Author: Matt Perry

The day started out on a slightly warmer note with temperatures in the twenties, but later on in the day temps rose into the thirties. While another fierce nor’easter was battering the east coast, for once we weren’t receiving any fall out from it. Astrid and Ares got a very early start today. They came to the nest box together at 3:27 AM. Astrid didn’t remain, but Ares did. In fact he spent so much time on his scrape, you would think he was the one preparing to lay an egg. It turned out that Astrid hadn’t gone far. She was on a window ledge west of the box. Both reconvened at the box at 4:52, and this time it was Astrid that remained following their rendezvous. From there she moved on to the box’s east veranda where she remained until 6:48. We lost track of her after that. However, Ares then materialized on the roof of the State Building. But soon he was back at the box and working on his masterwork of a nest scrape. It’s almost perfect now. At 7:45, he flew out, but was back with food only five minutes later. The prey was a Woodcock. Most likely, he caught the Woodcock last evening and had it stored somewhere close by. He waited at the box for Astrid to show up and when she didn’t he flew out and put the meal back into storage. When he returned at 9:10, he didn’t have prey with him, but he was extremely excited. Obviously Astrid was nearby. Suddenly she appeared on the box’s cross perch. They shared a short ledge display. Upon its abrupt ending, Astrid ate a stone or two and then she left. Fifteen minutes later she was perched on the steeple and Ares was at the box with prey. He enticingly flew by her with it and, much to his delight, she took off after him. A minute later, he was at the box, wiping his bill and she was on the ledge of the Hotel, ripping into the meal. This wasn’t the Woodcock he had caught earlier; it appeared to be a Pigeon, and Astrid seemed set on eating the whole thing in one sitting. It’s said that a Peregrine Falcon can consume a whopping 25 % of their weight in a single feeding. It seemed like Astrid was out to prove that stat. As it turned out, she did leave a little hunk. After wiping down her bill she returned to her perch on the steeple. There pair mated there at 10:16. Astrid remained on the steeple for most of the morning, while Ares was in and out of the nest box. When she flew at 11:40, Ares was right behind her. However, he came back after only a few minutes. At the lip of the box, he was craning his neck around and looking up. Is was like he was watching her display, but we couldn’t see anything on the cams.

At 12:40, it was Ares who was perched on the steeple. We still weren’t sure where Astrid was. He returned to the box and was acting very excited at 1:10. This was a god indication he had his mate in view. Fifteen minutes later, both met at the box and shared a lively ledge display. As has been the pattern lately, this one consisted of a lot of bowing, beaking, and very few dance steps. He was the first out of the box and within ten minutes he had returned with a food offering. She didn’t take it and he went off to store it instead. Astrid was on her steeple perch for quite a while after that. At approximately 1:30, the pair was heard mating and they mated again at 2 PM. It must be the warmer afternoon temperatures! Another mating at 3:45! Well it’s not that warm out, so it must be the diffuse lighting! Another attempted mating at 4:23 was too much for Astrid. She began to fly away from her perch just as Ares was setting down on her back. They both tumbled but recovered quickly. Perhaps only to prove he doesn’t hold a grudge, Ares was at the box with a food offering only a few minutes after the mating mishap. When she didn’t come to accept the gift, Ares launched out of the box and flew around screeching and trying to drive up her interest. She still wasn’t biting. He returned to the box at 4:40, without the food. By that time Astrid was on the northeast corner of the Hotel ledge. That’s often a hunting perch for the falcons. Was she watching for prey? Meanwhile, at the box, Ares was seen making a scrape on the opposite side of the floor from his super-duper scrape. We wondered (not really) if this was his way of providing Astrid with a choice of places to lay her eggs. Would she like her eggs one inch down or two feet down?

At 5:07 the pair met at the box again and engaging in another ledge display. This one was quite short and when it was finished, Astrid blasted out of there as quick as can be. The next thing we knew she was up on the roof of the State Building. She spent about an hour up there and during that time, Ares flew up as if he was going to mate with her three times, but he never did. He would hover for a second and start to give his chatter call, but then would veer off and come back to the box. At 6:15, Astrid left and that was the last we saw of her this evening. Ares began acting like he saw her at 7:13 PM. He started vocalizing and darting around the box, but she didn’t come over, nor did we see her on the PTZ cams. He left a few minutes later and we believe that’s when the two retired for the night.

