Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 9, 2018 –

Overnight was very cold with temperatures getting down into the high teens. Relatively clear skies and a lack of wind gave way to a quick warm up. By noon the temperature surged into the high thirties. Astrid had arrived at the nest box at 6 PM, Sunday evening. She remained there through the night. At 12:37, she produced her fourth and probably last egg of the clutch. It was only visible for a few seconds before she tucked it beneath her with the others. Ares came to the box with food at 4:34. She took it and went over to the Hotel to feed. Ares then got his first chance to see the new egg. He settled on top of them quickly. It’s always harder for him as a smaller falcon to fit 4 eggs beneath him, but with some effort he does manage it. The falcons pulled off a quick and seamless changing of the guard at 7:20. At thtat point, Astrid was back on the eggs and Ares was perched on the State Building. Later on Ares appeared to be in hunting mode. He was seen on the Hotel at 9:37. Eight minutes later Astrid began calling to him. He landed on the steeple but only stayed there for a few minutes. He then went to the box and the pair executed another rapid changeover. Again, it was taking Ares some effort to get all the eggs beneath him, but he ultimately did. After she left the box, Astrid was out of our camera view for a quite a while. At eleven, a Turkey Vulture flying through the canyon elicited no response from Ares. A half-hour later, Ares did get excited. He called a few times and then left the box. He took a high perch on the State Building. A moment later, Astrid flew in from the east and landed on a window ledge near his. He left his perch and boomeranged back for a mating attempt, but his trajectory was off and he landed on another ledge instead. Astrid then returned to the nest and to incubating. The eggs had been uncovered for only two minutes.

At 11:43, Ares was back on the hotel. He seemed to be in hunting mode again. At 12:09, Astrid got a little excited and vocalized from the box. We didn’t know what she was reacting to. At 12:21 Ares was seen on the east face of the State Building, but he wasn’t there for long. At 12:32, Astrid suddenly left the box. The Pigeon flock stirred, but she wasn’t pursuing them. In two minutes, Ares came to the box and got onto the eggs. Astrid came back to the nest at 12:46, but Ares didn’t want to leave. She turned around and flew back into the canyon. She swooped back and forth in front of the State Building a couple of times and then landed on a high ledge on that building. For the first part of the afternoon Astrid was mostly on the State Building. She made occasional forays out but returned to her perch each time. That is until 3:09, when she flew west. After 12:30, Ares spent the entire afternoon at the box. For a short time when the sun was hitting it with full force, he even did a little shading, which was surprising because it was still only in the 40’s. Astrid wasn’t seen in the canyon again until 5:38. She had gone into Ares food cache on the west face of the State Building and had taken a Woodcock. She then went over to the Hotel ledge to feed on it. After plucking and tearing at it for a while she took the meal up to the State Building. There she fed on it for a while longer. And then, instead of going home to the eggs she flew off to the west. Where was she off to now? At that point, Ares left the box and the eggs, and flew over to the Hotel. After a minute he went over to the steeple, and then back up to the box and onto the eggs. He was off the eggs for about 9 minutes total, which is not a problem. Astrid showed up on the steeple at 6:14. At this point she hadn’t taken a shift on the eggs in nearly 6 hours. That’s unusual and was something she hadn’t done in previous years. More typically she would give Ares an extended turn at incubation only during really hot afternoons, but not on a day like this. We still think that she’s likely being distracted by another Peregrine or pair of Peregrines somewhere within or close to her territory. Judging by the direction she is sometimes seen flying of in, we think that her nemesis is somewhere south or east of the canyon. Fortunately Ares held firm today and kept on the eggs through his mate’s entire absence from the site. She finally came to the box at 6:26, and rather hilariously, Ares was acting like he didn’t want to leave! He had just spent half the day there! Astrid forced the matter this time and took over incubation. Ares went to the Hotel for a few minutes and after that he was out of view for a while. Meanwhile Astrid was reintroducing herself to her clutch of eggs. She seemed to be in for the night.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 8, 2018 –

