Author: Matt Perry

It was another chilly winter day in the falcons’ canyon. The one thing that set today apart from the previous several days was that it didn’t snow. However, it was windy and temperatures once again were in the 30’s. We saw the first falcon arrive on the State Building at 5:45. It was probably Ares. An hour later, both falcons came to the box in tandem. Astrid put down on the cross-perch and stayed for less than a minute. At 7 o’clock Ares was seen on the Hotel ledge with what appeared to be a Pigeon. He was there for at least ten minutes and then flew away with the prey. We missed some of the action during this period so we weren’t sure if he tried to gift the meal to Astrid or not. In fact Astrid was successful at eluding our cameras at this point. She may have been eluding Ares as well; he went up to the roof of the State Building and then swung over to the box – chirping the whole time. It seemed like he wasn’t sure where she was. We speculated that she was either chasing an intruder or out hunting. At 8:30, he was feeding on something on a window ledge just west of the nest box, but it wasn’t the pigeon he had nabbed earlier; it was a starling. He brought it to the box and remained there with it in his talons for about an hour. He was chirping up a storm the whole time, but still, Astrid was nowhere to be seen. At one point, with the meal in his talons, Ares launched out of the box to chase after the local Pigeon flock. A few minutes later, Astrid was at the box, and the pair performed a marathon 13 minute ledge display. Although the falcons waltzed around the nest box twice, Ares wound up in his usual position, standing in the middle of the nest scrape he has been working on for weeks now. It’s really getting deep – so much so that when he’s standing in it you can’t see his feet. He was never so zealous about excavating in previous years. Why is he doing it this year? Lots of vocalization and beaking characterized this display. Besides the normal “chirrup” calls, Astrid produced a few donkey calls. She usually saves these for later in the breeding season. Astrid left directly after the display (dance) was finished and Ares stayed to tend his prize divot.

Through early afternoon, Astrid largely remained on one perch or another on the State Building. At 12:15, the pair mated on the State Building. One minute later, Ares was back to the box with a scrawny piece of prey he had evidently stored for such an occasion. Since she didn’t come to the box for it, Ares sailed up to window ledge on the State Building where Astrid was and he took a perch right next to hers. We presume that he gave her the scrap of food, but it was hard to tell for sure, since our PTZ won’t zoom in on objects that high. For the rest of the afternoon, Ares alternated his visits between the nest box and the State Building where Astrid was. Astrid did leave at around 3:20, in order to scrounge for leftovers on the Hotel Ledge. While there, we saw here swallow an entire pigeon leg. At 4:45, there was another failed mating attempt on the State Building. We didn’t really see Astrid again after 5 PM. However, we do think that Ares saw her once more about an hour later. The falcons’ day ended with a flock of crows passing through the canyon. As far as we could determine, they were allowed to pass un-assaulted.

 

Weather wise, it’s almost as if we keep living the same day over and over. Saturday was overcast with intermittent snow squalls. Winds were brisk and temperatures stayed in the 30’s.  Ares showed up on the State Building at 5 AM, and then came to the box ten minutes later. Astrid touched down on the State Building at around that same time. The pair mated there at 5:40. A failed mating attempt occurred only 20 minutes later, after which Ares returned to the nest box. He was soon up again and at 7:00, he was seen plucking prey on a window ledge west of the box. The prey was most likely a starling. He tried to gift the meal to Astrid, but we’re not sure if she took it. At eight o’clock, Ares was in the box; his eyes were shut but he was giving high-pitched chirp calls – obviously he was trying to get Astrid to come over. Deb said he was “sleep chirping”.

By 9:30, Ares was perched on the east face of the State Building where he was mostly sheltered from the wind and snow. Astrid was on the north face of the same building. She was taking the brunt of the elements, but with her head tucked into her shoulder she seemed to be comfortable enough. At 10:30, she flew off to the south and we lost track of her for about 15 minutes. When she came back, she joined Ares on the placid east side of the building. Of course, almost immediately, he flew over to the nest box and began lobbying for a ledge display. These were the positions the falcons were in when an intruder flew in low from the west. It was a Common Raven (rare inside city limits) and he flew within 200 feet of the nest box. That elicited a major cackle-type alarm call from Ares. He plunged out of the box in pursuit and Astrid was right with him. Realizing the predicament he was in, the Raven uttered a harsh “squawk”, picked up speed and altered his course to the south. Both falcons intercepted him at the same time and dove at him from two directions. The raven lost altitude and adjusted course again – this time adopting a westward heading. The falcons stayed on him for a couple of blocks and then they simultaneously broke off their hazing efforts. To our knowledge, this was the only time the Utica falcons tangled with a raven. Directly following the raven incident, the falcons returned to the same positions they were in pre-incursion. Right then, a Sharp-shinned Hawk (AKA Sharpie) flew over the canyon. She was heading south. Interestingly, the raptor got no reaction at all from the falcons. Proximity to the nest site was likely the reason for the dramatically divergent treatments of the intruders. While the raven flew close to the box, the Sharpie came nowhere near it. Also, in the wild, ravens sometimes compete with Peregrines for nest ledges.

