Utica Peregrine Falcons Update for Tuesday, June 13th, 2023
It rained off and on last night. The temperature was in the 50s. The day was partly cloudy with high temperatures in the mid 60s. Astrid and Ares were visible for part of the night, Ares on the State Building and Astrid on the east veranda. She left the veranda at 2:42 AM. Before she left she flapped her wings in the rain and had a shower. The nestlings became active at around 4:25 AM. At 5:32 we heard Ares call. Both nestlings responded with their own squealing vocalizations. At 5:41 Niles was doing some serious wing flapping. Ten minutes later he surprised us by hopping up onto the lip of the box and staying there. He came back down at 6:00 but then was back up on the lip only moments later. His curiosity was extreme. He was looking all around at the canyon and looking straight down towards the street. At one point it seemed like he was interested in the West Veranda and we were wondering if he was going to try to make it over there. Luckily, he did not. He is not mature enough. His flight feathers are still growing out and he obviously still has a lot of white down in his plumage. We had to strain our brains to think if we ever had a nestling with so much down plumage act so adventurous. Ares arrived on the East Veranda with prey at 7:00. He brought it to the lip of the box where it was promptly grabbed by Amelia. She took it to the back of the box but didn’t seem to know what to do with it. Astrid arrived moments later. It seemed for a moment like she was going to try to recover it but Niles charged her and she left. Ten minutes later Niles was feeding on it in the corner. Amelia had her turn five minutes later. Niles then moved up onto the lip of the box again. By that point Astrid was on the steeple. At 7:30 Ares came to the crossperch. He moved back and forth between the West Veranda and the crossperch a few times. It seemed like he was showing the nestlings where the veranda was. We’ve seen the falcon parents do this kind of thing before. Not to be left out, at 8:00 Amelia started bobbing her head while she was looking out into the canyon. Sometimes that’s a sign that a nestling is about to fledge. At least she looks the part now that she’s lost most of her white down. At 8:20 Ares brought food to the east veranda. Astrid took it, flew away, came back, and started a feeding. Miraculously, the food wasn’t grabbed away by either of the nestlings. She started out by feeding Niles, but Amelia got a turn as well. We couldn’t see what the prey was but obviously it was something sizable, perhaps a Mourning Dove. Astrid finished it after the young both turned away. Astrid left the box at 8:41. At 8:53 Ares made a number of stops on various perches and verandas. Was he encouraging the nestlings to be more active outside of the nest? Astrid was on the steeple at that point. At 8:55 Amelia got up onto the lip of the box. She didn’t stay there for too long. At 9:20 Astrid was on the roof of the nest box giving cackle calls. Eight minutes later she flew into the canyon, cackling as she went. When someone went up on the roof of the bank to do some maintenance both Astrid and Ares carried out some hazing. Thankfully, the work didn’t take very long and the falcons got over it quickly. Astrid was soon back up on the roof of the nest box watching the office window. At 6:56 Amelia was up on the lip of the box looking out into the canyon. She began bobbing her head at one point which was worrisome.
At 12:22 PM Ares brought prey to the nest. Astrid took it but then immediately lost it to Amelia. Astrid grabbed it back and then Niles stole it. He took it to the corner. Astrid left after that. At 12:52 Amelia was in the corner eating scraps and both parents were on the State Office Building. Less than an hour later the nestlings were sprawled out in the nest resting. At 2:00 they had another spurt of activity – dashing around the nest and exercising. Amelia began picking at scraps. At 2:37 Amelia let out a loud cackle call. At 3:19 Astrid came to the nest with most of a Pigeon. She then proceeded to feed it out to the nestlings. She started by serving Niles, but Amelia eventually joined in. They fed until they were not hungry anymore and walked away. Astrid left the nest at 3:37. Amelia did some wing flapping after her mother left. At 3:43 the nestlings beaked and then they squabbled. A parent visited the box at 4:48 and that got the chicks all excited again. At 5:04 Ares was on the east veranda. At one point he started hanging his wings a bit as if he was shading. Of course, there was nobody and nothing to shade on the veranda. At 6:57 PM Amelia was up on the lip of the nest box. She bobbed her head at one point, and we wondered if she was going to attempt to fledge. Thankfully, she went back into the box instead. The nestlings were crashed out on the floor of the box for a while, but at 8:11 they were up and looking out into the canyon. Astrid was on the east veranda by then and Ares was on the State Building. It looks like we might be starting official fledgewatch a little sooner than we thought. We will keep everyone informed. Goodnight all.