It was another very cold morning. Temperatures were only in the low twenties, and then struggled to reach the low thirties by mid-day. The day was mostly overcast with some light snow flurries and breaks of sun. More intense snow squalls hit the downtown area in the afternoon. For days now, it has remained quite windy. We’re starting to wonder if the winds will ever subside – not that they are any hindrance to the falcons.  Astrid had returned to the nest and to incubating at 6:37 Saturday evening. Before she arrived, the eggs had been alone for 33 minutes, which was highly problematic. I went into the possible repercussions of interrupted incubation in the last post so I won’t reiterate here. Astrid stayed tight on the eggs until 3:40 AM, when she popped out for about 4 minutes. After that she returned to incubating. Ares arrived at 4:46, and relieved her on the eggs. She came back a few minutes later, but Ares had no interest in leaving and she didn’t press him to go. Instead, she left, and she was then absent for quite some time. At 6:34, Ares began screeching and asking to be relieved. When she failed to return, he went over to the State Building and began to hold vigil for her. Thankfully, after only a couple of minutes he came back to the nest and got back on the eggs. Astrid finally came back at 8:09 and after a significant beaking session with Ares, he left the box and she took over incubating. We continue to speculate on the nature of her disappearances. The most likely explanation is that she is policing her territory and possibly dealing with an entrenched pair of interlopers that are active somewhere outside of the canyon. We still require more evidence to support that explanation, but there are few other things that would keep an experienced female Peregrine away from her nest site and off of her eggs at crucial junctures.

At 9:22. Ares came to the box with a small prey item. Astrid took it and flew away with it and then Ares was once again on egg duty. As for the meal, she either stored it or ate it on the State Building. Five minutes later she was flying again. At 10:40, Astrid was back at the box and they switched out again. Ares spent some time on the State Building and then flew south at around 11:05, and then was out of camera view for a while. At 12:45, Ares came back to the box and the pair switched. Initially Astrid was nowhere to be seen and we thought that maybe she was on her way to beat up the neighbors, but then she showed up on the State Building. In the early afternoon, snow squalls blasted through the Downtown area and made for limited visibility, but we could still pick out Astrid on her perch. At 1:17, during a lull in the snowfall, she flew. Ares reacted to her move by calling and then by coming out of the box. Soon the falcons’ vocalizations were echoing through the canyon, but we couldn’t tell what was happening. Ares appeared on the State Building for only a moment and then he was gone.   As it turned out, the eggs were only uncovered for 3 minutes. Both falcons returned to the box and Ares climbed back onto the eggs. Astrid stayed on the cross-perch while Ares was settling on the eggs; it was like she was lingering there just to see that he did it properly. A few minutes later, Astrid was on the steeple – a place we hadn’t seen her perch for a while. At 12:25, another intense snow squall came through the canyon and Astrid moved to the State Building. We thought that maybe she had gone on one of her adventures again, but at 12:47, she appeared on the State Building. At 1:17, she was flying again; Ares left the eggs and took to the air as well.  He called and then landed on the State Building for a few seconds and then he was up again. A few minutes later, both were at the box. Ares rushed inside and got on top of the eggs. The pair had a brief conversation and then Astrid left. At 1:24 she was on the steeple, but only for a minute. From there she went to the State Building and to a relatively low perch. The snow was falling heavier at that point and she stayed put for little while. The birds switched at 3:20, and Astrid took over incubating. Ares was out of view for a while. At that point the snow was falling hard again and the wind picked up.

