Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Thursday, May 25^th, 2023

Our falcons nestlings have names! Thank you so much to all that contributed. There were lots of clever, thoughtful names to choose from. Alas, we cannot use them all. The female is Amelia and the male is Niles. We are also naming the chick that fell out of the nest before it was a day old. That one will be known as Athena. Thank you again to all that participated! 

It was very chilly overnight with the low temperature down around the freezing point. It warmed up during the day but struggled to get into the high 50s. Astrid did not come into brood last night until 10:42 PM. At the time it was around 43 degrees. Ares brought something small to the nest at 1:35 AM. Astrid took it and flew away with it but did not come back to do a feeding. She either stored it or ate it herself. She came back to the nest five minutes later but did not have anything. Ares brought another small prey item to the box at 3:19. Astrid took it and did a feeding. She was feeding the nestlings in the back corner where they tend to be all the time nowadays. After the meal Astrid did some brooding. Ares was visible on the State Building. Astrid left the box at 4:54. She returned ten minutes later and got back to brooding. At 5:31 Astrid left the nest. The nestlings were squealing. She came back right away with prey and did a feeding. After the meal was over Astrid hopped out onto the long perch. Both falcons were on the State Building at 5:40. Ares screeched to the nest box fifteen minutes later. It appeared to be a chick check. He did some brooding after that but only for a short time. At 6:08 Astrid was on the hotel. She was likely hunting. She took off after something but then was back again ten minutes later. At 6:23 Astrid came to the crossperch but did not stay. She stopped at Ares’ pantry and withdrew some food. She took it to the nest and did a feeding. When the feeding was over Astrid brooded the nestlings. At 7:01 Astrid was on the roof of the box. Obviously, she was anticipating the arrival of people in the offices adjacent to the nest box. At 9:01 both falcons converged on the nest box. Astrid left quickly but then came right back to the crossperch. Ares was gone at 9:06. At 9:52 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid took it and started a feeding. Ten minutes later the feeding was over and Ares came into the nestbox. For a little while both parents and chicks were all together at the nest. At 10:14 Ares was out but Astrid remained. At 10:54 Astrid brought in a small food item. She then did a feeding.

At 12:03 PM Astrid seemed upset and possibly did some hazing of the building. She came right back to the crossperch after that but soon took off again. At 12:33 Ares came to the crossperch. Perhaps thinking he had prey, Astrid then came right over, but then she displaced him from his perch. At 1:06 both parents were out of view. Ares arrived at the nest box a few minutes later. He walked over and checked out the chicks in their corner. At 1:10, Niles, the male nestling, walked out of the corner for moment, only to turn around and go right back. At 1:22 Ares landed on the crossperch with prey. Astrid scrambled over to get it and then fed the corner-dwelling trolls. After the meal Astrid left the nestbox. At 3:41 Ares came to the nest, hopped into the box and checked on the nestlings. He soon left but then was back again at 4:56. It looked like he was trying to feed them some scraps from the floor of the nestbox. Niles seemed interested and walked out of the corner and up to his father. Ares then went onto the crossperch. At 5:00 PM Niles walked across the back of the box to the opposite back corner. Perhaps inspired by her brother, Amelia emerged from the corner and walked into the box, stretching out her wings and she went. They had grown since the last time we had seen them ambulatory. At 5:25 Both parents converged on the crossperch. Ares immediately took off again and then Astrid flew to the steeple. She probably thought he was bringing food and had flown up to meet him. At 5:54 Astrid arrived at the nest with most of a plucked Pigeon. Obviously this was something she had caught and already eaten some of. She took it over to the nestlings’ corner and conducted a feeding. The feeding was a fairly raucous affair. When it was done Astrid flew out with the straggly leftovers. She was on the steeple perch for a while after that. At 6:28 Astrid came to the long perch and Ares was on the crossperch. It was nest guarding positions. Astrid then hopped into the box and Ares darted off into the canyon. At 7:19 Amelia walked a bit and flapped her wings a couple of times. That’s progress! Two minutes later Ares came into the box with processed prey. Astrid took it and did a feeding. It was pretty soon after a pretty large meal, so we didn’t expect them to eat much, but they packed some in anyhow. Astrid was out at 7:30 and over to the State Building. Ares was on an east ledge for a while but gone by around 8:20. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Wednesday, May 24^th, 2023

