Author: Matt Perry

Overnight was cool with fog developing in low lying areas like the downtown canyon. Temperatures rose quickly after daybreak and eventually soared into the mid-70s. There were multiple feedings in the early morning hours beginning at 1:45, when Ares brought in a small prey item. He did the same thing at 2:32 and, like the first time, Astrid did the feeding. At 3:45, Astrid brought in something larger – probably a Woodcock. While she was in the process of feeding the chicks, Ares came to the box and delivered another small food item. Astrid fed until the nestlings wouldn’t take anymore and then she left with the balance of the meal. At around 6:00 AM, one of the chicks – either # 2 or # 3 (these chicks really need names!) was trying to snack on a Woodcock head that remained in the box. He was competently holding the thing down with one foot while picking at it with his bill. Occasionally he would chomp on the bill. We were glad that he didn’t try to eat it. No, instead he fell asleep on top of it. Astrid stopped by the box at 7:00, and fed the nestlings some leftovers that were apparently still in the box. She was back an hour later – this time with something fresh. She plucked it right in front of the chicks and then fed out the entire thing. Ares came in with more food at 9:30. He passed it on to Astrid and she did the feeding. The youngsters were quite active in the box this morning. They walked around and changed positions many times. There was lots of stretching and wing flapping. Their walking is starting to appear more natural and less stilted.The beginnings of tail feathers are now clearly visible on the chicks and their wing feathers are also becoming evident.

At 11:20, we located Ares on the hotel. He was plucking what appeared to be a Mourning Dove. Ten minutes later he had brought it to the box and Astrid was serving it to the nestlings. At 2:40 PM, it was Astrid’s turn to be on the hotel ledge plucking prey. This time it was a pigeon. Five minutes later, she was seen flying off with it, but she didn’t bring it to the box until 3:10. When she came in she seemed to concentrate on feeding chick # 4. This should come as particularly heartening news to all that were concerned that the “runt” of the brood hasn’t been getting his share of the grub. After that feeding, once the chicks had their fill, Astrid began eating the leftovers – right there in the box, which is a bit unusual. While she was feeding, one of the nestlings (we think # 2 or # 3) started biting the ends of her primary feathers. Astrid didn’t even turn around much less protest or scold the little rascal. The sun was hitting the inside of the nest box pretty hard by mid-aftenoon. The chicks responded by moving into the corners where there was a little shade. Ares came to the box at around 4:45 and spent some time kind-of shading one of the chicks. It was more like he was shading half a chick. While he was providing this service one of the other nestlings came up and started making begging calls right into his face. To his credit, he soldiered on and soon the eager chick went and collapsed back into the shade. We expected there to be another feeding before night fall, but there wasn’t one. It looked like both parents made a few tries to get prey, but returned empty handed each time.

 

Overnight there was only a single feeding that took place. At 2:30 AM (ish) Astird brought in a hunk of leftovers (possibly a pigeon from the night before) and fed it to the nestlings. For the most part Astrid stayed in view of our cameras throughout the night, but that was not the case with Ares. Ares brought no meals nor did he visit the nest box at all in the overnight hours. Astrid didn’t call for him either, which either meant that he was present and accounted for on some perch that’s not visible to our PTZ camera, or he was out hunting for more vittles. Regardless, he seemed to be excused from provisioning the family and from chick checks – at least during the night-shift. At 5:10 AM, Ares finally arrived at the box and he had with him an entire Starling. Within seconds Astrid barged in, grabbed the food and started feeding. Although the morning started out cool and a little foggy, the sky cleared quickly and the morning turned warm with temperatures reaching into the 60’s.

Although the chicks still occasionally rest together in a big heap on the west side of the box, they are becoming much more ambulatory. They are preening more and flapping their wings more. They have also been growing in leaps and bounds. This is especially noticeable when they stand in close proximity to a parent. At 7:40 AM, Ares brought prey to the box. He started to feed the chicks and then Astrid came in and took over the job. This same scenario happened again 8:15. Ares clearly wanted to feed the nestlings this morning, but kept being thwarted by his mate. At 8:55, Ares brought another small meal, but Astrid was right there at the box, and so he didn’t even try to begin to feed. As it turned out, that would be the last feeding until 1:29 PM. At 1:52, Ares quietly (and without his characteristic screech) flew into the box and began feeding chick # 4, (which was excellent, since # 4 is almost always the last chick to be fed). Chick # 2 and # 3 soon joined in, but then Astrid blasted into the box and promptly sent Ares out. Ares dashed over to the church steeple where he appeared to be watching for prey, but by 1:56, he was closing his eyes and dozing. When Astrid finished feeding, she left the box and immediately displaced Ares from his perch. Was she telling him to do more hunting? In the late afternoon the sun was drenching the inside of the nest box. At 4:00, Astrid stopped by and made a half-hearted attempt to shade the chicks – well, one of the chicks anyhow. At 4:20, A&A had a rendezvous on the ledge of the hotel. The pair appeared to be doing a ledge display or something like it. This was the first time we had seen anything like this since the incubation period. Five minutes later, Astrid was at the box feeding the nestlings. It was only a short feed though. At 5:40 PM, Ares was back on the hotel and plucking a sizable bird – probably a Mourning Dove. Feathers flew from the ledge like confetti. Ten minutes later Ares dropped off the prey at the nest and Astrid did a long feeding. The three older chicks fed heartily while chick # 4 kept by itself by the east wall of the box. Earlier, Ares had fed that chick, so we aren’t that worried about it. The lot of the runt is to wait until the older, larger chicks get their fill before getting fed. As long as lots of prey continues to come in, we foresee no problem with # 4 getting enough sustenance. At 7:55 PM, once more, after leaving the nest box, Astrid displaced Ares from his perch on the steeple. Get out there and get us some grub, young man!

