The overnight was cold and, in the predawn hours, a dense fog draped downtown. The temperature was in the high 20s. It was cloudy and slightly windy during the day, temperatures ultimately topped out in the mid-forties. Ares arrived at the nest at 3:03 AM. He then remained inside the box for several hours, During that time he was alert but quiet. The fog was too thick for us to tell if Astrid was on the State Building. We relied on his reactions to know when she came into view. At 6:15 Astrid came to the box and the pair partook of a ledge display. It was an especially long and lively dance and one that featured copious amounts of beaking and around five side changes by Astrid. After ten minutes, Ares made his dramatic cowabunga exit and Astrid stayed on to do housework. She made a scrape in the gravel and got some digging done in the corner. By 6:30 she had moved out onto the crossperch and was calling out. We thought she was probably asking Ares to bring her some breakfast. Ten minutes later Ares was back in the box, and he seemed keen to dance again. She flew at 6:39 but then came to an east ledge only five minutes later. The pair mated at just after 7:00 AM.
At 7:44 AM Ares was back to the box and he and his mate were having a spirited conversation. They mated on the east veranda at 8:28. Five minutes later Ares screeched through the canyon. He landed on a west ledge with prey. After processing it Ares brought it to the nest box. She had to scramble over the east veranda perch to get her prize. She flew off with it, but we couldn’t find where she went. He ended up on the north face of the State Building. At 9:05 Astrid was on the south steeple ledge – a place we hadn’t seen her perch in a long while. There was an aborted mating attempt there fifteen minutes later. He came to the nest afterwards and did some housekeeping – squeaking almost the entire time. At 10:25 the falcons were still in the same places. At 11:00 Ares came to the box with prey. Astrid came over and accepted it. She took the meal to the hotel. While she fed Ares watched over her from a high perch on the State Building. At 11:12 Astrid was done with her meal and she flew to the north perch on the steeple. By 11:55 both falcons had been out of view for a little while. Suddenly Ares blasted into the box calling very excitedly. Once again, Astrid was on the south side of the steeple. At 12:05 PM she launched from her perch to chase an errant crow that had wandered into the canyon. Ares also joined in the police action. We heard the crow give a few harsh distress calls but otherwise we didn’t see the altercation. Before a minute had elapsed, Ares was back at the nest and Astrid was on the State Building.
For the next thirty minutes Ares was in and out of the box a few times. She came to the crossperch at 12:26 and then the pair shared a ledge display. He was out ten minutes later, and she did some chores in box like making a scrape and digging. At 1:00 both falcons were again out of view, but then Ares showed up on the hotel with prey. It looked large and chunky, and it may have been a Woodcock he had pulled out of storage. Five minutes later he flew off with the prey and likely stored in his State Building pantry. Astrid was up from her steeple perch at that point, but we don’t think she received the prey. At 1:43 Ares went back to the nest again and he started calling immediately. Astrid soon showed up on the crossperch. At 1:48 she requested mating and moved over to the west veranda. A mating took place there six minutes later. Both falcons were out of camera view at 2:15. At 2:39 Ares was back to the box and calling. Astrid had landed on an east ledge. She soon made her way onto the east veranda and a mating took place there at 3:06. Fifteen minutes later he was at the nest and the two were conversing. They mated at 3:24 and then they mated four more times between 4:00 and 4:50! Ares brought a Starling to the box at 5:00. Astrid took it from him on the crossperch, although it took a while before he let go of it. She flew over to the hotel with it but didn’t eat it. Instead, she left it lying next to her on the ledge. Ares flew over and perched on the same ledge for a while. Both seemed to be enjoying the afternoon sun. It had warmed up into the mid forties by that point and much of the snow that had fallen on Wednesday had melted. At 5:07 Ares was back in the nestbox. Fifteen minutes later Astrid was on the steeple and Ares had gone to the hotel to eat some of his catch from earlier. As it happened, he didn’t eat much of it. Astrid was at the box and vocalizing at 5:30 PM. At 5:45 she dashed off and we assume she went to her night perch. Ares came to the box for a while and gave a few ling calls. At 5:54 he flew over to the County Building and stayed there for about a half hour. After that he was out of view.
The Little Falls Peregrine Falcon pair (named Anna and Erie) were seen today at their nest. Interestingly, they are nesting on the Adirondack Bank Building in Little Falls. This is the second year that they are using an unmodified ledge on that building for their nest. The prior two years the same pair nested on a covered ledge on a nearby cliff. Today Deb reported seeing a food exchange between the male and female. As with the Utica pair, courtship is well underway with the Lille Falls birds. Unfortunately, we have no cameras on that pair, and so we have no media to share. Goodnight all.
