Author: Matt Perry

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Monday, March 6^th, 2023

Once again, it was cold overnight with the temperature staying just below the freezing point. Monday’s skies were mostly clear and we all got to be reacquainted with sunshine. Temperature got up to about 45° in the afternoon. However, it was windy. We first noticed a falcon on the State building at 4 AM. Two hours later we noticed that there was a falcon also on the lookout post on the roof of the State Office Building. It turned out it was Ares on the high perch. He came to the nest box at 6:22 but did not stay long. One of the falcons did a dramatic dive in front of the box, and we are not quite sure why. Perhaps, in pursuit of a crow that got too close to the nest. Ares came to the box directly following that incident. Astrid was on the steeple at 6:38. A local crow flew towards her, probably unaware that there was a falcon sitting there. Astrid darted after it and chased it away from the building. Interestingly, the falcons don’t tend to bother with crows much. They don’t take them as prey, and they only rarely deal with them harshly when they come near the nest area. Following the non-incident Astrid flew to the box. At 6:54, Ares brought food over and Astrid accepted it on the east veranda. She brought it over to the hotel. At 7:14 Ares was calling inside the box. He was letting the world know that Astrid had just flown through the canyon and landed on the Steeple – a very excited fact indeed. At 7:29 the pair mated on the steeple.

At 8:08 PM Astrid flew over and hazed the 15th floor. It was prompted by the view of someone moving in an office near the box. She landed on the crossperch and did some vocalizing. Moments later, the pair mated once again. At 9:28 Ares was on the hotel. There were a few pigeons on the same ledge. Astrid got there a few minutes later and the pigeons vacated. I guess sharing a ledge with one Peregrine is OK but not with two. After Ares departed, five pigeons flew in and landed on the opposite corner of the ledge from Astrid. At 11:40 the Astrid & Ares were in the box, engaged and ledge display. At 12:39 PM Astrid flew from her perch on the State Building and buzzed by PTZ 2 at incredible speed. She was obviously in pursuit of something. At 12:53 Ares was back to the nestbox and squeaking. Astrid was back on the State Building and he was inviting her over. As always happens at this time of year, he was keeping very close track of his mate. At 1:43 both Peregrines were on the hotel sitting in the sun on the building’s upper ledge. At 2:39 Ares made a brief stop at the box. At 4:15 one of the Falcons was on the State Building and then was gone 30 minutes later. At 5:00 Ares returned to the nestbox. He called out but there was no response. He went to his night perch just before 6:00. By that time Astrid was likely already tucked in for the night. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Sunday, March 5^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk19oB-j6ZQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd8gzY5KH_0

It was cool overnight. The temperature stayed just below the freezing mark and a light snow/rain mix fell off and on throughout the day. The day’s high temperature was in the low 40s. Ares came to the box at 4:37 AM. Astrid arrived on the west veranda a couple of minutes later. Ares spent some time making squeaking calls inside the box and trying to convince Astrid to come inside for a dance. At 5:02 she hopped into the box and the pair performed a very static ledge display around Ares’ super scrape. At 6:39 Ares brought a food gift to Astrid. She took it on the east veranda and flew over to the hotel, which is something we haven’t seen her do in a while. Indeed, it seemed like she had been avoiding the hotel for a while. As it happened her gift from Ares was a small one and it didn’t take very long for her to finish it. Ares screeched back to the box at 7:39. At 9:33 we finally saw Astrid again. She was on the south facing steeple perch. Five minutes later, we heard Ares screeching. Perhaps there was a mating attempt, but we did not see it. At 10:14 he came back to the box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Imboe–bb8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meLdmr6tcMM

At 11:16 AM the Falcons had their second dance for the day. After it was over, and Ares left, Astrid spent some time digging in the stones behind Ares’ scrape. At noon she was out on the long perch, and he was on the State Building. It had started to half rain/half snow at that point. At 12:05 both Falcons were up. Ares returned to the box and seemed very excited. Astrid landed on the steeple again but was only there briefly. At 1:56 Ares screeched to the box with prey. However, he took off again right before Astrid arrived to collect it. She called out a few times, but he didn’t return with her gift. He had flown over to the hotel, but he didn’t have the prey any longer. We think he probably stored it. At 2 o’clock he went over and perched on the north face of the State Building. Astrid flew over and buzzed by him. She then circled the building a couple of times. Ares returned to the nest box and was clearly excited. Astrid then proceeded to buzz by him at the nest box. Perhaps it was a flight display. At 2:25 she was on the State Building, and he was at the box. At 4:05 Astrid came to the next once more. At 4:55 Both falcons were on the upper ledge at the hotel. They were up five minutes later and then Ares stopped at the box. By 5:10 he was gone and probably off to his night perch. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, March 4^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhrTBi6obac

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by7CDg-8WVQ

A winter storm hit last night and this morning, bringing snow and sleet and some gusty winds. The snow and rain continued through most of the day. The temperature was at the freezing point overnight and got into the mid-30s by the afternoon. Ares arrived at the nest box at 6:06 AM. Astrid showed up on an east ledge 10 minutes later. Ares announced her arrival with squeaking calls. At 6:27 she was bowing and asking to mate. At the same time, she was trying to bring up a pellet. It shows that she can multitask! She came to the box at 7:09. At 7:20 Ares screeched to his pillar perch and Astrid called back to him from the box. She also did some work inside the box which included some digging around Ares’ crater of a scrape. At 8:12 Ares came to the box with prey. Astrid took it and flew off. At 8:23 Astrid was on a ledge and was calling. At 9:08 we noticed that Ares had claimed his own east ledge, and he appeared to be snoozing. At 9:52 he had moved to his pillar perch and was snoozing up there.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypukUu9qHpc

