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Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Wednesday, May 31^th, 2023

It was mild overnight with temperatures in the mid 50s. After daybreak we quickly went into the frying pan. The temperature hit the mid 80s by midday and close to 90 degrees by late afternoon. Astrid was close to the nest for most of the night. At 2:23 AM Ares brought something small to the east veranda. Astrid took it from him, flew off, and then did not return to the box. She either ate the food herself or stored it somewhere. At 2:44 we heard Ares give a few long calls from somewhere in the canyon. A few minutes later one of the Peregrines was visible on the State Office Building. At 3:33 AM Ares screeched in with another small prey item. Astrid took it and did a feeding. At 4:12 Ares brought something else to the west veranda. It was small. Astrid took it, flew away, came back to the box, and did a feeding. At 5:24 the nestlings were starting to become activated. They were strutting around in the box and vocalizing a lot. At 5:26 Astrid hopped into the box for a minute but did not stay. A minute later she came back to the crossperch only to fly away again. At 5:31 she returned to the nest with prey. In the beginning she was only feeding Niles; Amelia was standing back. After a couple of minutes she joined in. At 5:53 the feeding was over. Astrid went out to the east veranda. Ares was on his pillar perch giving long calls. At 6:15 Astrid was up. She was next seen 15 minutes later on the hotel. She was in hunting mode. She flew out after something at 6:38 and then was back to the hotel less than a minute later with a freshly caught Pigeon. She spent some time plucking it on the ledge of the hotel. Meanwhile, at the nest Ares stopped in to do a chick check. At 6:52 Astrid arrived at the nest with her Pigeon. After an odd non-active minute or two (it was like she was deep in thought) she began to feed the nestlings. Once again Niles was feeding and Amelia was hanging back. The meal was over at 7:12 and Astrid flew out. At 7:28 Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox and ready to be outraged by the appearance of people in the office. At 7:30 Ares brought prey inside the nest. Astrid barreled in and seized it. It looked like she was about to do a feeding but then flew away with it instead. Most likely she realized that the nestlings had been stuffed only a short time earlier. At 7:50 Ares was on the long perch and Astrid was on the west veranda by 7:55 Astrid had gotten extremely irritated by seeing people in offices near the box. She began cackling and hazing the 15th floor of the building. One single cackle call lasted over 3 minutes at one point which amazed us. She would repeat that feat several times that morning. At 9:37 Astrid was still mad and was occasionally cackling about one thing or other. At 10:10 Ares was up on his pillar again. At 10:58 Astrid was giving more long cackle calls from the box area. Ares was also heard giving his usual long calls from his pillar perch. At 11:53 he screeched to the nest area with prey. Astrid took it and did a feeding. At noon the feeding was done. Astrid went to the east veranda and from there back to the roof of the box where she could keep an eye on the office windows.

At 12:30 PM Astrid was cackling and generally freaking out again over movement in nearby office windows.  An hour later Astrid seemed to be done with tirades. She hopped into the nestbox and made shade for a little while. Fifteen minutes later both parents were on the State Building. White cotton flush from Cottonwood trees in by the Mohawk River floated on the air like snow flurries. At 2:09 she was back in the box with the nestlings. The temperature was approaching 90 degrees and the birds were in for an uncomfortable afternoon. Astrid remained in the box with them almost non-stop for the next 4.5 hours. We had no clue where Ares was during that time, but he never showed up at the nest to relieve his mate. Astrid gave shade, moved the nestlings around, put up with their complaining, and generally looked miserable, but she remained at her post through all of it. Just when we were about to sent the rangers out to find Ares, he showed up on the east veranda with food. Astrid took it from him and flew over to the hotel with it. There she proceeded to pluck and then eat a portion of it. At 6:51 she arrived at the nest with what was left. Both nestlings dashed over to her and made grabs for the food. They were famished. She fed them both for only a few moments and the Amelia left and went into the corner. After another minute Niles too gave up and went to the corner. Astrid followed after him, gave him one more bite, and then left the nest. The meal was over.  Both parents were out of view for a while but at 7:22 Astrid appeared on the steeple and Ares on the State Building. Astrid came back to the long perch at 7:37 PM. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Tuesday, May 30^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TII4cDl_FC0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh1NmUZstTI