 

While the previous night was replete with feedings, last night couldn’t have been more different. In fact, only a single feeding took place. Ares came to the box with a small item of prey at 3:30 AM; he waited on the perch for Astrid for few minutes, and when she didn’t show up, he went ahead and fed the nestlings himself. Astrid was at the box on and off all night, but was nowhere to be seen when Ares called for her. It does seem to be an accepted fact now that Ares does some nighttime feedings. Why he’s doing it this year when he didn’t do it the previous three years is open to conjecture. Perhaps having four chicks to feed tips the balance and triggers this extra participation by the male. It was windy and chilly again today with high temps only reaching into the 50s. Rain threatened for most of the day, but little fell. Additional morning feedings took place at 6:24, 7:16, 9:32 and 11:58. All morning meals were delivered by Ares and featured Astrid doing the feeding. Also, the meals were all relatively small. After the 9:30 AM feeding, the nestlings were heard giving their begging calls. These calls are certainly increasing in decibels as the youngsters grow. The chicks did a bit more walking around and wing flapping in the box today, but they also spent a fair amount of time huddled up against the west wall of the box. Their eye masks are more distinct today and the feather sheathes in their wings and tails are becoming more apparent. At one point I saw one of the chicks make a grab (with its bill) for prey before Astrid had even plucked it. It wasn’t a serious attempt to steal the prey. No, we probably won’t see that behavior for another couple of weeks, but that’s hard to say decisively given the rate these guys are growing. At 12:45, Astrid was definitely in hunting mode. We saw her dash around the State Building and make an “S” pattern around the church steeple and the ADK Bank. She was moving very fast – aided by the wind gusts through the canyon. The first feeding of the afternoon took place at 2:22. At 3:13, Astrid brought in what appeared to be the remains of a pigeon (highly processed) and she conducted a feeding. Although the parents were spending very little time at the box today, for the most part they did remain in the canyon and in view of our PTZ camera. At 4 o’clock, Ares arrived at the box with food. This time he went right to the middle of the box and began feeding the one chick already in the center of the floor. The other three seemed content to stay against the west wall. Five minutes later, Astrid came in, took the food from Ares and commenced a proper feeding. She didn’t get far though; two minutes later something spooked her and made her leap out of the box with the meal. She must’ve been irritated by some movement in the office windows, because both her and Ares swooped and hovered in front of them. There defensive action didn’t last for long, but they didn’t resume with the feeding. Instead they zipped off toward the west of the canyon. At 6:30 PM, Ares snuck into the box with prey and began to feed. He got about five minutes into it before Astrid arrived and took over. At 7:20, we found Ares plucking prey on the hotel ledge. He had apparently caught a pigeon, which was interesting since it’s usually Astrid that specializes in taking pigeons. After he finished plucking and also partaking of some himself, he brought it over to the nest box. This time Astrid came over immediately. She took the meal and stored it back on the hotel. Perhaps it will be brought to the nest during the overnight session.