It was warm overnight with low temperatures in the high 50s. It was mild during the first half of the day, becoming overcast later on with high temperatures around 70 degrees. By midafternoon, rain was falling, and the temperature dropped into the 50’s. Astrid spent very little time inside the nest last night. Initially she was on the long perch but left at 11:45 in the evening. One of the falcons was on the State Building after that. We think it was Astrid. At 1:23 AM Ares screeched to the nest. He had prey in his talons. The nestlings started squealing in anticipation of a meal. Still, Ares stayed on the long perch waiting for Astrid to show up. At 1:27, he decided he had waited long enough and hopped into the box to do the feeding himself. We think he was managing it although it was hard to see precisely what was happening due to the darkness inside the nest. He kept looking up, presumably expecting Astrid to swoop in and take over. He left the nest with the food at 1:34 and Astrid showed up on the long perch ten minutes later. At 2:26 Ares brought food to the far edge of the west veranda perch. Astrid came over and got it. Initially she flew away but then came right back, hopped into the box, and did a feeding. After the feeding Astrid stayed and brooded the chicks for a little while. At 3:17 Ares brought what looked like a grackle to the edge of the west veranda. Astrid took it from him and, once again, did a feeding. Following the meal Astrid remained in the nest to brood and Ares remained on the west veranda. Astrid then moved onto the east veranda. And the pair were in their nest guarding positions. At 7:00 Ares brought more food to the long perch. Astrid took it on the crossperch. She initially flew off but then came back and entered the box. It was only a small hunk of food but she proceeded to feed it out to the nestlings. At 7:20 Astrid was up on the roof of their nest box, likely anticipating people arriving in the adjacent office. At 7:30 one of the nestlings was giving a cackle alarm call. We’ve heard this a couple of times in recent days. The chicks are beginning to learn some of their parents’ vocalizations. At 7:53 we saw that Astrid had become irritated at people in office close to the nestbox and was hazing the 15th floor of the bank building. She didn’t keep it up for long. Ares screeched to the crossperch at 8:14. He did not have food. Meanwhile Astrid was keeping a sharp eye on the office windows from the est veranda and then from her vantage on the top of the nestbox. At 8:38 the adults were still in guarding positions around the nest. Ares then jumped into the nest box followed by Astrid. We initially thought there was a feeding going on but it wasn’t the case. It was just a chick check.

At 9:52 AM Ares brought a Yellow-billed Cuckoo to the east veranda. Astrid scrambled over to take it and then went into the box to do a feeding. It was a lively mealtime with both nestlings feeding voraciously. It was at this time that we noticed how full the nestlings’ crops looked. In fact, the chicks were toppling over. It’s hard to believe that such awkward, lumpy little packages of cotton wading can somehow transform into sleek and beautiful Peregrine Falcons. During the next hour the parents spent some time on the State Building, steeple, and crossperch. Astrid left when the meal was done at 10:09. A minute later the nestlings were giving alarm calls. It was more practice. For the next hour or so the parents were back and forth between their usual perches. At 10:58 Ares brought more prey to the long perch. Astrid grabbed it and started a feeding. After the meal she did some brooding but not for long. At 12:16 PM Ares was inside the box and Astrid was out on the crossperch. It looked to us like she was asking to mate! She was bowing and looking directly at him. He did a cowabunga dive out of the nest. He did not boomerang back to mate, and she was not acting receptive anyhow. Was that just a ploy to get him to leave the nest and go do some hunting? She then hopped onto the roof of the nestbox and started glaring at the office window. At 12:35 both parents were back at the nest. Once again it looked like Astrid was asking to mate on the crossperch. She did the bowing posture only for a minute and then she hopped into the box. Both of them were in there looking at the nestlings which were huddled in the back corner. Once again, the nestlings were spending most of the day huddled in the back corner. At 2:40 Astrid was in the box with the nestlings. By then it was raining, and the temperature had dropped into the low 50s. Still, Astrid was not brooding, and she did not spend much time in the box. At 4:19 Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was on the steeple. Fifteen minutes later she was at the box and Ares was up on his lookout post on the roof of the State Building. She hopped back up onto the roof of the nestbox at 4:56. At 5:47 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid accepted it and did a feeding. The feeding only lasted about five minutes. When it was over and Astrid was out, one of the nestlings walked up to the box lip before turning around and going right back to his corner. Ares came to the box and the same nestling approached him before turning around and returning to the corner. What is it about that corner? At 6:27 Astrid was on the steeple perch. The wind had picked up and was blowing her breast feathers askew. It was a very dramatic look and might be appropriate for the cover of a romance novel. A minute later she darted after something. Ares came to the nest to check on the nestlings at 6:58. Astrid arrived on the crossperch moments later but didn’t remain and zoomed back into the canyon. At 7:33 PM Astrid came to the box with prey. We don’t know if she got it from Ares or drew it from the pantry. She proceeded to do what would likely be the last feeding of the day. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Tuesday, May 23^rd, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM-LRqfa2C0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2ycctsCWKI