It was mild and relatively warm overnight with temperatures in the mid 50s. During the day, once again the temperature rose significantly. By midday it was close to 80 degrees. By late afternoon it was 86 degrees. There was more action that happened after I published my post last night so I will take begin there. At 8 38 PM Astrid was plucking a Pigeon on the hotel. Ten minutes later she arrived at the nest and started a feeding. Only a few minutes into it she abruptly stopped the meal and flew out with the leftovers. The nestlings were not that interested in a late supper. Both parents were on the State Building for a while after that. At some point Astrid moved to the box area. At 12:33 AM Ares brought something small to the nest. Astrid took it and did a feeding. He brought something a little larger at 2:12 AM. Once again, Astrid took it and did the feeding. At 3:36 another meal came via Ares. Predictably, Astrid did the feeding. Ares brought still more food at 4:01. This he brought into the nest box. Astrid took it and fed the nestlings. Afterwards she was on the crossperch. At 5:03 Ares was visible on the west face of the State Building: At 5:36 he brought food to the east veranda. Astrid took it and fed the chicks. Amelia was the first one in the chow line. By 5:43 the meal was over and Astrid had flown out. Niles then did a few stretches and some wing flaps. He was also seen pecking at the egg. At 6:20 Astrid and Ares where together on the east veranda. Astrid then hopped up onto the roof of the nest box. She was anticipating people arriving in the office and, this not being a weekend or a holiday, it seemed like there was a fair chance she was going to see some office monkeys. At 9:58 Ares brought more food. Astrid handled the feeding. It was an exceptionally quick meal. At 10:42 Aries came to the nest with more prey. Again, it was something small. Astrid did the feeding. At 10:48 Ares was heard giving long calls. The nestlings were calling too and, simultaneously, sirens from emergency vehicles were blaring. No doubt if there were wolves in downtown Utica they would have been howling as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWeJbsgTU70

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfSpp90dwIY

At noon Astrid was again on the roof of the nestbox. Thirty minutes later Ares came to the long perch to do a chick check. He then hopped on to the west veranda. At 12:44 PM a cackle type alarm calls sounded. We weren’t sure what was going on. We think Astrid gave the alarm and then one of the nestlings copied her. A few minutes later Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was on the steeple. Ares came to the crossperch at 12:58. Astrid arrived and displaced him two minutes later. At 1:00 a cackle alarm calls again sounded. Astrid moved over to the east veranda but was soon up again. At 1:05 Astrid came to the nest with the remains of the pigeon that she caught last night. She then presided over a very lively feeding session. The nestling squealed and vied for choice bits of meat. At one point Niles tried to eat a whole pigeon leg that Astrid handed to him. Luckily, after a valiant attempt to swallow it, he let it fall to the ground. Halfway through the meal Niles walked away and his sister continue to feed. Amelia had taken a break before that only to come back for another helping later on. By 1:24 both nestlings were full and had walked away. Astrid left with the scant remains of the meal. At 1:31 Ares arrived at the nest and gave a bark-like screech – not to be confused with his usual semi-long screech. He hopped into the box and tried to feed Niles a food scrap he found lying on the floor. Following that he began casting shade in the middle of the box. Neither chick took advantage of it, but it was there if they wanted it. At 1:56 Ares left the nest. The afternoon was very hot in the box and the nestlings tried to get relief in the partially shaded back corners. They also shifted corners at irregular intervals. At 2:31 Astrid was in the box on shading duty. She made a futile attempt to keep the nestlings together in one corner where she could shade them both, but she was met with complaining. Astrid seemed uncomfortable too – sometimes leaving her bill fully gaped. At 3:55 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and started a feeding, but quickly changed her mind and took the food out. The nestlings weren’t interested. Ten minutes later Astrid was back in the box trying to be an umbrella once more. At 4:42 Ares came into the nest and had a face to face conversation with one of the nestlings. When it was done, the nestling returned to the corner and to Astrid and Ares flew out again. At 5:30 Ares was back with prey. Astrid took it and did a feeding. When it was over she went back to providing shade. She left the box at 6:40 PM. Ares arrived at the box five minutes later. He started making shade on the east side of the box. The chicks were both on the west side of the box but that didn’t discourage Ares in the least. He left the nest at around 7:15. At 7:32 Astrid came to the long perch. Amelia was doing lots of vocalizing. She was giving short barks and longer lower calls that sounded like Astrid’s famous donkey calls. At 8:05 Astrid brought some food to the nest and did a feeding. It was probably the last one of the day. After the meal Niles went into the corner while Amelia stayed more active. At one point she appeared to make a scrape in the stones. That would be a first for a nestling if that’s in fact what she did. She also did some wing flapping. By 9:00 PM Astrid was on the long perch and Ares was on the State Building. Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Monday, May 29^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z38hJRehQ2U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUNvK43dBMs

