Author: Matt Perry

In the early morning the fog was so thick in the downtown canyon that we couldn’t even see the State Building let alone see if Astrid was perched on it. Ares came to the box at about 5:00 AM, but Astrid remained scarce for the first half of the morning. Later on their activity levels ramped up quite a bit. So much so that it was hard to get handle on where the pair was. By the time we pointed the camera at them, they’d be gone. There were at least two food exchanges today. Astrid showed a particularly full crop by late afternoon. Ares tried to give her the second tribute (which was really just a scrap) at the box, but she wouldn’t take. He followed her over to a perch on the steeple and there the pair performed a ledge display – while Ares still had food in his talons!

 

The Utica Peregrines were fairly active today. The sunny skies and mild winds allowed for great flying. Ares came back in the morning with a food tribute for Astrid. After a few tries he successfully handed it off to her on the nest box perch. The pair shared a ledge display at 12:15 PM and again at 3:00 PM. There were at least two matings during the morning. The pair’s afternoon activities were not as well monitored, but apparently Ares made multiple visits to the box. Astrid sailed around the canyon a few times in the early evening. Ares manned the box as the sun set.

The falcons were pretty active today. They kept a near constant presence at the nestbox through the early afternoon. After that, Ares made sporadic visits while Astrid was less apparent. Ares gave Astrid food tributes at least twice and the pair mated a few times, including one time at the box around mid-morning. One long ledge display took place at the box during the noon hour. Ares was again more intense about attending the box in the late afternoon and into the early evening.

The day in the canyon started out slow and then got more interesting as it progressed. There were no pre-dawn visits to the nest box and there was little evidence of Astrid until mid-morning. At that time Ares had been giving frequent long calls to her from the box, but she didn’t seem in any hurry to respond or come hither. And then the action finally started with a very long ledge display that featured lots of beaking, but not much fancy footwork (typical behavior these days). There were at least three successful matings today – all at the State Building. Ares showed up with food tributes three times. Astrid accepted at least one of them. At one point Ares was on the steeple with a woodcock dangling from his talons, but no one was seen eating it later on. On the very snowy lower ledge of the Hotel, Astrid was seen eating what looked like a pigeon. A fantastic flight display was put on by Ares for his mate. Astrid was perched on the roof of the State Building and by all accounts was an appreciative audience.

 

 

 

 

Astrid arrived to the box very early this morning – sometime before 4:45. By sitting in the box so long, it seems like she’s trying the nest scrape on for size. We could be as close as one week away from egg laying, but of course, we don’t know for sure.  As far as we know there was no mating attempts today. The pair shared a ledge display at the box at 6:30 AM and then again at 5:50 PM. Ares also took some turns sitting in the box. Both appear to be practicing for the incubation vigil that is soon to come.