Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, May 5^th, 2023

It was chilly last night with temperatures bottoming out in the mid 40s. It was overcast with some light rain in the early morning. Partly cloudy skies prevailed in the afternoon and the temperature reached the mid 50s. Astrid was on the eggs all night. In fact she had been incubating without a break since 1:15 Thursday afternoon – a long sitting for sure. Ares arrived on the State Building at 5:29 AM. We expected Astrid to eagerly call for him to take over but she didn’t. At 5:34 Ares gave a few long calls and then he flew over to the box. At that point they did a quick switch, and Astrid got a chance to stretch her wings. As Ares settled on the eggs Astrid flew around the West face of the State Building checking Ares’ pantry ledges. A couple of minutes later she was perched on a north face ledge. The next changeover took place at 7:19 AM. Ares was out and Astrid was in. At 9:43 Ares was on the hotel and appeared to be in hunting mode. When he flew back to the State Building 10 minutes later Astrid announced it with some sharp calls.

At 12:20 PM Ares was on the steeple. He hadn’t been visible for a couple of hours and we wondered what he had been up to. Moments later he was at the nest box asking for a turn on the eggs. Astrid complied. Once again, Astrid took a perch on a relatively low ledge on the State Building. It was low on that building but roughly even with the 15th floor of the Adirondack Bank which is where the falcon box is. At 12:41 Astrid was on a hotel lodge. She wasn’t hunting though. As it happened she was bathing – or at least acted like she was bathing. However, there was no water on the ledge. Falcons sometimes sunbathe and we’ve seen Astrid and Ares sunbathe on the hotel before but this was a little different. It really looked like she was bathing in water. She flew over to a steeple perch at 12:44. She was back and forth to the steeple a couple of times and we think that she was hunting. At 1:37 she was back on the hotel and mock bathing on the ledge again. Ten minutes later She was back on the steeple. At 4:03 Ares started giving high chirping alarm calls on the nest. This was an indication that a Falcon intruder was in the Canyon. We did not know where Astrid was at that time but we could hear her calling. Ares got off the eggs and vacated the nest. Most likely he was in pursuit of the intruder. In less than a minute Astrid was in the nest and incubating. Ares didn’t return to the fold until 4:58 at which time he took a perch on the State Building. Astrid was on the nest for the night. Ares didn’t return for a late sitting. He did go up on the lookout post for a little while. He left there at 7:35 PM and flew over to the east face of the State Building and to his night perch. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Thursday, May 4^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9hpw8DPIMc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDu4OADJGXw

It was chilly again overnight with some intermittent rain. The temperature was in the mid 40s. The day was warmer than it had been lately, ultimately breaching 50 degrees. There were breaks of sun and only a few stray showers. Astrid was on the eggs all night. Ares showed up on the State Building at 5:33 AM. When he left at 5:53 Astrid called out to him. It seemed like she wanted to be relieved. He finally came to the nest at 6:19, at which point they switched. Astrid flew over to the State Building as Ares climbed onto the eggs. The next changing of the guard occurred at 7:50. We are not sure where Ares went afterwards and we couldn’t locate him with our cameras. At 10:43 we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere close. Astrid called back to him. We then noticed he was on the steeple. He came to the box at 11:07. He circumnavigated her in the nest but she was not interested in leaving. After a only a minute he pushed her off the eggs. She flew over to the State Building and he set about incubating. At 11:48 Astrid was on the hotel, but then she darted off at something a minute later.

At 12:17 PM we saw that Astrid had gone to the north face of the State Building. A minute later she came to the crossperch. It was clear that Ares did not want to leave and so she flew over to the steeple. At 1:14 Astrid returned to the nest. The pair beaked as Astrid tried to convince Ares to leave. It soon had the desired results and Astrid was able to take over on the eggs. At 3:46 we again couldn’t find Ares anywhere with our cameras. Five minutes later Astrid was vocalizing and that was an indication that Ares had returned to the fold. Indeed, he was on the State Building. At 4:17 he came to the nest and asked to have a turn on the eggs, but Astrid had no interest in leaving. He soon gave up and flew over to the State Building. At 5:52 Ares had been gone for a little while. Suddenly we heard high pitched alarm chirps from him. It was likely there was a Peregrine intruder in the Canyon. Astrid called back to him but stayed on the eggs. Ares landed on the State Building only moments after the excitement. At that time there was light rain falling in downtown. Ares left the State Building at 6:00 – likely on a hunting foray. He returned 30 minutes later but was soon gone again – probably for the night. By refusing Ares’ offer to take a shift in the early afternoon, Astrid earned herself an especially long turn on the eggs. Obviously, the hatch window is approaching and she loathes to leave the eggs when a hatch is imminent, but we are still days away from that possibility. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Wednesday, May 3^rd, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwiV9UFHonU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2376MVTljQ

