Author: Matt Perry

Tuesday was relatively mild for a winter day. Temperatures never left the 30’s, but the sun and lack of persistent wind made it seem more temperate. Our first view of a falcon came at 5:10 AM, when Ares made an appearance at the nest box. While there he did some screeching long calls and then zoomed out again. A few minutes later it was Astrid’s turn. She came to the box at 5:20 and made some “chirrup” calls. We thought that Ares would rush back to mate, but he didn’t seem to be around. Perhaps he was out trying to rustle up breakfast. As it turned out, he came back with empty-talons and at 6:10, they mated at the box. A half hour later, they had switched – Ares was at the box and Astrid was on her steeple perch. Shortly after that, Ares saw something and launched after it. Astrid followed ten seconds later. We have no idea what they saw but at 7:10, Ares was back at the box with prey. We missed it, but we think he handed the meal off to Astrid on the Hotel Ledge. All we knew for sure was she had been over there and then suddenly Ares was in her place wiping his beak off. This is what he usually does following a food transfer. At about this time the streaming video feed from our nest box cameras went out so we missed some action. When Deb was checking the connections at the modem box, she came face to face with Ares who was on the long perch right outside her office window. At 7:30, the falcons mated again, this time on the steeple. A few minutes later, Ares was doing some serious feather plucking on a window ledge west of the nest box. By the look of the feathers, he must have caught a starling or blackbird.

By 8 AM, all cameras in the nest box were up and running again and Ares was there in the box. A half-hour later, both were there together. Astrid seemed to want to mate, but Ares was looking for a dance. Sorry buddy, she left instead, but then fifteen minutes later, they again mated on the steeple. Spring fever continued in falcon town: The pair met at the box again at 9:30, and ten minutes later, the mated on the perch. For the next two hours, Ares was in and out of the box a lot. Astrid did a short flight display for him during that period. At a pretty good clip, she buzzed by his perch a couple of times. I can safely say that we were all impressed. At 11:12, Ares suddenly gave his most serious cackle alarm call. There must have been an intruder, but we saw nothing. Later when reviewing PTZ footage, we saw no third falcon, if that was what he was going after. Whatever it was, we think it was probably flying high and out of our field of view. Regardless, he saw it and dashed off to the northwest. Meanwhile Astrid stayed on her perch on the State Building. He was back at the box in a half-hour. While there he made a scrape near the box’s west wall. Both falcons have thus far been doing most of their scrapes in this same place. It’s really turning into a deep divot. They are half-way to China.

By noon, both falcons were up and they were out of camera view. Thirty minutes later, Ares came screeching in from the east and landed at the box. He was giving interactive calls, so we knew she was close by, still we couldn’t find her with the PTZ cams. Finally we noticed her on a window ledge west of the nest box. He was giving a lot of light squeaking calls, trying to lure her into the box, but she was staying put. He zipped over to her, but she wasn’t in the right position to mate so he flew right back to the box. At 2:30, Astrid joined Ares at the nest box. It looked like she was asking to mate, but then she hopped into the box and they shared a ledge display instead. There was no beaking or fancy footwork in this dance, just a lot of conversation. When he left, she made a scrape in the stone thus bringing them that much closer to china.  Less than a half-hour later, Ares brought a food tribute and she took it from him on the cross-perch. She took the meal over to the Hotel and he flew over to watch her eat it. It’s always nice to have a waiter standing by.

The pair was out of view for a while after that, but then at 5 PM, they returned in tandem. He came to the box and she sailed through the canyon and landed on the west face of the State Building. He flew over and tried to mate with her, but the attempt failed and he dashed back to nest. Both were at the box at 5:26, and they shared another dance. This one was short but featured an abundance of beaking. At one point Ares itched his face with his talon, while beaking ensued. That was different. Following Ares’ dramatic “cowabunga” dive out of the box, Astrid did housekeeping. She bit the lip of the box and then moved some stones around – all important stuff. Within a couple of minutes, Ares returned with food. By the looks of it, it was something he just pulled out of storage. Astrid accepted it and flew over to State Building with it. Ares flew up to the roof of the same building where he remained for another half-hour. Neither was seen after that. Goodnight falcons.

It was chilly again today with temperatures remaining in the 30’s. The snow that fell on March 2^nd remains very much with us and its reflective qualities make the pre-dawn hours in Downtown seen especially light. Undoubtedly this assists the falcons with nocturnal flying and hunting. Ares showed up at the nest box sometime before 5 AM. He remained there for about an hour, calling out occasionally. At 6:00, he flew over to the State Building, screeching the whole way. Astrid’s response was to immediately come to the box. Ares returned and the pair did a quick ledge display that featured an extraordinary amount of beaking. The falcons took turns bouncing in and out of the box for the next hour. After that, Ares was seen on the Hotel ledge plucking prey and then feeding. At 7:05, Ares came to the box with the leftovers in his talons. Astrid dashed over, impatiently grabbed the food from him, and then made off with it like a thief. He wanted you to have it, Astrid!

