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Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Saturday, June 3^rd, 2023

It was warm overnight with a low temperature of 60 degrees. There were patches of fog and the moon was full. The high temperature during the day was in the mid 70s and the skies were partly cloudy. Astrid spent most of the night around the vicinity of the box and often on the long perch. Ares brought prey to the nest at 3:26 AM. Astrid took it and did a feeding. After 4:30, we weren’t sure where the parents were. It turned out Astrid was on a window ledge on north face of  the State Office Building and Ares was on the west face of the same building. The nestlings continue to evolve. They are getting larger by leaps and bounds. Their tail and wing feathers are extending further each day. Amelia is beginning to get the salt and pepper look that comes as dark contour feathers begin to replace their cottony white down. At 5:07 Amelia picked up a scrap of food from the floor and brought it to the back corner of the box where she proceeded to work on it. This was the first time we had seen this behavior this season. By 5:24 Niles was resting his head on the lip of the box. He was watching for a parent to return with food. Moments later Ares arrived on the crossperch with a Black-billed Cuckoo. Astrid barreled in, took it, and then had a moment of indecision regarding what to do with it. She opted to fly away with it. She went over to the hotel and abandoned it on a ledge. Astrid really doesn’t like cuckoos. Of course, Astrid knew that she had to bring something to the nestlings. She set about hunting from the corner of the upper hotel ledge. At 5:33 Astrid launched after something but came back with empty talons. Five minutes later she made another foray out. This time she was successful and came back to the hotel fully laden with a Pigeon. She proceeded to pluck the bird. Meanwhile Ares was guarding the box and the nestlings. At 6:10 Astrid brought her catch to the box and was met with copious amounts of squealing. Niles was the first one in the chow line. Amelia hung back from the feeding but after about five minutes she joined in. By 6:18 both nestlings were eating. Astrid had a few bites herself and then started feeding Amelia again. At 6:23 Astrid left and then Ares came in. He picked up a scrap from the floor and tried to feed it to the nestlings. Initially they did not seem interested but then Niles started to take some and then Amelia joined in. We noticed that Ares was feeding them very small pieces. It’s as if he thought that they just came out of their eggshells. At 6:25 Astrid was on the steeple. She came to the box at 6:51 and that’s about when Ares left the crossperch. She immediately hopped in and gave one of the nestlings some food scraps. At 7:02 Niles was doing some wing flapping in the box. He followed that up with biting at the egg. While he was doing these things his sister cocked her head and looked at him sideways. After that the two did some beaking. At 7:47 Astrid hopped up onto the roof of the nestbox. Perhaps she did not know it was Saturday after all. At 8:13 Ares was on the steeple. At 9:29 one of the parents made a quick visit to the box for a chick check. Increasingly the nestlings get rambunctious every time a parent comes to the box. Astrid came back with food At 9:30. Niles was at the head of the line. Amelia joined in after the feeding had been underway for at least five minutes. Astrid began plucking the prey like crazy. By that point both nestlings had walked away from the meal. At 10:18 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid took it, flew away, came back, and started a feeding. That time Amelia got a generous share. At 11:46 Astrid seemed to be getting upset. It seemed like she was reacting to activity and offices on the 15th floor but we couldn’t be sure. She gave cackle alarm calls, possibly did some hazing. Regardless she seemed to calm down relatively quickly.

At 12:46 PM Ares brought more prey to the nest. This time he hopped inside. Astrid came off the roof of the box, hopped into the nest, took the prey, and did the feeding. The meal went on for about 6 minutes. It seemed like both chicks stayed interested through the entire mealtime. After that Astrid was up on the roof of the box again. At 1:15 she did a chick check and then left. At 2:11 Ares was heard giving long calls from somewhere in the canyon. Directly after he came to the nest with prey. Astrid grabbed it and served it to the nestlings. At 2:38 Ares came to the box for a quick check. He was in and then out. A few minutes later we heard him giving long calls from his pillar perch. Astrid was on the State Building. At 3:42 Ares was in the nest making shade for the nestlings. Twenty minutes later he was out and Astrid was in. With the temperature peaking in the mid-70’s, the parents weren’t as determined to be umbrellas today. Astrid was soon out on the crossperch. Ares brought more prey to the nest at 4:34. Astrid handled the feeding. The meal only lasted about six minutes and then Astrid was out. Ares came to the nest at 4:54 and one of the chicks got in his face and begged. He had a scrap of food in his bill and he offered it to the squealer. At 5:15 PM Astrid was back on the crossperch. She left at one point only to come back to the long perch a minute later. At 6:40 emergency vehicles were sounding their sirens as they passed through downtown. The nestlings joined the siren chorus with their own whining squeals. Amelia seemed particularly restless after that. She did some flapping, some calling, and lots of walking around. At 7:06 PM Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it and did a feeding. Astrid left at the meal’s conclusion. Both her and Ares were on the State Building. The chicks – especially Amelia, were active on and off.  Goodnight falcons.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Friday, June 2^nd, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMd7WhVZGAE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aPh9pZfJ-Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOCM2LqwuKc

