that Astrid spent some time on the State Building. By 5:09, she was seen flying around the same building, which seemed to be a favorite pastime for her today. When Deb left the office at 5:33, Astrid was on the East face of the building, preening. She moved to the west side by 6:05, and by 6:30, she was seen flying around the State Building. After that her motions (or non-motions) were invisible to us, that is until she returned to the nest at 7:48. She moved Ares off the nest with impatient monkey-like calls upon her arrival. Good night falcons!

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 18, 2018 –

Wednesday started out chilly and with snow flurries. There was even some snow accumulation in the hills. Wind was constant but not too strong by modern standards. Temperatures remained mostly in the thirties, but breached 40, by mid-afternoon. Astrid came onto the nest at 4:40, Tuesday night. She remained through the night, which is typical. Ares finally relieved her at 6:00 AM on Wednesday. He had showed up on the State Building only a few minutes earlier. Upon being relieved, Astrid flew over to the State Building and was seen flying around the west and north faces of the building. Most likely she was searching Ares’ pantry and looking for stored food. While she was doing this, Ares watched her and made lots of chirping vocalizations. At 8:47, Astrid came to the box and resumed incubating. She seemed to be licking her beak a bit, which is something we don’t often see her do. A little while later she was moving stones around. There’s not much to do when you’re incubating. Meanwhile Ares was coming and going from the State Building – presumably he was hunting. The falcons switched again at 12:27. It was another quick changeover, which is appropriate giving the cold temperatures. Astrid took a relatively low perch on the State Building and then got into some heavy preening. After that she did some nice flybys in the canyon before landed back on the State Building.

At 2:37, the falcons did another one of their rapid switch-outs. Astrid took over on the eggs and Ares took the opportunity to do some fancy flying on the wind. For the next two hours he was in and out of camera view several times. Astrid was getting a little cagey after 5 PM, and seemed to want Ares to take another shift, but he wasn’t taking the cues. At 5:30, when Ares flew through again, Astrid really began chirping a lot. Still, he wasn’t heeding her calls. We thought she was set to pull another marathon sitting, but then at 6:37, she just left the nest. Ares arrived two minutes later and covered the eggs. Astrid then stayed out of view until 8:03, when she made a brief check in at the box. Five minutes later, she came and took over incubation. We are not sure why she left earlier. We don’t think it was because of an intruder. She may have just been hungry. She was not seen eating today and, as far as we know, Ares didn’t bring her anything. Regardless, she was settled on the eggs and Ares went off to a night perch at some undisclosed location.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 17, 2018 –

Tuesday was yet another chilly day with snow flurries in the morning. Temperatures remained in the thirties. Astrid had taken over on the eggs on Monday afternoon at 3:02, and she remained in place until Ares relieved her at 5:41 AM on Tuesday. In other words it was another long shift for her. Ares had been on the State Building for at least 40 minutes before he came over to the box. She didn’t seem anxious to leave; at least, she wasn’t calling for him to come and switch. After leaving the box (at 5:41), Astrid perched on the State Building. She also did some flying, but kept returning to the building’s north face. At 8:35, the falcons switched out very quietly. Ares left the box and landed on the exact same ledge where Astrid had been prior to flying to the nest. An hour later, at 9:27, Ares brought a small prey item to the box. Astrid took it and flew over to the State Building with it. As Ares settled on the eggs, it was obvious he had somewhat of a crop, so he must have eaten as well. At 10:38, Astrid came back and the pair switched out again. Ares went over to the State Building as Astrid got comfortable on the eggs. At 12:05, Ares was flying high above the canyon and was probably on a hunting mission. Astrid called a few times from the box as he was gaining altitude. At just before one o’clock, Astrid began calling. Ares flew in and landed on the roof of the State Building – right on his favorite lookout corner.

At 12:52, Astrid got a little excited in the box. Ares was again at his lookout post on the State Building. He was gone again eight minutes later. Ares flew to the box at 1:47, but it was just an in and out box check. Five minutes later, Ares came back; this time they switched and he took over on the eggs. After being off cam for a few hours, Astrid was seen again at 4:11. She was perched on the State Building. At 4:40, they did another quick switch and Astrid took her place on the eggs. Ares was quite active after he left the box. He was seen flying towards the north and gaining altitude. At 5:21 PM, Astrid started calling. That’s often what she does when she sees Ares flying. He landed on a high ledge on the State Building and remained there for well over an hour. He had tucked in on the high ledge and we thought that perhaps he may have chosen it for his night perch, but then, just before 7:00, he flew. He was seen flying over the County building at 7:20, and then it was back to his rooftop look out. He could’ve been hunting or on watch for an intruder. We thought, probably the former. He just left as I’m writing this update at 7:32 PM. Off to bed now? Maybe.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 16, 2018 –

