Author: Matt Perry

It was yet another active day for the Utica Peregrines. Two early morning matings at the nest box and two food exchanges took place. The pair continues to show great fidelity to the nest box. They keep close tabs on it throughout the day. It’s highly likely that interlopers in search of their own territory will be coming into the canyon in the coming weeks. It will be Astrid and Ares’ top priority to keep control over the site. No doubt there are to be some exciting times ahead!

These days Astrid and Ares are spending a great amount of time at the nest box or in view of the box. This morning they’ve already mated two and a half times at the box. I say “half” because the second attempt was aborted for some reason. Ares brought Astrid some prey soon after that last attempt so apparently there are no hard feelings.

As the weeks proceed it is getting harder and harder for the falcon watchers to track Skye and Comet. They are both disappearing from the downtown canyon for increasingly longer periods – sometimes not even returning at nightfall. Most likely they are spending that time exploring and hunting. We know for a fact that Comet has been doing some of his own hunting for weeks now. Even though Skye may still be somewhat hampered by his injury, he too has been witnessed pursuing prey. Also, his appearing on high perches on a variety of buildings gives us confidence that he is getting around sufficiently. The independence of the immature falcons is in part prompted by their parents’ ceasing to provide as much food as they used to. Just a week ago, many ledges in the canyon held prey – most caught and cached by Ares. Now those cupboards are bare and the youngsters are forced by hunger to do more than just beg to their parents. Based on last year’s experience we expect that the immatures will leave the area by the end of August. It seems that Comet is skilled enough to leave at any time, but he may just choose to remain in the prey-rich environment of the city, at least for a little while longer. Skye will likely stay longer in order to properly hone his skills and increase his stamina. This is the time that our remaining Fledge Watch Volunteers will be experiencing serious falcon withdrawal. It’s hard to believe this breeding season is nearly wrapped!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ten days after his return to the Downtown canyon, Skye is finally flying better. He’s still not doing many fancy maneuvers, but he’s going much longer distances and taking shorter rests between flights. Also, for the first time since his accident, he was seen sparring with his brother. While the air show they put now is not nearly as fast or as raucous as what they’d been doing before, it’s still encouraging to see. Unfortunately, Astrid has not gotten over her partial rejection of Skye and continues to haze him. On Saturday evening when Skye landed on top of the nest box, he was subjected to swooping raids by his mother. She wasn’t diving at him with the intensity that she greeted Orion’s return with, but none-the-less it was troubling to see. After a spate of diving, Astrid went over and perched on the State Office Building. A few minutes later Comet came in from the north and unceremoniously displaced his mother from her perch. It wasn’t clear if he did this in Skye’s defense or if he just did it for the hell of it. Soon after, Ares came in with prey and both Comet and Skye gave pursuit. All 4 birds were up together and Comet successfully took the prey in a mid-air transfer from his father. As Comet and Ares broke off from the group and returned to the State Building, Astrid took the opportunity to dive at Skye. He tried to land on the County Building roof but was too low and ended up grappling onto a very narrow strip below a window. He hung there like a huge bat for a minute or so and then made good solid flight over to the State Building where he landed safely on a high window ledge.

On Sunday Skye was seen making some longer flights, including one that took him all the way over to the Stanley Theater. Later in the day he was back on Hotel Utica, perched right next to Comet. The challenges for Skye remain daunting. His flying is improving, but it needs to be near 100% for him to become a successful hunter and to enable him to migrate south in a month’s time. His poor relationship with his mother is a complicating factor. Hopefully it will not stymie his progress.

 

 

Skye was absent from the usual part of the Downtown canyon for about 35 hours beginning Wednesday morning. That morning he’d initially been seen feeding on something on the Courthouse roof. After that he made a direct and somewhat labored flight over to the State Office Building where he put down on a high window ledge. Astrid, who apparently still hasn’t decided if she wants him around, hazed him with some swooping. After some close passes, Skye flew off to the south and out of view. Thankfully, Astrid didn’t persist and go after him. However, following that incident, and despite great effort on the part of our fledge watch volunteers, no one could locate him for a day and a half! Since Skye has not yet fully recovered from the accident that grounded him over 2 weeks ago, he has been depending on his brother and father to bring him food. That makes him very vulnerable, and it’s crucial that he stays in the canyon where he can be seen and tended by his family. He continues to fly, but very sparingly. When he does he usually  follows a very direct course between high building perches. It is believed that the bruising of his wing muscles will heal and his flying should gradually improve. He certainly has been getting a lot of rest!

Meanwhile Comet has been doing his flying stunts by himself or with his parents. On Tuesday night he made an incredible dive straight down from the top of the State Office Building. As he plummeted he twisted and turned and managed to up his mother from her low perch. Since the recovery from the dive took place out of view, the watchers were relieved to see Comet moments later chasing his mother through the canyon.