It was cool overnight with temperatures in the mid 40s. Once again, it warmed up quickly during the day. By midday the temperature was in the mid 70s, and by the end of the afternoon it was close to 80 degrees. Astrid spent most of the night in the nest. At 1:43 AM she went out onto the long perch and then flew off into the darkness. She returned to the long perch at 2:27 but did not come into the box to brood. The two nestlings were huddled in the corner and seemed to be tolerating the cool conditions. Ares came to the box with prey at 2:44. Astrid took it and did a feeding. Once the meal was done, she resumed brooding. At 5:07 Ares brought more prey to the nest. Astrid handled the feeding. Afterwards Astrid went back up onto the long perch and from there she flew into the canyon. At 5:28 Ares came to the east veranda with more prey. Astrid scrambled over the perches to get it; she flew off into the canyon with it, came back, hopped into the box, and did a feeding. At 5:49 the adults were in guarding positions on each veranda. Fifteen minutes later Ares was gone and Astrid was on the long perch. At 6:30 she had hopped up onto the roof of the box which meant that she was preparing to be annoyed by people in nearby offices. At 6:47 she was in the box brooding but not for very long. At 7:18 Ares was in the box with the nestlings. He soon moved out onto the crossperch. As for the nestlings, they were still crowded in the back corner of the box where they had been since the previous evening. Were they ever going to move out of that corner? By 8:30 both Falcons were up. Ares landed on the State Building. And Astrid returned to the east veranda. At that point movement inside an office adjacent to the nestbox caused Astrid to go up onto the roof of the box again and glare at the office window. At 9:29 Ares delivered more prey to the east veranda. Astrid hopped over and grabbed it. She flew out with it and then came back to the box. Another feeding followed. After the meal was over the parents assumed guarding positions once more on the east and west verandas. The nestlings were still huddled in the corner of the box. At 9:57 Astrid returned to the roof of the nest box. At 10:30 Ares was on the long perch giving long screeching calls. Ten minutes later we heard him calling from somewhere in the canyon. He then landed on the steeple. Astrid came to the crossperch at 11:19. Astrid called out when Ares took off from the steeple. We wondered if she was putting in her lunch order? At this time the nestlings were beginning to squeal and become restless although they still hadn’t left the back corner of the box. At 11:53 Astrid had gone to the steeple but darted when a window was opened on the 15th floor of the bank building. She then restationed herself on the roof of the nest box. At at 12:09 she moved to the crossperch. Moments later she was giving loud cackle type alarm calls and then she went after something, presumably a non-falcon intruder. She came right back to the box afterwards. It was obvious that she was on high alert. Ares was on the steeple at 12:10. He flew over to the crossperch five minutes later but did not stay long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h3qSO1rYqI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-t8yo4H9No

At 12:22 PM Astrid was on the lower steeple perch. She darted from that position a couple of minutes later. She was back on the steeple at 1:00. She was on the crossperch at 1:18 when Ares brought more food to the east veranda. She grabbed it, flew off, boomeranged back, and did a feeding. The prey appeared to be a male goldfinch. Once the meal was over she moved back out onto the crossperch. At 1:25 she was back on the steeple. At 2:00 the female nestling finally walked away from the back corner of the box. It was just in time for Ares to show up with prey. Astrid took it and did a feeding. When the feeding was done Astrid moved out to the crossperch. She was on the steeple at 2:11. At 2:30 Ares screeched to the box to do a chick check. Right after that one of the parents was seen soaring east of the State Building, probably on a hunting foray. At 2:46 Ares was back in the box with the nestlings. Two minutes later Astrid showed up and he ceded the nest to her. Astrid then proceeded to push the female out of the corner so she could provide shade for her. Astrid shaded the nestlings for about 15 minutes and then went out onto the crossperch. At 3:18 she was on the lower steeple perch. At 3:44 Ares brought a Black-billed Cuckoo to the east veranda. Astrid took it and fed it out to the chicks. She left when the meal was over. At 4:12 Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was on the steeple. She was back in the box and shading the chicks at 4:28. Hey doesn’t Ares usually get tasked with shading duty on hot afternoons? How come he’s getting out of it? At 5:03 she was shading and jostling them. For a while the male was in one back corner and the female was in the opposite corner. Astrid wasn’t happy about that and herded the female nestling over to the opposite corner to be with her sibling. Of course, five minutes later they had switched corners again. We hadn’t seen Ares for a while at that point and Astrid seemed to be waiting for him to show. At 6:55 Ares arrived at the box. He did not bring prey. Astrid left the steeple, presumably in search of food. At 7:30 Ares was up and Astrid came to the box with prey. It was probably something she got from Ares’ pantry. At 8:00 PM Ares brought more food to the east veranda. Astrid took it and did another feeding. That was probably it for the night. Astrid stayed on the crossperch for a while and Ares was on the State Building. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Monday, May 22^nd, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI-husyoQvc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZoeUTOU21k