It was chilly again overnight with low temperatures in the high 30’s. After daybreak light rain continued. The day’s high temperature was no better than 42 degrees. Astrid sat on the eggs through the night. Ares came to the nest early – at 4:20 AM. He didn’t come into the box but made his request to take over the eggs from the crossperch. She was not ready to leave so he flew back out instead. At 5:34 Ares was back at the nest. This time Astrid was more than ready to leave. She gave loud donkey calls as she got off the eggs and made for the exit. She flew to the State Building as he got settled on the eggs. At 6:36 Astrid was on the hotel, but she wasn’t there long. Ten minutes later she was back on the State Building. At 8:07 the pair switched again – that time Astrid came back onto the clutch. At 9:40 Ares screeched to the nestbox with a small prey item. Astrid came off the eggs, accepted the food on the crossperch and flew off with it. We couldn’t find where she went, but suspected she may have taken it to a window ledge on the east face of the bank building. Apparently, she had been seen feeding on Pigeon there the day before. Ten minutes after getting her gift she was and flew up to a perch on the north face of the State Building. Ares called out when he saw her fly through and land. At 10:08 AM Astrid came to the nest and requested a turn. When he looked like he wasn’t yielding, she became assertive and pushed him out. Five minutes later he was on the State Building. Ares was out of view for a while after that. At noon we spotted him on the corner of the upper ledge on the hotel. He was probably hunting. A Turkey Vulture floating through the canyon in the rain provoked no response from the falcons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ0MokjyrkI&t=18s

At 12:10 PM he was at the nest asking for a turn. He immediately walked behind Astrid and she got up and left. She flew over to a perch on the State Building. At 1:56 they did another changeover. That time Astrid took over on the eggs while Ares sailed over to the State Building. At 4:46 Ares came into the nest and almost immediately walked behind Astrid to shift her off the eggs. It worked although she wasn’t too pleased about it. She flew back over to the State Building. At 6:18 Astrid checked in at the box. It was obvious that Ares didn’t want to go, so she sailed right out again. She came back for the final changeover of the day at 7:51 PM. Ares left the nest and Astrid settled onto the clutch. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Tuesday, May 2^nd, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXRhEHhppi0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7WI8dxUnG4

It was another cool overnight with temperatures in the low forties. Some light rain fell intermittently. Those conditions continued during the day. The midday high was 50 degrees. Astrid was on the clutch all night long. Ares arrived at the box at 4:58 AM and the pair switched. Astrid was visible for a moment – her open wings catching the light as she flew in front of the west face of the State Building. At 6:34 she was on the north face of the building. At 6:48 Astrid landed on a hotel ledge with prey. We think it was a pigeon. However, she did not stay for more than a minutes and flew off with her quarry to some unknown location. At 7:13 Ares came off the eggs. We weren’t sure what was going on but both falcons were issuing cackle-type alarm calls. Perhaps someone came into an office adjacent to the nest, or was it a non-falcon intruder? At 7:15, only two minutes later, Astrid came to the box and climbed onto the eggs. At 7:38 we heard Ares giving chirping type alarm calls. That probably meant they were dealing with a Peregrine intruder. At 7:43 Astrid called from the box in reaction to Ares returning to the State Building. Both falcons then remained in place for the next three hours. Ares left at around 11:30 – again, possibly because of an intruder. At 11:39 Astrid came off the eggs and flew into the canyon. Moments later she was on the State Building. We think Ares was engaging an intruder at that time. At 11:41 she returned to the box and to the eggs. A minute later she was calling again and obviously upset. Ares came to the nest, looked in on her, and then flew out again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnP3_wNVNgQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nlrZ–N_rY