It started out as another very cold day. The temperatures in the early morning were in the single digits, but by early afternoon we were in the thirties. Our falcons arrived at the box together at 4:48 AM. Following a short but spritely vocal exchange, she flew over to the north face of the State Building. Ares remained inside the box, sitting on his super-scrape and likely wishing there were eggs to sit on. At 6:30, Astrid returned to the box and the pair performed a three minute ledge display, The dance was heavy on the beaking and light on the footwork. She stayed at the box for about 15 minutes and then she was off our radar for the rest of the morning. Ares was in and out of camera view and not nearly as elusive as his mate. At 7:40, he showed up on the State Building with either a blackbird or a starling. He plucked it and prepared it to be gifted, but then his intended recipient wouldn’t participate. He came over to the box with it and put on a good show, but Astrid wasn’t coming. He flew off and the next time we saw him, he didn’t have it. Perhaps he stored it or maybe he brought it to her, we don’t know.

At 11 AM, Ares went over to the hotel. Only minutes before there had been a half-dozen Pigeons hanging out over there; the doves left when they saw him coming. At 11:20, Ares was back at the nest box. He had some prey feathers stuck on his beak and talons so he probably caught something and had been feeding. He also appeared to have a full crop. Twenty minutes later he began getting excited – as if he saw her in the distance somewhere. He was moving back and forth between the lip of the box and the back of the box and calling. Evidently, Astrid had flown in and landed on a window ledge just west of the nest. She was calling, but she was giving raspy long calls and not her usual interactive “chirruping”. Ares wasn’t giving alarm calls, but he was highly agitated. He began loping around between the box and the perches.  Some bird flew through canyon heading north, but we didn’t get more than a fleeting look at it. Ares took off after it and flew north and over the roof of the ADK bank. Based on A & A’s reaction, the intruder most likely wasn’t a Peregrine. Regardless, Ares was back at the box by noon and he had already resuming work on his magnum scrape. Meanwhile she soared over to the State Building. The pair mated a few minutes later. After that Ares fetched a meal out of storage and brought it to the box. A food transfer took place and Astrid brought the prey over to the Hotel. Ares went over to the Hotel too, but stayed on the opposite corner of the ledge while she fed. After eating, Astrid went to the Grace Church steeple. She hadn’t been seen perching there for some time. She had fed well earlier and was showing a large crop. Meanwhile Ares was at the nest box shoveling to China. At one point he took a break and mated with Astrid on the steeple. At 1:20 PM, the pair had an aborted mating attempt, but then, precisely an hour after that, they tried again and were successful.

At 2:50, the pair came to the box and did a ledge display. Afterwards, Astrid did a few typical chores around the box. She left the nest at 3:47 and then a few minutes later Ares showed up with food. Not the best timing there, sport! When she failed to come for it he left.  He was seen a little while later on the Hotel and without his gift. Did he store it or give it to Astrid? At 4:15, he went through the same routine again, except this time with different prey (a starling). For the next several hours, Ares was coming to the box fairly frequently. He was scraping, preening and sometimes giving long calls. Astrid was nowhere to be seen. Deb even had a look around Downtown to see if she could locate her, but had no luck. As it became later Ares was going up onto the roof of the State Building and to his serious lookout spot. Of course, we don’t know if he knew where she was or not. He alternated between the roof and the nest box until 7:10 and that’s when Astrid showed up and met him at the box. She was staying out on the cross-perch and bowing. It seemed like she was asking to mate, but he was more interested in coaxing her into the box proper. They continued this “conversation” for about five minutes and then Ares finally gave in. He jumped out of the box and presumably did his boomerang flight pattern to come in for a mating, but then before he finished his maneuver, she jumped into the box. Ares changed course and went to pick up some groceries instead. In a few minutes he was back to the box with a starling. For a while they both stood adjacent to each other on the cross perch, but Astrid rejected the meal. He left – probably to put the food back into storage. After that he likely went off to his night perch. At 7:36 PM, Astrid left the box and did the same.