The temperature was in the mid 40s overnight which was cool. It warmed up quickly after daybreak and by midday it was 70 degrees. The high for the day was in the mid 70’s. Astrid was on the nest brooding all night long. Ares brought a small prey item to the nest at 2:25 AM. He hopped into the box with it and handed it off to Astrid. She handled the feeding. At 3:51 Ares was back to the nest with something much larger, although we couldn’t see it clearly enough to identify it. Astrid took it on the crossperch and then brought it into the box for processing. After the plucking was over, she began a feeding. At 5:00 she moved onto the crossperch. Five minutes later she was back inside and brooding. Astrid left the box at 5:31 but then came directly back. We noticed that Ares was up on his lookout post on the roof of the State Building. Most probably he was using it to spot prey. At 7:46 Ares brought food to the nest. Astrid took it on the crossperch and commenced a feeding. At 8:56 Astrid and Ares came to the nest at the same time as if they both had had the same idea. As it happened, Ares did not stay long. Astrid was out by 9:10. At 9:50 she was on the east veranda, and she was vocalizing. Ares was perched on the State Building at that time. A few minutes later the nestlings were getting restless and doing a lot of begging. Astrid came in and resumed brooding. At 10:12 it looked like she was doing a feeding, but we think she was just picking at scraps in the box. She was out to the crossperch at 10:23. Ten minutes later she was on the east veranda. By 10:30 Astrid was becoming irritated by activity inside offices adjacent to the nest. She hopped up onto the roof of the nestbox and gave a major mother falcon evil look at the windows. At 10:39 Astrid left the box area and then returned with food. She proceeded to do a feeding. We noticed how polite the two nestlings were at mealtimes. For the most part they wait their turns and seem to be on their best behavior. That probably won’t last! At 10:51 feeding time was over and Astrid flew out. At 11:02 Ares screeched to a landing on the long perch. A few minutes later his long calls transformed into manic cackling. He abruptly dove after something. Most likely he was chasing after a non-falcon raptor or Turkey Vulture that had the audacity to fly too close to the nest area. Five minutes later Astrid was on the east veranda and doing some vocalizations of her own, but she didn’t appear to be overly upset. Ares screeched back to the long perch at 11:15. He gave a few long calls while he perched. Both were guarding the nest box – Ares from the long perch and Astrid from the east veranda. At 11:55 Astrid went back up on the nest box roof and Ares left the long perch. It was clear that Astrid was peering at the office windows again. What is also clear is that she knew it was Monday and that there were liable to be people working in adjacent offices. She was primed to be irritated. At 11:56 Ares was on a steeple perch but was only there for a minute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jeCuOptBe0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp31r8Vi0L0

At 12:42 PM Ares was back on the steeple but on a different perch this time. Ten minutes later he visited the nestbox for a chick check. The larger nestling stretched her wing at one point, and very nearly flapped her wings, which would have constituted a first for these nestlings. At 1:44 both adults converged at the nest box. The chicks looked squarely at Ares, expecting him to produce something fabulous. He couldn’t manage it and left. Five minutes later he brought an oriole to the east veranda (a reasonably fabulous gift). Astrid took it and handled the feeding. During the feeding, once again, the nestlings show the great sense of decorum. It was almost as if they knew they were being filmed! Astrid left the box at 1:57. She went to the State Building and Ares was on the steeple. They were both up and out of view a few minutes later. At 2:27 Astrid was on the roof of the nest box, monitoring the activity in the office behind the window. After 3:00 PM the nestlings were getting restless again and doing a lot of vocalizing – mostly high-pitched, quavering whines. Astrid came back in to brood at 3:11. Thirty minutes later she was out on the crossperch. At 3:49 Ares screeched to the nest area with prey. Astrid took it from him and did a feeding. The prey appeared to be a goldfinch. At 4:13 Ares was on the crossperch and looking out into the canyon. It looked like he was calling but our sound wasn’t working at the time so we couldn’t be sure of that. He hopped into the nest but only stayed for a second and then was gone. For a short time, the female nestling was standing in the back corner of the box as if she had done something wrong and was being punished. Astrid came to the crossperch at 4:42. At 6:00 the nestlings were begging quite loudly. Astrid came in to brood brood them and they quieted down. A minute later Ares showed up on the east veranda with prey. Astrid came out to take it. She flew off with it, boomeranged back, hopped into the box, and started a feeding. Twelve minutes later the meal was over and she flew over to the steeple. At 6:37 Ares came to the box and sat on the box lip for a while. The nestlings were sacked out and still in the back corner. Ares came to the east veranda at 7:15 and Astrid came to the crossperch at the same time. We think she thought he had prey. He left and then she flew. Both were on the north face of the State Building for quite a while. Astrid came to the crossperch at 8:13 PM. She will probably some inside to brood sometime after dusk. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Sunday, May 21^th, 2023