 

At 8:30, Astrid was at the nest box. Ares came over and the two conversed a bit, beaked once, and then Astrid departed. She seemed disappointed that he didn’t have more food for her. Apparently, Ares got the hint, and at 8:45, he was back at the box with a meal. However, this time he had a hard time getting Astrid’s interest. He came and left a couple of times and produced some loud vocalizations (according to Deb in her office), but nothing worked. Astrid came over and the food transfer happened right inside the box. Interestingly, at 10:30, she was in the box again. He came over and the two switched out in a manner similar to how they behave when sharing incubation duties. No eggs yet, kids. Perhaps they were simply getting some practice in. At just before 11 AM, the pair mated on the State Building. Through early afternoon, Ares was in and out of the box quite a bit. Astrid seemed to be content to remain on a ledge on the State Building, and that’s where she was when they mated again at 12:30. Two hours later, Astrid was on the west veranda’s perch and seemed to be signaling a willingness to mate. Ares flew in, but instead of obliging her, he tried to coax her into performing a ledge display inside the box.  That day, neither falcon had their way. A half-hour later, both converged at the box again and this time Ares had a gift for his mate. She accepted it inside the box and then flew to the Hotel ledge to eat it.

A little after that, Astrid had moved to the far northeast corner of the box, and there she remained there for a while. After being undetectable by our cameras for about 90 minutes, Ares made an appearance at the nest box. Astrid joined him soon after and the two exchanged some vocalizations. Astrid did some of her low pitch “donkey” calls, which are usually not heard outside of the breeding season. So, if there was any doubt, and of course, there wasn’t, breeding season in falcon town is well under way. At 5 PM, Astrid was signaling to Ares that she wanted to mate again; this time he obliged her, and the pair mated right there on the nest box’s cross perch. Less than a half hour later, Astrid was gone and probably off to her night perch. Ares was seen perched on the County Building until at least six o’clock, after which he too had gone to his night perch.

It was mostly clear today with temperatures in the 30’s and moderately strong winds developing by the afternoon. These make for favorable flying conditions for falcons and the Utica pair ultimately took full advantage of it. Astrid was in view on the State Building by five o’clock this morning. Ares joined her on an adjacent perch about 45 minutes later. At 6:30, there was a failed mating attempt and directly following that, Ares came to the nest box. Astrid came right over and the pair performed a short ledge display. As is typical these days, Ares made several visits to the box during the morning hours. Astrid was seen on the State Building for a while and then, following a lengthy absence from our view, she showed up on the ledge of the hotel.  At 11:15, Ares was at the box and Astrid was on the State Building when a third Peregrine flew through the canyon and landed on the roof of the same building. Ares immediately flew into action. The stranger saw him coming and left his perch. Meanwhile, Astrid hadn’t moved. The stranger flew around the west side of the State Building and Ares was right with him. Just the fact that Ares was pursuing (and not Astrid), made it more likely the stranger was a male. After what may have been the quickest and least fierce dogfight in history, the interloper made a quick exit toward the north. Right then, Astrid came to the nest box and Ares joined her for another brief ledge display. They may have mated following the dance, but we couldn’t be sure of that. By this point (12:15 PM), Deb was in the canyon and got to watch Astrid and Ares soar high above the State Building; this time with a Red-tailed Hawk. They proceeded to escort the probable migrant out of the territory. Following that, Ares pulled in his wings and dove in a flawless “J” pattern to make a perfect landing right on the rim of the nest box. Astrid came in next and the two performed yet another ledge display. This dance featured a considerable amount of beaking behavior and certainly more than the previous two.

After the display, Ares left the box and zoomed around the canyon. Deb saw him nearly hit a crow that was flapping his way by the Grace Church steeple. The crow squawked as Ares zipped past him. Meanwhile, Astrid was doing housekeeping inside the box. She was digging in the corner, biting at the rim of the box, and she also made at least one scrape into the stones with her talons. Following those activities, she stood on the cross-perch at the box for a while.  Ares was next seen at 12:45 PM; he was flying higher and higher above the State Building. This time there didn’t seem to be an interloper, it was more likely he was engaged in hunting. Sure enough, 15 minutes later he was seen plucking prey at the nest box. The catch appeared to be a starling. We figured that he would just pluck it and present it as a gift to Astrid (who was waiting at the box), but he started feeding on the meal and seemed to be in no hurry to give it up. At about 1:10 PM, Ares finally came to the box with the leftovers. He stood on the cross perch with the gift in his talons. She bent outward from inside the box with her wings spread out for balance. She managed to grab the prey in her bill, but in doing so, she leaned in too far and fell down through the gap between the cross perch and the rim of the box. Ares zoomed down right behind her. Well, nobody expected that to happen! Fortunately the distance to the ground is great and she had plenty of time to get her wings working. She flew with her meal over to the Hotel ledge and wolfed it down. Meanwhile, Ares returned to the box.