At 11:55 AM Ares was on a steeple perch giving long calls. He was up about 5 minutes later. At 12:32 PM the Falcons finally switched and Ares got a turn on the eggs. Interestingly, it appeared that Astrid wasn’t very keen to leave. Each year when hatching time approaches Astrid does not like to leave the eggs. We have not reached our hatch window yet but perhaps she is sensing activity inside the eggs, or she intuits timing and understands when her hatch window opens. When Astrid left she flew over to the State Building and took a relatively low perch, one that is roughly even with the 15th floor of the bank (where the nest is). At 2:08 PM Astrid was back at the nest requesting to take over incubation. Ares didn’t want to leave but acquiesced without much pressure. At 3:08 Ares landed on the State Building and Astrid called out to announce the news. Thirty minutes later he was on the steeple perch. At 3:48 the falcons switched. Astrid flew over to the State Building and Ares settled onto the eggs. Ares left the box for some reason at 4:46. There was probably an intruder to deal with. Astrid was back to the box and on the eggs within thirty seconds of Ares leaving. He returned to the State Building ten minutes later. At 6:36 Ares came to the box to request a late shift on the clutch. Astrid didn’t really want to leave, but he was insistent and so she let him. She flew to the State Building and he got onto the clutch. At 6:46 Astrid was on the hotel. It appeared that she had brought some leftovers there. She didn’t feed for long and was soon back on the State Building. At 6:51 PM Ares started calling and then he got off the eggs and sailed out into the canyon. It appeared that both falcons were flying and probably dealing with an intruder although one we didn’t actually see. Three minutes after Ares left the box Astrid was back and covering the eggs again. She was most likely in for the night. At 7:34 PM we noticed that Ares was on his lookout post, but he was gone a minute later. Goodnight falcons.

Little Falls Falcon Update

It looked to us as if one of the eggs in Anna’s clutch was pipped this afternoon, but we couldn’t be certain about it. We may just have to wait until tomorrow to confirm a pip, a hatch, or no pip and no hatch. Indeed, there may be a Peregrine nestling in the Little Falls nest by morning – or maybe not. We will let you know.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Monday, May 1^st, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swGWqSXb5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOO39jcCOm0

The night was overcast, rainy and cool with temperatures in the mid to high 40s. During the day there were a few breaks of sun, but the skies were mostly overcast with infrequent rain showers. The temperature barely breeched 50 degrees. Astrid was on the eggs all night long. Ares appeared on the State Building at 5:47 AM. He came to the nest to switch ten minutes later. At 6:25 Ares called out a few times – most likely reacting to something Astrid was doing. She was on the west face of the State Building at 8:00. Fifteen minutes later she arrived at the nest for a changeover. At 9:48 AM Astrid started calling on the nest. Ares was on the north face of the State Building at the time, so it didn’t seem like she was reacting to anything he was doing. That is, unless she was asking him to bring her lunch. At 10:49 Ares was at the nest asking for a turn on the eggs. They did a lot of vocalizing, but Astrid wouldn’t vacate and Ares left without argument. They switched at 12:21 PM and Ares got his turn. At 2:21 Astrid was back and there was a relatively fast changing of the guard. At 2:41 Astrid was calling on the nest. We’re not sure what that was about. Ares didn’t move from his perch on the State Building so she probably wasn’t reacting to an intruder. At 3:16 something was afoot. Astrid abruptly left the nest – perhaps she was pursuing an intruder or maybe Ares left prey for her somewhere. That possibility was supported by the fact that Ares gave a few long calls only moments before she flew. Ares was at the box and on the eggs less than a minute later. Astrid was on the north face of the State Building for the next couple of hours. She came to the box at 5:15 PM and they did their last switch of the day. It was raining in the canyon once again. Goodnight all.

Little Falls Falcon Update

Things seem to be going well for the Little Falls Falcons. As expected, the pair (Anna & Erie) have been sharing incubation duties during the day and Anna sits at night. They have now entered their hatch window. There may be news of a first hatch within the week!! Stay tuned