Only a minute after the Sharpie’s flythrough, the falcons had an aborted mating attempt. At 12:50, Ares plucked and then began eating prey on a window ledge west of the nest box. After he had a share, he either brought the food to Astrid on the State Building or stored it somewhere. At 2:30 PM, both falcons were perched on the State Building on adjacent window ledges. Fifteen minutes later, Ares was again at the nest with a food tribute. Astrid piled into the box, relieved him of the gift, and was out in four seconds. Another nearly identical, lighting-fast food exchange happened at the box at 4:50. Both exchanges even included the same prey species (starling). Astrid took her meal over to the Hotel ledge. There she fed on it while the strong winds blew snow sideways past her dinner table. Ares took a high perch on the State Building while she fed. Upon finishing she sailed slowly through the canyon from the east and then tacked south on the wind. Navigating on strong winds is what Peregrines are born to do. Ares remained on his perch until 6:10 PM. At that time he flew around the building, took a perch on the roof and then made a dramatic dive – at what we weren’t sure. It was getting dark, and by that point both falcons were both out of view.

 

Friday was another decidedly winter-like day, characterized by dense snow squalls and biting winds. Temperatures never got out of the thirties, but the wind made it seem much colder. Despite all that, the Utica Peregrines managed to get everything on their pre-nesting season agenda done.  Ares arrived into camera view on the State Building at some time before 4 AM. About a half-hour later he was at the nest box. While there, his intense chirping indicated that Astrid was nearby. Apparently, she had flown over to the Hotel ledge, but didn’t stay there very long. Was she hunting? Ares remained at the box until about 5:30. At 6:00, Astrid took a perch on the corner of the State Building’s roof. That was another indication that she was in hunting mode. Ares came to the box about 15 minutes later and worked on his scrape project for a while. He is ¾ of the way to China now in that one corner. He ingested a stone or two before leaving. At around 8 o’clock, he came back to the box – this time with prey. He called for Astrid to come and take it and when she didn’t show, he went to try and entice her. It still wasn’t working. He returned to the box and waited for his mate one more time. She still didn’t come; he decided to leave but dropped the prey as he was exiting. Of course, he immediately dove down after it. We don’t know if he recovered it or not. We didn’t see the prey down below on the sidewalk. As for Ares, shortly after the incident, he was seen perched on the Grace Church steeple. He didn’t have the prey. Did he store it or give it to his mate?

For the next hour, the falcons were fairly inactive. The snow squalls became quite dense in the canyon. At 9:30, during a lull in the precipitation, the pair managed to mate on the State Building, but then they resumed being sedentary for the next hour. At close to 10:30, when there was a break in the snowfall, both falcons took to the air. Ares stopped at the box and chirped for a moment, but then he was gone.  An hour later he was back at the box with prey in his talons. He soon flew to the east face of the State Building with the food. Following that we weren’t sure if he stored the prey or gifted it to Astrid. The snow squalls picked up again after that, and for a while we weren’t sure what was happening with the falcons. In the noon hour, they were once again on our radar. Ares made a lightning visit to the box, but mostly, the pair were playing musical chairs (or more appropriately, musical ledges) on the State Building. At 2:30, Ares was seen plucking prey (a Woodcock) and shortly after that there was a food exchange at the box. Only a few minutes after that, the pair shared a ledge display at the nest box. It was an interesting dance and fortunately, Deb got to see it live and got all of the details. Apparently, during the beaking portion of their dance, Ares tried to offer Astrid a little piece of meat attached to a feather. She showed no interest in taking it, so he pulled off the meat, ate some of it himself, and tried to feed the rest to her. I think this bird really wants to feed chicks this season. At 4:30, both falcons took advantage of the high winds and did some sailing around the canyon. At one point Ares swooped up to the box, but didn’t stay long. By 5:00 PM, Astrid was perched on the State Building. Ten minutes later, Ares flew in and perched on an adjacent ledge. In a moment, they were sharing the same spot and it became clear he had given her a gift. While she fed, he flew over to the nest box and wiped his bill on the cross perch. The pair spent the next fifty minutes on adjoining ledges on the State Building. At six o’clock, both birds flew. Ares made a very brief stop at the nest before they presumably went to their night perches.

 

It was another chilly day in the falcon’s canyon. There was intermittent snowfall in the morning with steady winds developing. By afternoon the wind was stronger and more constant. Temperatures again remained in the 30’s. Ares was heard well before he was seen in the predawn hours. Right before 6 AM, he showed up on the State Building. He arrived at the nest box at 6:10 and was very vocal for about five minutes. In a few minutes he flew out and was immediately replaced by Astrid. He flew back to mate with her on the cross-perch, but the attempt failed. Twenty minutes later they successfully mated on the same perch. At 6:45, Ares came to the box with prey – probably a starling. He left and likely flew by Astrid with it. He came back to the box once more with the prey and then again without it. Did he hand it off to Astrid somewhere? If he did, she dropped it, since only a minute later she was perched on the steeple without a meal. At 7 o’clock, Astrid joined Ares at the box and much to Ares’ satisfaction, she consented to a ledge display. After some fancy footwork, the pair engaged in some intense beaking while standing on their favorite scraping spot on the west side of the box. This was the first time this season they did that. At 7:45, Ares was again trying to give Astrid a Red-winged Blackbird. He came back to the box with it three times – each time the meal was a little bit smaller. Just before 8 AM, Astrid met Ares at the box and she finally took the prey. She flew west with her gift.