At 11:30 AM Ares was wide awake and Astrid was asking to mate. The pair mated less than a minute later. At 12:21 PM Ares was back up on his pillar perch. They mated on the East veranda at 12:42. Afterwards Astrid stayed on the veranda tucked in close to the window. At 1:13 Ares was up on the lookout post on the roof of the State Building. At 1:49 Ares brought another round of food to Astrid at the box. They had a tug-o-war over it before Ares let go and allowed her to take it. Astrid was on a steeple perch at 2:06. It was raining by this point. Astrid was up from the steeple at around 2:45. One of the Falcons showed up on the State office building at 3:30. We think it was Ares. He came to the nestbox at 5:20, stayed only briefly and then flew back to the State Building. He was still there at 6:00 PM while I was writing this. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, March 3^rd, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Vx0T1DH9k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdV9HCuatfE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34msbQ11KHM

It got rather chilly last night with temperatures dipping down to 23°F. It warmed up during the course of the morning and by afternoon the temperature had reached 40°. We had a winter storm warning in effect for evening. Both falcons arrived on the north and west faces of the State Building at 6 AM. At 6:21 Ares came to the nest. A few minutes before 7 o’clock Ares brought a food gift to the nest. Astrid appeared out of nowhere and took it from him. We’re not sure where she went with it, but she didn’t go to the hotel. At 7:15 Ares was back to the box and Astrid was on a Steeple perch. They mated on the steeple a few minutes later. At 8 o’clock we heard some cackle calls. Probably one of the Falcons was reacting to a non-falcon raptor passing over the canyon. Afterwards we noticed that Ares was on a light pole on the roof of the bank. He was very close to one of our PTZ cameras. He did not stay there long. At 9:07 Astrid came to the nest box. A few minutes later, she moved out onto the east Veranda. Ares was up on his lookout post on the roof of the State Office building. We don’t know if he was hunting or looking out for intruders – possibly he was doing both. At 9:41 the pair mated on the east veranda. At 9:49. Astrid was back on the steeple and Ares was in the box adding another scrape to his pit project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qiRF7VB50U

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

At 11:23 PM Ares screeched back to the box. At noon he began calling inside the box. Astrid had arrived on a west ledge, but soon moved to the west veranda. Five minutes later, the pair mated on the veranda,. Ares returned to the box right afterwards. At 12:35 they mated again. And once more at 1:19, and again at 1:30. Five minutes later, Astrid had gone to an east ledge, and they mated there at 1:43. At 2:15 Astrid was on the crossperch at the box and was asking to mate. At 2:40 Ares was calling at the box. At 3:05 Astrid was up and Ares moved to the east veranda. We wondered if there was a food transfer that we missed. At 3:29 the pair mated once more, this time on the west veranda. At 3:54 Ares brought food and Astrid took it on the East Veranda and flew off. At 4 o’clock Astrid began hazing the 15th floor. Someone must’ve gotten too close to one of an office window and Astrid was scolding them. Ares was watching his mate from inside the box and issuing chirping calls. At 4:19 the Falcons mated again, this time on the east veranda. At 5:03 Ares was back in the box and Astrid came to an East ledge. He left a few minutes later, but then was back at 5:24. Astrid arrived on an east ledge a minute later. She was up at 5:56 and he left five minutes later – both off to night perches. Goodnight Falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Thursday, March 2^nd, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1M0CF602AQ

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

The overnight temperature remained close to the freezing point. The morning was overcast with high temperatures of 37°. Light rain came in the afternoon. The wind also picked up and was that was especially evident in the downtown canyon. Ares arrived at the box at 5:15 AM. Astrid came to the crossperch a few minutes later but did not stay for long. Ares flew out at 5:37. A half hour later he was on the State Building. At 6:40 Ares returned to the box and seemed to be quite excited. Astrid came to the crossperch 10 minutes later and the two did some conversing. They mated on the west veranda at 6:57. At around 7:15, Ares brought a food gift to the box. Astrid took it and flew off. He was on the long perch for a while after that and then he hopped into the box to work on his super scrape. At 9:09 both Falcons were out of view.  Ten minutes later, both falcons showed up on the State Building. There they remained, and were quite inactive for the next few hours. Just before noon it had started to rain. The wind was also becoming more intense. Once again the canyon transformed into a wind tunnel.  At 11:50 one of the falcons did some high speed aerial acrobatics on the wind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWVoZ043aGc

At 12:32 PM Ares came to the box. He was wiping his bill a lot which meant that either he just ate or he gave Astrid another food gift. Of course, the two actions are not mutually exclusive. At 12:46. He was excitedly calling inside the box. Astrid came to the crossperch a few minutes later. Astrid opened her wings and floated off like a balloon in the wind. She came back less than a minute later. Neither bird stayed at the box for very long and by 1:12 both returned to high perches on the State Building. At 2:30 Ares came to the box. From there he went over to a west ledge, where apparently, he had some prey stored. He processed it for a little while and then brought it to Astrid on the State Building. Talk about service! She ate it on her ledge, while he guarded her from the next ledge over. At 2:47 Ares was back to the nestbox and giving chirping calls. We are not sure what that was about. By 3:15 he had returned to the State Building with Astrid. They were both there together for a while and then Astrid left, perhaps to retire early to her night perch. Ares came over to the box once more. By 4:36 he was up again, and likely off to his own night perch. Goodnight Falcons.