Once again the late evening and early morning hours were very active in the falcon’s urban canyon.  Temperatures were on the chilly side – only in the 50’s and rain was threatening. Even so, A&A don’t really need to brood the nestlings anymore. The chicks have enough body mass and downy feather coverage to stay warm on their own; and with four of them together in a heap, I would think they keep especially warm. The chicks are tending to remain against the west wall of the nest box, but they occasionally break away and walk (or more like lumber) around. They are still very awkward at this stage, but we are seeing them flap their wings once in a while. When they spread their wings, the sheaths of their developing flight feathers can be seen. The parents still keep a guard on them overnight. It’s not likely a raccoon or a Great Horned Owl would be able to make their way to pillaging the nest (as they sometimes do to wild nests), but the falcons don’t take any chances. The first meal of the night came at 11:40 PM. Ares brought it in. He waited a little while for Astrid to show up and when she didn’t, he began doing the feeding himself. At 12:15, Ares brought in something small and pre-plucked. This time Astrid was there to take it and she conducted the feeding. At 12:50 AM, Ares brought in another snack and this time he fed the chicks. Normally when Ares feeds the youngsters he does the same thing that Astrid does. He goes into the box and feeds the chicks from roughly the center of the floor. Apparently this is not an ironclad rule. At 2 o’clock, he came in with food and proceeded to tear off pieces and feed the chicks right from the lip of the box. That was different! Five minutes later Astrid showed up with a larger meal. She zipped past Ares and began feeding the proper way – from the center of the box.  At 3:35, they were back to the traditional way of doing things: Ares brought in the food and Astrid did the feeding. The 5:30 AM feeding followed the same pattern. Astrid continues to spend more time on the verandas, which are located on either side of the nest box. We thought she was doing this to keep an eye on the suspicious activity that takes place in adjacent offices, but she’s also doing it at times when no one is in the offices and even well after everyone in the building has left. We think that she just likes the verandas now. Ares brought food again at 5:30 AM, and Astrid handled the feeding. At 7:45, Ares was seen taking food that had been stored on the west face of the State Building and then dropping it off to Astrid at the nest box. The next feeding took place a little before noon and that would be the last one until after 4:30. Rain fell through much of the day was heavier in the afternoon and the winds remained strong and brisk. The parent falcons stayed in view for the most part, and both were seen periodically checking on the nestlings. At 4:10, the parents began conversing – Ares was giving long screech calls and Astrid issued her trademark “donkey calls”. This seemed to be an indication that it was time to feed. A few minutes later, Astrid was plucking prey on a pillar just west of the west veranda. Feathers began drifting by Deb’s office window. At 4:38, Astrid brought the meal to the box. It appeared to be a flicker. The feeding went on for some time, and until there was nothing left. It looked like all four chicks got a decent share. As I finish this update, the nestlings are again huddling together against the west wall of the nest box and Astrid is on the west veranda. The last meal for the day (I think) came in at just before 8:00 PM. Ares screeched as he brought it up to the box and Astrid lunged over from the veranda to intercept it. As I’m writing this, a very raucous feeding is underway. Those nestlings are getting louder ever day!

Last night (Tuesday night and Wednesday morning) was a particularly active one for the Utica Peregrines. Many nocturnal feedings took place. The first one came at 10:25 PM; the second one was less than an hour later. At 11:04 PM there was a longer feeding (15 minutes). That one was cut short when Astrid abruptly left. She returned at 11:54 PM and resumed feeding for a few minutes. Ares brought more food at 12:16; Astrid took it, but again, fed only briefly. This pattern was repeated at 2:24 and again at 2:55 when Ares showed up with a cuckoo. At 3:30, Ares brought a small item to the box and waited on the perch for nearly an hour for his mate to arrive. Finally, Astrid slipped in at 4:26 with what appeared to be a portion of a pigeon. During the last two nights, Ares took the initiative and began feeding the nestlings himself. However, this time he reverted back to the old way, and he patiently waited for Astrid to come and carry out the feeding. Of course when Astrid finally did show up, she already had food with her, so she blasted by Ares and just began feeding the chicks. Ares quietly leaned into the box and passed his contribution to her. She unceremoniously heaped in on the pile and continued feeding. During this feeding, one of the nestlings managed to swallow an entire bird leg. By 8:45, Astrid became annoyed at the activities in the offices located near the nest box. She went on the box’s east veranda and steadily peered at the blocked-off window – no doubt just waiting for it to make a false move. At 10:00 AM, Ares brought more food and Astrid served it to the nestlings. We thought there may have been an intruder in the canyon during the noon hour, but we were unable to confirm it with our PTZ camera. There were some sharp calls heard, and the falcon pair darted around the State Building a few times and then zoomed off to the north. A review of the PTZ recording revealed no 3^rd falcon. At 12:30 PM, Astrid had come back to the box. While she was there, Ares came over, hopped in the box and did a survey of the nestlings. This was something that he probably didn’t have to do since Astrid was already standing guard at the box. We think that was Astrid’s opinion as well given the harsh note she uttered in Ares direction. At 2:00, food was brought to the nest and at 4:00, more was brought in. The latter prey was a Blue Jay. Astrid only fed out a small portion of that meal and then abruptly flew off to store the leftovers on the State Building. The chicks appeared full and lazy by then. It had gotten quite warm out and they seemed to be more interested in getting their beauty sleep. In the evening, we (The Utica Peregrine Falcon Project) had a semi-official pre-Fledge Watch meet up in the downtown canyon. The object was to monitor the adult falcons for an hour or so and let out guests know what they could expect to see and experience during actual Fledge Watch. The falcons were semi-active while we were there. Highlights included Astrid and Ares sailing out on a short hunting foray to the northeast. Ares retrieved leftovers from the State Building and brought it to the nest box. Astrid rendezvoused with him, took the food and conducted a short feeding. It was good to see and hear the falcons in real life as they went about their business in the canyon. We will be there again next Wednesday evening if anyone is interested in joining us.