At 3:46, Astrid was getting excited at the box, but she remained on the eggs. She was reacting to Ares, who was darting past the bank building and heading north. He had prey in his talons, but where was he going with it? A minute later he flew back through the canyon; this time heading east, but he didn’t go to the box. We didn’t see him again until they switched at 4:28. At 4:47, we noticed that Astrid was on a low perch on the State Building. Just before 5 o’clock, Astrid took off and flew low with a westward heading. She was gone for about an hour and then suddenly showed up on the State Building. At 6:00 PM, box falcons were at the box. Astrid was gently persuading Ares to leave the eggs. She is being especially solicitous toward him this season. After a few minutes he got up and left the box and Astrid settled on the eggs. Ares landed on the State Building at 7:17 and stayed for about 15 minutes. His next stop was probably his night perch. As for Astrid, we are expecting her to lay the fourth and probably final egg of the clutch sometime in the early morning hours.  The pair was very vigilant with incubation today and there were no significant lapses. The eggs were never left uncovered for more than a handful of minutes. We hope the birds maintain that excellent standard for the balance of the breeding season.

 

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 7, 2018 –

It was a cold and windy morning with occasional snow flurries. Temperatures were in the mid-twenties and reached the freezing point by noon. After the great drama of last evening, Astrid settled down on her eggs at 8:00 PM. She remained incubating until Ares relieved her at 3:50 AM. In a few minutes she came back to take over, but he really balked at leaving, and so she let him stay. At 5:36, they switched again and Astrid was back on the eggs. By 6:00, Astrid was giving loud repetitive screech calls, very much like the begging calls that older nestling and fledglings produce. We think this meant that she was hungry and by the sound of her, really hungry. He didn’t have anything for her; he was edging up to her in an attempt to take over incubation. This was not what she wanted, but acquiesced and flew back into the canyon.  She made a few hunting forays in the canyon and came back after each one to perch on the State Building. Every time she went anywhere, he would make squeaking calls. They punctuated her every move. At 7:18, Ares began calling and he came off the eggs. Astrid was seen feeding on something on the ledge of the Hotel. It’s not clear if the prey was something she had caught for herself or if it was something Ares had stored. After Ares had satisfied himself regarding what she was doing, he returned to the box and sat back down on the eggs. He had only been gone for four minutes.

Of course Astrid had a right to be hungry today. Only yesterday she had laid the third egg and then had at least two long encounters with intruders. Surely she had expended a lot of energy. At 7:36, Astrid was done with her meal and was perched on the edge of the Hotel ledge, and looking surprisingly like a stuffed Penguin (as seen at a distance anyway). They switched at 7:47, and Astrid was back incubating the eggs. At 8:06, she became all worked up about something. It turned out to be Ares flying into the canyon with prey. He landed on the long perch, but in a few seconds she indicated that she wasn’t interested and so he flew off and presumably stored the food. After that, he was perched on the State Building. A dense snow squall affected the downtown canyon at around 9:30 and visibility became hampered for a little while. As the flurries started to taper off, Astrid let out a loud cackle alarm call. Two Ravens were flying through the canyon at just above rooftop levels. The Raven reacted immediately to the falcon calls and they gained altitude fast and picked up their pace. They soon disappeared into the north. During the incursion, Ares remained on State Building. He was monitoring and apparently not overly concerned. The falcons did a quick switch at 10:38, and Ares took over on the eggs. Astrid did some flying around; she was periodically launching out on forays and then returning to her perch on the State Building. Every time she moved, Ares would make his chirping calls. At 11:05, he got quite worked up. She was flying and had just landed again on the same building. He climbed off the eggs, swooped over and mated with her. Following that, Ares flew north and Astrid returned to the nest box and to incubation duty.