It was cool overnight. The low temperature was in the mid 50s. The day was another hot one. By midafternoon the temperature was in the mid 80s. Astrid spent most of the night at the nest area but not inside the box as she had been lately. Ares was on the north face of the State Building until at least 2:00 AM. He came to the box with a small prey item at 2:42. Astrid took it on the crossperch and did the first feeding of the day. Six minutes later the meal was done, and she was back out on the long perch. At 5:44 Astrid moved to the steeple. At 6:30 she did a quick chick check at the box and then moved to the east veranda. At 7:00 Astrid was on top of the nestbox and peering into the office window. Obviously she was expecting someone to come into the office. It being Memorial Day, that was perhaps unlikely. At 7:12 the nestlings were squealing inside the box. We noticed that their voices were getting much huskier. Indeed, their begging calls were becoming quite shrill. At 8:50 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid took it, flew off, boomerang back, and then hopped into the box to do a feeding. We could tell that the nestlings were hungry because they were grabbing at the food. Both were feeding quite voraciously at first and then Amelia walked away leaving her brother to get more servings. After a few minutes she came back and joined the chow line. At 9:00 the meal was over. Niles walked away and did some wing flapping in the corner. Ares was on the east veranda at that time and Astrid got back up on the roof of the nestbox. At 9:30 Astrid moved to the West veranda and then, 30 minutes later, to the crossperch. At 10:05 Ares came to the box for a chick check and Astrid took off. At 11:49 Ares brought prey inside the box. It appeared to be a Starling. He immediately began tearing off pieces and feeding it to the nestlings. Astrid had been on the roof of the nest box but left several minutes before Ares arrived. We didn’t know where she had gotten to. There was an opportunity and Ares seized upon it. Halfway through the meal, Amelia turned away and ceded the floor to Niles. Just like during the last meal she came back for more before it was completely served out. Ares was able to feed out the entire thing without interruption from his mate. When he was done he left the nest and, along with Astrid, was out of view for on extended time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlVtnIgiuw4

At 12 58 PM Astrid came back into the canyon, arrived at the nest and did a chick check. We wondered where she had been all that time. At 1:15 she was on the State Building but then darted out after something. Ares came to check on the nestlings at 1:44 PM. At around 1:50 Ares was on the crossperch. Suddenly he looked up and was watching something in the distance. He darted off and came back with the bat.  Why a bat was out flying in the afternoon is open for speculation. Also, we don’t often get midafternoon feedings on hot days but that’s what occurred. Astrid took the bat from Ares and handled the feeding. It would be their last meal for a while. The afternoon became very hot in the nest – so hot that both Ares and Astrid took turns providing shade. Of course, the nestlings weren’t taking advantage of it, but it was there if they wanted it. Ares came in at 2:32. Amelia did some beaking with him. She bowed and swiped her open bill against Ares’ bill in a manner similar to what Ares does when beaking with Astrid during a ledge display. The chicks were somewhat uncomfortable and frequently switched from one back corner to the other. They were also being very vocal – sometimes begging right into Ares’ face. At 4:36 Astrid arrived at the box, hopped in and started shading. Ares took that as his cue to leave. For the most part Astrid was just as ineffectual in her shading as Ares was, but she was far more proactive than Ares. Flushing the nestlings out of their corners and looming close to them. She also jostled them and, one time, the egg as well.  The nestlings kept going from back corner to back corner, passing by Astrid each time – sometimes stopping to unleash shrill begging calls in her face. At 6:00 Ares arrived with prey. Astrid took it and did a feeding. The meal was over in less than five minutes and Astrid went out to the long perch. It was still close to 85 degrees, but the sun wasn’t flooding as much of the box’s interior, and the chicks weren’t as uncomfortable. Astrid came back in to shade at 6:32. After a few minutes of trudging around the back of the box, both huddled in a corner and let Astrid stand over them. At 7:04 PM Astrid went out onto the crossperch. It was finally beginning to cool down a little. At 7:36 Ares brought a hunk of food to the east veranda. Astrid skipped over, took it, and did a feeding. The nestlings were quite intense about getting this meal. Astrid left the box at 7:46. That would probably be the last meal for the night. Goodnight all.