For a while during mid-afternoon, both falcons took a siesta out of our camera view. Deb found them on the east side of the State Building. Ares came to the box again just after 4:30 PM. He was chirping and seemed ready to resume wild falcon activities. A half hour later, he brought prey to the box (another starling). Astrid was perched on the north face of the State Building at that time, but she wouldn’t come over to take the gift. He flew through the canyon, buzzed by her and returned to the box four times – still carrying the prey, but Astrid showed no interesting in coming to take it. The fifth time, he came back without it. Most likely he stored it in his pantry on the State Building. Ares spent some time on the box’s cross perch before he began looking almost straight down at something – we weren’t sure what. Sure enough, when he left he dove almost straight down – probably in pursuit of some bird. The next time we saw him he was on the roof of the State Building. By 5:30 PM, both falcons were out of our view and would appear to have gone off to their night perches. It was the end of a very active day in the canyon.

It was another cool day in the canyon, with temperatures hovering in the 30’s. The snow that had accumulated yesterday on and in the box (as well as on the verandas) had melted by the end of the day. That meant that Astrid and Ares didn’t have to do any shoveling. Too bad, that would have been interesting. One of the falcons, we think Astrid, was in view on the State Building as early as 4:20 AM. Both were there just before 5:00. A half hour later, Ares made his first visit to the nest box, but he didn’t stay long. At 6 PM he was plucking prey on a window ledge west of the nest box. We weren’t sure if he tried to gift the food to Astrid or not. At 6:15, the pair shared a ledge display at the box. What made their display somewhat unusual was that Astrid was interacting from the west side of the “dance floor”. Even when they rotate around each other, she almost invariably ends up on the west side of the box. At any rate, Ares didn’t seem to be put off by it. After the dance, Ares did his trademark cowabunga dive out of the box and Astrid made a nice scrape. A minute later a small flock of Pigeons flew by and she dove out in pursuit.

The pair remained very active for the next hour – zooming about the canyon and alighting on numerous perches and, of course, coming to the box. Just before 8 AM, Ares arrived at the box with a Starling in his talons. He partially plucked it right there in the box. After which, he flew off with it, came back with it, flew off again, and then returned without it. Did he store the food or give it to his mate? We didn’t know.  He made a few more short visits to the box during the mid-morning hours and then we mostly lost track of them. Finally at 11:30, Deb found the pair loafing on the east face of the State Building – that’s a place our cameras are blind to. The couple was back to the nest box for a quick but lively dance at 1:15 PM. This time Astrid flew off first and Ares remained at the box. He made a scrape and then ingested a few small stones. By this point, we still hadn’t confirmed any mating attempts, but they are easily missed when they take place off camera and outside of microphone range. At 3 PM, there was another food exchange at the box. Astrid ripped the food away from Ares and dove out like a thief. Ares in particular was very active for the balance of the afternoon – popping in and out of the box, giving long calls and darting around the canyon. If there was a mating, it probably took place during this time window. Both converged at the box again at five o’clock, but there was no display, mating, or food exchange. Just a fast conversation and then she was off again. That was the last we saw of her for the day. Ares made a couple of more visits to the box and then he retired for the night at 5:45.

Heavy, wet snow fell all day long. Wind picked up later in the day and blizzard-like conditions prevailed. Snow obscured some of our cameras and so our ability to keep track of Astrid and Ares was limited. Temperatures were in the high 20’s for most of the day. Ares was heard screeching a few times before arriving at the nest box at just before 5 AM. He occasionally gave light squeaks as well as other interactive-type calls which led us to believe that Astrid was nearby. At 5:20, she flew by the nest box. It was a labored-looking or even fluttery-type flight which made her resemble a big moth. An hour later she was visible perched on the north face of the State Office Building.

He remained at the box until about 7:30, and then we weren’t sure where he went. At 8:30, he returned to the box, ate a few stones and then headed toward the State Building. At 12:30, he was heard screeching again and shortly thereafter he was seen perched on the State Building. He took a ledge that was just a few windows away from Astrid. They were both gone from those perches by 2:40. An hour later, Ares emerged from the blizzard with prey in his talons. It’s amazing he is able to catch something in this kind of weather. He brought it into the nest box and partially plucked it. Five minutes later he was gone again. Did he gift the meal to Astrid? We had no way of knowing, but at 4:10, he returned to the box with what looked like the same prey item. However, it looked to be whittled down some, like he had been eating it himself. Within a few minutes, Astrid joined him at the box, but there was no ledge display. At 5 PM Astrid came to the box one more time, but didn’t stay long. Ares visited shortly after, and that was the last time they were seen for the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be a much nicer day for the falcons and for everyone else too!