At 12:40, Astrid began giving harsh screeching calls. Ares was just returning to the canyon and he had perched on the State Building. She came off the eggs and both falcons were in the air for a few minutes; after that he came back to the box and settled into incubating. She had landed on a high perch on the State Building. It was her turn to make periodic forays from the State Building. She was up and down for the next hour. At 3:22, he got off the eggs and flew into the canyon. She showed up at the box seconds later and got right on the eggs. Twenty minutes after that Ares brought food to the box. Astrid took it and flew over to the Hotel to feed on it. Ares wiped his bill on the long perch, flew off but then came back and was on the eggs by 3:42. At 4:53, Ares came off the eggs. Astrid came back to the box and resumed incubating one minute after. At 5:25, Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it over to the Hotel, but didn’t feed on it for long. In a few minutes she was right back on the State Building. At 5:34, both were up and flying. They were gone for six minutes and then Ares returned to incubating the eggs. She was gone until 5:44, when she made a brief stop at the box. She had a short conversation with Ares and then left. Ares left the box screeching at 6:04. He flew up and took a high perch on the State Building and seemed to be standing vigil for his mate. The eggs were left uncovered. After an entire day of flawless and practically uninterrupted incubation, they had a great lapse. Astrid returned to the eggs at 6:37, which meant the eggs were alone in 32 degree weather for 33 minutes. Why is this happening? We don’t know for sure, but Astrid was likely dealing with intruders again. We can’t say conclusively that these eggs will not hatch due to these lapses in incubation, but we won’t be surprised if they don’t. Assuming flawless incubation takes place with yesterday’s egg and with the one we expect to be laid early tomorrow morning, we may still end up with some hatchlings in the nest his season. Astrid’s behavior seems consistent with a female Peregrine policing another pair of falcons on or near her territory.  It’s all speculative for now. Hopefully we will firm up details at a later time.

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 6, 2018 –

It was cold overnight with temperatures dipping into the mid-twenties. Later in the morning the temperatures rose into the thirties. Occasional snow flurries made it seem like a real winter day. The afternoon was sunnier and it did manage to get into the mid-forties by day’s end. Winds were strong and persistent. Astrid had returned to the nest box at 7:38, Thursday night. She settled onto the eggs a few minutes later. As far as we know, she stayed tight on the eggs all night long. Ares screeched up to the box at 4:24 AM. He had a Woodcock in his talons. Astrid showed no interest in taking it and so he flew back into the darkness with it. He screeched in protest as he left. At 5:21, Astrid was getting hungry. We think that she expected him to come back with another meal choice, but that didn’t happen. She got off the eggs and stood on the lip of the box for a little while. She flew out but then came back only a minute later. Finally, she got back onto the eggs. The eggs had been in the open for about 14 minutes. With a temperature of 25 degrees, that gets into dangerous territory. At 5:57, Ares was heard giving a cackle-type alarm call. Astrid was quick to jump from the nest. Two minutes later Areas came into the nest and climbed onto the eggs. Astrid flew to the State Building and took a high perch. At 8:06, she came to the box, but she was just checking on things and she didn’t oust Ares. She went back to the State Building again.

At 9:15, Ares left the box and buzzed by Astrid on the State Building. She came down and took her place on the eggs. Ares was on the State Building for a few minutes only and then he flew. At 9:50, the pair switched out at the box and Ares was once again on nest duty. At 11:00, Astrid left the State Building, and Ares blasted out of the box at the same time. Somehow she was working on a meal on the upper ledge of the Hotel. We think it was that Woodcock Ares tried to give her ealier. At 11:16, both were back at the nest. He was in the box and she was out on the cross perch. He was lying on the eggs and she began bowing and signaling her desire to mate. After about a minute, he dove out of the box; headed into the canyon; boomeranged back and the pair mated right on the cross-perch. Following that, he went over to the Hotel and she took over incubating the eggs. By this point in the day, snow flurries were becoming more organized. At 11:28, Ares left the Hotel ledge and was out of our camera view for a while. At 12:55, Astrid was clearly close to laying the 3^rd egg in the clutch. This time it was no false alarm. Astrid laid egg # 3 at precisely 1 PM. Forty five minutes later, Ares got his first look at the new egg. The pair vocalized  and bowed to each other while Astrid brooded the clutch.  She wasn’t ready to switch incubation duties, so he went on his way. At 2:20, Astrid became very excited. She began chirping loudly and got up off the eggs. She went over to the west veranda. She left, but then came right back to the cross-perch. She was there for only a few seconds and then launched into the canyon. A pair of intruders was in the canyon! No one knows exactly what happened, but there were four Peregrines flying in the sky above the canyon (many thanks to Theresa White for seeing this and reporting it to us!), but it seemed that Ares was trying to chase out the interlopers and Astrid joined him in his efforts. Ares came back to the box at 2:31. He got on the eggs right away. Initially he left one egg out, but thankfully he noticed and tucked it beneath him. Astrid returned to the State Building at 2:43. At 3:57, Astrid relieved Ares at the box. She settled on the eggs, but for only a few minutes. Just after 4:00, she was agitated again and left the box. Both were flying around the State Building in pursuit of an intruder. At 4:08, Ares brought a small prey item to the box. He brought it in and set it down next to the eggs for a minute and then left with it. He came back a few minutes later without the prey and began incubating the eggs. Astrid was on the State Building again by 4:20.