Very strong winds blew through the night and through most of the morning. Rain began before mid-morning and continued off and on throughout the day. The high winds picked up again in the early afternoon, but were more intermittent as the day progressed. Temperatures in the morning were in the mid-thirties but peaked in the mid-forties by afternoon. Astrid had taken over for Ares on the nest at 6:05 PM on Sunday. She remained for the entire night shift and right until Ares relieved her at 6:03 on Monday morning. When Astrid left, she was seen flying to the north. We didn’t know where she was after that, but that’s not unusual. She was likely perched somewhere in the canyon, but out of view. Deb finally saw her on the west face of the State Building at 7:52. Deb also noticed that at least one of Ares pantry items had been blown off the building by the wind. That’s a problem with high winds, they tend to take a toll on the falcon’s food reserves. At 8:04, Astrid landed on the cross-perch and called to Ares to get off the eggs. It only took a couple of donkey calls and he was out. She didn’t have to resort to stepping on his tail that time. She quickly settled on the eggs. Ares was on the west face of the State Building for a little while and then he was out of camera view. Just after 10 AM, He was there again , which probably meant he was hunting from that perch.

At 10:36, Ares came to the box and the pair executed a quick switch. Astrid flew out toward the east and Ares got onto the eggs. It looked like he had a crop, so he must’ve eaten. At 12:22, Deb saw Astrid on the west face of the State Building. She arrived at the nest box at 1:06. At that time she had a short conversation with Ares. It was clear that he didn’t want to leave yet and so, once again she left him to it Astrid went over to the west side of the State Building once again. The west face of the building was very popular with the falcons today – primarily because the wind was coming from the opposite direction for once. She returned and the pair switched out at 3:02. Astrid then took over on the eggs and, as it turned out, she would remain there for the rest of the day. Ares seemed to be hunting and right before 6:00 PM, he was seen on a few different perches She tried calling to him a few times to get him to take one more shift, but he didn’t come over. By 6 o’clock, rain was falling and, as early as it was, the falcons seemed settled for the night.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 15, 2018 –

Freezing rain was on tap for us this morning and it continued on and off for much of the morning. Fortunately, accumulation was light. Temperatures were pegged in the low thirties and the winds really picked up by later in the morning. Although the ice wasn’t an issue later on in the day, the wind speed continued to increase. It was not exactly a nice spring day. Astrid had taken over on the eggs at close to 5 PM, Saturday night and she remained on the nest until Ares relieved her at 4:42 Sunday morning. His arrival at the box was a little unusual. He first landed (while screeching) on the east veranda, before making his way over to the box and relieving Astrid. Once Astrid was away from the box, we didn’t see her on camera again until she returned at 8:39. Ares had left the box only a minute earlier. At about 9:00, Astrid began calling and our PTZ cam showed Ares soaring to the north and over the bank Building. At 10:40, they did another quick switch and then it was Ares turn on the eggs. We didn’t know where Astrid had gone until Deb came through town and spied her on a high ledge on the west face of the State Building. Astrid came to the box at 12:26 and stood on the cross perch. She had a very full crop, which was likely the result of her feasting on whatever prey it was that Ares was seen storing on the State Building on Saturday evening. While on the perch, she and Ares did some conversing. It seemed clear that Ares didn’t want to get off of the eggs. After ten minutes, she hopped into the box and began beaking with him. She then went behind him and acting like she was about to step on his tail and/or primary feathers, and suddenly he relented. He got off the eggs and left. She quickly got settled and began her own incubation session.

At 2:09, Astrid appeared to be getting a little stir-crazy. She was compulsively picking at the pea gravel while still remaining tight on the eggs. She soon settled down and then about twenty minutes later, Ares flew through and she called out from the box. Did she want to be relieved? The next thing we knew she was dozing. Ares arrived at the box at 2:47, but for some reason he went over to the west veranda. From there he jumped onto the long perch and then he was out again and she fell back into dreamland. At 3:25, the falcons did a pretty quick switch and then Ares was on the eggs. Things got a bit weird after that: At 4:46 (ish) Ares became animated and began calling. He got off the eggs and flew out of the box. Astrid came to the cross perch at 4:48 and she was obviously upset, She was giving loud calls, but not alarm calls. What we didn’t know at the time was that Ares was dealing with an intruder. Out PTZ 1 cam caught a very distant shot of him chasing another (probably male) Peregrine from the roof of the State Building, north over the Adirondack Bank, and then right out of camera view. Astrid tried to settle on the eggs, but didn’t stay for more than a few seconds. She left the box and the eggs were alone. Fortunately, Ares returned only a minute later and he resumed incubating. It was then Astrid who was out of view. She came back to the box just before five o’clock, but she wasn’t ready to do the switch yet. She flew out and disappeared behind the State Building. At 6:05, Astrid returned to the box. This time she was ready to switch and Ares was ready to leave. She settled down on the eggs and began to incubate. Hopefully there will be no more excitement for today. Ares quickly was out of camera view. He probably either went hunting or took to his night perch.