Little Falls Peregrine Update:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESQa5YT5zw

The four Little Falls Nestlings and their parents are doing well. The Clutch appears to contain two males and two females.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Sunday, May 28^th, 2023

It was relatively warm last night with temperatures in the 50s. After daybreak we experienced a warm up. The high temperature in the afternoon was in the low 80s. For the most part the nestlings in the box showed little signs of discomfort. Apparently, the days of the parents providing shade are well over. Astrid spent most of the night on the crossperch or on the long perch. She was gone for short periods a couple of times during the night. Ares brought a small bird to the box at 3:06 AM. Astrid took it on the crossperch. It was possible the prey was still alive during the transfer, but it may have just been the wind moving its wings. Astrid handled the feeding. At 5:08 Ares came to the nest and checked on the nestlings. He was only there for a minute. Five minutes later he was back with a hunk of food. Astrid arrived at the same time, grabbed the food and did the feeding. At 5:27 Astrid was on the State Building and Ares was up on the northeast lookout on the roof of the State Office Building. He was in hunting mode. At 6:12 Ares brought more food to the nest. Astrid took it on the crossperch and did the feeding. Ares returned to the State Building and to the northeast lookout. After the meal Niles did some wing flapping. The nestlings were starting to show some tan plumage on their cheeks as well as a fringe of feathers protruding from the end of their tails and the trailing edges of their wings. Their bodies also seem to be increasing in size exponentially. The nestlings were back in the corner of the box but they were not so tied to it as they had been in recent days. They were switching to the corner on the opposite side of the box. They were also doing more walking around and wing flapping. At 7:45 Astrid was on the roof of the nest box. This being Sunday she did not have anyone in the office to glare at. At 8:52 Astrid was feeding the nestlings again. We are not sure where the food came from. At 10:39 one of the nestlings was heard giving a cackle type alarm call. It was just practice and there was no real threat.

Otherwise, and visited the nest at 12:26 PM. Astrid made a short visit at 1:36. Otherwise, there were no feedings in the early part of the afternoon. At 2:32 Ares brought a Starling to the east veranda. Astrid took it and did a feeding. It was more raucous than meal times have been with this clutch. It seemed like the nestlings were very hungry this time. Both parents were visible on the State Building at 2:47. They took turns visiting the nest and checking on the chicks at 3:00. At 4:14 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid took it and did the feeding. Niles bowed out early, ceding his place at the front of the chow line to Amelia. A few minutes later he walked back to get his share. At 6:08 Ares brought prey to the nest. He hopped in and started the feeding, but before he could get really into it, Astrid barreled in and took over. At 7:23 Ares brought more prey to the east veranda. Astrid took it and handled the feeding. The prey appeared to be leftovers of a Pigeon. Astrid began by feeding Niles. Amelia stood by patiently for a little while before joining in. At 7:35 the meal was over and Astrid went out onto the long perch. At 7:42 Niles was laying down at the front of the box with his bill resting on the box lip. That was the first time we had seen that behavior this season. The action was probably over for the night – although that’s always hard to say conclusively. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, May 27^th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcDqI9roUcg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8AyORRnlQg