We experienced another very cold start for a day in mid-March. The temperatures were in the single digits in the early morning but managed to reach into the twenties before noon. The falcon’s got an early start this morning; both arrived at the next box at 5:09. Astrid stayed on the cross-perch for only a moment and then went over to the State Building. At 6:30, they both piled into the box again. This time they shared a very short, but intense ledge display; one that was heavy on the beaking. She really blasted out of the box at the end of it. Afterwards, she spent some time on the State Building while he, presumably, was out hunting. At 8:25, She was out of view, Ares was gave some alarm calls and then was seen on the roof of the State Building. He had prey in his talons. At one point he mantled his food, which suggests he was hiding it from another bird, but what other bird? While plucking the prey he took frequent pauses to look around, which also suggested the presence of an interloper. It’s possible that Astrid was busy chasing after an intruder right then since we didn’t know where she was. Meanwhile Ares took his meal over the Hotel ledge. In less than ten minutes he had finished the whole thing. So much for saving some for Astrid! At 9:07, Astrid finally showed up on the Hotel, but by then Ares had gone. A little while later he was at the nest box. Astrid came over, but landed on a window ledge west of the box. At 10:20, Astrid caught a bird right there in the canyon. She brought it back to the same window ledge and did some plucking. When she was done processing the bird she brought it over to the Hotel.

When she had finished her meal, she bit at the wall above the ledge a few times. This is very much like the “housekeeping” work she does around the nest box. It’s interesting to see her do that in a non-nest environment. Does that mean she’s considering nesting on the Hotel? Nope. They are obsessively committed to their nest box. Just before 11 AM, Astrid was back on the State Building and Ares was at the box. He alternated between preening, giving long screech calls into the wind, and working on his mega-scrape. As usual, he was keeping a close eye in his mate. At 12:50, Ares left the box, mated with Astrid and then came right back to the nest. He remains very eager to have eggs in the box. To demonstrate that, he loped over to his scrape and did some more work on it. At about one o’clock, Astrid took off and flew north. Without missing a beat, Ares was up and following after her. At 1:15, Ares was back at the box, but we weren’t sure where Astrid was. He then went up to the roof of the State Building, which could mean he was watching for her return. At 2:10, she must have come into the canyon, because he leaped into the box and began chirping loudly. At 2:45, Ares gave his cackle alarm call, but there didn’t seem to be an emergency. A moment later the pair mated on the State Building. They mated again at 4:08. At just before 5 PM, Astrid flew from the State Building and Ares came to the box. For some unknown reason, he gave his alarm call again. He flew west after Astrid but then came back only a few minutes later. One of the falcons flew extremely high above the canyon. Deb tried to get a picture, but the bird was just too high. Ares soon sailed back into the canyon – going east to west. Near the west side of the State Building he made two unsuccessful tries for a Pigeon. He then flew back and forth in front of the same building before taking a perch on the east face. Shortly after, he was feeding on some leftovers that were on the ledge.

The pair converged at the nest box for a ledge display at 5:30. The dance was at least 5 minutes long. Afterwards, Ares left and Astrid did some predictable chores inside the box. At 6:30, Astrid left the nest and likely picked up a fresh food delivery from Ares. We didn’t actually see the exchange, but when Ares arrived at the box he was picking feathers out of his toes. Subsequently, she was seen plucking prey on the ledge of the Hotel. After she had fed for a while, Ares joined her. He perched on one side of her and then the other – careful though not to crowd her. He was not trying to take any food. But then utilizing the wind, he made a slow flight by her. At 7 o’clock, she flew and he immediately followed after her. He landed at the box and she landed on the roof of the State Building. However, she wasn’t there for long. She made a dramatic dive from the roof and then zoomed by the box liked an arrow. She then dove into the box – but didn’t come all the way in. The pair didn’t dance; instead they had a spirited conversation after which, she flew off. Of course, followed closely by him. She was last seen on the Hotel at 7:10. He was on the roof of the State Building until he finally called it a night at 7:24. Although her high activity levels this afternoon have sown seeds of doubt, we still think that Astrid is getting close to laying her first egg of the season. We may indeed have the first egg of the season within the next few days.

Temperatures were in the single digits in the early morning. Thankfully, things moderated a bit later on and the mercury surged into the low twenties. Ares first showed up at the nest box at 6:15 this morning. Astrid wasn’t seen until 7:30, when she landed on the State Building. The pair mated twice before 8 PM. Shortly after that, both appeared together at the box, but there was no display; Astrid left right away and flew over to the Hotel ledge. There she remained until 10:20. At some point Ares may have dropped off a tidbit for her. She was seen picking at something small, but it could have been something already on the ledge.

Right before 10:30, the pair shared a ledge display at the nest box. It was shortand Ares left first. Ten minutes later, he was at the box again and she was gone. They had switched out; it was almost as if they’d been sharing incubation duties. All indications are that such a thing is not far off. Astrid appears to be laden – as if egg development is well underway. It’s quite conceivable that egg number one will make an appearance in the coming few days. If it does it would constitute a record early egg-date for this pair and this location.

