Author: Matt Perry

Update for Tuesday, May 7, 2024

In stark contrast to the last couple of nights, Ares brought multiple meals to the box between midnight and 5:00 AM. The meals kept coming during the course of the day. At one point in the early morning hours, Ares brought a nighthawk to the nest. Later in the day he brought other recognizable species into the box including a blue Jay. It was quite warm in the box in the afternoon and both parents took long turns at shading the chicks and sometimes the egg. For those readers that have been following the story of the Utica Falcons for a few years, Astrid formerly did not like to stay in the box during hot afternoons and would defer that uncomfortable task to Ares. However, in recent years she has been taking on more of the hot afternoon shading duties. At one point Astrid went over to the ledge of the hotel and had a sunbath – spreading out her feathers and lying flat on the ledge.

Update for Monday, May 6, 2024

Once again there were no overnight feedings, but the falcons more than made-up for any nutrition deficit by providing many meals during the course of the day. The afternoon got quite warm, close to 70°. Both Astrid and Ares switched on and off with chick shading duty. At one point Astrid was shading the nestlings with her body and shading the egg with her tail. They left the chicks alone three or four times in the afternoon, sometimes for as long as 15 minutes. This was the longest amount of time they’ve been alone since hatching. Ares did not spend as much time guarding the nest area, or at least he wasn’t visible to our cameras for much of the day. Still, he showed up at the nest fairly frequently to ask for a turn babysitting. He did fair amount of shading in the afternoon. At one point he seemed torn between shading the chicks and shading the egg which was all of 8 inches away. For a while he shaded the chicks and just looked at the egg. It was like he was trying to will it closer with telekinesis.

Update for Sunday, May 5, 2024

We now believe that the remaining unhatched egg was actually the first one to be laid and not the fourth as previously reported. Consequently, it’s likely that egg has passed its hatch window and is unlikely to yield a nestling. Similar to the situation a decade ago in 2014, it seems we’ll have three nestlings this season. Last night there were no overnight feedings but there were at least six mealtimes that took place during the day. As is typical, Astrid conducted all of them. Ares did try to serve out some scraps at one point when he was babysitting but he couldn’t interest anybody and taking a bite. Astrid always gives little motivational chirps while she feeds. That compels the nestlings to open their bills and beg. Although Ares has been seen to use that technique a couple of times in previous seasons. So far, he has not employed it this season. We shall see if he does.

Update for Saturday, May 4, 2024

Overnight there were a few feeding sessions. The earlier one occurred at 12:18 AM. Ares pre-plucked that meal on his pillar perch above the nest box. Helpfully, he hopped inside the box to hand the food to Astrid which is an improvement over making her scramble across the crossperch to get it which always seems too precarious. Although we confirmed no intruders today. Ares seemed particularly intent on guarding the nest. He spent most of the day on the verandas or on his pillar perch keeping watch. Much to his pleasure, Astrid allowed him to brood the clutch today and even allowed him to handle a brief feeding session. Actually, the feeding consisted of him merely tearing off ridiculously small pieces off some scrap of food and giving it to the one chick that consented to open its bill and receive it.  At one point, when Astrid came back to brood the nestlings in the afternoon, she neglected to pull the remaining egg underneath her. Considering that it was warm outside and the egg, if it is still viable, would contain a pre hatchling well enough developed to handle the ambient temperature. Regardless, after about 10 minutes she noticed it was uncovered and pulled it beneath her. Will that egg hatch? There may or may not be a pip in it. It’s very difficult to tell. We think it’s the fourth egg laid which would mean it still has some time to hatch if it is indeed viable.

Update for Friday, May 3, 2024

The third hatch occurred at about 10:55 AM on Friday morning – or at least that’s when the new chick was first seen. It was still pink and wet, so it had to be a recent hatch. Astrid stayed tight on the clutch until finally getting up at about 12:30 PM. By that time the hatchling had dried off and looked as fluffy white as its siblings. Ares came in to babysit a minute after Astrid left and he got his chance to view the new member of the family for the first time. Astrid soon came back in with food. Ares left and she conducted a feeding. The new chick was still too weak to partake, but the other two vied well. The hatchling toppled over at one point during the feeding which is typical