Things were actually quiet for a while after all that. Ares got up off the eggs at 5:43. He flew over to the State Building and landed on a ledge right next to the one Astrid was on. We couldn’t hear them well, but it sounded like they were having a conversation. After that, Ares flew in a circle around the canyon and landed on another ledge on the State Building. A minute later Astrid flew to the nest box and climbed onto the eggs. Ares made a few forays into the canyon – returning each time to the State Building. The first couple of trips Ares made were punctuated by Astrid’s light call notes. He was gone for little while and then suddenly he showed up on the Hotel at 6:30, but he wasn’t there long. At that point, Astrid seemed to be settled for the night. Or so it seemed. She became highly agitated at 6:43. She came off of the eggs and began calling loudly. She flew out of the box like a missile. I’m afraid that only intruders would elicit that kind of response from a female Peregrine that would otherwise be committed to keeping her eggs warm as night fell. Ares came to the box at 6:53 and took over on the eggs, but it was obvious that his attention was elsewhere. His mate was out of range and involved in a territorial dispute with at least one other falcon. He left the box at 7:18 and went to his lookout spot on the roof of the State Building. Where was Astrid? The minutes went by; an hour went by before she finally came back to the fold. She came into the box looking rather exhausted but apparently unharmed, and she got back onto the eggs. The eggs were uncovered for a total of 40 minutes – well into the red zone, I’m afraid. That could very well mean that the first two eggs laid in the clutch will not be viable, but we shall see.  This pair of Peregrine Falcons has shown us that holding their territory is more important than a clutch of unhatched eggs. That makes sense since as long as they keep the territory, they retain the ability to create more clutches in the future.

 

Utica Peregrine Falcon Update for April 5, 2018

It was quite windy and cold today with temperatures remaining in the low to mid-thirties. Astrid came to the nest at just before six in the evening on Wednesday night. It was the first night since the commencement of full incubation and she was taking it seriously. She stayed tight to the eggs without interruption until Ares came to relieve her at 4:35 AM. He had no food for her at that time and she did seem to be hungry. We believe she was checking Ares’ pantry on the north side of the State Building. We couldn’t see her doing this, but only surmised it was happening based on the chirp calls Ares gave as he monitored her movements. He’s very attuned to her every move. Regarding Ares’ pantry, it’s likely all the food stored on the building’s ledges was blown down by Wednesday’s high winds. That was unfortunate. Astrid returned to the box after only 15 minutes and when she hopped in she expected Ares to switch right away. He really balked at leaving, but she had her way in the end. We don’t know where he went after that, but ten minutes later we heard some of Ares’ long calls. He was calling from some distance away. Maybe he caught something and was signaling his imminent return. At 6:05, Astrid got herself up off the eggs and called for Ares to relieve her. She left, but within a minute was back and on the eggs. At 6:27, Astrid started calling from the box. She was still hungry and wanted Ares to bring breakfast. Five minutes later, he brought a Woodcock to the cross perch. She came towards him to take it as he shifted it between his talons and bill and positioned it for the handoff. She stretched out to grab it and it fell between the cross-perch and the lip of the box. In a nanosecond both Peregrines dove straight down to intercept it. It’s always disconcerting to think of the falcons diving down toward the street at full tilt. We didn’t see precisely what happened, but a minute later Ares was climbing onto the eggs and Astrid was feeding on Woodcock over at the Hotel. Obviously they recovered the falling prey, but did they get it before or after it hit the ground?