At just before 11 o’clock, there was a failed mating attempt. At 1 PM, Ares issued an alarm call, but it was probably just a warning to some transient raptor flying over the canyon. Ares didn’t give chase. As a matter of fact, he flew over and mated with Astrid right after the non-incident. Twenty minutes later, Ares came to the box with a starling. He plucked it on the State Building and then flew around the canyon with it a few times.  Ultimately he stored it on a ledge. Astrid remained sedentary for most of the afternoon. Meanwhile Ares was out of camera view for several hours. Was he out hunting? At 3:30, Astrid grabbed the starling that Ares had stored earlier, picked at it for a while and then took it over to Hotel ledge and made a meal of it. At 3:50, Astrid and Ares had a “dance” at the nest box. The display was seven minutes long. At 7 PM, Ares flew in with prey, landed on the same ledge as Astrid, and possibly gave her the food. He had a pretty big crop at that time, so he must have been feeding himself. The falcons did some more moving around right before sunset. Ares spent a little time on his “top of the world” perch on the State Building roof, while Astrid soared around to the south side of the building. By 7:10, we were convinced the birds had gone to their might perches.

This morning started out even colder than yesterday morning. Temperatures were in the low twenties. But the strong gusty wind made it seem colder. Temperatures moderated into the 30’s by mid-day. Of course March 17th is Saint Patrick’s Day, and in Utica there is a big parade that crosses right through the falcon’s canyon. No one expected a conflict and there wasn’t one. The falcons weren’t especially early birds today. Both showed up at the box together and performed a very short (five seconds) ledge display. Astrid flew right back into the darkness and landed on a high ledge on the State Building. Ares stayed at the box for a little while, left when she flew, and then and came back to the box when she returned to her perch. The falcons continued in a similar manner for few more hours. One was on the roof of the State Building for a few minutes. At one point Ares flew off in the direction of the Utica Marsh, but both falcons were on the State Building by 9:30. Ares had flown in with some prey and was feeding on it. Astrid moved in closer to him and “asked” for a share. He then abandoned it, thus allowing her to take over.

The Saint Patrick’s Day parade started at 10:00, and Astrid and Ares had seats in the high bleachers. But honestly, other than the canyon being a little noisier than an average day, the falcons didn’t seem to notice anything unusual, green hats and bagpipes notwithstanding. Both falcons did take off at around 11 AM. Astrid was seen doing some nice slow soaring. Afterwards she came back to the State Building and he returned to the box. At 11:30 he made a stop on the hotel ledge. At one point he launched after something, or at least we thought he did. Regardless, in two minutes, the pair was mating on the State Building. He was back to the box afterwards and she was flying around in the canyon. Her return to the State Building was announced by Ares in his  own squeaky speak.  While up on the lip of the box, it seemed like Ares finally noticed the parade – or he was looking in its direction anyhow. He seemed less than captivated by it. After all there was no pigeon float or troupe of starlings dressed in green, playing the pipes. Not much of interest for a Peregrine Falcon there.

At slightly after 1 PM, the pair had a ledge display at the nest box. There was no fancy foot work or any beaking this time. The display consisted of deep bows, with Ares standing on his masterpiece of a scrape. The “dance” was only about five minutes long. Ares left first and flew over to the State Building. No doubt he was hoping that Astrid would make him the happiest bird in town by laying an egg right in the center of his scrape. Well, she didn’t do that. She did make four scrapes herself – at least one was in Ares’ trench. She also bit the lip of the box a few times. When she left, she went over to the State Building, but wasn’t there for too long. Shortly after two o’clock, she was out of view of our cameras and stayed that way for the next 4 hours. At 2 PM, Ares was on the ledge of the hotel feeding on prey. Unlike his mate, Ares made a few appearances at the box, but then disappeared from our cameras at 3:40. It’s possible the pair mated around that time. Deb thought she heard Ares’ mating chatter call. Astrid finally came back onto our radar at close to 6 PM. She landed on the cross-perch of the nest box, but didn’t stay more than a minute or two. Ares was seen ten minutes later. He had a leg of some bird prey in his talons and was calling for Astrid to come take it. He had a nice big crop himself, so we were pretty sure that he had a share of that prey (and possibly all but the leg he was holding).  Astrid was last seen on the roof of the State Building at 6:47. After stowing the food, Ares spent some time on the cross perch of the nest box. The early evening light lit him up beautifully there. Where are all the photographers when the lighting is this good? He went to his night perch a few minutes before 7 PM.