It was quite warm overnight although the temperature got down to 56 degrees at one point. That didn’t last long. We were back in the furnace by mid-morning. The temperature was in the high 80s. Astrid was around the nest area all night long. Ares brought a small prey item to the box at 1:42 PM. Astrid did the feeding. Ares brought another small bird at 2:49. Again she did the feeding. Ares was back at 3:15 with still more prey, again, something small. Astrid did the feeding. At 3:26 he arrived with something more substantial. Again, Astrid fed the chicks. That meal lasted longer than the previous ones. At 4:44 AM Ares screeched to the west veranda with prey. Astrid took it, flew away, came back, and did the feeding. At 4:52 we heard Ares give some long calls from the State Building. He darted off after something but then came right back. Obviously he was hunting. At 5:01, after the last meal was finished, Niles did some wing exercising. At 6:29 Ares came to the box to do a chick check. The nestlings became very excited and danced all around him while vocalizing. We weren’t sure where Astrid was at that point. At 6:50 the parents had been out of view for a while. At 6:59 one of the parents came to the east veranda briefly but then took off. Once again, the nestlings went wild. At 7:04 Astrid was on the hotel. She appeared to be in hunting mode. We were surprised that she wasn’t staking out the box and sitting on the roof of the nest getting ready to be irritated by people in windows. Did she think it was the weekend? At 7:08 Ares brought prey to the nest area. Astrid took it and did the feeding. At 8:35 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid took it and started a feeding. Niles grabbed it away from her at the beginning of the meal, but she pulled it right back. There was another feeding at 9:09. Ares had brought some food to the east veranda at that time. Astrid left the roof to get it from him. At 10:29 Astrid was back up on the roof of the nestbox. We don’t know if she had been up there for a long time or if she had just gotten back. At 11:13 we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere close by. As it happened, he was on his favorite pillar perch. He left at 12:21 PM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLi3TsKoG5w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jja5YTa410g

Ares came to the crossperch for a chick check at 12:30 PM. He then hopped in to be with the nestlings. Niles complained loudly and directly into Ares’ face. Astrid was on the lower steeple at that time. She came to the crossperch at 12:42 and from there moved to the east veranda. She then hopped back to the crossperch only to fly away again. She seemed to be a super busy bird today. By that time the temperature had already gotten up to 87 degrees. At 12:48 Astrid was on the steeple and Ares was on the State Building. At 1:49 Astrid made a quick visit to the nest. One of the kids became excited but she was out again in a flash. A minute later she was back. This time she was in shading mode. She stood in the middle of the box providing shade to mothering in particular while the two nestlings sought relief in the back corner of the box. Astrid was in and out of the nest (mostly in for the next couple of hours). At 4:16 Ares took over and had a turn being the Peregrine umbrella. Although he was off to an auspicious start by concentrating on shading the egg, he ultimately moved to the corner and shaded the nestlings. At 4:27 Ares was out, and Astrid was in. She went back to shading but only for about thirty minutes. After that she was out of the nest. It was 90 degrees by that time. Clouds were coming in and the distant rumbles of thunder were being heard. The nestlings, for the most part, stayed in the back of the box or in the corners. At 5:54 Ares brought prey to the crossperch. Astrid came out of nowhere to take it. She hopped into the nest and started a feeding. At first both nestlings were feeding and then Amelia quit and moved to the back of the box. She joined in again later and just before mealtime was over. At 6:07 Astrid flew over to the State Building. It was lightly raining by that time.  She moved to the west veranda by 6:20 PM. At 7:28 Ares brought prey to the east veranda. Astrid took it and fed the nestlings. When the meal was over Astrid moved out onto the crossperch and Amelia and Niles got some exercise. Both did some wing flapping. By 9:00 they had settled down. Goodnight all.

Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Thursday, June 1^st, 2023

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY2YmDYcHMw

It was a little cool last night with temperatures in the mid 50s. Once again, the day was hot. By noon the temperature was in the high 80s. By late afternoon it was 93 degrees. Astrid spent most of the night in the nest area, mostly on the long perch. Ares brought a small prey item at 2:45 AM. Astrid took it and did the first feeding of the day. Ares brought another small bird at 3:27. Astrid took it and did another feeding. At 4:40, just to mix things up a little, Ares brought his next offering to the west veranda. Astrid handled the feeding. That meal was over after only five minutes. After that Ares gave a few long calls and blasted off from the veranda. Astrid moved onto the crossperch. At 5:41 Astrid was up. The nestlings were acting very lively, moving around and calling. Niles decided he liked to be right up to the lip of the box looking into the canyon. At 6:07 Ares came to the box to do a chick check. When he left the nestlings squealed. We noticed that the nestlings are beginning to follow the movements of their parents as they flew through the canyon which means their eyesight is developing and becoming keener. At 6:55 Astrid was engaged in feeding the nestlings. Ares was on the east veranda at the time which meant he likely brought the food. Five minutes later when the feeding was done, Astrid went to the crossperch. By 8:00 Astrid was on the roof of the nestbox and Ares was on the east veranda. At 8:52 Astrid had a short freak out over movement in an office adjacent to the nestbox. She seemed to get over it quickly today which was an improvement over her behavior on Wednesday. At 9:49 Astrid came to the crossperch. The nestling squealed in response. Once again, she was back up on the box roof where she could keep an eye on the office. At 11:02 Astrid came to the nest with prey. We are not sure if she got it from Ares, from the pantry, or if it was something she obtained on her own. She then conducted a lengthy feeding session. At the end of it the nestlings had turned away. However, Astrid remained to polish off the leftovers. At 11:44 Niles did quite a bit of wing flapping in the nest. Astrid moved up to the roof of the nestbox to keep a guard on the office.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djnkr_h3OKc

At 12:37 PM Ares visited the nest for a chick check. After that both adult Peregrines were on the State Building for a little while. At 1:08 Astrid came to the nestbox. After a moment on the crossperch she hopped inside the box. She was shading although Niles and Amelia were not underneath her, nor was the sun flooding the box yet. At 1:28 Astrid was seen jostling the egg. I don’t think that’s going to help at this point, Astrid. At 1:46 Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it from him and flew over to the hotel. There she plucked it and fed on it briefly. She brought it to the nest a minute later and fed it to the nestlings. After only two minutes Amelia stopped feeding and went over to the corner – ceding the meal to her brother. At 1:50 the meal was over and Astrid left the nest. She was back in the nest providing shade at 2:48. At 3:34 we heard Ares giving long calls from somewhere close by. It turned out he was on the steeple, The nestlings responded to his calls with vocalizations of their own. By 4:00 it was very hot in the nest – 90 degrees or better, Astrid seemed committed to staying with them during the hottest part of the day. She continued providing shade and wrangling them at unpredictable intervals. When she tried to jostle them or shift them, they would squeal protest calls. At 5:47 Astrid left the nest. There was more shade in there now, so she felt OK about not being in there. At 6:02 she was on the lower steeple perch. At 7:11 PM Ares brought food to the crossperch. Astrid barreled in and grabbed it and did a feeding. Niles grabbed it away from Astrid initially but she took it right back. Both nestlings fed aggressively to begin with. Amelia got most of it and Nile went into the corner for a while. He came back before the meal was over and managed to get a few bites. The meal ended at 7:25 and Astrid left. She was on the steeple for a while and then sometimes before 8:30 she came to the west veranda. The nestlings were sacked out like Peregrine snow angels on the floor of the box but became animated again at around 8:30. It was starting to cool down a little by then. Niles spent some time sitting by the lip of the box and starring out into the canyon. Goodnight falcons.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kI26EXfVBo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyRkBB0Hpog

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3YqREVtc2M

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.