Author: Matt Perry

Wednesday morning at 9:00, Astrid produced her first egg for the 2015 breeding season. This is fully 9 days earlier than she began laying last year. We can expect up to 3 more eggs to be laid in the coming days. We suspected that egg laying was imminent based on Astrid’s recent behavior. She had been loafing on the State Office Building more than usual and instead of coming to the nest box to receive food from Ares, he was bringing it right to wherever she was perched. Last night Astrid came to the box and spent a lot of time sitting. We thought the egg might come then, but it didn’t. She had come and gone 2 more times by morning. At 8:30 AM she was back and obviously ready to lay. The incubation period for Peregrine Falcons is at least 33 days, and so we expect hatching of the eggs to begin in early May. These are exciting times indeed!

The Utica Peregrines have remained very active for the past week. During this period plenty of courtship displays have taken place at the nestbox. Ares has also been bringing many prey tributes to Astrid – most of which he was willing to let go without a prolonged tugging match. A few days ago he brought her a bat – the second time this season. He actually ate most of it by himself, which you can see for yourself in the video linked below. If you fast forward 3 mins and 20 seconds into the video, you can see Ares tempting Astrid with the bat. He even tore off a small piece and fed it to her as if she was a nestling. Peregrine Falcons are generally quite strict about their prey, limiting themselves to flying birds. Bats would seem to be the only regular exception to that rule.

It was another very active day in Falcon Canyon (Downtown Utica) as Astrid and Ares continue their courtship rituals. Over the past week there’s been a marked increase in the number of displays taking place, but today we got to see an example of a more intense display session. It began at the nestbox with Ares taking center stage and Astrid out on the front perch. After a few minutes of bowing from these positions, Astrid started to lope about on one of the box’s side perches; she began peeking her head in and out of Ares’ view – now you see her, now you don’t! After a few minutes of this she jumped into the box and the pair’s mutual bowing dance began. This time it was way more buoyant than usual with Ares in particular acting like he had swallowed a giant spring. But I think in his case it was more likely that “spring fever” was to blame. After some intense bobbing, Ares dove from the box and flew off out of sight. However, the show wasn’t over, as Astrid seemed to know. She peered out as Ares began a flight display. The camera was actually able to pick up part of his performance as he appeared to nearly strike the box with each pass! More action of the day included two instances of mating at the box (a new record for a single day) and at least 3 tributes of feathered prey were presented to Astrid by Ares.

Ares flybys start at about 5 minutes into the following video clip:

Today was an especially active day for the falcon residents of Downtown Utica. The box was occupied for nearly the entire day with usually just one of the pair standing vigil. Ares spent much of the morning apparently dozing off and on. At least 3 bird meals were brought back to the nest, including a First-of-the-Season (FOS) Killdeer. That plover obviously received a poor welcome back following its migration from the south. It seemed like it was Ares’ idea to pass the plover off to his mate, but he he couldn’t quite get himself to do it – well not at the box anyhow. The day’s unprecedented action wasn’t over yet, when the pair was actually caught on tape mating on one of the perches! It was a quick affair, folks, as generally is the rule for birds. What was particularly fascinating were the calls made by Ares during the act. Watch the video clip below and if you don’t want to wait, advance 3 minutes into it and watch and listen.

A full month out from liking egg laying time, Astrid and Ares have been increasingly active in and around the nest area. Flight displays by both partners are being witnessed (unfortunately, none of our 3 cameras are able to pick up their aerial gymnastics.) However, all courtship behavior taking place  inside the box is being live streamed to this site. The nest box displays consist of the pair bowing to each other and engaging in calling and counter-calling. What’s most exciting to us is that for the first time we are able to hear these vocalizations!

Contributions to the Utica Peregrine Project have enabled us to purchase an outdoor microphone, which is now mounted inside the nestbox. We’re happy to report that the mic is working, but we have yet to figured out a way to reliably stream the audio on the site. Fortunately, videos posted on this website and on our Facebook page will now contain audio. Peregrine Falcons are very vocal birds and they produce a decent variety of calls and courtship time is one of their most vocal periods. Not having sound meant that we were missing an important part of their interactions.

Lately Ares has been bringing Astrid food offerings, which you could say is akin to taking her out to dinner. A few of these food handoffs have taken place inside the box and we’ve been able to record them for posting. Look for these on Facebook.