News, video, and more about Utica's Peregrine Falcons
The falcons were pretty active today. They kept a near constant presence at the nestbox through the early afternoon. After that, Ares made sporadic visits while Astrid was less apparent. Ares gave Astrid food tributes at least twice and the pair mated a few times, including one time at the box around mid-morning. One long ledge display took place at the box during the noon hour. Ares was again more intense about attending the box in the late afternoon and into the early evening.
The day in the canyon started out slow and then got more interesting as it progressed. There were no pre-dawn visits to the nest box and there was little evidence of Astrid until mid-morning. At that time Ares had been giving frequent long calls to her from the box, but she didn’t seem in any hurry to respond or come hither. And then the action finally started with a very long ledge display that featured lots of beaking, but not much fancy footwork (typical behavior these days). There were at least three successful matings today – all at the State Building. Ares showed up with food tributes three times. Astrid accepted at least one of them. At one point Ares was on the steeple with a woodcock dangling from his talons, but no one was seen eating it later on. On the very snowy lower ledge of the Hotel, Astrid was seen eating what looked like a pigeon. A fantastic flight display was put on by Ares for his mate. Astrid was perched on the roof of the State Building and by all accounts was an appreciative audience.
Astrid arrived to the box very early this morning – sometime before 4:45. By sitting in the box so long, it seems like she’s trying the nest scrape on for size. We could be as close as one week away from egg laying, but of course, we don’t know for sure. As far as we know there was no mating attempts today. The pair shared a ledge display at the box at 6:30 AM and then again at 5:50 PM. Ares also took some turns sitting in the box. Both appear to be practicing for the incubation vigil that is soon to come.
The falcons were pretty subdued today. No matings were noted, nor were there any ledge displays. We didn’t see Ares give a tribute to his mate, but then again, he may have. Astrid was seen eating a meal on the Hotel ledge, but it’s possible that she caught the prey herself. Both falcons spent time in the box today. Ares seemed like he was practicing incubating eggs. He even shifted position a few times. Landing on ledges on the State Building was a little difficult for Astrid given the snow build-up. The entire east ledge of the hotel was also made inaccessible due to a large snow drift.
The great snowstorm of 2017 happened today and the falcons had a front row seat for it. While much of the region was brought to a standstill, the falcons managed to accomplish a few things on their agenda. Astrid arrived at the box before 5:00 AM. Astrid was at the box for much of the morning and Ares was there for a fair portion of the afternoon. The pair mated twice and Ares handed food off to his mate once. By late afternoon the wind kicked in and the snow was piling up high. There was even some drifting inside the nestbox, which may be a first. Hopefully, tomorrow will be an easier day for all.