In the overnight period the temperature dropped from an evening high of 70 degrees to a nippy low of 39 degrees. After daybreak the temperature rebounded again – ultimately rising to 78 degrees. Astrid was around the nest area for much of the night although not in the nestbox for long. Ares brought food to the nest at 12:50 AM. Astrid took it and did a feeding. He brought more to the east veranda at 2:20 AM. Astrid collected the mall prey item and fed it out to the nestlings. At 5:00 we could see that one of the parents was on the west face of the State Building. It may have been Ares drawing food from a pantry ledge because moments later he brought food to the nest. Astrid took it from him and conducted a feeding. At 5:12 when the feeding was over Astrid moved out onto the long perch. At 6:20 Astrid had moved onto the roof of the nestbox. No one should be in the offices today so theoretically she shouldn’t get provoked.   At 7:35 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid got it from him and did a feeding. As for the nestlings, they were still staying huddled in the west back corner of the nestbox. That’s also where Astrid has been feeding them. Although we are not getting the best views of them we can tell that both Amelia and Niles are beginning to get their dark eye masks. Amelia’s mask is a little darker and better defined – or at least it was this morning. Astrid returned to the roof of the nestbox once the meal had been served out. At 8:46 A&A were guarding the nest box – he was on the crossperch and she was on the west veranda. By 9:30 Ares had left and Astrid was on the east veranda. At 9:50 AM Ares brought another meal to the nest area. Astrid took it and brought it into the box. The chicks were fed in their corner. At 11:16 Astrid was on the hotel sunning herself. She had flattened herself out like a blue Peregrine pancake. She was gone a few minutes later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8hxa1Wq9CI

At 12:07 PM Astrid was on the steeple and Ares was on the State Building. Thirty minutes alter Ares came to the box and sat on the long perch for a while. Amelia and Niles moved out of their corner, walked across the back of the box and to the opposite corner. At 12:50 Ares hopped into the box and the two chicks walked back to their regular corner. Ares then tried to give them a variety of things he found on the floor of the box. Perhaps a few were edible scraps. At 1:00 the nestlings were sprawled out on the floor of the box like a couple of snow angels. At 2:04 Astrid arrived at the nest with food. She started by going into the corner and feeding Niles. Amelia was in the middle of the box at that time. She patiently watched her mother feeding her brother for a little while before crashing the party and demanding her share. At 2:42 Ares was on the State Building and Astrid was on the steeple. Fifteen minutes later Astrid flew to the box to do a chick check. Ares was giving a series of long calls from somewhere in the canyon and the nestlings were squealing. Some of the vocalizations of Peregrine nestlings sound decidedly gull-like. At 3:51 Astrid was up on one of the light poles on the roof of the bank building. She does this very infrequently. She also happened to be trying to bring up a pellet. She flew over to the State Building a few minutes later. At 4:14 Ares came to the nest. He spent some time throwing shade on the egg while the nestlings were in corner. Amelia walked over to them and begged to his face. They did some beaking. He was out shortly after that. Astrid was on the east veranda at 4:56. She appeared to be waiting for Ares to bring in supper. At 6:07 she abruptly darted off to the west. She must’ve heard Ares call as he flew in with prey. He was on the hotel plucking something. Astrid flew back to the crossperch in anticipation of an incoming meal. When it didn’t materialize, she flew over to the hotel and tried to get it from him. But he was too fast and flew over towards the State Building taking his prey with him. She landed on the State Building, but he left there as well and flew north – again toting his prey. Astrid flew to the box and then to the steeple. She didn’t seem very pleased. Meanwhile, in the nest Niles did some walking around in the box and even flapped his wings a couple of times. At 6:30 Ares came to the crossperch. He didn’t have the prey he had been processing earlier. Did he store it? Deep fry it and sell it? We didn’t know. At 6:59 Astrid flew into the box with food. It appeared to be a large hunk of a Pigeon. She must have caught it earlier. She then doled it out to the chicks. The meal was over ten minutes later and she left. She was back to the crossperch a little while later and Ares was on the State Building. The nestlings were both in the east corner of the box. Goodnight falcons.