It is time to name the two nestlings! Please send your name suggestions (one male and one female) to our website or Facebook Page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm2zpCOXTmU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPwwaCh0sns

It was warm overnight with some light rain. The temperature was in the high 50s. The morning was mostly overcast with some lingering misty rain. That ended by mid-morning and skies became partially clear. The high temperature was 70 degrees. The day was quite breezy. Astrid was on the nest all night long. Ares brought a large prey item to the nest at 2:59 AM. Astrid took it on the crossperch and did a feeding. She only fed for 6 minutes before taking the leftovers out of the nest and presumably storing them. She came right back to the nest and continued brooding. At that time Ares was on the west face of the State Building. At 5:32 we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere in the distance. Fifteen minutes later he screeched to a landing on the State Building. At 5:49 Astrid left the box and flew over to the State Building. Ares came over to babysit. He tried to brood the nestlings but had difficulty due to their size – they had gotten too big! He ended up just pushing them towards the east wall of the box. It looked pretty hilarious on our whitewash camera. At 5:58 Astrid came back to the nest and Ares took his leave. At 6:31 Astrid left the box and then both adults were out of view for a short time. Only five minutes later Astrid was back at the nest and brooding. At 8:00 she left the nest but came right back with food. During the feeding she doled out the food evenly. At one point she started to leave the box but then turned around and came back in. Ten minutes into the feeding she was still trying to give them more even though they had ceased begging and appeared full. She finally flew out with the leftovers. Ares came in and tried to brood but Astrid was back immediately so he didn’t get a chance. At 10:53 Ares screeched to the nest and asked for a turn with the nestlings. Astrid ceded the nest to him only to come back moments later with food. Ares departed as she started a feeding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPwwaCh0sns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx2mVuBHNcE

At 12:03 PM Astrid left the nest and flew over to the State Building. She was back in the nest and brooding at 12:16. Fifteen minutes later she was cackling from the nest. She was reacting to a non-falcon raptor or Turkey Vulture in the canyon. At 1:43 Astrid went over to the east veranda and the chicks were left alone. It was 63 degrees by that point and not a problem. She was back and brooding at 1:46. Ten minutes later Ares was up on his lookout post on the roof of the State Building. At 2:00 Astrid left the box to do a food pickup. She was right back to do a feeding. At 2:09 the meal was over. She left and the nestlings were left alone. Astrid returned to the east veranda at 2:20. The nestlings were getting restless at this point and doing a lot of squealing. At 2:47 we heard Ares screech through the canyon. Astrid flew out to meet him, she took food from him, brought it back to the nest, and did a feeding. At 3:15 Astrid was gone and Ares was babysitting. At around 3:35 Ares was giving chirping-type alarm calls, which could be an indication there was a falcon intruder in the canyon, but we couldn’t confirm that. Regardless, he left the nest in pursuit of some raptor. At 3:45 Astrid was back on the east veranda and Ares had returned to the State Building. At 4:26 the larger nestling was walking around in the nest. They had been becoming more ambulatory in recent days. At 4:32 Astrid was in the nest brooding the youngsters. She started by brooding the smaller chick and then switching to the larger one. At 5:11 Ares brought a Blue Jay to the east veranda. Astrid took it and flew over to the hotel with it. There she spent some time plucking it and eating some off the top. She brought it to the nest five minutes later. The nestlings were about a foot apart inside the box and so she positioned herself between them and fed them alternately. At 5:27 the meal was over, and Astrid was out. She stopped back briefly a few minutes later and then flew off out of view. At 5:49 both adult falcons were on the State Building. Ares came over to the nest at 6:00 PM and spent a short time with the nestlings. At 6:29 Astrid was on the north face of the State Building and Ares was back on his lookout post on the roof. Perhaps he was watching for intruders or maybe he was hunting. At 7:23 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid came out of the box, took it, flew off, boomeranged back, and then did a feeding. It was the last meal for the night. Goodnight all.