A little after nine o’clock there was a failed mating attempt on the State Building. Ares was back to the box following that and while there he made lots of squeaking vocalizations while perched on the scrape. This guy really wants eggs to look after! The next two hours seemed to be relatively quiet, but it’s conceivable that we missed something. Realize, sometimes we are only able to keep track of these guys by periodically checking our phones. At 11:45, the pair mated (for real this time) on the State Building.  About one half hour later. Ares was seen feeding on something on a ledge just to the west of the west veranda. A few minutes later he screeched away with the prey in tow. He was probably trying to gift it to Astrid again, but she didn’t seem very keen on the idea. At 12:20, Ares made his warning call cackle. Was there an intruder? We couldn’t see one, but then again such things are easy for us to miss. Ares was back at the box again at 2 PM, but Astrid’s whereabouts were unknown. For the next couple of hours, the falcons mostly loafed on one building or another and then they spend some time out of camera view, so we didn’t know what they were up to. At 5:10, I could hear Ares’ screech calls over the monitor. He came to the box after that and was seen wiping off his bill as if there was another food exchange. A half-hour later, Astrid flew right past the box; Ares conversed with her as she made a few swings through the canyon. She was taking advantage of the wind to get some free flying in. A little before 6 PM, she was feeding on something on a window ledge west of the nest box. It was possibly a blackbird or a starling. Shortly after that, both falcons wrapped up their activities for the night. Until tomorrow, falcons!

It snowed lightly through just about the entire day today. Temperatures again stayed in the 30’s. The poor weather did at times seem to inhibit the falcons’ activities. However, things started out on an intense note. Ares arrived at the box at 4:34 AM and was extremely vocal. At five o’clock one of his screeching long calls seamlessly transitioned into an alarm call.  That was weird! He was flying in and out of the box quite a bit at that time. At 6 AM, we got our first glimpse of Astrid as she was landing on the west face of the State Building. Meanwhile Ares had gone over to a window ledge located west of the nest box. Evidently he had stored prey there; suddenly feathers were being cast into the air. He was plucking something sizable. It was a Woodcock. He hastily brought it over to the nest box, gave a few calls, but then dashed off again with it. We could hear his screeching calls as he flew by Astrid’s perch on the State Building. In a minute he was back at the box. She followed him over and piled into the nest. She grabbed the food and within a minute she was back at the State Building. An hour later, she joined him at the box again. We noticed her crop wasn’t very full and that meant she didn’t eat much of the Woodcock. Obviously, it’s not her favorite food. She probably stored it in one of Ares’ ledge pantries.

At 7:10, the pair mated at the nest box and, a half hour later, Ares gifted a partially plucked Red-winged Blackbird to Astrid. As far as we were aware, the pair was fairly inactive for the next couple of hours and then at 10:45, Astrid did some quick flybys for her mate who was inside the nest box. Following that display, she landed on the box’s cross-perch. She was bowing and requesting mating. We’ve seen this behavior a lot lately: she wants to mate and he wants her to come into the nest box for a dance. Fifteen minutes later, she got her wish, but the mating was a little more raucous than usual. We’re not sure why that was, but it’s possible that one of his talons dug into her back when he landed on her. Normally, he curls his talons over to the side when on her back. Regardless, she gave some shrill calls and seemed to throw him off her back with more force than usual. He ended up dropping between the lip of the box and the cross-perch. She was calling very loudly afterwards and it made us wonder if he was OK. We looked around with the PTZ cams, but couldn’t find him. He finally reappeared at the nest box a half-hour later. He looked fine and had not a feather out of place.

At 11:30, Astrid flew back and forth in front of the box. We thought it was another flight display for Ares’ benefit (he was in the box at the time), but it probably was her way of protesting the movement of people in the office adjacent to the box.  A half-hour later, Ares gave some loud cackle type alarm calls, but he didn’t leave the nest. The calls were probably his reaction to the sounds of furniture being moved around in the office behind the box. At 12:44 PM, the characteristic chatter call that Ares gives during mating was heard. That meant the pair had mated again, even though we weren’t sure where either of them was. An hour later both falcons were at the nest box. He was inside and she was out on the perch facing in. That’s right, she was asking to mate again, and within ten minutes that’s what happened. Afterwards she took a perch on a window ledge located west of the nest box and then from there moved over to her steeple perch. Ares returned to the nest box at 3:10, and it looked like he had a full crop. Maybe he had some of the Woodcock Astrid had stored earlier. We weren’t sure when she got there, but at 4 PM, Astrid was perched on top of a pillar on the south face of the ADK Bank. She was there for quite some time after that. The pair mated there at least once that we know of.  She remained on that perch until it started to get dark at 6:00. Ares had been in the box but left only five minutes after she did. Until tomorrow, falcons!