Ares left the eggs alone at 6:46, but then came back at 6:54 to resume incubating. On a chilly day like this, if there is a more than ten minute gap in incubation, it could be detrimental to the development of the embryos inside the eggs. A few minutes after that, Astrid came to the box and tried to take over incubation, but Ares didn’t want to go and this time she yielded to his wish. She’s nicer to him when she’s not hungry. At around 8:40, the pair did their switch and Astrid took over on the eggs. At 9:26, Ares sailed by the box with prey. That peaked his mate’s interest. She climbed off the eggs and scrambled out on to the cross-perch. He came back and landed on the long perch with the food. This time there was no transfer mishap, she grabbed the food and flew off on the high winds. She took the meal over to the Hotel and to the same ledge corner where she ate the Woodcock earlier in the morning. Ares cleaned his bill on the perch, flew off, but then returned only a minute later and settled on the eggs. At 11:10, Astrid came to the box, but there was no switch. Instead, she flew around the canyon a few times. An hour later, Ares got off the eggs and launched into the canyon. Astrid came into the box less than a minute later. At 12:26, Astrid began calling loudly. Ares had left his perch on the State Building and she was communicating via long distance. Soon after, he went back to the State Building. She left the box twenty minutes later, but came right back. We think she wanted him to take a shift in the box, but he kept flying off his high perch on the State Building and returning. He was taking advantage of the strong winds to get some free flying in. Every time he launched into the air, Astrid reacted with chirping calls.  At 1:46, Astrid left the box and Ares came in almost immediately and covered the eggs. He remained until 2:30, at which point he was out of camera range. The eggs were uncovered for ten minutes – that’s how long it took Astrid to come into the box and settle down to incubating. It was a chilly afternoon with a strong cold wind, but the sun was hitting interior of the box, so the eggs probably weren’t in of jeopardy becoming too cold. She was only on the eggs for two minutes when Ares arrived with prey. After playing tug-o-war with the food, she snatched it from him and then sailed to the State Building – almost landed, but then opted to go to the Hotel instead, and that’s where she had her meal.

Ares remained on the eggs until 4:25. Astrid came in almost immediately after he left. It seemed like their incubation switches were getting faster and smoother. They switched again at 5:03, and Astrid did some impressive soaring on the wind. Soon he was up too and flying with her. They were off the eggs for a total of 12 minutes this time. That seemed risky. Still, the eggs were in the sun and they were probably getting some residual heat from the surrounding stone flooring in the box, so the interruption in incubation was probably not a big deal. Ares returned to the box, but soon was up again. This time he flew over to the State Building and mated with Astrid. This was the only mating we knew about that day. At 6:51, Ares came off the eggs again. He went over to the State Building where Ares was perched near her. Soon Astrid was up and flying and seemed to be in an agitated mood. Something was up; perhaps an intruder was somewhere around (somewhere we couldn’t see with our cameras). Astrid and Ares were in and out of camera view – mostly out. Astrid finally settled down in the box, but it didn’t last long; soon she was dashing around like a kid with a new bike. Ares finally came back to the nest but didn’t get on top of the eggs right away. Then came the most serious incubation infractions of the day. Ares stopped incubating at 5:51, and didn’t resume for 25 minutes! Why? Was it an intruder? Astrid was sure acting like something was amiss. A similar episode occurred at 7:38, when, once again, Ares came off the nest and Astrid didn’t fly in to take over. The eggs were uncovered for a total of 23 Minutes that time. Whatever was causing these birds to neglect their eggs was potentially throwing a monkey wrench into their breeding hopes. Was there was enough residual warmth from the stones in the nest to keep the eggs alive and developing? If not, there’s not a lot we can do about it. At just before eight o’clock, Astrid sat back down on the eggs. Ares had probably already gone to his night perch. We expect Astrid to lay the third egg of her clutch sometime around midday on Friday.